Age of Heroes

The **Age of Heroes** is a period of history, part of the Ancient Times of Earth. It begins in 1460 BCE, following the Age of Bronze, and lasts until 1158 BCE, the beginning of the Age of Iron. It is noted for heroic adventures, especially in the vicinity of Greece, and the frequent intervention of the Olympian Pantheon.

## Individuals

### Africa

Antaeus

Dido

Medusa

Memnon

### Asia Minor

Aeneas

Anchises

Arachne

Briseis

Cassandra

Cressida

Endymion

Ganymede

Gordias

Hector

Hecuba

Hippolyta

Midas

Medea

Niobe

Paris

Phineus

Priam

Tantalus

Troilus

### Canaan

Balaam

Caleb

Joshua

Deborah

Gideon

### Egypt

Akhenaten

Kharis

Nefertiti

Tutankhamen

Ramses

### Greece

Achilles

Admetus

Aegeus

Agamemnon

Ajax

Alcestis

Antigone

Ariadne

Asclepius

Atalanta

Atreus

Augeas

Bellerophon

Cadmus

Calchas

Callisto

Castor

Cheiron

Clytemnestra

Daedalus

Danae

Daphne

Deianeira

Demetrius

Deucalion

Diomedes

Diomedes of Thrace

Echo

Electra

Europa

Eurydice

Eurystheus

Gabrielle

Galatea

Helen of Troy

Helena

Hercules

Hermia

Hermione

Icarus

Iolaus

Iphigenia

Jason

Jocasta

Leda

Lysander

Menelaus

Mentor

Minos

Pyrrha

Semele

Narcissus

Nausicaa

Neoptolemus

Nessus

Nestor

Nick Bottom

Oberon

Odysseus

Oedipus

Orestes

Orpheus

Pentheus

Penelope

Perseus

Peter Quince

Philoctetes

Pollux

Procrustes

Puck

Pygmalion

Sisyphus

Telemachus

Theseus

Tiresias

Titania

Xena

### Italy

Polyphemus

Calypso

Circe

### Phoenicia

Cassiopeia

Cepheus

Andromeda

### Other

Albion

Geryon

## Deucalion's Flood

**1460 BCE** Deucalion's Flood

**1457 BCE**

**May 9:** Battle of Megiddo.

**1440 BCE** Founding of Troy

**1438 BCE** Zeus abducts Europa, Princess of Tyre, in the form of a bull; he takes her to Crete, where she gives birth to Minos.

## Exodus

**1437** The Pharaoh lets Moses' people go after Egypt is subjected to Ten Plagues, including the first Passover. Moses parts the Red Sea and leads the Hebrews into the Sinai, where he receives the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and destroys the Golden Calf.

**1437 BCE** Cadmus, Europa's brother, founds Thebes after giving up the search for his sister.

**1436 BCE** Ark of the Covenant built to house the Ten Commandments. Leviticus dictated to Moses.

**1421 BCE** Minos becomes King of Crete.

**1420 BCE** Zeus seduces Princess Semele of Thebes, daughter of Cadmus. After Semele is destroyed by glimpsing Zeus' true form, Zeus gives birth to their child, Dionysus, from his thigh.

**1420 BCE** Hades abducts Persephone, daughter of Demeter. Demeter's mourning causes climate change.

**1420 BCE** Pygmalion falls in love with his statue of Aphrodite, which the goddess brings to life as Galatea--Cyprus

**1417 BCE** Aaron's Rod blossoms in the desert, signifying the right of the Tribe of Levi to the priesthood.

**1400 BCE** Construction of the Olmec city of Tinochtitlan.

**1398 BCE** Death of Aaron. Balaam talks to his ass.

**1397 BCE** Death of Moses. Hebrews, led by Joshua, invade Canaan. Destruction of Jericho.

**1386 BCE** After conquering India, Dionysus returns to Thebes, where he drives King Pentheus insane.

**1365 BCE** Birth of Perseus to Danae, whom Zeus visited in the form of a golden shower--Argos

**1363 BCE** Asclepius, son of Apollo, born--Thessaly

**1355 BCE** Nefertiti (1370-1330 BC) marries Amenhotep (1379-1336), Prince of Egypt.

**1353 BCE** Amenhotep becomes Pharaoh, with Nefertiti his queen

**1348 BCE** Amenhotep changes his name to Akhenaten and declares Aten Ra to be the one true god.

**1344 BCE** Perseus slays Medusa the Gorgon; birth of the winged horse Pegasus from her blood--Libya

**1344 BCE** Perseus rescues Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus--Ethiopia

**1342 BCE** Perseus founds Mycenae and becomes its first King.

**1341 BCE** Birth of Tutankhamen, son of Akhenaten

**1336 BCE** Nefertiti rules Egypt briefly after her husband’s death.

**1333 BCE** King Tutankhamen reigns in Egypt, until 1323 BCE.

**1333 BCE** Bellerophon kills the Chimaera--Lycia

**1315 BCE** Tantalus, King of Phrygia, serves his son Pelops to the Olympians and is punished with eternal tantalizing.

**1302 BCE** Birth of Rameses the Great, aka Ozymandias.

**1290 BCE** The priest Imhotep is cursed to become a living mummy.

## Generation of Heracles

**1286 BCE**

**February 10:** Zeus seduces Alcmene by taking the form of her husband, King Amphitryon of Tiryns.

**November 4:** Heracles born to Alcmene, despite Hera's best efforts.

**1285 BCE** Heracles strangles two serpents sent by Hera to his cradle.

**1282 BCE** Walls of Troy built by Poseidon and Apollo--with help from a mortal, to make sure they aren't impregnable.

**1279 BCE**

**May 31:** Ramses the Great becomes pharaoh of Egypt.

**1271 BCE** Birth of Theseus to two fathers: King Aegeas of Athens and Poseidon--Troezen

**1270 BCE** After Aegeas accidentally kills King Minos' son,
Athens is forced to send a tribute of seven boys and seven girls to Crete every nine years, where they are thrown into the Labyrinth for the
 Minotaur to eat.

**1269 BCE** Oedipus kills his father, solves the riddle of the Sphinx, becomes King of Thebes, marries his mother.

**1266 BCE** Jason, the newborn prince of Iolcus, survives his usurping uncle's attempts to kill him and is secretly raised on Mount Pelion by the centaur Chiron.

**1259 BCE** Heracles meets Xena, the Warrior Princess--Arcadia

**1258 BCE** Heracles kills his children in a fit of madness, forced to perform the Twelve Labors. He starts by killing the lion whose skin he wears ever after--Nemea

**1257 BCE** Heracles kills the Hydra--Lerna

**1255 BCE** Heracles cleans the stables of King Augeas--Elis

**1252 BCE** Volunteering to be part of the third tribute sent to Crete, Theseus kills the Minotaur with the help of Princess Ariadne. Abandoning her on Naxos (where she weds Dionysus), Theseus returns to Athens, where his use of the wrong sails makes King Aegeas drown himself in the afterwards called
 Aegean. Theseus becomes King of Athens.

**1249 BCE** Heracles temporarily takes on Atlas' burden in exchange for the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. On his way home with them, Heracles frees Prometheus from his imprisonment.

**1248 BCE** Heracles borrows Cerberus from Hades, completing his Labors.

**1251 BCE** Theseus, Atalanta and other heroes team up to hunt an enormous Boar--Calydon

**1246 BCE** Jason assembles a crew to sail from Iolcus to Colchis on the *Argo* to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts include Heracles (who soon abandons the quest), Theseus, Atalanta, Asclepius and Orpheus. Jason returns with not only the fleece but with the sorceress Medea, princess of Colchis, as his lover.

**1243 BCE** Heracles sacks Troy, makes Priam its king.

**1241 BCE** Heracles places the boy Prince Nestor on the throne of Messenia.

**1239 BCE** Heracles marries Princess Deianira--Calydon

**1236 BCE** When Jason marries another woman, Medea murders her children by him and flees Corinth in a chariot pulled by dragons .

**1234 BCE** Nessus
 the centaur tries to abduct Deianira, and is shot by one of Heracles'
Hydra-poisoned arrows. The dying Nessus tricks Deianira into saving his poisoned blood.

**1233 BCE** Zeus seduces Queen Leda of Sparta in the form of a swan; Leda gives birth to eggs containing Helen and Pollux, Clytemnestra and Castor.

**1230 BCE** Birth of Odysseus--Ithaca

**1230 BCE** Birth of Paris--Troy

**1226 BCE**

**August 12:** Heracles, poisoned by the blood of Nessus, immolates himself--Mount Oeta

**1225 BCE** The war of the Seven Against Thebes. Antigone is refused permission to bury her brother.

**1224 BCE** Theseus invades Thebes to bury the bodies of the Seven.

**1220 BCE** Pollux and Castor feud with Idas and Lynceus, twin sons of Poseidon.

**1221 BCE** Theseus abducts Helen; Pollux and Castor sack Athens and depose Theseus, rescuing their sister.

**1216 BCE** Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, at which Eris throws the Apple of Discord. Thetis dips her infant son Achilles in the River Styx--making everything but his heel invulnerable.

**1215 BCE** Agamemnon becomes King of Mycenae.

**1215 BCE** Thebes sacked by the Epigoni.

**1213 BCE** Helen's suitors--including Odysseus and Ajax--pledge to defend her choice of husband against any rivals. She marries Menelaus, King of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon.

**1213 BCE** Death of Alcmene

**1206 BCE** Death of Theseus

**1203 BCE** After Paris makes the Judgment that Aphrodite is fairer than Hera or Athena, Paris runs off with Helen, whom Aphrodite has caused to fall in love with him--Sparta

**1201 BCE** The Greeks gather at Aulis and make a false start for Troy.

## Trojan War

**1193 BCE** The Greeks regather at Aulis, and with the sacrifice of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, successfully embark for Troy. Nine years of siege follow.

**1184 BCE**

* Achilles and Agamemnon quarrel; Achilles sulks in his tent. His lover Patroclus pretends to be Achilles, and is killed by Prince Hector.

 Achilles kills Hector, Paris kills Achilles by shooting him in the
heel. Ajax commits suicide after failing to win Achilles' arms.

* **April 24:** Following Odysseus' suggestion, Greeks hide themselves in the Trojan Horse. Ignoring Cassandra's prophecies and Laocoon's

 warnings about Greeks bearing gifts, the Trojans bring the hidden enemy
 within their gates and seal their city's doom. Helen makes up with
Menelaus. Odysseus sets out for Ithaca.

* **1184** After a fatal dalliance with Queen Dido of Carthage, Aeneas settles refugees from Troy in Italy, marrying Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus.
* Agamemnon killed by Clytemnestra upon his return to Mycenae.

**1183** Odysseus with Circe--Aeaea

**1182** Odysseus on Calypso--Ogygia

**1175 BCE** Agamemnon avenged by Orestes, who is pursued by the Furies as a matricide.

**1173 BCE** After being rescued by Princess Nausicaa, Odysseus returns to Ithaca and reunites with Penelope, killing her suitors in the process.

**1158 BCE** Death of Orestes--Arcadia