(gasping)
(mooing)
(grunting)
(shouting)
(screeching)
(mooing)
(shouting)
(grunting)
(screeching)
(splashing)
(paddling)
(grunting)
- [Narrator] The very earliest pictures of ships
go back thousands and thousands of years.
In Egypt, the oldest examples of sailing craft
go back 3500 years before the Common Era,
and that was in Mesopotamia.
- Yes, I've got it.
Go and cut a few slices, go on.
From the log.
- You want me to slice up a log?
Why?
- Just slice them.
(grunts)
Yes. (chuckles)
(rolling)
- We can only imagine that's how it was.
We can't be sure about mankind's history
until written language was created.
And then it's right here at about the same time that
writing came into being.
So, from now on, we have our use of the wheel,
and the sail, and writing.
Well, children, ready to explore a little?
Adventure is calling!
- But Maestro, why do people need adventures,
all this exploring?
What if they settle down, stay home?
- Quite a dull world if there weren't any new inventions,
new discoveries, it's lucky for us that man's been
curious from his beginning.
Where would we be today riveted by desire to explore,
to know about things, and discover the world?
Now, back to our story.
An empire is found in Egypt on the banks of the Nile.
On the island of Crete, at the heart of Europe,
a great civilization is developing also,
with its sailing ships it rules the seas.
- Aha!
There's a Fornesian ship.
Prepare for combat!
- Aha!
That's a Mycenaean ship, prepare for combat!
- Make way!
- [Fornesian] You make way! The seas belong to us!
- Sail your boat right back to Crete!
The seas belong to us, Mycenaeans.
- We're the king of the oceans!
The seas are Fornesian.
Sail on!
(crashing)
(men yelling)
- Why didn't you stop?
- The seas are ours!
- Now you can drink it up.
- [Narrator] Ah, yes, it's true.
Two maritime powers rivaled Crete for mastery of the seas,
the Fornesians in what is now Lebanon,
and the Mycenaeans in Greece.
This rivalry was to go on for centuries,
until one day, a certain thing happened.
What happened was really terrible, children.
It took place on Thera,
one of the islands of Crete.
- I had a cargo of white for theater.
You can afford it.
(man chuckles)
(chuckles)
It's a very good vintage!
- Well, one way to find out!
Cheers!
Mmmm! (slobbering)
- Just to be sure, I will have one more sip!
Mmmm!
Couldn't quite tell!
Mmmm!
- Mmmm! (chuckles)
(both gulping)
(rumbling)
- Anyways, good and strong!
- You're right!
It makes you feel (slurs).
(shrieking)
(rumbling)
(rumbling intensifies)
(rumbling intensifies) (blasting)
- [Narrator] The volcano exploded,
destroying the whole island.
Tons of ash, spread over
thousands of miles in a wide circle.
This was the end of the great Minoan Civilization of Crete.
The Greeks and Venetians were to
dominate the Mediterranean Sea.
They tell the story of a certain Greek named Ulysses,
who went on a voyage of 10 years,
met all kinds of strange creatures during his adventures.
A famous historian, Herotodus,
says six centuries before our era,
the Pharaoh of Egypt, Necho the 2nd
summoned a certain Venetian captain.
- I'm informed you're a courageous and skillful sailor.
Would you be willing to sail down the Red Sea
and go completely around the African continent,
and then return to the Mediterranean?
Well?
- Yes, sire, on one condition.
The reward be equal to the mission and the danger.
- To make the trip of 25,000 kilometers of unexplored route
with their technology, do you realize, children,
they knew almost nothing about that,
and the voyage lasted three years, we were told.
A century later, it was the unbelievable voyage of Hanno,
a Venetian leaving from Carthage.
Why, it's Hanno and Himilco, my two captains!
And look at my ship, it's a wreck.
What in the world happened to you two?
- It's those Mycenaeans, and their better on than we are.
Yes, we're just lucky we made it!
- Well, come on, you had better put some proper clothes on.
(speaking foreign language)
(overlapping chatter)
Give me your finest fabrics for my two unfortunate captains.
(all chuckling)
(mumbling)
(sniffing)
(grunting)
- It's a large size, I'm not sure it's in stock.
(coins jingling)
- She's direct from Crete.
None better for high quality working!
- Oh.
(sloshing)
(dripping)
- Cotton genuine Egyptian, please inspect my superb coats.
(both grunting)
- Come on, put some copper in.
That's it, now tin!
No!
- Whoa!
- For pots you put in plenty of copper,
but not too much tin!
(clanging)
- You're both presentable now,
so I suppose you can sit down and have a chat.
Three goblets of mead!
- Hey, look at that!
(slurping)
- Now, friends, listen.
I have heard about big rivers in certain regions of Africa
where the rivers are so full of gold,
that if you discover one or two of them a fortune is made.
- Sail our ships past the Pillars of Hercules?
- Today our name for the place is the Straits of Gibraltar.
- There's nothing to it,
a passage running between Gibraltar and Africa.
- It's dangerous!
- (Scoffs) But, see, a hundred dangers might come up!
- These Cartageneans, there's no stopping them!
- They get rich!
- We'll stop 'em.
- Maybe we can be rich if we go with them!
- Anybody sailing beyond the
Pillars of Hercules is crazy, crazy!
It's the end of the world.
- Why, have you done it?
- Even Poseidon, the lord of the sea
wouldn't attempt that, he'd give up!
Nope, the world ends, and the sea spills into a deep pit.
There are sea serpents!
Nobody would go.
- The (stammers) many-headed hydra!
A man would be (stammers) crazy to fight with one!
(sputtering) You'd have to be as strong as Hercules!
- Whoa, thinking about it, all my blood runs cold.
Gives a man a thirst for a drop of mead.
What about it, one cup!
(grunting)
(liquid pouring)
- Those Mundos are real, and they're dangerous!
- No, they're a lot of superstitious nonsense,
however, the beautiful Narees will protect you.
- That's right, these seagirls' good lookin'.
(grunts)
- And they're dolphins, I've seen those with my own eyes!
Well, Himilco, what do you say?
- (laughs) Hanno says, let's go!
(all laughing)
- We'd be happy to be your guides for part of the way!
- [Narrator Character] Done!
- Well, we're on our way!
(snickering)
- And, that was that.
- Maestro, why were they so scared?
Was it because there were monsters, or what?
- Well, they thought the Earth was flat,
and they would come to the very brink and tumble off!
- Dummies, we know the Earth is round!
- Ah, yes, today we know that.
But a Greek mathematician, the great Pythagoras,
realized the Earth was a ball,
but nobody would believe him.
(water sloshing)
(stammering)
- (Stammers) Hercules, the current's against us,
we can't fight it!
And if we do fight it, we're done for!
- We'll pull in here and wait 'til the wind is favorable!
- The wind is coming from that direction,
that's the zephyr,
we've got to wait for the euros, in the other direction!
(men grunting and chewing)
(yawning)
(snoring)
(high-pitched snoring)
(snoring)
(wind whistling)
(gasps)
(snickering)
- (yawning) What's this?
The wind's changed!
Euros!
Hey, the euros is blowing!
Quick, up sails, oarsmen!
( grunting)
(chain clinking)
(water sloshing)
(men straining and grunting)
(wind whistling)
(yelping)
- The monster!
There it is, I told you there'd be a monster,
I told you the monster (stuttering)
He'll gobble us all on the boat with us aboard!
We'll end up sea monsters' breakfast!
I hate it when this happens!
- What monster?
- The monster returns, what did I tell you,
the monster (yelping).
(screams)
(splashing)
- It's just a school of large fish,
like dolphins, only bigger!
They won't be any trouble for us!
- Not true!
They'll make big waves and sink the ship,
and then we'll be fish food!
You see, you see?
- So far, you're the only one making waves!
- I don't want to be here!
(stammering) You take me home!
- It's getting shallower, and we're approaching the sun.
And if we go on, the water will begin to boil.
We'll cook, or maybe we'll run aground,
and on shore there's nothing but sand.
We'll shrivel up and die!
- Steer clear of the coast!
(sighing)
(splashes)
(groaning)
- There's no more supplies!
- We will be all dead from thirst,
then we will be dead from hunger,
and besides we'll all be dead!
- There's land, look!
We'll find fresh water and food right there!
- A primeval forest with wild animals and savages,
(stuttering) In a way, I wish I'd stayed home.
(splashing)
(sloshing)
- Whoa!
- Hey, he looks like us!
- Oh!
Yes, but he's black.
(yawning)
(gasps)
(fire crackling)
(grunting)
(yelps)
- Hey, come on I need that back!
And quit it, will you quit monkeying around?
(grunting)
(monkeys grunting)
Monkey!
(grunts)
(monkey grunts)
(screams)
(monkey grunts)
(grunts)
(laughing)
(grunts)
(yelps)
- We'll have to cross this river.
(growling)
(screams)
(snarls)
(yelps)
(groans)
(hisses)
(yelps)
(screeches)
(crashing)
- Somehow I knew it was gonna end up this way.
(speaking foreign language)
(both gasping)
(chuckling)
(neighing)
(grass rustling)
(grunts)
(light hoof beats)
- (grunts) Your village?
(both grunting)
(speaking foreign language)
(laughing)
(both sighing, grunting)
(chewing, grunting)
(speaking foreign language)
- [Narrator] 500 years before the Common Era,
the Sahara was the sight of
prosperous past-world civilizations.
The historian Herotodus tells us that these people
fought against another people,
the (speaking foreign language),
nomads who roamed over north Africa.
(speaking foreign language)
(both grunting)
(grunting)
(clinking)
- It's gold!
(gasping)
(speaking foreign language)
(clinking)
(grunting)
(rustling)
- This was a total waste of time, let's beat it!
Wow!
- Gold, (stammering) gold!
Shiny, shiny, (stammering) gold!
- And with this gold, we're all rich,
but Hanno wants to keep going south!
We'll all be killed!
- We won't go with him.
- Yeah, we want the gold!
- We'll take the ship and gather up as much gold as we can,
then we head straight home and we're rich!
- What about the captain?
- Hanno, he takes a long swim.
Now, grab the ship!
(waves)
Give up, Hanno!
You're outnumbered!
- Death is how we punish mutineers, men!
- You're the one who's gonna die,
but we're generous, Hanno.
Jump overboard, and we'll let you swim the rest of the way!
(all laughing)
(all screaming)
(splashing)
- I too am generous, I'm going to let all of you live.
Since you're in a hurry to get back,
I'll make you the same offer.
Swim back!
Tomorrow, we explore!
- We had better be very careful!
No telling who we'll run into out here.
(grunts)
- (shushes) Look there.
Hey, wait children!
(both screaming)
- They're not children, they must be dwarves!
- No, they're pygmy's, I heard about them.
Pygmy's eat humans!
We're gonna be pygmy's lunch,
chopped into little pieces,
I wonder if pygmy's eat a lot?
I suggest we all go, (screaming).
(grunting)
- Hey, I think they do eat humans.
(crying)
(speaking foreign language)
A pig, that's more like it!
It's late, I think we'd better be going.
(high-pitched grunt)
(speaking foreign language)
Apparently, they won't permit us to leave, so now what?
- Well, there's too many so we'll wait until
there's a chance to get away tonight.
(gasping)
(men screaming)
(trumpets)
(yelling)
(trumpeting)
This is our chance!
(trumpets)
(waves)
- Mission accomplished, back we go!
(cheering)
At least, once in my life, I was a king.
- A century later, a famous Greek astronomer, Pytheas,
would make another voyage of discovery.
Only, this time it was to the north.
He encountered the Hyperboreans.
- The hyper-what?
- Boreans were a certain people in the north,
and the Hyperboreans, well, they lived farther north.
- Oh, Pytheas, you going away again?
- Yes, I'm going up north this time.
- Go too far up north, you might freeze!
- But now, the days are long.
- Yes, what a shame,
because during the day we work!
It's at night that we rest.
Anyway, have a good time.
(splashing)
(grunting, shivering)
(yelps)
- Have you noticed,
the more we go north how much longer the days are?
- Yes, Pytheas, I've also noticed the days are much colder.
We going much farther?
- We're going to where the days are so long,
there's isn't going to be any night!
- No night at all?
You must be dreaming impossible.
I mean, the sun has to set each night
to come up in the morning again.
- Not so!
If the Earth is round, as a number of philosophers claim,
then in the north, well, all summer the sun doesn't set!
- Those philosophers, they think too much, all of them.
And summer isn't what I'd call this!
Why don't we just go back home and...
- No, not yet, look!
- It's a whale, it's enormous!
- A sea monster, (stammering)
don't tell me those people will attack it!
(splash) (yelping)
I wouldn't do that.
(speaking foreign language)
- We want to sail even farther north, that way!
- Thule.
- I know that word, it's a land all the way to the north!
You say, Thule!
We want to go to Thule!
(grunts)
- Mush, mush, mush, mush, mush, mush!
- What am I doing in a place like this?
(shivering) We're all going to freeze solid
and our fingers are going to turn to ice and drop!
Still I wanna think about the warm days down south.
(grunts)
(blabbers)
(splashes)
Scared 'em, I guess. (chuckles)
(growling)
(roars)
(splash)
- You see, the sun's at its lowest point,
it won't set, we'll wait right here.
I don't believe it, the sun is moving sideways!
(wind howling)
- You were right!
Only, how come it didn't set?
The sun always sets.
- It's really quite simple,
the Earth is round, like a ball.
Here, where we are in the far north,
the sun is level with us,
it goes around but never below the horizon, it never sets.
- And so here, they never see night!
Never see the stars.
- Sure they do, look,
in winter it's just the opposite!
The sun is below, it doesn't rise,
it goes back to the south below the horizon.
- I wouldn't wanna live far north with no sun.
Look, Pytheas, what do you say we go on home now?
We saw Thule, let's make it before nightfall.
- Alright, let's go home.
(chuckling)
Let's go, heading back home!
- And night lasting six months? (laughing)
Pytheas, you explorers, full of tall stories.
Listen everybody!
He says there are nights six months long!
Who'd fall for tha-(yelps). (splash)
- So it was, children,
that many centuries before our time
they began to realize the Earth is round,
and Pytheas calculated, quite precisely,
the distance he had travelled,
and a century later a wise Greek Eratosthenes
mathematically calculated the circumference of the Earth.
They began to realize that, even though Herotodus
didn't have all the answers when he said "The Earth is round
and surrounded by oceans, but Athens is here,
right at the center.
To the north is only ice and snow inhabited by Hyperboreans,
while to the east there is Asia.
It stops at the Euros and the Indies,
but Africa is certainly crowded with elephants
and pygmy's and giraffes with very, very, very long necks,
et cetera, et cetera."
(chuckles) Well, it's pretty clear to see, children,
that it's only the start of mans understanding.
Our ancestors went a long, long way,
and some of those voyages, well,
we're going to go along with them.