The Hellenistic Age

1. The Hellenistic Age -Key Concepts- “oikoumene” “cosmopolis”

2. I. Peloponnesian War (430-404 BCE) • Very costly and drawn out • The defeat of Athens • Persia was the big winner • Greek city-states commit political suicide • Recognition of what had been lost produces a fourth-century intellectual crisis

3. II. Intellectual Crisis and Responses • Plato (429-347 BCE) --Rule of a “Philosopher-King” --Plato’s Academy --Doctrine of Ideas or Forms --Concept of Dualism --The “Demiurge” --The political philosophy of The Republic

4. II. Intellectual Crisis and Responses (cont) • Aristotle (384-322 BCE) --More empirical approach than Plato --Multiple systems of government will work as long as rulers have arete --Aristotle’s background --His school, the Lyceum --Wanted to synthesize all knowledge

5. II. Intellectual Crisis and Responses (cont) • Aristotle (384-322 BCE) --invented the word metaphysics --his understanding of the universe --earliest formal logician --contemplative life is the best life --elitist view of women and “barbarians” --the power of the passions

6. II. Intellectual Crisis and Responses (cont) • Isocrates (436-338 BCE) --Background --Advocate of Pan-Hellenism and the rule of Philip II --His emphasis on the value of rhetoric --Redefined what it meant to be Greek --paideia

7. III. The Roots of “Oikoumene”

8. A. Military and Political Unity • Harshness of Macedonian life • The nature of Macedonian monarchy • The relationship of the Macedonians to the Greeks • The rise of Philip II to the Macedonian throne • His plan to force the Greek city-states into submission

9. A. Military and Political Unity (cont) • The rise of Alexander the Great to power (336-323 BCE) • Conquest of Greece and Persia • Alexander’s presence in battle • Cuts the Gordion know • Introduction of new military technology

10. A. Military and Political Unity (cont) • Founding of Alexandria and burning of Persepolis • Campaign as far as India • Rules as a divine, absolute monarch • Alexander’s goals and his sense of history • The death of Alexander the Great

11. A. Military and Political Unity (cont) • The Successor Kingdoms • Constant warfare between these kingdoms • The desire for Greek soldiers • The Hellenistic “shadow” polis • Hellenistic cities were economic and social hubs • Hellenistic view of women • Philanthropy in Hellenistic city life

12. B. Cultural Unity • Process of cultural intermingling • Creation of a professional Greek administrative corps • Use of Greeks in professional armies and navies • Imitation of Greek culture by non-Greeks --Koine Greek

13. B. Cultural Unity (cont) • The role of the city in the Hellenistic empire • Employment of Greek writers, artists and architects • The Library of Alexandria --Museum • Hellenistic poets and comics --Theocritus

14. B. Cultural Unity (cont) • Hellenistic sculpture • Hellenistic art • Spread of Greek culture was wider than it was deep • Treatment of the Jews in Hellenistic cities --Hanukkah --Septuagint (LXX)

15. C. Commercial Unity • East and West linked in a broad commercial network • Uniformity in coinage, weights, and measures • Exchange of commercial customs • Most trade was sea borne • Regional specialization • Hellenistic slave trade

16. D. Philosophical Unity • Reasons for the popularity of Greek philosophy • Basic question of Hellenistic philosophy: • What is the best way for humans to live? • Epicureanism

17. D. Philosophical Unity (cont) • Stoicism --Zeno (333-262 BCE) --Logos --unified and orderly nature --basic unity of all human beings --everything that happened was fated

18. D. Philosophical Unity (cont) • Skeptics --Pyrrho (360-270 BCE) • Cynics --Diogenes --Antisthenes --artificiality of the polis --citizens of the “cosmopolis”

19. E. Religious Unity • The sterility of Greek religious cults • The power of Tyche • Greeks do not try to spread their religion • The growth of “mystery religions” • Rites of initiation that united devotee with a risen god

20. E. Religious Unity (cont) • Egyptian cult of Serapis --Asclepius • The Egyptian cult of Isis • Tendencies toward religious universalism and personal immortality

21. IV. Achievements of Hellenistic Culture • The “Golden Age” of Science • Euclid and his advances in mathematics • The practical and theoretical discoveries of Archimedes • Aristarchus and his model of the solar system • Eratosthenes and mathematical geography

22. IV. Achievements of Hellenistic Culture (cont) • Theophrastus and the study of botany • Practical technological application • Significant medical advances --The Hellenistic practice of vivisection • Doctors faced a reputation of quakery • Hellenistic cures and potions