Empires: The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization

Another well put together PBS documentary. And it certainly doesn't hurt to have Liam Neeson narrate. I certainly learned more in this documentary about the rise and fall of Greek civilization than I recall from school.

The production for this series, judging from episode 3, is rather poor, despite having star Liam Neeson narrating. The sets are dull, with great historical figures like Pericles and Socrates portrayed as a sort of wax actor or CGI portrait that is filmed from different angles while being still. These images are reused many times, adding boredom to the already dull and rudimentary CGI.

Pacing is slow, with lots of scenic shots of the Acropolis and other historical sites, but the amount of actual greek footage is quite limited, shots are unimaginative and reused abundantly. The text is grandiloquent but never poignant; historically it seems superficial to me, but I am not an expert. I came to see more about the life and times of Socrates, but the philosophy themes are more superficial than the historical ones. It seems the producers have only a very basic knowledge of greek philosophy. Quotes are misattributed, for example, sayings are attributed directly to Socrates, who never wrote, and Plato, who made him a character in his philosophical dialogues, is never mentioned.

So the philosophical themes are very bland. Also I've been in the places and I made better shots than the ones that can be seen in this program. That some people find this "enlightening" really makes me think that the standards for American history shows are quite low.

This series fails for the simple reason that, while it cannot be expected to cover the topic comprehensively, it should at least provide a reasonably balanced and accurate account. It doesn't. This is despite the use of an impressive array of academics; one can only assume they were not involved in the shaping of the final product.

There are some jaw-dropping omissions, especially given that the title mentions 'Greeks' rather than 'Athenians'. In terms of influence on western civilization, there is no doubt that Athens was by far the most important of the Greek city states. However, if this documentary were to be the only source of information on Greece in the classical period, one would be (falsely) led to believe that (1) almost all the great Greeks were Athenians, (2) that practically everything about Sparta was bad, (3) that city states such as Thebes were of little or no significance (there was little or no mention of many important states), and (4) that the Battles of Thermopylae and Plataea never happened.

This last point is particularly unforgivable considering how much Thermopylae continues to be discussed today (though too many people omit the fact that it wasn't just 300 Spartans who died there - the 700 Thespians deserve just as much credit). To say that the Persian threat ended at Salamis in 480 BC is just plain wrong; an army of at least 80,000 Persians remained on Greek soil and was defeated by a Greek army under Spartan leadership in 479 BC, with Sparta providing the largest contingent.

While Athenian democracy is rightly lauded, no mention is made of the fact women were not only excluded but expected to keep quiet too (unlike Sparta where women were not only allowed to express their views but were also taught to read and write). Further, these Athenian male democrats owned lots of slaves and suppressed (sometimes ruthlessly) dozens of previously independent Greek city states to build their empire.

The treatment of The Peloponnesian War is all too brief and uneven. While quite some time is spent on the plague, the Sicillian expedition, and the prosecution of the generals, no mention is made of the heavy involvement of major states such as Corinth and Thebes (as part of the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League opposing the Athenian empire) who wanted to raze Athens to the ground at the end of the war (they were prevented from doing by Sparta), nor the reason for the eventual involvement of the Persians. Also hard to fathom is the failure to have at least a brief look at that most fascinating of characters, the Athenian statesman and general Alcibiades, a key figure during the war (and surely worth a documentary of his own).

Even if the series was re-titled 'The Athenians', it would be hard to excuse the above sins of omission. Without proper context, it is impossible to properly appreciate the influence of the Greeks on western civilization. Sadly, this documentary is more like a series of sometimes distorted reproductions of random scenes from the classical period.

I recently watched two exceptional mini-series on both the Spartans and the Athenians for PBS with Bettany Hughes. I cannot imagine making a show about the Greeks any better. Can this documentary (also brought to us by PBS) manage to be as good or better? In some ways, the series is exceptional. It has a more cinematic style and lovely music. However, it also lacked some excitement and could have used more energy. In particular, while Liam Neeson is a fine actor and probably a heck of a guy, his delivery as narrator is a bit too refined and smooth--almost, at times, lulling me to sleep with his lovely voice. Or, perhaps having several narrators with different voices would have been nice. All I know is that although it's a wonderful and quality series, it is, oddly, too refined--too nice. I might have liked more odd or salacious details or interesting vignettes as well--something to infuse a bit more realism and life into the shows. I also hated when one of the commentators used the word 'milieu'. 99% of the viewers probably never use the word and most of them probably have no idea what it means! Overall, I think I prefer Hughes less refined but more interesting style.

Although IMDb lists one season, when you click this link, it only shows one program. It actually consisted of three and below is a general idea of what episode entails.

Episode 1--This is the early history of Greece (but not discussing the earliest period, such as that of the Minoans)--when the city-states were on the rise (around 600BC). Sparta was the big Greek power but this VERY important state was not really talked about much. Instead, almost all the thrust is on Athens and other city-states were only mentioned in general. Initially, Athens was ruled by Aristos (a small group of the richest citizens) and tyrants and was not yet a major power. However, when Athens institutes democracy, the power and prestige of the city grows. The only odd thing in the episode is a quote from Aristotle about these early leaders--though they lived hundreds of years before he was born (and it sounded as if he was commenting on something about which he had direct knowledge). Usually, they tend to use contemporary accounts in documentaries (they are more reliable--and Aristotle, unfortunately, isn't that reliable in some of his writings).

Episode 2--This is the classical period of Athens. It begins with Battle of Marathon (versus Persia) and takes them to other Persian wars. There is a big emphasis on the rise of the Athenian navy. Also the serious flaw with Athenian democracy--the abuse of ostracisms--as they occurred to ANYONE who was famous or powerful. Following victories, the famous period in Athens began and philosophy and the sciences flourished. There is a discussion of two of the great Athenian leaders, Themistocles and Pericles. For the most part, everything is just ducky for the Athenians but the closing minutes indicate big things are in the near future.

Episode 3--This episode concerns the fall of Athens. After having grown so fast, the city-state became overconfident and took on the Spartans. More abuses of the democracy served to weaken them significantly, as generals, intellectuals and leaders could be executed or banished at the whims of the masses. Plagues and military setbacks also hindered them. However, the big tipping point came with Sparta and their new ally, the hated Persians--but this was, inexplicably, not talked about in the show. Instead, a HUGE portion of part three is on the death of Socrates--and then the show ends (very prematurely if you ask me as MANY more years of wars and chaos ensued during the Peloponnesian War). Could funding have run out and it was intended to be longer and more complete?! One odd thing was said in this third show: "...here it gave every Athenian citizen the right to have a say...". This is and isn't true. It did NOT give the right to women or slaves or children--so only about 1/3 (at most) of the people had a say in governing the city-state.

One final note. While the show is supposedly about the Greeks, it really is ONLY about the Athenians. The Spartans are minor characters (almost faceless bad guys) and the rest of Greece is only mentioned in passing. Because of this, the title of the show is inaccurate and it should have been something like "The Rise and Fall of Ancient Athens" or "The Ancient Greek World...But Mostly Athens".

Liam Neeson has such a wonderful voice. What a grand man he is.

I'm sure this documentary is good for some people but I'm not the audience for this movie. Series. Whatever it is. They reuse a LOT of footage that they shot; like, actors in their costumes. It just loses its flair after the 4th time I've seen that man in that costume point over there four times.