Anyone with a hankering to explore ancient civilizations from the comfort of their living rooms can do just that with two DVD sets from Athena.
Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey (four hour long episodes on two discs, $39.99) is, essentially, a travelogue as our hostess (best known for her role as Patsy on Absolutely Fabulous) takes viewers on a trip through Greece.
She’s a genial host, treating the audience as a friend along for the ride. And it’s quite a ride. She starts out in Athens with a mandatory trip to the Parthenon and the Acropolis, but she doesn’t stay there long. Actually, in this four part series, she spends far more time exploring some lesser-traveled roads, going more in-depth than the typical tour package.
Lumley visits an isolated region with its own whistling language, hunts for wild asparagus with an elderly woman who lives in an abandoned village and stops at an island that was once a leper colony.
Along the way, she and her guides discuss Greek history from ancient times up to more recent days. A visit to the heavily fortified border region of the northeast shows that Greece’s turbulent past hasn’t necessarily calmed down all that much.
There are four episodes in all as she visits the Peloponnese, the Greek islands and the northern country. She pays special attention to the influence Greek culture has had on the world and the influence of the world (particularly Turkey and Great Britain) on the Greeks.
It’s a fascinating cultural exploration spiked with dry British wit.
Extras: The set comes with a little booklet and there’s a text-only biography of Lumley on the final disc.
Turning south, there’s “Secrets of Ancient Egypt” (four hour-long episodes on two discs, $49.99). This one isn’t a travelogue. It’s a series that explores the history of ancient Egypt through the prism of modern science. There’s no single style, host or narrator, and there are four episodes:
Secrets of the Pharaohs: A team of Brigham Young University scientists go (in the 1990s) in search of DNA samples from Egyptian royalty and commoners so they can hopefully answer questions about the genetic backgrounds of both groups. This the weakest of the four, with obviously staged scenarios, and since it ends fairly early in their analysis of data, it doesn’t give much in the way of answers.
Oasis of the Golden Mummies: A leading Egyptian archaeologist leads an examination of the Bahariya Oasis region, where a donkey accidentally uncovered a hidden burial chamber. This one also goes into some DNA testing, but is far more about the history of the region and archaeological discoveries.
Secrets of the Sands: A scientist uses space technology and archaeology to look for the truth about the pyramids’ origins and the landscape of the Sahara Desert in ancient times. The documentary explains his theories about how Egypt’s western deserts were formed and how that may have led to the pyramids.
The Sacred Animals of the Pharaohs: Historians and scientists explore a burial site with millions of animal mummies to try to find out how ancient Egyptians viewed and treated their sacred animals such as baboons, lionesses, hippos and ibises. Were they worshipful or cruel? Or both?
Extras: A 12-page booklet and a 50-minute program about a remote oasis, Roman rule and Egyptian beliefs.
New this week: Game of Thrones, Season 3; Gentle Ben, Season 2; Nurse Jackie, Season 5; The Six Million Dollar Man, Season 5.
Next week: Above Suspicion, Set 3; Adventure Time, Season 3; Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Season 1; L.A. Law, Season 1; Mama’s Family, Season 3; The Middle, Season 4.
Style, Pages 46 on 02/16/2014