Updated my speculative Trojan War timeline, hope you like it!
To start, here's my condensed version that shows the age of most of the major characters at the start of the Trojan War, and the chronology of key dates:
Preface
This nearly century-long timeline is meant to show the key dates of the Trojan War cycle as well as the Argonautica and other nearby myths, and key events in the lives of many of its characters.
Year 0 is denoted as the year that the Achaeans set sail for Troy, with year 1 starting the moment they land at Troy. Due to the greater degree of uncertainty, all events before the birth of Helen will be rounded to the nearest five years. Information is primarily taken from the poems of the Epic Cycle (mostly the Iliad and Odyssey) as well as Apollodorus's library. Note that all of these dates are speculative (and often can be moved by several years) and I've had to ignore certain details that utterly mess up the timeline. May reblog later with my (very long) explanations of some of the decisions. Otherwise enjoy and feel free to ask any questions!
Timeline
Year -70: Nestor, Priam and Theseus are born
Year -60: Laertes and Peleus are born
Year -55: Hecuba and Anticlea are born
Theseus slays the Minotaur and becomes king of Athens
Year -50: Telamon is born
Year -45: Heracles is born
Year -40: Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Jason are born
Year -35: Menelaus, Hector, Paris, Medea, and Atalanta are born
Year -30: Clytemnestra, Helen, Castor, Pollux, and Cassandra are born
Atreus is killed by Thyestes
Agamemnon and Menelaus are displaced from Mycenae
Year -27: Odysseus gets his leg scar
Year -26: Penelope and Aeneas are born
Year -25: Diomedes is born
Year -24: Patroclus and Telamonian Ajax are born
Year -22: Heracles begins his Twelve Labours
Teucer is born
Year -21: War of Seven against Thebes
Diomedes’s father Tydeus is killed
Year -19: Helen is kidnapped by Theseus and Pirithous
Year -18: Events of the Argonautica
Achilles, Antilochus, and Deidamia are born
Helen is rescued by Castor and Pollux
Dozens of heroes join Jason’s expedition to find the Golden Fleece
Year -16: Calydonian boat hunt
Clytemnestra marries Tantalus
Year -15: Agamemnon retakes Mycenae from Thyestes with the aid of Tyndareus
Agamemnon kills Tantalus and marries Clytemnestra
Atalanta marries Hippomenes
Cassandra is cursed by Apollo
Patroclus is banished from Opus and is taken in by Peleus
Year -14: Iphigenia is born
Year -12: Oath of Tyndareus
Dozens of suitors travel to Sparta to compete for Helen’s hand
Menelaus wins or is chosen and marries Helen
Odysseus is betrothed to Penelope
Year -11: Judgement of Paris
Hermione is born
War of the Epigoni
Diomedes becomes king of Argos
Year -10: Abduction of Helen
Theseus is rescued from the underworld
Heracles finished his Twelve Labours
Year -9: The Oath of Tyndareus is called
Achilles prophesied to die in a war with Troy
Achilles sent to Skyros by Thetis and later falls in love with Deidamia
Year -8: Mysian Campaign
Initial attempt to attack Troy fails, instead razing the city of Mysia
Odysseus marries Penelope
Events of Medea
Year -5: Achilles marries Deidamia
Year -4: Neoptolemus is born
Year -3: Orestes is born
Year -2: Odysseus’s dog Argos is born
Year -1: Telemachus is born
Year 0: Achaeans set off for war
Odyssues forced to leave Ithaca by Palamedes
Achaean fleet sails to Aulis and is stranded
Iphigenia is brought to Aulis and is sacrificed
Year 1: Trojan War begins
Achaeans land in Troy
Siege of the city of Troy begins
Surrounding towns start to be pillaged
Year 2-8: Trojan War stalemate
Andromache is sent to Troy and marries Hector
Palamedes is killed by Odysseus causing Nauplius to plan revenge
Astyanax is born
Year 9: Events of the Iliad
Patroclus, Hector, Antilochus, Achilles, and Paris are killed
Telamonian Ajax goes mad and commits suicide
Neoptolemus is brought to Troy
Year 10: Fall of Troy
Using the Trojan Horse, the Achaeans enter and destroy Troy
Most Trojans are killed or enslaved
Many more Achaeans die on the journey home
Agamemnon is murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus
Diomedes is exiled from Argos
Menelaus and Helen voyage around the sea
Year 11: Odysseus travels around the sea
Most of Odysseus’s men die from Polyphemus and the Laestrygonians
Odysseus takes refuge on Aeaea with Circe
Year 12: Odysseus leaves Aeaea and faces more obstacles
The rest of Odysseus’s men die
Odysseus is trapped on Ogygia by Calypso
Year 13: Telegonus is born
Year 16: Suitors start vying for the hand of Penelope
Year 17: Events of the Oresteia
Orestes kills Aegisthus and Clytemnestra to avenge his father
Orestes is found innocent by Athena and becomes king of Mycenae
Menelaus and Helen return home to Sparta
Year 19: Events of the Odyssey
Telemachus travels to Pylos and Sparta
Odysseus is freed from Ogygia makes it home to Ithaca
Neoptolemus marries Hermione
Year 20: Orestes kills Neoptolemus
Peleus dies in grief
Orestes marries Hermione
Year 30: Events of the Telegony
Telegonus travels to Ithaca and accidentally kills his father
Penelope and Telemachus travel to Aeaea with him and are immortalised
Telegonus marries Penelope, and Telemachus marries Circe









