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ca. 620-480 BC: Archaic Period
594: traditional date of Solon's archonship in Athens
561: initial rise of Pisistratus as tyrant of Athens
ca. 533: introduction of the City Dionysia at Athens (Thespis)
ca. 530: introduction of Attic red figure pottery
528/7: death of Pisistratus
ca. 525/4: birth of Aeschylus
508/7: establishment of the Athenian democracy by Cleisthenes
ca. 502: introduction of competition for composers of tragic productions at the City Dionysia; introduction of comic productions at the City Dionysia
ca. 499: Aeschylus' first dramatic production
ca. 496/5: birth of Sophocles
490: battle of Marathon
486: introduction of competition for composers of comic productions at the City Dionysia
ca. 485: birth of Euripides
484: Aeschylus' first victory
480: battle of Salamis
479: battle of Plataea
479-323 BC: Classical Period
477: foundation of the Delian League
mid- or late-470s: Aeschylus visits Sicily
472: Aeschylus' Persians
ca. 470: production of Attic black figure pottery ends
ca. 468: Sophocles' first dramatic production
467: Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes
463?: Aeschylus' Suppliant Women
462: reforms of Ephialtes
458: Aeschylus' Oresteia
456/5: death of Aeschylus
455: Euripides' first dramatic production
451/0: Pericles' citizenship law
449: introduction of competition for tragic actors at the City Dionysia
447-432: construction of the Parthenon
443/2: Sophocles serves on board of State Treasurers (Hellenotamiai)
443: introduction of comic productions at the Lenaea
ca. 442: Sophocles' Antigone
442: introduction of competition for composers of comic productions at the Lenaea; introduction of competition for comic actors at the Lenaea
441/0?: Sophocles serves as general in First Samian War
441: Euripides' first victory
ca. 440-430: introduction of tragic productions at the Lenaea
438: Euripides' Alcestis
431: 431: Euripides' Medea; beginning of the Peloponnesian War
ca. 430: introduction of competition for composers of tragic productions at the Lenaea; introduction of competition for tragic actors at the Lenaea; introduction of competition for comic actors at the City Dionysia
430-428: plague at Athens
429: death of Pericles
ca. 429-427?: Sophocles' Oedipus the King
ca. 429: Euripides' Children of Heracles
428: Euripides' Hippolytus
427: Aristophanes produces first play (The Banqueters — now lost)
425: Aristophanes' Acharnians
ca. 425: Euripides' Andromache
424: Aristophanes' Knights
ca. 424: Euripides' Hecuba
423: first production of Aristophanes' Clouds
422: Aristophanes' Wasps
422?: Euripides' Suppliant Women
421: Aristophanes' Peace; Peace of Nicias
ca. 422-416: Euripides' Electra, Heracles
420/19: Sophocles serves as Athens' official representative at the induction of the god Asclepius
418?: production of preserved version of Aristophanes' Clouds
415: Euripides' Trojan Women; Athenian expedition against Sicily
414: Aristophanes' Birds
ca. 414: Euripides' Iphigenia among the Taurians
413: final defeat of Athenian expedition against Sicily; Sophocles serves as one of the ten commissioners (probouloi) charged with overseeing Athenian affairs
ca. 413: Euripides' Ion
412: Euripides' Helen
411: Aristophanes' Lysistrata (Lenaea?); Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria (City Dionysia?)
Spring 411 - Spring 410: oligarchic rule (the rule of the "Four Hundred") at Athens
409: Sophocles' Philoctetes
ca. 409: Euripides' Phoenician Women
408: Euripides' Orestes
407/6: death of Euripides in Macedon
406/5: death of Sophocles
405: Aristophanes' Frogs
404: conclusion of the Peloponesian War
April 404 - September 403: rule of the "Thirty Tyrants" in Athens
401: Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus (posthumous)
392 or 391: Aristophanes' Women in Assembly
388: Aristophanes' Wealth
386: first recorded instance of the revival of a fifth-century tragedy at the City Dionysia
ca. 386: death of Aristophanes
359: Philip assumes throne of Macedon
ca. 342: birth of Menander
338: battle of Chaeronea
336: death of Philip of Macedon; ascension of Alexander the Great
336-323: campaigns of Alexander the Great
ca. 330: official copies of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides compiled at Athens
323: death of Alexander
323-30 BC: Hellenistic Period
321: Menander's first dramatic production
318: Demetrius of Phaleron assumes tyranny of Athens
316: Menander's The Grouch
307: Demetrius of Phaleron expelled from Athens by Demetrius Poliorcetes
ca. 291: death of Menander
247-221: rule of Ptolemy III Euergetes, who "borrows" the Athenians' official copies of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides for the library at Alexandria
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