 In the 8th century BC , after the end of the so @-@ called Greek Dark Ages , Greece emerged with a network of myths and legends , the greatest of all being that of the Trojan Epic Cycle . In general , the Greeks of classical antiquity idealized the Mycenaean period as a glorious period of heroes , closeness of the gods and material wealth . The legends of Homer 's Epics were especially and generally accepted as part of the Greek past and it was not until the 19th century that scholars began to question Homer 's historicity . At this time , German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann undertook the first modern archaeological excavations in Greece at the site of Mycenae in 1876 . Thus , Schliemann set out to prove the historical accuracy of the Iliad by identifying the places described by Homer . 
