What is Hellenism? »Its definition and meaning

Hellenism was a period in history, where an important development in cultural matters for the Greeks began to take place throughout the Mediterranean territory, specifically from the Iberian Peninsula to the east. This period ran from the death of Alexander the Great to the death of Cleopatra.

According to records, Alexander the Great was one of the most brilliant conquerors, political administrator, and a skilled military man in the entire history of civilization. The spread of his empire throughout ancient Greece, Athens, the Middle East and India has been one of his greatest successes.

With this expansion, Alexander the Great not only led war and desolation, he also transmitted the Hellenic (Greek) culture to all the territories he conquered, he was also characterized by incorporating the elements of all the cultures that were conquered, as was the case of the culture Persian (with which Alexander was in love) with Greek cultural elements.

Hellenic culture set out to take advantage of all the values found in each conquered culture and, in turn, incorporates their particularities, such as rationalism and open political organization.

It is important to note that many of the great cities such as Alexandria in Egypt, were transformed into important cultural centers during the Hellenistic period, adapting to scientific, religious, philosophical and literary knowledge of significant value. Even during the period when the Roman Empire exercised its rule, the Hellenistic culture kept changing, under the principle of the formation of humanity for many centuries.

Finally, the following characteristics can be identified, which define in a general way, what Hellenism represented for man:

Greek culture was able to expand thanks to writing.
Many cities acquired significant cultural relevance, such as Syracuse, Rhodes, Alexandria and Rome.