| Time Line of Greek History and Literature |
| Neolithic (7250-3000 BC) | 7250 BC - Earliest confirmation of burials in the Greek cave Franchthi. 7000 BC - Proof of a society that was adept in hut construction and seafaring. In addition, evidence shows that food was produced. Earliest fortifications found in Dimini. 5700 BC - First evidence of Megaron House in central Greece’s Sesclo. |
| Minoan (3000-1500 BC) | The beginning and also the end of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. 3200-2000 BC - The start of the Cycladic culture. Houses in Myrtos as well as Vasiliki. In Lerna, there was a house made of tiles. 2000 BC - The Minoan settlements destroyed. 1627-1600 BC - Settlement in Akrotiri, Thera. The Thera volcano erupted. 1700-1400 BC - Start of the Minoan Neopalatial Period. |
| Middle Bronze Age (2000-1700 BC) | 2000-1700 BC - Myceneans entered the Greek mainland. 2000-1550 BC - Middle Helladic Period. 1700 BC - Knossos destroyed by either an earthquake or war. |
| Late Bronze Age (Mycenaean) (1700-1100 BC) | 1500 BC - Knossos rebuilt. 1400 BC - The Mycenean navy was at the peak of its power. Evidence of bronze weapons and Greek apparel found. The emergence of the Cyclopean defense walls. First evidence of the horse-drawn chariot. 1200 BC - The Trojan War and also the Civil War. The Mycenean empire began to decline. Immigration of Dorians into Greece. |
| "Dark Age" (transition to Iron Age) (1100-850 BC) | 1100 BC - The Mycenean Age came to a close. Monarchy ruled the city states. Ionians migrated to Asia, and the Dorians migrated to the Aegean Islands. 1000 BC - Greeks colonized the Aegean’s eastern coasts. |
| Geometric and Archaic Period (850-480 BC) | 850 BC – Iliad and Odyssey written by the Greek poet Homer . 800-700 BC - Aristocratic Republic replaced Monarchy. 776 BC - The first Olympic Games held. 700 BC - Arrival of Hesiod , one of Greece's most famous poets. Two of his best works, The Theogony and Works and Days, were written around this time. 664 BC - A great naval battle took place between Corinth and Corcyra. 640 BC - Birth of the great Greek lyrical poet Alcaeus on the Lesbos Island. 621 BC - Draco's code of law implemented in Athens. 612 BC - Greek lyric poet Sappho was born. She would later influence Delta Sigma Theta and become the ancient world’s most famous poetess. 600 BC - Coins first introduced as currency. 566 BC - Start of the Panathenaic festivals. 546 BC - Persians invaded and conquered many Greek territories in Asia Minor. 530 BC - Pythagoras and his followers established the city of Croton. He was one of Greece’s greatest mathematicians. |
| High Classical Period (480-323 BC) | 464 BC - An earthquake in Sparta. 457 BC - The dawn of the Golden Age in Athens. The study of art, philosophy, and architecture promoted by Pericles. 455 BC - The first play of Euripides was staged with (Greek apparel). 399 BC - Execution of the great philosopher Socrates. 380 BC - Athens Academy established by Plato . 371 BC - Sparta defeated by Thebes in Leuctra. 336-323 BC - The coming of Alexander the Great . |
| Hellenistic Period (323-146 BC) | 323 BC - Death of Alexander 322 BC - Aristotle, arguably the greatest Greek philosopher, died. 320 BC - Aristarchus of Samos set up Hellenistic astronomy. 307 BC - A school established by the stoic philosopher Epicurus. 300 BC - The museum of Alexandria established by Ptolemy I. The Old Testament translated into Greek. 300-200 BC - Advent of major Greek poets such as Apollonius of Rhodes, Theocritus, and Callimachus. 265 BC - Greek mathematician, Archimedes, developed screw and specific gravity. |
| Roman Republic (146-44 BC) | 146 BC - The Roman empire conquered Greece. 86 BC - Sulla led the Romans and sacked Athens. Emergence of important Greek historians like Diodorus Siculus, Timaeus, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Arrian. |
| Roman Empire (31 BC onwards) | 31 BC - Octavian defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony in the Battle of Aktion. The New Testament written by a number of Greek authors. The Gospels and the Epistles of Saint Paul were some of the significant works. 30 BC - Death of Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt The Ancient Greece period drew to a close |