Rise And Fall Of Greece Essay

In “The Greeks” the rise and fall of the Greek empire is detailed. In part one, the tyrant, Pisistratus, is introduced. It covers Athens economic progress and it’s improvement of social structure. After Pisistratus died in 527 BCE. his son, Hippias took over. The people of Athens started to revolt with Cleisthenes as their leader. Under Cleisthenes’ rule, all levels of society are given the equal opportunity to become heroic. Cleisthenes is exiled by Isagoras, whom searched for help from the Spartans to gain power, which resulted in a revolution introducing democracy in Athens. In part two, Persia is defeated as they try to invade Greece in 490 BCE. After their victory, Themistocles is elected into power and builds a great naval force. When Persia attacks a second time, they are eradicated once again. Pericles, Themistocles

The Athenian society is depicted as almost flawless in every aspect and any other empire is portrayed as evil. The Athenian democracy is glorified, even though women and slaves, who make up a large part of the population, were not allowed to vote. Whenever democracy is in danger, the film switches to dark lighting and haunting music. This can be seen in part one as Hippias takes over. The producer leaves out the part when Athens sent help to the greek tyrant of Miletus, who acts against Persian authority. As the Persians retaliated, the battle is accompanied by heroic music, glorifying the Athenians even in war. This can also be observed in the scene of Persia’s second attack, in which they are tricked into believing their enemy was weak and then gets defeated again. The Greek progress in art forms such as theatre, painting, and sport (olympics) is presented with bright lighting and elegant instrumentals, often using harps and violins. Socrates is also presented with calm and graceful music. For the tragedy of his death on the other hand the producer chose dark and depressing