• 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?

Warm-Up

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

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