Unit 4: The Hellenistic World.
readings:
Hunt, The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, ch. 4 (pp. 123-161).
QUIZ will be on Key Terms in Hunt, p. 161.
Questions on Hunt
Ch. 4 (pp. 123-161)
1. What evidence do the authors give to show that the economy of Athens recovered after the Peloponnesian War, and what evidence do they present regarding the impact of defeat and political chaos on faith in democracy?
2. What were the most important elements/ideas in Plato's philosophy and how did the philosophical interests of Aristotle differ from those of his teacher (Plato)?
3. Why were the Macedonians under Philip II able to dominate the Greek city states?
4. As a result of military conquest, Alexander the Great ruled an empire that stretched from India to Egypt and the helped to create a shared "Hellenistic" culture. What methods did Alexander use to govern his vast empire, and what about these methods contributed to the blending together of Greek culture with the cultures of conquered peoples?
5. After Alexander's death, what methods did the "successor dynasties" (the Antigonids, the Seleucids, and the Ptolomies) use to strengthen their hold over their kingdoms? (For instance, did they simply impose Greek law and Greek culture on their subjects?)
6. How did most of the population in the Hellenistic world earn their livings? Were Hellenistic societies "egalitarian"? Were they democratic? Explain.
7. What were the most important differences between the arts (literature, painting, sculpture, etc.) in Hellenistic Greece and that in 5th Century Greece? Were there similar shifts in the focus of philosophy in the Hellenistic period?
BIG QUESTION: Think about the entire chapter. One of the most lasting effects of Alexander's conquests was the increased contact between Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Hebrew culture. Explain several examples of the impact this cultural interaction had on science and explain the impact of the Greeks on the religious life of the Jews.
Questions on Lualdi
We will focus on two documents for this unit: "Funerary Inscriptions and Epitaphs"(pp. 78-81) and Epicurus, "Letter to a Friend" (pp. 83-85).
Answer the "Six Questions" for both documents:
Note please that although the Funerary Inscriptions were written by at least thirteen different people in thirteen different places and over the course of many years, you can treat them generally as one document. All of the inscriptions are from Greek city states or Greek colonies except for the inscriptions for "Claudia" and "Posilla Senia" (which are Roman).
OK. Here are the main discussion questions for these documents:
1. In the Funerary Inscriptions, what different "definitions" of what it means to be a "good woman" can we find and what do these tell us about ideals of happiness in Hellenistic Greece? Explain, using the evidence!
2. What did Epicurus consider to be the "keys" to happiness (the most important principles for living a happy life)? Based upon what you have read in Hunt, what school of philosophy did Epicurus belong to? Explain, using the evidence!