Episode 1
Symposium, or the Received Ideas
26m
In Paris, Tbilisi, Athens and Berkeley historians have played with reconstitutions of the "symposium" - the Greek banquet - around tables laden with food and wine.
Where to watch The Owl's Legacy
TV series
The Owl's Legacy
19891 season9.0 / 10
A 13-part documentary series by Chris Marker examining how ancient Greek ideas continue to shape modern Western thought. Each episode centers on a single Greek word—such as “democracy,” “philosophy,” or “mythology”—through conversations filmed in cities around the world. Combining symposium-style discussions with archival footage and visual motifs of the owl, Marker creates an expansive reflection on the enduring legacy of Greece.
Availability
Not streaming in United States
Checked Jul 22, 2026
The Owl's Legacy premiered June 12, 1989. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
Synopsis
A 13-part documentary series by Chris Marker examining how ancient Greek ideas continue to shape modern Western thought. Each episode centers on a single Greek word—such as “democracy,” “philosophy,” or “mythology”—through conversations filmed in cities around the world. Combining symposium-style discussions with archival footage and visual motifs of the owl, Marker creates an expansive reflection on the enduring legacy of Greece.
Season 1 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 2
Olympics, or the Imaginary Greece
26m8.0 / 10
Greece's inheritance was recomposed in contemporary mythology. This sometimes led to terrible misappropriations for the benefit of totalitarian ideologies - of which Nazism was born.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 3
Democracy, or the City of Dreams
26m8.0 / 10
What exactly does the word mean “democracy” mean? Does it designates the ancient city-state or our contemporary political systems? What are the analogies or, on the contrary, the radical differences between realities separated by more than twenty centuries? Are certain functions suitable for all civilizations? Τhe third episode of Chris Marker’s legendary documentary series – which first aired on British state television in 1991 but remained in the dark for decades – returns to classical antiquity to make a bold parallel, familiarizing 21st-century audiences with a concept of the commons that seems primordial yet innovative, reinventing itself in every single manifestation.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 4
Nostalgia, or the Impossible Return
26m
Ithaca is the iconic distant home that no one should forget: such would be the universal lesson of Homer's Odyssey.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 5
Amnesia, or the Sense of History
26m8.0 / 10
Built on the testimony or "autopsy" - which literally means "seeing oneself" - our conception of History has deeply shifted since Herodotus.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 6
Mathematics, or the Realm of Signs
26m
The geometrical space and the mathematical language constitute a universal legacy the Greeks have bequeathed us with. How do we articulate its perfect logic to the complexity of contemporary sciences?
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 7
Logomachy, or the Root of Words
26m
All the meanings of "logos" originated from a small territory between Ephesus and Patmos. According to Aristotle the human animal fights with a specific weapon: speech... Logos' destiny would it be the "logomachy"? The fight over words.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 8
Music, or the Inner Space
26m
A cross between imitation and creation, the search for the beautiful and harmonious animates the artists' personal quests - including with cutting-edge technology - as well as it serves great collective schemes - religions in particular.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 9
Cosmogony, or the Use of the World
26m
This reflection over creation - divine cosmogony and man's creativity - takes us from the Greek statuary art to the Acropolis' Korai on show in Tokyo. This takes us on towards the Gorgon - a mirror of death.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 10
Mythology, or the Truth of Lies
26m
There are a set of myths to which we constantly refer ourselves. We will question their genesis, their place in psyche, their transmission, their nature.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 11
Misogyny, or Desire's Traps
26m
The Greek conception of sexuality was very different from ours. What did the Greek think of desire in a world where heterosexuality and homosexuality - far from being opposites - were models of existence that were different but compatible?
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 12
Tragedy, or the Illusion of Death
26m
The great figures borne out of Greek tragedies help us fathom the founding mechanisms of human practices - all the way to a society like Japan, that is so apparently far from ours.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode 13
Philosophy, or the Owl's Triumph
26mfinale
Around the metaphorical - but also very real - figure of the owl; entwined reflections upon the place of thought in daily existence and public action - sometimes with and sometimes against the Greek legacy.
Where to watch The Owl's LegacyEpisode information updated Jul 23, 2026
Available now in United States
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More about The Owl's Legacy
Cast
André DussollierNarrator (voice)Credits
- Created by
- Chris Marker
- Written by
- Jean-Claude Carrière, Chris Marker
Production details
- Status
- Ended
- Series type
- Miniseries
- Episodes
- 13
- Original language
- French
- Original title
- L'Héritage de la chouette
Networks & production
La SeptFrance- Attica Art Productions
- FIT ProductionFrance
La Sept CinémaFrance
Themes
philosophypolitics