Important Ancient Greek Events

By alecopete2010
  • Period: 2600 BCE to 1100 BCE

    Minoans and Myceneans

    The Minoan and Mycenean civilizations were the first ones in Ancient Greece, and were very important for its culture. While the Minoans were known for their great trading ability overseas, Myceneans were the first ones to speak the ancient Greece language, and after their collapse during the Trojan War, it marked the beggining of Ancient Greece.
  • 1250 BCE

    Trojan War

    Trojan War
    The Trojan War was a war between the Greeks and Troy because while Troy was controlling a trade route, the king was paying unfair taxes to ships going from the south of Russia to Greek territory. Odyseuss built a wooden horse with soldiers in it and Troy let it in thinking it was a gift. At night, the soldiers came out of the horse and killed the King of Troy and burned the whole city down. They returned home with Helen, the Mycenean king's wife who was kidnapped by prince Paris of Troy.
  • 776 BCE

    Olympic Games

    Olympic Games
    The first Olympic Games in history were held in Olympia, and initially started as a celebration for Zeus, god of heaven and thunder and "Father of the Gods". This event included sports like running, long jump, and discus.
  • 508 BCE

    Democracy is born

    Democracy is born
    Democracy, a system in which all citizens have the right to vote for their leaders, was introduced in 508 by Cleisthenes, a famous lawgiver in Greece who is mostly recognized for inventing this system. He also invented ostracism, which meant dangerous or suspicious people were banished from the city for around 10 years.
  • 387 BCE

    First Academy

    First Academy
    Plato, one of the fathers of greek philosophy and student of Socrates, founded the first ever high-learning institute in Athens called the Academy. Aristotle will later attend the Academy and teach Alexander the Great as his master.
  • 336 BCE

    Alexander the Great becomes king

    Alexander the Great becomes king
    With only 20 years, Alexander the Great became king of Macedon after his father, Phillip ll, was killed. This marked the beginning of the Hellenistic period and diffusion of this culture.
  • 323 BCE

    Alexander's death

    Alexander's death
    At 32 years old, Alexander the Great contracted a very dangerous fever resulting in his death. He managed to build the largest empire in the world and that time and ensured cultural diffusion in Greece. After his death, his empire was divided into 4 independent kingdoms that were then ruled by his generals.
  • Period: 431 to 404 BCE

    Peloponnesian War

    After Athens provided ships to fight the Persians, they asked for money to cover this, and Sparta refused. For 27 years, they fought to see which city-state is better, and during this time, Sparta separated Athens from their navy and empire. After the war ended, it costed many people and money for both city-state and it weakened their fighting abilities.
  • Period: 499 to 480 BCE

    Persian Wars

    These wars started when the Persians invaded Ionian city-states in Greece and Athens sent ships to fight them back. The first battle was the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, which was won by the Greeks 26.2 miles from Athens, The second one is the battle of Thermopylae, that Persians won during King Darius's son Xerxes command, and the final battle, the Battle of Salamis, was won by the Greeks after luring the Persians in a narrow strait and making them return back to Asia.
  • Period: 500 to 300 BCE

    Golden Age

    A Golden Age for a country is a time of peace and prosperity , and the prime of all the cultural aspects in that place. In Greece's case, the most improved categories were medicine, math, art, and philosophy. Also, Greece had a great influence in today's world, like more than 50,000 words in english have greek origins.