JOANNA LUMLEY: I'm in Athens, the capital of Greece, and I'm standing on the Acropolis which was created at the very dawn of European history. Now, in this series I'm going to be studying all things Greek, both ancient and modern, by taking a journey through her incredibly rich history. This is where Western civilisation began. Drama, democracy, language, science, medicine - this country has given us so much and it's influenced the fabric of our everyday life. If you're like me, you probably know something or nothing about Greece. Some names are incredibly familiar - the Parthenon, Zeus, Mount Olympus, Socrates, Zorba the Greek. But beyond this patchwork knowledge is a country as different and surprising as any I've ever visited. Oh, look at this! From the living history, of its islands to the turbulent borderlands and remote mountains in the Land of the Gods. This is Delphi. Roaming through this country to understand modern Greece, I follow a route through some of its most influential past, which shaped the world we live in today. Athens is one of the world's oldest cities, with at least 7,000 years of recorded history. Here, the past seeps out of every street corner. But one era defines this city more than any other - that of the ancient Greeks who lived 2,500 years ago. I thought I'd start my odyssey in the south of the country, visiting the most important sites left by this great civilisation. From places of theatre, myth, sport and religion, they represent the very cornerstone of this empire. First on the list, the Acropolis, which surely defines the meaning of the word 'iconic'. It was the beating heart of this civilisation, a symbol of their democracy, wealth and artistic philosophy. Fantastic. So many people. So many tourists for this incredibly popular place. Today, a million people visit the Acropolis each year, making it one of Greece's most popular tourist attractions. Imagine walking up here for the first time, like me, and seeing ahead of you the Parthenon, the Greek temple to the goddess Athena. It's an architectural masterpiece made up of 15,000 pieces weighing 20,000 tonnes. This is the largest ancient building created entirely from marble. It's always extraordinary to come to a building that you know so well from pictures and drawings and imitations around the world - just to come and stand in it and to be in this great temple. How did they do it? How did they get the weight of this stuff? How did they cut it so beautifully and there are men here restoring it, cladding it. Painstaking work. Oh, look, here's the person I'm longing to meet. Oh! Hi, Joanna. Joanna. How are you? Dr Ioannidou is in charge of the restoration project. These marble cutters are working very hard in order to produce in the new marble the curving lines of these flutes. So they look straight. Yes, they look but... But they're slightly curved. They're slightly curved. To please the eye? Well, yes, of course. And you've kept the different colour for a purpose. Yes. Paler, but to show... Yes. Everybody can understand what is new and what is old. To rebuild the temple, the sculptors must complete the ultimate jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces of marble sitting loose around the monument must find a place. But to do that, they must produce new, intricate pieces that link together these ancient parts. Using many of the same tools and methods as their ancestors, each piece of new marble must match the exact contours of the original block. They've got wet clay here so that, rather like at the dentist to see if you've got the perfect bite, he puts a little piece of paper in and goes, 'Uh, uh, uh,' and you take it out to see where its meeting or not. And it will take about a month to for each block like this to be done perfectly. So they can see by what's left here where this hasn't quite married, because they've got to make an absolutely perfect fit. If it's just like that, they have to take that bit off so it fits like absolutely like a glove. They only chip away from the new marble. The old marble is sacred. Staggering. This entire place is a work of absolute genius, not the genius of one man, the genius of thousands of men. And do you know how long it took to build? This entire temple, ten years. That's all. But this job will take longer than ten years. It has suffered centuries of abuse. Look at this! Yes. First it was used as a gunpowder store by the Ottomans, then blown up by the Venetians and an Englishman, Lord Elgin, removed parts and sent them home to the British Museum, even now a bone of contention between the Greeks and the British. You do this every day? Don't look down. Don't look down. I won't look down, but you must go slowly and not leave me. I'm being taken to see some of the restoration, but it's at a terrifying distance from the ground. I have to hold on both sides because I have to lull myself into a sense of absolutely not looking down, being OK. Almost the greatest dread of my life is vertigo. As I child, I once got stuck on a ladder and my sister had to come and help me down. I was about seven, I got stuck and she had to move every finger and every foot to take me down and it took about I don't know, 25 minutes, so coming up here, I felt that, quite frankly, I was doing it for the viewers. That's you, because I love you. The restorers working at these perilous heights are involved in their most delicate project - protecting the marble that has been ravaged by pollution and previous botched restoration work. Is this water? Yes. Yes, it's water, to remove the dust from inside, you can see? I can see. Look how it's coming off. And this is the figure of a man. He has this beautiful arm here. This is quite extraordinary, because here we are on one of the most colossal, monumental buildings in the world and look at the size of these tools that are being used, like a dentist's tools, they are tiny. BOTH: They are dentist tools! They ARE dentist's tools. And also this. Oh, look at this. Dentists use it. Wow. Isn't that extraordinary? The love and care that the modern Greeks are lavishing on this matchless monument are just what this glorious building deserves. From the White House in Washington, to the Bank of England in the city of London, its architecture has been slavishly copied - a symbol of the importance of Greek culture throughout the world. After seeing the Acropolis today just made me think how little we know about Ancient Greece and how nice it would be if we taught Latin and Greek again in schools so we could learn it and it wouldn't just be the lucky ones who got to know about it. Now, there's something else that we don't know about Greece, it's that we think that they smash plates. They don't - it's been outlawed. They threw so many plates at people to show their appreciation of singers and dancers that there were injuries so they've banned it, it's outlawed. Instead of plates, they throw flowers. (Horn honks) Throughout Greek history, flowers have been used as offerings to the gods. I'm off to a bouzoukia, which is a modern twist on an old tradition. There are 50 of these clubs in Athens, which, after midnight, cater for groups who want a wild night out. Joanna. Hi, Joanna. Yasas. How are you? Fine? Yes. Welcome to Caramela. My host tonight is nightclub owner Iannis Boytypakos, which means 'naughty boy'. # GREEK MUSIC This is no ordinary nightclub. Audiences can reach 5,000 dancing through the night to a succession of singers. (Sings in Greek) But I've come for the main event when crowds start to celebrate Greek-style with flowers. They have them on these little wicker trays, racked up five-high, those cost 60 euros, so about 50 quid, and those are coming in and being thrown plenty. So this is extraordinary in a country which is, to a certain extent, really suffering very badly financially. I don't think a lot of them are tremendously rich. In fact, Greece has one of the worst economies in Europe. But it's a tradition for bouzoukia revellers to pay a fortune for their flowers. Their bill for the night can be more than the cost of a brand-new car. We live for the day, for this day. For this moment. Yes, for the moment. We don't care for tomorrow. And you party the whole way through the night? Tomorrow, maybe everything... boom. And do you think when Greece recovers its economy... I don't think it will recover, ever. Don't you think? The most important thing is to go out, have a good time, make yourself happy, let tomorrow take care of itself, live for the moment. It's coming up to three o'clock now. That's pretty early for me, as you can guess, but I might just call it a day. 1 Whilst the culture of bouzoukia has changed to suit modern tastes, there's another tradition which has remained the same for thousands of years, which today, is virtually unknown even here in Greece. I'm saying goodbye to Athens and the mainland. My guide, Petros, is taking me to the isolated corner of Evia, the second largest island in Greece. Throughout ancient times, Evia bore the brunt of a succession of invaders intent on plundering Athens's riches. Here, the hills have echoed to the sounds of an astonishing language, thought to be a relic of those ancient invasions. Finally, we arrive at the village of Antia. Up here? I think so. (Speaks in Greek) (Whistles) (Speaks in Greek) (Speaks in Greek) (Whistles prosodically) (Both speak in Greek) (Whistles prosodically) We're gonna sit here. (Whistles, speaks in Greek) (Whistles) (Speaks in Greek) I was only making it up. I don't know! (Speaks in Greek) She says that you didn't say something. I didn't say anything! She's found me out. I was just whistling. (Whistles prosodically) (Whistling) (Whistles prosodically) (Whistles prosodically) (Whistles prosodically) (Whistles prosodically) So that's her sound? (Whistles) Here come some people. (Whistles prosodically) (Whistles prosodically) (Man whistles in distance) (Speaks in Greek, whistles) (Man whistles in distance) (Whistles prosodically) The sound is actually like people who can whistle for taxis, which I can't do because my whistling is... I've been trying to practise all my... Jennifer Saunders can do it, I can't. I can't make a sound. I just dribble! I'd be hopeless up here. I wouldn't be able to get any tea for a neighbour or anything. (Whistles prosodically) (Both whistle in conversation) Do our ladies know where the tradition of whistling came from? There is a belief that in ancient times, the invading Persians would post whistlers on the mountain tops as sentries so they could signal an imminent attack on Athens. (Whistling) I'm just glad it wasn't my job. I wouldn't get anywhere near it. It would be as if I were dumb, being up here. (Speaks in Greek) (Whistles short tones) (Speaks in Greek) (Whistles) One for the dogs. Look - the dogs! We've suddenly got a mass of dogs around. That reminds me strangely of... Oh, there's a goat on the roof over there. They've called the goats who are now climbing over the roofs towards us. (Shouts in Greek) Look - more goats have arrived. Amazing! They know that we're going to be having tea in a second and they're travelling in. The cocks are crowing. It's extraordinary. It's the nearest thing to Dr Doolittle I've ever seen - you whistle and the goats answer back again, then you shout at them and they've got it absolutely. (Shouts in Greek) (Goat brays) This extraordinary language is in danger of being lost to the world. 30 years ago, Antia was home to 100 people. Today, there are just 40. With all the youngsters gone, the school has closed. Only the older generation is left. Kyria, is it important that whistling doesn't die out? How can you make sure that future generations will continue to whistle? It's sad to think that after hundreds of generations of whistling, Kyria Koula and her friends might be the last to communicate in this strange language. As yet, none of their children have learnt to whistle like their ancestors. 1 Back on the mainland and I swap my car for the train for the next leg of my journey. Somehow I didn't expect the weather to be so... British. The train's just left Athens here and we're going to be travelling round, round, round, round, round into the Peloponnese, this sort of wild area which is so mysterious and, of course, the very birthplace of all the gods and myths and legends, and everything seemed to happen down here. My route will take me to the region's most spectacular mythical and historic sites, discovering places that drew masses of pilgrims from across the ancient Greek world, ending my journey at this great civilisation's most sacred place - Delphi. But first, my train is taking me to Epidavros, the most famous theatre in the ancient world. As an actress, I'm longing to see this place. The legendary acoustics of what we call Epidaurus has attracted some of our modern-day greats like Pavarotti and Maria Callas. I'm meeting one of the most popular female singers of them all - Nana Mouskouri. # So goodbye, my love, till then # Till... # Over her 50 year career, Nana is claimed to have sold more records in more countries than any other woman. # Goodbye till then. # Oh, look at this! Isn't that wonderful! Epidavros was built in the 4th century BC to honour the god of healing Asclepius, son of Apollo. It was a sanctuary to cure the sick, and for the Greeks, theatre was part of the medicine. There were comedies, singing contests and great tragic plays. It's a very mystical place and it's a place where everybody comes to participate and get together. One does feel an extraordinary presence here. It is. It's true, isn't it? We believe that it is inhabited by gods, by semi-gods. The legends survive, and here, it's full of legends. Have you sung here? No. No? I haven't had this honour, really. It's the dream, I think, of every singer. Trained as a classical singer, the young Nana was cast to sing in the chorus of an opera here, but at the last moment she was dismissed, simply because she was considered to be a pop star. When we arrived here, there was an order from the highest point possible to not use me because it became a scandal and I was really... I came back the next day all by myself crying the whole way through, so it was something... For me, it was a sort of stigma. Those slights, those injuries sit deep in your heart. Yes, I think I never learned more than from my failures. Yes. And this was no failure. You can be heard all over the auditorium by an audience of 15,000, especially if you stand bang in the middle of the stage. (Shouts) The acoustics are so special. Can we test them? You don't think you'd sing? Should I try? Will you? Please try. OK, I try. I don't know what to do. I did not rehearse, I did not... Oh, please. It's a pleasure. Yes, I will do it. Miss Mouskouri, this is your five-minute call. OK, I go fast, and I better have a good voice! (Chuckles) I should be able to hear Nana perfectly right up at the back, 200 feet away. The shape of the theatre and the use of limestone rock reflect the sound perfectly. So, Joanna, I am on the right spot. Can you hear me? I can hear you, Nana. OK, I can't hear you very well, but it's OK. # Ave Maria # Gratia plena # Maria, gratia plena # Maria, gratia plena # Ave Maria. # Bravo, Nana! (Giggles) (Speaks in Greek) That was extraordinary - without any rehearsals or any orchestra. (Sniffs) (Chuckles) I first saw Nana Mouskouri when I was in my teens, I suppose, I mean I didn't see her. And it's just so odd as life goes by that you get to meet some of these great gods. (Sniffs) Well, that was something to be in Epidavros and to hear Nana Mouskouri singing for a tiny house on a Monday evening, but just sort of in the lap of the gods. 1 In the south of the Peloponnese is a remote region called the Mani. It's an area that was left behind by the modern world. A huge mountain range had kept the Mani peninsula isolated and forgotten for thousands of years. At its southern-most tip, there's a place believed to be the mythical gates of Hades where the ancients went when they died. Some say the people here are the direct descendants of the Spartans, the most bloodthirsty warriors of ancient Greece. My guide, Petros, and I have driven through Arcadia and Sparta on our way to the extreme south. He wants to show me this unique frontier land of Greece. Only the last 40 years, the luxury of road came to Mani, it was introduced in that place. What did they do before? They used to use donkeys. Donkeys, donkey tracks, just walking... Donkey trails. It's so wild. Remote and lucky, this is Mani. Everywhere just seems to be rocks, rock hillsides, rocks in the ground. Everything looks like castles, of course, because of these tower houses. Everything... That little village just looks like a pile of tiny grey castles. We're driving up to Vathia, a 16th-century fortified tower-house settlement. It's a town with a bloody past. Hello? Is there anyone there? Yasas? Yasas? There's nobody here. It's very strange. In the mid-19th century, 300 people lived here. It was rife with blood feuds and vendettas. Oh, little, little door. Look at this - it's got a little platform with a bed here. Local men hid in their tower homes after falling out with their neighbours, usually over land or women. They'd take pot shots from here, trapped until they'd killed their enemy who could be hiding just across the street. Often the victor would celebrate his success by nailing his neighbour's severed head to his front door. There are beds in here. I feel rather creeped here. There's nothing here, there's just birds. (Whispers) I can see somebody. (Whispers) Yes. I can see somebody on a roof! Shall we go and say yasas? Yes, yes. Yasas. It seems that the few people left in Vathia still remain wary of strangers. Which way? This way? Like other villages in the Mani, Vathia became a ghost town when the first roads were built in the 1970s. People in this area emigrated to Athens, leaving her land and houses empty. It has a desolate, breath-taking beauty. Oh, look, here's somebody! There's a dog and a little woman. Let's go and ask her. Yasas. Yasas. (Both speak Greek) It's a dead end. And so no cafe or anything, nowhere we can get a cup of coffee or stop and eat something? (Speaks in Greek) But she just invited us. We can have a coffee at her house. Oh, that would be wonderful. (Speaks in Greek) Tell me, what is it like in the winter here? It must be very cold. And there's no.... What does she live on? Mmm, very strong, beautiful. Aromatic. How fantastic. Kyria Antonia lives a solitary life in this abandoned village and survives by living off the land. This is a fabulous pathway, isn't it? It's a natural stairway. It's just extraordinary. For supper, she's picking wild asparagus and has invited me to help her. Can you imagine that this is the way you get your food, which is just by hunting on these hillsides. And finding not very much, just kind of leaves and little plants. She knows them all, it's just this lovely way of living wild, but, gosh, what slim pickings. Looking for little strands of wild asparagus. I pick? Yeah? That one? This one. Wild asparagus. Well, Kyria Antonia and I have been sort of hunting for a little bit. She obviously has got a much sharper eye because she can see exactly what she's looking for. And I just hope that we can get enough together so we can have a little supper, which she's promised to cook me. It's just the extraordinary kindness of people who seem to have so very much less than we do. Ah, Kyria, thank you! Look - two more to our collection! The wild asparagus is cooked in the simplest possible way. Boiled for 10 minutes in water, a little bit of salt, some oil, and then it's almost ready to serve, except for one last vital ingredient. Lemons as sweet as oranges - huge beautiful lemons. Eat it almost perhaps a little bit like spaghetti, just tangling it up. Mmm! Mmm. (Both giggle) It's absolutely beautiful! Kyria, why do you still stay here when there's nobody here? Kyria, would you ever like to live in a city? Did you like it? Kyria, do you get lonely here? I should like to be like Kyria Antonia. I should like to be afraid of nothing, but I'm going to the Gates of Hades, where the dead went to be judged. Even though I'm alive, will I be found wanting? Three mighty gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, drew lots to rule the world. Zeus got the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld, whose entrance is in a cave and it's only accessible by boat. It's quite strange to be sitting here in the peaceful sunlight with the waves lapping my feet and knowing that in just a very short time I shall be at the gates of hell, the gates of the underworld, and everyone can enter, and no-one can leave. And it's just strange because I've heard about these things all through my life and I thought I'd be feeling quite sort of light-hearted about it, but I feel very, very full of respect, a little bit, um... It feels quite serious. A local boatman, Petros Georgariou, has been to the entrance before. In these parts, people still believe the gods and legends still have meaning. And this is pre-Christianity, pre-Islam, this goes back to the beginning of time, so it's sort of pagan, so I think the idea of the underworld and hell being below and heaven being above is actually apparent in all religions, it seems to me. This old notion of that you would be damned for all eternity sort of rather gripped at the heart of me... ..so I'm taking every precaution today. This is extraordinary. We are here at the very gate of Hades, of Aides, here, a sort of unexpectedly modest little cave, but this is the very end of what was then the known world. After this, there's nothing but sea until you get to Africa. So this was the end of continental Europe here, this extraordinary place. So there are these flowers which I send as an offering. And also I have brought, as an offering - it's really to Charon the Boatman, who will be underground - I brought two coins, and I offer these to the gods. And one last thing I brought with me. I wanted to offer something that was of real value, and so I've brought a pearl, which is for the spirits of all the people who have gone into the underworld and can never come out again. As we retreat from the Gates of Hell, a strong wind whips up, blowing us safely back to shore. Tomorrow, we visit the birthplace of the most spectacular event on Earth - the Olympics. 1 I've left the barren region of the Mani Peninsula behind. And I'm travelling north to perhaps one of the most famous of sporting arenas - ancient Olympia. With the Olympics in Britain almost upon us, I don't need to tell you how important sport is in our society. It all started in Olympia nearly 3,000 years ago. The ancient Olympic games were the pinnacle of athletic achievement. With half a square mile of ruins, the site was a health sanctuary, a bit like a modern-day Olympic village. At its very heart is the place where men were worshipped like gods. This is the archway through which all the Olympic athletes passed. Thick walls. You can almost feel it throbbing off it. Bunched-up nerves jangling, sweating slightly with the anticipation of this phenomenal trial ahead of them. (Gasps) Look, look, look, this is the stadium. Look at the size of this place! This held 45,000 spectators and they all sat on grass, except for the judges who sat on seats. They had running races. They always had the same sort of disciplines. There was the Pentathlon, which was running, jumping, jumping from a start like that, it was throwing the javelin, it was throwing the discus and it was wrestling. What they didn't have in those days was synchronised swimming, ping pong, you know what I mean? Mans' games, held in the nude. Married women weren't allowed to come and watch them because it was considered that the athletes were so attractive... And here come some damn attractive athletes sprinting past now. The athletes were so attractive that the women wouldn't be able to contain themselves and would become unfaithful to their husbands, so virgins or unmarried girls were allowed in to watch. Women weren't allowed to do anything. (Speaks in French) (Speaks French) A little bit? Yeah? I asked a little bit if they know about the Olympic games and the history and I think they have come here probably just to learn about it. The great thing is that the second you arrive here, all you can think about is just testing yourself off. You can't help it. It's like a kind of trigger. You go, 'The Olympic track, I must run it,' even though it's extremely hot - il est tres, tres chaud aujourd'hui. But still you just have to do it to match yourself up to those Olympian standards. Of course, these being girlies wouldn't have been allowed to in the old days, so times have changed. Merci beaucoup. Delphi lies to the north of the Bay of Corinth. It was the most sacred place in the ancient world, where emperors, peasants and warriors alike sought the mystical predictions of the Oracle. I'm following in the footsteps of Odysseus, Alexander the Great, and Apollo himself. This is Delphi. And this is where the Oracle lives. And there's a huge resonance about this valley. It's fantastic. Why do they come here to this particular place even before it was called Delphi? Well, this is why - Zeus released two eagles at the end of the earth and where they met and clashed was here and so this became what Zeus called the navel, the tummy-button, the navel of the world. The very centre, the very core, so this was already chosen by Zeus, God of Gods, to be the centre of the world. We are standing now in the centre of the world. No wonder people came here for whatever reason. And they still do in their thousands. But some people come for more than souvenirs and photographs. 54-year-old James Head was living in London working as a maths teacher until he came to Delphi for the first time 12 years ago. So, what happened? You arrived here... All of a sudden, it was a kind of eureka moment for me that perhaps there is something sacred, something holy, somewhere, and in different places, and it just so happened that the first time I ever had that feeling was here in Delphi. For you, this sense of spirituality came alive because of Apollo. It came alive in this place and I suppose this place is firmly associated with Apollo. It was a life-changing experience for me. How has it changed your life? From that first visit, I find myself living here full-time, obviously I visit the temple regularly, I say a few prayers. As in ancient times, I offer a little wine to the god. A little libation. A libation or whatever it is. I don't really understand why it is I do it. I just feel that that is something I like to do. And although I have travelled a little and could travel to other places, I find myself coming back here time and time again, because when I'm up there pouring my libation, Joanna, there's nowhere I'd sooner be. Now it was my turn to meet Apollo, the god of light, prophecy and truth. It seems extraordinary that 100 years ago, this sacred site in the shadow of Mount Parnassus was hidden from the world, covered by 30 feet of earth with a village built on top. When the French excavated it, they were astonished and delighted to find a ruined city of 3,000 statues, monuments and temples. These steps would have been would have been alive with pilgrims, plodding up their last, last weary way at the end of this immense journey to come to the centre of the world, the place they'd been longing to see - the Temple of Apollo. This is how the Temple of Apollo would have looked in ancient times. The most important decisions in ancient Greek history were made by the Oracle who sat underground in the centre of the temple. But scientists today have discovered that the site was built on the top of an ancient fault line which emitted hallucinogenic gases. And look here! I've been told about this. This is where the Delphic Oracle had her tripod seat - The legs of the tripod were there. This was obviously that way round. The seat was here, and here in front is the hole through which the methane or ethanol gas came hurtling out. Anyway, some sort of mind-altering gas, and she was sitting on here. Some people say she was chewing Daphne leafs. Whatever it was, she was in a complete trance, in a complete stewed state, and so what people asked her, she was actually talking in tongues. And funnily enough, I've seen this up in the high hills of Hunza in the Karakorams, where they inhale juniper smoke and people became high as kites. And this prophetess, this seer, this oracle was high as a kite and couldn't even speak her own language. She was just 'Blah, blah, blah,' gibbering, gibbering. And priests listened and interpreted it and people came and said, 'Shall we go to war?' 'Is this a wise thing to do?' 'Should I get married?' 'Should our countries separate?' 'Should we fight with this city?' And the Oracle would blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and the priests would interpret it. So the priests were terribly important, terribly influential. But the Oracle was the thing. It was always a woman over 50 and she was called Pithea, named after the Python, which is what Apollo slew. I know this sounds complicated, but it's absolutely fascinating when you can get your head round it, which I almost have. I'll just take a whiff of this, then I could probably speak to you in tongues. (Sniffs) (Speaks in tongues) I could still say 'Mount Parnassus'. This is my hero. If the Oracle had spoken to me, she would have said, 'I see you travelling in Greece and in the next episode, you shall explore the remote northern borderlands.' So who am I to defy the ancient Oracle of Delphi?