The Mycenaean civilization or Mycenaean Greece was an important culture in Greece, which, as a successor to the Minoan civilization, existed in the Late Bronze Age, from about 1600 BC to 1100 BC. It represents the first advanced Greek civilization in mainland Greece with its palatial states, urban organization, works of art and writing system.

The name of this important pre-Hellenic civilization is derived from the Greek site of Mycenae, where imposing remains of palaces and other structures from this civilization have been found. Mycenae was the center of this culture, during the 14th and 13th  the century BC. It spread across the Peloponnese and the southern part of Greek mainland. However, they were not a political entity.

The bearers of the ‘Mycenaean’ culture were Greeks, but their religion was not identical with the Minoan. Many of the well-known Greek gods, that can also be found in the Olympic Pantheon, were apparently already worshipped by the Mycenaeans, proving that the Greek myths and legends stem largely from the Mycenaean culture. It is this culture that is reflected in the Homeric epics. The Mycenaean Greeks introduced several innovations in the fields of engineering, architecture and military infrastructure.

Around 1400 BC, the "Mycenaeans’" were strongly enough organized to make the crossing to Crete, ending Cretan rule in the eastern Mediterranean basin. The Mycenaeans maintained extensive trade relations with the Near East as with southern Italy and Sicily. This culture came to an abrupt end, probably due to the invasion of the Dorians. The Dorians had iron weapons, unlike the Mycenaeans, which gave them an advantage in fighting. However, this can not be separated from comparable unrest and ruin in the rest of the Mediterranean. Natural disasters and climatic changes have also been suggested.

With the disappearance of the Mycenaean civilization, the material culture in Greece almost came to a standstill, between 1100 and 800 BC. A bit like the Dark Ages for this period of time. But they left an enormous heritage behind. This period was not recorded and led to Archaic Greece, where significant shifts occurred from palace centralized to decentralized forms of socio-economic organization.

Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace centered states, that developed strict hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. The king was known as an anax. The Mycenaean period became the historical setting of much Ancient Greek literature and mythology, including the Trojan Epic Cycle.

The military nature of the Mycenaean Greeks is evident from numerous weapons found, the use of warrior and combat representations in contemporary art, and the preserved Greek Linear B writings. They invested in the military infrastructure, with military production and logistics being supervised directly from the royal centers. Every rural community was obliged to supply a certain number of men who had to serve in the army.