Minoans and Mycenaeans

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No one is certain why Minoan civilization came to an end. But about 1400 B.C., control of the sea and Crete passed to the Mycenaeans.

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Where did they come from?

The Mycenaeans came from the grasslands of southern Russia to the lowlands of Greece. They traded with and learned much from the Minoans.

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Trojan War/Homer’s Iliad

The Mycenaeans went to war with Troy because Troy was controlling a trade route and unfairly taxing ships going from southern Russia to Greece.

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The Iliad

About 500 years later, a blind Greek poet, Homer, told the story of the Trojan war - but not quite exactly as it happened.

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Homer’s version

The Trojan prince Paris fell in love with Helen, the wife of the Mycenaean king. He kidnapped her, taking her to Troy. The Mycenaeans followed to get her back.

After ten years of fighting, Odysseus suggested they build a large wooden horse and place their best soldiers in it. Then the rest of the Mycenaeans returned to their ships and sailed away.

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When the Trojans saw the horse

and the soldiers leaving, they thought it was a gift and pulled it into the city. Once out of sight, Odysseus turned the ships around and began to sail back toward Troy. During the night, the soldiers inside the horse climbed out, opened the gate and let the returning soldiers into Troy.

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What happened. . .

The Mycenaeans killed the king of Troy and burned the city.

Then they returned to their homes with Helen.

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A Dark Age

The Mycenaeans never returned to a peaceful existence. The Dorians drove them out of Greece.

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The Dark Age

The Mycenaeans settled in the Aegean islands and on the western shore of Asia Minor. Later, this was known as Ionia.

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One step back. . .