The second part recounts the Greeks' heroic victory against the mighty Persian empire through the life of Themistocles, one of Athens' greatest generals. Greece, now master of the Mediterranean, undergoes one of the most startling intellectual and physical transformations in history. Pericles, the elected leader of Athens, oversees the building of the Parthenon and an extraordinary flourishing of the arts and sciences, laying the foundation for what is now called "Western culture."
