Sophie on Hellenism (121-139)

Hellenism (400 BC -50 BC)

Alexander the Great's conquests (356-323 BC) linked Egypt and the Orient as far east as India to Greek civilization. Hellenism refers to the Greek culture which developed throughout the regions which Alexander had conquered. Greek dominance lasted until Rome established herself as the new superpower throughout the Mediterranean during the first century BC. Rome would dominate for the next five hundred years, but Roman culture had already been heavily influenced by Greek art and ideas. 

Religion and Philosophy

In the great empires of Alexander and then Rome, older cultures from East and West merged together in a cauldron of religious, philosophical and scientific ideas. We call this process syncretism or the fusion of creeds. The breakdown of old ways created anxiety and doubt among many. The new religions which arose during this time contained teachings about how mankind could achieve salvation from death. The key to salvation in these religions was the development of a special insight into the true nature of the universe. Religions such as Christianity emphasized the importance of a transforming spiritual experience as essential to salvation. Hellenistic philosophers, continuing the tradition of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, taught that the path to truth depended upon the use of reason. Ethics, for these philosophers, was the key to happiness.

The Stoics believed that a divine spark (or logos) exists in all of us, just as it exists in every piece of matter in the universe. This idea led to the thought that everyone possesses the same basic human rights. A natural law exists based on timeless human and universal reason. This law applied to all mankind, even slaves. Natural law is the basis of humanism: the political philosophy which puts the individual first. The Stoics did not believe in Plato's dual universe. (They believed in monism instead.) For the Stoics, the divine exists within us. Therefore, they believe that all natural processes follow unbreakable laws. Humans must learn to accept the determined nature of the universe: nothing happens by accident; everything happens through necessity. (determinism) (Zeno, Marcus Aurelius, Cicero)

The Neoplatonists emerged during the third c. BC in the city of Alexandria (in Egypt), the central meeting point of Greek philosophy and Oriental mysticism. It is from them that we learn of the doctrine of salvation that would become so influential on Christianity. The Neoplatonists, like their great inspiration, Plato, were dualists. They distinguished between the world of ideas and the sensory world, between the soul and the body. Plotinus took the Stoics' idea of the divine spark and made it into a dualist concept. For him, the spark emanates from the eternal realm beyond which there is only darkness: the absence of light. Religion offers us the chance for salvation, but this concept is different from the way we understand it today (eternal life). Salvation meant to fuse with the light in this life, to be one with God through a mystical experience. (Compare to Dionysian Revels) Today, we understand salvation as 'eternal life'.

Western Mystics (within Judaism, Islam and Christianity) believe that this fusion takes place with a personal God who is present in nature and within us but also exists in an eternal realm. (transcendant)

Eastern Mystics (Hinduism, Buddhism and Chinese religion) believe that this fusion takes place with the "cosmic spirit" which is eternal and present in all things (immanent).

The Cynics believed that true happiness could only be found by freeing the self from the desire for wealth, power, and even from health! Neither suffering nor the prospect of death could disturb them. True happiness depends on not being dependent on such fleeting materialist concerns. Nowdays, the terms cynical and cynicism have come to mean a sneering disbelief in human sincerity and an insensitivity to human suffering. (Story of Diogenes and Alexander the Great)

The Epicureans believed that the aim of life was to attain pleasure, the highest possible sensory enjoyment. "The highest good is pleasure; the greatest evil is pain." (Aristippus) Epicurus founded a school in Athens around 300 BC which explored this philosophy. He believed that pleasure does not necessarily mean sensual pleasure (like wine, women and song), but values like friendship and art appreciation also count. Furthermore, delaying simple sensual gratification could lead to greater pleasure in the long run. The true enjoyment of life, according to Epicurus, required the old Aristotelian Mean: self-control and temperance in all things. Epicurus also followed in the footsteps of the materialist Democritus. He was a monist who believed that when we die, our atoms disperse and reform in other combinations. He did not fear death: "As long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist."

Epicurus also asked, “Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence, then, evil.”