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1200 BCE
Trojan War
The Trojan War was fought between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The war started because the Trojan prince, Paris kidnapped Helen, the wife of the Spartan King.. The war took place mostly near Troy in 1200 BCE. The Trojan War is important in the Greece Timeline because it inspired the Homeric Poem written 400 years later. These poems helped document the lives of people during that time. -
750 BCE
Homeric Poems
The Homeric Poems were written by Homer in 750 BCE. These writings are called epics because they are long, and they detail amazing feats experienced by the characters. The two Homeric Poems are called the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad takes place during the Trojan War as the Greeks and the people of Troy battle. The Odyssey describes the journey home from the Trojan War of the main character, Odysseus. These poems are important because they describe the culture of the Greek people. -
Period: 499 BCE to 449 BCE
Persian Wars
The Persian Wars were fought from 499-449 BCE between the Greeks and the Persians. The war began because the Athenians helped a Persian colony rebel against their government. Three famous battles are recorded. In the Battle of Marathon, the Greeks won using the phalanx formation. In the Battle of Thermopylae, the Greeks held off the Persians with only 300 men before eventually losing. In the Battle of Salamis, the Greek won using their navy. Winning this war makes Greece a super power. -
477 BCE
Formation of the Delian League
The Delian League was formed in 477 BCE after the Persian War was won by the Greeks. The Delian League was an alliance of Greek city-states that provided a common defense against the Persian Empire. Athens was now very rich, powerful and had a large navy. Athens, using the League, bullied other city-states into being part of the league. If the city-state rebelled, Athens punished them by taking their citizens as slaves. The Delian League lead to the Golden Age in Athens. -
Period: 461 BCE to 429 BCE
Golden Age of Athens
Athens became very powerful because of the Delian League formation. Athens used their riches to beautify the city, build a strong navy and increase democracy. During the Golden Age (between 479- 431 BCE) classical art was created portraying ideal beauty and featuring balance and symmetry. Greek theatre was invented including, tragedy and comedy. These cultural advances are part of today’s classic art. -
431 BCE
Peloponnesian War
The city-states ruled by the Athens under the Delian League rebelled. The city-states, like Sparta, no longer wanted to pay Athens for protection. They also did not want to be conquered and enslaved by Athens if they refused to pay. In 431 BCE, Sparta formed the Peloponnesian League to counter the Delian League. Pericles, the leader of Athens, required all citizen to stay behind the city walls for protection against Sparta. This was important because of the Athens plague. -
430 BCE
Plague in Athens
In 431, Pericles ordered all Athenians to stay behind the city wall as protection against the war with Sparta. Sparta and other city-states wanted freedom from being ruled by the Delian League. In 430 BCE, a terrible plague took over the Athens and ⅓ of the citizens inside the city walls died. As a result, Athens lost the Peloponnesian War. Sparta became the dominant city but Greece was ultimately conquered by Phillip II of Macedonia. -
Period: 336 BCE to 323 BCE
Hellenistic Culture
Hellenism is the combined knowledge of the four great empires conquered by Alexander the Great. The four empires are Greece, Persia, Egypt and India. Alexandria, Egypt was a very important city for Hellenistic culture because it had been a center of knowledge for many years. Hellenistic culture spread by scholars and philosophers, who studies, astronomy, mathematics, physics and medicine during the years 336-323 BCE. This culture lead to advancements that are the basic of science today.
