Hellenistic

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • adj Hellenistic relating to or characteristic of the classical Greek civilization
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • a Hellenistic Pertaining to the Hellenists.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • Hellenistic Resembling or partaking of Hellenic character, but not truly Hellenic; combining Greek and foreign characteristics or elements, as many of the later Greeks and the Hellenized neighboring peoples, or the modified Greek language, thought, etc., current among them.
    • Hellenistic Particularly, in sculpture and painting, characteristic of the school of Greek art based on the art of Lysippus, the court sculptor of Alexander the Great, which may or may not be considered to include the work of Lysippus himself. It lasted from about 330 b. c. until the Roman supremacy in Greece, and may be extended to include all the work done for the Romans by Greek artists, or in the Greek manner and following Greek models, as late as the early empire. Hellenistic art is characterized in general by a research of effect (posing), by a decided leaning toward the colossal, and by great skill and cleverness in design and execution; but it lacks originality, and seeks to copy the types and methods of the Hellenic epoch rather than to find inspiration in original conceptions and contemporary aims.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • adjs Hellenistic pertaining to the Hellenists: pertaining to Greek with foreign, esp. Aramaic and Hebrew, idioms—a popular dialect which grew up at Alexandria and perpetuated itself in the Septuagint, and to a less marked degree in the New Testament
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Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Cf. F. Hellénistique,
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Gr. Hellēnios, Helēnikos—Hellēnes, a name ultimately given to all the Greeks—Hellēn, the son of Deucalion, the Greek Noah.

Usage

In literature:

To them the designation of Hellenistical Jews was given.
"History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science" by John William Draper
In reality there were Gnostic sects scattered over the Hellenistic world BEFORE Christianity as well as after.
"Pagan & Christian Creeds" by Edward Carpenter
Such was the case, for instance, in the Hellenistic kingdoms, and in the age of the Caesars.
"The Complete Essays of C. D. Warner" by Charles Dudley Warner
But if these Hellenistic queens knew how to die, they knew not how to live.
"The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 2" by Various
Hellenistic influence on Christianity, 214 n. 8.
"The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism" by Franz Cumont
With Hellenistic influences were mingled confused elements springing from the scattered civilizations which had reigned over the Near East.
"Chinese Painters" by Raphael Petrucci
In the old Hellenistic sense Pan is gone forever.
"A Book of Myths" by Jean Lang
In the Hellenistic period the clown took the role of the Olympic god, and wore the phallus.
"Folkways" by William Graham Sumner
Greek painting never reached a higher point than it had gained at the beginning of the Hellenistic age.
"A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture" by Clara Erskine Clement
These Hellenists, who almost all came from Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, or Cyrene, lived at Jerusalem in distinct quarters.
"The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 03" by Various
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In news:

In a typical recent piece he set a ring with antique Hellenistic wooden beads, coated in 18-carat gold.
nytimes.com
The Biblical minimalism of the 1980s tried to disconnect the Biblical text from its ancient Near Eastern context by seeing it as Hellenistic literature.
bib-arch.org
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