Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,917,993,505 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Mycenaean
(redirected from Mycenaeans)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

Mycenaean

Any member of a group of warlike Indo-European peoples who entered Greece from the north starting c. 1900 BC and established a Bronze Age culture on the mainland and nearby islands. Their culture was dependent on that of the Minoans of Crete, who for a time politically dominated them. They threw off Minoan control c. 1400 and were dominant in the Aegean until they themselves were overwhelmed by the next wave of invaders c. 1150. Mycenae continued to exist as a city-state into the period of Greek dominance, but by the 2nd century AD it was in ruins. Mycenaean myths and legends lived on through oral transmission into later stages of Greek civilization and form the basis of Homeric epic and Greek tragedy. Their language is believed to be the most ancient form of Greek.


Mycenaean
1. of or relating to ancient Mycenae or its inhabitants
2. of or relating to the Aegean civilization of Mycenae (1400 to 1100bc)
www.archaeonia.com/history/mycenaean.htm


Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
Among the events are the founding of Troy, the adoption of the Minoan palace system from Crete, the circle of graves, the Trojan War, and the epics and legends the Mycenaeans have inspired over the subsequent millennia.
And while the once dramatic decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris, which proved the Mycenaeans were Greek-speakers, did not quite bring to life with any detail Mycenaean lords with Homeric names like Odysseus and Ajax as much as pedestrian palatial inventories of sheep and wine.
From earliest times, the island's fertility (and wine making) have been celebrated, and it bears traces of constant civilization from the times of the Mycenaeans (1300BC and earlier) through Classical and Hellenistic times and the successive empires of the Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans, all of which left traces above and below ground.
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.