Download Hellenistic Era

Hellenistic cities became centers of learning and culture.
During the Hellenistic Era, philosophers,
scientists, poets, and writers flocked
to the new Greek cities in southwest Asia
and Egypt, especially Alexandria.
Alexandria became a center of learning
with it’s library which contained over
500,000 scrolls that were useful to students
of literature and language and it’s museum
where researchers went to do their work.
Hellenistic kingdoms attracted Greek architects
because new cities were being built by kings who
wanted to make their cities cultural centers of
Greece and were willing to pay high wages for it.
Architects
designed
and built bathhouses,
theaters and
temples.
Hellenistic kings
and wealthy citizens
hired Greek sculptors to
fill their towns with
statues that represented
Greece’s
Golden Age.
Hellenistic kings and wealthy citizens spent generously
to support writers and the Hellenistic Age
produced a large body of literature.
One of the few writings
to survive is an epic
poem by Appolonius
of Rhodes called
Argonautica
Argonautica tells the
legend of Jason and his
band of heroes as they
sail the seas in search of
a ram with golden fleece.
Another poet, Theocritus, wrote short poems about
the beauty of nature and rural life called “pastoral poetry.”
Athens was the
center of Greek
theatre and
playwrights
in Athens created
a new kind of comedy
that was funny had
a happy ending.
One of the best
known
playwrights was
Menander.
The new plays told
stories about love
and relationships
unlike plays
written during
Greece’s Golden Age
which poked fun
at political
leaders.
Epicurus and Zeno showed the world
different ways to look at happiness
During the Hellenistic Era,
Athens attracted the most
famous
philosophers
in the Greek world.
The most important
philosophers
were Epicurus and Zeno.
Epicurus founded a philosophy we now know as
Epicureanism which taught that happiness was the
goal of life and that the way to be happy was
to seek out pleasure.
Today the word
epicurean means
the love
of physical
pleasure, such
as good food
or comfortable
surroundings.
To Epicurus,
pleasure meant
spending time
with friends
and learning
not to worry
about things.
Epicureans
avoided
worry by
staying out of
politics and
public
service.
Stoicism was developed by
A Phoenician named Zeno
and became very popular
in the Hellenistic world.
“Stoicism” comes from
the Greek
word “stoa” which
means porch.
How did
Stoicism
begin?
When Zeno came to Athens, he could not afford
to rent a lecture hall, so he taught at a building
known as the “painted porch” near a market.
For Stoics,
happiness came
from following
reason, not
emotions, and
doing your duty.
Today, stoic is used
to describe
someone who
is not affected
by joy or grief.
Stoics
thought people
had a duty to serve
their city and engage
in public service.
Hellenistic scientists made major
discoveries in math and astronomy.
Astronomers,
mathematicians
and other
scientists made major
contributions during
the Hellenistic Era.
Astronomers
studied the stars,
planets, and other
heavenly bodies.
Aristarchus claimed that the sun was at the
center of the universe and that Earth circled
the sun but other astronomers rejected his ideas
In ancient times, most astronomers believed
that the Earth was the center of the universe.
Created a system to explain
how planets and stars move.
1. Was in charge of the library of
Alexandria.
What did
Erastosthenes
do?
2. Concluded that Earth is round
and used his knowledge of
geometry and astronomy to
measure Earth’s circumference
or the distance around Earth.
3. Estimated that the distance
around Earth as 24,675 miles
which is in within 185 miles of
the actual distance.
4. Measured the distance to the
sun and to the moon.
was the most
famous Greek
mathematician
Wrote a book called Elements, that
organized information about geometry
and described plane geometry.
Plane geometry is the branch of
mathematics that shows how points,
lines, angles, and
surfaces relate to one another.
“Give me a lever and a place to stand on and I
will move the earth.”
Who was
he?
Most famous scientist of the Hellenistic Era
who established the science of physics.
Worked on solid geometry, or
the study of ball-like shapes
called spheres and tubelike
shapes called cylinders.
Figured out the value of pi,
a number that is used to
measure
the area of circles and is
represented by a symbol.
Designed catapults,
machines that hurled
arrows, spears,
and rocks.
Archimedes’ catapults
were used
to fight against
the Romans.
What happened
to Archimedes?
Archimedes was killed when the
Romans captured his
hometown of Syracuse.
Don’t forget Pythagorus!!
The First to establish the principles of geometry.
A doctor and pioneer of medical
science who began to
separate medicine from religion.
Stressed that
it was important to
examine the body and
look at a patient’s
symptoms to find
out why someone
was ill.
Taught that it was
important to have
a healthy diet.
Known for the oath,
or pledge that he
asked his medical students
to recite which is now called
the Hippocratic Oath.
The Hippocratic Oath
requires a promise from
doctors to “never
harm and always to care
for their patients.”