Week 5 Overview and Assignment / chapter 4

Welcome to Hellenistic Greece 
400-40 b.c.e.
Chapter 4 in our Textbook

     

In the Hellenistic Age, Greek culture went viral and traveled to the Middle 
East, India, and North Africa. The language of the elite was 'Koine' -- a version
of the  Greek language spoken in the Golden Age.

 

It's good to have you here.  

Chapter Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Analyze the reasons for the execution of Socrates and identify the philosophies of his students, Plato and Aristotle.
2. Explain the rise of Alexander’s empire.
3. Discuss the primary features of the Hellenistic kingdoms.
4. Identify the combination of Greek and Near Eastern elements in Hellenistic culture.

From the Classical to the Hellenistic World - 400-30 b.c.e.

When last we looked at the once mighty Athenian empire, during its Golden Age, it had lost the Peloponnesian War, its economy was flattened, the countryside was pillaged. A grim scene. Democracy, such as it was in Athens, would not return for another 2,200 years. Take that in.

Interestingly, it was during and just after this grim time that some of the greatest works of Western intellectual history were created, such as Plato's dialogues and Aristotle's work on...well, on everything. (politics, botany, metaphysics, rhetoric....) It was they who pursued the rationalism we noted earlier with Thales and the pre-Socratic philosophers. They did nothing less than lay down the foundation of Western philosophy, and the questions they puzzled over are the same ones you will puzzle over yourself in an intro to Philosophy class at LAVC. The past is present.

Meanwhile, while Platonists pondered the imponderables at Plato's Academy, the Greeks fought amongst themselves while their ancient enemy, Persia, watched from the wings, more than happy to see the Greeks waste their men and treasure over supremacy of the Greek mainland. One city-state after another rose and fell -- Sparta, Thebes, Athens -- until a general exhaustion set in. And it was at this moment of exhaustion (359 b.c.e.) that a new power appeared -- Macedonia. Among the Macedonian elite was a very young man tutored by Aristotle. His name was Alexander. You may have heard of him.

The Macedonian kings Philip II and his son Alexander conquered Greece, Egypt, and Persia, initiating the transition from the independent Greek city-states to large, multi-ethnic urban centers. Under Philip and Alexander's successors, the Hellenistic kings, the Greek language and culture spread from the Mediterranean as far east as India. Trade increased, and Greek became the universal language of business. Royal patronage stimulated the arts and learning among the privileged, while ordinary people confronted growing poverty and difficult conditions in these cosmopolitan cities.

It was quite a ride. You may be asking, "And where do the Romans factor into all of this?" The Romans are far to the west of Greece, and at this time are working out a new-fangled system of government (a "republic" of all things). Their armies are consolidating the Italian peninsula. For them, Hellenistic culture and achievement is far above what they're familiar with in their modest capital, Rome. But sooner than they know, they will inherit that culture and that acheivement. 

Our story is just warming up!

Some Common Misconceptions About the History We'll Be Exploring

1.
The Hellenistic era has sometimes been labeled as “decadent.” This is often based on the perception that as Greeks lost the security of the polis, they also lost their sense of civic virtue. Their contact with Persians, Egyptians, and others led them to lives of indolence. Question that assumption.

2.
Some of you may be familiar with Epicureanism as the pursuit of excessive pleasure. In fact, overindulgence and overt ambition or excess of any kind were not acceptable to the Epicureans as they could lead to pain. (Yes, downing gallons of beer and wolfing cheap pizza was not high on the Epicureans Wish-List.) Although Epicurus believed people should pursue pleasure, by true pleasure he meant “an absence of disturbance.” As a result he encouraged his followers to live lives free of the passions and desires of ordinary existence. Epicurus believed one should pursue only simple pleasures, such as those that could be found in a sober life spent with friends and removed from the turmoil of the common world. You know, simple pleasures -- like learning the history of Western Civilization. (g)

 

 

Read

For Week-5, carefully read in our Hunt textbook all of Chapter 4.

Browse the Resources on our Resources page. These will suggest new avenues of discovery and research and deepen the knowledge you are gaining in our textbook.

Discuss

Go to the Discussion Forum for Week 5 and contribute to this week's Discussion topics.

Submit-A-File

Please review the Submit-A-File Assignment "Happiness and How to Find It," in Module 5, and submit your work to it for points. 

The Quiz

Finally, please take the Chapter Quiz for this week. 

The Field Trip Project

Yes, the Project is worth a good size chunk of your grade. The proposal deadline for it is coming up. To access it, merely click on this hyperlink. 

 

 

The Deadline

As ever, the deadline for all of your work (except your initial Discussion post) is
Sunday, before 11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Note this well.