Overview of Hellenistic politics, society, and economics
The class system
The role and status of women
The Stages of Hellenistic History
The end of the empire and the rise of the states
The shattering of Alexander's dream, 323-307 B.C.
The era of the successor states, 307-215 B.C.
a) Freedom of movement of Greeks and barbarians
b) Common koine language
c) The Macedonian kingdom
d) The Seleucid kingdom
(1) Parthia and Bactria
(2) Pergamum
e) The Ptolemaic kingdom
(1) Alexandria as the capital
(2) Its agricultural and commercial riches
The arrival and triumph of Rome
a) The fall of Macedonia, 146 B.C.E.
b) The fall of the Seleucid kingdom, 65 B.C.E.
c) The gift of Pergamum
d) The fall of the Ptolemaic kingdom, 31 B.C.E.
Urban Life in the Hellenistic Age
Alexander's vision of the city
Pergamum
The capital of the Pergamum kingdom
Artistic and intellectual center
Alexandria in Egypt
The capital of the Ptolemaic kingdom
The largest city of the Hellenistic world
An unmatched cultural center
a) The world's first museum
b) The largest library of the ancient world
The Elaboration of the Greek Tradition: The Spread of Classicism to the Hellenistic World
Hellenistic cultural style and Classicism
Drama and literature
New Comedy
a) Definition
b) Menander, the leading exponent
(1) The comedy of manners
(2) The Woman of Samos
(3) His later influence
Alexandrianism-the Hellenistic literary style
a) Important genres
b) Characteristics
Theocritus
a) The pastoral
b) The idylls
Philosophy and religion
Nature of Hellenistic society
a) Everyday life in the Hellenistic cities
b) The rise of contradictory points of view
The four chief Hellenistic philosophies
a) Cynicism
(1) Definition
(2) Least impact on Hellenistic civilization
(3) The goal of autarky
(4) Diogenes
b) Skepticism
(1) Definition
(2) Later influence
(3) The goal of autarky
c) Epicureanism
(1) Definition
(2) Epicurus and his school
(3) Appeal to women and slaves
(4) Based on Democritus's atomism
(5) The goals of happiness and ataraxia
d) Stoicism
(1) Definition
(2) Key concepts
(3) The goal of autarky
(4) Similarity of Stoic ideals and Alexander the Great's dream
Fate and the mystery cults
a) Fate, a Babylonian belief
(1) Astrology
(2) Magic
b) The mystery cults
(1) Greek chthonic religions
(2) Egyptian cults of Serapis and Isis
(3) Babylonian cult of Cybele, the Great Mother goddess
(4) Persian Mithraism
(5) Contributions to theatmosphere in which Christianity was born
Architecture
The defining role of religion
a) The altar
b) The temple
The Corinthian temple
a) Characteristics of the Corinthian column and temple
b) The Corinthian column as a symbol of Hellenistic influence
c) The Olympieum in Athens
(1) History
(2) Description
The altar
a) General changes to altars in the Hellenistic period
b) The altar of Zeus at Pergamum
(1) Description
(2) Its role in the beautification of Pergamum
(3) The idea of a "new" Athens
Sculpture
Comparison with Hellenic style
Boy Struggling with a Goose
a) Description
b) A genre subject
Dying Gaul
a) Why it was created
b) Description
c) Characteristics
Old Market Woman
a) Description
b) A genre subject
Pergamum altar frieze
a) Subject and description
b) Characteristics
c) Moral purpose of the art
Aphrodite of Melos
a) Subject and description
b) Characteristics
Borghese Gladiator
a) Style and description
b) Characteristics
Horse and Jockey
a) Subject and description
b) Characteristics
c) Contrast with the Hellenic style
Late Hellenistic style: Rhodes
The persistence of Rhodes as a center of Hellenistic culture, until the early Christian era
The Rhodian style
a) Melpomene, or Polyhymnia
(1) Subject and description
(2) Characteristics
(3) Hellenistic representation of women
b) The Laocoön Group
(1) Subject and description
(2) Characteristics
(3) Later influence of this sculptural group
