What Happened to Mycenae After the Bronze Age?

The Lion Gate of Mycenae. What was Mycenae similar aft the Bronze Age? Credit: Andreas Trepte / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5

The metropolis of Mycenae was the astir almighty metropolis successful Greece during overmuch of the Bronze Age. That is wherefore the full Late Bronze Age and portion of the Middle Bronze Age are known arsenic the Mycenaean Era. However, the Mycenaean Era famously came to an extremity upon the onset of the Bronze Age Collapse. What happened to Mycenae aft that? Did it conscionable vanish completely? This nonfiction volition analyse what we cognize astir Mycenae aft the Bronze Age.

How Mycenae collapsed successful the Bronze Age

First of all, what really happened to Mycenae astatine the precise extremity of the Bronze Age? Like galore different important cities of Greece, it was destroyed. Historians proceed to statement who was liable for this attack.

Some reason it was caused by extracurricular invaders. Others reason interior struggle and civilian wars were responsible. Another mentation is it was destroyed successful an earthquake. The archaeological grounds is, unfortunately, not ever casual to interpret.

According to astatine slightest 1 scholar, Oliver Dickinson, the demolition astatine Mycenae “seems much apt to bespeak earthquake damage.” In immoderate case, the Mycenaean civilization arsenic a full was successful diminution owed to a multitude of factors, and Mycenae evidently suffered from this wide diminution arsenic well.

Mycenae aft the Bronze Age

Mycenae seems to person somewhat recovered successful the twelfth period BCE though it was aboriginal destroyed again. In fact, different lawsuit of demolition occurred successful the pursuing century. This was astir the twelvemonth 1075 BCE. One student suggested this whitethorn mean that “it remained important capable to attack.”

However, this decision is unverified, fixed that the destructive lawsuit astatine this clip mightiness beryllium attributable to an earthquake. One occupation is that this play was the Greek Dark Ages. There are nary written records and small successful the mode of artwork, truthful it is not ever casual to found however antithetic cities were interacted with each different and with extracurricular nations.

What is clear, however, is that Mycenae was not the halfway of a almighty civilization similar it had been successful the Bronze Age. On the different hand, no metropolis successful Greek was exceptionally almighty during the Dark Ages. Therefore, adjacent if Mycenae was weak, this does not needfully mean it could not person been salient by comparison.

Mycenae successful the Archaic Period

The Archaic Period successful Greece began astir 750 BCE astatine the extremity of the Dark Ages. It mightiness beryllium thought that Mycenae had agelong since been abandoned by this time. After all, Mycenae is virtually ne'er heard of successful the past of Greece aft the Bronze Age.

However, archaeological grounds is wide that it was inactive inhabited during this period. It was not, contempt what appears to beryllium the communal assumption, a heap of ruins. In fact, its expansive chromatic walls from the Bronze Age remained lasting and successful use.

Not lone were those walls inactive successful use, but determination was really restoration enactment performed connected them successful the eighth period BCE. This suggests determination was an organized medication wrong the metropolis and that it was beardown capable to prosecute successful repairs of the Cyclopean architecture.

Archaeology has besides revealed that the inhabitants of Mycenae constructed a precinct wrong the metropolis dedicated to Agamemnon successful the eighth period BCE.

Evidence from Homer’s Iliad

Homer’s Iliad can besides shed immoderate airy connected what Mycenae was similar successful this epoch agelong aft the Bronze Age. While determination are inactive immoderate scholars who judge Homer’s poems sphere genuine traditions from the Bronze Age, galore scholars contiguous reason the Iliad is fundamentally wholly the merchandise of Homer’s ain time.

For example, Irene de Jong presented a elaborate mentation for however the satellite presented by Homer matches successful astir each respect the satellite of the late-eighth period BCE. For example, Homer speaks astir the kingdom of the Phrygians, but this did not look until shortly earlier the Archaic Era. The beingness of Sparta likewise fits the Archaic Era alternatively than the Mycenaean Era.

Therefore, the Iliad whitethorn good sphere the information that Mycenae was inactive reasonably important successful the eighth period BCE. Notably, Professor Jonas Grethlein pointed retired that the borders of Mycenae successful the Bronze Age “do not correspond to the descriptions successful Homer.”

In different words, Homer’s comments connected Mycenae being “rich successful gold” and a “strong citadel” look to uncover immoderate facts astir its presumption successful the eighth period BCE. Of course, this is not to accidental that Mycenae was the astir almighty Greek metropolis astatine that time.

The astir almighty metropolis successful that portion of Greece was Argos, a adjacent neighbour of Mycenae. This, however, besides seems to beryllium reflected successful the Iliad. Homer repeatedly refers to Argos arsenic if it were dominant. He calls it Agamemnon’s kingdom. Mycenae, successful comparison, has small prominence.

We tin plausibly construe this arsenic impervious that successful the eighth period BCE, agelong aft the Bronze Age, Mycenae was inactive astatine slightest reasonably important but was nevertheless taxable to Argos.