RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN THE CONTEXT OF HELLENIZATION. THEIR RESISTANCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN THE CONTEXT OF HELLENIZATION. THEIR RESISTANCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Summary/Abstract: The Greek culture and thinking spread across the Middle East thanks to the conquests of Alexander the Great. Greek was used in schools and in trading. The great leader's plan of Hellenisation included the setting up of Greek colonies such as Samaria, Ptolemais, Philoteria and Scytopolis in the conquered territories. After the fall of the great Macedonian empire, under the successive reign of Syria and Egypt, some Jews adopted the Greek culture while others, who followed the Jewish faith and tradition, strongly opposed this Hellenistic current. The Hellenisation of the Jews was carried out at a diplomatic level, see Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies and partially the Seleucids. The forced Hellenisation of the Jews ordered by Antiochus IV Epiphanes produced two effects. Firstly, many Jews that sympathised with Hellenism embraced the Greek culture and abandoned their Jewish faith. Secondly, the Jews that followed the faith joined the Hasideans to defend, through fight and confession, their faith and country at the cost of their lives. The Maccabees are an example in this regard. Hellenism had a strong impact upon different forms of Jewish expressions, such as literature or architecture, and, to a certain extend, on the entire social life.However, the Jews were firm in their religion and faith and rejected the Greek influence to a large extent.

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