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This civilization thrives on the island of Crete. They create palaces, amazing artwork, and a unique writing system that includes 2 different writing scripts.
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The Greeks gods and goddesses are started to be worshipped in the Mediterranean area by the Mycenaeans and the Minoans.
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The palace at Knosses is inhabited by the leaders of the Minoans.
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The era of the first palace. It was destroyed by an earthquake.
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The 2nd palace is rebuilt where the first one was destroyed. It was eventually destroyed by invaders who were most likely the Mycenaeans from the mainland of Greece.
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The Mycenaean culture was present and going strong on the Greek Mainland during this time. They are believed to be the earliest-known ancestors of the Greek people today.
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The era of the 3rd palace. This palace was destroyed most likely by invaders who came from the west. This third palace has remains of warriors with their bronze swords and other weapons.
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Mycenaean trade is flourishing. Pottery from Mycenaean potters has been found in Egypt, Italy, Israel, and Sardinia.
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Shipwreck at Uluburun, near Turkey. The ship contained the bodies of many different nationalities and trade items. This shipwreck helped archaeologists learn about the extent of international trade that occurred during this early time in the Mediterranean Sea area.
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Renovations to the palace at Mycenae occur. These renovations include tholos tombs and the Lion Gate. Some believe that Agamemnon (should he be a real person) is buried in these tombs.
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Approximately – The events described by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey take place. These stories are handed down for centuries before Homer writes them down.
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Archeologists found evidence of massive earthquake damage to buildings in the Mycenaean sites from this time period.
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The invading Sea People started the Dark Ages in Crete that would last for centuries.
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The end of the Mycenaean civilization. Some archaeologists believe the Sea people invaded, while others believe droughts or earthquakes caused the end of the civilization.
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The Dark Ages in Greece – could have been as short as 150 years and as long as 300 years.
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For a short period of time, squatters started living in some of the abandoned Mycenaean palaces during this era of the Dark Ages.
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Greeks begin to write in a new language. This new writing system was brought to Greece by the Phoenicians and helped Greece rise up from the Dark Ages that they were in for hundreds of years.
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The Greek Renaissance occurs. This period includes a new writing system and more building projects.
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Early Greek Poets and Writers are honing their craft. The main writers for this time period were Hesiod, Sappho, and Homer.
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The games, held every 4 years, were created to honor Zeus. The earliest Olympics consisted of wrestling and running events.
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Considered to be the beginning of Greek history, as this is the date of the first Olympics and this is approximately when Homer and Hesiod started writing.
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Ancient author Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey.
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The Greeks started creating colonies in Italy and Sicily. Some of these colonies would eventually become Greek city-states on their own. These colonies were created to help with agricultural production for their city-states.
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A sharp population increase leads to the colonizing of more land by Greek city-states. Most colonies were started by young men who took over the local men, married into the local community, and used local resources to export back to their main city-state.
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The colony of Syracuse is established by the Corinthians. Syracuse’s size would one day rival that of Athens.
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The time of Hesiod – Famed for writing Theogony and Works and Days, which was essentially a farmer’s almanac for the time.
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The rise of tyrants begins in some Greek city-states. A tyrant was a leader who had sole power in the city-state, without the legal authority to do so. Some Greek tyrants were good, unlike the meaning of the word today.
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The tyrant Cypselus and his son Periander of Corinth came to power.
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Aristocrat and Olympian Kylon tried to take power in Athens and become a tyrant. His group was eventually killed or surrendered. Kylon and his brother were able to escape.
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Athenian lawgiver Draco created the first law code in Athens. His laws had severe punishments if they were broken (death penalty was common).
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The life of Sappho, famed female poet. These poems are personal in nature and show her affinity for the gods/goddess like Aphrodite.
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By this time, Athens was run by 9 archons who were appointed or elected each year. Most were elected for one year terms (however, some future archons were reelected year after year).
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Solon, leader in Athens, replaces the former law code of the city. His new laws start laying the foundation for democracy to thrive in Athens.
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Democracy in Athens took a backseat thanks to the leader Pisistratus and his sons.
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The Syracuse theater is constructed. It is one of the largest theaters in the Greek civilization.
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The red-figure pottery style is started in Athens. This is the pottery style that Greece is most known for, with a black background and the foreground being the color of the red clay used to create the pottery.
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Cleisthenes, an Athenian statesman, keeps Athens moving towards a democracy by continuing what Solon had started. He creates a democratic constitution in Athens.
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The height of Athens – The population of the city was approximately 200,000 people.
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The first ostracism (voting on a broken pot sherd) occurred. Some believe Cleisthenes invented this concept; however, since it first took place 20 years after his rule, some believe otherwise.
