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By Joshua Cole & Carol Symes
Western Civilizations Their History & Their Culture Brief Fourth Edition By Joshua Cole & Carol Symes © 2016 W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. 1
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The Greek World Expands, 400–150 B.C.E.
Lecture Slides Chapter 4 The Greek World Expands, 400–150 B.C.E. Joshua Cole Carol Symes 2
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Introduction Iliad and Anabasis as practical guides for Alexander’s conquests Macedonia and the spread of Greek culture Creation of Hellenistic civilization
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Downfall of the Greek Polis
Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C.E.)—Spartan dominance Corinthian War (395–387 B.C.E.) Failed response to Spartan dominance Followed by pattern of Greek-on-Greek violence Struggle for dominance Thebes and Sparta Epaminondas, Theban Sacred Band, and the Battle of Leuctra (371 B.C.E.) Spartan defeat and the Theban Hegemony Attempted Athenian confederacy fails; Greece reduced to warring states
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Downfall of the Greek Polis, continued
Social and economic crises Strife between democrats and oligarchs Devastation of country towns and farmland Decline in the standard of living (rising prices and stagnant wages) Increased taxes and widespread unemployment Mercenary armies as employment Xenophon and the Ten Thousand
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Reimagining the Polis: Artistic Response
Death of Socrates symbolic as end of the era of the polis Arts of the fourth century Painting and sculpture Heightened appearance of realism Innovations in bronze casting Praxiteles and the female nude Drama as diversion and escape Art privately funded—less freedom to use drama for social critique Comedy moves away from satire into “situational” humor
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Reimagining the Polis: Intellectual Response, Part 1
Philosophy after Socrates: Plato and Aristotle Plato (c. 429–349 B.C.E.) Strove to vindicate Socrates Transmit Socrates’ legacy through more structured framework Academy Wrote series of dialogues The Republic (Plato’s most famous dialogue) Social harmony more important than individual liberty Government by philosopher-kings (guardians)
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Reimagining the Polis: Intellectual Response, Part 2
Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) Physician-father taught him importance of observing natural phenomena Student of Plato In contrast to Plato, believed information about reality is gained by sensory experience Highest good is the harmonious functioning of mind and body Good conduct is rational conduct “Man is by nature a political animal” Preferred government of checks and balances to pure democracy
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Reimagining the Polis: Xenophon and Isocrates
Men of action Xenophon Philosopher, soldier (veteran of the Ten Thousand), and historian Admiration of Sparta (best source on the Spartiate system) Isocrates and the search for leadership
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Rise of Macedonia Macedonia Reign of Philip II (359–336 B.C.E.)
Weak kingdom up to this point Spoke Greek, but seen as outsiders by Greeks Reign of Philip II (359–336 B.C.E.) Stabilized his borders: warfare and diplomacy Reorganized the army Phalanx as fighting machine Elite cavalry: the Companions Expansion brought conflict with Athens Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.E.) League of Corinth Assassination of Philip
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Conquests of Alexander (336–323 B.C.E.)
No surviving contemporary accounts Must rely on accounts of Plutarch and Arrian Written 400 years later Probably based on contemporary accounts Conquest of Persia Humiliation of Darius III at Issus Policy of amnesty or destruction Alexander in Egypt Welcomed as liberator Alexander and Greeks in awe of Egypt Alexander declared “son of Ammon” by Egyptian oracle
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Conquests of Alexander
Final campaigns Hardest fighting in Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) Marriage to Roxane, daughter of Bactrian chieftain Difficult Battle of Hydaspes in India Alexander’s men force him to turn back Alexander’s empire New cities Mass marriages Installed no administrative apparatus “Great King” and proskynesis Death of Alexander
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THE CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER
The conquests of Alexander the Great brought Greek culture to the vast expanse of the former Persian Empire, as far east as the Indus River. Trace Alexander’s route with your finger. Where did he start and end? What was the farthest point east that he traveled on his conquests? Why might Alexander have chosen to found so many cities named after him, and what can you conclude about the purposes of these cities, based on their locations? THE CAMPAIGNS OF ALEXANDER Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, Brief Fourth Edition © 2016 W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.
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Hellenistic Kingdoms Dispute over who should succeed Alexander
Political fragmentation of Alexander’s empire Common Hellenistic culture remained Ptolemaic Egypt Most stable of the successor states Burial of Alexander Ptolemaic Dynasty (Ptolemies and Cleopatras) Ruled Egypt for 300 years Spoke Greek Made Alexandria the hub of the Hellenistic world Patronized science and the arts
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Hellenistic Kingdoms, continued
Seleucid Asia Founded by Seleucus Loss of territory in Indus and to Greco-Bactrians Mix of Near Eastern and Greek traditions King Antiochus Antigonid Macedonia and Greece Antigonus Influenced by Stoicism Kept Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Asia at war Aetolian and Achaean Leagues Represented a real political unification Influence on later federal model of the United States
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THE HELLENISTIC WORLD THE HELLENISTIC WORLD.
Each of the three successor kingdoms to Alexander’s empire was based in one of the three major civilizations we have studied so far: Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Greek. Based on the map above, what were the names of the three main successor states and where were they located? What might the division of Alexander’s empire along such lines suggest about the lasting cultural differences among these regions? What might it suggest about the likelihood of forging a united empire, had he lived? THE HELLENISTIC WORLD Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, Brief Fourth Edition © 2016 W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.
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From Polis to Cosmopolis
Long-distance migration and trade Spread east to Central Asia Harbors improved Encouragement of industry Explosive population growth Improved standard of living for some Cities Importation of Greek officials and soldiers Alexandria Wealth and poverty Significant economic growth Primarily agricultural economy Manual laborers and artisans largely impoverished All subject to “boom and bust” economic cycle
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Hellenistic Worldviews: Stoicism
Two opposing trends in thought Stoicism and Epicureanism Responded to cosmopolitan age by promoting universal values Stoicism Founded by Zeno of Citium (324–270 B.C.E.) Cosmos is ordered and rational Individual is not the master of his own life Submit to the universal order of things Tranquility of mind Duty and self-discipline Duty of political participation Influence on Roman and early Christian values
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Hellenistic Worldviews: Epicureanism
Founded by Epicurus (c. 342–270 B.C.E.) Democritus and the atomic theory Highest good is pleasure derived from: Moderate satisfaction of bodily appetites Contemplation Serenity in the face of death There is no ultimate purpose to the universe Universe operates at random Soul is material and dies with the body No gods intervene in human affairs No such thing as absolute justice Wise men should abandon politics
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Hellenistic Worldviews: Skepticism
Carneades (c. 213–129 B.C.E.) All knowledge is limited and relative No one can prove anything Can know what things appear to be, not what they are Even less concerned than Epicureans with politics Happiness derived from abandoning quest for truth Escape from incomprehensible world
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Hellenistic Religions
Varieties of religion Civic-oriented worship compromised by rootless multiculturalism Persistence of belief in gods who protected the polis “Ordinary” Greeks and personal religion Emotional gratification and some assurance of afterlife Cult of Dionysus Egyptian cult of Isis Zoroastrian dualism Migration of gods to the Near East and Egypt Combination of Greek and non-Greek cults Greek influence on Jewish communities outside Palestine Septuagint
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Scientific Revolution of Antiquity
Origins Mesopotamian and Egyptian science Hellenistic rulers patronized science for prestige Astronomy, geography, and mathematics Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 B.C.E.)—Heliocentric worldview Rejected in favor of theory that everything revolves around earth Euclid (fl. fourth century B.C.E.)—first geometry text Eratosthenes of Alexandria (c. 276–194 B.C.E.) Calculated circumference of the earth Suggested possibility of reaching eastern Asia by traveling west
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Physiology and Physics
Medicine and mechanics: sciences of physiology and physics Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287–212 B.C.E.)—law of floating bodies Herophilus of Chalcedon (c. 335–280 B.C.E.) Anatomist—practiced human dissection Proved that brain is the engine of human intellect Erasistratus (colleague of Herophilus) Heart is a pump, not the organ of emotion Rejected the notion of four “humors” Galen’s view on the “humors” accepted instead
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New Forms in Architecture and Sculpture
Urban architecture and sculpture Architecture Drew on Greek models influenced by Egypt and Persia Altar to Zeus at Pergamon Sculpture Move away from classical ideals to realism Patronage led to goal of creating unique art to show off Dying Gaul Winged Victory of Samothrace Laocoön
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Hellenistic Writing Literary fantasy and historical reality Poetry
Pastorals of Theocritus (c. 310–250 B.C.E.) Prose Dominated by historians and biographers Polybius (c. 205–123 B.C.E.) Historical development proceeds in cycles Admiration of Rome
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Conclusion Break from the Greek past
Autocratic governments replaced democracies Extravagance replaced tastes of simplicity Hellenistic era was intermediary between Rome and older civilizations Alexander’s example and infrastructure influenced Rome Greek common language and culture was advantage for Rome Hellenistic scholars preserved knowledge of antiquity Cosmopolitanism and modernity “Citizen of the world”
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This concludes the slide show for Chapter 4
Western Civilizations Their History & Their Culture BRIEF FOURTH EDITION By Joshua Cole Carol Symes Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, Brief Fourth Edition © 2016 W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.
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