The barbarians who overthrew Aegean civilization seem to have entered Greece from the north, perhaps from the region the Danube River. They pushed gradually southward, sometimes exterminating or enslaving the earlier inhabitants of the country, but more often settling peaceably in their new homes. Conquerors and conquered slowly intermingled and so produced the one Greek people which is found at the dawn of history. These Greeks, as we shall call them henceforth, also occupied the islands of the Aegean Sea and the coast of Asia Minor. The entire basin of the Aegean thus became a Greek world. [Illustration: AEGEAN SNAKE GODDESS (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) A gold and ivory statuette found in Crete. Dates from the sixteenth century B.C. The goddess wears the characteristic Cretan dress, with low- cut jacket and full skirt with five plaited flounces. On her head is an elaborate crown.] THE HOMERIC EPICS The period between the end of the Aegean Age and the opening of historic times in Greece is usually called the Homeric Age, because many features of its civilization are reflected in two epic poems called the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_. The former deals with the story of a Greek expedition against Troy; the latter describes the wanderings of the hero Odysseus on his return from Troy. The two epics were probably composed in Ionia, and by the Greeks were attributed to a blind bard named Homer. Many modern scholars, however, consider them the work of several generations of poets. The references in the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_ to industry, social life, law, government, and religion give us some idea of the culture which the historic Greeks received as their inheritance. INDUSTRY The Greeks as described in the Homeric epics were in a transitional stage between the life of shepherds and that of farmers. Wealth consisted chiefly of flocks and herds, though nearly every freeman owned a little plot of land on which he cultivated grain and cared for his orchard and vineyard. There were few skilled workmen, for almost everything was made at home. A separate class of traders had not yet arisen. Commerce was little followed. The Greeks depended on Phoenician sailors to bring to their shores the commodities which they could not produce themselves. Iron was known and used, for instance, in the manufacture of farm tools. During Homeric times, however, that metal had not yet displaced copper and bronze. [8] SOCIAL LIFE