Ancient Greece
A Chronology
TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE ARCHAIC PERIOD (800 BCE-480 BCE) II. The Classical Period (480 BCE-323 BCE) III. The Hellenistic Period (323 BCE-31 BCE)
The Archaic Period
(800- 480 BCE)
The Olympic Games (776 BCE - 293 CE)
The first Olympic Games were part of a religious festival honoring Zeus, the father of the Greek gods and goddesses.
Historians believe that the first 13 Olympic festivals had only one event-- a 600 foot dash called the stadion. More athletic events were gradually added, including wrestling and chariot racing.
Athletes came from all across the Mediterranean and likely competed in the nude!
800 BCE
Homer Homer begins to compose the Iliad and Odyssey in 750 BCE. These epic poems about the Trojan War and its aftermath become two of the most famous literary works in Greek literature and are still read in schools today!
The Gam yea es w rs f ere rom hel fes de 776 tiva ver l B wa C y4 tru E -29 s so ce w 3C i m a E. T s ca allo por he lled wa tan t th ll a acr to s thl at a oss afe e tes Gre ly a and ece tten to spe d. cta tor s
776 The first Olympic Games take place
750 Homer begins to write the Iliad & the Odyssey
of an re part ems we ren’t e w The po d n dition a a tr ch l a m r o ntil u down u joyed n e written e r e they w rd. later as ken wo the spo h g u o thr
The Iliad follows the life of Achilles and the Trojan war. The Odyssey takes place after the war and follows the Greek hero Odysseus as he travels home from Troy and fights off many famous monsters of Greek Mythology.
640
Pythagoras ca . 570 BCE- 490 BCE
Pythagoras is a famous ancient Greek philosopher who made many major advances in science, math, and philosophy.
He is best known today for the Pythagorean Theorem but modern scholars dispute whether Pythagoras was the true author as many ancient sources are incomplete or offer conflicting information.
Democracy in Ancient Athens
Democracy is introduced to Athens by Cleisthenes through a series of political reforms he called demokratia, meaning rule by the people.
Pythagorean theorem: the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
Demos= People
kratia= power
Draconian Laws
An aristocratic lawyer named Draco created Athens’ first written law codes in 621 BCE. They were called the Draconian laws and were known for their harshness-- even lesser crimes were punishable by death. Some even said the codes were written in blood rather than ink.
The laws benefited the wealthy, aristocratic elite, and disenfranchised the poor.
640 BCE
621 The Draconian Laws are written
Cleisthenes created three ruling bodies: -- The Ekklesia, the governing Assembly at which every citizen could attend and vote -- The Boule, a council which decided what matters to bring to the Ekklesia -- The Dikasteria, the law courts He also classified all citizen families into villages (“demes”) rather than by family kin relationships. This made the villages, rather than the wealthy aristocratic families the ruling political bodies.
The word draconian is now in our dictionary as an adjective meaning excessively severe or harsh
570
Ex: a man who might have previously identified himself as Demochares son of Demosthenes now would identify himself as Demochares from Athens.
Pythagoras is born
508
480
Democracy End of is Archaic introduced Period to Ancient Athens
The Classical Period 480-323 BCE
Both the Acropolis and the famous Parthenon dedicated to the goddess Athena were constructed under the leadership of Pericles.
Pericles Pericles was a famous orator, statesman, general, and fierce supporter of democracy. He used his wealth to promote the arts, literature, and philosophy throughout Athens. Pericles died of the Plague in 429 BCE.
Sophocles
Pericles is always shown wearing a helmet, partly to indicate his
successful role as a general. However, Plutarch, a famous Greek Sophocles was one of the greatest playwrights of historian who lived several centuries after Pericles, tells another Greek tragedies in Ancient Athens. story in his famous work “Parallel Lives.” “His physical features were almost perfect, the only exception being his head, which was rather long and out of proportion. For this reason almost all his portraits show him wearing a helmet, since the artists apparently did not wish to taunt him with this deformity” Plutarch, Pericles (III.2)
Famous plays: Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Ajax, Women of Trachis, Philoctetes
Theater was a very popular form of entertainment in Ancient Greece. Even today, Sophocles’ plays continue to be performed around the world and can tell historians a lot about life and politics in Ancient Greece.
468 BCE
Sophocles rises to fame when his play wins first place in a performance contest
Age of Pericles
440
431
The The first Golden Peloponnesian War Age of ends, Pericles gives Pericles his Funeral Oration, begins and the Parthenon is completed
Pericles is perhaps most famous for the funeral oration he gave honoring the fallen soldiers and rallying Athens after the end of the First Peloponnesian War against Sparta.
400
The Great Philosophers
Greek philosophers attempted to answer the big questions of life, often daring to question traditional beliefs and challenge those in power- a tendency that made them popular with some and extremely unpopular with others.
Socrates, now considered the father of western philosophy, managed to anger many of the most renowned men in Athens by publicly questioning them after he was told the Oracle of Delphi had named him the wisest man in Athens. "I [Socrates] found that the men whose reputation for wisdom stood highest were nearly the most lacking in it, while others who were looked down on as common people were much more intelligent. (Plato’s account of the speech Socrates made at his trial, Apology, 22).
Socrates was put to trial and found guilty of denying the gods and corrupting the youth. He was forced to drink poison, hemlock, for his alleged crimes.
Alexander the Great
Plato was another Greek philosopher and student of Socrates. He founded the first institution of higher learning in the western world and named it the Academy. Plato taught Aristotle who later became the tutor for Alexander the Great.
Under Philip II’s rule, Macedonia conquered much of Ancient Greece. After inheriting the kingdom of Macedonia from his Father Philip II (who he may or may not have had a hand in murdering), Alexander the Great continued to expand the Greek territories that his father had conquered.
Alexander the Great also conquered Egypt, Persia, and parts of India before his death at the age of 32.
He founded some 20 cities that bore his name. The first, and greatest, was Alexandria in Egypt.
399 BCE
386
Plato Socrates founds is the condemned Academy to death
339 336
Alexander the Great is considered one of history's greatest military minds, as well as the leader of the largest empire ever established in the Ancient World. In 15 years of conquest, he never lost a battle
323
King Philip Alexander Alexander the Great the Great II of becomes dies Macedon has gained King when his control over father Philip II is all of murdered Greece
The Hellenistic Period
323- 31 BCE
The Macedonian Wars The four Macedonian Wars were fought between the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Macedonia.
Greek PHALANX The First Macedonian War occurred when King Philip V of Macedonia allied with Carthage. The war ended favorably for King Philip and he was able to keep several conquered Roman territories.
Roman Testudo When Philip V made hostile expansion efforts against several city-states, Rome launched the Second Macedonian War. Philip was soundly defeated and lost all territories outside of Macedonia and most of his navy. Subsequently, Rome names itself the “protector” of the Greek city-states.
Death of a King Alexander the Great died after 10 days of fever in June of 323 BCE. To this day, historians debate whether he died of disease or poison.
Perseus, Philip’s son and successor, began to ally with a number of Greek city-states, garnering the displeasure of Rome. So began the Third Macedonian War, which ended with Perseus taken prisoner and Macedonia broken into four Republics required to pay annual tribute to Rome.
His vast kingdom was divided between his four generals Lysimachus, Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. They spent much of their rule warring against each other, but their presence spread Hellenistic (Greek) ideas throughout the region.
323 BCE
With the death of Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic Period begins and Greece gradually declines in power
An attempt to reestablish the Macedonian Kingdom by an imposter son of Perseus provoked the Fourth Macedonian War. Macedonia was defeated and made the first Roman province in the budding Roman Empire. Over the next century, the rest of Greece followed.
215
200
171
149
Third First Macedonian Macedonian War War Fourth Second Macedonian Macedonian War War
Greek Legacy
As the Romans conquered regions which had previously been held by Alexander the Great and his predecessors, they were greatly influenced by Greek civilization and culture. Greek arts, science, philosophy, architecture, and even religion inspired the Romans and contributed to a Greek legacy that is still felt today.
poseidon
Neptune
Athena
Minerva Jupiter
Hera
Hermes
Mercury
Apollo
Only Apollo’s name remained unchanged in Roman mythology.
zeus
Juno
Apollo
The Romans adopted the Greek gods, assigning them new Roman names but leaving them with the same powers and responsibilities.
The Battle of Actium The famous naval battle fought between Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar, and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
The Great Library of Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great’s successor Ptolemy I around 280 BCE, became a center for learning in the ancient world. It attracted scholars from all over who then brought Hellenic beliefs and scientific methods back to their native lands.
146 BCE
Rome sacks Corinth and dissolves the Achaean Confederacy. From this moment forward Greece is ruled by Rome
Egypt, the last of the territories that Alexander the Great once ruled, is annexed into the Roman Empire and the Hellenistic period comes to a close. It is followed by close to 500 years of Roman rule.
31 BCE
The Battle of Actiumthe last Greek City falls to Rome
The The Classical Hellenistic Period Period
The Archaic Period
480 BCE
800 BCE
323 BCE
31 BCE
Sources ● ● ● ● ●
https://www.ancient.eu/
https://www.penn.museum/sites/olympics/olympicorigins.shtml https://www.britannica.com/topic/Draconian-laws,
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pythagoras/#WasPytMatCos
http://www.stoa.org/demos/article_democracy_development@page =4&greekEncoding=UnicodeC.html
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https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/ancient-greece-dem ocracy
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https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/sophocles-496-bc-406-bc
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/greec e/hetairai/pericles.html
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http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w305717/Intro/Plato's%20Apology.pdf
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancientmedieval/alexander-the-great/a/alexander-the-great
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https://www.britannica.com/event/Macedonian-Wars
Rachel Ebersole