Thesis Tuesday Bellwork Write a thesis statement for the following prompt on a half sheet of paper Support or refute the following statement: It was best that the Greeks were able to defeat the Persians in the Persian war CORRECT ANSWER: THESIS ACTIVITY CORRECT ANSWER: THESIS ACTIVITY

OBJECTIVE WWBAT: Discuss the conquest of Alexander the Great and the impacts of the empire he created

Interactive Notebook Setup 9/20/2017 Alexander the Great and Hellenism This will be one page

Alexander’s Conquests Rise of Macedonia Alexander’s Conquests Hellenistic Culture

Rise of Macedonia Macedonians descended from the Dorians Lived just north of Greece Greeks looked down on them – saw them as backward mountain people

Rise of Macedonia Philip II became King of Macedonia in 359 BCE Determined to do 3 things: 1) Create a strong army – used Greek-style phalanxes 2) Unify the Greeks under Macedonian rule 3) Destroy the Persian Empire

Rise of Macedonia Pursued his ambition for the next 23 years: Sometimes conquered a polis Sometimes bribed a polis’s leader to surrender Sometimes made allies with a polis through marriage (had many wives)

Rise of Macedonia Greek city-states wouldn’t cooperate with one another to fight off the Macedonians By 338 BCE Philip II had conquered all of Greece except Sparta

Rise of Macedonia Just as he was preparing to conquer Persia, Philip II was murdered Possibly by a Persian or an assassin hired by his 1st wife Olympias Olympias and Phillip II’s son = Alexander the Great – became king

The Gordian Knot The Gordian Knot: the legend behind the ancient knot was that the man who could untie it was destined to rule the entire world. Alexander simply slashed the knot with his sword and unraveled it.

Alexander’s Conquest [336-323 BCE] Only 20 when he took over the empire Highly respected for his courage and military skill Tutored by Aristotle Conquered Persian territories – including Egypt and Mesopotamia, & India

Alexander the Great in Persia

Alexander’s Conquests Founded numerous cities for supplies and political influence Left generals behind to serve as governors of Satrapies Named at least 70 cities Alexandria Married a daughter of Darius Encouraged his soldiers to take Persian wives Enlisted Persian nobles and soldiers into roles of authority/military

Building “Greek” Cities in the East

Alexander’s Conquests Worshiped foreign gods and goddesses to Recognized as foreign incarnations of Greek gods Encouraged trade throughout his empire and issued coins with his face Settled Greeks throughout his empire Greek culture became “Hellenistic” as it spread and mingled with other cultures

Alexander’s Conquests Died at 33, probably of malaria Wanted to unite Europe and Asia under 1 empire and combine the best of Greek and Persian cultures

Alexander’s Conquests 3 of Alexander’s general divided his empire into separate domains = territories 1) Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt 2) Seleucid Empire in Persia 3) Antigonid Dynasty in Greece/Europe Called Hellenistic Kingdoms

Hellenistic Culture Greek language and culture spread in the lands Alexander had conquered Greek (Hellenic) ways of life mixed with Persian culture of Middle East to form a new culture = Hellenistic Hellenistic culture was concentrated in cities

Hellenistic Culture Largest and wealthiest city was Alexandria in Egypt Had a double harbor with a lighthouse First ever museum Large library Scientific research institute Zoo and botanical garden It was here that Jewish scholars translated the Bible into Greek

Hellenistic Culture Social status of upper-class Greek women improved Could move about freely, be educated, have certain jobs Commoners’ status didn’t improve

Hellenistic Culture 3 systems of thought: 1) Cynicism = live simply and avoid materialism 2) Epicureanism = accept the world as it is, avoid politics, and live simply 3) Stoicism = ignore emotions and follow reason

Hellenistic Culture Art often showed people in the grip of emotions Wrote comedies about everyday life

Art Classical Greek art sought to represent human perfection More lifelike, showed more expression than Classic Greek sculpture Action, grief, motion, pain The Death of Laocoon, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo

Hellenistic Culture Performed experiments and developed new theories Eratosthenes estimated the circumference of the Earth within 1% Dissected corpses to learn about human anatomy Learned how to use drugs to relieve pain

Hellenistic Culture Euclid organized a book about geometry Archimedes invented the compound pulley (used for lifting heavy objects) and the cylinder screw (for irrigation)