Compass Life Adult Sunday School
Pastor Pete
February 9, 2014
“Alexander the Great”
I. Book Recommendation: “Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness” by Guy Maclean Rogers, Random
House, New York, New York 2005
II.
“Ancient World Powers”
________________ Empire
________________ Empire
________________ Empire
________________ Empire
Alexander the Great
Ptolemy
Seleucid
Maccabean Revolt
Hasmonean Rule
“The Persian Kings”
538-332 BC
332-167
332-323
323-198
198-143
167-143
143- 63
________________ Empire
63-
Darius the Mede (Dan. 5:31)
Cyrus II (the Great)
Cambyses II
Darius I
Xerxes (Ahasuerus)
Artaxerxes I
Darius II
Artaxerxes II
Artaxerxes III
Artaxerxes IV
Darius III
Artaxerxes V (Bessus)
(539)
(558-529)
(529-522)
(522-485)
(485-465)
(465-424)
(424-404)
(404-358)
(358-338)
(338-336)
(336-330)
(330-329)
III. The Prophecy of Daniel 8:1-8
IV. The Life of Alexander the Great
He was supposedly related to the Greek heroes Hercules from his father's side and __________ from his
mother's side. When Alexander was ___, his father left the country to do battle, leaving Alexander as regent, or
temporary ruler of Macedonia. He tamed a _________ named Bucephalus when he was a kid. It was his main
horse until it died of old age. Alexander named a city in India after his horse. He never ________ a single battle.
Legend has it that the Temple of Artemis ___________ the day of Alexander's birth because Artemis was busy
attending the birth. Alexander the Great was born on July 20, 356 BC. He died at the young age of _______ in
323 BC. Alexander's father was King _________ the II. Philip II had built up a strong and united empire in
Ancient Greece, which Alexander inherited. Like most children in Athens, Alexander was _________ as a
child and learned mathematics, reading, writing, and how to play the lyre. He also would have been instructed
on how to ________, ride a horse, and hunt. When Alexander turned thirteen, his father Philip II wanted the
best _________ possible for him. He hired the great philosopher ___________. In return for tutoring his son,
Philip agreed to restore Aristotle's hometown of Stageira, including setting many of its citizens free from
_________. At school Alexander met many of his future generals and friends such as _________ and
___________. He also enjoyed reading the works of _________, the Iliad and the Odyssey. After securing the
throne and getting all of Greece under his control, Alexander turned east to conquer more of the civilized world.
He moved swiftly using his military genius to win battle after battle conquering many peoples and rapidly
expanding the Greek empire. Here is the order of his conquests: First he moved through Asia Minor and what
is today __________. He took over Syria defeating the Persian Army at Issus and then laying siege to
_________. Next, he conquered Egypt and established ____________ as the capital. After Egypt came
Babylonia and Persia, including the city of ________. Then he moved through Persia and began to prepare for a
campaign in India. At this point Alexander had accumulated one of the largest empires in history. However, his
soldiers were ready to __________. They wanted to return home to see their wives and children. Alexander
agreed and his army turned back. Alexander only made it back to __________ where he became suddenly sick
and died. No one is sure what he died from, but many suspect poison.
V. The Macedonians and Israel
For the longest time in world history, ________ was a small, divided country at the extreme western end of the
known world. They were a seemingly insignificant player in global events that saw the Babylonians and
__________ rise and become masters of the world. Great rivers and impassable __________ dominate its
topography. Thus, for centuries the communities of Greece were disparate and antagonistic toward each other.
Unable to ever successfully put up a ___________ or government, the Greek tribes developed as city-states.
The most famous were: Athens, ________, Thebes and __________. In about 420 BCE, Sparta made an
agreement with ________ to use part of the Persian navy to bottle up the Athenian fleet. In the last
Peloponnesian War, the Persians bottled up the Athenian fleet and the Spartans won the war. However, the
victory came at a great price: the ________ were now in Greece for the first time. In about the year 370 BC, a
king arose in ____________ known as Philip of Macedon. Macedonians were looked down upon and despised
by the Athenians and Spartans because they were boorish and ___________. Philip was a great warrior and
organizer. In 7 years he was able to subdue all the Greek city-states and ___________, something that had not
happened in almost five centuries. Persia ruled the world. However, Philip took his battle-tested army into Asia
Minor, near what is today ____________, and in one of the classic battles of history defeated the Persian army.
As he turned to conquer the rest of the world, _________, which often happens. Just when someone thinks he
has it made it turns out that he made the reckoning without taking ________ into consideration. Philip died but
left a son, who would become one of the single greatest forces in history, Alexander the Great. Philip did not
want Alexander to grow up to be a coarse and boorish Macedonian. So he gave him a tutor: the renowned
philosopher __________. It was Aristotle who implanted in Alexander the philosophic ideals of the
_________. Alexander was not a pagan because Aristotle was not a pagan. Aristotle’s concept of God was that
a _________ exists. The Greeks believed that God existed, which is very important because it will help explain
one reason why Alexander was able to _________ the Jewish religion. Alexander took over his father’s
leadership position when he was yet a teenager. One of his campaigns brought him to the Land of _______. He
arrived during the reign of the great High Priest, the last of the Men of the Great Assembly, __________ the
Just. The Jews were terrified of the now victorious Greeks, because they had backed ________ in the war.
Simon the Just came forth with other members of the priesthood, as well as the sages of the __________, to
greet Alexander at the gates of Jerusalem. When Alexander saw Simon he dismounted and _________ to him.
When his advisors questioned him, he told them that whenever he went into battle he dreamed of an angel
leading him to victory. The face of the Jewish High Priest, he said, was the face of __________ he saw in his
dreams. That was why he bowed down to him. Because of Aristotle, Alexander was positively disposed toward
the Jews. Instead of destroying and subjugating them, he made an arrangement with them. As long as they
would be his loyal vassals and pay their _______ they could remain autonomous. That was an enormous
concession because Alexander was rarely that accommodating to anyone. Out of gratitude to Alexander, the
Jews did a few things. First, they agreed to _____________ born the next year “Alexander.” They showed
Alexander their gratitude by naming their children after him they unwittingly opened the door to the
_________ language. The Jews also agreed to install a system of tax collection that would lead to terrible
corruption. Indeed, it was so inherently corrupt that the Talmud held that anybody who was a tax collector was
presumed to be a __________. When Alexander died his entire empire could have fallen apart at that moment,
but split into two. The northern empire was ruled by Seleucus and became known as the Seleucid Dynasty. He
was headquartered in the city that is today ___________. The southern empire was ruled by Ptolemy and was
headquartered in the city of ___________, which had been renamed in honor of Alexander. The two generals
agreed upon virtually everything — except the line that divided the northern empire from the southern. That put
the Land of Israel smack in the _________ of their disagreement. The Jews were caught in this tremendous
power struggle. The story of the next 130 years would be the balancing act of the Jewish people between the
two giants. Sometimes the Jews teetered to the south and sometimes to the north. The south attempted to win
the Jewish people by persuasion and __________. The north attempted to do so by _________. Both would
fail. This is also the backdrop to the story of Chanukah, because eventually the northern kingdom got tired of
the game and sent their army in. The Jews resisted and thus the stage was set for the dramatic events
of Chanukah.
2/16 “Hellenism for the World”