Ancient Greece
Athens, Greece
Ancient Greece was a constellation of independent city-states like Athens, Sparta and Corinth, bound by a shared language, religion and the Olympic Games. Their gods lived atop Mount Olympus and behaved a lot like people — jealous, clever, generous and petty. Greek myth, theatre and philosophy shaped storytelling, science and democracy for thousands of years.
The gods
Temples & monuments
Temple of Zeus
Olympia, Greece
Home of a colossal gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The Parthenon
Acropolis of Athens, Greece
A marble temple crowning the Acropolis, built to honour Athena as protector of the city.
Temple of Poseidon
Cape Sounion, Greece
A clifftop temple over the Aegean where sailors prayed for safe voyages.
Sanctuary of Aphrodite
Paphos, Cyprus
An ancient pilgrimage site marking the place where she was said to have come ashore.
Achievements
Invented early democracy in Athens
Founded Western philosophy with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Created theatre, the Olympic Games and the foundations of geometry
Natural wonders
Mount Olympus
The tallest mountain in Greece, believed to be the cloud-hidden home of the gods.
The Aegean Sea
The island-dotted sea that made the Greeks famous sailors and traders.
Archaeological Library
Watch how we uncovered Ancient Greece — real discoveries that revealed this ancient world.
The Antikythera Mechanism
A 2,000-year-old geared device — the world's first known analogue computer.
Watch on YouTube →The Palace of Knossos
The vast Bronze-Age Minoan palace on Crete, tied to the myth of the Minotaur.
Watch on YouTube →The Riace Bronzes
Two stunning life-size Greek warrior statues recovered from the seabed.
Watch on YouTube →