Alexander the Great and the Spread of Hellenistic Culture

2.  King of Macedon, father of Alexander
the Great
 Brilliant general and ruthless politician
 Built up a professional army using the
Greek phalanx
 Infighting 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

3.  Alexander’s Youth
 As a child, Alexander studied
under Aristotle
 Under his father’s leadership,
trained for battle
 Phillip II assassinated in 336 BC
 His son Alexander seized power
at the age of 20
 With Greek city-states unified
under his rule, he set out to
conquer Persia
 Main Goal: Conquer the known
world

4.  Stretched from the Nile to the Indus Rivers
 Included Persia, Egypt, Greece, and India
 Cultures Blended=Hellenistic
 Greatest lasting legacy/accomplishment

5.  Reached Indus River in 327 BC
 His army had been fighting for seven years, more than
11,00 miles
 His soldiers refused to go any further
 On way back to Greece, he became ill
 Died from a fever, at age 32
 Never “ruled” his great empire

6.  Divided between his leading generals:
 Antigonus- Controlled Macedon
 Ptolemy- Egypt
 Seleucus- Asia Minor and the Fertile Crescent

7.  Center of Hellenistic
culture at Alexandria,
Egypt
 Greek architecture,
statues, etc.
 Museum & Library
 Over 500,000 papyrus
scrolls of literature

8.  Philosopher- literally means “lover of wisdom”
 New philosophies coming out of the Hellenistic world
 Stoic philosophy- Established by Zeno
 Divine reason directs the world
 Every person should accept their fate
 Epicurean philosophy- Established by Epicurus
 Aim of life to seek pleasure and avoid pain

9.  Euclid
 Important to the
development of the field
of geometry
 Wrote Elements
 Archimedes
 Calculated the value of pi
 Levers and pulleys

10.  Aristarchus
 Concluded that the
earth and other
planets revolved
around the sun
 Eratosthenes
 Calculated the
distance around the
earth