Alexander the
Great
and Hellenism
Hellenistic Culture
Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.
Alexander the Great
• Son of Phillip II the
king of Macedon
– He conquered most
of Greece
• Alexander will
establish an empire
from Greece to Egypt
and up to the edge of
India
• He adopted Greek
Culture and spread
Hellenism throughout
his empire.
Hellenistic Culture
• It is the blend of Greek culture
with Egyptian, Persian and
Indian influences
Alexandria
• An African
city which
was the
center for
trade and
Hellenistic
culture.
• This city
became an
international
community with
a mix of
customs and
traditions
Ancient Library of Alexandria
• Contained a
collection of 500,000
papyrus scrolls and
masterpieces of
ancient literature
• Was the first true
research library in
the world
• Scholars produced
commentaries on
ancient worlds of
literature.
Science and Technology
• Astronomy- Aristarchus
estimated that the sun was
300 times bigger than Earth
and that the sun was the
center of the universe
• Nobody accepted this
theory. Instead they
thought the Earth was the
center of the universe
Math and Physics
• Euclid – Opened
the school for
geometry in
Alexandria
• Archimedes
accurately
estimated the
value of pi ( ).
Philosophy
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT:
1. Stoicism
– the belief that there was a divine power that
controlled the universe
– Believed everyone should live in harmony
with natural law
2. Epicureanism
- taught that the universe was made of atoms
and ruled by gods who didn’t care about
humans
Pictures Cited
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Slide 2 – http://www.crystalinks.com/alexandermen.jpg
Slide 3 – http://www.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/alexander-l.jpg
Slide 4 – http://bp2.blogger.com
Slide 5 – http://www.ancientsculpturegallery.com/images/227.jpg
Slide 7 – http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/rs/7lighthouse.gif
Slide 8 – http://www.vjv.com/destinations/africa/egypt/heritage-egypt/images/heritageegypt1.jpg
Slide 9 – http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/026019/f4/77249-v6.gif
Slide 10 – http://www.history-magazine.com/lib-alexandria.gif
Slide 11 – http://students.aces.uiuc.edu/system/files/Bibliotheca_Alexandrina.jpeg
Slide 12 – http://www.alia.org.au/groups/active/presentations/alexandria.jpg
Slide 13 – http://asymptotia.com/wp-images/2006/08/solar_system_diag.jpg
Slide 14 – http://www.iaaa.org/pulsar/pictures/mayjun02/ring-galaxy-j-tuccr.jpg
Slide 15 – http://www.idsia.ch/~juergen/archimedes270a.jpg