1. Ancient Greece
(1750 B.C.–133 B.C.)
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2. The Minoans
The Minoans established a brilliant early civilization on the island of Crete.
The Minoans traded with Egypt and Mesopotamia.
They acquired ideas and technology that they adapted to their own culture.
The Minoans helped to shape the first Greek civilization.
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3. The Mycenaens The Mycenaens conquered the Greek mainland and Crete.
Mycenaen civilization dominated the Aegean from about 1400 B.C. to B.C.
They traded with Sicily, Italy, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
Mycenaens absorbed Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences and passed them on to later Greeks.
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4. Alexander and the Hellenistic Age
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5. Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great- not a Greek!!! Admired Greek culture and made Greek the language of his vast empire’s governments, learning, and trade. Primary goal was to spread Greek culture- began what is known as the Hellenistic Era “to imitate the Greeks”

6. Philip’s son, Alexander, succeeded him to the throne.
Philip of Macedonia conquered Greece. He was assassinated before he could fulfill his dream of conquering the Persian empire.
Philip’s son, Alexander, succeeded him to the throne.
Conquered Greece, Persia, Egypt, and Pakistan
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7. Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush into northern India.
There his troops faced soldiers mounted on war elephants.
They were forced to retreat.
While planning his next battle campaign, Alexander died of a sudden fever.
Three generals divided up the empire.
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9. Alexander the Great Goals Become divine monarch Manage the Empire
Conquer the world
Spread Greek Culture

10. The Legacy of Alexander
Although Alexander’s empire did not last, he had unleashed changes that would ripple across the Mediterranean world and the Middle East for centuries.
Alexander’s most lasting achievement was the spread of Greek culture.
Across the empire, local people assimilated, or absorbed, Greek ideas. In turn, Greek settlers adopted local customs.
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11. Gradually, a blending of eastern and western cultures occurred.
Alexander had encouraged this blending by marrying a Persian woman and adopting Persian customs.
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12. Hellenistic Era From the Greek meaning “to imitate Greeks”
Rulers encouraged a massive spread of Greek colonists to Southwest Asia
Emigration provided new military recruits as well as civilian government administrators
Creation and development of Greek cities helped to spread the language, art, and architecture
The city of Alexandria became an important center for education- largest library in ancient times

13. Great Minds of the Hellenistic Period
Zeno founded Stoicism, which urged people to accept calmly whatever life brought.
Pythagoras derived a formula to calculate the relationship between the sides of a triangle.
Euclid wrote The Elements, a textbook that became the basis for modern geometry.
Archimedes- established the mathematical value of pi
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14. Aristarchus theorized about a heliocentric, or sun-centered, solar system.
Eratosthenes showed that the Earth was round and accurately calculated its circumference.
Erasistratus also discovered that the human heart was the power source to make blood circulate among the body.
Hippocrates studied illnesses and cures and set ethical standards for medical care.
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15. Epicureanism
Believed people were free to follow self-interest as a basic motivating force
Happiness was the goal of life
Pleasure is freedom from emotional turmoil and worry
Rejected all public life, except social life
Life could only be complete when it centered on the ideal of friendship

16. Stoicism Was very popular in Greece and Rome
Goal was to find happiness
Believed that happiness could only be found when people gained inner peace by living in harmony with the will of god
Public service was a noble position