Hellenistic Culture study guide summary

 


 

Hellenistic Culture study guide summary

 

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Hellenistic Culture study guide summary

2.  Hellenistic Culture

 political unity of Alexander’s empire disappeared with his death
- Greek language & culture continued to spread and flourish in the lands he had conquered
- Hellenic ways of life mixed with elements of Middle Eastern culture
- form a new culture
- Hellenistic
Hellenistic age
- period from the reign of Alexander (336 – 323 BC) to the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BC
- age of monarchies
- atmosphere was very different from that of the age of the city states
- old cities of mainland Greece continued to exist
- political and cultural centers

a) City Life

(1) Basic City

 laid out on a gridiron pattern
- practical way of placing buildings
microcosms of Greek culture
- military settlements had their own gymnasia & theatres
Ali Khanum
- northern frontier of Afghanistan
- huge theater, gymnasium, mosaics & library
- stone pillar in gymnasium
- inscribed with moral maxims taken
- from the oracle at Delphi

(2) Greeks vs. Natives

 cities outside mainland Greece & Macedonia
- set in a sea of native peoples
- Persians, Indians, Egyptians, Jews or Celts
- difficult to disentangle the complex relationships that evolved as a result
social distinctions between Greek and native remained strong
Seleucia – on – the – Eulaeua
- former Persian capital of Susa
- no record of any citizen who was not Greek by birth
- three generations before the Seleucid rulers are found employing the first non – Greek in their administration
Cleopatra VII
- last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt
- first in the dynasty to learn the local language
- formal title of her capital Alexandria
- Alexandria by Egypt
Hellenistic Culture
- imperialist culture
- believe that theirs was a superior culture
- could not be diluted
those who wished to become assimilated had to do so totally
- essential to speak Greek
- attend the theatre
- show allegiance to Greek cults
- most public sign of assimilation
- strip naked for exercise in the gymnasium
- rigid approach was not sustainable

(3) Social Classes

 Hellenistic society
- Greeks formed the upper class
professional Greek soldiers & bureaucrats moved from place to place
- rather than being loyal to their king or kingdom
- wherever job opportunities were best
social status of upper – class Greek women
- improved over their traditional status
- no longer secluded
- could move about freely
- enjoyed a certain amount of independence
- learned how to read and write
- occupations as real estate, banking, & government. 
- not available to commoners

(4) Alexandria

 largest & wealthiest
- benefited from a double harbor
- hold 1,200 ships at a time
- city’s lighthouse
- visible from 35 miles out at sea
architecture
- straight streets intersected each other at right angles
- crooked streets of older cities
- white stucco stone palaces & temples
- gleamed brilliantly in the sun
major intellectual center
- museum
- first ever
- library
- nearly a million volumes
- institute for scientific research
-zoo
- botanical garden

b) Philosophers

 Hellenistic Philosophers
- focused on personal behavior
- questions of how to achieve peace of mind
- how to live ‘a good life’

(1) Cynicism

 Diogenes
- founder of Cynicism
criticized materialism
people would be happy
- if they gave up luxuries
- lived simply, in accord with nature
- withdraw from the world altogether
asked by Alexander the Great what he wanted out of life
- requested no more than that Alexander get out of the way of the sun

(2) Epicureanism

 Epicuras
- started the philosophy of Epicureanism
- lived in Athens from 307 until his death in 271
world was one in which the gods had little or no influence
world was composed of atoms
- those making up each individual dissolved when that individual died
- regrouped to make up other objects
ensure survival in this world through pleasure
- only purpose of this life
- not a frenzied search for sensual enjoyment
- peace of mind & freedom from pain
- important to escape from any fear of death
- concentrate on the pleasures of everyday living
- friendship & rational thinking
- ‘The pleasant life is produced not by a string of drinking bouts and revelries, nor by the enjoyment of boys and women, nor by fish and the other items on expensive menu, but by sober reasoning.’ 
major reversal of traditional Greek values
- retreat from the hectic, competitive life of the Greek world
- marked a where a man was judged by  the success of his public life
Epicureanism was never completely respected 
- proved popular in the last years of republican Rome

(3) Stoicism

 Zeno
- c. 333 – 262 BC
- founded Stoicism
- taught form the colonnades of the Stoa Poikile along the northern side of the Agora of Athens
- name Stoicism comes from the Stoa Poikile
- ‘painted porch’
accepted that the world was made entirely of matter
- knowledge of it could be gained through direct observation & reason
- saw the world as a single enduring entity
- cosmos which moved forward in time under its own purpose
- evolution towards a state of ultimate goodness. 
- human beings were an intrinsic part of the unfolding cosmos, not separate from it
- important to come to terms with the fact that one was part of a greater whole
- had a personal responsibility for making a contribution towards the unfolding of the future
what happened to people was governed by natural laws
- people could gain happiness by ignoring their emotions
- learnt to accept pain and pleasure with indifference
- nothing could be done to avoid them
instead should following their reason
- able to accept even the most difficult circumstances of life & do their duty
duty to live a virtuous life
- in accordance with one’s true nature as a human being
- duty bound to take on public responsibilities
Stoicism was to be particularly influential in Rome,
- one of the Greek philosophical traditions which helped form early Christianity

c) Art and Literature

 Hellenistic period witnessed a late, great flowering of Greek art
- era of the Seven Wonders of the World
confusing nature of this artistic period
art historians disagree
- view that ancient Greek works continued to excel
- claiming that the styles and subjects seen in the Hellenistic - Age were too diverse, lacking direction
sculpture diverged into two distinct forms
1. drive toward experimentation with increasingly theatrical images
- used for civic embellishment
- led to a more imaginative use of space and juxtaposition of characters
- create a dramatic and energetic sculpture
- friezes ceased to be carved in bas-relief
- (method of molding, carving, or stamping in which the designs stands out from the surface to a lesser extent)
- instead became increasingly three – dimensional
- containing masses of twisting, cavorting figures
2. apparent return to classical themes
- ones interpreted in a new and more realistic way…
- reserved for private patronage
artists departed from Hellenic styles
- instead of carving idealized individuals
- Hellenistic sculptors showed people in the grip of powerful emotions
- carved portrait heads
- art had become a business

d) Science

 Hellenistic scientists
- limited by their simple instruments
- performed many experiments
- developed new theories

(1) Aristarchus of Amos

 c. 275 BC
sun is larger than the earth
earth revolves around the sun
- failed to convince the mainstream astronomers
- continued for another 1,700 years to believe in the earth – centered universe
stars lie at immense distances form both heavenly bodies

(2) Eratosthenes

 3rd century
estimated the earth’s circumference
- compared the shadow thrown by the sun at two different points on the Nile at midday
- final result is disputed
- within 1% of the correct figure
- may have come within 300 km of the correct figure

(3) Apollonius

 most influential figure in astronomy was the mathematician
- beginning of the 2nd century BC
started with the premise that the earth is at rest in the center of the universe
- most plausible explanation as to why the position of the stars in the sky remained constant
- evidence of gravity suggested that everything was attracted to the earth as the natural center of the universe
evolved a system
- explain the movements of the planets
- always moved in circles
- center of each circle moved long the circumference of a second circle
- center of this second circle was the earth but other points were possible
- allowed a wide range of astronomical phenomena
- including the varying length of the seasons, to be explained more easily

e) Medicine

 any serious advance in the field depended on the gathering of empirical information about the working of the human body
- used to cutting up animals after sacrificing
- applied what they learnt of anatomy by analogy to the human body
Hellenistic doctors dissected corpses
- learn more about human anatomy
- discovered the body’s nervous system
- studied the brain and the liver
- learned how to use drugs to relieve pain
Herophilus of Chalcedon & Erasistratus of Ceos
- 260s BC
- took living criminals as the subjects of their observations
- gained the first significant insights into the working of the human body
- methods included dissection of their subjects
- possibly even when they were still alive
- first to investigate the nervous system
- understand the different between sensory and motor nerves
- came close to discovering the circulation of the blood

f) Mathematics

(1) Euclid

 Euclid of Alexandria
wrote The Elements of Geometry
- book that organized all information about geometry
- possibly been the most successful textbook in history
- set out a series of axioms
- propositions so basic that everyone must accept them
- systematically deduce theorems from them through rational argument
- simplicity of his work and the method he used has made The Elements the foundation of subsequent mathematics

(2) Archimedes

 built further on Euclid’s work
- devised sophisticated ways of measuring the area of a circle
- first man to calculate accurately the size of pi
- devise the formula for measuring the volume of a sphere
virtually invented the science of hydrostatics
- equilibrium of liquids at rest & the forces and pressures exerted by them
could be argued that Archimedes made more advances in mathematics than any other mathematician in history
- Galileo described him as ‘superhuman
inventions
- compound pulley
- moves heavy objects easily
- cylinder – screw
- still used to lift water for irrigation
- discovered the principle of buoyancy
- demonstrated the principle of the lever
- death - ray

 

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Hellenistic Culture study guide summary