Alexander III, son of Philip II and Olympias, conquered the Persian Empire, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactria, Greece, as well as India. He got the name Alexander the Great by conquering so many areas while in his twenties. By having such a big of an empire, people from other parts of the world could have contact with one another which would change the world in the future.
After the death of Alexander the Great his commanders Antigonus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy divided his empire between the three. Yes Alexander had a son but he was killed along with his wife and mother. Antigonus took control over Anatolia, the Near East, Macedonia, and Greece; Seleucus got Babylonia and the East as far as India; and Ptolemy was left with Egypt. With the separation of the kingdoms comes the beginning of the Hellenistic Age, which is a mixture of traditions from the Greeks and Near Eastern such as politics, literature, art, philosophy, and religion. With the ability to come in contact with other parts of the world, some areas began to become accustomed to the other customs and practices.
With Antigonus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy in control of their kingdoms, royal wealth, stress on private life and emotions, and interaction with various people are what influenced the Hellenistic culture. The kings had scholars lead developments in art, literature, science, and philosophy. The interaction between the Near East and Greeks were done with language and religion. The kings had all of the literature done where only the “intellectual elite” could read, while the gap between them and the uneducated grew. The Hellenistic kings had famous people come to their place and make books, poems, and sculptures just to boost their reputation. Wealth played a big part when it came to the arts, people wanted to show that they had the same taste as their kings. New philosophies, Epicureanism and Stoicism, came to during this time as well. They were separated into three areas, logic, ethics, and physics.
At Alexandria science, mathematics, geometry, and medicine all developed and benefited from being separated from philosophy. While the scientific field was taking form in Alexandria, changes in Greek and Egyptian religious views grew. New cults formed that focused on people and luck. Ruler cults praised their kings and their sons and looked at them as gods.
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