Hellenization
As Hellenization refers to a cultural phenomenon in the context of Hellenism . What is meant is the penetration of a non-Greek people with ancient Greek culture (in the sense of the term Hellenism as it was used by Johann Gustav Droysen ). The use of almost purely Greek design principles and motifs on Alexandrian coins in the Hellenistic period can be cited as an example , although only a small part of the Egyptian population was of Greek origin. The extent to which the Greeks , who settled in the East during the Hellenistic period, were in turn influenced by the Orient is disputed . Of course, it should be noted that there was a cultural exchange between the Greek and non-Greek worlds in the centuries before Alexander .
The cross-connection between early Christianity and late Hellenism is complex . While the Greco- Asia Minor culture was increasingly Christianized by the power of the young church , this also changed under the Hellenistic influence. Some Pauline letters and the Acts of the Apostles report on it - for example on the Apostles' dispute over the baptism of the Greek and Jewish Christians , which ended in a compromise ( James Clauses ).
In Roman times, no homogeneous Romanization corresponding to a Hellenization was carried out in the cultural field . Roman rule was characterized by a high willingness to integrate regional cultural traditions. This can also be seen, for example, in the coinage in the provinces, such as the Alexandrian coins , which also used Egyptian and Greek motifs.
See also
literature
In addition to the literature given in the article Hellenism :
- Helmut Köster: Introduction to the New Testament. In the context of the religious history and cultural history of the Hellenistic and Roman times . Berlin and New York 1980 (with special consideration of cultural history).
- Carl Schneider : Cultural History of Hellenism . 2 vols. Beck, Munich 1967/1969.
- Carl Schneider: Intellectual history of ancient Christianity . 2 vols. Beck, Munich 1954.