Hellenistic society: characterized by a mingling of people and an interchange of cultures
- Greek language and traditions - spread to the Near East - while Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, and Hebrew traditions - especially religious beliefs - moved westward
Alexander founded many cities - like Alexandria in Egypt - centers of Hellenistic culture
But: the vast majority of the people who lived in the countryside retained their traditional patterns

Scientific achievements:
Greek scientific achievements - reached its height during this period => stimulated by the vast amount of data collected by Alexander's staff

Alexandria: the greatest center of scientific investigation
                 - state supported museum attracted the finest scholars
Leading scientists:
- Aristarchus: believed that the sun was the center of the universe and planets revolved around it
- Euclid: the great geometrician
- Eratosthenes - geography
- Archimedes: mathematician; discovered the principle of specific gravity

Philosophy:
- 2 leading schools:
1. Epicureanism
2. Stoicism

1. Epicurus - the founder => believed that people could achieve happiness when their bodies were "free from pain" and their minds "released from worry and fear"; he taught the value of passivity and withdrawal from civic life
2. Zeno - the founder => believed that the universe contained a Divine Reason, or Logos, that permeated all things; all human beings were equal members of a world community; Stoics believed that it was the individual's duty to understand and obey the natural law that governed all; Stoics advocated a disciplining of emotions by the rational part of the soul, and an ordering of life by the law of reason that would give people the inner strength to resist misfortune caused by others, by fate, or by their own passionate natures

=> the Hellenistic Age =//= from the Hellenic Age by:
1. the eclipse of the polis' power and importance of kingdoms =>  resulting in a sense of isolation and insecurity among people
2. the growth of cosmopolitanism - as Greek soldiers, merchants, and administrators settled in the Near and Middle East and India in the wake of Alexander's conquests, spreading Greek culture and breaking down the previously sharp distinction between GREEK and BARBARIAN