History UsefulNotes / AncientGreece

* The ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series when playing as Greece. This is most apparent in VI where Greece is uniquely [[DecompositeCharacter split]] between the Athenian and Spartan city states and Macedon, allowing a game to be played with nothing ''but'' Greeks.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey''

* So far, alluded to in ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' though Herakles/Greece's as yet unseen mother, Mama Greece. It's also implied that she eventually became the Byzantine Empire... only for her to die in Turkey's hands.

In fact, this picture is a [[AnachronismStew blend]] of two distinct periods; mythical/Mycenaean Greece, conventionally said to end with UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar at around 1200BC, and classical/ancient Greece which started around the 8th century BC and lasted until the Roman conquest.[[note]]The period between the two are known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Dark_Ages Greek Dark Ages]] of which little is known[[/note]] The "classical Greece" period itself tends to [[CulturalBlending blend cultures]] that evolved and combined over the course of many centuries. While UsefulNotes/{{Athens}} at one time pulled the city-states together for defense against Persia, and both Sparta and UsefulNotes {{Athens}} were heads of large military unions at one time or another, Greece never had a monolithic culture any more than the NATO block or Europe; it was the sum of the cultures of many independent city-states, each with its own culture, religion and calendar, all ultimately blended together in the giant food processor of history. If you were to visit the Balkan Peninsula in, say, Pythagoras' day, you'd find that religious practices and social mores varied heavily depending on what city you were in. Nonetheless, it's been suggested that the Ancient Greeks in general did see themselves as such, in a manner not too dissimilar to what's now called nationalism.

In fact, this picture is a [[AnachronismStew blend]] of two distinct periods; mythical/Mycenaean Greece, conventionally said to end with UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar at around 1200BC, and classical/ancient Greece which started around the 8th century BC and lasted until the Roman conquest.[[note]]The period between the two are known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Dark_Ages Greek Dark Ages]] of which little is known[[/note]] The "classical Greece" period itself tends to [[CulturalBlending blend cultures]] that evolved and combined over the course of many centuries. While Athens at one time pulled the city-states together for defense against Persia, and both Sparta and Athens were heads of large military unions at one time or another, Greece never had a monolithic culture any more than the NATO block or Europe; it was the sum of the cultures of many independent city-states, each with its own culture, religion and calendar, all ultimately blended together in the giant food processor of history. If you were to visit the Balkan Peninsula in, say, Pythagoras' day, you'd find that religious practices and social mores varied heavily depending on what city you were in. Nonetheless, it's been suggested that the Ancient Greeks in general did see themselves as such, in a manner not too dissimilar to what's now called nationalism.

* BadassGay: Notably the Sacred Band.

* The ''Podcast/TwilightHistories'' “The Winged Victory” takes place in a world where Rome fell into civil war, resulting in the lose of the Greek territories. The Greek city-states formed a confederation known as Pontus. By the time of the episode, the Romans are determined to reconquer Greece. Fortunately for the Greeks (though less so for you) you have been stranded in this world and are determined to give the Greeks a fighting chance by introducing steam engines, single-shot rifles, flame throwers, and gas lighting to Greece.

* ''Disney/{{Hercules}}''

The ancient Greeks were also great colonisers, founding cities across the Mediterranean from what is now Spain to the Black Sea. In fact after the 4th century BC the largest Greek-speaking cities were generally ''outside'' the territory of modern Greece, though only Alexandria in Egypt shows up much in popular fiction. The classic Greek City State era ended with the conquests of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat followed by UsefulNotes/MacedonianSuccessionWars, by which time Greek actually spread across the Balkans and across the Middle East, all the way to Bactria (Afghanistan) and India. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka left behind pillars with inscriptions in Greek alongside Pali and other Indian languages, and Greek sculpture inspired Buddhist sculpture in India. Eventually these colonies became conquered by UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic where Hellenistic civilization nonetheless continued on unperturbed under the patronage of Romans who rather liked Greek culture. Indeed by the time the Western Roman Empire fell, TheRemnant of a truly Graeco-Roman culture became [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]].

%* LovePotion (Eros's arrows)

* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}'' and ''Discworld/SmallGods'' both feature Ephebe, an AffectionateParody of Athens and her philosophers, while ''Discworld/{{Eric}}'' (as well as the videogame ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'') touches on UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar.

* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Inverted to Tartarus and back. A small wang was a sign of virility, while being hung like a horse was just plain silly looking!

** Played straight with Athenian society, which was profoundly misogynistic (which is itself a Greek word). One of the very few famous Athenian women was Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, Athens's most eminent statesman, and ''{{Creator/Socrates}}'' said that she taught him the art of rhetoric. Very little else about her is known for sure, because most of the men who said or wrote anything about her were repelled by the fact that she was both smart and opinionated, to the point they can't bring themselves to write further about her.[[note]]Plenty of Athenian men noted that the aforementioned Aspasia was a great conversationalist, but none of them bothered to actually write down anything she said.[[/note]]

In fact, this picture is a [[AnachronismStew blend]] of two distinct periods; mythical/Mycenaean Greece, conventionally said to end with UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar at around 1200BC, and classical/ancient Greece which started around the 8th century BC and lasted until the roman conquest.[[note]]The period between the two are known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Dark_Ages Greek Dark Ages]] of which little is known[[/note]] The "classical Greece" period itself tends to [[CulturalBlending blend cultures]] that evolved and combined over the course of many centuries. While Athens at one time pulled the city-states together for defense against Persia, and both Sparta and Athens were heads of large military unions at one time or another, Greece never had a monolithic culture any more than the NATO block or Europe; it was the sum of the cultures of many independent city-states, each with its own culture, religion and calendar, all ultimately blended together in the giant food processor of history. If you were to visit the Balkan Peninsula in, say, Pythagoras' day, you'd find that religious practices and social mores varied heavily depending on what city you were in. Nonetheless, it's been suggested that the Ancient Greeks in general did see themselves as such, in a manner not too dissimilar to what's now called nationalism.

* The first two games in the ''VideoGame/HegemonySeries''.

* ''Webcomic/{{Aisopos}}'' tells the story of the infamous storyteller, from his childhood, untill his [[spoiler: elderly days]].

* ''Literature/{{Spartan}}'' is a 1988 Italian historical fiction novel about two Spartan brothers:the elder brother is a Spartan paragon, the younger brother, Talos, was crippled and deformed at birth and abandoned by the parents due to the strict laws of Sparta, who obligates parents to abandon deformed infants. The younger brother is raised by the Helots, the SlaveRace of Sparta, till the day he meets his long lost brother and a rivalry sparks...

* ''Literature/{{Spartan}}'' is a 1988 Italian historical fiction novel about two Spartan brother's:the elder brother is a Spartan paragon, the younger brother, Talos, was crippled and deformed at birth and abandoned by the parents due to the strict laws of Sparta, who obligates parents to abandon deformed infants. The younger brother is raised by the Helots, the SlaveRace of Sparta, till the day he meets his long lost brother and a rivalry sparks...

Home of columned temples, chiton-wearing gods, slinkily dressed goddesses, amazons, and bearded philosophers. Also home to mythic [[SwordAndSandal thong-wearing]][[note]]That's referring to thong sandals by the way, not [[BarelyThereSwimwear the ones]] [[HaveAGayOldTime you were probably thinking of]].[[/note]] heroes who ride winged horses and do great deeds (all without getting either chafed ''or'' sunburnt). The [[TheSpartanWay Spartans]]
live here too, and they're known for their [[TrainingFromHell brutal training methods]], stylish [[BulletTime slow-motion fighting techniques]] and for [[Film/ThreeHundred being manly enough to charge nearly naked into battle even when outnumbered 70 to 1]]. And they ''[[BlatantLies definitely]]'' [[HoYay aren't gay]]. Frequently [[AncientGrome confused]] with AncientRome by directors who just don't care.

In fact, this picture is a [[AnachronismStew blend]] of two distinct periods; mythical/Mycenaean Greece, conventionally said to end with UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar at around 1200BC, and classical/ancient Greece which started at around 900BC which lasted until the roman conquest.[[note]]The period between the two are known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Dark_Ages Greek Dark Ages]] of which little is known[[/note]] The "classical Greece" period itself tends to [[CulturalBlending blend cultures]] that evolved and combined over the course of many centuries. While Athens at one time pulled the city-states together for defense against Persia, and both Sparta and Athens were heads of large military unions at one time or another, Greece never had a monolithic culture any more than the NATO block or Europe; it was the sum of the cultures of many independent city-states, each with its own culture, religion and calendar, all ultimately blended together in the giant food processor of history. If you were to visit the Balkan Peninsula in, say, Pythagoras' day, you'd find that religious practices and social mores varied heavily depending on what city you were in. Nonetheless, it's been suggested that the Ancient Greeks in general did see themselves as such, in a manner not too dissimilar to what's now called nationalism.

In fact, this picture is a [[AnachronismStew blend]] of two distinct periods; mythical Greece, conventionally said to end with UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar around 1000BC, and classical Greece, home to the first philosophers. The "classical Greece" period itself tends to [[CulturalBlending blend cultures]] that evolved and combined over the course of many centuries. While Athens at one time pulled the city-states together for defense against Persia, and both Sparta and Athens were heads of large military unions at one time or another, Greece never had a monolithic culture any more than the NATO block or Europe; it was the sum of the cultures of many independent city-states, each with its own culture, religion and calendar, all ultimately blended together in the giant food processor of history. If you were to visit the Balkan Peninsula in, say, Pythagoras' day, you'd find that religious practices and social mores varied heavily depending on what city you were in. Nonetheless, it's been suggested that the Ancient Greeks in general did see themselves as such, in a manner not too dissimilar to what's now called nationalism.

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Spartans to their fellow Greeks. From a modern perspective, any Ancient Greek would come across as especially war-focused and war-obsessed.

* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth''

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarSeries'': The first three games take place here.