~1200 BC: the late bronze age collapse. Total civilization reset in the entire Greek cultural sphere. The old dominant Mycenaean culture, as well as what remnants of Minoans existed, all vanished violently in the chaos of the collapse. The old cultures of Greece would only be recalled through myths and legends recorded in later centuries.

~1200 BC - 750 BC: the Greek dark ages. So-called because there is very little written evidence from this period, it is "dark" in the historical record, not because people were more primitive (except perhaps in the faculty of literacy). There's archeological evidence of what went on here, and it suggests small (less than 1000 people) settlements scattered throughout the Peloponnese which saw people gradually re-urbanizing toward the end of the period. Again, not much written down here, but its thought to be when the original versions of myths like the Iliad were formed.

~750-500 BC: the Archaic Age. This is where a lot of the persistent cultural identities and myths were created. New writing systems emerge in the 8th century BC and this is also when Homer himself is thought to have lived. The Iliad is believed to be a mythologized record of a real war in the late bronze age collapse, with the historical city of Troy now known to have stood in western Anatolia being destroyed (several times) during that time period. This is also the time period that we first see the "Dorian Invasion" be mentioned by Greek sources, which is thought to be how the Greeks explained the massive cultural shift that occurred in the wake of the bronze age collapse. Modern scholars now doubt any such invasion occurred, but regardless it is what the Greeks believed to have happened so we must talk about it with regard to Ancient Greek culture and literature. City states like Sparta, for example, based their entire cultural identity on the Doric myth.

500-323 BC: Classical period of ancient Greece, so called because many of the great classical works which we associated with Greece date from this period, like Plato himself. The big breakthroughs in mathematics and philosophy occurred in this period, and it was also when Greece was breaking free of the grip of Persia at the start of it, around 500 BC. After shrugging off Persia, Athens and Sparta proceeded to contend with one another in the Peloponnesian War, whose conflict left them so mauled in the 4th century that the whole region was ripe for conquest by the Macedonians from the northwest. Alexander's conquest marks the end of the Classical era.

324-31 BC: post-Alexander Greece, known as Hellenic Greece, which lasted until the Roman annexation. This saw the absolute peak of Greekification of the Mediterranean and even the middle east and Egypt, and a lot of the later Greek philosophers and mathematicians emerged. Stoicism originated from this period, this was the age of geniuses like Archimedes and Euclid.

>>24850177
You can find a nice introduction to all things greek in H.D.F Kitto's "The Greeks". It serves as a great introduction to Greek life, thought, history, and so on. From there on out you can go after whatever particular authors you find appealing, but if I may recommend you some:
>Greek myths.
A huge chunk of their literature and values stem from the myths. There's two major Mythologies you can go for.
>Edith Hamilton
Narrative oriented, with the poets, playwrights and historians of Rome and Greece. Very enjoyable, albeit not that complete.
>Robert Graves
More academically oriented, and somewhat dull. Graves doesn't care much for a compelling narrative as he does for stating the facts.
What makes Graves' version so important, is that half of the work is entirely quotes and sources that try to explain the historical setting of certain myths (Such as the rape of Europa).
One thing to note however, his sources are all over the place, and certain details like Orpheus being a kiddy diddler are thrown in without a fully reliable source.

From there on out, you have the classical historians.
>Herodotus' Histories
A mix of myth and history. Herodotus writes about a lot of characters that are reminiscent of old folk-tales, and you should see them as such. His comments on egypt highlight certain aspects of Greek life.
>Thucydides, history of the Peloponnesian war
In contrast to Herodotus, Thucc is pure hard facts. The Peloponnesian war is single-handedly one of the most important events of classical Greek history, because it marked the fall of Athens.

After that, you can go for the more specific ones like Xenophon, Athenaus, and so on. I'd recommend going for Xenophon after Thucc.

>Modern scholars now doubt any such invasion occurred

I've read a few books about the greeks now but they all mention this doric invasion, is there a more recent greek history book I should look at.