Hellenisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of spreading ancient Greek culture, language, and customs to non-Greek peoples ; the historical diffusion of Greek ideas and practices during and after Alexander the Great's conquests ; the cultural assimilation and adoption of Hellenic traditions by foreign societies
2. The widespread adoption of Greek cultural elements such as language, art, religion, and governance in conquered or neighboring regions ; the influence and integration of Greek civilization traits into other cultures ; the transformation of local traditions under Greek cultural dominance in the ancient Mediterranean world
3. The gradual fusion and imprint of Greek civilization onto diverse populations through political and social influence ; the historical phenomenon of Greekizing various aspects of life in non-Greek communities ; the extension of Hellenic cultural and intellectual life beyond its original geographic boundaries

Etymology: Hellenisation is a 19th-century coinage, and its most famous popularizer was the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen, who used "Hellenismus" in his 1836 to 1843 histories to name the period after Alexander the Great's conquests. He wanted a single label for the spread of Greek language, art and institutions across the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. The English form arrived later, built from "Hellen," the Greek name for the Greeks themselves, plus the suffix "-ise" and the noun ending "-ation." The word's logic is therefore backward from how it sounds. Its root goes back to the Greeks' own name for themselves, "Hellenes," but the idea of a unified "Hellenic" culture spreading outward was a modern historian's framework, applied retrospectively to centuries of contact. Ancient writers did not describe their world this way, so the term reflects how later scholars organized the past.

Synonyms: hellenization, greek influence