Hellenistic Period Essay

Hellenistic Period

In this paper we will answer some key questions on the “Hellenistic Period”. The questions that we will be tackling are, why did the “Hellenistic Period”, following the conquests of Alexander Great, “became a melting pot of cultures” (Sources, 56)? What do we mean by “Hellenization”? Finally, what happened when classical Greek culture met and mixed with Persian, Egyptian and Jewish cultures and religions?

First let’s look at the melting pot question. After the death of Alexander the Great they were questions on what would happen to the empire because, “Although he fathered a successor, the child was not yet born” (History, 97). At this point we see Alexander’s generals started staking claims to territories and spreading

the Empire far and wide. To ensure that there was no threat of a successor Alexander’s son “and his mother, Roxana, were murdered by one of Alexander’s generals” (History, 97). The “Empire was then divided among his generals” (Sources, 59) from that moment on.

As the empire spread so did the Hellenistic culture, but we can also see that some customs were integrated along with the Hellenistic culture. As with Ptolemy I, who claimed the land of Egypt and named himself Pharaoh, “made their capital Alexandria, a cosmopolitan city on the Nile Delta, which many Greeks and Hebrews called home.” (Sources, 59). Here we can see that Hebrews, Greeks and Egyptians all lived under the same rule. “The Ptolemies blended both Greek and Egyptian religious and political systems.” (Sources, 59). Also, we can see on the Egyptian, and Greek “coins depicting Ptolemy VI Philometer (ca. 186 – 145 B.C.E.)” (Sources, 59). With these coins we see the adoption of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s crown and clothing compared to the Greek clothing that was customary. Unfortunately, the incorporation of local religion and customs were met with conflict and we see this with the “Maccabee Revolt ca.175 B.C.E.” (Sources, 67). Alexander’s general Seleucus took control of the Asian part of the Empire and this included the land of the Jewish people, specifically the “Kingdom of Judea.” (Sources, 68). Here we see that Seleucus was not that open to local customs and the Jews were forced to “forbid burnt offerings,

and sacrifices, and drink offerings in the temple; and they should profane the Sabbaths and festival days.” (Sources, 70). The Empire became a melting pot because there was all kinds of rulers and all kind of people that resided in the Empire. It was not just Greek, Jewish or Egyptian, but people from many different cultures and religions. Some leaders were tolerant and incorporated religious and civil customs and others were not so tolerant.
In the same way that we discussed the Empire becoming “a melting pot of different cultures” (Sources, 56) we can also discuss the question of what happened to the classical Greek culture when mixed with Egyptians, Persians and Jewish cultures. We said above that some leaders adopted some of the religions and others did not. This cause the classical Greek culture to morph into the new Hellenistic culture who spread through the world the arts of theater and music, the art of Philosophy, and many other additions. With these great additions we see that the Greeks were also influenced by the cultures they were overthrowing as we saw with the Egyptians.
Finally we look at the question, what do we mean by “Hellenization”? In short “Hellenization is the spread of Greek ideas, culture, and tradition to non-Green groups across a wide area.” (History, 98). We mentioned this whiling speaking of classical Greek mixing with other cultures. This in the perfect example was the Greek spreading their “ideas, culture, and traditions” (History, 98) to the cultures of the Egyptians, Persians and Jewish cultures.
In conclusion, we see that from classical Greek, the battles of Alexander the Great, the redistribution of territories, “Hellenization” of the non-Greek cultures to the incorporation of non-Greek cultures and religions; the Greeks changed and not all territories were the same. There was no uniformity and this is what caused the Melting pot phenomenon to occur. We also said that “Hellenization is the spread of Greek ideas, culture, and tradition to non-Green groups across a wide area.” (History, 98).