Myth Time Line

HISTORY OF THE MYTHOLOGICAL WORLD

This chronology lists several of the events in mythology and legend with known events in history along with several events of topical interest.

The Hyborian Age (according to Robert Howard, this age occurs between the Ice Age and the beginning of written history.)

c. 4004 BC (?) - Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

c. 3100 – Estimated construction of Stonehenge in Wales. Its components are excavated from the Preseli Hills, 240 miles distant from its present location.

2690 – King Khufu (Cheops) begins construction of the Great Pyramid

c. 2500 – Construction of the pyramids begins in Egypt.

Cronus deposes Ouranus

Cronus imprisons his children in Tartarus (Later legends erroneously claims he swallows them and that they survived inside him until released.)

Zeus is born on Mount Ida in Crete. His birth is kept a secret from Cronus and minor goddesses raise Zeus in secret.

Metis is the first wife of Zeus.

Zeus learns his destiny to conquer Olympus. He seduces and takes Themis, Mnemosyne, Dione and Eurynome as wives.

Zeus frees his siblings from Tartarus.

Zeus seduces Demeter and Hera.

C. 2475 – King Gilgamesh reigns as Ruler of Ur in the Sumeria Empire

c. 2404 – Biblical Noah/Utnapishtim and his family survive the flood in an ark. Zeus conquers Olympus and takes Hera as his queen; Cronus flees into exile. Zeus and his brothers cast lots for the world as Poseidon inherits the oceans and Hades takes over Tartarus with his kingdom centered and named for himself.

Eileithyia born.

Persephone born.

Hera drives Zeus’s other wives from Olympus. Leto flees to the island of Delos, Metis for Libya and Dione for Cythera.

Apollo and Artemis born from Leto with Eileithyia as midwife.

Ares (Aphneius) is born to Zeus and Hera on Olympus.

Aphrodite born on Cythera (later legends claim she sprang from the ocean).

Hephaestus born.

Ares and Hephaestus are young gods as their half-sister, Athena, daughter of Zeus and Metis arrives at Olympus with the secret to the headaches, which Zeus is suffering (Later legends erroneously claim she sprung from his head).

Hephaestus remains humble, seeking to tinker as a blacksmith god. Zeus accuses Hera of infidelity under the belief that Hephaestus is not his son. In the scuffle, they blindly knock the young smith god from Olympus. He lands in the sea near Lemnos and nursed from his injuries to full health by the Nereids.

c. 2395 BC – Gilgamesh reigns as King of Ur

Inanna/Aphrodite tries to tempt Gilgamesh, but he spurns her advantages.

Hermes born

As a young god, Hermes steals the cattle of Apollo and sacrifices one to the gods counting himself among them. Apollo backs Hermes acceptance into the pantheon.

2297 BC (?) – A flood devastates China during the reign of Emperor Yao

c. 2190 BC – Shi Huang Ti, first ruler of unified China, begins construction of the Great Wall of China using prisoners of war as slave labor.

c. 2000 BC – The Ancient Greeks begin worshipping the Olympian Pantheon as gods. Some of the Olympian Immortals begin choosing their favorite cities as centers of their worship.

Inachos arbitrates Argos to Hera instead of Poseidon. His riverbed is dried up in retaliation.

Phoroneus founds Phoronea.

Pelasgus, son of Inachos, becomes leader of the Pelasgians.

c. 1900 - The first Battle of Magh Tureidh in Ireland between the Tuatha de Danaan and the Fomore

c. 1700 – The Milesians conquer Eire from the Tuatha de Danaan

c. 1600 - Zeus seduces Io, daughter of Inachos, but transforms her into a cow to conceal the infidelity. Her sister, Mycene, marries Arestor, founder of Mycenae.

Hera has Argus guard Io, but he is slain by Hermes. Io flees to her father, Inachos, the river-god, who barely recognizes her. She flees to Egypt and gives birth to Epaphus.

Young Epaphus is friend of Phaethon, son of Helios. Phaethon travels to his father for proof he is his son. He scorches the Earth trying to maneuver Helios’s sun chariot and is knocked out of the sky by Zeus.

c. 1585 – Epaphus/Apepi reigns as King of Egypt.

c. 1575 - Apis succeeds Phoroneus, king of Argos.

Hephaestus is welcomed back to Olympus by Hera. He creates thunderbolts for Zeus and jewelry for Hera.

Prometheus steals fire to give to mortals, but is chained to the Caucasus Mountains as punishment.

Hephaestus creates Pandora and Hera brings her to life to bring misfortune to mortal man for accepting fire.

Pandora opens a jar she was warned to never open and a hive of demons are released spawning evil in mortal man from it.

Prometheus warns Deucalion to build an ark.

1470 BC – Thera/Atlantis explodes. The resulting flood washes away the earth. Athens is flooded during the reign of King Cecrops believing it is punishment for accepting Athena as their matron goddess over Poseidon. Celtic Noah and his family survive in an ark as does Deucalion whose father had a premonition of the disaster. Pelasgus, King of Arcadia and heir to Argos, survives the flood.

Greek armies invade Phoenicia. Aphrodite joins the Olympian pantheon after an existence as Ishtar of the Phoenician gods. Zeus seduces the Phoenician princess Europa and takes her to Crete.

Sons of Japeth, the son of Noah, conquer Eire and Britain. Rivals of the native Celtic gods, they become ancestors to the kings of Eire and Britain.

c. 1465 – Danaus and his daughters are received by King Galanor of Argos. They claim Argos as ancestors of Io.

1462 BC – Eight years after the flood, Cadmus founds Thebes by conquering the indigenous Hyantes and Aonian tribes and slaying a dragon sacred to Ares.

c. 1459 – Hades abducts Persephone in the reign of King Celeus of Eleusis.

1454 BC – Eight years after killing the dragon, Cadmus becomes king of Thebes.

c. 1440 – Zeus seduces Semele, daughter of Cadmus. Hera places doubts in her of whether Zeus is her lover and she dies by accident when he calls upon lightning to prove his identity. Zeus removes his son Dionysus from her to spare his life and gives him to the Maenads, lesser goddesses to nurse to health.

1420 BC –Aethlius founds Elis fifty years after the flood.

1419 BC – After a long reign, Cadmus supplanted by Pentheus.

c. 1395 – The city of Jericho in Ancient Palestine falls under forces controlled by Israelite leader Joshua. All its inhabitants are massacred and the city is cursed.

1379 – Pentheus is deposed by Dionysus. Polydorus, his brother-in-law and son of Cadmus, succeeds him.

1363 BC – During the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall of China is restored after it is nearly destroyed by Mongolian occupation.

As an adult, Dionysus joins the Olympian Pantheon.

Hephaestus discovers Aphrodite has been unfaithful with Ares and reveals the affair to the gods. He lays his bad marriage on the fault of Hera and builds a throne that imprisons her. Dionysus gets him drunk to release her.

1364 BC – On Polydorus’s death, Nycteus becomes regent for Labdacus, son of Polydorus.

1338 BC – Labdacus rules briefly before his death. Lycus, brother of Nycteus, is regent for his son Laius.

1318 BC – After twenty years, Lycus overthrown by Amphion, grandson of Nycteus. Laius is sent to the court of King Pelops of Pisa.

1304 BC – Laius hurries home to claim the throne after deaths of Amphion and Zethus.

Zeus seduces Danae in the reign of King Acrisius of Argos. An oracle reveals her son will depose him and Acrisius casts her into the sea.

Oedipus born to Laius and Jocasta, but a prophecy claims he will depose his father. Oedipus is exposed on a mountain and raised by farmers.

c. 1290 – Perseus leaves Argos to his cousin Megapenthes after the death of King Acrisius. He rebuilds the walls of Mycenae.

Laius killed by Oedipus at Delphi. Jocasta names her brother Creon as regent.

Perseus succeeded by his son Electryon.

1276, October 31 – Hercules born in Thebes during the earlier reign of King Creon, brother of Jocasta. He loses his claim to throne of Mycenae to his cousin, Eurystheus.

1261 BC – Theseus born in Troezen.

1256 BC – Twenty years old, Hercules marries Megaera, daughter of Creon.

Oedipus slays the Sphinx and becomes King of Thebes.

c. 1255 Oedipus learns that Jocasta is his mother and blinds himself. He abdicates and places Eteocles and Polyneices on the throne.

1250 BC – Philistine armies from Caphtor (Crete) invade Gerar (Palestine). The Philistines are rumored to be descendants of the Pelasgians.

Eteocles banishes Polyneices who raises an army in Argos to retake the throne in the reign of King Adrastus. Both brothers slay each other in battle. Elderly Creon becomes regent for Laodamas, son of Eteocles.

c. 1242 - Creon is murdered by Lycus, who is in turn is deposed by Hercules. Thersander, son of Polyneices, takes the throne. Peleus and Telamon born to Aeacus and Endeis in Phthia.

Peleus weds Thetis.

c. 1229 – Peleus and Telamon join the Argonauts.

1223 BC – Helen and Pollux born in Sparta to Zeus and Leda. Leda also conceives Castor and Clytemnestra to King Tyndareus restored to the Spartan throne by Hercules.

c. 1220 – During his tenth labor, Hercules visits Ancient Briton ruled by Albion, son of Poseidon.

1211 BC – Helen (12) abducted by Theseus (50).

Hercules rescues Theseus from the Underworld.

1209 BC – Achilles born in Phthia.

Hercules killed through the treachery of Nessus, but restored to life by Zeus as a god.

1205 BC – Helen (18) approached by suitors.

1200 BC – Achilles (9) hidden in the court of King Lycomedes of Scyros.

1196 BC - Achilles (13) seduces Deidameia who gives him a son, Pyrrhus.

1194 BC - The Trojan War begins. Achilles is 15 years old. King Thersander of Thebes dies at the onset of the throne. His regent, Peneleus, dies alongside him.

1184 BC – Odysseus secrets Greek soldiers inside a Wooden Horse into Troy and successfully takes the city. Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) (13), son of Achilles, slays King Priam.

Tisamenus inherits the throne at Thebes.

Autesion ascends the throne of Thebes.

Trojan refugees from Thrace conquer lands north of Gaul. Their ancestors will found the region of Saxony upon which modern Germany is built and conquer Britain from the Celts, developing later the British Empire.

c. 1114 BC – Damasichthon, son of Peneleus, becomes King of Thebes.

1050 BC – Samson, defender of the Israelites, topples the temple of Samson down upon himself and 1000 Philistines after being betrayed by his mistress.

1000 BC – David slays Goliath and becomes Ruler of Israel.

Queen Louhi of Pohjola (now part of modern Finland) holds the wizard Vainamoinen captive in return for the creation of a mystical amulet

Legendary King Brutus, great-grandson of Aeneas, becomes founder and the first king of Britain.

c. 750 Romulus and Remus are the legendary founders of Rome.

660 BC – Jimmu Tenno, grandson of the goddess Amaterasu, begins his rule as Emperor of Japan.

Reign of Queen Medb of Ireland

c. 605 BC - King Nebuchadnezzar creates the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his wife, Queen Semiramis.

c. 600 BC – Athenian poet first Solon receives the story of Atlantis from Egyptian priests.

468 BC – Mycenae is besieged and destroyed by inhabitants of Argos and is never restored.

430 BC – A two-year plague begins in Athens.

c. 390 BC – Belinus and Brennus, legendary kings of Britain lay siege on the Roman army and sack Rome

c. 350 BC – Plato first relates the story of Atlantis.

334 BC – Alexander the Great makes a sacrifice to the gods near the ruins of Troy before his siege of Persia.

68 BC – Cicilian pirates introduce worship of the Eastern God Mithras to Rome.

49 BC – Julius Caesar becomes Ruler of Rome. He leads three expeditions trying to seize Britain, but is defeated by Lud, King of Britain.

c. 35 BC – During the reign of Judean ruler Herod the Great, the fortifications at Jericho are strengthened and several structures are rebuilt.

c. 8 BC – King Conchobor begins his twelve-year rein of Ancient Eire. Warrior Cu Chulainn is born during his rule.

6 BC– Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea controlled by the Roman Empire. He begins the foundation for Christianity.

43 BC – Emperor Claudius of Rome begins conquest of Britain, bringing an end to the rule of legendary King Llud

64, July 19 AD – A fire beginning in Circus Maximus claims much of Rome during the reign of King Nero.

72 AD – Construction of the Roman Coliseum began under Emperor Vespasian on site of a villa, which belonged to Nero.

79 AD – An eruption at Vesuvius buries Pompeii and Herculaneum.

80 AD – Emperor Titus dedicates the Coliseum to his father.

107 AD – Tarjan, Emperor of Rome, conquers Dacia (modern Romania) and makes it a Roman province.

c. 120 AD – Hadrian’s Wall constructed

c. 390 AD – King Vortigern meets with Saxon leaders Hengist and Horsa, descendants of Odin, in allowing the Saxons into Britain. He slays King Constantine of Britain and takes the throne for himself.

c. 395 AD – Merlin commissions the moving of Stonehenge to its present location at Salisbury.

c. 400 AD – King Gunther of Burgundy takes over land down river on the Rhine and meets Siegfried, son of King Sigmund, of the Netherlands. In the South Pacific, Polynesians led by Chief Hotu Matua land at Easter Island.

Siegfried helps Gunther win the hand of Brynhild.

404 AD – Last tournament held in Roman Coliseum

410 AD – King Arthur begins his reign as King of Britain.

433 AD – Attila the Hun and his armies lay siege to much of Western Europe

465 AD – Arthur is slain by his treacherous son, Mordred, at the Battle of Camlann. He bequeaths Excalibur to be returned to the Lady of the Lake.

476 AD – The collapse of the Roman Empire

534 AD – Burgundy absorbed into the Frank Empire (now part of modern France).

c. 600 AD Beowulf slays Grendel

613 AD – Queen Brynhilda, Visigoth Warrior Queen, controls parts of Northern Gaul.

786 AD – Sindbad travels the Middle East during the reign of King Mihrjan of Persia.

800 AD – Charlemagne crowned ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

957 – King Hrothgar, future king of the Danes is born.

985 – The Vikings build a series of small settlements along Greenland and western North America

1000 AD – By now, 887 statues dot Easter Island.

Reign of Brian Boru of Ireland

1100 AD – Last pagan rituals held at Stonehenge.

1157 AD – King Eric of Sweden invades Kalevala (Ancient Finland) and introduces Christianity to the natives.

1160 AD – Traditional date of birth of Robin Hood

1206 AD Genghis Khan rules the Mongols, leading a siege over much of Eastern Europe

1456 – 1462 Reign of Vlad Tepes of Wallachia. A descendant of Genghis Khan, his brutality as a ruler inspires the legend of Dracula

1492, October 12 – Christopher Columbus begins his exploration of the New World.

1600 – Deforestation and lost top soil force the inhabitants of Easter Island to depart.

1614 August – The trial of Elizabeth Bathory, believed responsible for the deaths of over 800 young girls

1850 – Marie LaVeau at the height of her popularity in New Orleans

1888, Summer – Five prostitutes are slain in White Chapel, an area of London by a figure known only as Jack The Ripper

1898 AD – Heinrich Schliemann begins excavation on the site of Ancient Troy.

1922, November 26 – Howard Carter breaks in to the tomb of Tutankhamen. A curse supposedly claims the majority of his archeological team.

1929 – Archaeologist Leonard Woolley digging pits near Ur comes upon evidence of a great flood dating back to the Second Millennium BC.