The Mycenaean Civilization was an ancient culture that flourished in the Balkan peninsula during the Bronze Age. It was the first major civilization which emerged and developed in mainland Greece. It arose around 1600 BC and lasted until 1250 BC. According to Homer’s poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, a major rival of Mycenaean kingdoms was the Anatolian city of Troy. The founders of this civilization were the Achaeans, who were one of the four Hellenic tribes that had invaded the Balkan peninsula and Aegean islands around 2000 BC.
The Mycenaean Civilization was not a single kingdom comprising a large territory. It was composed of a group of city-States, which were united by a common language, the same traditions, and cultural patterns. It thrived around the city of Mycenae, which lay in northeastern Peloponnesus, with its legendary king being Agamemnon. The city of Pylos, Thebes, Tyrins, and Athens were other important centers of Mycenaean Culture. Unlike the Minoans, they were a warlike people as they would dominate the region for about 400 years. Around 1450 BC, they invaded the island of Crete, where they made of Knossos their administrative center.
Most of what we know about the Mycenaean Civilization was obtained by the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann, who discovered the city of Mycenae in the second half of the 19th century. Like the rest of the Hellenic tribes, they spoke Greek. It was discovered that Mycenae was at the height of their development between 1400 and 1200 BC. During that time, the Mycenaean acropolis was surrounded by huge massive stone walls as the main entrance to the fortification was the Lion Gate. In 1200 Mycenae was destroyed by fire; although it would be rebuilt in the next centuries, it would no longer play an important role in the history of Ancient Greek.
Below, the Lion Gate, which was the main entrance to the fortification of the city of Mycenae.
