1. Introduction to Humanities Lecture 2c Alexander the Great & the Hellenistic World
By David Kelsey

2. King Phillip II King Phillip II: 382-336 B.C.
Turned Macedonia into the chief power of the Greek world
In 338 B.C. Athens and Thebes fight King Phillip II and the Macedonians at the battle of Chaeronea and get crushed by the Macedonians
Source: en.wikipedia.org

3. King Phillip II King Phillip II of Macedonia:
Phillip had spent 3 years in Thebes
Gains an admiration for Greek culture
Learned of the Greek military achievements
Phillip believes that if Macedonia is to be a strong state it needs a strong army
From the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus he is able to pay his soldiers and establish a standing professional army that could fight year round
Source: ancientmacedonia.com

4. King Phillip’s army King Phillip’s army: Victories:
Creates military reforms that transform Macedonia into a military power
Infantrymen wore lighter armor, carried a smaller shield and sword and an 18 foot long spear
Infantry were supported by strong cavalry units
Hired engineers to design new catapults
Strengthened his relationship with the army by engaging in battle
Victories:
Defeated the Illyrians to the west
Defeated Thrace to the north

5. King Phillips defeat of Greece
In 338 B.C. King Phillip’s forces meet troops from Athens and Thebes in the battle of Chaeronea near Thebes.
The Macedonian army crushes the Greeks
The Greek states join in an alliance called the Corinthian league

6. The Corinthian League The Corinthian league:
All states took an oath: “I will abide by the peace, and I will not break the agreements with Phillip the Macedonian, nor will I take up arms with hostile intent against any one of those who abide by the oaths either by land or by sea.”
The Corinthian league creates an army and council with Phillip recognized as hegemon, or leader.
Phillip allowed the Greeks autonomy in domestic affairs but controls foreign affairs
Phillip insists that they cooperate with him against their common enemy, Persia…
Before Phillip could attack Persia he was assassinated in 336 B.C.
Phillip’s son Alexander takes over in 336 B.C.

7. Alexander the Great Alexander the Great: 356-323 B.C.
Ruled B.C.
Only 20 when he became King of Macedonia
Worshipped as a God and as Pharoah of Egypt
Tutored by Aristotle
In June of 323 B.C. Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, in Babylon, at age 32. The theory is that he was poisoned, developed a fever and passed 14 days later…
Source: en.wikipedia.org

8. Alexander the Great A brilliant military leader:
Had superb tactical skills
Planned troop formations and tactics appropriate to the landscape on which he was fighting
Pushed his troops mercilessly often catching his opponent by surprise
Lead the troops by example on the battlefield
didn’t hesitate to lead cavalry attacks into the enemy ranks
Source: craved.com

9. Becoming King Alexander the Great: Becoming king
Came on military campaigns with his father
Given control of the cavalry at the battle of Chaeronea
After Phillips assassination, Alexander quickly asserted his power by smothering a rebellion in Greece in which he sacked the city of Thebes,
Awarded generalship of Greece in 335 B.C.
In 334 B.C. he invades Persia

10. Alexander’s invasion of Persia
In Spring of 334 B.C. Alexander entered Asia Minor with an army of 37,000, roughly half Macedonians and half Greeks
Cavalry numbered about 5,000
Architects, engineers, historians and scientists accompanied the army
Source: urgenciologo.org

11. Alexander’s invasion of Persia
The invasion of Persia:
Alexander first confronts the Persians at Granicus River in 334 B.C.
Major victory for Alexander
By the following spring all of the Greek cities of Asia minor are freed from Persian control
Darius III mobilizes a huge army to confront Alexander
They meet at the Battle of Issus
They actually met on a narrow field which cancelled the advantage of greater numbers, and results in a Macedonian victory

12. The Battle of Issus
Source: wikipaintings.org
Source: emersonkent.com

13. Conquering Egypt After the victory at Issus:
Following his victory, Alexander, in 333 B.C., destroys the Persian port cities of Tyre and Gaza
After Tyre and Gaza were conquered, Alexander moves to Egypt who give up without a fight
By 332 B.C. Syria, Egypt and Palestine are under Macedonian control
Alexander in Egypt:
Alexander takes the title of Pharaoh of Egypt and was called the ‘son of Amon’
He built the Greek administrative capital of Egypt at Alexandria

14. A Peace Treaty Darius offers peace: Summer of 331 B.C.:
In 331 B.C. Darius offers to Alexander all lands west of the Euphrates river
Alexander refuses
Summer of 331 B.C.:
Alexander moves forward with his conquest into Mesopotamia
Wins a decisive battle at Gaugamela
Alexander’s men were clearly outnumbered but his heavy Calvary were able to break through the center of the Persian line, followed by his infantry
The battle was a rout but Darius escapes
Source: warriors-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com

15. After the battle of Gaugamela
After winning the battle of Gaugamela, Alexander enters Babylon and then to the Persian capitals at Susa and Persepolis
There he acquires the Persian treasuries gaining vast amounts of gold and silver
330 B.C.
Darius gets killed by one of his own men
Alexander takes the title and office of the Great King of the Persians
In 327 B.C. Alexander enters India
In 326 B.C. at the battle of Hudaspes River, Alexander wins a brutally fought battle against Indian forces
Alexander attempts to continue marching East to conquer more of India but his troops mutinied
Alexander and his army returns to Babylon
In 323 B.C. he dies in Babylon at the age of 32

16. Alexander’s campaign and empire
Note Alexander’s campaign and in particular the major battles
Note also the extent of the empire
Source: whisperonwind.blogspot.com

17. The Hellenistic world The Hellenistic world:
By 301 B.C. Alexander’s empire had dissolved
4 Hellenistic kingdoms emerge
Macedonia under the Antigonid dynasty
Syria under the Seleucids
The Attalid kingdom of Pergamum
Egypt under the Ptolomies
The Hellenestic kingdoms all fall to Roman power by the time Egypt falls in 30 B.C.
Source: mesadebtsettlement.onlinecreditstrategies.com

18. Important achievements of the Hellenistic world
The development of cities:
Alexander develops Alexandria in Egypt.
The largest city in the Mediterranean region by the 1st century B.C.
It becomes one of the great cities of the Hellenistic world.
It is the center for the production of oils, textiles, metalwork and glass.
Its library and its importance as the cultural center of the Hellenistic world
Alexander develops at least 15 more Alexandria’s
Hellenistic kings likewise founded many new cities
Source: people.ucalgary.ca

19. Important achievements of the Hellenistic world
Trade expands:
Trade routes:
through the Persian Gulf to the Tigris river then to Seleucia
from the Indian ocean to the Red Sea then to the Nile
Source: go.hrw.com

20. More achievements More achievements: Opportunities for women:
Women took an active role in politics in Macedonia
In Egypt, Ptolemaic kings would marry their sisters. Then both were worshipped as Gods.
In Sparta women could own their own land
Education:
The Greek gymnasium develops into a secondary school run by a gymnasiarch.
The curriculum included music, physical exercise and literature.
Gymnasiums develop throughout the Hellenistic world
Image to the right: Cleopatra VII, last Pharaoh of Egypt
Source of Image: islandcrisis.net

21. Important achievements of the Hellenistic world
Achievements in literature and art:
Literature:
The New comedy develops: the hero falls in love with a prostitute who turns out to be a long lost daughter of a neighbor
Historical and Biographical works by Polybius ( B.C.): wrote 40 books narrating the history of the Mediterranean world from B.C.
Art:
Sculpture moved away from the idealism of the 5th century to more emotional and realistic art.

22. Statue of Drunken Old Woman
Created in the 3rd century B.C. by Myron of Thebes
The sculptor wasn’t trying to capture ideal beauty as in Classical Greece
Instead, we see more realistic and emotional art in the Hellenistic period
Old and haggard, mired in poverty, she struggles just to go on living…
Artists in the Hellenistic period depicted unpleasant and deeper emotions. The artist responsible for the Drunk Old Woman touches on less than ideal issues such as old age, poverty, despair, and drunkenness.
The old woman’s drunkenness is in no way glorified like it might be in an earlier work of Greek art. The old woman is on the ground clutching at her jug of alcohol. She is desperate…
Source: mostre.museogalileo.it

23. Venus de Milo Venus de Milo: Created sometime between 130 and 100 B.C.
One of the most famous works of ancient Greek sculpture
Believed to depict Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty
Made of marble
Thought to be created by Alexandros of Antioch
On permanent display now at the Louvre museum in Paris
Discovered in 1820 on the Greek island of Paris
Source: en.wikipedia.org

24. Laocoön and His Sons Laocoön and His Sons:
Shows the Trojan priest Laocoön and his sons being attacked by sea serpents
Created by 3 greek sculptors from the island of Rhodes: Agesander, Athenodoros & Polydorus
Created of marble sometime between 27 B.C. to 68 A.D.
Excavated in Rome in 1506
Presently on display in the Vatican
6 feet, 7 inches tall
The story of Laocoön: the subject of a trajedy by Sophocles, one version of the story goes that Laocoön was a trojan priest who was killed with both his sons after attempting to expose the ruse of the Trojan Horse by striking it with a spear.
Source: en.wikipedia.org

25. The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Winged victory at Samothrace:
2nd century B.C. marble sculpture of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike
Created sometime between 200 and 190 B.C.
Since 1884 it has been displayed at the Louvre in Paris
Described as the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture
Source: en.wikipedia.org

26. Hellenistic achievements in the sciences
Studied for the first time in their own right. Following Aristotle’s principle of systematic observation as the foundation for inductive generalizations about nature.
Euclid ( B.C.) writes Elements, a systematic organization of the fundamental principles of geometry
Archimedes ( B.C.) makes developments in the geometry of spheres and cylinders, establishes the mathematical constant pi and created the science of hydrostatics.
Source of upper image, Euclid: healdsburg-freemason.com
Source of lower image, Archimedes: optimalhealthbridge.com

27. Important achievements of the Hellenistic world
Other achievements:
Medicine:
Herophilus ( B.C.) and Erasistratus ( B.C.) made important strides in anatomy by the use of dissection and vivisection.
Herophilus adds to the understanding of the brain, eye, liver, and reproductive and nervous systems
Erasistratus makes discoveries in the process of digestion
The Egyptian religion of Isis was universal in Hellenistic times
Isis was the God of women, marriage and children; the giver of civilization who had brought laws to all humankind
Offered the promise of heaven
Paved the way for Christianity…

28. Developments in Philosophy
Epicureanism:
Founded by Epicurus ( B.C.)
A form of Hedonism as it states pleasure is the only intrinsic good
States though that pleasure is attained through tranquility and freedom from fear
But the way to attain such pleasure is to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires. To live in moderation…
More on it later…
Image of Epicurus: bluejayblog.wordpress.com

29. The Rise of Stoicism Stoicism: Founded by Zeno (334-262 B.C.)
Taught Stoicism in Athens from 300 B.C.
Stoicism persists during the Roman empire
States that nature is fully determined by a rational order called the logos.
So whatever happens, happens of necessity or by fate
To be happy we must accept that we cannot change the order of the deterministic world.
To be happy we must not seek to have events happen as you want, but want them to happen as they do…
More on it later…
Image of Zeno: milesmathis.com