Mycenae was the largest and most important center of the civilization that was named 'Mycenaean'. It is the culture that dominated mainland Greece, the Aegean islands, and the shores of Asia Minor during the late Bronze Age era. The Mycenaean Era occupies the tail end of the Helladic Civilization, which flourished in mainland Greece around 3000 BC. Many Mycenaean archaeological sites, cemeteries, and tombs of the era have been unearthed throughout Greece. Mycenae itself is the stage upon which unfolds the great Greek dramas starting with Homer's Iliad. The founding of Mycenae is lost in prehistory, but according to Greek legends, it was founded by the legendary hero Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, daughter of the king of Argos, Acricios, who left Argos for Tyrins and later employed Cyclopes to build the walls of Mycenae with giant stones that no human could move.