0:00:06 > 0:00:10It was the ancient Greeks who shaped our ideas
0:00:10 > 0:00:12of what art should look like.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20No other civilisation has played such an important
0:00:20 > 0:00:24role in creating our vision of artistic perfection.
0:00:27 > 0:00:28Of beauty.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Of realism.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Today, we take the idea of realistic art for granted.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44But in fact, it was the ancient Greeks who invented it.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48In a fundamental sense, they taught us how to see.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54But while we're taught that Western civilisation was born
0:00:54 > 0:00:59here in ancient Greece, its art emerged from a much darker,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04stranger place - an older world of myths,
0:01:04 > 0:01:09monsters and the imagination, with roots in unexpected places.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12A world that's still being revealed, even now.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20Over a period of 1,000 years, the idea of Greece would
0:01:20 > 0:01:25emerge from a handful of kingdoms scattered across the Mediterranean.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32And art would be instrumental in bringing the Greek people together.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39From a fascination with the natural world,
0:01:39 > 0:01:44the intricacies of geometric design,
0:01:44 > 0:01:50heroic tales of gods and monsters,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53to a passion for the human form...
0:01:54 > 0:01:59..and the triumph of Athens, and the Classical Style.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07In this programme, I'll be piecing together what we know
0:02:07 > 0:02:12about those earliest influences and separating history from myth.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Drawing on the epics of Homer
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and the discoveries of the 20th century...
0:02:21 > 0:02:27..to reveal how the miracle of Greek art came into being.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00Our quest for the origins of Greek art begins not in ancient times,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02but just over a century ago.
0:03:04 > 0:03:10In the year 1900, an Englishman arrived on the island of Crete.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Arthur Evans was the Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21But what brought him to Crete was a long held dream.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26His guide was the ancient Greek poet Homer.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35"There is a land called Crete in the midst of the wine-dark sea,
0:03:35 > 0:03:40"a fair rich land, surrounded by water.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46"Among their cities is the great city Knossos, where Minos reigned."
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Homer, author of The Iliad and The Odyssey,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58composed these lines probably in the 8th century BC.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Over 2,500 years later,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Evans recalled them as he set foot on Crete.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Evans never forgot his Homer.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19The Greek poet told stories of King Minos,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21said to be the ruler of ancient Crete.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23And according to myth,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27his palace incorporated a maze or labyrinth, and at its dark centre
0:04:27 > 0:04:31was this terrifying monster - half-man, half-bull -
0:04:31 > 0:04:37the Minotaur, a creature that dined on the flesh of boys and girls.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Evans was convinced he was onto something.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50One morning in March, he set out for the hill of Kefala,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53to begin digging at a site he'd recently purchased.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58An ancient palace was thought to be buried under the hill.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03What no-one knew was how big it was.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09It didn't take long for Evans' team of diggers to find the first
0:05:09 > 0:05:10archaeological remains.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21What they unearthed exceeded even Evans' wildest dreams.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24He believed that he had found Knossos,
0:05:24 > 0:05:28the royal palace of Minos, king of a people Evans termed the Minoans.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40Evans and his workers uncovered the sprawling remains of a vast
0:05:40 > 0:05:44series of unfortified buildings mostly dating from
0:05:44 > 0:05:47between 1700 and 1400 BC.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57He reconstructed sections of Knossos
0:05:57 > 0:06:00in an attempt to bring the Minoan world alive.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10With its network of twisting passageways,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13he believed he'd had found his labyrinth.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21And everywhere he looked, he saw bulls.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31This bull's head was used as an elaborate vase or drinking vessel.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34It has two openings - one at the top of the head,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36the second under the snout.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Evans plainly knew that the Minotaur was a mythical creature.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54But objects like these seemed to offer historical proof that
0:06:54 > 0:06:59bulls did play a major role in the ceremonial lives of the Minoans.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05And one of the most exciting pieces of evidence was this
0:07:05 > 0:07:07remarkable wall painting.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14This is such an extraordinary fresco,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18and it's one of the real prizes that Evans unearthed here at Knossos.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21And it is partially a reconstruction. If you look closely
0:07:21 > 0:07:24you can tell which bits are the original fragments.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27But nevertheless, as reconstructions go, it's entirely plausible.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33And what it appears to represent is a central spectacle in public
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Minoan life, which is the very dangerous sport of bull-leaping.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41And compositionally, it's such an effective work of art.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Dominating everything in the middle is the magnificent beast,
0:07:44 > 0:07:45the bull himself.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48He's charging, hurtling pell-mell through space
0:07:48 > 0:07:50at this light-skinned attendant at one end.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Your eye is naturally drawn, in a very subtle fashion,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00via the sinuous curve that goes from the tips of the bull's horn
0:08:00 > 0:08:04around onto his head, over the hump of his powerful neck
0:08:04 > 0:08:07and then down onto his back, leading your eye towards the other
0:08:07 > 0:08:11light-skinned attendant at the other end.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13But of course, in human terms,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17the star of the show here is this red-skinned figure in the middle.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The daredevil acrobat, the toreador himself.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24And he's depicted mid leap - his hair is fluttering in the air -
0:08:24 > 0:08:28there's a tremendous sense of buoyancy, joyful movement
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and life, as he spins through the air.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35It makes me think of works of art created thousands of years later
0:08:35 > 0:08:38by Matisse, his paper cut-outs of acrobats.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41They both share artistically what you might call
0:08:41 > 0:08:43the audacity of simplicity.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54The bigger picture pieced together by Evans at Knossos was of a people
0:08:54 > 0:08:58at one with nature, deeply connected with the world around them.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13The patterns of the natural world preoccupied Minoan artists.
0:09:14 > 0:09:20They were fascinated by its curves and shapes, but also its dangers -
0:09:20 > 0:09:26this Minoan goddess holds two snakes aloft, one in each hand, defiant.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Arthur Evans was convinced he'd found the Knossos
0:09:35 > 0:09:36he was looking for.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45But what he had actually discovered was, in a sense,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47far more tantalising.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50An apparent Eden of peace and plenty,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53a people in harmony with nature.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03The myth of King Minos would remain just that - a myth.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08But the sensitive and subtle art found on Crete -
0:10:08 > 0:10:11which dated back to 1,000 years
0:10:11 > 0:10:14before the heyday of Classical Greece -
0:10:14 > 0:10:18proved without doubt that Greek art had deeper,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21richer roots than anyone had previously imagined.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28And a recent discovery on an island north of Crete
0:10:28 > 0:10:32showed that those roots spread further than even Evans knew.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44The legend of a Minoan empire stretching across the sea
0:10:44 > 0:10:48is a recurring theme from Homer in the 8th century BC,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52to the philosopher Plato, more than 300 years later.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Plato wrote about a large and prosperous island, where the
0:11:00 > 0:11:03people sacrificed bulls within splendid palaces,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06but which sank beneath the waves following an earthquake.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09And he called this lost island Atlantis.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Whatever the literal truth about Atlantis, it is
0:11:14 > 0:11:18tempting to understand the story of its disappearance as a distant
0:11:18 > 0:11:21Greek memory of Minoan civilisation.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Especially when an island in the Minoan world would suffer
0:11:25 > 0:11:27an uncannily similar fate.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Santorini sits among a group of smaller islands
0:11:42 > 0:11:46in the Aegean Sea, a day's sailing from Crete.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Originally, it was one single island.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54But more than 2,500 years ago,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58it was blown apart by a colossal volcanic explosion -
0:11:58 > 0:12:01one of the largest in recorded history.
0:12:09 > 0:12:15Little was known of life there before the eruption - until in 1967,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19a team of Greek archaeologists made an extraordinary discovery.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Buried beneath really thick layers of volcanic ash,
0:12:33 > 0:12:38they discovered this ghost town - a winding, warren-like
0:12:38 > 0:12:42settlement filled with one, two, even three-storey buildings.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45And inevitably, the site was instantly called the
0:12:45 > 0:12:46'Greek Pompeii.'
0:12:47 > 0:12:51As at Pompeii, the catastrophe had transformed the town,
0:12:51 > 0:12:56as well as its contents, into this astonishing time capsule,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59offering remarkable visual evidence for what life
0:12:59 > 0:13:02was like on Santorini before the island was obliterated.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16What the archaeologists found here showed that the inhabitants of
0:13:16 > 0:13:21the town, known today as Akrotiri, were in regular contact with Crete.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28In other words, Akrotiri was a Minoan colony.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32And evidence for this came with the discovery of a series
0:13:32 > 0:13:37of exquisite frescoes, that share the Minoan love of the natural
0:13:37 > 0:13:40world seen by Arthur Evans on Crete.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Looking at Minoan art, it's easy to be transported to this
0:13:47 > 0:13:50pastoral realm, where everything is lush and sunny.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56So many of the paintings from Akrotiri,
0:13:56 > 0:14:01they have this joyful, springtime quality.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05This scene, for example, it exalts in the volcanic
0:14:05 > 0:14:09landscape of Santorini, with its eye-catching red rocks,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and these billowing clusters of lilies in full, rampant bloom.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21But the details that are most delightful have to be
0:14:21 > 0:14:26the pairs of cavorting, flirting, amorous swallows.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31They twist and kiss in midair, like nimble fighter-jet pilots
0:14:31 > 0:14:34spinning, barrel-rolling just for fun.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38And we're presented here with something fleeting, playful.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40It's a moment of spontaneity,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43but one that's been preserved for millennia.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Time and again, the frescos from Akrotiri offer
0:14:54 > 0:14:57insights into the lives and habits of its inhabitants.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05These blue monkeys appear irrepressible as they clamber
0:15:05 > 0:15:07over the rocks of Santorini.
0:15:09 > 0:15:15They are supple and lithe, with nimble limbs and alert eyes.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Whoever has created it has thought long
0:15:21 > 0:15:26and hard about the intrinsic quality of monkeyness.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32The device is so effective because it relishes how you can unleash
0:15:32 > 0:15:39this visual energy simply by varying up quite straightforward elements.
0:15:39 > 0:15:46The slope of a back, a bent knee, the curling, sinuous tails,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50even the differences between their stiletto-like feet.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54It's almost as if whoever entered this room, decorated with this
0:15:54 > 0:15:59fresco, has provoked the monkeys into this whirlwind of activity.
0:15:59 > 0:16:05You can almost hear them chattering away with alarm and consternation.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17The beguiling world captured by the Akrotiri frescoes
0:16:17 > 0:16:19would come to a brutal end.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28The island of Santorini was blown sky-high by the volcano
0:16:28 > 0:16:31sometime around 1600 BC.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40Yet the pumice and ash preserved another fresco that offers evidence
0:16:40 > 0:16:45that a new, very different people had already reached the island.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49There are drowned bodies here.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Warriors are marching up a hill.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03We can tell from their weaponry
0:17:03 > 0:17:06and armour that these aren't Minoans or friendly traders.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10They're fighting men - Mycenaeans, from mainland Greece.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13And in time, they'd take over at Knossos on Crete.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21Just as the Minoans had colonised Santorini,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24so the Mycenaeans colonised the Minoans.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30But their art would offer a stark contrast to the paradise
0:17:30 > 0:17:32imagined in the art of the Minoans.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41The Mycenaeans occupied key strategic positions
0:17:41 > 0:17:42on the Greek mainland.
0:17:45 > 0:17:51From 1600 BC, their capital was a citadel on a rocky
0:17:51 > 0:17:53hillside in the Peloponnese.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Like the treasures of Knossos, their art is known to us
0:18:03 > 0:18:06thanks to the exploits of a maverick explorer.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16In 1876, a 54-year-old German adventurer and chancer,
0:18:16 > 0:18:21who'd spent time in California during the Gold Rush, arrived here.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24And like Arthur Evans, he came in search of heroes -
0:18:24 > 0:18:27the kings and royal palaces celebrated in Homer.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Heinrich Schliemann was his name,
0:18:31 > 0:18:32and he'd plundered already
0:18:32 > 0:18:34royal treasures from Troy.
0:18:34 > 0:18:40But now his quest was to unearth here in Mycenae the grave and riches
0:18:40 > 0:18:44of Agamemnon - leader of the Greeks at Troy, who'd returned home after
0:18:44 > 0:18:49ten years of war only to be murdered by his wife and her new lover.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56It's possible there was a king called Agamemnon.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02But as with the rest of Homer, what was myth
0:19:02 > 0:19:05and what was history was anyone's guess.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Mycenae was a huge fortified palace that had
0:19:11 > 0:19:15lain in ruins for around 3,000 years.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20And when Schliemann arrived, it had lost none of its imposing presence.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Approaching Mycenae feels like stepping into a scene
0:19:27 > 0:19:29from Lord of the Rings.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32It's a fortress, a citadel on a hilltop,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36a place built by warriors for warriors - the sort of men
0:19:36 > 0:19:39who'd neck a pint of bull's blood before breakfast.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42And just look at these thick, intimidating,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44utterly impregnable walls!
0:19:44 > 0:19:48They're constructed using these vast, monumental blocks.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50So you have to imagine - you're an approaching army,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54you're heading up this steep ramp, hoping to storm the citadel -
0:19:54 > 0:19:57looking at this, you'd be quaking in your boots already.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00And that's before you arrived at the gate itself,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04where any would-be marauders would then be confronted by this.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14To enter Mycenae, you had to pass through the Lion Gate,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18under a carved relief showing two upright feline creatures
0:20:18 > 0:20:20flanking a central column.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28Schliemann believed the Lion Gate guarded treasures buried within.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35And once inside, it didn't take him
0:20:35 > 0:20:39long to discover a monument to the kings of Mycenae.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48Enclosed by the city walls was a circle of shaft graves.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51These graves, sunk into the ground,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53were rectangular trenches several metres deep.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02At the entrance stood an imposing carved stone.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05And what lay beyond would exceed even Schliemann's
0:21:05 > 0:21:07dreams of Homeric riches.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Just imagine the excitement of uncovering the hoard.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Glittering amid the gloom of the graves,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Schliemann discovered hundreds of luxurious golden objects, more
0:21:27 > 0:21:32than justifying Homer's description of Mycenae as "rich in gold."
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Including this spectacular full-sized death mask.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And although there is an obvious interest in pattern
0:21:42 > 0:21:46and design and symmetry - the spirals of the ears
0:21:46 > 0:21:50echoing each other, the horizontal lines of the eyes - there's also
0:21:50 > 0:21:55a sense that it was meant to convey something at least of an individual.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59A well-groomed, debonair individual, in this case.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Look at the way his moustache curls up at either end.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05The way that the beard has been fashioned,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08with these artfully ruffled lines in different directions.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14It must have made Schliemann's heart stop.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And there's a story that at once, he feverishly sent off a telegram
0:22:18 > 0:22:23that said "I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon."
0:22:30 > 0:22:35The stunning hoard included this poignant golden burial suit
0:22:35 > 0:22:36for a young child.
0:22:39 > 0:22:45And a dagger blade, inlaid with precious metals, gold and silver,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49showing an intricate action scene - a lion hunt.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Schliemann had discovered an unparalleled wealth
0:22:57 > 0:23:03of treasures that shone new light on royal life and death at Mycenae.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11In time, it would turn out that these artefacts didn't
0:23:11 > 0:23:15actually belong to Agamemnon and his family -
0:23:15 > 0:23:18they predated Homer's hero by several centuries.
0:23:20 > 0:23:26But in a sense, what Schliemann had uncovered was even more exciting -
0:23:26 > 0:23:30the riches of a powerful, sophisticated civilisation
0:23:30 > 0:23:34that numbered the Minoans among its conquests.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40And there's evidence of their two worlds coming together,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43in a pair of exceptional objects.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54These two golden cups combine the bull imagery of the Minoans
0:23:54 > 0:23:57with the hammered gold of the Mycenaeans.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02They were made by pressing thin golden sheets from behind to create
0:24:02 > 0:24:08these raised designs, in this case, two scenes of wild bull-hunting.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13And the detail in the landscape is completely extraordinary.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17If you look close, you can make out the gnarled trunks
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and miniature branches of olive trees.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25And while one of the scenes is perfectly peaceful,
0:24:25 > 0:24:30as a docile bull is trapped using a rope tethered around its leg,
0:24:30 > 0:24:35the other one is remarkably fierce and vigorous.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Just look at this enraged bull,
0:24:37 > 0:24:41hurtling around the side of the cup, and smashing into its would-be
0:24:41 > 0:24:43captors, toppling them like skittles.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51On one level, you could read these cups as a reflection on man's
0:24:51 > 0:24:53relationship with the natural world.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56But perhaps there's another reading here too.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Because if we understand the bulls as symbols of political power,
0:25:00 > 0:25:05then maybe what we see here is the upending of one
0:25:05 > 0:25:08civilisation by another, much fiercer way of life.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23But the Mycenaeans were about to experience
0:25:23 > 0:25:25an apocalypse of their own.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31By the 11th century BC,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35all of the strongholds on the Greek mainland, such as Mycenae,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38lay abandoned, their people fled.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47Centuries later, the ancient Greeks would rediscover Mycenae,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51and marvel at the ruins, wondering who had built them, and for whom.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08They called the walls at Mycenae 'cyclopean,'
0:26:08 > 0:26:11because they believed that only a giant, like the Cyclops
0:26:11 > 0:26:17from The Odyssey, could move such immense, awe-inspiring stones.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21The Age of the Mycenaeans - an age of wild beasts,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25warrior kings - would become their Age of Heroes.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29And in the centuries to come, legends left over from that
0:26:29 > 0:26:34mythical era would inform Greek art as well as shaping Greek identity.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52The destruction and abandonment of palaces and settlements
0:26:52 > 0:26:56across the Aegean came to be known as Greece's Dark Ages.
0:26:57 > 0:27:04An era that lasted around 300 years, from 1100 to 800 BC.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Historians traditionally dismissed this as a period of obscurity -
0:27:12 > 0:27:17an interruption in the otherwise glorious progress of Greek history.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24The population plummeted by three-quarters.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Those who were left were forced to scratch out an existence.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46The causes of the catastrophe remain a mystery.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Was it environmental disaster - plague, famine, earthquake?
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Cataclysmic war?
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Deadly internal power struggles?
0:27:55 > 0:27:59Or perhaps a 'perfect storm' of all of them?
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Whatever it was, Mycenae and other kingdoms across the Mediterranean
0:28:03 > 0:28:08rapidly fell apart, ushering in a new age that was characterised
0:28:08 > 0:28:10by hardship, pain and grief.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23The accepted history was that the visual arts almost
0:28:23 > 0:28:26disappeared during the Dark Ages.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Certainly, one casualty was the human figure,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32which vanished from Greek art for several centuries.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39Yet in recent years, the idea of a lengthy interruption in Greek
0:28:39 > 0:28:41art and culture has been challenged.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Just off the eastern coast of the Greek mainland
0:28:46 > 0:28:48lies the island of Euboea.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58Here, evidence is only now emerging that life in the so-called
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Dark Ages wasn't quite as dark as has been thought.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07The site is known today as Lefkandi.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17For 3,000 years, there was nothing here but a gigantic mound.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20When they started digging, though, they uncovered
0:29:20 > 0:29:24the remains of a vast building - it was 45 metres in length.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26It had a thatched roof,
0:29:26 > 0:29:30and it was surrounded by a wooden colonnade, preceding the
0:29:30 > 0:29:35architecture of Greek temples by an astonishing two centuries at least.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39But the most exciting discovery of all was hidden even deeper.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56They discovered the cremated remains of a man in his forties,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58and the skeleton of a younger woman.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06Among the grave goods were fine items of jewellery, including a
0:30:06 > 0:30:12Babylonian necklace that at the time was already 1,000 years old.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22And nearby they came across a remarkable object,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25dating from the 10th century BC,
0:30:25 > 0:30:29that pointed the way to an emergent new vision for Greek art.
0:30:35 > 0:30:41This impish little fellow is a centaur - a fantastical creature,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45half man, half horse - potentially an unruly
0:30:45 > 0:30:47being on the fringes of civilisation.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52And to our eyes, he looks initially like a toy - a plaything -
0:30:52 > 0:30:55a My Little Centaur for the ancient world.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00But it would be doing him a disservice to belittle him
0:31:00 > 0:31:02like that, because he offers us
0:31:02 > 0:31:06the first known depiction of mythology in Greek sculpture.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12He doesn't quite have the impact of the Lion Gate at Mycenae,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14or the so-called Mask of Agamemnon,
0:31:14 > 0:31:20but this pixie-ish creature offers a blueprint for the development
0:31:20 > 0:31:23of Greek art over the next few centuries, because it
0:31:23 > 0:31:28combines a love of geometric pattern with a passion for mythology.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41The founding myths of the Greek world, and of Greek art,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45began to develop at this time among the surviving people of the region.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Tales of their dimly remembered forefathers,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54from places like Knossos and Mycenae.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00In time, these myths would become integral to Greek art.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07But it was the fascination with pattern that would lead Greek art
0:32:07 > 0:32:09out of the Dark Ages.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21For centuries, rather than human scenes,
0:32:21 > 0:32:26Greek pots were decorated with swathes of geometric designs.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34But thanks to this survival from an ancient cemetery, we can witness
0:32:34 > 0:32:40the moment in around 750 BC when the human figure returns to Greek art.
0:32:47 > 0:32:52By the 8th century BC, big, swollen pots just like this one
0:32:52 > 0:32:55were being used as tomb markers in cemeteries.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59And all of them were covered, from the neck to the foot,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02with regiment upon regiment of marching,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05relentless ornament and geometric pattern.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11Rows of triangles and dots, parallel lines, meanders, zigzags,
0:33:11 > 0:33:17even bands of well-drilled animals, in this case grazing deer.
0:33:17 > 0:33:23The whole thing similar in effect to the patterned centaur of Lefkandi.
0:33:23 > 0:33:30But then - as you move down the pot -
0:33:30 > 0:33:34you suddenly chance upon something totally new.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39The central pattern,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42filled with human figures, commemorates a custom
0:33:42 > 0:33:46known by the Greeks as 'prothesis' or lying in state, where the
0:33:46 > 0:33:50dead person would be laid out to be mourned by friends and family.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54And you can see ranks of mourners here on either side,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56tearing out their hair with grief,
0:33:56 > 0:34:01their blocky bodies, this play of angles and geometry,
0:34:01 > 0:34:07with triangular torsos - but then also surprisingly shapely legs.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11And in the middle, there's the deceased - probably a woman, judging
0:34:11 > 0:34:17by the clothing - with a ceremonial blanket laid out above the body.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Despite their humble, even rudimentary appearance,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24these matter-of-fact stickmen mark a crucial
0:34:24 > 0:34:27moment in the development of Greek art because they stand
0:34:27 > 0:34:31at the start of the Greek obsession with the human form.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46The decoration on Greek vases soon acquired a new, vivid quality.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54The figures were no longer just ornamentation -
0:34:54 > 0:34:57now they were people and monsters.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17By the 7th century BC, the decoration of large pots
0:35:17 > 0:35:20like this one was changing very fast indeed.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24All that dense, claustrophobic pattern has disappeared -
0:35:24 > 0:35:27there are geometric motifs here,
0:35:27 > 0:35:31but they float freely like elaborate snowflakes.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35And those ranks of tiny animals - they've swollen,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38they've gained in interest - here on the shoulder you can see this
0:35:38 > 0:35:40handsome lion and a boar.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44And the figures, well, they've expanded.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47In fact, some of these are the largest ever
0:35:47 > 0:35:49painted on a Greek vase.
0:35:49 > 0:35:57Up here you have three men thrusting a stake into this slumped giant,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00bearded, holding a cup of wine.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04And it's a story that's related by Homer in The Odyssey, when
0:36:04 > 0:36:09Odysseus gets the Cyclops Polyphemus drunk, before blinding him.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21The body of the pot is also painted with huge figures.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27These are some of the earliest depictions of Gorgons in Greek art.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Recognisable by their snake hair,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37they could turn you to stone just by looking at you.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44And that stony stare draws you into a world of myths
0:36:44 > 0:36:49and monsters that soon transformed the substance of Greek art.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00That change was hastened by the arrival of a new
0:37:00 > 0:37:03decorative style for Greek pots.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07It's known as black-figure technique.
0:37:23 > 0:37:24At their studio in Athens,
0:37:24 > 0:37:28Vicky Xyda-Ralli and her colleagues have spent years
0:37:28 > 0:37:32learning how to faithfully reproduce the black-figure technique.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39First, decorative bands are painted on,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42to show where the design should be drawn.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48Then Vicky begins to mark out the design onto the pot.
0:37:54 > 0:37:55Can I see what it is doing?
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Right, so it's a very clever way of transferring the design.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30Do you think that ancient artists would use tools like this,
0:38:30 > 0:38:31or was it all freehand?
0:38:38 > 0:38:42The next stage is for Vicky to paint on the figures
0:38:42 > 0:38:43using a watered-down clay.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51You're applying a colour to the pot which looks kind of orangey-red.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53So how does it turn black?
0:39:12 > 0:39:17What was new about black-figure was the use of a sharp point to scratch
0:39:17 > 0:39:23in the detail - a technique learnt from Middle Eastern metalworkers.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32I think I've got a basic handle on the technique, and I know
0:39:32 > 0:39:36that I've got down here, well, this is a pot you've prepared already.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Which is the same design, but it's once it's been fired.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42So, it's a total transformation, obviously.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Black-figure became the dominant style in Greek
0:40:06 > 0:40:08pottery for the next century or so.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14Its bold, graphic approach opened up exciting
0:40:14 > 0:40:17possibilities for storytelling.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23One of the things we start to find during this period
0:40:23 > 0:40:28is that there was an explosion of pots decorated with mythical scenes.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Here, we've got the death of Patroclus,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35best friend of Achilles, at Troy - whose burial was described by Homer.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Around this time, sets of stories, folktales really,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45handed down through generations were being canonised -
0:40:45 > 0:40:47effectively that's what Homer was doing.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50And as the stories became common currency,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53painted onto pots just like this one,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57they started to contribute to a binding sense of Greekness.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Perhaps surprisingly,
0:41:05 > 0:41:10that growing Greek identity was stimulated by foreign influence.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12As was Greek art.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20The island of Samos lies in the eastern reaches of the Aegean.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27In antiquity, it was frontier territory - where Western
0:41:27 > 0:41:29culture could meet and mingle with the East.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43At an ancient site known as the Heraion
0:41:43 > 0:41:47and dedicated to the goddess Hera, a remarkable hoard
0:41:47 > 0:41:52of treasures has been retrieved, showing distinct Eastern influence.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59These hammered bronze griffin heads were originally
0:41:59 > 0:42:01a Middle Eastern image.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Now they were made in workshops on Samos,
0:42:05 > 0:42:09and put on Greek cauldrons dedicated at the Heraion.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18This bronze goddess is recognisably from Egypt,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22dedicated by a pilgrim in around 700 BC.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28This wooden figurine, produced 50 years later,
0:42:28 > 0:42:30clearly owes a debt to the Egyptian statue.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Yet it was made by Greek hands.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50In the early 1980s, archaeologists at the Heraion on Samos
0:42:50 > 0:42:55made a discovery that dramatically laid bare that Eastern influence.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03This giant statue stands nearly five metres tall,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and dates from the 6th century BC.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19When you first look at this monster, you have to ask yourself -
0:43:19 > 0:43:22is he from ancient Greece or ancient Egypt?
0:43:24 > 0:43:27Because at first, everything screams Egypt!
0:43:27 > 0:43:32The stiff pose, with his fists clenched by his sides,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36the frontality, the monumental scale.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39And ancient Egyptian art was extremely powerful
0:43:39 > 0:43:43and effective - after all, it lasted for thousands of years.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48In part, because it used easy-to-replicate formulas
0:43:48 > 0:43:53such as dividing up the block for carving using a grid of squares.
0:43:55 > 0:44:00Yet there is another spirit here too. A Greek spirit.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04And it's visible in the slight softening of the flesh,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06the sensuousness of his face.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09And also these folds of muscle above his knees.
0:44:09 > 0:44:15And this frankly curvy quality to the back and the buttocks,
0:44:15 > 0:44:20all of which anticipates later developments in Greek art.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24And unlike the sort of Egyptian statuary that provided the model,
0:44:24 > 0:44:30this man is very clearly naked. In Greek art, statues like this one,
0:44:30 > 0:44:35they form an important type known as kouroi, or youths.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39And originally this particular kouros,
0:44:39 > 0:44:43along with many other statues, lined the Sacred Way of the Heraion.
0:44:45 > 0:44:50What you can't deny is that his overblown presence has
0:44:50 > 0:44:52a truly mesmerising power.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03Like so much early Greek art,
0:45:03 > 0:45:08kouroi reveal a deep fascination with symmetry and pattern.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14In time, they would be found all over Greece - marking graves
0:45:14 > 0:45:16or commemorating victories.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22By the end of the 6th century,
0:45:22 > 0:45:28it's estimated there were as many as 20,000 kouroi in the Greek world.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41The heyday of Samos coincided with an important
0:45:41 > 0:45:43period in the development of Greek art.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47Greek artists were in thrall of course to these strange
0:45:47 > 0:45:51but seductive influences from the East, but they also melded them
0:45:51 > 0:45:55to fashion characteristic Greek forms, such as the kouros.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00As the 6th century wore on, Samos wasn't the only
0:46:00 > 0:46:03ambitious Greek city with splendour to show off.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07And gradually, as the Greeks accumulated wealth and power,
0:46:07 > 0:46:11they stopped looking east, and began searching instead for somewhere
0:46:11 > 0:46:15they could gather to compete on their own terms.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26Greece - more a people than a nation -
0:46:26 > 0:46:31had begun to coalesce into a number of thriving city-states,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35such as Athens, Corinth and Sparta.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Ambitious rivals, they fought frequently.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47But they also needed places to come together in peacetime.
0:46:47 > 0:46:53To share what they had in common - poetry, religion.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Or to compete in athletics.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03One of the most important of these places was Delphi.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16As soon as you come here,
0:47:16 > 0:47:20you sense why this spot was so special for the ancient Greeks.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25Delphi has an aura, a presence, a rugged majesty,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29and it transports you that little bit closer to the divine.
0:47:29 > 0:47:30Over the centuries,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34the significance of Delphi as a sacred site grew and grew,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37until it became what is known as a 'sanctuary' -
0:47:37 > 0:47:41a vital spiritual and religious space that was visited by Greeks
0:47:41 > 0:47:42from every city-state.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46And so it was essential in forging that strong sense of
0:47:46 > 0:47:48Greek togetherness.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00The origins of Delphi as a sanctuary lay in the tradition that the
0:48:00 > 0:48:04voice of Apollo could be heard from a crack in the rock.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09This oracle became a way for warring city-states to
0:48:09 > 0:48:11settle their disputes.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17And once here, they wanted to leave their mark.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Sanctuaries like this were a complete godsend for artists.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29From the 6th century onwards, this place would have been
0:48:29 > 0:48:34completely crammed, a visual jumble, a cornucopia of imagery -
0:48:34 > 0:48:39images of gods, statues of athletes commemorating great victories in
0:48:39 > 0:48:44the games - even elaborate sculpted friezes decorating impressive
0:48:44 > 0:48:49buildings that were built to honour and record military triumphs.
0:48:49 > 0:48:54And all of it, all this stuff, it was given up, inevitably, as
0:48:54 > 0:48:59thanks to the gods, but it was also a way very simply of showing off.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03Because Delphi was an arena for public competition in many
0:49:03 > 0:49:06different senses, including the highly political
0:49:06 > 0:49:11contest between city-states of the most conspicuous expenditure
0:49:11 > 0:49:16and power - all of it communicated via art.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28Greek city-states built treasuries along the Sacred Way
0:49:28 > 0:49:30to impress visitors to the sanctuary.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39The fanciest treasury at Delphi was built by one of the smallest
0:49:39 > 0:49:43Greek states - the wealthy island of Siphnos.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50The Siphnian Treasury had an elaborate frieze that
0:49:50 > 0:49:52ran around its outside like a ribbon.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58And while a statue like a kouros was stiff and formal,
0:49:58 > 0:50:02here the carved human form leaps into life.
0:50:07 > 0:50:12The frieze dramatises a battle from Greek mythology,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16the struggle between the gods and the giants to rule the world.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22It's about the forces of order and civilisation -
0:50:22 > 0:50:23the Olympian gods,
0:50:23 > 0:50:29vanquishing the savagery and barbarism of the helmeted giants.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39The interest for us, if you like, of this frieze now
0:50:39 > 0:50:41is the way it's been sculpted,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44because you find this surging, rippling, pulsing rhythm
0:50:44 > 0:50:48to the piece, which takes us right into the melee of the battle.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50The tumult of activity.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53But it's the carving of the figures that's so crucial here.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56They're not seen in isolation, one by one.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00You have all of this interweaving, overlapping of form.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03For example, this corpse here, you find him
0:51:03 > 0:51:07snaking in-between legs of the giants above.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11But maybe the choicest scene of all is this moment,
0:51:11 > 0:51:13very ferocious, at the heart of the frieze,
0:51:13 > 0:51:18where one of the Olympians riding a chariot charges towards the giants.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22And the chariot is powered by these two lions.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26And you can see one of them here attacking this poor giant
0:51:26 > 0:51:29that we're almost invited to sympathise with.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34The lion is practically hugging his haunches. You can see the way
0:51:34 > 0:51:38that the paws overlap and there's a real sense of depth of space.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44This is something that felt dynamic, it felt radical,
0:51:44 > 0:51:46it felt unprecedented.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50In fact, it ushered in a whole new spirit for Greek art,
0:51:50 > 0:51:54that takes us out of that archaic world of stiffness,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57towards something resembling, if not real life,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01then a certain new vigour of animation and spirit.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11Sanctuaries like Delphi stimulated a new energy
0:52:11 > 0:52:13and creativity in Greek art.
0:52:15 > 0:52:20Motivated less by noble ideals than by something far more
0:52:20 > 0:52:22down-to-earth - competition.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Athletic contests at the sanctuaries - they led to a greater
0:52:31 > 0:52:35demand for art - but in turn, the artists began to compete
0:52:35 > 0:52:40among themselves, like athletes, in a bid to scale new creative heights.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44But if that was the purpose of all this art, then the effect was
0:52:44 > 0:52:48much greater and more unexpected, because art, like the revered
0:52:48 > 0:52:52words of Homer, began to bind Greeks together, just as much as it
0:52:52 > 0:52:56was used to distinguish one city-state from another.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59It wouldn't be long before writers used a single word -
0:52:59 > 0:53:03Hellas - for the land occupied by Greek speakers.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19This new sense of Greek identity would soon invigorate even
0:53:19 > 0:53:21the stiff, formal kouroi.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29While they still owed something to the original Egyptian model, there
0:53:29 > 0:53:34was no denying they were relaxing into something unmistakably Greek.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51This imposing figure was found in a cemetery.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56And what's interesting artistically about him is that although
0:53:56 > 0:54:01he exhibits many of the hallmarks of kouroi generally - the frontal pose,
0:54:01 > 0:54:07his arms rigidly clamped by his sides, even his long hair - he also
0:54:07 > 0:54:12has something new, something of the poise and presence of a real person.
0:54:15 > 0:54:17It's true that, to our eyes,
0:54:17 > 0:54:21his pumped-up muscles don't necessarily seem realistic.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26Particularly in the lower half - his buttock, haunches, his calves,
0:54:26 > 0:54:31they're all overinflated - yet this isn't an empty
0:54:31 > 0:54:36exercise in symmetry, this is an expressive attempt
0:54:36 > 0:54:41to start to understand how human anatomy actually works.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45Slowly but surely, Greek sculpture was softening up,
0:54:47 > 0:54:52and before long, kouroi like this, standing to attention for eternity,
0:54:52 > 0:54:54would be a thing of the past.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09By the end of the 6th century BC,
0:55:09 > 0:55:14Athens was emerging as the dominant city-state in Greece.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20And it was here that the heroic aspirations of Greek artists
0:55:20 > 0:55:21were most keenly felt.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32In 514 BC,
0:55:32 > 0:55:37two Athenian citizens murdered the brother of the city's tyrant ruler.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45Within a few years, the fledgling democracy of Athens
0:55:45 > 0:55:48had commissioned statues of the 'tyrant slayers,'
0:55:48 > 0:55:50as they became known.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15When these two figures were erected in the main public square
0:56:15 > 0:56:21of Athens, just think what a dramatic impact they must have had.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Everything about the sculpture announces a new self-confidence -
0:56:28 > 0:56:32both artistically, and in terms of Greek identity.
0:56:32 > 0:56:38The viewer is cast, with daring panache, in the role of the victim.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43And the old stiffness and formality of those outdated kouroi
0:56:43 > 0:56:46has been consigned to history.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51Instead, we've got this moment of vigorous action, in the round,
0:56:51 > 0:56:54all lunging legs and slashing arms.
0:56:57 > 0:57:02These two dynamic figures are rushing headlong
0:57:02 > 0:57:04into a new era for Greek art.
0:57:14 > 0:57:19Over a period of 1,000 years, the civilisation of ancient
0:57:19 > 0:57:25Greece had gone from an age of scattered kingdoms trading,
0:57:25 > 0:57:30waging war upon each other,
0:57:30 > 0:57:34surviving Dark Age catastrophe,
0:57:34 > 0:57:40to a cultural rebirth and the development of a rich mythology.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48And finally, to the foundations of what we know today
0:57:48 > 0:57:50as classical Greece.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00Now Greek art was a leader, on the brink of its own unique,
0:58:00 > 0:58:05distinctive style. A revolution was just around the corner.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Next time...
0:58:11 > 0:58:13The revolution is announced.
0:58:14 > 0:58:18Art in Greece's classical Golden Age.