The Bronze Age Mycenaeans were an ancient civilization from the Greek mainland known for their impressive architecture, rich culture, and mysterious decline. Perhaps most famously, the Mycenaeans were the lead cast in Homer’s stories of the Trojan War, The Iliad and The Odyssey. These include Agamemnon, the legendary king of Mycenae who led the Greek forces in the Trojan War; Menelaus, king of Sparta and husband of Helen, whose abduction sparked the war; and the cunning Odysseus, the king of Ithaca who had to face numerous challenges during his long voyage home after the Trojan War.
While the epic poem The Iliad is generally recognized as a work of fiction, some of Homer’s accounts are nevertheless considered historically accurate.
