Pollitt Chapter 5 Alexander The Great And The Hellenistic Age

Pollitt Chapter 5Alexander the GreatAnd the Hellenistic Age

The Hellenistic Period 404-323 BCEThe Peloponnesan War ended in 404 BCE,and the military power of Athens came to anend. Initially the victorious Spartans ruledAthens with a heavy hand as the cities ofMainland Greece engaged in changingalliances and continued strife.In the meantime, Macedon, a kingdomin the north of Greece, was building itsmilitary power under king Philip (359-339),and in 338 BCE Philip defeated the unitedGreeks at the Battle of Chaeonea toestablish Macedonian power over mainlandGreece. A monumental lion (left) marks thesite of the battle.

Alexander the Great succeeded his father,Philip, in 336, and in the few shortyears before his death in 323 BCEextended Macedonian dominion over mostof the Mediterranian and as far east asIndia. After Alexander’s death, afterdecades of bitter struggle, by the end ofthe 3rd century, Alexander’s empire wasdivided into three: Ptolemy ruled in Egypt,Seleucus ruled Mesopotamia, andCassander was declared king of Macedon.Athens was ruled first by Demetrios ofPhalleron (appointed by Cassander) andthen by a string of successors until the citybecame a Roman province in 147 BCE.Hellenistic Bust of SocratesDuring the 5th century, Socrates (above) had been a familiarpresence in the Athenian Agora. His “dialogues” soughtthe improvement of his fellow citizens. After Socrates’ deathIn 399 BCE, Aristotle, a student of Socrates’ and tutorto the young Alexander of Macedon, turned his attentionto scientific description of nature.

Circular Shrine (“tholos”) of Asklepios at Epidaurosca 350 BCE. Above (right) a ceiling coffer

Tall, slender columns of the Templeof Zeus at Athens, the “Olympeion”were erected in 174 BCE.

Acanthus leaves decorate definethe column capitals of theOlympeion (above). Acanthus isa common sight in the moderncity (right).

Roman copies of two works by Polykleitos450-440 BCE (below).God from Artemiseionca. 470 BCE (above)

New York (Met. Mus.)Vatican (Rome)BerlinVatican (Rome)Four Roman copies perhaps from the same Greek original bronze statue of anAmazon that dated to ca. 440-430

“Sauroktonos” (“Lizzard Slayer”) identifiedby Pliny (Roman) as an Apollo – Praxitelesca 350-330 BCE (Roman copy)Compare the figure of Apollo whose powerhelped the Lapiths defeat the centaurs onthe Olympia Pediment (460 BCE)

Attic Grave StoneCa 340-320 BCE(from Athens) (AthensNational Museum)

Aphrodite 320-280BCE (Rome) (left)(Roman copy)Aphrodite 3rd cent.BCE (Louvre) (center)(Roman copy)Aphrodite Praxitelesc.330 BCE (Vatican)(Roman copy)

Lysippus Hermes(Roman copy)Lysippos “Apoxymenos”325-300 (Roman copy)Lysippos Herakles c.330“Farnese Herakles”(Roman copy)

Satyr holds the infant DionysosLysippos ca 300 BCE (Romancopy) (Louvre) (left)Hermes holds the infant Dionysos (above)Praxiteles ca 330-320 BCE (Olympia)

Nike of Samothrace c. 190 BCE(Louvre) (above)Aphrodite from Milos (“Venus deMilo”) 2nd cent. BCE (Louvre) (right)

Dionysian figure seated on apanthar skin (“Belvedere Torso”)ca 200 BCE (Roman copy) (Rome)Sleeping Satyr (“Barbarini Faun”)220 BCE (Munich) (above)

Blinding of the Cyclops (from Sperlonga, Italy)2nd cent. BCE (head of Odysseus, right)

Laocoon and his sons crushed bySnakes from the sea ca 50 BCE(Roman copy) (Vatican Museum)

Satyr, Marsyas, punished for boastingthat he was a better musician thanApollo. 250-200 BCE (Istanbul Mus)

Old FisherwomanOld Fisherman200 BCE (Roman copy) 2nd cent. BCE (Romancopy) (New York)(Rome)Greek Lyric Poet(Louvre)

Lysippos Bronze Boxer3rd-2nd cent. BCE (Rome)Sleeping Slave Boy(Rome)

Hunchback ca 250 BCEHamburg (left)Dwarf carrying a vase,perhaps 1st cent. BCE,Alexandria (center)Hunchback 3rd cent. BCEfrom Asia (Berlin Mus)

Portrait of Homer ca 200 BCE(Louvre)Lysippos c. 350 Portrait ofSocrates (Rome)

Silver Oinochoe ca 200BCE (from Gnathia)Silver Oinochoe (Wine Pitcher)350-325 BCE Macedonian(Thessalonike Mus)

“Dherveni Krater” 2nd-3rd cent.BCE (Thessaloniki Mus)

Below: 2 sides of an Attic Leges Gamikosca 320 BCEAbove: Attic Red Figure KalyxKrater ca 330 BCE (Athens)

“Epichysis” from Gnathia,So. Italy 350-320 (center)(Toronto)Silver “kantharos” fromMacedon 350-325 BCE(Thessaloniki) (below)Pelike from Gnathia, So. Italy4th cent BCE(Ontario Mus)(left above)

ABCDEvolution of the shape of the PanathenaicAmphoraA-B 6th centuryC: 363-359 BCED: 340-339 BCEE: 2nd cent BCEE

Alexander the Great And the Hellenistic Age . The Peloponnesan War ended in 404 BCE, and the military power of Athens came to an end. Initially the victorious Spartans ruled Athens with a heavy hand as the cities of Mainland Greece engaged in changing alliances and continued strife.