Warm-Up
• What was the main cause of the
Peloponnesian War?
• What was the significant effect of the
Peloponnesian War.
• What are the drawbacks of wanting to be
the greatest?
Alexander the Great and
Hellenistic Culture
After the Peloponnesian War
• Athens and Sparta are both weak
• Macedonia is located to the north,
and sees Greece falling apart
• Phillip II of Macedon sees a golden
opportunity to expand his empire
– Greeks are disorganized and easily fall
apart
Macedonia and Greece
Alexander the Great
• After Phillip’s death in 336 BCE, his son
Alexander rises to power
• Alexander expands the empire to
cover from Greece, to Egypt, and the
outskirts of India.
• As he expands the empire, he expands
the cultural influence of Greece
Alexander’s Empire
Cities all over the Empire
were named Alexandria in
Alexander’s honor.
Alexander’s Accomplishments
• Alexander’s conquest and trade spread
Greek and other cultures
– The mix of Greek culture with Egyptian,
Indian, and Persian culture became known
as the Hellenistic culture
• Responsible for making Alexandria,
Egypt, the new home of learning and
knowledge
– Museums, libraries, other buildings
– Meeting place for international community of
culture
Reading Questions
• What did Alexander the Great model his
newly conquered cities after?
• How did Alexander treat conquered
people? Give examples of this treatment.
• What was the Hellenistic Era?
– What cultures made up the Hellenistic Era?
• What was the new center of Greek
culture? What did it have that made it a
center of learning?
• What happened to Alexander’s empire
after he died?
Alexandria, Egypt
• Advancements made it unique
– Wide streets split into blocks (Indian
influence)
– Statues of gods sculpted in public (Greek)
– Lighthouse of Alexandria made for ships
to navigate at all hours of the day
– The Library at Alexandria held many works
and old papyrus rolls
• Promoted learning and writing
Hellenistic Achievements
• Astronomy improves
– Observatory built, people observe the size
of planets, the sun, etc
– Accurately measured the size of Earth
– Ptolemy develops geocentric model of
the universe
• Philosophic Advancements
– Stoicism—believed the world was run by
divine power
• People should live by natural law and harmony
– Epicureanism—believed the world is made of
atoms and ruled by the gods
• Gods don’t care about humans
• Art changes from idealistic to realistic
– Emotional faces and new subjects
– Hellenistic culture spread until around 150
BCE when Rome became the new place to
be
• HELLENISM SPREAD THROUGH TRADE