Week 8 - Hellenistic Cities Flashcards
Last period of Greek timeline
Hellenistic period 323 (Alexander Great death)
Hellenistic Kingdoms
- borders shift through period, but development of three major kingdoms
1. Antigonid Macedonia/Greece
2. Seleukid Asia (Attalis Pergamon)
3. Ptolemaic Egypt
Life in the Hellenistic Period
Royalty
- large scale palaces that are just versions of a house
- new cities founded
- royal patronage
- Greece fades into the background (uncertain times)
Hellinistic Coinage
- royal coinages
- heads with Alexander on them
- over time ruler potraits are more common
- head of state on one side and something important to the state on reverse
The Birth of Art Collecting
- wealthy Hellenistic monarchs collected originals/copies to adorn their cities and residences
- art is now PURELY decorative
The Hellenistic Baroque (art style)
- the kingdom of Peragamon as centre
- vigorous gestures, dramatic emotions
- there are some great artists but they are inferior to people of Classical artists
- decline in art style?
The Nike of Samothrace
explain significance of art style switch
- shift toward more emotion and drama compared to Paionios in Classical period
The Weary Boxer
HELLENISTIC ART EXAMPLE
- broken nose
- puffy eye
- worn down
Historical Background of Pergamon
- prehistoric inhabitants
- Philetairos (one of the founders of Attalid dynasty) / family of the Attalids
- Territorial expansion followed by creation of Roman province of Asia
- modern Bergama a city
Money in Pergamon
- cloised coinage system (produced on a lower standard/cheaper)
- they don’t leave their area
- people have to trade higher value coins for their money
- no ruler potrait (snake design known as Cistophori), Cista Mystica
- continues through the Roman Imperial Period
The Acropolis of Pergamon
- inland (not on the coast)
- Kings try to adopt Athenian identity
- they fund parts of the Athens
- mirrors Anatolian cities
The Theatre at Pergamon
Greek theatres
- Dionysus
- Built into hills
- Orchestra (where the action actualy happened) , skene (backdrop)
- theatron (seating area)
The Temple of Athena in Pegamon
- victory bearing Athena
- fourth century, Doric style
- commemorative monuments to victory over the guals
The Library of Pergamon
- built by Eumenus II
- library is gifted to Cleopatra VII from Marcus Antonius
- they wrote on parchment and the codex (pages bound together) instead of papyrus
The Great Altar of Pergamon
- stairs led up to altar
- outer frieze: gigantomachy
- inner frieze: telephos
- freestanding statutes along roofline and bwteen columns
- now in Berlin
Exterior Frieze of the Great Altar of Pergamon
- Athena fighting a giant
- giants have snake legs
Alexandria History
- founded in 331 BCE by Alexander
- multiple Alexandrias
- his tmb was located here
- Ptolemaic Dynasty (300 years long)
- then Cleopatra dies and Egypt becomes a Roman province with Alexandria as the capital
- Strabo (writer) late 1st century BCE
The Founding of Alexandria
- it was a village before Alexander
- he saw it was a good village and took advantage of it
Coinage
in Alexandria
- closed currency system
- kings and queens represented
- circulated locally
- much more rigid
- people had to turn in their coins and given Alexandrian coins (works as a tax)
- gold was the standard metal
- abandon Alexandar and put Ptolmey and Arsinoe (queens appearing beside the king)
Cleopatra VII
- strict divide between Greeks and Egyptians
- final Monarch in Tomic Dynasty
- she was represented differently
- Greek one: greek style
- Cleopatra DESIGN FROM EGYPT: hard stone, more detail on head piece
City Plan of Alexandria
lighthouse place
- very sparse
- we don’t know a lot
- lighthouse
- palace
- muesuem and library
- wide central crossing
The Mouseion (Museum)
In Alexandria
- shrine to the Muses and place for scholarly studying and teaching
- contained the Library of Alexandria (largest in the world)
- Burned by Julius Caesar
The Pharos (Lighthouse)
- helios on the top
- oil lamp held by helios
- represented on coins
- winding staircase
- two tritons in middle
