1193BC to 516BC

Society

1193BC. King Priam's city of Troy falls to Greek forces under Agamemnon, after a 10-year siege.

1025BC. The prophet Samuel anoints Saul, who will reign until 1012BC as king of Hebron.

1005BC. Jerusalem falls to David who is anointed king of Judea by the prophet Samuel.

Literature

1000-500BC. The Vedas. Anonymous. Hindu. Religious. The four most sacred books of Hinduism. Collectively called the Sambitas. Rig Veda is the Veda of the Stanzas, including prayers, hymns in verse. The Veda of Liturgical Formulas includes prayers in prose. The Veda of Melodies includes prayers for musical chanting. The Athara Veda includes magical spells and incantations. The Brahmanas includes prose interpretation. The Aranyakas included treatises on meditation. Finally, the Upanishads includes speculative treatises.

Society

961BC. Judea's King David dies and is succeeded by his son Solomon, who will reign until 922BC.

Literature

800BC. Works and Days. Hesiod. Greek. Poem. Moral maxims and precepts on farming. Source of information on primitive beliefs concerned with everyday life. Addressed to his brother who had cheated him of much of his share of the family property.

800BC. Iliad. Homer. Greek. Epic Poetry. 24 books. Focus on the withdrawal of Achilles from the contest, with the disastrous effects of this act. Concentrated not on the siege but on the effects of one man's anger. He is a noble figure who embraces death. Includes battle formulas. The principal figures are individualized. Includes humorous scenes, moving scenes and has human significance. One can find anachronisms. Written in dactylic hexameter. There is an essential unity of concept. Written about four centuries after the war.

800BC. The Odyssey. Homer. Greek. Epic Poetry. First novel. Flashbacks. Dramatic structure and consistent style. Largely a collection of folk tales. Has continuity and coherence by attributing the adventures to a single hero. Hercules, in contrast, never has any unifying point. Just a series of tales.

Society

776BC. Greece's first recorded Olympic games are held.

Literature

722-418BC? Spring and Autumn Annals. Anonymous. China. Chronicle. Chronicle of the feudal state. Terse, dry i style. One of the Chinese Five Classics.

Society

703BC. Rome is founded, according to legend.

Literature

700-600BC. [Greek] Epic Cycle. Anonymous. Poetry. Trojan War stories not covered in the Iliad or Odyssey. Other stories as well, including Theogonia, Titanomachia on the creation and early history of the world. Also, Cypria, on the theft of Helen; and Aetheopis, Ilias Parva, Iliu Persis, Nostoi which are continuations of the Iliad. Telegonia is on the death of Odysseus. Also includes stories on Thebes, Heracles, Theseus, and the Argonauts.

Society

621BC. The Book of Deuteronomy, one of five books of Moses, contains his dying words to his people.

Literature

600-200BC. Upanishads. Anonymous. Hindu. Treatises. Treatises on the nature of man and the universe; part of the Vedic writings. Supreme Godhead, completely attributeless, is uncommunicable, but "realizable." Individual self (Atman) is also the universal self (Brahman) but unaware of the identity. Phenomenal world of appearance exists on relative plane, appears to be real, but isn't. Yoga (physical and spiritual discipline) necessary to effect union of Atman and Brahman.

Society

587BC. Jerusalem falls to Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar II. He carries the Jews off to Babylonian captivity.

586BC. Jerusalem's Great Temple is destroyed by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar II.

538BC. Persia's Cyrus the Great destroys the city of Babylon; permits its Jews to return to Jerusalem.

528BC. Buddhism has its beginnings in India where Siddhartha Gautama, 35, has found enlightenment.

516BC. Jerusalem's Great Temple is rebuilt.