Western Civilization

also contained a divine spark. This led to a belief in the

oneness of humanity. The world constituted a single

society of equal human beings. Although they were not

equal in the outer world, all were free to follow the

divine will (what was best for each individual). All per-

sons, then, even slaves, though unfree in body, were

equal at the level of the soul.

Epicureanism and especially Stoicism appealed to

large numbers of people in the Hellenistic world. Both

of these philosophies focused primarily on the problem

of human happiness. Their popularity would suggest a

fundamental change in the character of the Greek life-

style. In the classical Greek world, the happiness of

individuals and the meaning of life were closely associ-

ated with the life of thepolis. One found fulfillment

within the community. In the Hellenistic kingdoms,

although thepoliscontinued to exist, the sense that

one could find satisfaction and fulfillment through life

in thepolishad weakened. Not only did individuals

seek new philosophies that offered personal happiness,

but in the cosmopolitan world of the Hellenistic states,

with their mixtures of peoples, a new openness to

thoughts of universality could also emerge. For some

people, Stoicism embodied this larger sense of commu-

nity. The appeal of new philosophies in the Hellenistic

era can also be explained by the apparent decline in

certain aspects of traditional religion.

Religion in the Hellenistic

World

Q FOCUSQUESTION: Which religions were prominent

during the Hellenistic period, and what does their

popularity suggest about Hellenistic society?

When the Greeks spread throughout the Hellenistic

kingdoms, they took their gods with them. Although

the construction of temples may have been less impor-

tant than in classical times, there were still many dem-

onstrations of a lively religious faith. But over time,

there was a noticeable decline in the vitality of the tra-

ditional Greek Olympian religion. The civic cults based

on the traditional gods no longer seemed sufficient to

satisfy people’s emotional needs.

This left Greeks receptive to the numerous religious

cults of the eastern world. The Greeks were always tol-

erant of other existing religious institutions. Hence, in

the Hellenistic cities of the Near East, the traditional

civic cults of their own gods and foreign cults existed

side by side. Alexandria had cults of the traditional

Greek gods, Egyptian deities such as Isis and Horus,

the Babylonian Astarte, and the Syrian Atargatis.

But for many people, the search for personal mean-

ing remained unfulfilled. Among educated Greeks, the

philosophies of Epicureanism and especially Stoicism

offered help. Another source of solace came in the form

ofmystery religions.

Mystery Religions

Mystery cults, with their secret initiations and prom-

ises of individual salvation, were not new to the Greek

world. But the Greeks of the Hellenistic era were

strongly influenced by Eastern mystery cults, such as

those of Egypt, which offered a distinct advantage over

the Greek mystery religions. The latter had usually

been connected to specific locations (such as Eleusis),

which meant that a would-be initiate had to undertake

a pilgrimage in order to participate in the rites. In con-

trast, the Eastern mystery religions were readily avail-

able because temples to their gods and goddesses were

located throughout the Greek cities of the East.

All of the mystery religions were based on the same

fundamental premises. Individuals could pursue a path

to salvation and achieve eternal life by being initiated

into a union with a savior god or goddess who had died

and risen again. The ritual of initiation, by which the

seeker identified with the god or goddess, was, no

doubt, a highly emotional experience.

The Egyptian cult of Isis was one of the most popular

of the mystery religions and became truly universal in

Hellenistic times. Isis was the goddess of women, mar-

riage, and children, as one of her hymns states: “I am

she whom women call goddess. I ordained that women

should be loved by men: I brought wife and husband to-

gether, and invented the marriage contract. I ordained

that women should bear children.”^7 Isis was also por-

trayed as the giver of civilization who had brought laws

and letters to all humankind. The cult of Isis offered a

precious commodity to its initiates—the promise of

eternal life. In many ways, the mystery religions of the

Hellenistic era helped pave the way for Christianity.

The Jews in the Hellenistic World

In observing the similarities among their gods and god-

desses, Greeks and Easterners tended to assume they

were the same beings with different names, giving rise

to a process ofsyncretism. But a special position was

occupied in the Hellenistic world by the Jews, whose

monotheistic religion was exclusive and did not permit

this kind of fusion of spiritual beings.

90 Chapter 4 The Hellenistic World

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