From around 3000 BCE to 850 BCE kings descended from Zeus ruled the various tribes. 
850 BCE to 650 BCE: Age of Homer.  Councils began to help the king make societal decisions.  Monarchy gave way to oligarchy to tyranny (usually military leaders) finally to democracy. 
621 BCE: Draco was appointed to record and codify the law, bringing about the practice of deciding cases based on previous ones.  Sadly, the penalty most often applied, even to a charge like stealing an apple, was death. 
593 BCE: Solon established courts throughout Athens, as well as the notion of a popular jury. 

The arts of writing and pottery helped transform culture b/c they allowed people to be reflective about their lives.  Writing changed the way people thought. 

492-479 BCE: Persian War caused the separate Greek city-states to work together and advanced the career of the Athenian ruler Pericles.  He instituted a democracy, establishing a popular legislative assembly and even running for the office of leader every term.  Was responsible for much construction like the Acropolis.  Many philosophers, writers, and artists were involved w/ Athens. 

476 BCE: Rhetoric was "invented" in Syracuse by Corax and imported to the Greek mainland by his student Tisias. 

431-415 BCE: Peloponnesian War and Athens fell to Sparta (although there would be future risings and fallings) 

349-346 BCE: more wars,  and Athens surrendered to Philip of Macedon. 

334 BCE: Alexander the Great attempted global conquest.  Educated by Aristotle.  Helped spread Athenian ideas all over the "known" world. 

Lasting effect: the importance of persuasion—to voice one’s opinion either for individual reasons or for the good of the community. 

Sophists:  Group of men who taught public speaking so that citizens could defend their own interests.  Some sophists taught by arguing different positions of the same issue—helping to lead to the term "sophistry."  Some critics thought the sophists had merely hit upon a big money-making scam. 

Socrates (470-399 BCE) Attacked the sophists through the writing of his student Plato (427-347 BCE), whose dialogues used Socrates as the shrewdest and most eloquent participant.  See, for example, Gorgias and Phaedrus. 

Brings us to Aristotle (384-322 BCE) and his rhetorical theory…