The Era of Hellenism in Russian school textbooks on the history of the Ancient World

Abstract

The subject of the study is the reflection of the history of the Hellenistic era in current school textbooks on the history of the ancient world (5th grade). The history of Hellenism is one of the most interesting and complex periods in the history of not only Ancient Greece, but also Eastern civilizations, as well as the entire ancient world as a whole. This is the time of the appearance of new states on the political map and the formation of a complex system of relations between the peoples who inhabited them. It is natural to believe that such an important period should have been appropriately reflected in the school course of the history of the ancient world and textbooks: familiarity with the history of Hellenism helps not only to better understand historical processes, but also to study more deeply the history of culture and science that flourished in this era. The analysis of the textbooks, which remain the main source of information for schoolchildren, gives, however, a very ambiguous picture. Analysis of the material of current school textbooks allows us to form an idea of the general trends in the display of the history of Hellenism in the framework of school education. As a result of the consideration of the relevant topics of textbooks, a general trend in the coverage of the history of the Hellenistic era in school textbooks was revealed. The authors of the manuals, as a rule, turn to the vivid example of Alexandria of Egypt, focusing on this city to a much greater extent than on the very fact of the synthesis of Greek and Oriental cultures. The names of the rulers, both the founders of Hellenistic dynasties and their descendants, are mentioned infrequently, much more attention is paid to the development of science and art. Textbooks are limited in the selection and presentation of material both by the cognitive abilities of fifth grade students, who are important not to overload with information, and by a large volume of historical events that need to be packed into a small volume. In light of this, the authors' decision to focus more on culture and art looks quite logical, but the choice of a specific material does not always seem fully justified.