Mycenae and the Heroic Age
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The Heraclids
According to Greek tradition the Dorians were led by descendants of Herakles, who had been driven out by Eurystheus, who in turn was supplanted by the house of Atreus. It is possible that the story that the Dorians were descended from Herakles was invented. According to legend the first Dorian attack occurred before the Trojan war when the Arcadian king of Tegea defeated them in the vicinity of the isthmus of Corinth. Hyllos, son of Herakles, was said to have been killed in the battle. The Greek account continues as follows. The Dorians invaded from the north pushing back the Thessalians and the Boetians. They came via Karpenision and the Spercheios Valley, and turned south into Doris via the Mornos valley to the Corinthian gulf. The Greek tradition asserts that this occurred during the reign of Tisamenos, the son of Orestes. They took ships at Naupaktos and crossed to Rhion, on the other side of the Corinthian Gulf in the west and captured Pylos. The main attack was directed at Argos and Lakonia. The palace at Pylos (called the "Palace of Nestor") was indeed destroyed around this time. From there they moved up the river Alpheios and down the Eurotas, but it took some time before they captured Sparta. However, at some point the houses outside the citadel of Mycenae were burnt to the ground. The citadel survived for another generation, and then it too fell. The Greeks estimated the date to be c. 1100 BC, and this is probably correct. It appears that the Achaians migrated towards the northern Peloponnese, now called Achaia, and the archeological record supports this.
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Contents of
Mycenae and the Heroic Age
1 The fall of Knosos
2 Crete circa 1400 BC
3 Mycenae
4 Mycenaean palace architecture
5 Mycenaean burial practices
6 Mycenaean influence
7 Cyprus
8 Decline of Mycenae
9 The sea raiders
10 The wars with Thebes and Troy
11 The seven against Thebes
12 Troy
13 The Dorian Invasion and the end of Mycenaean civilisation
14 The Heraclids
15 Disputing the theory of the Dorian invasion
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