Notes - Hellenistic Age II

When Alexander the Great died, there was no clear successor.
His half-brother, Arrhidaeus, had learning difficulties and wasn’t fit to rule.
His wife, Roxane, was pregnant and gave birth to a son, Alexander IV, but he was just a baby.
Perdiccas, the imperial regent, stepped in and divided the empire among Alexander’s top commanders.
These commanders were called the Diadochoi (or diadochs), meaning “successors.”

Ptolemy was from a noble Macedonian family and grew up in the court of Philip II.
After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy took control of Egypt and Libya.
He used Egypt as a power base and spent nearly 20 years fighting the other diadochs.
In 305 BCE, he declared himself King of Egypt with the title Ptolemy I Soter.
He even managed to bring Alexander’s body to Egypt for burial — even though Alexander had preferred Siwa Oasis, the funeral was held in Alexandria.
Alexander’s body was placed in a golden coffin and given divine honors.

Under Ptolemy II, Alexandria became a world center of learning and culture.
He built the famous Library and Museum of Alexandria, attracting scholars and artists from across the Greek world.
The Jewish Bible (Old Testament) was even translated into Koine Greek here — this version is known as the Septuagint.

Hellenism = the spread of Greek language and culture in the East after Alexander’s conquests.
Alexander founded many cities during his campaigns and filled them with Greek veterans.
These cities became Greek cultural hubs surrounded by non-Greek (Eastern) traditions.
The blending of cultures is called syncretism — a merging of local and Greek customs.

The Hellenistic world was multiethnic — with Greeks, Macedonians, Jews, Egyptians, and others.
Many “Greeks” in this period weren’t Greek by birth — they had:
- A Greek education
- A Greek name
- Worshipped gods with Greek names
Being “Greek” became more about culture than ethnicity.

Earlier Classical Greek art focused on ideal beauty and balance, often using calm, youthful, nude male figures.
Hellenistic art introduced emotion, movement, and realism.
Example: the sculpture of Laocoön, showing pain and drama as he struggles with sea serpents.
- Emotion: fear, desperation, physical strain
- Shows how people react under extreme stress

Terracotta figurines became popular — cheap, mold-made sculptures of ordinary people.
These figures show:
- Chubby children
- Wrinkled elders
- Elegant society women
- Lower-class workers
Small bronze statues were also used to show a wide range of human experiences.

A famous sculpture from Rhodes celebrating victory over Antiochus III of Syria.
The goddess Nike (Victory) lands on a ship’s prow.
Her wind-blown dress clings to her body — dramatic and full of energy.
Her wings and unstable pose suggest that victory is fleeting — like the goddess Tyche (Fortune), Nike could leave at any moment.

Koine = “Common” Greek, used from 300 BCE to 300 CE.
It became the Lingua Franca (shared language) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East.
Important because:
- Used by scholars, merchants, and officials
- Language of the New Testament and early Christianity

The Jewish Bible was translated into Koine Greek between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE.
This translation happened in Alexandria, Egypt, under Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
The name “Septuagint” comes from the Latin word for seventy.
Tradition says 70 Jewish scholars translated the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Old Testament).
This became the oldest Greek version of the Hebrew Bible.