ALEXANDER
THE GREAT
AND
THE SPREAD OF GREEK CULTURE
i.
ii.
iii.
i. Political – absolutism, emperor worship
ii. Religious – mystery cults – resurrection and personal salvation
i. Philosophers – Aristotle, Plato, Socrates
ii. Literature – Greek drama and poetry
iii. Art – emphasis on harmony, proportion – “Man the measure of all things”
iv. Science – emphasis on rational thought
v. Politics – democracy, rights and duties of citizens
i. Common language – Koine
ii. Urban culture
1. Markets for agricultural produce
2. Commercial exchange
3. Centers for Hellenism
i. Library and Museum
ii. Center for Science
1.
2. Archimedes
a. Archimedean screw
b. King Hieron’s crown
3. Herophilos, anatomy
4. Erasistratos, causes of death
5. Aristarchus, heliocentric theory
6. Eratosthenes, circumference of earth
7. Ptolemy, planetary motions, sun and moon
i.
ii. Porch of Stoics (Stoa Poikile) Zeno – purpose of life was to live in accordance with nature (God’s will)
i. Stoics (closest to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle):
1. Philosophers
a. Zeno of Citium (c. 250 BC)
b. Chrysippus (c. 220 BC)
c. Seneca (c. 50 AD)
d. Epictetus (c. 80 AD)
2. Philosophy
a. Virtue through reason
i. Four natures: tree, animal, man and God
ii. Man and God are rational
iii. God is perfect by nature
iv. Man should practice to be as God-like as possible
b. Fate – Man does not have free will; he is compelled to follow what is destined, so he should embrace fate and not struggle against it
c. Gods
i. Not anthropomorphic
ii. God is perfect rational principle; thus evil does not exist
d. Wise man or Sage
i. Model for life
ii. Does nothing he could regret; does everything honorably, consistently, seriously and rightly
iii. Is not surprised by anything since he can’t know the future
ii.
Epicureans
1. Philosophers
a. Epicurus (300 BC)
b. Lucretius (c. 60 BC)
2. Philosophy
a. Virtually antagonistic to Stoicism
b. Tetrapharmakos (Fourfold Cure)
i. Don’t fear God
ii. Don’t worry about death
iii. What is good is easy to get
iv. What is terrible is easy to endure
c. Pleasure (absence of pain) Virtue = obtaining pleasure
d. Free Will Fate does not exist
e. Gods They exist but don’t rule the world
f. Death
i. Simply the absence of sensation
ii. World filled with atoms and void
iii. There is no better place; “all good and evil lie in sensation”
iii.
Skeptics
1. Academic (dogmatic) Skeptics
a. Philosophers
i. Arcesilaus (c. 290 BC)
ii. Carneades (c. 140 BC)
b. Philosophy
i. The only thing they know is that the world is unknowable
ii. Tranquility = accepting you don’t know anything
2. Pyrrhonian (living) Skeptics
a. Philosophers
i.
Pyrrho of
ii. Sextus Empiricus (c. 190 AD)
b. Philosophy
i. Equally opposed arguments result in
ii. Suspended judgment – nothing is good or bad by nature - resulting in
iii. Tranquility
iv. Following appearance: requirements of daily life
1. Guidance of nature
2. Compulsion of the feelings
3. The tradition of laws and customs
4. The instruction of the arts
iv.
Cynics
1. Virtue through self-sufficiency
2. Thwarted customs which trained people away from self-sufficiency