The philosopher Socrates is convicted by an Athenian jury of impiety and corrupting the youth, and is executed by drinking hemlock.
Plato establishes the Academy in Athens, a centre of philosophy with lasting influence on the Greek world.
A long war between Athens and the Sparta-led Peloponnesian League ends in Athens' defeat.
Under Pericles, the Athenians build the Parthenon on the Acropolis, dedicated to the goddess Athena.
Philip II of Macedon defeats Athens and Thebes, establishing Macedonian dominance over Greece.
After the assassination of Philip II, his son Alexander, then about 20, succeeds to the Macedonian throne.
Alexander the Great dies in Babylon aged 32, leaving an empire stretching from Greece to India.