1. Finding information: 1. Archaeology 2. Linguistic developments 3. Written sources

2. polisHellenes Hellasbarbaroi

3. 2nd millenium BC… …long before Homer and Hesiod (c. 8th c. BC) Minoans and Mycenaeans King Minos Theseus and the Minotaur

4. After 2000 BC Start of construction of Palace of Knossos ElysiumRhadamanthus 1650-1450 BC Minoan culture at peak c. 1500 BC Crete coming under Mycenaean control c. 1400 BC Final destruction of Knossos Palace

5. Mycenae c. 2000 BC Mycenaeans come to Greece 16th c. BC Mycenaeans are major force in Greece esp. Peloponnese “Shaft graves” (up to 16th c. BC) “Tholos (beehive) graves” (from 15th c. BC)

6. 13th c. BC: Mycenaeans strengthening fortifications Migration of “Sea Peoples” Trojan War: Helen, Menelaos, Paris End 12th c. BC Mycenaean domination of region gone, Dark Ages begin

7. Thucydides (c. 460-400 BC) Athenian, serves as commander in N. Greece during Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) until dismissed and exiled (424 BC) Writes History of the Peloponnesian War, covering c. 431-411 BC Creator of scholarly history?