Ma thèse concerne la période préhellénique et archaïque de la Grèce. Elle vise à étudier la tradition sur les origines de la civilisation grecque à travers la référence aux Pélasges. Elle apporte un nouvel éclairage sur nos acquis historiques et culturels relatifs à cette Grèce et met en exergue les prémices de la civilisation grecque stricto sensu apparue vers le VIIIe siècle avant JC. Les auteurs antiques grecs dont Homère, Hésiode, Hérodote, Thucydide et les auteurs tragiques ont largement mentionné les Pélasges comme ayant peuplé les régions qui allaient devenir la Grèce et mis copieusement en évidence leur autochtonie. Prédécesseurs des Grecs, ils leur ont légué les éléments essentiels de leur civilisation. Les auteurs modernes n'ont pas pris en compte ce phénomène pélasgique. En effet la découverte des sites archéologiques de Mycènes et de Troie et le fait d'avoir qualifié de mycénien le peuple ayant précédé les Grecs, ont complètement occulté le rôle civilisateur des Pélasges. Mon intention est de les étudier par une approche pluridisciplinaire qui confronte les données de la tradition antique aux éléments historiques, ethnolinguistiques, archéologiques et mythologiques, susceptible de les éclairer. Enfin Ventris et Chadwick en déchiffrant le linéaire B (appelé mycénien), ont encore davantage obscurci voire occulté la part pélasgique dans la formation de la civilisation grecque, en le repoussant dans une lointaine préhistoire vers laquelle on ne pourrait rien dire. Dans leur procédure de déchiffrement Ventris et Chadwick n’ont pas fait appel à ce fonds préhellénique qu’on peut définir comme du pélasgique ancien. C’est pourquoi ils l’ont appelé grec ancien. / My thesis concerns prehellenic archaic periods of Greece. It aims to study the tradition about the origins of Greek civilization through the reference to Pelasgians. It brings a new lighting on our historical and cultural heritage relating to this Greece and puts forwards the first steps of the Greek civilization emerged in the early 8th century before J-C Earliest Greek authors including Homer, Hesiod, Hecataeus of Miletus, Hellanicus of Lesbos, Herodotus and tragic authors, widely mentioned Pelasgians as having populated the areas which were going to become Greece and copiously highlighted their local origin. Predecessors of the Greeks, they bequeathed to them the essential elements of their civilization. Modern authors did not take into account this pelasgic phenomenon. Indeed the discovery of the archeological sites of Mycenae and Troy as well as the fact of having qualified Mycenaean (invention of Heinrich Schliemann) the people who preceded the Greeks, have completely occulted the civilizing role of Pelasgians. My intention is to study them by a multidisciplinary approach confronting the data of the ancient tradition with the historical, ethnolinguistic, anthropological, archaeological and mythological elements, which may enlighten them. Finally Ventris and Chadwick by deciphering the Linear B (called Mycenaean), have further obscured or overshadowed the pelasgic share in the formation of Greek civilization, by pushing back it in a remote prehistory to which we could not say nothing. In their process of deciphering Ventris and Chadwick did not appeal to this prehellenic fund which can be defined as an ancient pelasgic. That’s why they called it ancient greek.

When looking at Dark Age Greece, one of the most important sites to consider is Athens. The Dark Age was a transitional period between the fall of Mycenaean Greece of the Bronze Age, and Archaic Greece of the Iron Age. This period is called the Dark Age because the palaces that ruled the Mycenaean age collapsed, and with them fell civilization in mainland Greece. Writing, fine art, massive architecture, trade, and luxury goods disappear from mainland Greece. But Athens survived the fall of the Mycenaeans. In order to understand the reason why Athens survived one must look at what the causes of the fall of the Mycenaeans were. Theories range from raiders and invasion, to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, droughts, and plagues. One must also examine Greece itself. The landscape and climate of Greece have a large impact on the settlement of the Greeks. The land of Greece also affects what Greek communities were able to do economically, whether a city would be rich or poor. It is because Athens is located in Attica that it survived. Attica had the poorest soil in the Mycenaean world, and was the poorest of the major cities, therefore, when looking at the collapse of the Mycenaeans being caused by people, there would be no reason for said people to raid or invade Athens and Attica. It is because Athens survives that it is such an important site. Athens survived the fall of the Mycenaeans and in doing so acts as a refugee center and a jumping off point for the remaining Mycenaeans to flee east, to the Aegean islands and Anatolia. Athens also stayed occupied during the Dark Age and because of this it was able to make some advancements. In particular Athens was a leader in mainland Greece in the development of iron. Not only this, but Athens became a cultural center during the Dark Age, inventing both proto-geometric and geometric pottery. These styles were adopted by the rest of the Greek world, and Athens was looked to as the influence for these styles. It is because Athens was the poorest city and Attica the poorest area during the Mycenaean age that it survived. Because it survived it was able to continue to develop and in turn influence the rest of mainland Greece.