| Alexandrianism | [al-ig-ZAN-dree-an-ism] A literary style developed in the Hellenistic period, typically formal, artificial, and imitative of earlier Greek writing.
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| ataraxia | [at-uh-RAK-see-uh] Greek, "calmness"; in Hellenistic philosophy, the state of desiring nothing.
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| autarky | [AW-tar-kee] Greek, "self-sufficient"; in Hellenistic thought, the state of being isolated and free from the demands of society.
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| codex | [KO-deks] (plural, codices) The earliest form of a bound book, made of parchment pages, dating from about the first century B.C.E. in pagan Rome.
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| comedy of manners | A humorous play that focuses on the way people in a particular social group or class interact with one another, especially regarding fashions and manners.
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| Corinthian | The third Greek architectural order, in which temple columns are slender and fluted, sit on a base, and have capitals shaped like inverted bells and decorated with carvings representing the leaves of the acanthus bush; this style was popular in Hellenistic times and widely adopted by the Romans.
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| Cynicism | A Hellenistic philosophy that denounced society and its institutions as artificial and called on the individual to strive for autarky.
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| Epicureanism | [ep-i-kyoo-REE-uh-niz-uhm] A Hellenistic philosophy, founded by Epicurus and later expounded by the Roman Lucretius, that made its highest goals the development of the mind and an existence free from the demands of everyday life.
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| genre subject | In art, a scene or a person from everyday life, depicted realistically and without religious or symbolic significance.
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| Hellenistic | [hell-uh-NIS-tik] Relating to the time period from about 323 to 31 b.c., when Greek and oriental or Middle Eastern cultures and institutions intermingled to create a heterogeneous and cosmopolitan civilization.
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| idyll | A relatively short poem that focuses on events and themes of everyday life, such as family, love, and religion; popular in the Hellenistic Age and a standard form that has been periodically revived in Western literature throughout the centuries.
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| koine | [KOI-nay] A colloquial Greek language spoken in the Hellenistic world that helped tie together that civilization.
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| logos | [LOWG-os] In Stoicism, the name for the supreme being or for reason-the controlling principle of the universe-believed to be present both in nature and in each human being.
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| Neoclassicism | In the late third century b.c., an artistic movement in the disintegrating Hellenistic world that sought inspiration in the Athenian Golden Age of the fifth and fourth centuries b.c.; and, since 1970, Neoclassicism has been a highly visible submovement in Post-Modernism, particularly prominent in painting and architecture, that restates the principles of Classical art-balance, harmony, idealism.
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| New Comedy | The style of comedy favored by Hellenistic playwrights, concentrating on gentle satirical themes-in particular, romantic plots with stock characters and predictable endings.
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| parchment | A writing surface, prepared from calf-, sheep-, and goatskins, developed in ancient Pergamum. Parchment’s supple surface allowed the storing of writing on both sides of a page and thus opened the door to the first books.
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| pastoral | A type of Hellenistic poetry that idealized rural customs and farming, especially the simple life of shepherds, and deprecated urban living.
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| podium | In architecture, a low wall serving as a foundation; a platform.
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| Skepticism | A Hellenistic philosophy that questioned whether anything could be known for certain, argued that all beliefs were relative, and concluded that autarky could be achieved only by recognizing that inquiry was fruitless.
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| Stoicism | [STO-ih-sihz-uhm] The most popular and influential Hellenistic philosophy, advocating a restrained way of life, a toleration for others, a resignation to disappointments, and a resolution to carry out one's responsibilities; Stoicism appealed to many Romans and had an impact on early Christian thought.
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