| In the 12th century, the power vacuum created by the decline of Mycenaean civilization was filled by Greeks speaking the Dorian dialect, who invaded the peninsula from the north. Greek tradition characterized this movement as the “return” of the sons of Heracles (Heraclidae): Hyllus, Dymas, and Pamphylas, who were the eponymous founders of the three Dorian tribes. The Dorians originally came from southern Macedonia, though the Greeks derived their name from the city of Doris in central Greece. It may be that the Dorians settled there for some time before moving into the Peloponnese. The Argolis, Lacedaemon, and Messenia were conquered, and the Achaeans and Arcadians pushed into corners of the peninsula. Other Dorian groups attacked the Aegean Islands, and conquered Thera, Melos, and the central portion of Crete. A few cities in Asia Minor (principally, Halicarnassus and Cnidos) were founded or cofounded by Dorians. The Dorian invasion corresponded with the start of the Iron Age in Greece, but despite the introduction of this superior metal, culture as a whole declined in Greece as a result of the Dorian invasion. | 1 |
