The Nike of Samothrace

Hellenistic sculptures is perhaps the most famous of the sculptures of the Hellenistic period. Now found at the Louvre, it has been speaking to visitor’s imagination for several centuries now. But where does it come from?   The drama of Nike Where to begin? It has been on prominent display in the Louvre since 1884 and …

Hellenistic cities IV: Pergamon

Today we continue with a new part of our series on Hellenistic cities: Pergamon.  This was an ancient city located in modern-day Turkey, which played a significant role in the political and cultural landscape of the Hellenistic period. The city’s strategic location, powerful rulers, and impressive monuments made it a major player in the Hellenistic …

The Sogdian Revolt against Alexander the Great

As we near the end of the year, we continue our deep dive on different aspects of Alexander the Great’s life. Today’s guest post by Joshua Zapf looks at the troubles Alexander faced during his campaigns in Central Asia, a topic often overlooked public history. Alexander the Great’s military campaign is generally known for its …

Hellenistic People III: Lydiades of Megalopolis

On this website you can find all sorts of articles about the Ancient Greek world. But the main goal of the Hellenistic History platform is to provide you with more insight into the different aspects of the Hellenistic world. Aside from this series, in which we have a look at some of the famous and …

Anyte: A Hellenistic Poet

During the Hellenistic period, which starts at the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, Greek poetry flourished in new directions. It reflected on the natural, physical landscape in ways Greek poetry had not before. The rise of pastoral poetry – poems about the idealized shepherd reflecting on nature – can be attributed to …

Hellenic vs. Hellenistic: a very big difference!

A few weeks ago, I came across this BBC article which was talking about how the art and architecture of the ancient Greeks is currently influencing many modern designs: from our interior to the jewelry we are wearing. More and more people are turning to the Greeks for help decorating their homes. While I fully …

Hellenistic Cities III: Messene

The last post in this series is from quite a while ago. About high time we change this and delve into the short history of yet another Greek city during the Hellenistic period. This time we turn our eye to Messene. This city lies in the southern part of the Peloponnese in close proximity to …

Myth and Polis XI: Hellenistic kings and kinship myth

We have now reached the eleventh part of the series on the use of mythological kinship in Greek diplomatic interaction. Since most of the sources come from the epigraphic material of the Hellenistic period, we have already looked several times at how mythological kinship was used by cities in that period in their interactions with …

Hellenistic cities III: Hybrid Worship in Alexandria

This is third part of our series on Hellenistic cities where we explore some very famous poleis such as Alexandria or Pergamon as well as some that are a little more obscure like Megalopolis. Each post tells us more about the general history, population or specific aspects of these Greek cities. In today’s post Shiro …

Myth and polis VIII: Alexander’s use of myth during his campaigns

We have already reached the eighth part of this series. In the last two contributions, I have paid extensive attention to the figure of Alexander the Great and we have looked at which mythological ancestors the Macedonian king had and how this descent can still be seen in material sources. In this last part on …