Richard Bangs Explores the Myths of Ancient Greece in New Special

Janson Media today announced the release of the 60 minute HDTV special Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Greece: Quest for the Gods to international television, VOD, and DVD/video markets. The program is the 7th installment of Richard Bangs' popular Adventures with Purpose series. Filmed in gorgeous High-Definition, Quest for the Gods, was produced by Small World Productions, and is now available to international television, VOD, non-theatric, and DVD/video markets, exclusively through Janson Media.

This time Richard Bangs embarks on a great odyssey in Greece, land of the gods. From the amber of ancient times to the present, the Western world has basked in the glorious inspiration of the Greek myths. These strangely magnificent stories are deeply embedded in our culture and even our collective unconscious. In Greece: Quest for the Gods, Richard hopes to discover what relevance and meaning the great gods of Olympus might have for us today.

In the tangled skein of history, Ancient Greece it was really just a fleeting moment. Yet it was one of humankind"s most extraordinary periods of cultural and intellectual transformation. From this prolific era sprang the very essence of Western civilization...our poetry and architecture, our sciences, and our democratic form of government.

Greek writer Nicolas Gage wrote, &'In the fifth century BC, an unprecedented idea rose from a small Greek city on the dusty plains of Attica and exploded over the Western Hemisphere like the birth of a new sun. Tears of light have warmed and illuminated us ever since... The vision—the classical Greek idea—was that society functions best if all citizens are equal and free to shape their lives and share in running their state.&'

Essential to this revolution of human thought were the gods of Greek mythology. There was a time when the Greek gods were the mightiest and most revered deities in the civilized world. They touched every aspect of life, and influenced every action. Yet, somehow they vanished from our cosmology, leaving behind only temples, ruins and myths... Or did they?

Human beings have always created stories to help explain the world around them. But what was it about the Greek myths that made them so special? Could they have relevance in modern life? If so, how?

On this trip of time, history and emotion, the distances Richard travels inside are as great as those outside. He begins in Athens, and then heads to, Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games. He travels to the island of Ithaca, the site of mystical oracles at Delphi, and finishes at the home of the gods, Mt. Olympus.

Richard is joined on the adventure by special guest Agapi Stassinopolous, author of two books on the ancient gods of Greece. Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, native of Greece and the author of a respected book on the subject helps introduce the topic.

Richard Bangs is a world adventurer, international river explorer, Web pioneer and award winning author. He is also a founding partner of Mountain Travel Sobek, America"s oldest and largest adventure travel firm. In addition to his Adventures with Purpose series, Bangs has produced web-based projects such as Great Escapes, Well-Traveled and Terraquest.

Small World Productions is a small Seattle-based independent production company that since 1980 has been dedicated to making first-rate travel programs for public television. The company"s television series focus on the sights, art, and history of destinations in Europe, the USA, and Mexico & the Caribbean. Each episode is meant to appeal to travelers and armchair travelers and includes useful travel tips.

Established in 1989, Janson Media is an independent content distribution company based in the United States, with a rights portfolio of over 1,500 hours of exclusive programming available for licensing to worldwide television, VOD, DVD/video, and emerging new media platforms. The company has licensed programming to virtually every country in the world, and its clients include nearly every major broadcaster or media company, as well as a wide range of DVD labels and distributors. Janson Media is also a publisher/ manufacturer of award-winning DVDs.