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Hellenistic Age Chapter 7: Part 2
Hellenistic Age
Chapter 7: Part 2
What does “Hellenistic” mean?Hellade= Greece“Hellenistic” refers to a culture
predominantly but not totally Greek.The term refers to the expansion of Greek
civilization to the East and to the resulting mixture of Greek culture with other influences.
1. Terminology
Aegean Civilizations (ancestors of the Greeks)Minoan 3000-1100 BCEMycenaean 1900-1100 BCE
Stages of Greek Civilization:Archaic Period 6th centuryClassical Period 5th-4th centuryHellenistic Period late 4th c. - 2nd c.(323 BCE-146 BCE)
2. Historical Overview
2. Terminology
The Hellenistic period is the time between the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE) and the Roman conquest of Greece (146 BCE)
2. Historical Overview
3. Alexander the GreatWho was Alexander the
Great? a) an Athenian general b) a Macedonian king c) a Persian monarch
What are his achievements?
3. Alexander the GreatSon and heir to
Phillip II of Macedonia
Phillip II had subjected the cities of Greece to Macedonian rule.
3. Alexander the GreatAlexander started a campaign against the
Persians.
Battle of Issus against the Persian King Darius, 333 BCE
3. Alexander the GreatHe traveled as far as the Indus Valley
conquering cities and founding new ones
3. Alexander the Great
3. Alexander the Great
When Alexander died his empire was divided between his lieutenants (Macedonian noblemen):Antigonus: Macedonia/GreeceSeleucus: Asia Minor/ PersiaPtolemy: Egypt
4. Alexander’s empire
4. Alexander’s empire
Nationalistic or cosmopolitan? Urban or rural? Based on trade or agriculture? Democracies or a monarchies?What language(s) did they speak?
5. Hellenistic society
Cosmopolitan and eclectic: A mixture of different cultures (Greeks,
Macedonians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Persians, Arabs…) linked by trade.
Not a national culture.Cult to the ruler unifies a population of
different ethnic background.
5. Hellenistic society
During the Classical period…were Athens or Sparta cosmopolitan?how were foreigners treated in Athens or
Sparta?who was the most important deity of
Athens?was Athens ever as large as Alexandria?what was characteristic of the Athenian
government?
5. Classical Greek vs. Hellenistic society
5. Hellenistic societyUrban:
Large metropolitan centers: Alexandria and Pergamum
5. Hellenistic societyGovernment:Ruled by
(divinized) monarchs.
No democracy.
5. Hellenistic societyLanguage:A form of colloquial Greek called Koine
was spoken throughout the Hellenistic world.
6. AlexandriaFounded by
Alexander the Great.
Population of about 1,000,000
Ruled by the Ptolemies
Cultural center
6. AlexandriaLibraryMuseum (university)TheaterLighthousePublic gardensTomb of Alexander
7. Pergamum
7. Pergamum
Altar of Zeus at Pergamum, 170 BCE.
9. SculptureMotifs and purpose
in Classical Greece?
Realism or idealism?
Way to represent the gods?
Emotions?Individualism?Social types?
9. SculptureIn Classical Greece:
Study of the perfect representation of the human body
Subjects: gods (religious), idealized humans.
No individual traits, no emotion.
9. Classical vs. 4th century sculpture
9. Classical vs. 4th century sculpture
9. 4th century sculpturePraxiteles (370-330
BCE)Praxitelian curveFirst female nude:
Aphrodite of CnidusSensuality
9. 4th century sculptureLysippus (4th cent)
Sculptor of Alexander
Psychological portrayal: emotion
Theatrical effects: light and shade
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
Laocoon Group, 150 BCE Gaul and wife, 220 BCE
Emotion (pathos)Agitated movement
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
Dying Gaul, 220 BCE
Boxer, 225 BCE
Sympathy (human compassion)Different ethnic and social groups
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
Jockey, 2nd c. BCE Old market woman ,2nd c BCE
Different age groupsRealismSpecial interest in children
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
Aphrodite, Eros and Pan, 100 BCE Barberini Faun, 200 BCE
EroticismIrreverent representation of the gods
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
Nike of Samothrace, 190 BCE
Theatrical effects
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
Emotion (pathos)Agitated movementSympathy (human compassion)Different ethnic and social groupsDifferent age groups (Special interest in
children)RealismEroticismIrreverent representation of the godsTheatrical effects
10. Hellenistic Sculpture
10. Classical period vs. Hellenistic periodParthenon in Athens Altar of Pergamum
10. ReligionMystery cults:
DionysusOrpheusIsisSerapisMithrasCybele
Greek religion in the Archaic/ Classical Period:
Features of the gods?Are the gods dreadful?Are there national/ civic deities? Individual/ collective cults?Dogmatic or ritualistic?Are the religious practices for everybody?Afterlife?
10. Religion
In the Classical period:Gods behave like humans (immoral)Fear of the gods: need of prosperityReligion of the poleis, collective.Myths of foundation: ancestorsCivic rituals bringing the citizens together
10. Religion
Mystery cults:
“Mystery”: secrets revealed only to the initiates.
Initiation was mandatory (requiring a ritual).
A dogma to be believed and directions to be followed.
Belief in the immortality of the human soul.
Purity/ immortality of the soul contrasts with sin/degradation of the mortal body.
Sense of virtue and sin and reward and punishment in an afterlife.
Various concepts of immortality: transmigration of souls, rebirth, reincarnation, resurrection, and redemption.
10. Religion
Example of mystery religion: Cult of DionysusOrpheus was the founder of the cult of DionysusDionysus: god of the grapevine.Like the grapevine the god dies and revives every
spring.Death of the god: He was dismembered by the Titans.Wine is produced from the dismembered body of the
god (grapes) and therefore it contains the essence of the god.
Son of Persephone (Queen of the Underworld) and therefore can intercede for his followers in the final judgment of their souls.
10. Religion
Crime/ sin: the dismemberment of Dionysus by the Titans (of whose ashes the
human race was born).
Humans have to suffer punishment until they pay what is due (original sin)
Lifelong purity can expiate the guilt: sexual abstinence, dietary taboos.
10. Religion
Hellenistic?Nationalistic or cosmopolitan? Urban or rural? Based on trade or agriculture? Government?Language?Urbanism? Sculpture?
Review: the Hellenistic world
Religion: Mystery cultsAre they civic deities? Individual (sectarian) or collective (public)
cults? Dogmatic or ritualistic?Afterlife?Beliefs about soul?
Review: the Hellenistic world
