Menu
MAIN PAGE
Religion Page
Alcoholism
Asatro
Atheism
Bahá'ism
Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Darwinism
Digitalism
Hellenism
Hinduism
Incan Polytheism
Inuit Animism
Islamism
Jainism
Jucheism
Judaism
Kemetism
Korean Shamanism
Ludomanism
Materialism
Mayan Polytheistic
Marxism
Muisca Polytheistic
Neopaganism
Nihilism
Olmec Polytheistic
Roman Polytheism
Satanism
Sikhism
Stoicism
Taino Polytheism
Taoism
Voodoo
Yoruban
Monotheism
|
The concept of Hellenistic
religion as the late form of Ancient Greek religion covers any of the various
systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of
ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire; 300
BCE to 300 CE. There was much continuity in Hellenistic religion: people
continued to worship the Greek gods and to practice the same rites as in
Classical Greece.
Change came from the addition of new religions from other countries,
including the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis, and the Syrian gods Atargatis
and Hadad, which provided a new outlet for people seeking fulfilment in both the
present life and the afterlife. The worship of deified Hellenistic rulers also
became a feature of this period, most notably in Egypt, where the Ptolemies
adapted earlier Egyptian practices and Greek hero-cults and established
themselves as Pharaohs within the new syncretic Ptolemaic cult of Alexander III
of Macedonia. Elsewhere, rulers might receive divine status without achieving
the full status of a god and goddess.
Many people practiced magic, and this too represented a continuation from
earlier times. Throughout the Hellenistic world, people would consult oracles,
and use charms and figurines to deter misfortune or to cast spells. The complex
system of Hellenistic astrology developed in this era, seeking to determine a
person's character and future in the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets.
The systems of Hellenistic philosophy, such as Stoicism and Epicureanism,
offered a secular alternative to traditional religion, even if their impact was
largely limited to educated elites.
My Icon: Gaia, the personification of Earth. |