Ancient Greece: The Dark Chronicles

The roots of ancient Greece stretch deep into a mythical past. The first episode of this five-part series traces these origins. In the 2nd millennium BC, the Minoans and Mycenaeans rose as Europe’s first advanced civilisations through trade, ingenuity, and violence. Researchers show that the Bronze Age inhabitants of the Aegean had more in common with the later Greeks than long assumed.

Greece awakens from the "Dark Ages" and enters an era of transformation. Across the Aegean, a new cultural identity begins to form, shaped by shared religion, writing, and values. Yet rivalry defines Greece – in Olympia, on foreign coasts, and on battlefields. Strength lies in unity, as city-states compete for dominance. The second episode tells the story of early classical Greece and its foundations.

In the 6th century BC, Athens transforms through war and violence into a democracy. Episode three recounts how an aristocrat topples the last tyrant and introduces revolutionary reforms. The Persian Wars cement democracy’s rise as a groundbreaking achievement – at the cost of widespread slavery. Yet Athens itself becomes a tyrant, igniting a devastating war that plunges all of Greece into chaos.