Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

Alexander the Great
and the Hellenistic Era




objectives:



1.  Be able to discuss the problems with Greek unity and the

treatment of these problems under Alexander's regime.



2.  Be able to discuss the career and major achievements of Philip

of Macedon.



3.  Be able to discuss the life, career and major achievements of

Alexander the Great.



4.  Be able to discuss the structure of the Achaen and Aetolian

Leagues and how these leagues created unity out of disunity.



5.  Be able to explain and discuss the influence of Persia on

Alexander the Great.



6.  Be able to discuss the political legacy of Alexander the Great.



7.  Be able to discuss the major ideas of Cynicism, Stoicism and

Epicureanism.  Why can these ideas be likened to those of the

modern era?



8.  Be able to discuss the major cultural achievements of

Hellenistic civilization.



9.  Be able to trace the breakdown of Alexander's empire.



     Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military leaders

of all time.  At 19, he commanded the loyalty of his army even in

the face of insurmountable odds.  He ate with his men, slept with

them and endured hardships with them.  By the age of 33, he had

conquered much of the known world.  Even those he conquered

idolized him.  The wife of the Persian leader Darius committed

suicide the day Alexander died.  His conquests paved the way for

the Roman empire, for he forged a united empire out of the remnants

of the fiercely independant Greek city states.  Despite the

enormity of his achievement, Alexander's personality gradually

deteriorated into a state of almost pathological megalomania.  In

similar fashion, the inhabitants of the Hellenistic world also

experience psychological fragmentation.  Their sense of alienation

as citizens of a cosmopolitan empire is often strikingly modern.  

  

    

     Reportedly Said while standing at Achilles tomb:



               O fortunate youth, to have found Homer as the herald

               of your glory!

                    From Cicero, Pro Archia 24.



     If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.

               From Plutarch, Life of Alexander, 14.



     Of the despotism to which unrestrained military power leads we

          have plenty of examples, from Alexander to Mao.

               Samual Eliot Morrison, The Oxford History of the

                    American People, chapter 3.





                             OUTLINE







I.  The Problem of Greek Unity



     A. The defeat of Athens in the Peloponessian War



II.  Macedon



     A.  Philip and the hoplite phalanx

          i. attack on Olynthus -- 349 b.c.

          ii. attack on Delphi -- 346 b.c.

     B.  Demosthenes and the Athenian resistance

          i. the defeat of Athens -- 338 b.c.

     C.  The assassination of Philip -- 336 b.c.



III.  Alexander the Great



     A.  Aristotle, the master

     B.  conquest of Thebes

     C. conquest of  Persia:

          i. problems he faced and strategy

          ii.the battle of Granicus River

          iii. the battle of Issus

              a)mosaic of Alexander and Darius

          iv.   Egypt

                    a. son of Aomon

                    b. pharoah of Egypt

          v. the battle of Gaugamela

          vi. Susa and Persepolis

               a. the Persian Treasury

          vii. the spread of Greek culture across the known world:

               Hellenistic as opposed to Hellenic

          viii. his personality

          ix. his death

               a) "let the strongest man win"

     D.  Ideals of his reign:

          i.   cult of the ruler (Persian)

          ii.  fusion of cultures

          iii. tolerant rule

          iv.  cosmopolitanism

     E.  The Aetolian league:

          i. sympolity

          ii. isopolity

          iii. nature of citizenship

     F.  the Achaen League

          i. common standards and coinage

          ii. federal system

          iii. no exchange of citizenship

          iv. common features of the leagues:

               a. representative government

               b. federal gov.  could raise armies and levy taxes



IV.  Hellenistic culture

     A.  Alexandria

          i. the Museum

          ii. the library of Alexandria



          iii. the harbor and lighthouse



     B.  Archimedes (287-212 b.c.)

          i. calculus

          ii. cube numbers

          iii. hydrostatics

          iv. gravity

     C.  The Psychological fragmentation of the Hellenistic era:

          i.  Stoicism

               a. Zeno (335-263 b.c.)

          ii.  Epicurus (341-270 b.c.)

          iii.  Diogenes 

               a) etymology of "Cynic"



V.  After Alexander:

     A.  The Ptolemies:

          i. Alexandria

     B.  The Seleucids:

          i. Antioch

     C. Pergamom:

          ii. Asia Minor
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Era

Alexander the Great
and the Hellenistic Era
