Hellenistic Greek Research Paper

543 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The greek roman empire

Jacob Redmon
Professor Robert Wade 09/17/2015
Hellenistic Greece The Hellenistic period, whose beginning was marked by the death of Alexander the Great, lasted from 323 BCE until 31 BCE with the death of Anthony and Cleopatra in Egypt marking its end. This period saw Greek influence spread throughout Mediterranean Europe and the Near East. During the turbulent, chaotic times following the Classical era Alexander the Great lead the kingdom of Macedonia on a conquest that established an empire ranging from the Mediterranean all the way into the Indus Valley. After his death, there was a period of conflict that lead to the establishment of three dynasties. The Antigonid dynasty which consisted of Greece and Macedonia, the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, and the Seleucid dynasty in the Near East. Despite this fragmentation of the empire, Greek art, language, and philosophy still spread to conquered lands and permeated everyday life. The Greek language being used far and wide allowed people within the kingdoms to travel abroad and still be able to communicate with one another, which in turn allowed Greek philosophical teachings (like those of the Stoics) to spread beyond the Mediterranean. There also saw a shift in art and literature from the idealistic to the realistic, which placed more emphasis on …show more content…

The library of Alexandria, which stored much of the known world’s written history up to that point, is probably one of the most important buildings to be erected during this period. Unfortunately, the Library of Alexandria was destroyed centuries later during one of mankind’s numerous conflicts, and much of the information stored within it was lost to time. However, many scientific advances survived, such as Eratosthenes’ surprisingly accurate calculation of the Earth’s circumference and tilt of its axis, or the many works of Archimedes, who is especially well known for calculating

Show More
Related

  • Ap World History Chapter 7 Summary

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alexander adopted Persian governing practices, but he had little use for Persian culture. According to his Greek biographer Plutarch, he considered himself "a governor from God and a reconciler of the world." He hoped that Greek culture would, through his actions, permeate all of Asia, inspiring its peoples to pursue virtue, excellence, and truth. This heroic idealism blended with practicality in his plan to develop the Tigris, Euphrates, and Indus rivers as commercial waterways linking all of Asia These undertakings promised to be long and difficult, however, and Alexander was an impatient man. His soldiers' unwillingness to proceed past the Indus was a great disappointment to him, for which he compensated by throwing his own festivals and celebrations. Alexander showed early leadership qualities. When King Phillip invaded Thrace, he left Alexander in charge of Macedonia at the age of 16. During his father's absence, one of the Thracian tribes, the Maedi, rebelled. Alexander was able to mobilize an army and put down the rebellion. In 336 B.C, Alexander's father was assassinated, putting Alexander on the throne at the age of 20. Shortly after this, Alexander left Macedonia with his armies to put down rebellions in the countries of Illyria, Thrace and Greece, all of which had previously been conquered by King Phillip. Alexander then moved his armies into Asia Minor and began to conquer the peoples there. Among the countries conquered by Alexander were Syria, Phoenicia and

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Mongol And Greek Empires

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, unlike the Mongols, the Greeks also relied on the agriculture of fruits and vegetables. Democracy from the Athenians increased the Greeks belief of the rule of law. In addition, the Spartans’ strict militaristic structure led successful warriors, making the army more powerful. However, like the Mongols, disunity caused a war between the two main city-state, leading to internal instability and the decline of the empire. Overall though, the Greece empire was and still is very influential in today’s society. Greek culture from buildings such as the Parthenon, philosophy and rational thought, to the language and the entertainment of tragedies and comedies, spread profusely, especially during the Hellenistic era led by Alexander the

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Ancient Greek Architecture

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ancient Greek civilization has left a rich cultural footprint on modern Western civilization. Especially during the ancient Classical and Hellenistic eras of Greece, ancient Greeks have left behind a plethora of ideas and concepts that have played a crucial role in forming the foundations to Western civilization. Although the Classical era was a time of war and conflict, it was the Golden Age of Greece that was the home to many achievements in art, philosophy, architecture, politics, and literature such as the birth of democracy. The Hellenistic era was a period of social and economic prosperity that was defined by the spread of Greek culture across the entire eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia. During this era, countless of advancements

    Read More

  • The Hellenistic Era: Thought, Culture, and Religion

    2121 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Hellenistic culture was founded from the Hellenic culture. The Hellenic culture was born with Philip of Macedon. Philip of Macedon was a king in Macedonia at the beginning of the fourth century. Philip was known for his great organizational skills and his prowess in battle as a warrior. Philip had a dream of making an empire and surpassing everyone’s expectations he succeeded. It took seven years for Philip to unite the once Greek city-states into a unit, but once he gained control of them he had a battle tested army. Philip of Macedon led his army into Asia Minor and defeated the Persian army. The defeat of the Persian army brought the collapse of the Persian Empire which was unimaginable because at the time Persia ruled the world. Unfortunately, as Philip turned to conquer the rest of the world he died. Luckily he left behind a son.

    Read More

  • Ancient Greece

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper tells you about the Golden Age of Greece, which is from 500 to 350 BC. It tells about what Greeks did, who they worshipped, and other important things.

    Read More

  • Alexander: The Not So Great

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...

    Read More

  • Greek Art Research Paper

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    In my thesis essay topic I will discuss how art in the Greek culture has change drastically since making it first appearance, in my essay topic I hope to showcase knowledgeable information on the subject while providing supporting details. This topic was interesting to me because beforehand even though I have taken many art classes, this class gave me a little more insight to the world of art and has influence my taste since traveling. I am amaze at how much Greek art has influence modern day culture. Greek culture has also paved the way for many other forms of culture forms and exhibits. So what did this essay mean to me? It was away for me to study and review what I thought was most significant about Greek times and the art pieces that stood out to me the most. I also like that I get to get my personal reflection on key pieces that lead to the new era of classical and non-classical art. In my essay, I will show how ancient Greece was a very unique culture that went through great efforts to produce high class art.

    Read More

  • Letters From The Hellenistic Period

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    It seems that in at least in a historical context, letters should be considered a genre of their own. Indeed, a substantial amount of our knowledge from the past comes from such correspondence. Such letters provide not just the perspective of the actual person who is writing, but also the perspective of the entire cultural which the author is from. For example, letters made during the Age of Exploration generally detail the European sentiment towards the native people they were conquering. Another example can be letters from the Hellenistic Period, which present the view of a contemporary of this era living in a time of immense cultural diffusion. However, the feelings expressed in these letters vary, specifically when one examines both the

    Read More

  • The Renaissance and Hellenistic Era

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Hellenistic era refers to the time after Alexander the Great where Greek culture, history, and art flourished. Also, the Renaissance refers to the period of European history that a revival distinguished by a revival of science, literature, and art especially in Italy between the 14th and 17th centuries. The Renaissance is also known as a renewal of the Hellenistic era. Both the Hellenistic and the Renaissance emphasized the importance of Greek knowledge and the spreading of that knowledge. Greek knowledge was able to spread and be expanded on during these time periods through the scholars and the scholars’ achievements in their time period. Furthermore, there are numerous scholars that led to the advancements and the discoveries of new ideas in a particular subjects that led to kingdoms in these time periods to be able to flourish. Since, the Renaissance is a not only a cultural but a social revival of Greek knowledge and culture there are many similarities between these two eras in scholarship; however, there is one main difference.

    Read More

  • Ancient Greek Sport Research Paper

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, sports have played a variety of important functions in society as a form of recreation; preparation for war or the hunt; or later, as a substitute for war. Sports have undergone many changes; some have stayed much the same (e.g. wrestling); while others have adapted with the times. New sports are always being invented and developed. One of the oldest recorded forms of sports was bull-leaping in the Greek island of Crete, where slaves jumped over the horns of a bull. The ancient Greeks were lovers of sport and taught it to their children at school.

    Read More

  • Hellenistic Culture Essay

    1662 Words  | 4 Pages

    To be apart of the Hellenistic culture means you will be also apart of the Greek culture which meant you would have believed in many different gods for example, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Poseidon the God of the sea. Another thing that this culture is about is that they were ruled by kings. But the ruler that kind of inspired the hellenistic culture to come about was Alexander the Great and he sort of inspired the Greeks to form into somewhat hellenistic because his kingdom had reached all the way from the eastern mediterranean to Asia and that kind of sparked what is known as the Hellenistic period. Last but not least is how the people apart of the hellenistic age liked to show off their wealth. They would build big palaces they took pride in their fancy art and sculptures and extravagant jewelry. They weren't all stingy with their wealth either, they would make contributions or donations to Museums, zoos, and they would sponsor libraries and

    Read More

  • Ancient Greek Women Research Paper

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Three Different Views Of Women In Greek Society The role of women in ancient Greek life was considered to be insignificant compared to that of Greek men. However, in tragedies, women were frequently written as main characters, revealing insights on how women were treated and thought of in society. Many famous Greek plays contain numerous well-written, multifaceted, female characters. Each female character takes upon herself, the role of villain, the role of victim, and the role of heroine. Euripides (485-406 BC) is considered to be the most socially critical of all the ancient Greek tragedians. The Trojan Women (415 BC) has long been considered a fresh artistic depiction of the Trojan War and a penetrating portrayal of the barbaric deeds of Euripides' own countrymen, the Athenians, towards the women and children of the people they conquered in war. Due to the fact of similarities between authors Aeschylus and Euripides, writing in the same place and time, one often make the mistake of presuming their stance are the same on the particular subject. It would be a mistake to expect Aeschylus’ Agamemnon and Euripides’ Medea to express identical views on the subject; each author had a distinctive way. The opinions of these two writers on this subject are in fact different. Aeschylus’ plays revolved around ethics, and usually he presented as impartially as possible, by asking the audience to judge the ethical questions for themselves. Agamemnon is not actually about Agamemnon as much as is about Clytemnestra, his wife. Aeschylus has created a woman, with whom his audience could sympathize, and whose pain felt real to them. This was no small attempt, bearing in mind the fact that in ancient Greece women were looked same as slaves. Euripid...

    Read More

  • Ancient Greece Research Paper

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    The older of the two, Ancient Greece was a civilization for three centuries, from 800 B.C. to 500 B.C. Ancient Greece advanced in art, poetry, and technology. More importantly, Ancient Greece was the age where the polis, or city-state, was invented. The polis was a defining feature in Greek political life for a few hundred years (Ancient Greece).

    Read More

  • How Did Geography Influence Greek And Roman Civilization

    1383 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many advances like the ability to create complex arches to carry the weight of a building and the creation of different types of columns called Doric, Ionic, and the Corinthian were made in architecture during this time. Another accomplishment was the ability to build aqueducts to carry water to cities, roads to aid trade and transportation, and complex temples for religion, markets for trade, and other buildings. Some intellectual accomplishments within politics included the idea of a democracy and a Senate which still impacts us today. Intellectual accomplishments in mathematics included the development of the basic theorems of Pythagoras and other work in geometry that greatly improved the overall intelligence and understanding in Greece and Rome and still influences us today. In conclusion, Greece and Rome were intellectually adept when it came to their intellectual

    Read More

  • Greek Mythology Reflection Paper

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout studying many myths, I came up with many new observations. Many questions came into my mind about these myths. Greek mythology takes us back to a time when people had a connection with nature and when nature played a major role in people’s lives. The religious beliefs of the people who wrote the myths are found in the background of these myths; however, they are not to be read like religious texts. The myths try to offer explanations of “how”, which makes us think deeply about the purpose of these myths and the questions they draw to our minds. According to the myths we studied in class, the world created the gods, not the other way around. The gods were always created in the image of man, which shows how much men were important in their society. Furthermore, many of these Greek myths show us the difference between the views of the Greek then and our view towards many aspects of the society, including nature. Monsters appear in Greek myths and have different representations and roles. Greek mythology reflects a view of the Greeks towards the world and how certain aspects of their lives are similar and different to modern society.

    Read More

More about Hellenistic Greek Research Paper

Open Document