Transcript Slide 1

The Spread of Greek Culture
• Phillip of Macedonia’s son
was Alexander the Great.
• Because the Greeks viewed
Macedonia as barbaric,
Alexander was tutored by
Aristotle, the great Greek
philosopher
• Alexander grew to love
Greece
I. Alexander Builds an Empire
• King Phillip of
Macedonia was able
to control all of
Greece by 338 B.C.
• In 336 B.C., Phillip
was assassinated and
at 20 yrs. Old,
Alexander became
King
Alexander the Great Continued
• Alexander’s first action
was to invade Persia
• Within 11 yrs., he
conquered Persia, Egypt,
and the lands
surrounding the Indus
River
• He was now known as
Alexander the Great
• Wherever he went, he
established cities named
after him such as
Alexandria,
II. Greek Culture Spreads
• After Alexander’s
death, the Empire
split into 3 main
kingdom’s
• Each kingdom was
ruled by a descendant
of Alexander’s
general
• Greek culture remain
strong in these
kingdoms
III. The Hellenistic Kingdom
• The cities in the Hellenistic kingdoms were
modeled after Greek cities where the Greeks
had the most important jobs
• Agoras and Greek temples were built in the
cities and the Greek language was spoken
• Theaters performed the Greek tragedies and
comedies and the Greek culture spread
throughout the conquered lands
IV. Hellenism in Egypt
• The greatest Hellenistic city was Alexandria in
Egypt in 322 B.C.
• Alexandria became the capital of Egypt and
had the largest library in the world (half a
million books)
• Geometry and science flourished in
Alexandria
• It was located on the delta part of The Nile
where a lighthouse guided ships into port
• Hellenistic cities became centers for learning
Greek Thinkers
Euclid created Geometry
Eratosthenes calculated the distance around the earth
Pulleys and levers were
Invented to lift
Heavy objects