Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

Hellenistic Period

Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Near East and Egypt (where
the Macedonian king was buried) ushered in a new cultural age that
historians and art historians alike call Hellenistic.The Hellenistic pe-
riod opened with the death of Alexander in 323BCEand lasted nearly
three centuries, until the double suicide of Queen Cleopatra of
Egypt and her Roman consort Mark Antony in 30BCEafter their

decisive defeat at the battle of Actium by Antony’s rival Augustus.

That year, Augustus made Egypt a province of the Roman Empire.

The cultural centers of the Hellenistic period were the court

cities of the Greek kings who succeeded Alexander and divided his

far-flung empire among themselves. Chief among them were Antioch

in Syria, Alexandria in Egypt, and Pergamon in Asia Minor. An inter-

national culture united the Hellenistic world, and its language was

Greek. Hellenistic kings became enormously rich on the spoils of the

East, priding themselves on their libraries, art collections, scientific

enterprises, and skills as critics and connoisseurs, as well as on the

learned men they could assemble at their courts. The world of the

small, austere, and heroic city-state passed away, as did the power and

prestige of its center, Athens. A cosmopolitan (“citizen of the world,”

in Greek) civilization, much like today’s, replaced it.

Architecture

The greater variety, complexity, and sophistication of Hellenistic

culture called for an architecture on an imperial scale and of wide

diversity, something far beyond the requirements of the Classical

polis, even beyond that of Athens at the height of its power. Building

activity shifted from the old centers on the Greek mainland to the

opulent cities of the Hellenistic monarchs in the East.

TEMPLE OF APOLLO, DIDYMAGreat scale, a theatrical

element of surprise, and a willingness to break the rules of canonical

temple design characterize one of the most ambitious temple proj-

ects of the Hellenistic period, the Temple of Apollo at Didyma. The

Hellenistic temple was built to replace the Archaic temple at the site

the Persians had burned down in 494BCEwhen they sacked nearby

Miletos. Construction began in 313BCEaccording to the design of

two architects who were natives of the area,Paionios of Ephesos

and Daphnis of Miletos.So vast was the undertaking, however,

that work on the temple continued off and on for more than 500

years—and still the project was never completed.

The temple was dipteral in plan (FIG. 5-75,left) and had an

unusually broad facade of 10 huge Ionic columns almost 65 feet tall.

The sides had 21 columns, consistent with the Classical formula for

Hellenistic Period 145

5-74Choragic
Monument of
Lysikrates, Athens,
Greece, 334 bce.

The first known
instance of the use
of the Corinthian
capital on the exterior
of a building is the
monument Lysikrates
erected in Athens to
commemorate the
victory his chorus
won in a theatrical
contest.

5-75Paionios of

Ephesosand Daphnis

of Miletos,Temple of

Apollo, Didyma, Turkey,

begun 313 bce.Plan

(left) and aerial view

(right).

This unusual Hellenistic

temple was hypaethral

(open to the sky) and

featured a double perip-

teral (dipteral) colon-

nade with a smaller

temple inside the in-

terior courtyard of the

larger temple.

N

0 25 0 755 1 00 feet

0 5 10 20 30 meters

Dipteral

colonnade

Courtyard

Inner shrine

Oracular

room