Dark Age of Greece

The period that followed the fall of Mycenae is known as the Dark Ages. It was a age of poverty.  It was also a time when Greeks settled various areas around the Aegean Sea, especially on the western shores of Asia Minor.  They became known as Ionians.  As the Dark Ages ended, there was a revival of trade and economic activity.  In addition, iron was introduced.  The end of the Dark Ages coincided with the writing of one of literature's first epics, Homer's Iliad.