This tribe of hunters must use whatever they can find to nourish themselves and survive. Luckily, two of their children stumble across a pond full of fish after the ice melts, giving them plenty more to eat.

Food is scarce, too many men, not enough game to kill. What are they to do? The explorers setting foot on the Americas are having a tough time.

This new episode of "Il était une fois..." covers Cortés and the Aztecs. The story starts in 1519, when Ferdinand Magellan attempts to circumnavigate the earth. His ship makes it as far as Brazil.

The Maestro recounts the events just before Ferdinand Magellan's untimely death in 1521, only a year after he discovered the passage that would allow him to circumnavigate the globe.

The Aztecs are apprehensive about the arrival of the white men. It is a bad omen. Spanish conqueror Cortés is appointed Captain and will be heading toward new territories.

November 18, 1518... Cortés, the ambitious adventurer, sets out to discover and conquer the unknown empire of Mexico at daybreak before Velasquez has a chance to stop him.

Cortés is negotiating with the friendly natives of Mexico with the help of his interpreter, who had been shipwrecked in a previous expedition and speaks Mayan. They are offered a young woman slave, Malintzin, who speaks Mayan and Aztec.

Cortés exchanges gifts with the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma. An excellent diplomatic move on both sides!

Tension is building between the Aztecs and the Spaniards, not to mention within Cortés's own ranks. Despite this, the conquistador rallies his troops to conquer Mexico.

Cortés sets out to conquer Mexico with his four hundred men, sixteen horses, and seven cannons. He is joined later by native forces, the Totonac warriors.

Il était une fois... ("Once Upon a Time...") takes us back to the origins of Western civilization on the island of Crete. This lively animated series is for French learners of all ages!

Learn about the birth of democracy in ancient Greece and watch a scene from Sophocles's famous tragedy, Antigone, in the next installment of Il était une fois....

A young man consults the Pythia (aka the Oracle of Delphi) to see if the gods will sanction his marriage to the girl of his dreams. What is her forecast? Find out in this video!

While the Athenians were constructing and reconstructing the Acropolis, young Spartans were undergoing a harsh, often brutal education -- a walk in the park compared to what Spartan women experienced during the traditional marriage ritual.

In the next installment of Il était une fois..., we meet some of the great thinkers of ancient Greece: Socrates, Euripides, Sophocles, Protagoras, Anaxagoras, and others. You're sure to be enlightened by the end!