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[Narrator] On the shores
of the Mediterranean Sea,

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hidden deep beneath
the Rock of Gibraltar,

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archaeologists dig
inside a mysterious cave.

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-What’s that one there, Nilia?

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[Narrator] On the ground,

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they discover ritual objects
left by the Ancient Greeks.

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-So this could be an offering.

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[Narrator] And a secret
passageway that heads into the

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bowels of the earth.

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-This is the start
of a deep chamber.

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[Narrator] Discoveries here
could reveal the truth behind

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the greatest hero of
Greek myth, Hercules.

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-What are we looking
at down this hole,

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was it perhaps the
entrance to the Underworld?

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[♪ theme music playing]

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[Narrator] The wonders of
Ancient Greece are among the

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greatest ever known.

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Greece was the
birthplace of democracy,

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and the cradle of Western
engineering and architecture.

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From inspiring inventions
to epic heroes and legends,

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the legacy of Ancient Greece
still shapes the modern world.

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Hercules, or Heracles in Greek,

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is one of the greatest
heroes of Greek legend...

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...a warrior of superhuman
strength who completed 12

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seemingly impossible labours.

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-Hercules was basically your
quintessential Greek hero,

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so he was celebrated as
a monster killer because

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he killed so many monsters.

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[Narrator] The Ancient Greeks
believed in many heroes,

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but Hercules was one
of the most popular.

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This season, international
teams of archaeologists dig

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through centuries of
earth to shed light on the

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real world behind
this legendary hero.

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What did Hercules mean
to the Ancient Greeks,

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could a kernel of truth lie
behind his mythical labours?

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A clue could lie at
the ancient site of Nemea

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in southern Greece.

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Here, archaeologist
Tulsi Parikh is on a mission

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to uncover how the
stories of Hercules emerged.

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Nemea is the setting for
Hercules's first labour...

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...Tulsi explores
its enormous temple,

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which dates to the reign
of Alexander the Great in

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the 4th century BCE,
when the stories of Hercules

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were well established.

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But the earliest mention
of the hero himself is by a

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Greek poet known as Homer,

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writing more than
400 years earlier.

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-We're not really sure
when the stories of

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Hercules originated,
all we know is that he

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pops up for the first
time in the 8th century BC.

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Homer describes Hercules
as a hero who's fought

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all these battles,

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he doesn't mention
too much about his labours,

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so it's likely that stories
of Hercules were circulating

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before this time as
part of oral tradition.

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[Narrator]
According to the myth,

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Hercules is the son of
the chief god Zeus and

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a mortal woman
named Alcmene.

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It earns him the lifelong
hatred of Zeus’s wife

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Hera, she casts a spell
that drives Hercules insane,

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tricking him into
killing his wife and children

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in a fit of madness.

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To atone for his sins,

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Hercules is told to complete
a series of daunting tasks.

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For his first challenge,

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Hercules travels
to Nemea to kill a

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monstrous lion with fur
no mortal weapon can pierce.

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So he turns to brute
super strength and strangles

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the lion to death
with his bare hands.

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Tulsi investigates how
the tale of the Nemean lion

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could shed light on
the origins of the saga.

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It bears remarkable
similarities with a much older

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tale from
ancient Mesopotamia,

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about a god called Ninurta.

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-Ninurta fights various animals
that are very similar to the

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beasts that Hercules fights.

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And they were both known
for their monster slaying,

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and every time Ninurta
completed a task,

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he would bring the
beast back home.

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[Narrator] Hercules,
like Ninurta,

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also fights a many-headed
snake monster...

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...in Greek known as the Hydra.

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And a ferocious wild stag,
the Ceryneian Hind.

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The civilization of ancient
Mesopotamia predated that of

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Greece by nearly 1000 years.

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Archaeologists have found
evidence of trade between them,

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a route along which the
stories might have found

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their way to Greece.

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But Tulsi thinks we should
be cautious before drawing a

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direct connection with Ninurta.

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-I think it’s quite difficult
to say exactly how much

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they were inspired
by the Ninurta myth.

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The trope of humans fighting
beasts were incredibly common

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in ancient times
and across cultures.

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It’s something that we see
right up until the present day

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so for example,
in superhero films.

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[Narrator] So if Hercules
was a homegrown hero,

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how did his amazing
stories develop?

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And why was the story of
the Nemean lion set here?

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Another piece in the puzzle
could lie 60 miles southwest at

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the small town of Olympia
in the region of Elis.

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Here, archaeologist
Oliver Pilz is digging at

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one of the most
sacred sanctuaries

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in ancient Greece,

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and the birthplace
of the Olympic Games.

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[Oliver] It's, it's an
amazing site, this was a,

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a Panhellenic sanctuary,
meaning that it drew visitors

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basically from all
over the Greek world.

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[Narrator] At Olympia,

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Oliver and his team are
uncovering the remains of

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a colossal wall.

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It lies close to a stream
called the Kladeos,

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a tributary of the
mighty Alpheios River,

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which plays a starring
role in one of Hercules's

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most notorious labours.

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For his fifth task,

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Hercules is ordered to
clean the stables of King Augeas

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of Elis, mired in
decades of filth.

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He does this

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by diverting the flow
of two nearby rivers,

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the Alpheios and the Peneios,
towards them.

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Floodwater roars
through the stables,

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washing away 30 years of
accumulated dirt and dung

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in a single day.

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Oliver's investigations
at the wall could shed light

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on the evolution of this story.

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Its location close to
the river is intriguing,

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and despite its size,

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the wall's exact
function is unknown.

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[Oliver] This so-called Kladeos
wall is topped two meters wide

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and in, in most sections,
almost three meters high.

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And several hundred meters long.

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It’s really a
massive structure,

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it would be very interesting
for us to learn more about why

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was this Kladeos
wall constructed,

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because until now it’s
unfortunately only guesswork.

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[Narrator] Oliver
wants to find out,

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but first he must dig
through feet of sediment.

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The sediment comes from
the Kladeos and reveals

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that it was once not the
gentle stream that it is today.

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-The site in antiquity
was very prone to flooding,

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mainly by the Kladeos stream.

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[Narrator] Oliver suspects
that the wall might be an

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ancient flood barrier.

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To confirm that he
needs to find out how far

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the wall extends.

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The similarity between the
ancient flooded landscape of

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Olympia and that in
the myth is intriguing.

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How far did the
real world influence the

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stories of Hercules?

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Another clue could
lie not with his first,

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but with one of
his final labours.

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It took place far to the
west at the very edge of

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the Greek world.

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[Narrator] Hercules was
one of the most well-traveled

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of all the Greek heroes.

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His exploits supposedly spanned
the Mediterranean world.

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And the setting for one of
them could shed light on the

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rise of this legendary
ancient hero.

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More than 1,400 miles
west of Greece stands the

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Rock of Gibraltar
near southern Spain.

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Here, anthropologists Stewart
and Clive Finlayson are on

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their way down to investigate
the mysterious cavern known

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as Gorham's Cave.

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The route there is treacherous.

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[Stewart] That section there,
we’ll stop there.

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We’ve had a lot of issues there
‘cos it’s very slippery there.

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[Narrator] But a magnificent
site waits for those who make

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it this far.

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-I think it, it shocks you
every time you come down.

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It's really beautiful,

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the sea comes straight up,
it's amazing.

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[Narrator] The cave
lies at the bottom of the

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Rock of Gibraltar,

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one of two prominent rock
formations either side of the

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strait that connects
the Mediterranean Sea

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with the Atlantic Ocean.

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The Greeks called
the two rocky outcrops

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the Pillars of Hercules and
they believed that they marked

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the end of the world.

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Legend says that
Hercules creates both pillars

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by splitting apart a mountain
that is blocking the way

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to his 10th labour.

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From there, he travels to
an island where he fights

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and kills a three-bodied
giant called Geryon.

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Stewart and the team want to
find out why the rock features

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so strongly in the
Hercules myths.

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He works alongside his parents,
Clive and Geraldine.

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[Stewart] I first started
coming down here in 1989,

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so I was 6 years old,
I was the,

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the young boy that spent
his summers here, er,

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and instead of going
to the beach I learnt

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sieving and archaeology.

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[Narrator] Today, the
team works at the entrance

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to the cave.

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[Stewart] Got quite a
bit of sand there now.

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-Yeah, it is quite loose
compaction as well in this area.

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[Narrator] The trenches
here are not deep,

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but the archaeology is fragile,

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so the team must tread
carefully and work slowly.

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[Stewart] The problem is
that if you start bringing

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people into the sites,
people walking on the surface,

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which is archaeology,
you’d actually be eroding it

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and destroying it.

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[Narrator] Archaeologists
have discovered that people

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have been using
these caves for at least

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100,000 years.

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The first were early
humans called Neanderthals.

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[Stewart] What's that
one there, Nilia?

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I think it's probably
a hammer stone,

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it's Neanderthal.

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[Narrator] For many years,
archaeologists believed that

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the ancient Greeks had only
heard about this distant place

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through myth and rumor.

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But the secrets within this
cave challenge everything they

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thought they knew.

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00:13:54,834 --> 00:13:57,601
Gorham's Cave is a
remarkable time capsule.

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Inside are carvings made by
Neanderthals 40,000 years ago.

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00:14:08,467 --> 00:14:11,501
But deeper within lies a
much more recent discovery,

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scattered ceramic
fragments that,

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when pieced together,

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reveal a face in
the form of a mask,

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a Gorgoneion,
an image of Medusa.

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A terrifying monster
from Greek legend.

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What is this artifact
doing so far from Greece?

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And could its presence
here shed light on why the

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00:14:39,334 --> 00:14:41,501
rock is associated
with Hercules?

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00:14:44,534 --> 00:14:48,100
While the team continues to
hunt for more Greek objects,

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Geraldine examines the
broken pieces of the mysterious

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Medusa mask.

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it's a unique discovery.

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-As you start putting
them together and the,

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00:14:59,734 --> 00:15:05,400
the face from antiquity
starts looking out at you,

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then the feeling that
you get is incredibly

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difficult to describe,

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but it's like all your
birthdays put together.

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It would have had these
eyes looking at you,

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and it would of course
have been painted.

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It would have been
something staring at you in

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the darkness of the cave.

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[Narrator] Medusa masks were
common in Ancient Greece.

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People used them
as magical amulets to

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ward off evil spirits.

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Their powers drew
on those of Medusa herself.

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00:15:43,234 --> 00:15:45,767
Medusa was a type of
monster called a Gorgon,

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she had snakes on her
head instead of hair,

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00:15:49,534 --> 00:15:53,334
and just looking at her
could turn mortals to stone.

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00:15:54,234 --> 00:15:56,834
The myth tells how
Medusa was killed by another

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00:15:56,968 --> 00:15:58,667
Greek hero called Perseus,

250
00:16:00,434 --> 00:16:04,100
he cuts off her head by using
a polished shield as a mirror

251
00:16:04,234 --> 00:16:06,400
to avoid looking
at her directly.

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00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,200
Geraldine believes that the
person who left the mask here

253
00:16:13,334 --> 00:16:15,367
was probably a Greek traveller.

254
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,400
-An item like a gorgoneion,

255
00:16:19,534 --> 00:16:22,234
which isn't found anywhere else
in the Western Mediterranean,

256
00:16:22,667 --> 00:16:25,667
suggests to us that this is an
item that has been specifically

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00:16:25,801 --> 00:16:30,901
brought here by a person
or a group of people who are

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00:16:31,033 --> 00:16:33,467
very closely associated
with this cult.

259
00:16:36,834 --> 00:16:39,334
[Narrator] This discovery
reveals that for the Greeks,

260
00:16:39,467 --> 00:16:42,100
the rock was not a
fairytale location,

261
00:16:45,834 --> 00:16:48,334
it was a place they knew.

262
00:16:49,834 --> 00:16:53,033
The team's next step is to
work out why the Ancient Greeks

263
00:16:53,167 --> 00:16:55,567
left a magical
amulet in this cave.

264
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,567
A clue could lie
within the myths,

265
00:17:02,234 --> 00:17:04,300
Perseus, the killer of Medusa,

266
00:17:04,666 --> 00:17:08,334
was also believed to be the
great-grandfather of Hercules.

267
00:17:10,032 --> 00:17:13,334
What did the Greeks see
here that might have shaped

268
00:17:13,467 --> 00:17:16,200
the stories of both epic heroes?

269
00:17:19,133 --> 00:17:20,300
[Narrator] At Olympia,

270
00:17:20,434 --> 00:17:23,067
Oliver Pilz continues
his hunt for more of

271
00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:24,601
the mysterious wall.

272
00:17:27,534 --> 00:17:31,567
It could be a flood barrier to
protect against the Kladeos,

273
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,167
a tributary of the river
diverted by Hercules during

274
00:17:37,300 --> 00:17:39,467
his 5th labour.

275
00:17:41,434 --> 00:17:44,434
To find out, he wants to
know when it was built,

276
00:17:46,167 --> 00:17:50,534
and how far it once extended,
but his dig hits a dead end.

277
00:17:52,133 --> 00:17:54,968
-Unfortunately,
we are not able to establish

278
00:17:55,100 --> 00:17:57,634
a precise chronology
of the wall,

279
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:00,868
so it ends here now,

280
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,234
but in an antiquity probably
it continued further down,

281
00:18:05,667 --> 00:18:07,033
to the south.

282
00:18:07,767 --> 00:18:10,133
[Narrator] So his team
turns to other methods to

283
00:18:10,267 --> 00:18:12,067
answer these questions,

284
00:18:12,667 --> 00:18:16,300
Oliver works with
geoscientist Andreas Voett.

285
00:18:19,801 --> 00:18:24,234
He uses ground imaging
devices to search for more

286
00:18:24,367 --> 00:18:27,734
evidence of structures
buried underground, and

287
00:18:27,868 --> 00:18:31,467
drills to investigate
the ancient landscape.

288
00:18:32,601 --> 00:18:35,167
-So this is the
coring machine we use for take

289
00:18:35,300 --> 00:18:37,501
out the sediment course,
meter by meter,

290
00:18:38,634 --> 00:18:40,934
and we get our sections
one meter long,

291
00:18:41,067 --> 00:18:42,968
we open them in the lab
and then we can analyze

292
00:18:43,100 --> 00:18:45,067
and interpret them.

293
00:18:46,033 --> 00:18:49,434
[Narrator] First, the team
takes samples of earth.

294
00:18:49,667 --> 00:18:53,133
By studying plant material
locked inside the sediment,

295
00:18:53,267 --> 00:18:56,200
Andreas hopes to work
out when the river flooded

296
00:18:56,334 --> 00:18:57,567
in ancient times.

297
00:18:57,968 --> 00:19:02,000
[Oliver] Would you expect
like charcoal fragments to

298
00:19:02,133 --> 00:19:05,033
analyze with radiocarbon
dating in these cores,

299
00:19:05,167 --> 00:19:06,501
on the other side
I remember, yeah.

300
00:19:06,634 --> 00:19:09,033
[Andreas] Yeah, and there
should be something inside,

301
00:19:09,167 --> 00:19:10,434
of course, yeah.

302
00:19:10,567 --> 00:19:12,367
[Narrator] Discoveries from
the main sanctuary reveal

303
00:19:12,501 --> 00:19:14,734
how the Kladeos River
used to run through the

304
00:19:14,868 --> 00:19:19,601
centre of Olympia until it
was diverted around 700 BCE.

305
00:19:23,033 --> 00:19:26,300
These samples might allow
Andreas to tell if the wall

306
00:19:26,434 --> 00:19:29,067
also dates to this time.

307
00:19:30,667 --> 00:19:32,200
[Andreas] So we're
not archaeologists,

308
00:19:32,334 --> 00:19:34,467
but we can give some
information about the age of

309
00:19:34,601 --> 00:19:38,868
the wall, in that we are
dating the sediments to the

310
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:40,334
left and to the right of it.

311
00:19:40,701 --> 00:19:46,234
And so indirectly deduce the
minimum age of the wall itself.

312
00:19:46,934 --> 00:19:48,834
[Narrator] The samples
will need to be sent

313
00:19:48,968 --> 00:19:51,100
away for testing.

314
00:19:51,701 --> 00:19:54,400
Early scanning results
reveal the wall ran for at

315
00:19:54,534 --> 00:19:58,167
least half a mile and
they also hint at another

316
00:19:58,300 --> 00:20:00,634
structure buried underground.

317
00:20:01,467 --> 00:20:05,234
[Andreas] We think that there
is some evidence to believe

318
00:20:05,367 --> 00:20:07,467
that there is not
only one Kladeos wall,

319
00:20:07,601 --> 00:20:10,367
but a parallel wall that
runs maybe 30 to 60 meters

320
00:20:10,501 --> 00:20:13,000
parallel of the
known part of the wall.

321
00:20:13,567 --> 00:20:15,868
So and this would mean
that they had a very early

322
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,200
system of water regulation.

323
00:20:20,934 --> 00:20:23,000
[Narrator] The team
suspects that these walls

324
00:20:23,133 --> 00:20:24,701
may have been a canal,

325
00:20:24,834 --> 00:20:26,701
designed to keep
water out of the sanctuary.

326
00:20:33,467 --> 00:20:36,534
Could this diversion of the
River Kladeos have influenced

327
00:20:36,667 --> 00:20:38,701
the Hercules story?

328
00:20:40,467 --> 00:20:42,167
[Oliver] The diversion
of the stream,

329
00:20:42,300 --> 00:20:45,200
this is really a
historical fact, whereas the,

330
00:20:45,334 --> 00:20:48,367
the cleaning of the stables
is a mythical narration.

331
00:20:49,167 --> 00:20:50,367
But on the other hand,

332
00:20:50,501 --> 00:20:55,267
I would not exclude
that some memory of the

333
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,067
diversion of the stream has
been preserved locally here.

334
00:21:00,834 --> 00:21:02,968
[Narrator] The landscape
of ancient Greece played an

335
00:21:03,100 --> 00:21:05,467
important role in Greek myth.

336
00:21:10,567 --> 00:21:12,834
At Nemea,

337
00:21:12,968 --> 00:21:16,868
Tulsi explores how the
real world might also have

338
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,968
influenced some of
Hercules’s other labours.

339
00:21:20,934 --> 00:21:23,868
She heads to the hills
above the town on the hunt

340
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,767
for the truth behind
the Nemean lion.

341
00:21:27,601 --> 00:21:29,901
[Tulsi] The Nemean was said
to have lived right here

342
00:21:30,033 --> 00:21:31,601
in the Nemean hillside.

343
00:21:32,033 --> 00:21:35,434
He had a den and a cave
somewhere in this landscape.

344
00:21:37,267 --> 00:21:39,567
[Narrator] Today, there
are no big cats prowling

345
00:21:39,701 --> 00:21:41,701
the hills of Nemea,

346
00:21:41,834 --> 00:21:44,067
but recent discoveries
reveal that this was

347
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,000
not always the case.

348
00:21:46,634 --> 00:21:50,968
-We do have some evidence of
lions once living in Greece,

349
00:21:51,567 --> 00:21:54,300
we have some zooarchaeological
evidence, some bones.

350
00:21:54,434 --> 00:21:58,200
We're not sure when exactly
lions became extinct in Greece.

351
00:21:59,067 --> 00:22:01,834
[Narrator] Some lions may
have survived until as recently

352
00:22:01,968 --> 00:22:04,234
as the 7th century BCE,

353
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,634
around the time that the
story of the Nemean lion

354
00:22:08,767 --> 00:22:10,601
first appears in art.

355
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,067
Could the memory of
this very real threat have

356
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,300
survived as myth?

357
00:22:17,868 --> 00:22:20,567
[Tulsi] It makes sense to
set the story of Hercules

358
00:22:20,701 --> 00:22:22,300
killing the lion er,

359
00:22:22,434 --> 00:22:25,167
right here in the
Nemean mountains,

360
00:22:25,300 --> 00:22:28,167
because it’s such
a rugged landscape,

361
00:22:28,300 --> 00:22:32,234
you can imagine wild animals
roaming around and

362
00:22:32,367 --> 00:22:34,467
being very real
threats to humans.

363
00:22:37,367 --> 00:22:40,701
[Narrator] Ancient Greece
was a largely rural society.

364
00:22:41,467 --> 00:22:45,367
One theory is that many of
Hercules's early labours draw

365
00:22:45,501 --> 00:22:48,501
inspiration from the dangers
that Greeks faced in their

366
00:22:48,634 --> 00:22:50,467
everyday lives.

367
00:22:53,667 --> 00:22:57,567
The monsters he fights
include an enormous wild boar,

368
00:22:59,167 --> 00:23:01,534
a fire-breathing stag, and

369
00:23:01,667 --> 00:23:05,033
bronze beaked birds
that ravage crops and

370
00:23:05,167 --> 00:23:07,267
feast on human flesh.

371
00:23:07,868 --> 00:23:10,501
-I think the monsters
and the challenges that

372
00:23:10,634 --> 00:23:15,000
Hercules faces really
reflect the environment that

373
00:23:15,133 --> 00:23:16,567
people were living in.

374
00:23:17,801 --> 00:23:21,834
Some of the struggles
that Hercules faces also

375
00:23:21,968 --> 00:23:24,968
represent some of the
daily challenges that people

376
00:23:25,100 --> 00:23:27,100
would go through in their life.

377
00:23:29,267 --> 00:23:31,968
[Narrator] Hercules was
a superhero who protected

378
00:23:32,100 --> 00:23:34,334
humanity from
nightmarish creatures,

379
00:23:36,167 --> 00:23:38,400
and helped to make sense
of a world where crops

380
00:23:38,534 --> 00:23:41,567
could fail and wild
animals lurked in the forest.

381
00:23:43,934 --> 00:23:47,601
[Tulsi] The early labours
of Hercules symbolize the

382
00:23:47,734 --> 00:23:50,634
idea of chaos versus order.

383
00:23:51,734 --> 00:23:54,367
The beasts symbolize chaos,

384
00:23:54,701 --> 00:23:57,300
things that are
often uncontrollable,

385
00:23:57,601 --> 00:24:01,501
and Hercules fighting
against these beasts is

386
00:24:01,634 --> 00:24:05,267
part of creating order
within the social world.

387
00:24:05,801 --> 00:24:08,167
[Narrator] But the later
labours all take Hercules

388
00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:10,400
far from home.

389
00:24:10,934 --> 00:24:15,534
Why did the Greeks place
these exploits outside Greece?

390
00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:25,367
[Narrator] Hercules's
final six labours

391
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,267
all take place
beyond mainland Greece.

392
00:24:33,934 --> 00:24:39,033
An insight into why could
lie hundreds of miles away

393
00:24:39,167 --> 00:24:41,167
on the Italian
island of Sicily.

394
00:24:46,167 --> 00:24:49,200
Here, archaeologist
Dario Giuliano is

395
00:24:49,334 --> 00:24:52,067
excavating the ancient
city of Agrigento.

396
00:24:56,234 --> 00:24:58,968
Today, Agrigento is Italian,

397
00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:01,334
but it began life
as a Greek colony.

398
00:25:03,834 --> 00:25:06,601
During the 8th and
5th centuries BCE,

399
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:10,267
Greece experienced
an exodus of people.

400
00:25:10,567 --> 00:25:13,133
The country's mountainous
terrain struggled to support

401
00:25:13,267 --> 00:25:15,234
its growing population,

402
00:25:16,501 --> 00:25:19,501
and people began to
travel west overseas in search

403
00:25:19,634 --> 00:25:22,701
of new land to farm
and minerals to trade.

404
00:25:24,501 --> 00:25:28,534
Many colonized lands in
southern Italy, like Sicily.

405
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,934
[Narrator] Today, Dario wants
to find out more about the

406
00:25:50,067 --> 00:25:53,567
religion of the ancient Greek
settlers who founded this city.

407
00:25:56,300 --> 00:25:59,567
So his team digs inside a
sanctuary for Greek deities.

408
00:26:03,968 --> 00:26:07,367
The fertility goddess Demeter
and her daughter Persephone.

409
00:26:25,267 --> 00:26:27,200
[Narrator] Dario is
unsure if the statue is meant

410
00:26:27,334 --> 00:26:29,334
to depict one of the goddesses,

411
00:26:29,467 --> 00:26:32,501
or a person making an
offering at the sanctuary.

412
00:26:52,601 --> 00:26:54,968
[Narrator] These early
Greek settlers brought their

413
00:26:55,100 --> 00:26:56,734
gods with them.

414
00:26:57,767 --> 00:27:01,501
Hercules was a particular
favorite for those in Italy.

415
00:27:03,033 --> 00:27:04,734
They named new
towns after him,

416
00:27:05,167 --> 00:27:07,267
like Herculaneum near Pompeii,

417
00:27:07,834 --> 00:27:10,567
which is now famous
as a Roman city.

418
00:27:11,367 --> 00:27:15,868
Ancient texts recount how
Agrigento citizens built an

419
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,234
enormous temple of Hercules.

420
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,334
Writers describe how the feet
of the temple's bronze statue

421
00:27:23,467 --> 00:27:27,000
of Hercules were worn
away by the kisses of

422
00:27:27,133 --> 00:27:28,534
his devoted worshipers.

423
00:27:43,300 --> 00:27:45,033
[Narrator] Many of these
colonies developed in

424
00:27:45,167 --> 00:27:48,033
mid 6th and 5th
centuries BCE,

425
00:27:49,567 --> 00:27:52,000
around the same time as
some of the later myths

426
00:27:52,133 --> 00:27:54,067
of Hercules
started to appear.

427
00:27:58,334 --> 00:27:59,801
For his 7th task,

428
00:27:59,934 --> 00:28:03,567
the hero travels to Crete
to capture the massive bull

429
00:28:03,701 --> 00:28:05,367
that sired the Minotaur.

430
00:28:08,534 --> 00:28:11,834
Next, he heads north to
Thrace where he tames the

431
00:28:11,968 --> 00:28:14,501
human eating horses of Diomedes

432
00:28:19,601 --> 00:28:23,667
and journeys east where he
kills the Queen of the Amazons

433
00:28:23,801 --> 00:28:26,133
to claim an enchanted belt.

434
00:28:31,501 --> 00:28:33,868
Hercules travelled with
the Greeks as they

435
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,534
explored strange new lands.

436
00:28:38,367 --> 00:28:41,234
And the furthest he journeyed
was to the western edge

437
00:28:41,367 --> 00:28:43,634
of the Mediterranean.

438
00:28:44,467 --> 00:28:47,701
At Gibraltar, one of the
two pillars of Hercules,

439
00:28:50,434 --> 00:28:53,534
the team digs close to where
they found the Medusa mask.

440
00:28:57,467 --> 00:29:00,968
Hidden in the sand could be
clues that reveal what Greek

441
00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:05,200
travelers were doing here
and how they saw this cavern.

442
00:29:12,567 --> 00:29:13,601
-Yeah.

443
00:29:18,834 --> 00:29:21,367
[Narrator] This tooth
isn't that of a human.

444
00:29:21,968 --> 00:29:25,300
As they brush away the
sand another emerges.

445
00:29:30,634 --> 00:29:33,801
[Narrator] Gorham's Cave is
difficult to reach which makes

446
00:29:33,934 --> 00:29:36,901
Stewart think that
this animal didn't wander

447
00:29:37,033 --> 00:29:38,601
in by accident.

448
00:29:40,133 --> 00:29:43,067
-So it's, it's definitely an
animal that would have had to

449
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:44,367
have been brought in.

450
00:29:44,501 --> 00:29:47,067
It's not an ibex from
what we're seeing which is the

451
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:48,467
wild mountain goat, the,

452
00:29:48,601 --> 00:29:51,033
the tooth would have
been slightly different.

453
00:29:51,334 --> 00:29:52,834
This is probably an
animal that was brought in

454
00:29:52,968 --> 00:29:54,400
and laid here.

455
00:29:54,834 --> 00:29:57,234
[Narrator] This discovery
may suggest that a goat was

456
00:29:57,367 --> 00:29:59,334
sacrificed as an offering,

457
00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:03,033
and that the cave may
have been used as a shrine

458
00:30:03,167 --> 00:30:05,434
or place of ritual worship.

459
00:30:09,167 --> 00:30:12,133
Clive is the
team's chief scientist,

460
00:30:13,567 --> 00:30:16,100
he takes a closer look
at the back of the cave

461
00:30:16,234 --> 00:30:18,067
where they found
the Medusa mask.

462
00:30:21,100 --> 00:30:23,267
-This is the start
of a deep chamber,

463
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,133
it goes for 37 meters,

464
00:30:25,267 --> 00:30:27,200
as you can see it's a
bit of a crawl right now.

465
00:30:29,467 --> 00:30:32,434
It's an enigma, we don't
know where it's going, we,

466
00:30:32,567 --> 00:30:36,234
we know it ends in a slightly
elevated chamber but whether

467
00:30:36,367 --> 00:30:38,968
that carries on further
or not, until we excavate,

468
00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:40,701
we don't know.

469
00:30:42,334 --> 00:30:44,601
[Narrator] The chamber
is full of sediment.

470
00:30:45,701 --> 00:30:48,868
But in ancient times it
may have been the focal point

471
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,200
of the shrine.

472
00:30:52,467 --> 00:30:54,434
[Clive] My own view is
that it's not coincidence

473
00:30:54,567 --> 00:30:57,467
that the fragments of this
gorgoneion were found here.

474
00:30:58,033 --> 00:31:01,267
It was a way of telling
people do not go beyond here.

475
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,767
[Narrator] One theory is that
Greek travelers believed this

476
00:31:06,901 --> 00:31:12,601
was Medusa’s actual lair,
where Hercule’s ancestor

477
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:15,167
Perseus killed the monster.

478
00:31:16,467 --> 00:31:18,200
[Clive] When you read
the descriptions of the

479
00:31:18,334 --> 00:31:22,100
decapitation of Medusa,
the descriptions are a

480
00:31:22,234 --> 00:31:25,367
geographically perfect
fit to what is Gibraltar

481
00:31:25,868 --> 00:31:27,267
and Gorham's Cave.

482
00:31:27,901 --> 00:31:30,234
[Narrator] The team intends
to bring in specialist

483
00:31:30,367 --> 00:31:33,467
equipment to excavate
the chamber next season.

484
00:31:34,367 --> 00:31:37,167
But what they can tell
is that the Greeks were not

485
00:31:37,300 --> 00:31:40,067
the first travelers
to use it as a shrine.

486
00:31:41,901 --> 00:31:44,133
Another people
called the Phoenicians got

487
00:31:44,267 --> 00:31:46,300
here before them.

488
00:31:49,033 --> 00:31:52,033
[Stewart] Phoenicians were
mariners from the eastern side

489
00:31:52,167 --> 00:31:53,334
of the Mediterranean,

490
00:31:53,467 --> 00:31:55,300
they were really
great explorers.

491
00:31:55,434 --> 00:31:57,334
The first items that we
start seeing that are clearly

492
00:31:57,467 --> 00:32:00,567
Phoenician are from
the 9th century,

493
00:32:01,300 --> 00:32:05,434
things like scarabs,
beautifully painted glass er,

494
00:32:05,667 --> 00:32:08,133
a huge amount of different
kinds of, of ceramic,

495
00:32:08,267 --> 00:32:10,734
really wonderful pieces.

496
00:32:11,234 --> 00:32:13,133
[Narrator] The Phoenicians
set up colonies in

497
00:32:13,267 --> 00:32:16,434
southern Spain centuries
before the Greeks got here.

498
00:32:18,033 --> 00:32:21,167
How did the Greeks
interact with the inhabitants

499
00:32:21,300 --> 00:32:23,567
of these new lands?

500
00:32:30,334 --> 00:32:32,300
[Narrator] In
Agrigento in Sicily,

501
00:32:32,434 --> 00:32:34,701
Dario and the team
investigate the sanctuary

502
00:32:34,834 --> 00:32:37,534
of the goddesses
Demeter and Persephone.

503
00:32:38,334 --> 00:32:40,434
They want to explore
how the gods of the

504
00:32:40,567 --> 00:32:43,033
Greek settlers fitted
in with those of

505
00:32:43,167 --> 00:32:45,100
the existing population.

506
00:32:46,934 --> 00:32:50,267
Finds expert Martina
takes a closer look at the

507
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,701
statuette uncovered
the previous day to try to

508
00:32:53,834 --> 00:32:55,267
work out its identity.

509
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,634
She thinks the figurine is
wearing a crown called a polos.

510
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,734
[Narrator] The statuette
dates to the 5th century BCE

511
00:33:19,133 --> 00:33:21,133
when Agrigento
was in its heyday.

512
00:33:25,868 --> 00:33:29,000
Agrigento grew with
astonishing speed and

513
00:33:29,133 --> 00:33:31,100
by the 5th century BCE,

514
00:33:31,834 --> 00:33:34,400
it stretched
across 1,000 acres.

515
00:33:36,167 --> 00:33:39,100
The city's sacred zone
lay at its western edge,

516
00:33:39,534 --> 00:33:42,000
overlooking the valley
below and was lined with

517
00:33:42,133 --> 00:33:44,968
grand temples and
religious structures.

518
00:33:45,567 --> 00:33:48,334
The sanctuary complex,
dedicated to Demeter and

519
00:33:48,467 --> 00:33:51,133
Persephone is one
of the earliest here.

520
00:33:52,701 --> 00:33:53,968
At its height,

521
00:33:54,100 --> 00:33:57,300
the city was home to
up to 300,000 people.

522
00:33:59,434 --> 00:34:02,267
But the Greeks were
not the first people here.

523
00:34:09,534 --> 00:34:12,400
Nearby discoveries suggest
that local people were living

524
00:34:12,534 --> 00:34:15,434
in the area at the time
the Greeks arrived.

525
00:34:31,833 --> 00:34:34,801
[Narrator] Dario believes that
when the Greeks first came here

526
00:34:34,934 --> 00:34:38,501
they incorporated local cults
into their own religion.

527
00:35:00,801 --> 00:35:04,067
[Narrator] Greek religion could
be inclusive and adaptable,

528
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,534
this helped the Greeks
fit into these new lands.

529
00:35:12,701 --> 00:35:14,501
At Gibraltar near Spain,

530
00:35:16,434 --> 00:35:19,601
Clive thinks a similar process
might have happened here.

531
00:35:21,801 --> 00:35:24,234
He heads up to the
top of the rock...

532
00:35:24,367 --> 00:35:27,534
...even today visitors are
struck by its grandeur.

533
00:35:28,968 --> 00:35:31,067
-Directly below
us is Gorham's Cave,

534
00:35:31,567 --> 00:35:34,801
and over there you can imagine
Greek ships coming in across

535
00:35:34,934 --> 00:35:37,534
the sea and suddenly
being faced by this massive

536
00:35:37,667 --> 00:35:40,133
wall of limestone.

537
00:35:40,901 --> 00:35:43,567
It's very likely that
this geology was difficult

538
00:35:43,701 --> 00:35:45,567
for them to comprehend.

539
00:35:49,501 --> 00:35:52,234
[Narrator] The ancient Greeks
might have tried to explain

540
00:35:52,367 --> 00:35:56,601
what they saw here using
stories of Hercules and Medusa

541
00:35:56,734 --> 00:35:58,400
as a point of reference.

542
00:36:00,100 --> 00:36:05,334
Clive thinks that the people
who are already here might have

543
00:36:05,467 --> 00:36:08,501
played a helping hand in
encouraging these myths.

544
00:36:12,467 --> 00:36:15,000
[Clive] One idea,
and it's difficult to be

545
00:36:15,133 --> 00:36:16,467
certain of course,

546
00:36:16,601 --> 00:36:18,267
is to assume that the
people who first came here

547
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,167
started the whole idea of the,
the end of the world.

548
00:36:21,801 --> 00:36:23,400
Those people were
the Phoenicians.

549
00:36:27,934 --> 00:36:30,767
[Narrator] The Phoenicians and
the Greeks were great rivals,

550
00:36:31,167 --> 00:36:34,701
what started as a myth might
have gained another purpose.

551
00:36:37,367 --> 00:36:39,934
[Clive] The Phoenicians got
beyond the end of the world,

552
00:36:40,067 --> 00:36:41,100
beyond the pillars,

553
00:36:41,234 --> 00:36:43,467
and were very successful
trading with peoples

554
00:36:43,734 --> 00:36:45,667
on the Atlantic Coast.

555
00:36:46,100 --> 00:36:48,133
From myth it turns
into something which

556
00:36:48,267 --> 00:36:50,167
gives you economic power,

557
00:36:50,300 --> 00:36:52,033
by telling
people don't go beyond here

558
00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:53,434
it's very dangerous,

559
00:36:53,567 --> 00:36:55,634
you are cornering the market
and keeping it for yourself.

560
00:36:56,534 --> 00:36:59,167
[Narrator] At least some Greek
mariners who came here may have

561
00:36:59,300 --> 00:37:01,067
heeded these warnings,

562
00:37:02,067 --> 00:37:05,934
leaving offerings to ask
for a safe journey beyond

563
00:37:06,067 --> 00:37:08,000
the edge of the known world,

564
00:37:08,300 --> 00:37:11,300
or to give thanks for
making it back alive.

565
00:37:12,467 --> 00:37:14,400
-I think that the
Greeks related a lot of their

566
00:37:14,534 --> 00:37:17,234
myths to this part of the
world because it was really

567
00:37:17,367 --> 00:37:19,234
the don’t go beyond.

568
00:37:19,534 --> 00:37:23,634
This was like us going to
the Moon or Mars, it was the,

569
00:37:23,767 --> 00:37:25,501
you know the limit.

570
00:37:25,634 --> 00:37:27,467
[Narrator] The grounding of
these myths in places like

571
00:37:27,601 --> 00:37:31,334
Gibraltar meant that those
labours set in a faraway

572
00:37:31,467 --> 00:37:36,534
neverland now received a
specific real world location.

573
00:37:38,434 --> 00:37:40,567
But there's a mystery.

574
00:37:41,367 --> 00:37:45,000
If the stories of Hercules
were not set in stone and

575
00:37:45,133 --> 00:37:47,267
could evolve over time,

576
00:37:48,467 --> 00:37:52,167
how did these individual
tales join together to form

577
00:37:52,300 --> 00:37:54,634
the epic saga
that we know today?

578
00:38:00,667 --> 00:38:04,400
[Narrator] Hercules's final
two labours are the most

579
00:38:04,534 --> 00:38:06,467
daunting of all.

580
00:38:08,901 --> 00:38:13,467
They take him to the edge
of the world and beyond.

581
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:21,701
First, Hercules travels to
north Africa where he steals a

582
00:38:21,834 --> 00:38:25,434
golden apple guarded
by nymphs and a dragon.

583
00:38:28,601 --> 00:38:31,934
Finally, he descends into the
underworld where he completes

584
00:38:32,067 --> 00:38:33,667
the hardest task of all,

585
00:38:36,067 --> 00:38:37,934
capturing Cerberus...

586
00:38:38,067 --> 00:38:40,300
...the three headed
hell hound.

587
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,434
Hercules's journey into the
underworld is the blockbuster

588
00:38:46,567 --> 00:38:49,334
ending to the 12 labours saga.

589
00:38:50,501 --> 00:38:53,934
But intriguingly this
final labour might predate

590
00:38:54,067 --> 00:38:55,734
all the others.

591
00:38:56,767 --> 00:39:00,434
The first mention of Hercules
in the underworld dates back to

592
00:39:00,567 --> 00:39:04,634
the stories of the poet
Homer in the 8th century BCE.

593
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:09,868
Historians think that the order
and even the exact number of

594
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:11,701
the labours was not fixed.

595
00:39:15,167 --> 00:39:17,634
At Olympia in south west Greece,

596
00:39:18,834 --> 00:39:22,133
Oliver explores how
the classic 12 emerged.

597
00:39:22,834 --> 00:39:25,834
He thinks a clue lies with
the sanctuary's magnificent

598
00:39:25,968 --> 00:39:27,901
Temple of Zeus.

599
00:39:28,467 --> 00:39:31,200
It dates to the
5th century BCE,

600
00:39:31,334 --> 00:39:33,734
a period of great
prosperity in Greece,

601
00:39:33,868 --> 00:39:36,167
when the Parthenon in
Athens was also built.

602
00:39:37,033 --> 00:39:40,367
Olympia's rulers were growing
in power and decided to expand

603
00:39:40,501 --> 00:39:43,100
the site with a massive
building program.

604
00:39:45,901 --> 00:39:48,834
[Oliver] Standing in front of
the Temple of Zeus in antiquity

605
00:39:48,968 --> 00:39:53,234
or even walking in would have
been a magnificent experience.

606
00:39:53,734 --> 00:39:58,200
You must imagine this temple
like a rich, colorful,

607
00:39:58,334 --> 00:40:03,367
monumental building, it is
a bold statement that they

608
00:40:03,501 --> 00:40:07,767
basically control the
sanctuary and have the power,

609
00:40:08,067 --> 00:40:11,067
and also the means
to realize such a

610
00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,267
gigantic building project.

611
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,968
[Narrator] Olympia was home
to the famous Olympic Games,

612
00:40:20,834 --> 00:40:24,334
which took place every four
years and in which any free

613
00:40:24,467 --> 00:40:27,534
Greek adult males were
eligible to take part.

614
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,801
Its rulers were keen to
promote the games and encouraged

615
00:40:32,934 --> 00:40:35,868
a local tradition that
Hercules had founded them

616
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,234
after completing his 5th labour,

617
00:40:39,367 --> 00:40:42,434
the cleaning of the
nearby Augean stables.

618
00:40:44,501 --> 00:40:46,200
[Oliver] Owners
of the sanctuary,

619
00:40:46,334 --> 00:40:49,300
they had the great
interest to promote Heracles

620
00:40:49,434 --> 00:40:52,467
as a founding figure,
because as a hero,

621
00:40:52,601 --> 00:40:56,300
Heracles was known
in the whole Greek world.

622
00:40:56,434 --> 00:41:00,534
In ancient Greece he
was certainly considered

623
00:41:00,667 --> 00:41:03,567
an ideal athlete.

624
00:41:05,167 --> 00:41:08,334
[Narrator] Oliver investigates
how the builders of the temple

625
00:41:08,467 --> 00:41:11,367
incorporated Hercules
into its design.

626
00:41:13,234 --> 00:41:16,300
These sculptures once
decorated the exterior,

627
00:41:17,501 --> 00:41:20,267
and they show the
hero completing all 12

628
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,033
of his labours...

629
00:41:22,667 --> 00:41:25,634
...beginning with the
defeat of the Nemean lion

630
00:41:25,767 --> 00:41:29,501
and ending with Hercules's
visit to the underworld.

631
00:41:32,300 --> 00:41:34,868
These sculptures may
have set the order of

632
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:38,100
the labours literally in stone.

633
00:41:40,300 --> 00:41:43,367
[Oliver] The Olympic Games
were visited in the classical

634
00:41:43,501 --> 00:41:46,968
period by tens of
thousands of people,

635
00:41:47,567 --> 00:41:50,167
and you should imagine
that all these people,

636
00:41:50,300 --> 00:41:53,200
they also saw these sculptures.

637
00:41:53,667 --> 00:41:56,767
The representation of
Heracles's labours here at the

638
00:41:56,901 --> 00:42:00,901
Temple of Zeus probably
contributed also to the popular

639
00:42:01,033 --> 00:42:04,300
imagination of his labours.

640
00:42:08,033 --> 00:42:12,000
[Narrator] Hercules was a
diving pin up who could bring

641
00:42:12,133 --> 00:42:13,667
in the crowds.

642
00:42:14,501 --> 00:42:17,400
But his attraction was
not just skin deep.

643
00:42:19,100 --> 00:42:21,167
At the end of Hercules's life,

644
00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:24,334
Zeus judged his son
worthy of immortality,

645
00:42:26,334 --> 00:42:28,267
bringing him
to Mount Olympus,

646
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:30,367
the home of the gods.

647
00:42:30,801 --> 00:42:33,000
[Oliver] He is certainly
a very interesting and the

648
00:42:33,133 --> 00:42:35,167
biggest figure
in Greek mythology,

649
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:39,100
because he was
born as a mortal.

650
00:42:39,868 --> 00:42:44,234
But the example of his life
shows that the person can

651
00:42:44,367 --> 00:42:50,367
achieve immortality through
labours and deeds during life.

652
00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:54,133
-Hercules was a
pretty complex character,

653
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,701
he wasn’t just known for his
brute strength and heroism,

654
00:42:57,834 --> 00:43:01,000
he also had these occasional
moments of uncontrollable

655
00:43:01,133 --> 00:43:02,901
rage and violence.

656
00:43:03,033 --> 00:43:06,200
Hercules has this
moral struggle going on

657
00:43:06,701 --> 00:43:09,133
so whilst he’s
completing his tasks,

658
00:43:09,267 --> 00:43:11,334
he also has this
kind of tragic side,

659
00:43:11,467 --> 00:43:14,267
he’s the combination of
a hero and a tragic hero.

660
00:43:14,934 --> 00:43:18,000
[Narrator] The secret to the
success of Hercules's stories

661
00:43:18,133 --> 00:43:21,567
were not just his victories,
but his flaws.

662
00:43:23,300 --> 00:43:26,300
[Tulsi] Hercules is very
human in how he behaves,

663
00:43:26,734 --> 00:43:28,234
he makes mistakes,

664
00:43:28,367 --> 00:43:31,634
and in that sense he's
a very relatable hero.

665
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:34,334
[Narrator] To the
ancient Greeks,

666
00:43:34,467 --> 00:43:36,601
Hercules was the
champion who protected

667
00:43:36,734 --> 00:43:38,501
humanity from monsters,

668
00:43:39,534 --> 00:43:42,601
a guide who accompanied
explorers on their journeys,

669
00:43:42,901 --> 00:43:46,100
and helped to explain
the world around them and

670
00:43:46,234 --> 00:43:49,634
an inspiration of
a life well lived.

671
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:54,267
Today the tales of Hercules
continue to be told,

672
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:57,234
this ancient Greek
demigod is the

673
00:43:57,367 --> 00:44:00,300
western world's
original superhero.