Preview

The Hellenistic Culture

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
667 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Hellenistic Culture
Before the Hellenistic world could make an impact on the world around it, first it became part of the culture, the language, integrate into the cities and religions, and then part of the Empires. Despite some resistance, the Hellenism world took high appeals to the people. The Hellenistic culture was one that was developed from the small, individual city-states and then grew greatly through the entire Mediterranean and then even further. (207) The culture itself was based on “philosophical and political thinking” as well as disciplines from history and biology, entertainment, competitive games for the public, and multiple forms of art. (207) Since the culture had so many interties with in it, which no other culture did, the Hellenistic culture …show more content…
In the previous city-state world individuals would would identify with local cultures and beliefs. Once the Hellenistic movement was celebrated, people wanted to connect to not only a local culture but a common world culture in which all individuals belong to one world instead of one city or state. Since kingdoms and states had become so huge, people now related to one another on political style through the personalities of their king, ruler, or families. (208) Everything was based off personality and style. (208) The rules began to dress in expensive clothing, platform shoes, heavy makeup, and capes with images. (208-209) Since rulers began to set their presence as powerful, ordinary people began to feel inferior and belittle. With this feeling, Hellenistic religion and philosophy began to come into play to help individuals focus on his/her place in the larger world. …show more content…
The Jews in Judea, between Egypt and the state of Mesopotamia, did not encourage or consider the culture of Hellenism. Despite the resistance, the rebuilding of Jerusalem began and the society gained rule under another empire resulting in the introduction to a new openness and culture of the Mediterranean world. (211) In addition to the Jews not accepting the new change, the Romans also saw the Greek’s culture to be unappealing, but inevitably they saw the opportunities to increase their value and acceptance.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Greek Civilization Dbq

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ancient Greek civilizations originated in 2000 B.C. and lasted to about 300 B.C. their culture still impacts Western civilization. Also Greeks spread their ideas all over the world. They contributed significantly with the ideas of geometry, philosophy, government, sporting events, architecture, sculpture, drama, and more. All of this came about and reached new heights during Greece’s “Golden Age”. This age lasted for about 50 years. Today all of our lives are greatly affected and influenced from the lives of Greeks.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Art 204 Final Essay

    • 2576 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The progression of Greek art does not simply begin with the Olympics in 776 BCE, but finds its origins in all of the civilizations that gave rise to the Greeks – the remnants of the besieged Mycenaeans, and all who conquered (and traded) with them. The loss of great civilizations often leads to dark periods, but from the ashes of Greece’s dark age emerged a civilization that revered humanity and went to great lengths to incorporate the idea of philosophy into all aspects of their empire – including art. City states joined forces, democracy was established, and skills lost during times of turmoil (reading, writing, painting, sculpting, architecture) were not only rediscovered, but reinvented. From the eastern inspired geometrics of earliest Greece, to stylize humanism in the Archaic, the mathematical perfection of the Classical periods, and the flowery realism of the Hellenistic - Greek art remains the standard by which all future art will be judged. This article will mainly focus on changes in Greek sculpture as an analogy for the changes in all of Greek art, simply because an attempt to chronicle all of the changes in the historical period would require much more than a short essay, and it’s my belief that sculpture most thoroughly reflected how art reflected the greater changes in the society. Regardless of historical argument about whether or not Greek culture and society were as great or as evil as either extreme proclaims, the fact remains that incredible works of art were spawned by great thinkers. Sure, maybe there was slavery, and maybe women were treated poorly, but that doesn’t negate the artistic value of the truly innovative art forms, starting with the very earliest pieces attributed to the Greeks, those in the period of the first Olympics, which also marks the point when the Greeks themselves considered their various city states united as one people, citizens of “Hellas” – distinct in that they spoke a…

    • 2576 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    *Ancient Jewish Nationalism. This book will be the cornerstone of my argument, as I attempt to traverse the shoals and channels of ancient Jewish nationalism, this will be my likely sextant. I will attempt to employ the arguments of Goodblatt, and contrast them with my own.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, there have been many contributions to Western civilization from the Ancient Greeks. They made long lasting contributions in the areas of art, architecture, philosophy, beliefs, religion, writings, math, drama, science, government, pottery, and Olympics, and philosophical teachings such as by Socrates or Plato. In this essay, it will be proven that the Greeks impacted western civilization immensely.…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    hum100 r4 wk2 overview

    • 1584 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the ancient Mediterranean the origins of Western culture began to take shape. What is it that the Greeks knew about humanity that stands the test of time? They created classic models for politics, literature, architecture, art, music and dance, all interwoven into the emergence of Philosophy as a body of study. The way we are governed, the books we read, the plays we watch and even some of our sporting events have their origins in classical Greek civilization 2500 years ago.…

    • 1584 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the world’s modern day culture quite lavishly. The question that I was asked to answer is, how precisely the Ancient Greece and Rome had influences our au courant culture. I established that they did indeed, help form what is today’s Government, Architecture or Engineering, and Literature or Art among so many other different things.…

    • 806 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Hellenistic period is said to extend from the reign of Alexander the Great to the throne of Macedon in 336 B.C. to the death of Cleopatra VII of Egypt in 30 B.C. Its beginning is marked by Alexander's successful invasion of the Persian Empire and its end by the division of the Middle East between Rome and the new Iranian-ruled kingdom of Parthia. For much of the intervening three hundred years the territory of the former Persian Empire was dominated by a series of Macedonian-ruled kingdoms in which Greeks and Greek culture enjoyed extraordinary domination. Art and literature flourished, the foundations of Western literary scholarship were laid, and Greek scientists formulated ideas of theories that would remain fundamental to work in a variety of fields until the Renaissance.…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Greek civilization was one of the first organized and well-structured societies in history. The Greeks viewed themselves as great and superior to all those that were not of their culture. They thought that most of the outside world consisted of barbarians and, although under the law of Xenia, they were kind and generous to outsiders, they thought of themselves as the more intelligent individuals. Thus, the title and status of being Greek was exceedingly important and those who defied the ways of the Greeks were not considered to be loyal and were often rejected in society. The Athenians, especially, encouraged the involvement of their citizens in…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hellenistic Philosophies

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Hellenistic Period is said to have begun in 323 B.C. with the death of Alexander, it ended at around 30-31 B.C. with the conquest of the last Hellenistic kingdom by the Roman Empire. The division caused by the death of Alexander sparked the Hellenistic period; his Empire divided among his four generals: Cassander, Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Seleucus. Through the Hellenistic period, many advances came about in different fields such as engineering, mathematics, and medicine. New philosophies and religions emerged as well. There were various types of philosophies during the Hellenistic period, these include Cynicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ancient Greek contribution ranged by the 1900-133 BC, however its influence on the Western Literate Society lasts to this day. As the Greeks expanded their empire, they spread their ideas to other countries, while also borrowing from other cultures. During this period of time, the Greeks made many significant and long-lasting contribution to our modern culture in Philosophy, Art, Democracy, Drama, Math, and Science. These givings of important ideas, inventions, and structures have had an extraordinary influence on the surrounding environment, society, and in the future. The essential contribution of Greeks to the Western Civilization are Democracy, Art, and Philosophy.…

    • 1467 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ancient Greek Government

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ancient Greek society had several different forms of government that different city states operated on. These different forms of government dictated different life styles for the citizens of each city states. While each form of government is different there are some similarities between them. I will discuss each of them in detail and we will begin to see where they share similarities and where they contrast from each other.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hellenistic Religion

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page

    The mixing of peoples during the Hellenistic era is one of the trends that influence religion and philosophy. Kings sponsoring new deities, the increase in popularity of mystery religions, and the growth of practical philosophies, were other trends that influenced religion and philosophy.…

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before different societies became interconnected, they were separated by large distances. Because the Hellenistic culture was considered a complete package of high class culture; theater entertainment, art, architecture, language and much more, it was widely accepted and used by many people in different areas. The main part of Hellenism was a common language that was known as koine Greek. Due to the differing languages of regions it would have been difficult for people to communicate with one another, however, because of the mass appeal of Hellenism and the common language it brought with it, communication between people became easy. Through the passage of time, merchants, caravans, and the large transportation of people shaped the geographical…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One of the basic themes of the book is that the thought and the art of classical Athens is full of meaning for people of later generations. It is the full of meaning for nations, cultures and societies beset by broad-scale and profound social and political change and the accompanying confusion and fear produced in the minds and souls of human beings.…

    • 4035 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Better Essays