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The Athenians decorated their offering with elegant friezes depicting their hometown heroes Theseus and Herakles. The latter’s famous Twelve Labours were performed at the Oracle’s behest.

Masterpieces of ancient shipbuilding (c.700–500 BC), triremes were the key to Athens’ naval strength. Approximately 40 m (130 ft) long and 5 m (15 ft) wide, they were noted for great speed – up to 12 knots per hour. The boats were powered by 170 oarsmen seated on three tiers. Only one tier rowed at a time, alternating short shifts so they did not exhaust themselves all at once. The vessels were also equipped with sails, which were lowered during battle.

The Acropolis was first inhabited in Neolithic times (around 3000 BC), and began to take on the form of a city when it was fortified by the Mycenaeans (inhabitants of the southeastern Greek mainland) in about 1400 BC.

The earliest type of Greek vase-painting: black figures are etched into red ceramic glaze, creating a somewhat stiff, formal image.

When Roman territory was divided between East and West in AD 395, Greece fell within the east, and subsequently became part of the Byzantine Empire. The pagan philosophical schools were closed and many temples were rebuilt as churches.

Byzantine art was almost completely focused on depicting Christian images. Rich, colourful mosaics, frescoes, icons and religious objects were made with valuable materials, especially gold, and intricate, skilfully crafted methods, which conveyed the wealth of the empire.

The top of a column. There are three main Greek forms: Doric, a simple slab; Ionic, a carved scroll; and Corinthian, an acanthus-leaf pattern.

Sculptures of women that acted as columns. The most famous are at the Erechtheion at the Acropolis.

Though now mostly dry, this spring was where pilgrims cleansed themselves before entering the holy site. You can still see the elaborate fountain-house built around it.

Invented by Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse (430–367 BC), the catapult can hurl heavy objects or shoot arrows over large distances. Having seized power in Sicily, Dionysius set about driving out the Carthaginians, who ruled a large part of the island. Thanks in part to the catapult, he was successful, making Syracuse the strongest power in Greek Italy. The Romans later perfected his invention, adding wheels to catapults to make them mobile.