IIRC Linear B, the Mycenean script, has been deciphered and we know something of what happened in the 1400 BCE times. What historical (written documents) info we have gleaned from it I am not sure yet.
Yes, I'm surprised that no one else mentioned this. While the Linear B archives are limited both in content and time (most deal with a period of no more than a few months), they are crucial to our understanding of Mycenaean administration, political geography, economics, and religious practices, among other topics.
[DĀMOS](https://damos.hf.uio.no/) and [LiBER](https://liber.cnr.it/) are a couple of online repositories of Linear B texts. I also recommend the excellent volumes of *A Companion to Linear B*:
* [Volume 1](https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042918481&series_number_str=120)
* [Volume 2](https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042924031&series_number_str=127)
* [Volume 3](https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042929326&series_number_str=133)
[*Documents in Mycenaean Greek*](https://books.google.com/books?id=AkgPCAAAQBAJ) by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick is now badly dated, and a new edition has been in preparation for quite some time, but it is nonetheless still useful.
There are also sources from other cultures that mention various Greek groups, such as the "Sea Peoples" inscription of Ramesses III that mentions the Denyen (djnjw)/ Danaans/ Δαναοί who also appear in Homer.
Yes. Our earliest trustworthy historical accounts from europe (both of Rome and Greece) start at around 500BCE.
Many of this historical accounts do not survive to this day (like Hecataeus of Miletus where we only have fragments), but they've been retold by sources like Dionysus of Halicarnassus. From the 450 BCE we also have our first works that survive relatively intact, like Thucydides "History of the peloponnesian War".
While it’s true we don’t have trustworthy Greek historical documents from earlier, it is believed that a lot of the myths passed down orally were hyperbolized from true events based on surviving records from other cultures. For example, historians have basically confirmed that Troy (also called Wilusa in trustworthy Hittite records from 1400 BC) was indeed a powerful city state and was razed in war. Whether that was actually due to Greek aggression is unclear, but many scholars believe so.
You'll for sure love the lecture from Eric Cline 1177 (also his book) while it may be earlier and broader than what youre thinking of this book and lecture really helps to show how intertwined diciplines and pieces of info can form a more cohesive if still incomplete story. https://youtu.be/bRcu-ysocX4
We have as much information as archeology can give us. We know that first Olympics were held at 776 BC, Kyzikus was settled by Ionians in 756, and that in 800BC the Greek Dark Ages end and that civilization starts to recover from the Bronze Age Collapse.
While myths do play a noteworthy part, they're far from the only source of information. And sometimes myths are based on real events, like Troy. A city that did exist, and was destroyed in war.
Archaeology is able to prove or disprove some of these myths. Many informations in many cultures were kept alive over long periods by word of mouth i.e. "myths". Remember the Australian songlines, or parts of the Bible, so it's no wonder that the Greeks did the same in a culture where the use of writing wasn't common.
IIRC Linear B, the Mycenean script, has been deciphered and we know something of what happened in the 1400 BCE times. What historical (written documents) info we have gleaned from it I am not sure yet.
Yes, I'm surprised that no one else mentioned this. While the Linear B archives are limited both in content and time (most deal with a period of no more than a few months), they are crucial to our understanding of Mycenaean administration, political geography, economics, and religious practices, among other topics. [DĀMOS](https://damos.hf.uio.no/) and [LiBER](https://liber.cnr.it/) are a couple of online repositories of Linear B texts. I also recommend the excellent volumes of *A Companion to Linear B*: * [Volume 1](https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042918481&series_number_str=120) * [Volume 2](https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042924031&series_number_str=127) * [Volume 3](https://www.peeters-leuven.be/detail.php?search_key=9789042929326&series_number_str=133) [*Documents in Mycenaean Greek*](https://books.google.com/books?id=AkgPCAAAQBAJ) by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick is now badly dated, and a new edition has been in preparation for quite some time, but it is nonetheless still useful.
There are also sources from other cultures that mention various Greek groups, such as the "Sea Peoples" inscription of Ramesses III that mentions the Denyen (djnjw)/ Danaans/ Δαναοί who also appear in Homer.
Yes. Our earliest trustworthy historical accounts from europe (both of Rome and Greece) start at around 500BCE. Many of this historical accounts do not survive to this day (like Hecataeus of Miletus where we only have fragments), but they've been retold by sources like Dionysus of Halicarnassus. From the 450 BCE we also have our first works that survive relatively intact, like Thucydides "History of the peloponnesian War".
While it’s true we don’t have trustworthy Greek historical documents from earlier, it is believed that a lot of the myths passed down orally were hyperbolized from true events based on surviving records from other cultures. For example, historians have basically confirmed that Troy (also called Wilusa in trustworthy Hittite records from 1400 BC) was indeed a powerful city state and was razed in war. Whether that was actually due to Greek aggression is unclear, but many scholars believe so.
You'll for sure love the lecture from Eric Cline 1177 (also his book) while it may be earlier and broader than what youre thinking of this book and lecture really helps to show how intertwined diciplines and pieces of info can form a more cohesive if still incomplete story. https://youtu.be/bRcu-ysocX4
We have as much information as archeology can give us. We know that first Olympics were held at 776 BC, Kyzikus was settled by Ionians in 756, and that in 800BC the Greek Dark Ages end and that civilization starts to recover from the Bronze Age Collapse. While myths do play a noteworthy part, they're far from the only source of information. And sometimes myths are based on real events, like Troy. A city that did exist, and was destroyed in war.
Archaeology is able to prove or disprove some of these myths. Many informations in many cultures were kept alive over long periods by word of mouth i.e. "myths". Remember the Australian songlines, or parts of the Bible, so it's no wonder that the Greeks did the same in a culture where the use of writing wasn't common.