Hellenistic culture is one of the most understudied and exciting areas of ancient history. Part of the reason for this is because it comes between the Greeks and the Romans (two favorites). Another reason is because Hellenistic culture is extremely expansive and difficult to study. After Phillip of Macedon unified the Greeks, there was a push towards Persia by Alexander, his son. Alexander got all the way to India. So, one can hellenisitc culture spans from Greece to India!
When Alexander died (323), his many leaders (diadochi) carved out his kingdom among themselves. For example, Ptolemy situated himself in Egypt and started the Ptolemaic empire. This was a fusion of Greek thought and Egyptian culture. Cassander took over Macedon. Seleucus was to take over the near east (parts of modern day Pakistan, Turkmenistan, etc.) To be honest, one must readily acknowledge the diversity within hellenism, but there were some commonalities. This can be called hellenistic culture. Some of these commanalities were: some sort of connection to the Greece through Alexander, Greek cultural influence, and Greek language.
For a brief book on hellenism, see: F. W. Walbank's Hellenistic World.
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