THE HELLENISTIC AGE
The year 334 BC., when Alexander the Great crossed the
Hellespont, heralded a new era of Greek civilization which was of importance not only for
Greece and Anatolia but also for the whole world. In this period Anatolia was again a
leading country. This historical epoch, known by the term Hellenistic Age applied to it by
the German historian Droysen, which ended with the beginning of the reign
of Augustus (30 BC.), saw the expansion of Greek civilization as far as
India (Gandhâra) in Asia and Ethiopia in Africa. Alexander's cultural policy respected
the Near Eastern mentality. Through the mingling of the Iranian spirit, which was a
continuation of the Akkadian and Assyrian philosophy of life, with Greek civilization, a
world culture came into being which was Hellenic in outward appearance but Near Eastern in
essence. Alexander was worshipped in Egypt as the son of the god Ammon. In Persia he wore
Achaemenid costume and introduced the practice of proskynesis (prostration) by
those approaching his person. This compromise between two radically different mentalities
ended in the triumphal advance of the Near Eastern religions in Europe.
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