The Minoans and the Mycenaeans Civilization

The Minoans and the Mycenaeans were two cultures that the Greeks tracked their culture back too.

The Minoans

The first Greek civilization was The Minoans on the island of Crete just south of Greece. It was found that that Minoans were heavily influened by two older, Near Eastern civilizations, the Egyptians and Mesopotomians. By way of the Cycladic Islands, which formed natural stepping stones for the spread of the people of Greece and other civilization ideas from the Middle East. We don't really know the real name of the Crete civilizations the word Minoan comes from a myth concerning a legendary king of Crete, called Minos, who was supposed to have ruled a vast sea empire. Even though this is a myth, just like every myth there is a stream of truth, the Minoans were a seafaring people who depended on their navy and trade for their power and prosperity.

The Mycenaeans

The Mycenaeans were a Greek civilization that took advantage of the weakened state of the Minoans and assumed the Minoans dominance of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean. The Mycenaeans were a vigorous and active group of people that engaged in lots of trade and even piracy anywhere from southern Italy, into the west to Troy, and the Black Sea into the northeast. The Mycenaeans broke off into four city-states: Mycenae, Pylos, Tiryns and Athens, the Mycenaeans tried to run these city-states just like the ones that existed with the Egyptians and Mesopotomians. No one really knows if all of these city-states relied on just one of them,however, the famous poem llaid written by Homer proves that The Mycenaeans could reunite in a common endeavor such as the Trojan War.The Mycenaeans were eventually conquered by sea people also know as Dorians which lead to a new period in Greek's history known as the Dark Ages.