Archaeologists have shown that many of the places where mythical events presumably took place correspond to sites that had historical importance during the Mycenaean period of Greek history （second half of the 2nd millennium BC）。
Scholars thus consider it likely that the Mycenaeans made a major contribution to the development of the stories，even if this contribution is hard to demonstrate in detail。Some scholars have argued that the Minoan civilization of Crete also had a formative influence on Greek myths。The myth of the Minotaur confined in a labyrinth in the palace of King Minos，for example，might be a memory of historical bull-worship in the labyrinthine palace at Knossos on Crete。However，there is little evidence that Cretan religion survived in Greece。Moreover，ancient inscriptions have not confirmed thatMinos ever existed outside of myth.
　　Scholars have shown that Middle Eastern influences were more influential to ancient Greek mythology than Cretan myths。Greek mythology owed much to cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia，especially in the realm of cosmogony （origin of the universe） and theogony （origin of the gods）。To take one example，a clear parallel exists in an early Middle Eastern myth for Greek poet Hesiod's story about the castration of Uranus by his son Cronus and the subsequent overthrow of Cronus by his son Zeus。
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