The vast empire that Alexander the Great left at his death in 323 BC has few parallels. For the next three hundred years the Greeks controlled a complex of monarchies and city-states that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to India. F. W. Walbank's lucid and authoritative history of that Hellenistic world examines political events, describes the different social systems and mores of the people under Greek rule, traces important developments in literature and science, and discusses the new religious movements.
Although Apollonius of Rhodes' extraordinary epic poem on the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece has begun to get the attention it deserves, it still is not well known to many readers and scholars. This book explores the poem's relation to the conditions of its writing in third century BCE Alexandria, where a multicultural environment transformed the Greeks' understanding of themselves and the world. Apollonius uses the resources of the imagination - the myth of the Argonauts' voyage and their encounters with other peoples - to probe the expanded possibilities and the anxieties opened up when definitions of Hellenism and boundaries between Greeks and others were exposed to question. Central to this concern with definitions is the poem's representation of space. Thalmann uses spatial theories from cultural geography and anthropology to argue that the Argo's itinerary defines space from a Greek perspective that is at the same time qualified. Its limits are exposed, and the signs with which the Argonauts mark space by their passage preserve the stories of their complex interactions with non-Greeks. The book closely considers many episodes in the narrative with regard to the Argonauts' redefinition of space and the implications of their actions for the Greeks' situation in Egypt, and it ends by considering Alexandria itself as a space that accommodated both Greek and Egyptian cultures.
Hellenism and Empire explores identity, politics, and culture in the Greek world of the first three centuries AD, the period known as the second sophistic. The sources of this identity were the words and deeds of classical Greece, and the emphasis placed on Greekness and Greek heritage was far greater then than at any other time. Yet this period is often seen as a time of happy consensualism between the Greek and Roman halves of the Roman Empire. The first part of the book shows that Greek identity came before any loyalty to Rome (and was indeed partly a reaction to Rome), while the views of the major authors of the period, which are studied in the second part, confirm and restate the prior claims of Hellenism.
"Wonderful…a thoughtful discussion of what made [the Greeks] so important, in their own time and in ours." —Natalie Haynes, Independent The ancient Greeks invented democracy, theater, rational science, and philosophy. They built the Parthenon and the Library of Alexandria. Yet this accomplished people never formed a single unified social or political identity. In Introducing the Ancient Greeks, acclaimed classics scholar Edith Hall offers a bold synthesis of the full 2,000 years of Hellenic history to show how the ancient Greeks were the right people, at the right time, to take up the baton of human progress. Hall portrays a uniquely rebellious, inquisitive, individualistic people whose ideas and creations continue to enthrall thinkers centuries after the Greek world was conquered by Rome. These are the Greeks as you’ve never seen them before.
Alexander * Demosthenes * Phocion * Eumenes * Demetrius * Pyrrhus * Agis and Cleomenes * Aratus * Philopoemen * Flamininus This selection of ten Lives traces the history of Hellenistic Greece from the rise of Macedon and Alexander's conquest of the Persian empire to the arrival of the Romans. Plutarch's biographies of eminent politicians, rulers, and soldiers combine vivid portraits of their subjects with a wealth of historical information; they constitute a uniquely important source for the period. We see how Greek politics changed as Macedon's power grew, and we learn of the warlords who followed Alexander. Resistance to Macedon is reflected in the Lives of Demosthenes and Aratus, and that of Agis and Cleomenes, two revolutionary kings of Sparta. The volume concludes with the emergence of Rome in Greek affairs, and the life of Flamininus, the Roman general who defeated Philip V of Macedon. Plutarch's elegant style combines anecdote and erudition, humour and psychological insight, consummately translated by Robin Waterfield and introduced by Andrew Erskine. These Lives from the Hellenistic period complement Greek Lives and Roman Lives in Oxford World's Classics. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Societies are defined at their margins. In the ancient Greek world bastards were often marginalized, their affinities being with the female, the alien, the servile, the poor, and the sick. The study of bastardy in ancient Greece is therefore of an importance that goes far beyond the subject's intrinsic interest, and it provides insights into the structure of Greek society as a whole. This is the first full-length book on the subject, and it reviews major evidence from Athens, Sparta, Gortyn, and Hellenistic Egypt, as well as collating and analysing fragmentary evidence from other Greek states. Dr Ogden shows how attitudes towards legitimacy differed across the various city states, and analyses their developments across time. He also advances new interpretations of more familiar problems of Athenian bastardy, such as Pericles' citizenship law. The book should interest historians of a wide range of social topics - from law and the economy, to sexuality and the study of women in antiquity.
The Greeks settled the western and southern coasts of Anatolia in the 11th century BC and Hellenism subsequently diffused inland with the institution of the polis, or city state, whose architecture, way of life and language were essentially Hellenic. Today, many architectural remains still exist and these are discussed and illustrated in this book. Brewster traces the history and development of civilization and building in Anatolia, interspersing the text with stories from Greek mythology.
