They were an extraordinary people born of white rock and blue sea. They invented democracy, distilled logic and reason, wrote plays to plumb the deepest recesses of the soul, and captured the perfection of the human form in athletics and art. Quite simply, the Greeks created our world.

Today, of course, Greece conjures very different images: civic unrest, financial meltdowns, long ATM lines. But as its ancient history attests, strife and discord are often incubators for greatness. From their beginnings as hunter-gatherers in harsh, unforgiving landscapes; to surviving the worst collapse in human history; to facing off against the greatest empire the world had ever known, the Greeks would have to overcome incredible odds to pave the way for the modern West.

In National Geographic's landmark event series The Greeks, historians and archaeologists, actors and athletes, scientists and artists launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient Greeks' journey - not just to better understand their past, but to discover how their legacy illuminates our present, and will shape our future. The story of the Greeks is the story of us.