Apart from the arts, the Mycenaeans were also occupied with the cultivation of the intellect. Their remarkable achievements were applied mainly in economic sectors. The fundamental knowledge they applied in everyday practices was initially drawn from the more advanced countries with which they had commercial or diplomatic contacts. The Mycenaeans adopted the numeration and measurement system of Minoan Crete thus facilitating the control of production and trade.

The most significant Mycenaean achievement was the invention of a new writing system, the syllabary named Linear B. The decipherment of this writing verified that the official language of the Mycenaean palaces was the Greek language. This ascertainment shifted the Mycenaean period from Prehistory to Protohistory.

The Mycenaean texts are of a purely record keeping character since they include only the necessary registrations for the control of the economic management. Therefore, we do not know whether the Mycenaeans had written texts of a different kind, such as letters, religious or literary texts. However, some indications in the language and content of the Homeric epics show that these were probably based on earlier historical poems of the Mycenaean time, which had been preserved by oral tradition.

Therefore we can assume that the intellectual treasure of the Mycenaean world is not restricted to economic practices and to the Argive texts but that it extends to the historical and literary tradition which was preserved in the ancient Greek poetry and myths.