1. 3.7 |The Blending of Greek and Asiatic Culture
The Hellenistic Age
3.7 |The Blending of Greek and Asiatic Culture

2. Hellenistic Culture From “Hellene” meaning Greek
A mixture of Greek, Egyptian, and Persian cultures
A change in Greek mentality
c. 500 – 323 B.C. (Classical)
Defined by confidence, arrogance, and humanism
c. 323 – 30 B.C. (Hellenistic)
Resignation to fate, recognition of helplessness before forces too great for humans to manage

3. How did it happen? Political changes influenced cultural changes
Alexander’s conquest of Persia created a new social and cultural breeding ground
Alexander married his Greek generals (nobility) to the Persian nobility they conquered
Maintained Persian networks of administration [efficient]
Greek cities in Asia
Alexander built a number of new Greek cities [all Alexandria]
The most famous Alexandria is in Egypt
The focus on the polis [C-G] transformed into a focus on the kingdom [H-G]

4. How did it work?
The glue that bound this new system together was the Greek language
The administrative courts of Greece and Asia would speak Greek
The populace could continue using their own local language
Education however, would be in Greek
If you wanted to learn and move up in life, you had to learn Greek
Greek became an international language
Just like English today

5. Hellenistic Education
Greek education brought to new heights
Seriously, these guys were brilliant

6. Why was it so much better? Where was it?
The unifying cultural link of Greek meant that it was everywhere, and it was uniform
Centers of education located in powerful Hellenistic cities, like Alexandria Egypt
The Library of Alexandria
Massive collection of Greek documents

7. Education for Practical Use
Inventions of ingenuity to make life better
Archimedes – the water screw
Ptolemy – a useful map of the world
The watermill [based on early designs]
The crane
Plumbing [not the first time]
But showers
Organized and useful cities
Circumference of the Earth
Eratosthenes
Ptolemy and the Geocentric model

9. The Evolution of Greek Art
Archaic c. 800 – 500 B.C.
Egyptian influence
Classical c. 500 – 323 B.C.
This is Greek
Hellenistic c. 323 – 30 B.C.
Greek, but more dramatic, emotional, and the epitome of Greek artistic endeavors

11. Years approximate. Cultural and conflict areas. The Persian Wars
Etruria
Rome
Greece
Carthage
Persia

12. The Peloponnesian war
Etruria
Rome
Carthage
Persia

13. Macedonian domination of greece
Rome
Carthage
Persia

14. Alexander the Great
Rome
Alexander’s Empire
Carthage

15. The Hellenistic age
Rome
Hellenistic Kingdoms
Carthage