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CHRONOLOGY/TIMELINE of Greek Literature
The Beginning
Atlantis (from
Timaus and Critias by Plato) by Solon
Begins in ~2000 BC, ends in 1628 BC
The Birth of the World
Theogony by Hesiod
Chronology from 1788-1173 BC. Predominantly concerned with the period
from 1710 to 1628 BC.
Library of
Apollodorus
Chronology from 1788-1103 BC.
Metamorphosis by
Ovid
Selected Chronology from 1750-30 BC.
The Reign of the Titans.
Covered in the Titanomachy now a lost work
The Rise of the Gods
Covered in Titanomachy now a lost work
The Affairs of the Gods.
Homeric Hymn to
Hermes
Set in 1675 BC. Hermes has just been born and is accused by Apollo of
stealing his cattle.
The Tracking
Satyrs by Sophocles (fragment)
Play is set in 1675 BC. Covers the same story as the Homeric Hymn to
Hermes but introduces the Satyr Silinus. Silinus and his family are promised
gold and their freedom if they help Apollo find his stolen cattle. After
following a suspicious trial of footprints pointing backwards Silinus sons
are frightened by a sound they have never heard before coming from inside of
a cave where they suspect the thief to be hiding. There Hermes is being
looked after by Cyllene.
Prometheus Bound
by Aeschylus
Play is set in 1667 BC. Prometheus is taken to be chained to the Skythian
rocks for stealing fire from the Gods and giving it to man. Prometheus is 43,
Zeus is 38, Hephaestus is 20, Io is 16, Hermes is 8.
Pandora (story
taken from Works and Days) by Hesiod
Takes place in 1654 BC.
The Heroic Age
The Suppliant Women
by Aeschylus
Play is set in 1488 BC.
Homeric Hymn to
Demeter
Takes place in 1409 BC. Demeter spreads her worship from Crete to Eleusis
while in search of her daughter Persephone who has been abducted by Aidonius.
The Bacchantes by
Euripides
Play is set in 1398 BC. Dionysus the son of Semele the daughter of Cadmus
who claims Zeus as his father returns to Hellas from Phrygia. Everyone at Thebes
except for Pentheus the son of Echion and Cadmus daughter Agave accept him as
a God.
Cadmus is an old man of 70. Dionysus would have
been 34 and Pentheus 18. Agave would be at least 51.
Euripides has taken the liberty of including
Cadmus in the play even though events should really have occurred in 1380 BC
after Cadmus was dead and when Pentheus was 52 and his mother 69. Cadmus
could not have fathered Illyrus by Harmonia when she was 70 so must have set
off for Illyria in 1415 BC at the latest. The anachronistic references to Pan
and to Teiresius who belongs in the Oedepus saga can be put down to poetic
licence unless in reality there were two or Pans and Teiresius’s.
Ion by Euripides
Play is set in 1350 BC. Creusa the daughter of Erectheus marries Xuthus
the son of Aeolus and after being courted by Apollo gives birth to Ion. Ion
is now about 16, Creusa 32, and Xuthus 50.
Andromeda by
Euripides (fragment)
Play is set in 1344 BC. Fragments of Andromedas call for help are
included in Arsitophanes Thesmophorae
Homeric Hymn to
Delian Apollo
Takes place in c.1310 BC. Describes the birth of Apollo during the time
that Macar(eus) the son of Aeolus was ruling over Lesbos. This hymn may have
been derived from the epic poem the Minyad, described by Pausanius. If this
dating is correct this Apollo may be the same Apollo who served Admetus for a
year after the death of Asclepius
Amphitryon, or
Jupiter in Disguise by Plautus
Takes place in 1286 or 1280 BC. Describes
the conception and birth of Hercules and Iphicles.
Jupiter impersonates Amphitryon and lays with Alcmena while
Mercury impersonates Amphitryon’s slave Sosia in order to prevent the
real Sosia and the real Amphitryon from discovering Jupiter. Amphitryon
suspects Alcmena of adultery but all is revealed by Jupiter at the end after
the births of both sons together on the same day as the events take place.
Theseus by Plutarch
Biography covers lifetime from 1270-1206 BC.
Alcestis by
Euripides
Play is set in 1253 BC. Herakles brings back Alcestis from death while he
is on his way to fetch to mares of Diomedes. Admetus is 30,
Alcestis is 30. Their children are 10.
Oedepus the king by
Sophocles
Play is set in 1246 BC.
Herakles by
Euripides
Play is set in 1246 BC. Takes place after Herakles completes his labours
when Lycus the son of Lycus has slain Creon and taken the throne of Thebes
while Theseus is king of Athens. The events must occur during Oedipus exile
before Etocles takes the throne and before the voyage of the Argo.
The Argonautica by
Apollonius
Takes place in 1246 BC.
Homeric Hymn to
Aphrodite
Takes place in 1240 BC. Aphrodite arrives in Troy and seduces
Anchises who becomes the father of Aeneas.
Medea by Euripides
Play is set in 1236 BC.
Oedepus at Colonus
by Sophocles
Play is set in 1236 BC.
Shield of Herakles by Hesiod
Takes place in 1235 BC.
The Trachiniae by Sophocles
Play is set in 1234 BC.
Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo
Takes place in c.1230 BC Apollo travels around the Peloponnese during the
time of Trophonius and Agamedes
Hippolytus by
Euripides
Play is set in 1226 BC.
The Herakleidae by
Euripides
Play is set in 1223 BC.
The Phoenissae by
Euripides
Play is set in 1220 BC.
The Seven Against Thebes by
Aeschylus
Play is set in 1220 BC.
Antigone by
Sophocles
Play is set in 1220 BC.
The Suppliants by
Euripides
Play is set in 1220 BC. Theseus recovers the bones of the Seven
Against Thebes
The Hellenic Wars
The Cypria
(fragments) by unknown author
Takes place in 1203 BC.
Iphigenia at Aulis by
Euripides
Play set in 1194 BC.
The Iliad by
Homer
Takes place in 1184-1183 BC. In the final year of the siege of
Troy Achilles seeks vengeance for Agamemnon depriving him of his concubine.
Nestor is 64 and the oldest man present.
Achilles is 33. Agamemnon is 39.
Rhesus by
Euripides
Play set in late winter of 1184 BC.
Ajax by Sophocles
Takes place in late winter of 1184 BC.
Hecuba by
Euripides
Play set in late winter of 1184 BC.
The Trojan Women
by Euripides
Play set in late winter of 1184 BC.
The Fall of Troy by
Quintus
Takes place in summer of 1184 BC.
Agamemnon by
Aeschylus
Takes place on January 13 1183 BC.
The Odyssey by
Homer
Takes place from 1183-1173 BC. Odysseus begins his journey home at
the age of 40 and is blown of course.
The Cyclops by
Euripides
Takes place at the beginning of 1183 BC.
Philoctetes by
Sophocles
Play Set in 1178 BC
Helen by
Euripides
Play Set in 1176-1175 BC. Meneleus and Helen are at the palace of Theoclymenus
son of Proteus king of Egypt who wages war on the Greeks and wants to take
Helen as his bride.
Orestes by
Euripides
Play Set in 1175 BC.
The Choephori by
Aeschylus
Play Set in 1175 BC. Orestes returns from banishment at the age of
20 to avenge his fathers murder.
Electra by
Euripides, Sophocles
Play Set in 1175 BC. Electra seeks revenge for her fathers murder.
Andromache by
Euripides
Play Set in 1175 BC. Peleus is 89, Molosos his great grandson is
8.
The Eumemdides
by Aeschylus
Play Set in 1175-1173 BC. Orestes is tormented by the Eirynes
after murdering his mother
The Aenead by
Virgil
Takes place in 1175 BC.
Iphigenia in
Tauris by Euripides
Play Set in 1170 BC Orestes searches for his long lost sister
Iphigenia who is now 30 years old.
The Spartan age
The Second
Messenian War by Rhianus of Bene (summary by Pausanius)
Takes place in 682 BC Tells of the events after the battle of
the Great Trench.
The Athenian Age
The Persians by
Aeschylus
Takes place in c.480 BC.
Symposium by
Plato
Takes place in c.423 BC. Agathon has invited Socrates to a party in
celebration of the performance of his first tragedy and a discussion takes place
about the God Love (Eros). Aristophanes is also present at the event. The
account was probably written down in 414 BC
The Clouds by
Aristophanes
Comedy Set in c.420 BC after the events of Plato’s Symposium. Aristophanes
ridicules the Greek philosophers method of reasoning and its misuse using
Socrates as a stereotype.
Symposium by
Xenophon
Takes place in c.419 BC. Reference is made to Agathon and the
Syracusian entertainer alludes to the depiction of Socrates in Aristophanes
Clouds which Socrates refutes.
The Thesmophorae
by Aristophanes
Comedy Set in c.411 BC after the events of Plato’s Symposium. Euripides
fears the women of Athens will try to kill him so sends his father-in-law to
the festival of the Thesmophorae disguised as a woman to find out what the
women are planning after Agathon refuses to go in his stead. Quotes part of
Euripides Helen and contains fragments of Euripides lost play Andromeda.
The Frogs by
Aristophanes
Comedy Set in c.401 BC after the death of Euripides. Dionysus and his slave
go down to Hades to try to bring back Euripides to save Athens from disaster.
Greek Chronology
The Origin of the Greek Gods
Biblical Chronology
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