Faustinus Ajawara

Dr. DeVore
History 319
May 25, 2018

The Hellenistic World is said to be one that is easily definable. It can be seen as coming to

be after the Death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The Hellenistic ages continued for many more

years behind the decline and fall of many great kingdoms ruled by his successors. The Hellenistic

World continued to constantly undergo changes throughout its existence. Varying from the many

cultural developments that occurred such as visual arts, literature, medicine, mathematics, religion, and

their philosophies which helped shaped them into who they were.

Alexander the Great actually conquered Egypt during the early stages of his conquests.

Alexander respected the pharaonic religions and customs of egypt and allowed them to continue their

practices. As gratitude for his generosity for allowing them to keep their religion and customs, Egypt

proclaimed Alexander as Pharaoh of Egypt. After doing so, Alexander established the city of

Alexandria. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, his empire was divided amongst his generals.

Egypt was given to Ptolemy l Soter, whose descendants would give Egypt its final royal dynasty, which

was largely in favor of the Greeks. The capital of Egypt was proclaimed to be Alexandria. Ptolemy

added legitimacy to his rule in Egypt by acquiring Alexander's body after his death. Ptolemy

intercepted the embalmed corpse of Alexander while it was on its way to being buried. Ptolemy

proceeded to bring the body of Alexander back to Egypt, and placed it in a golden coffin in Alexandria.

Prior to the events that occurred, there was a struggle to acquire knowledge of who would

replace Alexander as ruler. While on his deathbed in Babylon, Alexander proclaimed that there would
be would be a contest over him. “ He also declared ---- is last recorded words-- that all his foremost

friends would hold a great funeral contest over him” (Green, 3). He came to this conclusion because of

his senior commander Perdiccas. Perdiccas was too eager to rule due to the fact that Alexander did not

have an heir to sit on the throne. It was stated that Perdiccas interprettered the gesture of Alexander’s

passing as leaving him in an unchallengeable position of authority. With Alexander proclaiming there

to be a great funeral contest over him, lead to the readiness of many eager and ambitious generals and

commanders.

The aftermath of Alexander’s death was beginning to take its toll. During a long period of time,

discussions were held between many officers who had gathered in Babylon within a few days of

Alexander’s death. The officers were there to determine as to who would be in charge of the empire.

The knowledge that one of Alexander’s wives were pregnant was brought up into the discussion.

Ptolemy was said to have suggested for the council should govern the empire, while they wait for the

birth of Alexander’s child before making any permanent decisions regarding the throne. The proposal

was well liked by most except for Perdiccas for one reason only. Perdiccas wanted for himself to have

executive control of the empire entirely to himself. “It was a popular position, but Perdiccas wanted

executive control for himself” (Bugh, 28). Although Perdiccas was later confirmed to be Chiliarch of

the empire, the idea to wait for the birth of Alexander’s child was also upheld as well.

The Macedonians living in the city at the time as well acted upon the opportunity of the chaos

to proclaim one of their own as the king. The palace where the council was meeting was stormed by the

Macedonians. Forcing the council to accept that another compromise can be made with appointed

Philip iii as the king. This was the case while everyone waited to see if Alexander’s wife would bear a

son, which she did. This caused for a joint kingship between the Macedonians.
 Unity was restored between the two groups when the council appointed new satraps and army

commanders after Perdiccas had the previous leader of the Phalanx killed. Perdiccas finally came into

power when he married Alexander’s sister Kleopatra. Allowing him to rule over the lands while

dropping the alliance with Antipatros. Battles were waged against Perdiccas, it was alleged that his

own officers killed him when he failed to force the Nile line against Ptolemy in Egypt.

As the Hellenistic period continues, the early centuries were filled with struggles and drama of

whom was to be in power and what not. Literature began to change drastically. Alexandria continued

to strive and adapt throughout decades of violence and revolts. As the Roman empire declined, so did

the commerce on which Alexandria had depended on. The city of Alexandria was eventually captured

by the Persians during its time of weakness in the 616. Alexandria was then later captured again by the

Arabs a few years after.

Ptolemy, was a Greek educated Macedonian who wanted to be in the sight of the

Mediterranean. Ptolemy also decided that Alexandria was going to be more than a great commercial

port. He wanted Alexandria to be the new home and breeding ground for the best Greek art, science

and as well as scholarship. Aristotle was the one who had influenced Ptolemy in his philosophical

ideologies. Ptolemy was ready to support learning for its own sake for the betterment of Alexandria.

“The implications of such a decision are far-reaching. Most importantly in the new, and significant,

preoccupation with the past that we have already noted in other contexts” (Green, 84). Not only did

Ptolemy’s idea involve a crucial valued judgement, it implied that early Greek civilization were on of

unequaled standards regarding art, science, and literature. Ptolemy deemed it as of an extreme cultural

importance for the future.

In all attempts, Ptolemy attempted to lure Aristotle’s successor Theophrastus away from athens
in an attempt to have him plan his new learning center, but was respectively turned down. Theophrastus

did indeed pont Ptolemy to another philosopher who he thought may be of good help to Ptolemy

towards completing his desires. Ptolemy saw no one fit of from the local talent in Alexandria to help

with this tasks, hence why he sought outside Greek help in order to achieve his goals. Since Alexandria

was seen as containing polyglot immigrants with diverse traditions, it had no true ethnic identity or

central religion. The idea behind the new appointment of the deity Serapis was so that the Greeks who

are living in Egypt can receive some devotion towards them. During a time in the Hellenistic ages, a

sense of individualism and naturalism was developed in the Hellenistic culture. This is the case because

due to the fact that Ptolemy brought in outside philosophers, it gave them a sense of freedom without

having to worry about the socio aesthetic restraints that previously lingered.

A new age of literature was starting to appear. The invention of punctuation and system of

accents were introduced by Ptolemy’s philosophers. While doing so, a strange improvement in

handwriting also started to take place. Scribes began to break free from the restraints of epigraphical

models. These styles were typically practiced because it was used to develop an elegant, flowing script,

which occasionally made it easier for copying and more easy and comfortable reading.

The initial objective of Ptolemy's reign was to establish firm and broad boundaries to his

kingdom. This led to almost continuous warfare against other leading members of Alexander's circle.

At times, Ptolemy held control of Cypru and even parts of mainland Greece. When these conflicts were

over with, he was firmly in control of Egypt and had strong claims to Palestine. He called himself king

of Egypt from 306 BC. By the time he stepped down from the throne in 285 BC, in favor of one of his

sons, his Ptolemaic dynasty was well secured. Ptolemy and his descendants show respect to Egypt's

most cherished traditions, those of religion and turned them to their own advantage. Alexandria
continued to be the center of the Greece and the Hellenistic world and the center of international

commerce, art and science. During the era, the Alexandria lighthouse was one of the seven wonders of

the world. During the reign of ptolemy’s son, Ptolemy ii Philadelphus, the library of Alexandria was

the biggest library in the world. This was the case until it was destroyed during war times.

When it came to Hellenistic arts, perspective provided the link between the real world artistic

illusion. Art was seen as being an important aspect to kings, especially when it came to portraits of

them being created. They requested that the portraits reflect everything they did stand for. As they

found social and political change in literature and philosophy, they as well found it in architecture and

visual arts. It reflected the new styles, new themes, new conventions they were trying to attain. The

period in which these changes are often noticed were roughly between 380 to 370. After the

Peloponnesian war, it became quite common for honorific portraits to be painted of the generals. This

helped bring a new realism to representative art. Many aspects of Alexandria continued to evolve as

time passed by. Sports, commerce, litigation, entertainment, debate and agriculture began to improve as

well.

Hellenistic Medicine was thought to be a working discipline with a stake in human lives.

Although it’s hard to say if any Hellenistic literary had survived, a bit of evidence was left behind of

the evolution of medicine flourished in the form of temple healing and medical magic. Medicine was

seen as being a prominent part in shaping Hellenistic culture. It was also said to have taken its toll in

the fields of research. Green stated that “ As a result of all these interlocking factors the Greek medical

tradition came to embody and extraordinary mixture of practical know-how, superstitious nonsense,

and theories, ranging from the brilliant to the lunatic, which was based on false if not irrational

assumptions” (Green, 485). Green then continues to address how we might relate the procedures that
were done during those times to those of modern medicine.

Bibliography

Green, Peter. Alexander to Actium: the Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. University of
California Press, 1993.

Bugh, Glenn R. The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009.