remember one thing—before the Romans managed to conquer the Hellenistic
world, Rome itself was a province of Greek culture. So Greek culture and
Greek philosophy came to play an important role long after the political
influence of the Greeks was a thing of the past.
Religion, Philosophy and Science
Hellenism was characterized by the fact that the borders between the
various countries and cultures became erased. Previously the Greeks, the
Romans, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Syrians, and the Persians had
worshipped their own gods within what we generally call a “national religion.”
Now the different cultures merged into one great witch’s caldron of religious,
philosophical, -and scientific ideas.
We could perhaps say that the town square was replaced by the world
arena. The old town square had also buzzed with voices, bringing now
different wares to market, now different thoughts and ideas. The new aspect
was that town squares were being filled with wares and ideas from all over the
world. The voices were buzzing in many different languages.
We have already mentioned that the Greek view of life was now much
more widespread than it had been in the former Greek cultural areas. But as
time went on, Oriental gods were also worshipped in all the Mediterranean
countries. New religious formations arose that could draw on the gods and the
beliefs of many of the old nations. This is called syncretism or the fusion of
creeds.
Prior to this, people had felt a strong affinity with their own folk and their
own city-state. But as the borders and boundaries became erased, many
people began to experience doubt and uncertainty about their philosophy of
life. Late Antiquity was generally characterized by religious doubts, cultural
dissolution, and pessimism. It was said that “the world has grown old.”
A common feature of the new religious formations during the Hellenistic
period was that they frequently contained teachings about how mankind could
attain salvation from death. These teachings were often secret. By accepting
the teachings and performing certain rituals, a believer could hope for the
immortality of the soul and eternal life. A certain insight into the true nature of
the universe could be just as important for the salvation of the soul as
religious rituals.
So much for the new religions, Sophie. But philosophy was also moving
increasingly in the direction of “salvation” and serenity. Philosophic insight, it
was now thought, did not only have its own reward; it should also free
mankind from pessimism and the fear of death. Thus the boundaries between
religion and philosophy were gradually eliminated.
In general, the philosophy of Hellenism was not star-tlingly original. No
new Plato or Aristotle appeared on the scene. On the contrary, the three great
Athenian philosophers were a source of inspiration to a number of philosophic
trends which I shall briefly describe in a moment.
Hellenistic science, too, was influenced by a blend of knowledge from
the various cultures. The town of Alexandria played a key role here as a
meeting place between East and West. While Athens remained the center of
philosophy with still functioning schools of philosophy after Plato and Aristotle,
Alexandria became the center for science. With its extensive library, it
became the center for mathematics, astronomy, biology, and medicine.