HELLENISM I

404 BC- Athens falls to Sparta

• Sparta and then, later, Thebes control the Greek mainland
• But neither are effective sovereigns

359 BC- Philip II becomes ruler of Macedonia

• Macedonia on the rise
• 338 BC Macedonia defeats Greeks at Chaeronea
• Macedonia sends ambassadors to Athens and Thebes with terms for peace
• Philip II’s son Alexander (18 years old) goes to Athens as an ambassador
• 336 BC Philip II is assassinated: Rumor has it that this was at Alexander’s request since Philip divorced Alexander’s mother and removed Alexander from political role.
• Alexander succeeds Philip II

• 336 BC Alexander crushes rebellion in Thebes and sells all survivors into slavery
• 334 BC Alexander defeats Persians and soon after controls all territory west of the Euphrates.
• 332 BC Alexander conquers Egypt and founded Alexandria in Nile Delta.
• Alexander goes through Babylon and seizes royal treasure and burns the city
• He then sets out to conquer India (present day Pakistan), but with tired troops and an unexpected, fierce resistance (and don’t forget, --ELEPHANTS), he backs off and sails down the Indus river to Indian Ocean.
• Along the way, he finds present day Karachi and names it after himself.
• 323 BC Alexander catches a fever and died.

1) Plutarch (from Parallel Lives):

-Plutarch seeks to capture the spirit of Alexander more than to capture events exactly as they happened:

-compare with the Bible, Thucydides, modern view of history…

Plutarch remarks that:

• Philip II was told upon Alexander’s birth that his son would be great
• Alexander’s "breath and body all over was so fragrant as to perfume the clothes which he wore next to him."
• Alexander was addicted to drinking
• Whenever Alexander heard that Philip had taken any town of importance, he would see it as another lost chance to show his own greatness: -i.e., the proportion to which his father augmented the kingdom was inversely proportional to the opportunities open for Alexander to exercise his own courage and obtain glory.
• Alexander’s style of leadership was "to persuade rather than to command": Alexander valued reason as primary.
• Educated under Aristotle, "the most learned and most celebrated philosopher of his time", he studied ethics, politics, metaphysical theory, medicinal arts.
• He carried Aristotle’s corrected copy of the Iliad with him as a testament to military virtue. He also read the three tragic poets (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides).
• Philip realized the greatness/ leadership potential of Alexander and said: "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."

2) Diodorus of Sicily (~36 BC) on Alexander (from Library of World History):

-Alexander’s last plans included:

• an ambitious naval upgrading (1000 ships and numerous ports)
• 6 expensive temples in Delos, Delphi, Dodona, Macedonia, Troy
• *** Transplant populations from Asia to Europe & vice versa to tie together everyone’s kinship and friendly feeling.
• A large tomb for Philip II; as large as any of the great pyramids (did Alexander have a role in Philip’s death?)
• But alas, Alexander’s successors decided not to implement any of these extravagant plans.

**THE HELLENISTIC ERA BEGINS WITH ALEXANDER’S DEATH (he was 33 years old): 323 BC

• Johann Gustav (1833) coins the expression "Hellenization" to describe the impact of Greece on the Middle East after Alexander’s death.

• While Alexander was alive, he appointed governors to look after the new territories.
• Upon his death, let’s just say, the appointed governors promoted themselves to kings!
• In Syria, the Seleucids ruled
• In Egypt, the Ptolemies ruled

• In Pergamon (in modern day Turkey), the Attalids ruled
• So, chapter two refers to the "Hellenic style" and chapter three refers to the "Hellenistic" style.
• But do not only think of Greek as the "uninfluenced influencer"; Greek culture, coming under a number of influences became more cosmopolitan as well.

• Like Athens, Pergamon developed around an acra
• Its geography makes it defensible, except for the southern front
• Pergamon gains a reputation as a second Athens, but it differs in some ways: 1) there is an overall structural plan to the city (it is not just a composition of individual buildings as in Athens) but 2) that overall structural plan is actually a bit incommensurate with the natural environment.
  

Sculpture

Pergamene Painting

• Subject matter
• Where are they found and what does that tell us?

Hellenistic Ideas 

• Why any attempt to synthesize and unify a Hellenistic style is destined to disappoint.
• Hellenic social humanism becomes (1) Hellenistic individualism
• Hellenic noble idealism becomes (2) Hellenistic realism
• Hellenic uncompromising rationalism becomes (3) Hellenistic empiricism

(1) Hellenistic Individualism

• Hero-esteem plays large role (e.g., Alexander the Great, King Mausolus)

• Hellenistic "rise of professionalism" and how it leads back ultimately to hero-esteem
• How the rise of professionalism leads to pride in individual

Individualism in Hellenistic Philosophy

• Stoicism

• Epicureanism

• Philosophy is connected to happiness.
• But what is philosophy?
• Preconditions of a good life:
• 1) recognize that the gods are not anthropomorphic
• 2) do not fear death
• Epicurus the hedonist? What kind of hedonist is he?

Some questions to think about:

1)  Would Epicurus agree with Gilgamesh’s actions in the face of his mortality?
 

2) What would Epicurus think of Oedipus’s blaming himself for what was predetermined? (See Matthews/Platt) Do you think that taking care of the physical body is a moral duty?

Individualism and the Arts

• Art moves into private corridors
• Subject matter of art shifts from Hellenic triumphing over adversity to resignation to forces of cosmopolitan life.
• The emotions of resignation are not usually shared with the community

(2) Hellenistic Realism

• It is difficult to find the ideal amidst pluralism
• It is much easier to focus on the realities of existence (e.g., emotions, death, pluralism)
• Realism in sculpture: Old Market Woman; Realism, emotionalism- Laocoon Group
• The difference between Hellenistic realism and Egyptian realism

• What is it?
• Contrast this with rationalism
• Observation vs. abstract thinking
• Why thinkers like Epicurus invited empiricism
• Gains in mathematics, solar calendar, engines, and especially music: most are practical achievements
• A look at contemporary empiricism: do we value science more than speculation?

• Hellenistic scholars are, in general, not very original
• E.g., Theocritus’s reliance on Homeric themes
• The Altar of Zeus: reliance on the old Greek myths