البرت ديماس الامبراطور
عدد المساهمات : 479 تاريخ التسجيل : 25/01/2008 العمر : 29 الموقع : ام الدنيا
| موضوع: After Hellenic Greece الخميس ديسمبر 10, 2009 3:33 am | |
| HELLENISM (Fleming, Ch. 3)
After Hellenic Greece404 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 Philip II
- Macedonia on the rise
- 338 BC Macedonia defeats Greeks at Chaeronea
(EL) Phalanx
- 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
Who was Alexander? [b][u][/u][/b] --------------------------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."
---------------------------------A recollection of Alexander’s major military campaigns: (EL) Map
- 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.
------------------------------------------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
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- 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.
PERGAMON
- 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- First School of Pergamon - Second School of Pergamon- Differences between the two Schools and the differences with Hellenic Style
Pergamene Painting
- Subject matter
- Where are they found and what does that tell us?
Mosaics IDEAS: Individualism, Realism, Empiricism (1) Hellenistic Individualism
- Hero-esteem plays large role (e.g., Alexander the Great, King Mausolus)
Note: sometimes the esteem of heroes was turned inward to evoke through identification an individualistic pride (e.g., Altar of Zeus frieze)
- 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 Epicurus: "Letter to Menoeceus"
- 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
-Enjoy the Here and Now Music: Seikolos Skolion(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;
- (EL) Drunken Old Woman (200s BCE)
- Old Market Woman
- Realism, emotionalism- Laocoon Group
- The difference between Hellenistic realism and Egyptian realism
- a difference of intent?
(3) Hellenistic Empiricism
- 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? Over-emphasizing the sensual above the rational (EL) Sleeping Satyr (EL) Venus De Milo
Hellenistic Ideas (as outgowths of Hellenic Ideas)
- Hellenic social humanism becomes (1) Hellenistic individualism
- Hellenic noble idealism becomes (2) Hellenistic realism
- Hellenic uncompromising rationalism becomes (3) Hellenistic empiricism
Rise of Antiquarianism
- 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
Altar of Zeus | |
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