ORG - Hellenism and Buddhism (Lesson)

Hellenism and Buddhism

This lesson is entitled "Hellenism and Buddhism." One is a cultural and social structure and the other is a religion/philosophy. One originated along the Mediterranean Sea and the other in South Asia. One is the result of an entire society's evolution and the other the result of one man's personal evolution. So why are these seemingly disparate topics lumped together in the same lesson? The answer lies in the fact that Hellenism and Buddhism spread beyond their original borders in a manner of cultural diffusion that did not exist before.

Hellenism

While previously discussing the "Second-Generation Societies" of the Mediterranean World, we mainly focused on Athens. This was a natural focus as we were discussing "Axial Age Thinkers" and Athens was the cultural and intellectual capital of the Greek city-states. But there were other "Second-Generation Societies" within modern-day Greece at that time; and they too, served as "capitals" of other social institutions. For example, Corinth was seen by some as the capital of trade or wealth; some claimed Olympia to be the capital of sporting events. But almost everybody declared Sparta the capital of military might. (And based on what happened next in history, one could make the case that it was the capital of jealousy.)

You see, not only did we make Athens the first focus of our study on "Second-Generation Societies" in the Mediterranean world, but Athens back then was the focus of the Mediterranean world as well. Serving as the capital of the Delian League, Athens wielded exceptional power and influence over the other Greek city-states, or poleis, even though they were independent. While the Persians were a threat, the Greek city-states worked somewhat together to keep that threat at bay. But as time passed and the Persians were no longer a threat to the autonomy of the Greek city-states, some of the other city-states felt that Athens had grown too powerful for comfort. This was especially true for the city-state of Sparta. However, what actually ignited the military conflict between Athens and Sparta resulted from a dispute Athens had with Corinth over the Corinthian "colony" of Corcyra. [Helpful Background: During the Persian Wars, the Greek city-states formed alliances with each other against a Persian invasion to dispel a foreign threat. After the Persian Wars, though, the Greek city-states formed alliances with each other to dispel domestic threats coming from other Greek city-states. Athens and Corcyra had such an alliance to protect Corcyra from Corinth. Corinth had such an alliance with Sparta to protect Corinth from Athens.] Because of alliances, when Corinth moved in on Corcyra, Athens attacked Corinth; and when Athens attacked Corinth, Sparta attacked Athens—the whole house of cards built on alliances came crashing down and resulted in the Peloponnesian War, so named for the island of Peloponnesus on which Sparta was located. From 431 to 404 BCE, the Greek "capitals" of culture and military might went head to head with help from each city-state's allies.

When the war ended and the dust settled, the Spartans emerged as the victors; but all of the participating Greek city-states were extremely weakened from the decades of constant war. Seeing an opportunity, King Philip II of Macedon marched through Greece and conquered all of the Greek city-states. Naturally, in creating an empire in that manner, Philip developed quite a few enemies. Ultimately, his own bodyguard assassinated him in 336 BCE for reasons unknown.

Upon Philip's assassination, his son, Alexander rose to power over the Macedonian Empire. He inherited a huge empire with a powerful military—and he decided to use it. Alexander (not yet of "the Great" title) decided to make a name for himself—first by subduing a revolt in the city of Thebes and then by marching into Persia and conquering them. Led by Alexander (soon-to-be "the-great,") the Macedonian army (with Greek participants) smashed through the Persian Empire, as planned, seizing Persian treasure troves along the way. Alexander redistributed the Persian wealth among his own people, which provided funding for more military conquests in Asia and Africa. Wherever Alexander's army marched, he renamed cities or founded new cities after himself. For example, the famous city of Alexandria in Egypt took its name from Alexander (who-should-probably-get-his "the great"-title-now.)

After conquering southwest Asia, Alexander the Great continued his march east—eventually expanding the Macedonian Empire to the Indus River in South Asia. Below, you can see just how far Alexander the Great traveled with his army—and just how much territory they conquered.

Obviously, based on looking at this map, we can see that Alexander earned his "the Great" title going a different route than old Cyrus the Great (of Persian Empire fame) earned his. Unfortunately for Alexander the Great, he wasn't able to enjoy his successes for very long. While in modern-day India, Alexander the Great's troops expressed a desire to go home (or mutinied, depends on how you look at it) and they all started their long voyage back together (prudently leaving some soldiers behind in constructed garrison towns to oversee the recently acquired territories.) Along the way, they stopped in Babylon where Alexander the Great became ill—no one really knows from what—and died at the age of 32 in 323 BCE.

Rumor has it that just before his death, someone asked Alexander the Great whom should succeed him as ruler over the vast empire he'd constructed and his response was "the strongest." Whether or not this is true, Alexander the Great's successors did come from his cast of generals- as they carved apart the Macedonian Empire, taking lands for themselves and their families and setting up new Hellenic kingdoms.

 

The Three Territorial-States of the Hellenistic World

• The Seleucid Empire—General Seleucus—comprised of the newly-conquered lands in southwest and central Asia (the Second " Persian Empire ")
• The Macedonian Empire—General Antigonus—Macedon and Greece
• Egypt—General Ptolemy—Egypt and the Ptolemaic Dynasty

"Hellenism" is a term that means the ancient Greek culture and ideals as expressed in language, art, architecture, politics, entertainment, religion, education and other social norms. And the Hellenization (the adoption of Greek culture) within Europe, Asia and Africa resulted from the conquests of the Macedonian army and the Macedonian leader, Alexander the Great. Remember that while the Macedonians were a separate people from the Greeks, they shared a written language- Greek, they shared gods- Greek gods, they shared architecture- the Greek architecture, they shared teachers- Greek philosophers, (Alexander the Great was a student of Aristotle)...you get the picture. So it wasn't so odd that the Macedonians, with their Greek ways, were responsible for the Hellenization of parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Therefore, don't get too distracted by the irony of the spread of Hellenism by the Macedonians. Instead, let's focus on the effects of this Hellenization.

 

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.

MAP BY US ARMY CARTOGRAPHER, PUBLIC DOMAIN.