It was a special time in ancient Greece--the Periclean Age.Basically, about 480-404BC Athens, also known as the Golden Age of Greece. Periclean because Pericles was a leader of Athens during the latter part of the period. A lot of different factors led to this time period being so exceptional. The various Greek city-states formed an alliance to combat the invading Persians, leading to trade and communication. Writing had only recently become well-known (it had been around for awhile, but became much more used at this point, so that the Iliad and the Odyssey were first written down in the mid-6th century), leading to a flourishing of the arts and sciences as communication improved and one's work could be recorded. And Greek Tragedy in the sense of Greek theater began and had its rules codified as well.

As for the Old Testament: Parts of it were written far earlier than that, but there is a theory that "Persian Imperial Authorization" in the 6th century BC led to the compilation of a group of tales into one work, due to pressure from the Persian conquerers. Which is interesting just because it was the threat of Persian invasion that led the Greeks to temporarily unify during their glorious 5th century.