Paper abstract
Archaic and Classical Greece would not have been the same without the "Dark Ages"
- Muhly James
The prevailing theory, until very recent times, has been that the "Dark Ages", ca. 1150-750 BC, presented a serious challenge to the survival of Greek civilization. Only in the 8th century BC did things start to come to life once again. The present paper will try to show that this interpretation represents a serious distortion of historical reality. Far from being an interval to be endured, the "Dark Ages" constituted the critical formative stage for developpments that led to the cultures of Archaic and Classical Greece. Several examples will be presented in support of this thesis.
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