| Dates | Political events | Literature and art |
| 525 | Peisistratid family rules Athens | Birth of Aeschylus and tragedy c.525 |
| 499-494 | Ionians try to rebel from Persian Empire | Birth of Sophocles c.495 |
| 490 | First Persian invasion: Battle of Marathon | Death of Aeschylus' brother Cynegirus |
| 480 | Second Persian invasion: Battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea | Birth
of Euripides c.485 Aeschylus' Persians 472 |
| 478 | Creation of Delian League | Acropolis in ruins |
| 460 | Pericles' career begins (462-429) | Aeschylus'
Oresteia 458 Death of Aeschylus 456 |
| 450 | Growth
of Athenian empire Pericles launches building program |
Herodotus'
Histories Parthenon begun Sophocles' Women of Trachis 450-430 Sophocles' Ajax 450-430 |
| 432/1 | Outbreak of Peloponnesian War | Thucydides
begins his History Euripides' Medea 431 |
| 430 | Plague in Athens; death of Pericles | Pericles' Funeral Oration 431 |
| 430-21 | First decade of war: chaos and stasis, stalemate and peace | Sophocles'
Oedipus 430-(?)428 Euripides' Hippolytus 428 |
| 416 | War resumes c. 418: Melian Expedition; Sicilian Expedition | Euripides'
Herakles 416-414 Euripides' Trojan Women 415 |
| 404 | Sparta
defeats Athens Death of Socrates 399 |
Death
of Euripides 406 Death of Sophocles 406/5 Euripides' Bacchae c.406/5 Aristophanes' Frogs 405 |