Showing results for "Seven" in Greece

Author, broadcaster and 'rock star classicist' Natalie Haynes is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. In these four series, she explores some of the most prominent historical and mythological figures from the classical world, telling their stories through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation.

In the thirteenth century BC, a quarter of a century before the Trojan War, seven Greek warrior heroes went against the Greek city of Thebes to restore one of their number to the throne of his father, the famous King Oedipus. Several children of those seven heroes would later take part in the siege of Troy. This adventure was equal in the minds of Greeks and Romans with the siege of Troy as told in Homer’s epic The Iliad, an event which it predated by a generation.

Oath of the Spartans: The Road to Thermopylae is a gripping historical epic that brings to life the legendary stand of King Leonidas and his 300 warriors. From the shadows of Persian expansion to the fiery defiance at the narrow pass of Thermopylae, this narrative plunges you into the heart of one of history’s most heroic last stands.

One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the "Histories" describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colorful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants.

The Colossus of Rhodes, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Pharos of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis and the Great Pyramids at Giza; of the seven wonders of the ancient world, only the last one is still in existence. Yet, through this recording, it is possible to step back in time and experience the extravagant glory of these incredible feats of human construction.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, two ancient writers named Antipater of Sidon and Philo of Byzantium authored antiquity's most well-known tour guides. After the two Greeks had traveled around the Mediterranean, they wrote of what they considered to be the classical world's greatest construction projects. While there is still some question as to who actually authored the text attributed to Philo and Antipater at the time of its creation, their lists ended up comprising the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

In 353 BCE, when King Mausolus of Halicarnassus passed away, his sister and queen Artemisia was inconsolable, but she found a way to honor him through finishing a project that they had started together during his life: the construction of a mausoleum that was so marvelous it would later be considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.