In school we are learning abour ancient Greece. For homwork we had to answer the following questions. I decided to post it here.

1.)                What is the Sacred Band of Thebes? – Why are they famous?

 

 

The Sacred Band of Thebes was a troop of the toughest group of warriors in the world. There were 300 man, 150 couples, all homosexual in the troop. The Theban commander Gorgidas organized this group of extremely strong soldiers in 378 B.C. They were the best soldiers. As a reason of that Thebes defeated Sparta. The Sacred Band was undefeated for 45 years. Until Alexander the Great came along.

King Phillip II, finally defeated this great troop in 338 B.C. with his son, Alexander at the Battle of Chaeronea. The Sacred Band, though surrounded and overwhelmed, refused to surrender. They held their ground and fell where they stood. Some famous writers clamed that all 300 of them died that day, some other writers claim that two hundred and fifty-four died and all the rest were wounded. That claim was found to be true, when in the 1800s they found two hundred and fifty-four skeletons at the communal grave in Chaeronea.

The Sacred Band of Thebes are famous because of many reasons. First of all they were the 300 toughest warriors in the world. They beated the Spartans, a city-group known for it’s armies. They were also undefeated for about 45 years, until Phillip II, and Alexander the Great finally defeated them.

 

 

2.)                Who is Alexander the Great? Why is he so important to the world today?

 

Alexander the Great is the son of King Phillip II, king of Macedonia, and Olympias, an Epirote princess. However, according to Plutarch, Olympias was not impregnated by Phillip, but Zeus.  When Alexander the Great was young he was taught by the famous philosopher Aristotle. He gave Alexander thorough training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy. At the age of 16 Alexander served as a regent for Macedonia while his father was away in battle. At age 20 Alexander became the new king of Macedonia after his father was murdered.

After Alexander the Great became the king of Macedonia he conquered much of what was known the civilized world at his time. He conquered the whole Persian Empire, including Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, he also took over Mesopotamia, and expanded his empire until India. Before his death Alexander even made plans to go west and conquer Europe and discover a new world, China, that Aristotle told him about. He died in 323 B.C. possibly of malaria, West Nile virus, from self medication, or from the consequences of heavy drinking.

Alexander the Great is still a very important character in the world today. He spread the Greek culture and traditions to the Middle East, Egypt, and farther to the East. He wanted to mix the cultures of the worlds he conquered, and Greece’s. He encouraged his soldiers to marry Persian women, and have children with them. He also married Roxana, a Persian princess. Alexander himself lived on in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. Alexander the Great is still remembered as a hero in Europe, and most of Southwest Asia.

 

 

3.)                What is Hellenism?

 

The Hellenistic age was the "age of the Greeks”. During this time, Greek culture and power extended itself across the known world. The word Hellenistic comes from the word Hellene which is Greek for Greek. While the classical age of Greece produced great literature, philosophy, art, and drama the Hellenistic Period spread this knowledge and culture across the civilized word.

King Phillip II, and his son, Alexander the Great were the starters of the Hellenistic age. Alexander conquered the whole Persian Empire. He encouraged his soldiers to get married to Persian women. He himself married a Persian princess. Alexander lived on the history and myth of both Greek and Non-Greek cultures.

This was a new idea, exporting culture, and more than anything else this exporting of culture would deeply influence all the civilizations and cultures later, the Romans, the Christians, the Jewish diaspora, and Islam.