Ancient Greece & Rome
800 BC – 400 ADThe foundations of Western thought, art, and literature. From Homer's epics through the golden age of Athens to the twilight of Rome, this era established the forms — tragedy, philosophy, sculpture, oratory — that every subsequent century would measure itself against.
Literature & Philosophy
Visual Arts & Architecture
Music & Performing Arts
800–500 BC
LiteratureHomer~8th c. BCIliad, OdysseyLiteratureHesiod~700 BCTheogony, Works and DaysLiteratureSappho~630 BC – ~570 BCLyric poet of LesbosLiteratureThales~624 BC – ~546 BCWater is the principle of all thingsLiteratureAnaximander~610 BC – ~546 BCThe Boundless — apeiron as first principleLiteraturePythagoras~570 BC – ~495 BCAll is number — mathematics as cosmic orderLiteratureHeraclitus~535 BC – ~475 BCEverything flows — the Obscure One
500–300 BC
LiteratureAeschylus525 BC – 456 BCFather of tragedy — the OresteiaLiteraturePindar~518 BC – ~438 BCVictory odes — the eagle of ThebesLiteratureParmenides~515 BC – ~450 BCBeing is — the Way of TruthLiteratureSophocles496 BC – 406 BCOedipus Rex, AntigoneLiteratureEmpedocles~494 BC – ~434 BCFour elements, Love and StrifeLiteratureEuripides480 BC – 406 BCMedea, The BacchaeVisualPhidias~480 BC – ~430 BCSculptor of the ParthenonLiteratureThucydides~460 BC – ~400 BCHistory of the Peloponnesian WarLiteratureDemocritus~460 BC – ~370 BCThe laughing philosopher — atoms and voidLiteratureAristophanes446 BC – 386 BCOld Comedy — The Clouds, The BirdsLiteraturePlato428 BC – 348 BCThe Republic, the dialoguesVisualPraxiteles~400 BC – ~330 BCAphrodite of Knidos — the classical nudeLiteratureAristotle384 BC – 322 BCMetaphysics, Poetics, Ethics
300 BC – 400 AD
LiteratureCicero106 BC – 43 BCOrator, philosopher, statesmanLiteratureLucretius~99 BC – ~55 BCDe Rerum Natura — Epicurean physics as poetryVisualVitruvius~80 BC – ~15 BCDe Architectura — the foundation of Western architectureLiteratureVirgil70 BC – 19 BCAeneid — Rome's founding epicLiteratureHorace65 BC – 8 BCOdes, Satires, Ars PoeticaLiteratureOvid43 BC – 17 ADMetamorphosesLiteratureSeneca4 BC – 65 ADStoic philosopher, tragedianLiteratureJesus of Nazareth~4 BC – ~30 ADParables, Sermon on the Mount — the central figure of Western civilizationLiteraturePaul the Apostle~5 – ~64Epistles — theologian of grace, architect of ChristianityLiteratureJohn the Evangelist~6 – ~100Gospel of John, Revelation — 'In the beginning was the Word'LiteraturePlutarch~46 – ~120Parallel Lives, MoraliaLiteratureEpictetus~50 – ~135Discourses, Enchiridion — Stoic freedomLiteratureMarcus Aurelius121 – 180MeditationsLiteratureIrenaeus of Lyon~130 – ~202Against Heresies — defender of orthodoxyLiteratureClement of Alexandria~150 – ~215Stromateis — Greek philosophy as preparation for the GospelLiteratureTertullian~155 – ~220Apologeticum — father of Latin theologyLiteratureOrigen~185 – ~253On First Principles — the first systematic theologianLiteraturePlotinus204 – 270Enneads — NeoplatonismLiteratureEusebius of Caesarea~260 – ~339Church History — father of ecclesiastical historyLiteratureAthanasius of Alexandria~296 – 373On the Incarnation — defender of Nicene orthodoxyLiteratureGregory of Nazianzus329 – 390The Theologian — Trinitarian orationsLiteratureBasil the Great330 – 379Monastic rule, Hexaemeron — Cappadocian FatherLiteratureGregory of Nyssa~335 – ~395Life of Moses — mystical theologianLiteratureAmbrose of Milan~340 – 397Doctor of the Church — bishop who baptized Augustine