Alexander the Great was one of the most successful emperors in the history of the world. Like his father King Philip II of Macedon, Alexander was a formidable military leader. Philip II developed Macedon’s military immensely and wanted to conquer the Greeks and Persians even had wide success defeating every Greek city-state except Sparta.

Unlike other emperors of vast empires at the time, Philip and later Alexander saw themselves as liberators instead of conquerors. This was somewhat true, as Philip lowered taxes in Greece but made it mandatory to send soldiers to help bolster his army. Although he was a well-liked and respected emperor, Philip was assassinated by one of his own men so Alexander took over the throne. 

Alexander was a highly intelligent man, partly because he was tutored by Aristotle the philosopher. Once he became emperor, Alexander consolidated power, dealing with his rivals in Macedon and re-conquering rebellious Greek city-states. Despite not being ethnically Greek, Alexander’s goal was to spread Hellenistic culture. This was Greek-like culture but different from Hellenic culture which was classical Greek culture and its traditions that the Greeks themselves actually practiced. 

Alexander started expanding his empire, taking Asia minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Egypt, the Persian Empire, and parts of India. After subduing these vast swaths of land, he built cities and implanted Hellenistic culture wherever he went. Alexander was not known as a brutal conqueror and showed his military intelligence by using brilliant engineering tactics. In 331 BC, after obliterating Persia, he looted the empire so thoroughly that all of their riches were brought back to Macedonia. Dying in 323 BC, he is remembered as one of the most effective military leaders to have ever lived. 

Alexander’s death brought a struggle between his generals in deciding who would succeed him as emperor. Ultimately, this led to the downfall of Alexander’s once mighty empire, as it was split up between his generals. The Hellenistic period lasted from the death of Alexander the Great to the death of Cleopatra (325 – 30 BC). Philosophy, arts, and medicine flourished during this period. 

Like many other components of Western civilization, drama and playwriting can be traced back to ancient Greece. Drama was invented during festivals which honored the god Dionysus. Each play had three playwrights and they each presented one part of a trilogy of tragedy dramas. 

One of the most well-known playwrights was Aeschylus (525-456 BC) who wrote more than 80 plays and half a dozen of them are still around today. A deeply religious man, he thought that gods could tempt men into evil and put men into morally impossible predicaments, in which whatever they did there would be punishment. Aeschylus’ play tells one of these situations: the king must defend his city, but his brother is among the attackers. So it is impious for him to flee or to fight. 

Sophocles is most famous for writing the character Oedipus. Similar to many of his other works, Sophecles describes Oedipus trying to escape a horrible fate or prophetically imposed on him by the gods. An entire trilogy of Oedipus describes how he desperately tries to escape his destiny but ends up fulfilling it anyway. 

Euripides was an extremely controversial playwright who was contemptuous and critical of the gods. Loathed by traditionalists, he was a skeptic and often put this into his plays. Many times, Euripides wrote plays disproving Greek myths and traditions. Despite this, Euripides is easier to follow, translates better into English, and his concept of a tragedy is closer to ours than the other playwrights. 

At the time, the most popular playwright was a traditionalist and comic called Aristophanes. He believed in religion and opposed popular rule. Gaining the people’s support, Aristophanes wrote various plays mocking Euripides and satirizing politicians instead of the general public. Hilariously, he won first prize for a play making fun of Euripides. 

In Greek culture, there was a heavy emphasis on buildings, vases, and statues. Although some modern historians say that the Greeks were a progressive and irreligious culture, the vast majority of the population were faithful to the gods and there were few radicals trying to destroy Greek mythology and tradition.

Biblical literature was one of the earliest forms of Western literature. Along with Genesis and Psalms, the Proverbs have been the most impactful on Western civilization. In the Introduction of Proverbs, Solomon speaks to his son, giving him wisdom and trying to teach him to be a better leader. The heart of the entire book stresses again and again the importance of wisdom and knowledge. 

Proverbs is part of a section of the Old Testament called “wisdom literature.” Wisdom is taught by the fear of the Lord, but unlike the Psalms, the fear of God and negative sanctions are in the background instead of being the main point. Continuing on this topic, Proverbs states that wisdom is not hidden and any person can obtain it. However there is a systemic hatred of wisdom, which leads people to sin. 

During the following chapters there is someone referred to as the “strange woman” who hates wisdom and lures people to sin, differing from the introduction where “evil men and criminals” lead people to commit heinous acts. It is continually stressed to not just know the right thing to do, but to act on it. 

The focus in Proverbs is overwhelmingly ethical, meaning it is concentrated on correct behavior. It describes a bread of wickedness, wine, and violence: if you partake in evil it will cause suicide. “Evil men swallow men as the grave, but wisdom is like marrow to thy bones and is more precious than rubies.” 

Recapping biblical literature, there are five fundamental themes which persist in Genesis, Psalms, and Proverbs. They are the Sovereignty of God, man as God’s agent over creation, God’s law as a test for man, the law’s two-fold sanctions as predictable, and inheritance and disinheritance. Because of the immense influence of biblical literature, these themes are continued on in other forms of literature as well. 

Hierarchy is established in Genesis when God is designated as the creator and man as a steward of the earth, while sanctions are shown when Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit and are expelled from creation. Later in the creation story there is widespread evil in the world and men try to become like God by building a tower to heaven. In contrast, God is in control and David is obedient and acts as God’s agent in Psalms. All of these stories reinforce the basic themes which laid the groundwork for Western principles.