HELLAS:NET - History

The late Helladic and Minoic periods.

Since 1700 BC the Acheans became more and more influenced by Crete. Out of this interaction between the Cretan and Helladic cultures developed a Mycenaean palace culture, which was initially dependent on Cretan models. This new culture was named after the powerful city of Mycenae, the city of the legendary Agamemnon who was one of the leaders of the expedition against Troy. Soon Mycenae, with its palace on a fortified acrois, surrounded by cyclopean walls and its marvellous Gate of Lions, became the dominating power in the Peloponesse.

This period is different from the middle Helladic one, not only because a sudden explosion of wealth took place, but also because throughout Hellas palaces were built. These palaces had a more logical ground-plan than the ones on Crete, and they were in fact huge fortifications unlike the palaces on Crete. The most famous Greek palace of this period was found at Mycenae, but other palaces were found in Pylos, Thebe, Athens and Iolkos. Another difference with the Minoic culture was that the Acheans developed their own script. It was called Linear-B, and was based on the Cretan Linear-A script, but it eventually became a script on its own. Linear-B is a syllable-script, and the language was Greek. The Linear-B tablets which were found do not tell us much about life in the palaces as it was just like Linear-A only used for accountancy.

Of course there were also resemblances. The Acheans were just like the Cretans excellent tradesmen. Their pottery was found in Sicily, Rhodes, Cyprus, Italy, Asia Minor, northern Syria and Milete. In some of these places their influence seems so strong that it is not unlikely that they had permanent strongholds there. However, they could not enter Asia Minor very far as the Hittities were still too strong. That is the reason why their colonisation, if we can even speak of a colonisation, was very limited. Both nations also shared the same form of government: monarchy. The Cretan and Mycenaea monarchies were based on a wide-spread feudal system of lords with a strongly centralised and bureaucratic palace-economy.

The end of the Minoic civilisation.

Around 1500 Thera was hit by an earthquake. The western half of the island was the top of a vulcano which exploded and completely destroyed most of the island. The results were noticeable in a large part of the Mediterranean: the whole Aegean area was hit by a huge tsunami. The Cretan fleet probably got destroyed for the biggest part. The rain of vulcanic ashes covered Crete in a grey layer of 10 centimetres thick, and had a catastrophic effect on the crop for many years. Because of this, and more reasons, many believe that Crete was the legendary Atlantis.

Fifty years later Crete was struck by another disaster. Everywhere on the island the palaces went up in flames. Only Cnossus was saved. The only logical explanation for this is that the Acheans from Hellas had attacked Crete for unknown reasons, and settled themselves down in Cnossus. The explosion of Thera had decreased the strength of Crete so much that they did not find much resistance. This theory gets more convincing as you know that Cnossus is the only place outside Hellas where Linear-B tablets were found. We do not know for how long the Acheans controlled Crete, but somewhere around 1400 BC Cnossus got destroyed. The destructions were so spread out over the island that it seems most likely that Crete was not attacked by a foreign force, but that a revolt against the Mycenaean rulers had take place. Whatever the reason might have been, this was the end of the Minoic culture.

The end of a golden era.

Still, the Mycenaean culture in Hellas continued. It reached its peak during the thirteenth century BC. This period is the historical reality behind the Greek mythology. As always times of prosperity are followed by times of decline and around 1200 BC most Mycenaean structures were destroyed. Hellas was in the same position as Crete had been after the destruction of Cnossus: the population concentrated in small groups. These slowly evolved into the famous city-states.

We can only guess how all these enormous strongholds got destroyed. Some say that the trade with the East stopped, and that overseas settlements were lost because of this. After a while also the motherland had to face the consequences of this. Others believe that it was the work of invaders who travelled from north to south without settling down. Most likely is that a combination of factors as overpopulation, internal wars, famine and epidemics was the true cause. A fascinating era ended with the final destruction of the citadel of Mycenae in 1150, and the unity of Hellas ended with it. The great days of Mycenae and Crete were soon forgotten in the confusion of a time filled with uncertainty. Only in the form of myths, in a twisted way though, was the memory of this heroic and golden era kept alive.