What is the Hellenistic Age?
The word “Hellenistic” is derived from the word “Hellenes”, which is simply the Greek word for a Greek. The Hellenistic Age was a post-classical civilization normally associated with Greece; however, this is not entirely accurate. It came after the earlier classical Hellenic period, and preceded the Byzantine civilization, but Greece was in existence long before Hellenism appeared and exists long after Hellenism has died. While Hellenism did, in fact, cover much of Greece, the land on which the Hellenistic civilization existed never fully covered Greece. Furthermore, not all Hellenes spoke Greek, and not all Greek-speaking people were Hellenistic. Hellenism can be simply defined as a civilization that existed from 323 BC to 30 BC, that consisted of elements from many cultures, from Persia, Greece, Egypt, India and Asia Minor. A little history of pre-Hellenistic Age Greece The Greeks absorbed many ideas from neighboring Mesopotamia and Egypt. Plato boasted, “Whatever the Greeks have acq
