Recently, I found myself immersed in a captivating conversation that truly stirred my thoughts.  A guest posed a profound question that actually made me pause and think. Who truly ignited the flames of the Greek civilization?  Was it the idyllic, island-dwelling Minoans or the mainland-based Mycenaeans who were the torchbearers? 🏺

Soon, I realized I had to go back further, way beyond the 20th century B.C., before these cultures flourished. But when exactly does the first Greek make an appearance in history? 👣

This question remains a focus of ongoing research among archaeologists and linguists, and there are certain theories that are accepted as being close to the truth, which I am going to share with you.

The Greeks are thought to belong to the vast Indo-European family, a group of various tribes spread from Europe to India, who initially resided in a shared homeland and communicated in the same language. This "discovery" of the Indo-Europeans was primarily made by historical linguists.

The Indo-European theory is based on the idea that many Eurasian languages, despite the geographical distances between them, have a lot in common. Delving into this theory revealed remarkable similarities in vocabulary and grammar among Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, the oldest known languages.

So it is presumed the existence of a "mother" language transformed into various "daughter" languages as its speakers spread across the globe. These related but distinct languages led researchers to use the term Indo-European for this culture and Proto-Indo-European for the initial language.

Current theories indicate the South Russian steppe and Eastern Anatolia as the Proto-Indo-European homeland, around 6000 years ago, possibly earlier. However, between 4500BC and 2500BC, for reasons yet unknown, various tribal groups slowly started to leave their original homeland and move in different directions in search of new lands. 

Some groups headed towards Asia Minor, Persia, and India, while others moved towards Western Europe and the Balkan Peninsula. Indo-European groups, as they settled globally, often exterminated entire indigenous cultures, displacing local populations and even earlier Indo-European settlers. They came to rule in regions such as India and Italy, evolving into the ruling castes and Romans, respectively. In every region, from central Europe to the Near East, they caused social turmoil.

The inference is that the Indo-Europeans might have reached Greece either from the Balkans or northwest Asia, and their settling didn't happen overnight. It was a slow, long process that took place at varying times, gradually mixing with earlier inhabitants. Throughout the second millennium BCE, Greece experienced three significant waves of Indo-European invasions. Each wave led to instability and ushered in a period of darkness. The last great invasion, coming from the north-west to the south, was made by the Dorians, around 1100 BC, taking advantage of the weakening Mycenaean world.

Historical records capture the chaotic nature of these invaders through various documents. This turbulence led to the disappearance of native cultures such as the Pelasgians, known as pre-Greeks (pro-Hellenes), confining them to historical mysteries. These stories can be be found in myths, religious practices, and traditions kept by ancient scholars, but mostly in the language. 

The eminent historian Herodotus mentions: "I am unable to assert with certainty the language the Pelasgians spoke. However, if I were to conjecture based on the Pelasgians...who once cohabited with the Athenians...it could be said the Pelasgians used a barbarous language."