Inside the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Description
The world's most important museum dedicated to the history of ancient Greece, the National Archaeological Museum displays 11,000 exhibits from 7000 BC to the Roman conquest. In this episode, we accelerate an ancient warship to ramming speed to discover why Athenian democracy beat Persian tyranny, then visit a king's grave to reveal how bogus archaeology helped fuel the pseudohistorical ravings of Adolf Hitler. We suit volunteers in armour made of bronze and armour made of linen, and then shoot arrows at them to discover which is better. (Spoiler: Alexander the Great preferred linen.) We visit the cave where Plato and Pythagoras secretly imbibed psychedelic chemicals, then go underground to face our fears in the labyrinth that inspired the myth of the Minotaur. And finally, we meet an engineer who has spent a lifetime recreating an ancient gadget called the Antikythera Mechanism to reveal its mysterious purpose.
Runtime
45 min
Series
Subjects
Contributor
Geography
Genre
Date of Publication
2012
Database
Alexander Street
Direct Link
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