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The Hellenistic Age: Intellectual developments from Alexander III of Macedon to Cleopatra VII of Egypt

The Hellenistic Age: Intellectual developments from Alexander III of Macedon to Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Battle of Actium 31 BC. Alexander dies 323 BC. Timeline. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Ptolemy I Soter: syncretism codified. Library at Alexandria: scholarship begins.

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The Hellenistic Age: Intellectual developments from Alexander III of Macedon to Cleopatra VII of Egypt

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  1. The Hellenistic Age:Intellectual developments from Alexander III of Macedon to Cleopatra VII of Egypt

  2. Battle of Actium 31 BC Alexander dies 323 BC Timeline

  3. Ptolemaic Alexandria

  4. Ptolemy I Soter: syncretism codified

  5. Library at Alexandria: scholarship begins Ca. 300: Creation of the Bibliotheke(“book warehouse”) in Alexandria adjoining the Musaion (“home of the Muses”) • Philologoi (“lovers of language, philologists”) combine textual criticism and scientific methodology with • epic poetry music dance • lyric poetry comic poetry astrology • choral poetry tragic poetry history (Athens/Rome) • methods of collection of papyri; divisions of works

  6. Pergamon, center of gymnastic life, 281-133 • education of boys, young men, adults • focus on literature, athletics, music, agon • rise of gymnasiarchoi (sg. gymnasiarchos) • philanthropy on a large scale • allowed Greek cities some independence • Altar of Zeus 180-150: 100’ x 100’ • gods vs. giants (gigantomachy) • life of Telephus son of Herakles • emphasis on stoic virtues: • harmony with nature • good vs. evil

  7. Key events in the Hellenistic era, 290-146 BCE • 290: Creation of Achaean/AetolianLeagues • 275: Antigonid, Seleucid, Ptolemaic basileiai • 241: Attalidbasileia in Peramon (Attalus I) • 229-222: Cleomenes of Sparta leads revolt • 221-212 • Philip V controls nearly all of Greece • allies with Carthage (2nd Punic War) • Rome, Sparta, Peloponnese, Aetolians, Pergamum vs. Philip • 212-205; 197-188: Macedonian Wars • Rome defeats Philip, conquers Greece • 221-205: • 2nd Punic war: Rome defeats Carthage • 196: Titus QuinctiusFlamininus, victor • Rome declares Greeks free at Isthmia • aristocracies replace democracies • 168: Rome abolishes Antigonid monarchy • 149-146: last Macedonian rebellion • Rome destroys Corinth & Carthage • creates provinces – Macedonia, Africa • ends Achaean/Aetolian Leagues

  8. Cultural & intellectual developments:from polis to cosmopolis • democracy  oligarchy & monarchy: Plato’s philosopher-king • duty to polis individualism & introspection • rise of urbanism, professionalism, hellenism& koine(language) • Athenian comedy shifts from the political to the personal • Athens  university town and center for philosophical schools • Academy (369: Plato) • Lyceum (335: Aristotle) • Cynicicsm (330: Diogenes) • Scepticism (310: Pyrrho) • Epicureanism (307: Epicurus) • Stoicism (300: Zeno)

  9. Cultural & intellectual developments:from polis to cosmopolis • Diogenes/Cynicism (330): rejection of wealth, power, fame; embrace of simplicity • Pyrrho/Scepticism (310): rejection of true knowledge; embrace change (“can’t step in the same river twice”), no happiness possible • Epicurus/Epicureanism (307/6): shift from public life to inner peace, life of pleasure & contemplation, avoidance of pain (ataraxia); Democritus’ atomic theory (absence of divine interest, not gods); mêdenagan (“nothing in excess) • Zeno/Stoicism (300): universe of logos (“divine reason”), brotherhood, and individual happiness = alienation and fragmentation; virtue = harmony with gods/nature; reality based on perception • ekstasis: mystery cults (see Wednesday) • Isis & Osiris • Mithras • Eleusinian Mysteries

  10. Scientific developmentsfostered by the Library at Alexandria • Ca. 300-250 floruit (“flourished”) • Medicine: Herophilus (systematic anatomy)Erasistratus (circulation), Philinus (clinical studies) • Astronomy: Aristarchus (heliocentrism,measurement of size/distance of sun/moon)Hipparchus (epicyclical studies; stars) • Eratosthenes (librarian; circumference of earth)Antikythera Mechanism (moon) (2nd-1st c. BCE) • Euclid of Alexandria (axiomatic theories; geometry, astronomy, optics, surfaces, mechanics; Elements)

  11. Eratosthenes’ calculation of the earth’s circumference, ca. 240-230 BCE • subtended angle: 7° 12’ (7⅕°) • fraction of circle = 360° / 7⅕° = 50 • fraction x length of arc = 50 x 5000 στάδια = 250,000 • στάδιον range: 176-209 meters • using 176 meters, circumference = 250,000 x 176 = 44,000,000 meters • circumference = 40,080,000 meters • degree of error: 9.8%!

  12. Antikythera Mechanism: alien astronauts or Hellenistic scientists?Shipwreck ca. 80 BCE, discovered 1900 • Wooden box with 32 gears • Reproduced the motion of the sun and the moon against the background of fixed stars, including the phases of the moon • For a scholarly approximation of the reproduction, see the work of Prof. Bill Casselman, Univ. of British Columbia

  13. Archimedes’ tomb: topped with “a cylinder enclosing a sphere, with an inscription giving the proportion by which the containing solid exceeds the contained” (Plutarch Life of Marcellus)εὕρηκα! (heurêka): “I have found it!” (attributed to Archimedes) • Archimedes (287-212 BCE) • Physics (screw pump, buoyancy) • Mechanics (leverage) • Siege-engines, ballistae • Astronomy; mathematics (“exhaustion” π): volumes, areas,surfaces: principles of calculus • Archimedes Palimpsest (πάλιν ψάω, “scrape again”): 10th c. CE, 1229 euchologion archimedespalimpsest.org • Previously known • Equilibrium of Planes • Spiral Lines • Measurement of the Circle • Sphere and Cylinder • Unknown until 1906 (auction 1998: $2M) • On Floating Bodies (in Greek) • Method of Mechanical Theorems • Stomachion – angles and shapes

  14. Making and reading the palimpsest:history of the manuscript

  15. Questions on science & technology in the Hellenistic era • Major cities in different parts of the Hellenistic world adopted scholars, poets and philosophers, who were sponsored and funded by rulers of these cities. Why were the rulers so willing to sponsor artists and scholars, or research on Homer or the creation of pastoral poetry? Were these patrons looking for a way to define themselves and their cities in the wake of Alexander and, if so, why did they allow outsiders to provide the cultural output? Why did Alexandria and Pergamum focus on scholarship and poetry, while Athens focused on philosophy? • Did Hellenistic scientific, philosophical, and technological advancements occur naturally with the passing of time, or did these advancements came more rapidly due the new political and societal environment? What governmental, educational, and societal differences in the Hellenistic age helped facilitate these advancements? • Walbank argues that technological progress depends on the “interplay of many factors” and that advancements in one field lead to advancements in another. The Greek outlook on technological advancement limited progress. Some would say that the U.S. is currently in a technological slump. Fewer Americans study and pursue science. Is there anything about the Greek outlook toward technology that is similar to the American outlook today?

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