The Creation of the World

???? Chaos is born into darkness from the Unknown.

???? Gaia ("The Earth") emerges from either Chaos or the Unknown. Gaia separates heaven from the earth, water from the land, air from airless space.

???? From the depths of Gaia comes Tartarus and Eros.

???? Chaos gives birth to Erebus ("the Darkness of the Underworld") and Nyx ("Night").

???? Gaia gives birth to Uranus ("The Sky") and Pontus ("The Sea").

???? Uranus fertilizes Gaia with rain, and from Gaia spring the mountains, the water, the animals and plants. Gaia and Uranus give birth to the Hundred-handed Giants (Cottus, Braireus, Gyges), and the Cyclopes (Brontes, Steropes, Arges).

???? Erebus and Nyx give birth to Hemera ("Day"), Aether ("Upper Air"), Moros ("Doom"), Thanatos ("Death"), Hypnos ("Sleep"), Nemesis ("Retribution"), and Eris ("Strife").

The Age of Titans

???? Gaia and Uranus become the parents of the 12 Titans (Oceanus, Tethys, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Cronus). As they are born, Uranus thrusts these children back into the womb of the Earth.

???? Gaia devises a way to overthrow Uranus' tyrannical rule and fashions for him a sickle of iron. Cronus overthrows Uranus, slicing off his genitals, and tosses them into the sea.

???? During Cronus' reign many Gods are born. Hyperion and Theia give birth to Helius ("The Sun"), Selene ("The Moon") and Eos ("The Dawn"). Coeus and Phoebe give birth to Leto and Asteria.

???? Cronus and Rhea give birth to Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus -- but having been warned that he, too, would be overthrown by his children, swallowed each of these children whole.

???? Rhea disguises a large stone for the infant Zeus, which Cronus swallows. The real Zeus is raised by Gaia in seclusion in a cave on Mount Dicte in Crete.

The Age of Gods

???? After a 10 year war, Zeus overthrows Cronus.

???? The remaining Olympians were born, and had their adventures.

???? The mortals are created.

???? During the debate over who should get what parts of the sacrificial bulls, Prometheus tricks Zeus into giving the meat and fire to mortal man. Zeus decided to withhold fire from humanity, and but Prometheus gave it to them anyway. Zeus condemns Prometheus to be chained to a mountain and having his liver daily eaten by a bird.

???? Zeus has Hephestus fashion women from clay. The first woman's name was Pandora.

???? Pandora's curiosity releases all the evils into the world.

???? Populations begin settling in city-states, including Athens, Thebes, Argos, and Corinth.

The Age of Heroes

c1378 BCE Thebes is founded by Cadmus after killing a dragon. Sowing the dragon's teeth, these sprout into the Spartoi ("Sewn men"), of whom five survive.

c1353 BCE Cadmus's daughter is killed by Zeus's power while bearing the child Dionysius. Dionysius is carried to term in Zeus's thigh. Cadmus's son Autonoe is ripped to pieces after seeing the Goddess Artemis in the nude. Cadmus's son Polydorus marries Nycteis, and they have Labdacus.

c1328 BCE Sisyphus is born to Aeolus of Thessaly

c1313 BCE Zeus seduces Danae, daughter of Acrisius of Argo, fathering Perseus.

c1303 BCE Laius marries Jocasta. They beget Oedipus, and, after it is prophesied that he would kill his father. He is saved and presented to the wife of Polybus, King of Corinth.

c1288 BCE Heracles is born to Alcmene, wife of Amphitryon of Argos

c1283 BCE Oedipus travels to Thebes. On his way there, he kills Laius, and after defeating the Sphinx, he marries Jocasta, his mother. Jason is born to Aeson of Iolcus.

c1275 BCE Heracles marries Megara, daughter of Creon of Thebes. In a fit of insanity, caused by Gera, he murders her and their children. to atone for this, he undergoes the "12 Labors"...

c1273 BCE The Voyage of the Argo to find the Golden Fleece. Theseus is born to Aethra, daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen.

c1270 BCE King Minos of Crete defeats Athens and forces them to pay a tribute of 7 boys and 7 girls every 9 years to feed the Minotaur.

c1268 BCE Jason divorces Medea for Glauce, daughter of Creon of Corinth. Medea destroys Glauce and Creon's whole family. Medea travels to Athens where she marries King Aegeus.

Heracles frees Prometheus, who was imprisoned for either "30,000 years" or 13 generations (about 400 years).

c1263 BCE A plague falls on Thebes. Creon travels to Delphi to learn what was causing the plague. Teiresias explains the Oracle, and the truth of Oedipus's heritage becomes known. Oedipus blinds himself and goes into self-imposed exile. Oedipus's sons become co-rulers of Thebes.

c1256 BCE Theseus travels to Athens. He defeats the Minotaur, and returns to Athens to claim the throne of Aegeus.

c1251 BCE Oedipus dies in Athens under the protection of King Theseus. Polyneices leads an army of Seven against Thebes. Antigone tries to bury the dead, and is condemned to death by Creon. She secretly marries Creon's son Haemon.

c1250 BCE Heracles completes his "12 labors" by freeing Theseus from the "Chair of Forgetfulness" in the Underworld.

c1250 BCE Approximate date of the eruption of Thera, damaging the civilization on Crete.

c1248 BCE Heracles kills the children of King Laomedon of Troy, except for the child Podarces, later called Priam. Heracles is stayed by the child's tears.

The Trojan War

c1234 BCE Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor, and Polydeuces are all hatched from eggs, children of Leda (or Nemesis). Helen and Polydeuces are the children of Zeus, while Clytemnestra and Castor are the children of Tyndareus.

c1230 BCE Paris is born to Priam and Hecuba of Troy. He is predicted to cause the destruction of the city, so he is exposed at birth. He survives by being nursed by a bear for 5 days.

c1223 BCE Helen is carried off by King Theseus of Athens. Her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, the "Dioscuri" wage war on Athens to get her back. Theseus is ousted from the throne of Athens.

c1219 BCE Helen, foster-daughter of Tyndareus, is wooed by more than two dozen Greek princes. To avoid any chance that she might be abducted, her foster father makes the princes swear an oath to protect her and punish anyone who might steal her away. She eventually marries Menelaus of Sparta.

c1210 BCE At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, three goddesses ask Paris, son of Priam, to determine who is the fairest of them. They bribe him, and Aphrodite offers him Love. Paris chooses Aphrodite, and she sends him to Sparta to collect his prize. There he falls in love with Queen Helen of Sparta, and they flee, abandoning Helen's 9-year-old daughter Hermione.

c1209 BCE Achilles is born.

c1194 BCE Achilles and the former suitors of Helen (bound by the Oath of Tyndareus to support Menelaus) finally ally and sail for Troy. To guarantee a safe trip, Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia.

c1184 BCE The Fall of Troy. Odysseus leaves for Ithica. Aeneas leads a group of Trojans to found a new Troy.

c1183 BCE Aeneas and his people settle in Latium along the Albula river valley among the people of King Latinus. Aeneas marries Lavinia, daughter of Latinus.

c1174 BCE Odysseus finally arrives home to find a number of suitors trying to win his wife Penelope. Aeneas found the city of Lavinium. Eventually, the people merge into one under the rulership of the house of Aeneas.

The Classical Era

c753 BCE Romulus and Remus found the city of Rome.

Late 8th Century BCE The Phoenician character set lays the foundation for the Greek Alphabet.

Early 7th Century BCE Hesiod composes the Shield, the Theogony and the Works and Days. Homer composes the Illiad and Odyssey

c525 BCE Aeschylus is born in Eleusis.

496 BCE Sophocles is born in Colonus.

490 BCE Battle of Marathon

c486 BCE Euripides is born.

468 BCE Sophocles beats out Aeschylus in the Grand Dionysia.

467 BCE Aeschylus wins the Great Dionysia with plays that include Seven Against Thebes.

458 BCE The Oresteia is staged.

456/5 BCE Aeschylus dies. Euripides wins the Great Dionysia.

431 BCE Euphorion, son of Aeschylus, wins the Great Dionysia.

408 BCE Euripides goes into self-exile from Athens, settling in Macedonia.

406 BCE Euripides dies.

2?? BCE Apollonius of Rhodes, Chief Librarian of Alexandria, writes the Argonautica. He may have also compiled the Homeric poems into the Illiad.