Alexander the Great and the Spread of Hellenistic

Culture

King of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great

Brilliant general and ruthless politicianBuilt up a professional army using the

Greek phalanxInfighting among Greek city-states

for a half-century after the Peloponnesian War

United Greek city-states under his rule

Asked the conquered Greek city-states to join the League of Corinth

Main Goal: Conquer Persia

Phillip II

Alexander’s YouthAs a child, Alexander studied

under AristotleUnder his father’s

leadership, trained for battlePhillip II assassinated in 336

BCHis son Alexander seized

power at the age of 20With Greek city-states

unified under his rule, he set out to conquer Persia

Main Goal: Conquer the known world

Alexander Comes to Power

Stretched from the Nile to the Indus RiversIncluded Persia, Egypt, Greece, and IndiaCultures Blended=Hellenistic

Greatest lasting legacy/accomplishment

Alexander’s Empire

Reached Indus River in 327 BCHis army had been fighting for seven years,

more than 11,00 milesHis soldiers refused to go any further

On way back to Greece, he became illDied from a fever, at age 32Never “ruled” his great empire

Death of Alexander

Divided between his leading generals:Antigonus- Controlled MacedonPtolemy- EgyptSeleucus- Asia Minor and the Fertile Crescent

Alexander’s Empire

Center of Hellenistic culture at Alexandria, Egypt

Greek architecture, statues, etc.

Museum & LibraryOver 500,000 papyrus

scrolls of literature

Hellenistic Culture

Philosopher- literally means “lover of wisdom”

New philosophies coming out of the Hellenistic worldStoic philosophy- Established by Zeno

Divine reason directs the worldEvery person should accept their fate

Epicurean philosophy- Established by EpicurusAim of life to seek pleasure and avoid pain

Philosophy

EuclidImportant to the

development of the field of geometry

Wrote ElementsArchimedes

Calculated the value of pi

Levers and pulleys

Mathematics & Physics

AristarchusConcluded that

the earth and other planets revolved around the sun

EratosthenesCalculated the

distance around the earth

Astronomy & Geography