Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

1
HISTORICAL OUTLINE
THE MYCENAEANS
Most historians agree that the emergence of the people whom
we call Greek was the result of a series of migratory waves into
mainland Greece from the north. This belief is largely based on the
Greek language, for which we have evidence perhaps as early as
the fifteenth century b.c.e. and at the latest by the thirteenth century
b.c.e. (see p. 53 ). This was the period of Mycenaean culture,
so named after the hilltop fortress with its impressive encircling
walls situated at Mycenae in the Argolid in northeast Peloponnese.
Other important Mycenaean fortifications include Tiryns, which
lies a few miles south of Mycenae, Pylos on the west coast of the
Peloponnese, Thebes in central Greece, Iolkos in Thessaly, and the
Acropolis at Athens. Several Aegean islands, the most important of
which was Crete, also came under the influence of Mycenae. The
Mycenaeans traded extensively in the Mediterranean, notably with
the peoples of Egypt, Syria, Sicily, and southern Italy. On the basis
of the profile of a Mycenaean-style sword engraved into one of the
stones at Stonehenge, it has even been fancifully suggested that
they traded with Britain.
Probably much later, the Greeks, who called themselves Hellênes —
the name that they retain to this day—invented a legend tracing
their descent from their eponymous founder Hellen. Hellen was