The Mycenaeans

The Mycenaean World was the world of the heroes who conquered Troy. Those heroes stood at the heart of Greek self-perception for centuries after the fall of their civilization. Since the rediscovery of the remains of the civilization of Mycenae by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s, knowledge of these Greeks of the Bronze Age has increased steadily. Stepping into the place of the collapsed civilization of Minoan Crete and the Peloponnese (the subject of Castleden's earlier bestselling study, Minoans), the Mycenaeans dominated mainland Greece and the Greek islands from about 1600-1250 BC. Their exploits became the subject of the legends that were immortalized by Homer. In lively prose informed by the latest research, Castleden lays out the fundamental traits of Mycenaean civilization, its hierarchy, economy, religion and arts. Controversially, Castleden interprets the well-known palaces of Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and elsewhere as temples. Their sea empire and the their relations with other peoples ofthe Bronze Age world, including the Hittites, the Egyptians and the Trojans, receive full attention. The causes of the end of their civilization are discussed. The book is an indispensable starting point for the study of the Greek Bronze Age. Full bibliography and copious illustration support this comprehensive interpretation of a civilization whose legend still lives on.