Proetus occupied Tiryns and fortified it with the assistance of the cyclopes. Thus Greek legend links the three Argolic centers with three mythical heroes: Acrisius, founder of the Doric colony of Argos; his brother Proetus, founder of Tiryns; and his grandson Perseus, the founder of Mycenae. But this tradition was born at the beginning of the historical period, when Argos was fighting to become the hegemonic power in the area and needed a glorious past to compete with the other two cities. History Neolithic The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A small neolithic settlement thrived. Early Helladic See the Tiryns Culture In the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, it was a flourishing early pre-Hellenic settlement located about 15 km southeast of Mycenae, on a hill 300 m long, 45–100 m wide, and no more than 18 meters high. From this period survived under the yard of a Mycenaean palace, an imposing circular structure 28 meters in diameter, which appears to be a fortified place of refuge for the city's inhabitants in time of war, and/or a residence of a king. Its base was powerful, and was constructed from two concentric stone walls, among which there were others cross-cutting, so that the thickness reached 45 m. The superstructure was clay and the roof was made from fire-baked tiles. Middle Helladic The first Greek inhabitants—the creators of the Middle Helladic civilization and the Mycenaean civilization after that—settled Tiryns at the beginning of the Middle Helladic period (2000–1600 BC). Late Helladic In the Late Helladic, the city underwent its greatest growth, also known as the Mycenaean period. The Acropolis was constructed in three phases, the first at the end of the Late Helladic II period (1500–1400 BC), the second in Late Helladic III (1400–1300 BC), and the third at the end of the Late Helladic III B (1300–1200 BC). The surviving ruins of the Mycenaean citadel date to the end of the third period. The city proper surrounded the acropolis on the plain below. The disaster that struck the Mycenaean centers at the end of the Bronze Age affected Tiryns, but it is certain that the area of the palace was inhabited continuously into the early Archaic period, until the middle of the 8th century BC (a little later a temple was built in the ruins of the palace). At the beginning of the Classical period Tiryns, like Mycenae, became