After the town was destroyed, those who survived either trickled back and rebuilt amid the smouldering ruins, or moved elsewhere. Mycenaean-era Orchomenos had drained Lake Copais to create tens of square miles of new farmland, and operated that for generations — but at the end of the era someone breached the dyke and reflooded it, which destroyed the economy and the city-state’s ability to feed itself. Pylos was sacked and never rebuilt. Thebes refortified and dug a deep cistern in search of water, as if under siege.
Mycenaean Sparta was leveled, and the twin kingship that arose there supposedly had its roots in two brothers, offspring of Hercules (yeah, right) who overthrew the descendants of Menelaus and Helen. The next big finds in the Greek interior will probably be the excavation of the mostly ignored Mycenaean-era citadel in Sparta.
Tiryns, which is right on the coast, wound up having its population swell well beyond the old capacity. Perhaps these were refugees from cities which were sacked in the Greek interior. Perhaps the city’s army proved to be more of a match and defeated the common invader (that could also result in refugees wanting to take refuge there). Perhaps the cratering of the rest of the city-states’ economy somehow led to a massive business via sea trade. Possibly it was all these things.
Also, and this has been said before, Tiryns *was* the common invader, that is, perhaps the city-states reverted to their usual way before the Trojan War and were fighting each other (this isn’t dissimilar to England; after the 100 Years War on the continent, the large professional military class that had evolved tore the country apart with the dynastic struggles now called the Wars of the Roses) and Tiryns wound up being the last one standing.
Thanks, that is interesting.