Lecture 7: The Hellenistic Age (323 – 30 BCE)

Macedonian Kingdom

Hereditary monarchy Continuous warfare Influence of Greece Barbaroi 399 BCE: anarchy

How did Macedon rise to power?

Rise of Macedonia: King Philip (r. 359-336 BCE)

Warfare in Greece Military innovations1. Companions (Hetairoi)2. Phalanxes - Sarissa3. Catapult Goal: conquer Greece. 338

BCE victory: Battle of Chaeronea

League of Corinth Pausanias: assassination

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE): Military Conquests

1. Persian Empire Strategy 334 BCE: Granicus

River 333 BCE: Issus 332 BCE: Conquered

Tyre, liberated Egypt 330: Destroys

Persepolis2. India

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE): Reorganizing the Empire

Great King: establishing order

Persian influence Satraps Greek migrations Threat of Macedonian

subjects: suppressed

On Alexander’s proskynesis:

“Alexander desired people actually to do his obeisance, from the underlying idea that his father was Ammon and not Philip….he was now expressing his admiration for the ways of the Persians and Medes, both in his change of dress…there was no lack of flatterers to give him his wish” (Anabasis; Brunt 1976)

“…he bore himself haughtily towards the Barbarians, like one fully persuaded of his divine birth and parentage, but with the Greeks it was within limits and somewhat rarely that he assumed his own divinity…Alexander himself was not foolishly affected or puffed up by the belief in his divinty, but used it for the subjugation of others” (Life of Alexander; Perrin 1919, adapted)

Hellenistic Successor States

His death = power struggle, 3 kingdoms

1. Ptolemaic Kingdom2. Seleucid Kingdom3. Antigonid Kingdom Hellenistic monarchEg. Ptolemy II Resistance: The

Maccabees

I Maccabees 1:44-50:

“Moreover, the King sent agents with written orders to Jerusalem and the towns of Judea. Ways and customs foreign to the country were to be introduced. Burnt- offerings, sacrifices, and libations in the Temple were forbidden; Sabbaths and feast-days were to be profaned. Altars, idols, and sacred precincts were to be established; swine and other unclean beasts to be offered in sacrifice. They must leave their sons uncircumcised; they must make themselves in every way abominable, unclean, and profane, and so forget the law and change all their statutes. The penalty for disobedience was death”

Hellenistic Culture: Political/Social Developments

Asia Minor + Greece = “hellenization”.

Polis to cosmopolis Monarchy vs. democracy Value of citizen Economic divide Opportunities for women

Hellenistic Culture: The Arts

Reflection of cultural changes Kingship: patronage to the

arts Alexandria: King Ptolemy I Expansive themesSculpture Movement Emotions

Hellenistic Culture:

The Arts (continued)

Literature: Comedy: Menander Theocritus: pastoral

poetry Callimachus:

Alexandrianism

History: Polybius

Scientific Discoveries

Science: Theophrastus, on

plants and humanMathematics: Euclid: geometry Archimedes

Scientific Discoveries, continued

Astronomy: Heraclides of Pontus +

Aristarchus of Samos: Heliocentric theory

Eratosthenes: measuring earth

Medicine: humors Diocles: human anatomy Dissections: Herophilus +

Eraisistratus

Hellenistic Philosophy: Overview

Plato + Aristotle: legacy

Ethics: inner peace

1. Epicureanism2. Stoicism3. The Skeptics4. The Cynics

Hellenistic Philosophy: Epicureanism

Epicurus (341-271 BCE) Values: passivity,

withdrawal, simplicity Goals: Pleasure + inner

peace Rejects fear of Gods, no

afterlife The Garden Open to all

Epicurus: Sayings

“It is vain to ask of the gods what man is capable of supplying for himself”

“We maintain that pleasure is the end…freedom from pain in the body and from trouble in the mind”

“We must release ourselves from the prison of affairs and politics”

“A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs”

From Cyril Bailey, ed. And trans. Epicurus: The extant Remains

Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoicism

Zeno (c. 335-c.263 BCE)

Stoa Poikile (Painted Portico): lectures

Divine logos, principle of order

Single family Peace of mind:

submission

Hellenistic Philosophy: The Skeptics and the Cynics

The Skeptics: No true knowledge Cratylus: problem of

changeThe Cynics: Simplicity: no possessions Reject social conventions Goal: reject needs/desires

(or opposite) Diogenes the Dog

Lecture 7: What do you need to know?

King Philip + Alexander the Great: key battles, central accomplishments, notions of kingship, challenges/revolts

Successor states: What are they? What problems arose?

“Hellenization”: What was it, and why was it significant? What ideological shifts did it cause?

Hellenistic Art: General characteristics Examples of literary, scientific, medical

accomplishments Philosophy: 4 important schools, general beliefs, key

figures