Line #19 UsefulNotes/AncientGreece


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/athenian_caryatids_2616.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis in UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}, UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}]]
3
4	-> ''"In short, I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas; while I doubt if the world can produce a man, who where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced by so happy a versatility as the Athenian."''
5	-->-- '''UsefulNotes/{{Pericles}}''', ''[[Creator/{{Thucydides}} Funeral Oration]]''
6
7	''Think of CrystalSpiresAndTogas, but'' ''[[{{Dissimile}} without the crystal spires]] [[AncientRome or the togas.]]''
8
9	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.
10
11	In fact, this picture is a [[AnachronismStew blend]] of two distinct periods; [[TheTimeOfMyths mythical]]/Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece, conventionally said to end with UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar and the wider [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse Bronze Age collapse]] 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 because the Bronze Age collapse hit so hard Greece basically stopped writing down things[[/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 [[UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} NATO bloc]] or [[UsefulNotes/{{Europe}} 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.
12
13	The ancient Greeks were also great colonizers, 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 (popular science may bring up Syracuse, mainly due to Archimedes living there). 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 Greco-Roman culture became [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]].
14
15	Ancient Greece has suffered more than usual cliche-making tendencies because it was unfortunately cast as the embodiment of Enlightenment in the RomanticismVersusEnlightenment contrast (with TheMiddleAges suffering the opposite fate as its {{foil}}). Additionally, most fictional depictions of Ancient Greece will usually focus on the Trojan War (especially with Achilles), [[UsefulNotes/GrecoPersianWars the Greco-Persian Wars]] (particularly the Battle of Thermopylae and the 300 Spartans) or the rise of Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire. Occasionally, UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar will be covered in other works but not as much as the Trojan and Greco-Persian conflicts. Mycenaean civilization despite its overall importance to Greek history is not covered that much in many works other than the Trojan War (which is set approximately around this time period) and the Minoans are even less well represented in modern media portrayals of Ancient Greek culture.
16
17	Ancient Greece, alongside AncientRome, is one of the two primary cultures from which Myth/ClassicalMythology originates.
18
19	Compare AncientEgypt, another historically prominent ancient civilization with a rich culture and mythology that lasted for millennia until the Roman conquest in 30 BC. See also AncientPersia, its main rival which it ended up conquering.
20	----
21	!!Popular tropes featured or that came around in this time period are:
22	* AchillesHeel: Actually ''not'' from Literature/TheIliad but rather a later writer who just happened to write that himself. Yes, FanFiction is OlderThanTheyThink.
23	* AchillesInHisTent: From Literature/TheIliad.
24	* ActionGirl: Artemis, Atalanta, Athena, the Amazons... and that's just startin' with the letter A!
25	* AnAesop: The TropeNamer, Aesop, lived and wrote back then, although the concept is probably as old as storytelling itself.
26	* AthensAndSparta: The Trope Namers, though the Mycenae Greeks would be this to the Minoans, who were artists and traders, and were ultimately conquered by the Mycenaean people.
27	* BadassArmy:
28	** The Spartans (well, according to pop culture that rose since, anyway; other cities were no slouch either).
29	** Athens and Rhodes counted as a [[BadassArmy Badass Navy]] during their respective time periods.
30	* BiggerIsBetterInBed:
31	** {{Inverted}} to Tartarus and back. A small wang was a sign of virility, while being hung like a horse was just plain silly looking! More specifically, the Greeks valued intellect and self-control in men, and a smaller penis was taken as a symbol of such, while a larger penis meant being closer to animals and lacking self-control.
32	** Though played straight (hem, hem) with Priapus, a Greek god of fertility, who sported such a monster, and in fact is the source of the medical term for an unnaturally long-lasting erection. However Priapus' erection is also seen as a symbol of his incredibly boorish and vulgar nature, and all the other gods scorn him.
33	* BazaarOfTheBizarre: The Agora was not only the town market but the place where they went to argue philosophy and politics. You could say that its most bizarre product was knowledge (or attempts at it).
34	* BoardingParty: The normal tactic for any navy that wasn't handy with a ram.
35	* CallThatAFormation: Averted. When Greeks fought they liked to get into dense columns called phalanxes (roller, because of course it rolls over people), and simply smash into each other. Holding this formation against the enemy's was more or less Greek warfare for a good while.
36	%%* CassandraTruth
37	%% Myth/ClassicalMythology is a work page, not a trope, and should not be added to a list of tropes.
38	* {{Conscription}}: Citizens of Greek city-states were expected to buy the equipment of a hoplite and serve in campaigns whenever called upon. Those unable to afford such equipment served as skirmishers, while wealthy nobles were expected to pay for the upkeep of horses and act as cavalry. Fortunately for them, since that's what ''everyone'' did and no more for major military manpower, warfare was confined to the summer and generally single-battle conflicts. Also, the amount of time someone had to serve in the military depended on the city state. In Athens, the minimum is three years to obtain citizenship, and in Sparta it is thirty years.
39	* ContrappostoPose: The Greek development of this pose was a crucial step in the evolution of art.
40	* TheFederation: What the Delian league started as, before becoming a HegemonicEmpire.
41	* ErastesEromenos
42	* FatalFlaw: Since it's the keystone of Greek {{Tragedy}}.
43	* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: How Athens saw itself compared to the Persian Empire, liking to depict their republic as the good and moral hero against a loose and corrupt empire. The truth was rather more nuanced. The Persian Empire was more of an HegemonicEmpire, where every satrapy (or kingdom) could keep their custom and religion as long they acknowledge the Great King's authority and pay taxes. Slavery was also tolerated by not actively exploited. Aside from rebellions from time to time it went on fine for centuries. Athens, on the other side, was notoriusly bad at granting right to anyone who was not a male affluent citizen, actively counted on slavery and formed an HegemonicEmpire through [[TheFederation the Delian League]] that dominated militarily and economically the other cities and claimed taxes for the membership (that sometimes was imposed on them).
44	* LovePotion: Eros's arrows. They are not exactly potions, but they make everyone they are aimed at fall in LoveAtFirstSight.
45	* LosingTheTeamSpirit: Battles in ancient Greece for many years were just hoplite formations smashing into each other. Being both heavily armoured and in close formation, these battles led to very few casualties and ended with one side cracking first by breaking ranks and subsequently fleeing, knowing they couldn't win anymore.
46	* HegemonicEmpire: Athens could be considered the UrExample and TropeNamer. It led the formation of the [[TheFederation Delian League]] of cities to fight the Persians, but continued leading the league after the war (as [[TropeNamer "hegemon"]]), and militarily/navaly and economically dominated the other cities and dictated policy to them to the point that it became referred to as the [[TheEmpire "Athenian Empire"]].
47	* HitAndRunTactics:
48	** The innovation of lightly-armoured skirmishers attacking from afar and retreating when the slow hoplite formations got close ended the hoplites' dominance over Greek battlefields.
49	** To be more precise, it wasn't that skirmishers (archers, javelin users, etc.) were unknown to the Greeks. Most armies had them, although they were considered to be far less honorable than hoplite heavy infantry and rarely decided the outcome of battles. During [[UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar the Peloponnesian War]] (431-404 BC), however, the role of the skirmishers and other, more flexible troops became more important, particularly after an incident when an entire Spartan mora of six hundred hoplites was defeated by a force comprised mostly of peltasts. By the time the Roman legions landed in Greece, the hoplite phalanx had long since been made obsolete by more flexible troops.
50	* HomeGuard: Standing armies were not a known concept for much of Ancient Greece - warfare largely consisted of middle-class citizens acting as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplite hoplites]] with equipment purchased by themselves. Due to this, conflicts were close to the participants' land, confined to summertime and usually consisted of a single battle. However, serving in the military however temporary it tended to be was mandatory for citizens. The big exception, of course, was Sparta, where it was ''illegal'' for a citizen male to be anything ''except'' a soldier.
51	* LandOfOneCity: Independent city-states, of a variety of administrative types, were dominant.
52	* LoverandBeloved: Very much encouraged in the Ancient Greek society.
53	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In Ancient Greek tradition the symbol of martial pride was not the sword as in many cultures (Greek swords were sidearms which came in two flavors: leaf-bladed xiphoses, and falcata-like kopides from which the Nepalese [[KukrisAreKool kukri]] is descended), but their gigantic shields or "hoplons" made for phalanx fighting. For instance when measuring the depth of a phalanx (customarily eight deep but once in a while beefed up by a general who wanted to try something new), they would talk of how many shields deep it was.
54	* MightyGlacier: Hoplites' phalanxes heavy armor and shields in tight formation with spears extended dominated their battlefields for years... until skirmisher tactics with ranged weapons made sure to stay away from the formation that necessarily had to move slowly to keep properly close together enforced a more combined-arms approach in warfare. Rome's development of a faster, more flexible formation equipped with short swords that could get inside the spears' guard sealed the phalanx's fate.
55	* OpposingCombatPhilosophies: Athens ruled the sea. Sparta ruled the land. Everyone else got out of the way.
56	* ThePhilosopher: Ancient Greece, or, to be more precise, the Greek cities in Asia Minor is where western philosophy first appeared.
57	%%* PhysicalGod
58	* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Spartans to their fellow Greeks. From a modern perspective, any Ancient Greek would come across as especially war-focused and war-obsessed. All the Mycenaen Greeks were militant, warrior kingdoms, as evidenced by their epics.
59	* TheQueensLatin: Or rather the Queen's Greek or the Queen's Demotic. Like their Roman counterparts, the Greeks will typically be given English accents and it's often rare to hear them speak in their period-appropriate accent or use any other accent outside of a few works that take place here.
60	* RammingAlwaysWorks: At least it did for Athenians and Rhodians, both of whom were really good at shiphandling. Corinthians, Syracuseans, and others were less obsessed with rams.
61	* SlaveGalley: Subverted. Nobody put slaves on an oar if they could help it, that was a development of the Renaissance. If a navy was pressed so hard that it stooped to using slaves, it would purchase and manumit them. The reality is that the Athenian navy's sailors were well paid and heavily invested in the development, spread, and defense of the Athenian Empire and its democracy, and they actively bought in the idea that an expanded navy in new islands would allow them to build colonies and spread its ideas further.
62	* TheSpartanWay: The Spartans are, of course, the TropeNamer. The fact that the majority of Greek soldiers were citizen-hoplites (i.e. farmers who fought in off-season and had to pay for their bronze) while Sparta enslaved the helotes to do the farming for free while the elite could devote themselves entirely to warfare and being full time soldiers, makes this less impressive than it sounds.
63	* TextileWorkIsFeminine: Inverted for the Spartans; a classic saying had a Spartan woman contrast another woman's fine weaving with her excellent sons -- that is what a woman should produce.
64	* AThicketOfSpears: The Greeks are quite famous for their use of the phalanx in land battles, blocks of hoplites with a bronze shield in one hand and a spear in the other. The Macedonians under Philip and UsefulNotes/{{Alexander\|TheGreat}} improved on it by creating the sarissa, a pike with a shaft eighteen feet long. Alexander's successors weren't as brilliant as he, however, and the phalanx ended up being obsoleted by the more flexible Roman maniple, which mixed spearmen with swordsmen.
65	* TrainingFromHell: Spartans did it for their citizens to let them give name to TheSpartanWay.
66	* UriahGambit: There are a few nasty stories about commanders of a coalition army putting the hoplites from an ally he thought might be an enemy in the next round directly opposite the enemy's best troops.
67	----
68	[[foldercontrol]]
69
70	!!Works produced by Ancient Greeks:
71
72	[[folder:Arts]]
73	* ''Art/LaocoonAndHisSons'' by a trio of {{sculptors}} from the Isle of Rhodes. It depicts the titular characters being bitten and strangled by snakes sent by the gods.
74	* ''Art/VenusDeMilo'' by Alexandros of Antioch. It's not certain whether she is a representation of Venus but is called that because of how she flaunts her sexual appeal.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Literature]]
78	* Literature/TheTrojanCycle, including the Creator/{{Homer}}ic epics
79	** ''Literature/TheIliad''
80	** ''Literature/TheOdyssey''
81	* The ''Literature/{{Batrachomyomachia}}''
82	* The ''Literature/{{Theogony}}'' by Creator/{{Hesiod}}
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Myths]]
86	* Myth/ClassicalMythology
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Theatre]]
90	* Creator/{{Aeschylus}}
91	** ''Theatre/TheOresteia'': ''Theatre/{{Agamemnon}}'', ''Theatre/TheLibationBearers'' and ''Theatre/{{Eumenides}}''.
92	* Creator/{{Aristophanes}}
93	** ''Theatre/TheClouds''
94	** ''Theatre/{{Lysistrata}}''
95	* Creator/{{Euripides}}
96	** ''Theatre/{{Medea}}''
97	** ''Theatre/{{Alcestis}}''
98	** ''Theatre/{{Bacchae}}''
99	** ''Theatre/{{Hippolytus}}''
100	** ''Theatre/TheTrojanWomen''
101	* Creator/{{Sophocles}}
102	** ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing''
103	** ''Theatre/OedipusAtColonus''
104	** ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}''
105	** ''Theatre/{{Ajax}}''
106	** ''Theatre/TheWomenOfTrachis''
107	** ''Theatre/{{Electra}}''
108	** ''Theatre/{{Philoctetes}}''
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	!!Non-ancient works set in this time period:
112
113	[[folder:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
114	* ''Manga/{{Historie}}''
115	* So far, alluded to in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' 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.
116	* ''Utae! Erinna'' by Futaba Sato
117	* The prologue to Creator/OsamuTezuka's ''Manga/{{Unico}}'' is set in Ancient Greece where the [[{{Unicorn}} titular unicorn protagonist]] was owned by Psyche. During a Pet Competition held in Thessilsa, Unico gets separated from Psyche by [[JerkassGods Venus]] out of jealousy. The Greek motif is carried throughout the manga and [[Anime/UnicoBlackCloudAndWhiteFeather other animated]] [[Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico incarnations]] and its [[Manga/UnicoAwakening upcoming re-imagined manga.]]
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:{{Comic Books}}]]
121	* ''ComicBook/ThreeHundred''
122	* ''ComicBook/{{Three}}'', an intentional SpiritualAntithesis to ''300''.
123	* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} at the Olympic Games''
124	* ''ComicBook/TheCartoonHistoryOfTheUniverse'': Volumes 5-7, at any rate.
125	* ComicBook/{{Democracy}}: a graphic novel depicting how, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Democracy was formed]]!
126	* ''ComicBook/{{Epicurus the Sage}}'' by William Messner-Loebs and Sam Kieth.
127	* ''ComicBook/{{Mosaik}}'' No. 218-233 sees the [[ComicBook/DieAbrafaxe Abrafaxe]] in Athens, Delphi and elsewhere on the eve of UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar. They meet Alcibiades, Socrates and Sophocles, but it is not all wine and roses - Abrax even becomes a slave and has to work building the Parthenon and in the Athenian silver mines.
128	* ''ComicBook/{{Erotocritos}}'', a ComicBookAdaptation of the novel of the same name, takes place in [[UsefulNotes/{{Athens}} Ancient Athens]], though the setting is so anachronical you wouldn't know it if it wasn't stated to you.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:{{Films}} -- Live-Action]]
132	[[AC:Historical / Semi-historical:]]
133	* ''Film/ThreeHundred''
134	** ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire''
135	* ''Film/The300Spartans''
136	* ''Film/{{Alexander}}''
137	* ''Film/AsterixAtTheOlympicGames''
138
139	[[AC:Myth-based:]]
140	* ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981''
141	* ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010''
142	* ''Film/{{Immortals}}''
143	* ''Film/JasonAndTheArgonauts''
144	* ''Film/{{Troy}}''
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
148	* ''Literature/TheAeneid''
149	* Literature/GatesOfFire: an epic retelling of the infamous battle told by the perspective of a Helot.
150	* ''Literature/TheMetamorphoses''
151	* Creator/DavidGemmell's ''Literature/LionOfMacedon'' is a retelling of Alexander the Great (or, rather, his dad).
152	* ''The End of Sparta'' by Victor Davis Hanson is a novel about the deeds of the author's hero Epaminondas.
153	* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' and ''Literature/SmallGods'' both feature Ephebe, an AffectionateParody of Athens and her philosophers, while ''Literature/{{Eric}}'' (as well as the videogame ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'') touches on UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar.
154	* Creator/GeneWolfe's ''Literature/SoldierOfTheMist'' series tells the story of a mercenary in Xerxes' army who does something to offend the gods, and is cursed with forgetting everything that happens more than a day ago, but who can see the gods. [[Creator/GeneWolfe Wolfe]] "translates" place names (for example, [[TheSpartanWay Sparta]] is "Rope", and they fought the "Great King" at "Hot Springs"), lending a sense of immediacy, and distancing the book from the familiarity of the trope.
155	* ''The Firebrand'' by Creator/MarionZimmerBradley is a retelling of the Trojan War that gives the focus to the female characters.
156	* Creator/MaryRenault's mature period novels.
157	* ''Literature/LiddellAndScottGreekEnglishLexicon'': Decidedly NonFiction.
158	* ''Literature/ThaisOfAthens'' is set during the classical period and the onset of Hellenism.
159	* ''Literature/TimeScout'' mentions Ancient Greece as the destination of a tourist gate, but only one brief scene features it and only two downtimers came through that gate.
160	* ''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...
161	* ''Literature/AlexanderTrilogy'': A book series about Alexander The Great.
162	* Conn Iggulden's ''"The Gates of UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}"'', the first entry of his ''"Athenian"'' trilogy, which covers [[UsefulNotes/GrecoPersianWars the Battle at Marathon and the Battle at Thermopylae]].
163	* ''Literature/GodsAndWarriors'' is set in Archaic Greece (pre-Mycenaean).
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
167	* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''
168	* ''Series/JasonAndTheArgonauts''
169	* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'': Though the series is ''also'' happening at the time of AncientRome. The writers never tried to respect chronology.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Mythology & Religion]]
173	* The backstory of the Myth/ArthurianLegend in ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'' depicted Brutus and a group of Trojan exiles sailing from Italy to Britain to establish a new empire with New Troy (aka London) as the capital, which will set the stage for Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Podcast]]
177	* The ''Podcast/TwilightHistories'' episode “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.
178	** The miniepisode “Beyond the Indus” takes place in a world where Alexander The Great continued to push into India. Upon arriving, he and his army discover dinosaurs, who have been tamed by the Indians for food and as beasts of burden.
179	* ''Podcast/{{Archaeostoryteller}}'' is a greek podcast entirely dedicated on covering stories (and sometimes, myths) from this time period.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Theatre]]
183	* Creator/William Shakespeare wrote a few plays set in Ancient Greece:
184	** ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'': Albeit in a fantasy version of the setting.
185	** ''Theatre/PericlesPrinceOfTyre''
186	** ''Theatre/TimonOfAthens''
187	** ''Theatre/TroilusAndCressida''
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:VideoGames]]
191	* ''VideoGame/{{Apotheon}}''. The game's graphic style is inspired by Ancient Greek black-figure pottery.
192	* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'': The first three games take place here.
193	* ''The Battle of Olympus''
194	* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus''
195	* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' covers the founding of Athens by Heracles and his priest Kalkas (here a tribal chieftain) up to Alexander the Great.
196	* ''VideoGame/{{Age of Empires\|I}}'', as well as ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''; also, ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' has a tour through the "Classical Age"
197	* 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.
198	* The first and third games in the ''VideoGame/HegemonySeries''. ''Hegemony: Gold'' covers the rise of Philip II of Macedon and the Peloponnesian War through 2 campaigns (Athenians and Spartans). ''Hegemony III'' covers the Greeks who reside in the south of what is now Italy, in the region the Romans called "Magna Graecia" ("Great Greece").
199	* ''VideoGame/TotalWar''
200	** Despite the title, ''VideoGame/RomeTotalWar'' is set in an era still very much dominated by Greek culture, and the Successor States of Alexander the Great constitute a large portion of playable factions.
201	** The ''Wrath of Sparta'' expansion campaign to ''VideoGame/TotalWarRomeII'', which focuses on the Peloponnesian War.
202	* ''VideoGame/TitanQuest''
203	* ''VideoGame/ZeusMasterOfOlympus'' features most of the important city-states and events of Greek history, though it makes no attempt to disguise the presence of mythology (the Athens campaign features both the war against Persia and the centaurs). The sequel focuses on Atlantis, but still has an AllohistoricalAllusion or two (the destruction of Atlantis is linked to the historical eruption of Thera, which is believed to have inspired the story in Plato's writings.
204	* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'' is set between 431 and 422 BCE during the Peloponnesian War between the Athens-led Delian League and the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Additionally, the prologue is set in 480 BCE during the Battle of Thermopylae between the 300 Spartans (led by King Leonidas) and the Persian Army (led by Xerxes). Elements of Ancient Greek mythology such as Medusa and Pegasus are also incorporated into the story and the "Atlantis" DLC features the [[{{Atlantis}} titular underwater city]] under the control of the Isu.
205	[[/folder]]
206
207	[[folder:Webcomics]]
208	* ''Webcomic/PepsiaPhobia'' is about an [[ActionMom Amazonian single mother]] and her son and their adventures in Ancient Greece.
209	* ''[[http://www.bigheadpress.com/otr Odysseus the Rebel]]''
210	* ''[[http://prometheuscomic.wordpress.com/ Prometheus!]]''
211	* ''WebComic/{{Amazoness}}!''
212	* ''Webcomic/RumorsOfWar'': Somewhere between the Late Bronze Age and the Classical Period, presumably in the Greek Dark Ages.
213	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', this is seemingly where the Holiday figures (Santa Claus, Tom Turkey, etc.) got their origins.
214	* ''Webcomic/{{Aisopos}}'' tells the story of the infamous storyteller.
215	[[/folder]]
216
217	[[folder:Web Videos]]
218	* The French {{edutainment\|Show}} ConfessionCam parody web-series ''WebVideo/ConfessionsDHistoire'':
219	** The UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII episode points out the Greek/Macedonian roots of her family, for she is often [[ArtisticLicenseHistory depicted as an "Ancient Egyptian Empire" queen while she wasn't]].
220	** There's a planned four parter about UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. The first episode came out in December 2022, with notably Creator/{{Aristotle}} being interviewed about his days of tutoring of Alexander.
221	[[/folder]]
222
223	[[folder: Western Animation]]
224	* Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' and its animated spinoff series.
225	* The setting of the [[Creator/VanBeurenStudios Cubby Bear cartoon]] "Fiddlin' Fun" is in times of Ancient Greece, with Cubby participating in a chariot race.
226	* The sixth episode of ''WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois'', ''"[[Recap/IlEtaitUneFoisManE06TheAgeOfPericles The Age of Pericles]]"'', covers this time period, from the Minoan Civilization to the death of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.
227	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Krapopolis}}''
228	[[/folder]]

Context UsefulNotes / AncientGreece