Philosophy After Alexander: The Hellenistic Age

When Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE, his empire split among his generals into kingdoms ruled from cities such as Alexandria, Antioch and Pella. Historians call the era from 323 to 31 BCE the Hellenistic Age, when Greek language and culture spread from Egypt to Afghanistan. For many Greeks, the independent polis no longer controlled its own fate, and power lay with distant kings. Philosophy changed in response.

The leading schools of the age, the Stoics, Epicureans, Skeptics and Cynics, focused less on designing ideal cities and more on how an individual can live well and find peace of mind in an uncertain world. Many described philosophy as a medicine for the soul. Athens remained the center of philosophical teaching, while Alexandria became a center of science and scholarship. Some historians caution against overstating the polis's 'decline', since cities kept active civic lives, but the shift in philosophical focus is clear.