New technology helps PBS bring ancient Greece to life

The classical world seems distant to most people. A small coterie of classical scholars serves as guardians of that past, and the tales of warriors, gods and tragic kings still live on in universities.

But the eclipse of classical learning leaves a gap in contemporary Americans' understanding of their own society. From the classical Greeks came the first stirrings of democracy. Much of the New Testament was handed down to the modern world in Greek, and the tragic visions of the Greek playwrights still resonate through modern movies and novels. Museums horde much of what is left of the artistic and physical record of ancient cultures.

A drawback to presenting the ancient world to a contemporary audience is that much of what we know about these ancient people lies in a written record that has been translated third or fourth hand. Each generation of classical scholars offers up sometimes grand new translations of the great ancient works, but the written record is being superseded - for good or ill - by waves of new technology to generations lacking the patience or inclination to delve into the ancient written record. Their frame of reference is the computer and video, not the printed page.

Atlantic Productions, PBS and Devillier Donegan Enterprises may have at least a partial antidote. The partners have produced a 2 1/2-hour special, "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization," narrated by Liam Neeson, airing at 8 p.m. Wednesday on PBS (KCTS-TV).

In addition to the special are Web sites, a book and DVDs with additional content. Viewers intrigued by the material presented on the special can turn to the Web site for more information. It is linked to the PBS web site at www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks. Included on the site are an interactive timeline, a Web-cam of the Parthenon and a Socrates screensaver that can be downloaded to home computers.

Anthony Geffen, series producer, says part of the problem with producing documentaries on ancient history is that there aren't historical materials available that can be used to dramatize the history.

"I felt that the technology had moved on to allow us to tackle the subject in an interesting way. We use glass-matte shots and computer animation to give viewers the feeling of what it was like to live in ancient Greece, to look at the skyline of ancient Greece.

"You'll see a hundred triremes in the film; we go inside the Parthenon and see what you believe is the 40-foot statue of Athena that was built within. We had the techniques that allowed us to move on that way. The new technology has actually meant advances in our understanding of ancient Greece."

Central to the documentary's story are four characters who represented the historical developments the producers focused on. Cleisthenes conceived Greek democracy in the sixth century BC after a period of tyranny and revolution. Themistocles defeated the Persians at Marathon, and built the Greek navy that destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis, ushering in the age of empire for Athens.

Pericles, a great orator, built the Acropolis and oversaw the advance of the Greek empire.

The fourth great character the series focuses on is Socrates, the gadfly who spent his days promoting reason throughout Athens, questioning the foundations if Greek society and culture. After Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians turned on him, and sentenced him to death.