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1260 BCE
Agamemnon
Agamemnon was a king of Mycenae, the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra and the father of Iphigenia, Electra or Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. -
776 BCE
First Olympic Games
The first recorded Olympic Games were held at Olympia in the Greek city-state of Elis in 776 B.C. The ancient Olympics, held every four years, occurred during a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus. -
700 BCE
Homer
Was a famous Greek poet, author, and writer. -
650 BCE
Rise of the Tyrants
Greek tyrannos, a cruel and oppressive ruler or, in ancient Greece, a ruler who seized power unconstitutionally or inherited such power. -
620 BCE
Draco’s Code of Law
The Draconian Law was created by King Draco for the Athenian people. -
600 BCE
Democracy
Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. Athenian democracy is often described as the first known democracy in the world. -
522 BCE
Darius I
Darius I, commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third Persian King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. -
492 BCE
First Persian War
The first Persian invasion of Greece, during the Persian Wars, began in 492 BC, and ended with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. -
490 BCE
Battle of Marathon
It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. -
486 BCE
Xerxes
Xerxes I, commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius the Great and his mother was Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great, the first Achaemenid king. -
480 BCE
Second Persian War
The second Persian invasion of Greece occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. -
480 BCE
Battle of Thermopylae
DescriptionThe Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas I of Sparta, and the Achaemenid Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days. -
432 BCE
Parthenon Completed
The purpose of the Parthenon has changed over its 2,500-year history, beginning as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. -
431 BCE
Peloponnesian Wars
The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. -
429 BCE
Pericles
Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during its golden age, specifically the time between the Persian and the Peloponnesian Wars. -
400 BCE
Catapult
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants. -
399 BCE
Socrates
Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the tradition of thought. -
387 BCE
The Academy in Athens
The Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic period as a skeptical school, until coming to an end after the death of Philo of Larissa in 83 BC. -
368 BCE
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Lyceum, the Peripatetic school of philosophy, and the Aristotelian tradition. -
359 BCE
Philip II
Philip II of Macedon was the king of the kingdom of Macedon. He was a member of the Argead dynasty of Macedonian kings, the third son of King Amyntas III of Macedon, and father of Alexander the Great and Philip III. -
356 BCE
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. -
348 BCE
Plato
Plato was an Athenian philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, founder of the Platonist school of thought, and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning. -
338 BCE
Battle of Chaeronea
The Battle of Chaeronea was fought in 338 BC, near the city of Chaeronea in Boeotia, between the Macedonians led by Philip II of Macedon and an alliance of some of the Greek city-states led by Athens and Thebes. -
338 BCE
League of Corinth
The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League, was a confederation of Greek states created by Philip II during the winter of 338 BC/337 BC after the Battle of Chaeronea.