ONLINE ETYMOLOGY
DICTIONARY
- "pertaining to Greece,"
1640s, from Gk. Hellenikos, from Hellen "a Greek," of
unknown origin. Earliest surviving use is by Homer in reference to
a Thessalian tribe.
WIKIPEDIA
The Hellenistic period is the period of ancient
Greek history between the death
of Macedonian king
Alexander
the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of ancient
Rome. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at
its zenith in Europe and Asia, experiencing prosperity and progress
in the decorative
and visual arts,
exploration,
literature,
sculpture,
theatre,
architecture,
music, mathematics,
and science. It is
often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decadence
or degeneration,[1]
compared to the brilliance of the Greek Classical
era.
The word Hellenistic is a
modern word and a 19th century concept; the idea of a Hellenistic
period did not exist in Ancient Greece. In the mid-19th Century, J.
G. Droysen coined the term Hellenistic to define the period when
Greek culture spread in the non-Greek world after Alexander’s
conquest. The major issue with the term Hellenistic lies in its
convenience, as the spread of Greek culture was not the generalized
phenomenon that the term implies. Some areas of the conquered world
were more affected by Greek influences than others. The term
Hellenistic also implies that the Greek populations were of majority
in the areas in which they settled, while in many cases, the Greek
settlers were actually the minority amongst the native populations.
The Greek population and the native population did not mix; the
Greeks moved and brought their own culture, but interaction did not
always occur.
