The power of the past lies in our perception of it as something formed, accomplished, and therefore valid. This very quality has often led politics to use historical or even mythological tradition to validate political practices, explain ideologies, and shape political consciousness. The way in which the ancient Greeks used their past to validate their present is the subject of this book. Myth and historical memory are transformed into political tools. Odysseus is transformed into a model of tyrannical regime; the Amazons promote the image of Athenian superiority, and Medea becomes a critique of Athens' foreign policy during the time of Pericles. The common element is that they represent an era that for the ancient Athenians was not myth, but simply the past. The way in which the historical past can still be fruitful thought today, whose reflection reaches the contemporary reality, is presented in the last part of the book, where the policy of homogenization of Alexander the Great is examined in relation to the policy of the European Union today.