Ratel

Don't know if anyone here is well versed in Greek myths, but this seems a likely spot to raise the question.

I've been reading a bit about Greek mythology and how it relates to Mycenaean civilization, and it appears that the Greeks we know about at least fabricated a history and lineage for the Mycenaean dynasty that preceded them. What I'm curious about is whether the Classical authors had any accounting of the 400 year dark age from which the Hellenic world as we usually conceive it arose? It seems like we have a timeline in mythical terms-

1.Minos- (dominance of the Minoan civilization?)
2.Mycenae and the related myths (Perseus, Hercules, Bellerophon)
3.Trojan War
4. Hellenic civilization- Emergence of "real" history

So, are there any events in Greek legend or mythology that fill in that gap between Troy and Ancient Greece as we know it?

Trying to relate this back to BC&H, I've encountered a few evangelical sites that argue that the Greek Dark age never happened, and claim the Trojan war took place around 800 BC. This apparently resolves a number of biblical dating problems. I have to admit that I have a tendency to automatically reject any revised dating schemes just based on the mental confusion it causes trying to rearrange the historical events in my head!

Another funny BC&H issue this raises is that there is apparently as much evidence for a historical Perseus as there is a historical Solomon. The cycopean walls of Mycenae are after all still standing and were apparently built around when the traditional sources says that Perseus built them, whereas there is not even a faint remnant of the colossal building projects attributed to the Solomonic empire.

Anyway, it's a fun but confusing subject to explore.

andrewcriddle

The main one I can think of is the legendary account of the Return of the Heraclids or descendants of Hercules which seems to be set nearly a hundred years after the fall of Troy and may be related to the historical migratian of the Dorian Greeks into the Peloponnese.

Andrew Criddle

Ratel

Return of the Heraclids? Interesting, I hadn't heard of that one, it does seem like a pedigree building attempt by upstart invaders.

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/heraclids.html