The Height of Greek Civilization
Chapter 5
World History
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Chapter Themes
• Innovation: The ancient
Greeks developed a
culture that becomes
one of the foundations
of Western civilization
• The Parthenon
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Chapter Themes
• Innovation: Ancient
Greek thinkers believe
in reason and the
importance of the
individual
• Socrates
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Chapter Themes
• Cultural Diffusion:
Alexander’s empire
brings about a mix of
Greek and Middle
Eastern cultures
• Alexander the Great
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This section discusses the Mid-400s B.C., Greek’s Golden Age.
Artists excelled in architecture, sculpture, and painting. These
beautiful yet simplistic works are termed “classical”. Writers and
thinkers also made enduring achievements in literature and drama.
QUEST FOR BEAUTY AND MEANING
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Terms to Define
•
•
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Classical
Sanctuary
Perspective
Amphora
Tragedy
Comedy
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People to Meet
•
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•
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Myron
Phidias
Praxiteles
Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Aristophanes
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Places to Locate
• Olympia
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Building for the Gods
• The Greeks were “lovers
of the beautiful”
• City-states tried to turn
acropolis into
architectural treasure
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Building for the Gods
• The Parthenon—the
temple to the goddess
Athena--built on the
summit of the Acropolis
in Athens—best
exemplifies classical
Greek architecture
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Building for the Gods
• Parthenon of Athens
built under the rule of
Pericles
• Started 447 B.C. and
finished 432 B.C.
• Classical is
characterized by
beautiful simplicity and
graceful balance.
• Iron in its marble makes
it gleam in the sun
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Building for the Gods
• The Parthenon’s
graceful proportions
perfectly balance width,
length, and height,
exemplifying the Greek
ideal of the “golden
mean”
• This was part of the
“Golden Age” of Greece
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Building for the Gods
• Greeks worshipped in
their homes or out
doors. So their temples
were built for the
homes of their gods.
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Building for the Gods
• Parthenon represented
the “Golden Mean”
– “nothing to excess”
– “…midpoint between
two extremes”
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Building for the Gods
• Greeks understood
perspective
– Columns thicker in
middle…appear straight
from all angles
– Steps lower in center-appears straight
• Creating perception of
perfection
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Classical Greek Art
• Copied by the Romans
• Set lasting standards
• Other achievements in literature, art, drama,
etc., many considered classics today.
• Many Europe’s traditions/cultural standards
began with “Golden Age”
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Greek Arts
• Greeks emphasized the
individual—thus excelled at
portraying the human form
• In both painting and
sculpture, the Greeks
excelled at portraying the
human form.
• Poseidon
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Greek Art
– They did paint murals
but non survived. Their
works are captured on
vases
– Large vases were called
amphora and normally
uses for wine or oils
– Painting on vases were
everyday scenes
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Greek Arts
• Greek sculpture, like
Greek architecture,
reached its height in
Athens during the time
of Pericles
• The great sculpture
Phidias was in charge of
the Parthenon’s
sculptures and carved
the towering statue of
Athena that was placed
inside.
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Greek Arts
• Praxiteles work
reflected the changes
incurred from the
Peloponnesian War
– Sculptures were life-size,
graceful, not powerful
– Ordinary people and
deities and heroes.
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Impact of War on Art
• Praxiteles carved ordinary people into lifesized statues
• Loss of self confidence
• Emphasis of grace over power
• Before the Peloponnesian War, artists carved
only deities and heroes. After, they carved
ordinary people
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Drama and Theater
• The Greeks were the first people to write and
perform plays, presented twice a year to honor
Dionysus.
• The earliest Greek plays were tragedies, in which the
lead character struggles against fate only to be
doomed to an unhappy ending
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Aeschylus
• First of great writers of tragedies
• Aeschylus’s (EHS*kuh*luhs) “Oresteia” trilogy
show how the consequences of one’s deeds
are carried down generation to generation
• Its moral is that the law of the community, not
personal revenge, should decide punishment
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Sophocles
• Sophocles, the next
generation, accepted
human suffering as
unavoidable but
stressed human
courage and
compassion
• His “Oedipus Rex”
depicts the plight of
Oedipus, a king doomed
to kill his father and
marry his mother.
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Sophocles
• Despite Oedipus’ efforts
to avoid his fate, the
deities’ decree comes
true
• When he discovers
what he has done, he
blinds himself and goes
into exile
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Euripides
• Euripides, the last great
Greek tragedian,
focused on the human
characteristics that
bring disaster to them
Euripides hated war and
many of his plays show
the tragedy that war
brings
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A Comedy Tonight
• Eventually the Greeks also wrote comedies,
plays with humorous themes and happy
ending
• Aristophanes (ar*uh*STAH*fuh*NEEZ), the
most famous writer of comedies, created
imaginative social satire
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A Comedy Tonight
• Aristophanes’ works
included witty
comments about
leading figures and
issues of the day
• Theater at Delphi
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The Olympic Games
• Greeks believed healthy
bodies made best use
of nature’s gifts
• Hercules by Phidias
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The Olympic Games
• Greeks stressed
athletics in school
curriculum
• Men spend leisure time
in polis gymnasium
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The Olympics
• Olympic Games were
held in Olympia every 4
years
• Olympics were religious
festival in honor of Zeus
• Trading and fighting
stopped
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The Olympic Games
• Athletes came from all
over Greek-speaking
world
• Women not permitted,
even as spectators
• Women’s games in
honor of Hera held in
different location
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The Olympic Games
• Consistent with Greek
emphasis on the
individual, there were
individual rather than
team events
• Foot races at first
• Later, broad jump,
discuss, jumping,
boxing, javelin, etc.
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The Olympic Games
• Winners were crowned
with wreaths of olive
leaves
• Parades held in honor
of winners
• Sometimes, taxes were
dismissed
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Greeks believed the mind could understand everything.
Philosophers, or thinkers, produced remarkable ideas.
Philosophy means, “the seeking of wisdom”. A foundation
was laid for new disciplines like history, political science,
biology, and logic—the science of reasoning
THE GREEK MIND
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Terms to Define
• Philosopher
• Logic
• Hygiene
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People to Meet
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Sophists
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Herodotus
Thucydides
Thales
Pythagoras
Hippocrates
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The Sophists
• In 400s B.C., education
provided by sophists
• Sophists: “knowers”
• Traveled polis to polis
• Claimed they could find
answers to all questions
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The Sophists
• Rejected
gods/goddesses
influenced behavior
• No absolute moral/legal
standards
• Man is measure of all
things
• Truth different for each
person
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The Sophists
• Took money for
teaching
• Interested in teaching
argumentation to get
ahead
• Socrates and Plato
criticized them
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Socrates
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•
•
•
Born 479 B.C., Athenian
Sculptor by trade
Spent time teaching
Believed in absolute
truth
• Attracted to process of
learning—teaching
thinking for oneself
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Socrates
• Teaching method
became known as
“Socratic Method”
– Ask questions of
students and then
oppose their answers
with logic
– Forced students to
defend their answers
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Socrates
• Prominent Athenians
accused him of
corrupting youth
• …not worshipping the
gods…”
• Socrates argued the
search for intellectual
truth was the most
important thing
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Socrates
• Don’t calculate living or
dying, only “…doing
right or wrong”
• Jury of citizens found
him guilty and
sentenced him to death
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Socrates
• Had the right to ask for
a lesser sentence, e.g.,
exile, but chose to
follow the law to the
letter
• Drank poisonous
hemlock and died
quietly among friends
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Plato
• Born Athenian
aristocrat
• After Socrates death
– At age 30, opened his
Academy and taught
– Existed until A.D. 529
– Student of Socrates
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Plato
• From memory,
remembered dialogues
between Socrates and
students
• Wrote first political
science book
– The Republic
– Ideal society and
government
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Plato
• Plato disliked Athenian democracy
• Preferred Spartan government
– Service to community above self
– Too much freedom breeds disorder
• Distrusted lower classes
• Only best educated and most intelligent
should participate in government
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Plato
• Plato believed in searching for “truth”
– Rejected the senses: hearing, feeling, seeing, etc.
– Believed many things thought to be senses were
only appearance
• Real world was ideas or ideal “forms”
– Could only be understood through logical thought
or reasoning
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Aristotle
• Studied with Plato at
the Academy for 20
years
• Tutored Alexander the
Great
• Opened Athenian
school called Lyceum
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Aristotle
• Wrote more than 200
books
–
–
–
–
–
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Astronomy
Poetry
Political Science
Weather
Etc.
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Aristotle
• Italian poet Dante called
him, “the master of
those who know”
• Influenced later
philosophers with work
in logic
– Developed the syllogism
– Does the conclusion
follow the premises
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Aristotle and Science
• Great influence on scientific work
– First person to observe and then classify facts
– According to differences and similarities
• Views and methods of inquiry dominated
European scientific thinking for decades
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Aristotle and Government
• Wrote about political science
– No theories on ideal government
– Analyzed governments of many city-states
• Wrote a book, Politics
– Democracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies were all
workable, depending on circumstances
– Preferred power in middle class
– Middle class knew both command and obey
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Writers of History
• Until 400s, Greeks
considered literary
legends as history
• Herodotus, first Greek
historian, and later,
Thucydides, attempted
to separated fact from
fiction
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Herodotus
• Historians consider him,
“the father of history”
• Chose the Persian Wars
as this subject
– Wrote Historia
– Meant investigation
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Herodotus
• Traveled throughout the
Greek world
• Asked questions,
checked sources
• Accepted some untrue
numbers
• Sometimes offered
supernatural
explanations
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Herodotus
• Didn’t limit himself to political or military
events
– Wrote about individuals, social customs, religious
beliefs and practices
– Later historians learned much about culture of the
period and civilizations
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Thucydides
• Thucydides (thoo*SIH*duh*deez) was second
noted Greek historian
– Wrote about Peloponnesian War
– First scientific historian
– Rejected deities as part of historical outcome
– Visited battle sites, carefully examined
documents, and only accepted evidence of actual
eye witnesses
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Thucydides
• Offered explanations of
why events took place
• What motivated
political leaders
• Believed future
generations could learn
from the past
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The First Scientists
• Great science heritage
• Believed world ruled by
natural laws
• Believed humans could
discover the laws
– By reason
– Through observation and
thought
– Developed theories
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Greek Mathematicians
• First to distinguish math
as pure science
• Constructed systematic
methods of reasoning
through math—finding
truth
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Greek Mathematicians
• Thales, first prominent
Greek scientist
– Studied astronomy in
Babylon and
mathematics in Egypt
– Foretold solar eclipses
– Theory that water was
basic substance of all
things
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Greek Mathematicians
• Pythagoras tried to
explain everything in
math terms
– Wrote the Pythagorean
Theorem
– Taught world was round
and revolved around
fixed point
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Greek Medicine
• Hippocrates
– “the father of medicine”
– Diseases had natural,
not supernatural causes
– The body could heal
itself
– First doctor to view
medicine as science,
separate from religion or
mythology
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Greek Medicine
• Hippocrates
– Based much on observation
– Traveled Greece diagnosing/treating illnesses
– Urged good recordkeeping and information
exchange among doctors
– Advocated good hygiene, sound diet, and rest
– Drafted ethical code still recited today, The
Hippocratic Oath
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The Persians under Darius I and Xerxes tried to conquer Greece and
failed. The Macedonians, led by Alexander the Great, would not.
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
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Terms to Define
• Domain
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People to Meet
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•
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•
•
•
•
Philip II
Demosthenes
Alexander the Great
Zeno
Menander
Eratosthenes
Euclid
Archimedes
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Rise of Macedonia
• Macedonians, like the
Spartans, were
descended from the
Dorians
• Greeks looked down on
them as backward
mountaineers
• Phillip II
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Rise of Macedonia
• Philip II became king
359 B.C.
• As youth, Greek hostage
in Thebes 3 years
• Admired Greek culture
and military
organization
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Rise of Macedonia
• As king, Philip had three
goals
– Create strong army
– Unify Greek city-states
under Macedonia
– Destroy Persian empire
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Rise of Macedonia
• Philip reorganized his
army to phalanx system
– 16 rows deep
• Philip pursued goals for
23 years
– Polis by polis
– Conquering, bribing,
marrying
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Rise of Macedonia
• Greek city-states
weakened by
Peloponnesian War
– Would not cooperate in
resistance
– Great Athenian orator,
Demosthenes, appealed
to Greeks to fight for
their liberty
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Rise of Macedonia
• Philip conquered all of
Greece except Sparta
• Before leading Greeks
and Macedonians to
war against Persia, he
was murdered
– Persian agent, or
– Assassin hired by wife
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Rise of Macedonia
• With the death of Philip
II, Olympias’s son
Alexander became king
• Soon to become known
as Alexander the Great
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Alexander the Great
• Only 20 as ruler of
Macedonia and Greece
• Commander in
Macedonian army at 16
– Respected for courage
and military skill
• Well educated—tutored
by Aristotle
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Early Conquests
• In 334 B.C., led 30,000
soldiers and 5,000
cavalry into Asia
– Opened his campaign
– “West against East”
– First major encounter at
Granicus River
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Early Conquests
• At Granicus River,
Alexander won
– Sent 300 suits of Persian
armor to Athens as
tribute to Athena
• Freed Ionian city-states
from Persians
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Early Conquests
• Second major battle
against Persians at
Issus, Syria
– Alexander’s superb
tactics won
– King Darius III flees
• Does not pursue Darius
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Early Conquests
• Captures Phoenician
seaports
– Cuts off Persian supplies
– Persian fleet surrenders
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Early Conquests
• Invades Egypt
– People tired of Persians
– Declare Alexander a
pharaoh
– Establishes city of
Alexandria
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Final Campaigns
• In 331 B.C., Alexander
invaded Mesopotamia
– Smashed Darius’ main
army at Gaugamela near
Tigris River
– Went on to capture
numerous cities in
Persian empire
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Final Campaigns
• Alexander captures
– Babylon
– Persepolis
– Susa
• Darius killed by one of
his generals
• Alexander becomes
ruler of Persian Empire
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Imperial Goals
• Alexander’s original
goal to punish Persia for
invasion of Greece 150
years earlier
• Alexander’s view
changed with the
conquering of more
land
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Imperial Goals
• Alexander’s new vision
– Create an empire that
would unite Europe and
Asia
– Combine the best of
Greek and Persian
cultures
– The culture: Hellenistic
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Imperial Goals
• Alexander tried to
promote goals through
example
– Wore Persian dress
– Imitated Persian courts
– Married daughter of
Darius III
– Encouraged 10,000
soldiers to marry Persian
women
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Imperial Goals
• Alexander’s examples
(con’t)
– Enrolled 30,000 Persians
in army
– Founded 70 cities to
spread Greek culture
and language
throughout empire
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Divided Domain
• After a short illness,
Alexander died in
Babylon, his chosen
capital
• Weakened from
wounds, fever, and
probably excessive
alcohol, he died at the
age of 32
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Divided Domain
• After Alexander’s death,
his empire is divided
into three parts
• Three of his generals
each take a domain
(territory)
– Ptolemy
– Seleucus
– Antigonus
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Divided Domain
• Ptolemy:
– Egypt
– Libya
– Syria (part of)
• Most famous Ptolemaic
ruler was Cleopatra VII;
lost her kingdom to the
Romans in 31 B.C.
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Divided Domain
• Seleucus
–
–
–
–
Syria (remainder)
Mesopotamia
Iran
Afganistan
• Forced to give up
eastern territory and
withdraw to Syria
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Divided Domain
• Many Jews in the
territory ordered to
worship Greek deities
• Judah Maccabees led
reoccupation of
Jerusalem
• Temple rededicated
• Commemorated by
Hanukkah
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Divided Domain
• Kingdom of Judah was
independent until
Romans came
• Seleucids ruled Syria
until Romans came
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Divided Domain
• Antigonus’s domain was
Macedonia and Greece
• City-states declared
independence; began
fighting one another
• In 100s B.C., Romans
conquered Macedonia
and Greece
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Hellenistic Culture
• Political unity of
Alexander’s empire left
with his death
• Greek language and
culture would continue
• Hellenistic culture
flourished
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City Life
• Hellenistic culture
concentrated in cities
• Largest and wealthiest
was Alexandria
• Straight streets
• White stucco palaces
and temples
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City Life
• Double harbor could
hold 1200 ships
• Lighthouse visible for 35
miles
• Alexandria also a major
intellectual center
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City Life
• Alexandria…
– Library: 1 mil volumes
– Scientific research
– Jewish scholars
translated Hebrew Bible
into Greek
• Still used in Eastern
Orthodox Church
• Used by Apostle Paul
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City Life
• Greeks formed upper
class of Alexandria and
other cities through
Hellenistic empire
• Professional Greek
soldiers moved to
where ever they could
find work
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City Life
• Social Status of Greek
women improved
• Women could move
around freely
• Learned to read/write
• Entered occupations
like real estate, banking
and government
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Hellenistic Philosophers
• Focused on how to
achieve peace of mind
• Three systems of
thought
– Cynicism
– Epicureanism
– Stoicism
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Hellenistic Philosophers
• Diogenes was best
known cynic
– Criticized materialism
– People should give up
luxuries, live with nature
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Hellenistic Philosophers
• Epicurus started
epicureanism
–
–
–
–
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Avoid joy and pain
Live simply
Live quietly
Have few close friends
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Hellenistic Philosophers
• Zeno founded Stoicism
– What happened to
people governed by
natural laws
– Gain happiness by
ignoring emotions
– Follow reason
– Accept difficult
circumstances and do
duty
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Hellenistic Art and Literature
• Hellenistic artists
departed from Hellenic
styles
– No carvings of idealistic
figures
– People shown in grip of
powerful emotions
– Carved portrait heads—
art was now business
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Hellenistic Art and Literature
• Playwrights wrote
comedies rather than
tragedies
• Menander most
renowned playwright
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Science, Medicine, and Mathematics
• Hellenistic scientists
produced experiments
and new theories
• Aristarchus
(AR*uh*STAHR*kuhs)
– Sun is larger than earth
– Stars are at immense
distances
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Science, Medicine, and Mathematics
• Eratosthenes
(EHR*uh*TAHS*thuh*N
EEZ)
– Estimated earth’s
circumference to within
1% of correct figure
• Doctors dissected
corpses to learn more
about human anatomy
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Science, Medicine, and Mathematics
• Euclid wrote The
Elements of Geometry
• Archimedes invented
the compound pulley
– Also, the cylinder screw
– And, discovered the
principle of buoyancy
and the lever
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