The Spread of Hellenistic Culture

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Bernard Wheeler
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1 9/29/15 Topic: The Spread of Hellenistic Culture EQ: How has Hellenistic culture affected our lives today? Bellwork: Set up your Cornell notes, then answer the following question: In your opinion, if Alexander had lived to carry out his vision of uniting the cities of his empire, do you think he would have been able to rule over it successfully? Why or why not?

2 The Spread of Hellenistic Culture

3 Setting the stage Alexander s ambitions were cultural as well as military and political. During his wars of conquest, he actively sought to meld the conquered culture with that of the Greeks. He started new cities as administrative centers and outposts of Greek culture. These cities, from Egyptian Alexandria in the south to the Asian Alexandrias in the east, adopted many Greek patterns and customs. After Alexander s death, trade, a shared Greek culture, and a common language continued to link the cities together. But each region had its own traditional ways of life, religion, and government that no ruler could afford to overlook.

4 Hellenistic Culture in Alexandria Greek (also known as Hellenic) culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian influences, creating a new culture known as Hellenistic A common language was spoken throughout the Hellenistic world, which allowed educated people and traders to communicate with each other The Egyptian Alexandria became a center of commerce and Hellenistic civilization, partly due to its strategic location on the Nile delta

5 Notebook Question Write a brief response to the question, and be prepared to share. Why do you think Alexandria s location on the Nile allowed it to become a center for commerce and civilization?

6 Alexandria s Attractions Roads were lined with statues of Greek gods A 350-foot-tall lighthouse stood in the harbor Alexandria s museum was a temple dedicated to the Greek Muses, goddesses of arts and sciences, and contained art galleries, a zoo, botanical gardens, and a dining hall. The museum was an institute of advanced study. The Alexandrian library held half a million papyrus scrolls containing many masterpieces of ancient literature It was the first true research library in the world, and helped to promote a group of scholars who wrote commentaries on the ancient writings

8 Science and Technology Alexandria s museum contained an observatory where astronomers could observe the stars Aristarchus estimated the Sun was 300 times larger than Earth, and proposed that Earth and other planets revolved around the sun Eratosthenes was the director of the Alexandrian Library, and tried to use geometry to calculate Earth s true size He computed Earth s circumference at between 28,000 and 29,000 miles The true size is about 24,860 miles

9 Which ideas were most incorrect? Which are most correct?

10 Mathematics and Physics Eratosthenes and Aristarchus used the geometry text of Euclid to complete their work Euclid was a mathematician who wrote the book Elements, which laid out 465 geometrical propositions and proofs (still used in geometry today!) Archimedes accurately estimated the value of pi, and explained the law of the lever Archimedes invented the water screw, to bring water up from the ground, and the compound pulley

11 Philosophy Plato an Aristotle were still important, but new philosophies emerged concerned with how people should lead their lives Zeno founded the school of philosophy of Stoicism, which proposed people should live in harmony with the will of god or the natural laws that God established to run the universe Epicurus founded Epicureanism, which taught that the gods who ruled the universe had no interest in humans, and the only real objects were things that could be perceived by the five senses By 150 BC, Hellenistic culture was in decline, and a new city, Rome, was gaining strength

12 On your own Pick up an ipad, and go to our class website (mpsaz.org/mesa/staff/efrivera) Click on today s date, and click on the link for the Quizlet Use the flashcards to help you begin studying for the test on Friday

Once they had completed their conquests, the Arabs settled down to build a civilization and a culture. They became interested in the arts and

Once they had completed their conquests, the Arabs settled down to build a civilization and a culture. They became interested in the arts and The Islamic World We know intellectual activity in the Mediterranean declined in response to chaos brought about by the rise of the Roman Empire. We ve also seen how the influence of Christianity diminished