XXV – MEANING OF THE TERMS “HELLENISM” AND “MACEDONISM”

XXV – MEANING OF THE TERMS “HELLENISM” AND “MACEDONISM”

The term “Hellenism” was first introduced in historiography by German historian Droysen in 1877/78, in his publication “Geschiehte des Hellenismus, I-III, Gotha”. In antiquity, the verb “helenizö” meant “to speak like a Greek”, i.e. “to speak pure Greek”. The words “hellenismòs” and “hellenistès” were hatched out from this verb by the first translators of the Old Testament, translated in the Alexandrian library built by Ptolemy, king of the Macedonian kingdom in Egypt. These terms in the Book of the Apostles and in the New Testament were used to mark the Jew who accepted the “Hellenic language”.

“Megale Idea” and “Megale Hellada”

Johann Gustav Droysen was a consultant to the Bavarian Prince Otto at his coronation in May 1832, when he was crowned king Othonos I (Othönos A’), king of Greece, right after Greece gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire. This was when the Greeks formed a consolidated Hellenic state for the first time in their history. The regions consolidated under the first Hellada included the Peloponnesus, the Cyclades Islands and the mainland from the Gulf of Arta to the west to the Gulf of Volos to the north. Greece’s first capital was a city called Naphplion located in Argolis Bay on the Peloponnesus seaside. The moment the new state appeared, it immediately formed plans to enlarge itself giving birth to the “Megale Idea”, which basically became a dominant idea for attempting to restore the Byzantine Empire. The “Megale Idea”, which basically meant “Megale Hellada” (Greater Greece), was the axiom and foreign policy of the new monarchy. Under the term “helenismòs” the Greek monarchy attempted to conquer the physical territory stretching from Chemosh (Balkan Mountains) to Tenar on the Adriatic, to the Black Sea and to Mount Tauro in Asia Minor. (Svorönos, 1976, 81) The word “hellenismòs” and the adjective “Hellenistic” in time applied to Alexander the Greats’ territorial and cultural achievements. Alexander’s achievements were purposely taken away, stolen from the Macedonians in order to downplay the Macedonian contribution and deliberately devalue the Macedonian identity. In other ways, Droysen’s idea also served to unify Germany under Bismarck (1815-1899), under the auspices of Prussia, and after that to build the German Reich.

After Droysen invented the term “Hellenism” it was popularized by other authors who decided to use it in their works. (Ferguson 1911, Heuss, Launes, 1949, Beloch 1927 and others.) Their first attempts to forge

Greece’s history began by claiming that the Macedonian culture and history belonged to the Hellenistic corpus. They did this by completely ignoring the archetypal prehistory of the Central Balkans and its northern cultures including the Borean (Macedonian) and Hyperborean (Sredno Podunavie) Cultures which, with time, migrated south, east and west.

Having found no traces of “Greek” existence from the ancient to the modern world, the Royal historians used the Macedonians as a vehicle to propel Greek continuity from ancient times to the 19th century. But to do that, they had to show some proof. The proof was in the Macedonians. Unfortunately, the Macedonians by their own admission and by the admission of the ancient Greeks themselves, were never Greek. But that did not matter to the Royal historians because in those days history, the past, could be forged to fit the present as the king ordered.

Today, however, we know differently. The existence of the Mesolithic and Neolithic archetypal art in “Old Europe” (Gimbuts, M.: The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe 6500-3500 BC Myth and Cult Images, Univ. of California Press, 1982) is from 7000 to 6000 BC and belongs to the Lipinski Vir Culture which confirms that the civilization in Macedonia most likely came from the north before it continued to spread south. The existence of sacral architecture, monumental stone sculptures, engravings, paleo-graphysms, a habitat with 134 buildings measuring 18 m2, altars and religious symbols, all point to the possibility that Lipinski Vir was the religious centre referred to as Ieropolis or Heliopolis. (Baboviħ, Ljub.: Polozhaj and function of sanctuaries Lepenskom Viru, Centre for Archaeological istrazhivanja, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade, 1997, 97-108.)

What is the likelihood that the traces in Macedonia are as old as those in Lipinski Vir? For that we will have to look at the latest breakthroughs in Macedonia, such as the findings of the Neolithic rock engravings in Kratovo (popularly known as Rock Art). According to Dr. Aleksovski, these are star maps, religious symbols and motifs, some of which were later adopted by Christianity, such as the cross. (Aleksovski 2001) We also have paleo-scripts found in Tserie, near Skopje, dated to be from 6000 BC. (R. Peshiħ, Optuzhujem ħutanje, Peshiħ & Sons, Belgrade, 1987.) A wooden board was found in the Dupiak (Dispillio-Kostur) site with linear lettering dating back to 5260 BC. (Hourmouziades, HG: Dispillo (Kastoria), Codex, Thessaloniki, 1996.) We have the Kokino Neolithic observatory near Kumanovo, discovered by NASA in 2001, which was dated to have originated in 1800 BC. These findings, prehistoric toponyms, etc., are some of the oldest monuments of archetypical

existence, distribution and continuity of cultures and civilizations in Macedonia.

The paleo-writing found in Macedonia is also much older than that found in Hellada by as much as 3000 years. According to linguist Mpampiniotis (Mpampiniotis, G., Synoptiki istoria tis Ellinikis glossas, p. 76, Athina, in 1986), the Crete hieroglyphs used in the form of a seal are dated to between 2000 and 1750 BC. (Ventris, M., Chadwick, J.: Documents in Mycenaen Greek, p. 122, Cambridge, 1956 122.)

The ancient Macedonians and the Temenid Argead Dynasty have inherited their ethnonym “Macedonian” and horonym “Macedonia” from their prehistoric Macedonian kings Macedon, Eagar and Orpheus, and their language from the Central Balkan Aeolian tribes. They adopted their Olympian Pantheon of gods from the Danube Hydrological System and built their capital Aigai in Pieria (Holy Mountain) near Voden. They also devoted many cities to Dion-Dios, Hera-Heraklion, etc., as well as shrines dedicated to Dionysus, Demeter, Asclepius, Isis, the Muses and others.

The new capital city Pella was founded during King Archelaus’s (413-399 BC) rule. It was located at the Thermaic Gulf in which, according to Thucydides (Thucydides, Povijest Peloponeskog installment, p. II, 100, Dereta, Belgrade, 1991), “… new forts were built... flat roads were cut and other necessities for making war were added such as horses, weapons and other equipment...”

The ancient Macedonians began to reach their pinnacle of cultural achievements during king Philip II’s (359-339 BC) rule starting with the opening of the “Macedonian Royal Academy” at Miezi, located between Voden and Negush at the Nympheon. The Academy was built to provide education for the young of the elite and was entrusted to Aristotle (384-322 BC) from Stagira, son of Nikomachos, a court physician. Aristotle was a brilliant man and one of the most serious of the ancient philosophers. He was also the founder of logic and many of the natural and social sciences existing to this day. The Macedonian Academy produced the best and most capable diplomats, politicians, economists and generals. These were the people who led the Macedonians in conquering the then known world. They were responsible for creating the Macedonian cosmopolitan kingdoms in Europe, Asia, Africa and India.

Contributing to the cultural development in Macedonia were also a number of diligent, cultural activists from Ionia (Herodotus), Athens, Sicily and other places. It is well known that Euripides (484-406 BC), the famous

tragedian from Salamis, lived in Pella during king Archelaus’s reign where he wrote most of his 75 plays.

Role of the Macedonian Royal Academy in Miezi

Outside of Aristotle, there were many other famous teachers working at the Macedonian Royal Academy and in the Macedonian Royal Court, including Atrialt, Amarei, Aristobulus, Zoil, Dinikrit, Callisthenes, Pythagoras, Polignost and Leodam. The Macedonian Royal Academy was not just an educational institution; it was also a spiritual centre and a large laboratory where the Macedonian paleo-Balkan language, later termed “Alexander’s Koine”, evolved into a literary Macedonian language. (Mpampiriotis, G., Synoptiki istoria tis Ellinikis glossas, p. 107, Athina, 1986.) The best sources for studying the ancient Macedonian language are Aristotle’s works, the Old and the New Testament, various Egyptian papyruses from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, historian Polybius’s (II century BC) works, Diodorus Siculus’s texts (IV century BC), philosopher Epiktet’s texts (I-II century BC), etc.

So, given what we said above, what possibly could have motivated Droysen to associate the Macedonian culture with “Hellenism” and not call it “Macedonism”, for what it truly was?

Outside of Macedonia, associating “Hellenism” with all the cultures south of Olympus was also incorrect because, according to Herodotus (Herodotus, History, I, 56, Matica Srpska, Belgrade, 1988), the Lakedemonians and the Spartans were the true Hellenes, known for their wandering and travels... “They produced the warrior Leonidas and Pausanei and the Doric columns… “The “Greek miracle”, on the other hand, was not a “Hellenic miracle” but the work of the Athenians, i.e. the Butadi, Pizistratidi, Kodridi, Alkmeonidi led by Pericles (499-429BC), all of whom were of Aeolian origin from Pannonia, not Dorian Hellenes. Given that most cultures and City States in central Greece were not Hellenic, it was truly a far fetched idea for Droysen to call the Macedonian culture “Hellenic”!

According to Droysen, Hellenistic history ended in 222 BC with the collapse of the Seleucid Empire, while others consider the end of the Hellenistic period to be 30 AD, when Ptolemaic Egypt became Roman.

Role of the Ptolemaic Macedonian Royal Academy - Museum and Library

Like other authors of modern research, we believe that “Macedonianism” began with Philip II (359-336) and lasted until 30 AD when Cleopatra VII, Macedonian queen of Egypt, was defeated by Octavian and Egypt was conquered by Rome. This means that the Macedonians dominated the then known world for 329 years. But, can we truly say that Macedonian culture ended with the end of Macedonian rule? No, because there were signs all throughout Roman and Byzantine rule of an existence and of a continuation of a Macedonian culture. Alexander, in his short career, had founded at least 33 cities which he named “Alexandria”. These cities and their Macedonian administrations and institutions continued to exist and function many generations after Macedonian rule ended.

The most prominent of the Alexandria’s founded by Alexander was Alexandria in Egypt. This is where the architect Dinokrit approached Alexander and said: “I am Dinikrit, an architect from Macedonia, and here I have plans and designs for a city worthy of Thy glory…” And Dinokrit delivered exactly what he promised. A magnificent lighthouse was also built near Alexandria on Farr Island, standing 110 metres tall. This was the great grandfather of all future lighthouses. It could be seen from a distance of 60 kilometres. Later it was dubbed the “seventh wonder of the world”. Also built in Alexandria were the famous library and museum, brain children of Alexander the Great. (Wilken, 1988 329) The museum was built during Macedonian king Ptolemy A. Lagos’s rule as a wing or an addition to the Royal Macedonian Academy, identical to the one in Macedonia. The teachers, students and researchers working and studying at this institution were cared for by the state and their livelihood was supported by the king. The most prominent figure in the cultural circles of this city was the librarian and museum member Kalimah (310-235 BC), son of king Vattos, king of Kirena in Libya and a descendant of the Minians of Timok.

According to Ranoviħ (Ranoviħ, A.: Ellinistiki epohi, Mpayron, p. 78, Athinai, 1983), Alexander’s library in Alexandria greatly contributed to the spread of Buddhism in India throughout king Askoka’s kingdom. Magdala’s powerful Macedonian kingdom in India reached its pinnacle of rule during Emperor Ashoka’s (274-237 BC) reign. It was Ashkoka who began the era of Buddhist missionary activities, which had far-reaching effects in Central Asia and the Far East. After subjugating Kaling’s kingdom (today’s Orissa province), he devoted his effort to peace and science. The name “Kaling” still exists in the name of the “Kaling Award” which UNESCO, since 1951, has been awarding to those who contribute to the popularization of science.

Eratosthenes’s role and that of other scholars

After the Ptolemies consolidated their rule over Egypt, they became a world maritime and continental economic, cultural and military power, with Alexandria becoming centre of science and literature. On many occasions the Ptolemies dispatched geographic and scientific expeditions along the Nile, the Red Sea, the east coast of Africa and through Gibraltar up to England and Iceland. These studies enabled Eratosthenes (276-194 BC), librarian at the Alexandria Library, to advance science. From the information gathered he discovered that the then known world was shaped like a cross, for which he introduced terrestrial meridians and parallels. He was the first person to determine the earth’s size and calculated its volume in meridian stages with each meridian being about 252,000 stediums, which is about 1,000 kilometres less than its actual value as we know it today. Eratosthenes also practiced astronomy, mathematics and created the first map of the world. He recorded the following chronology of prehistoric events: the founding of Cadmian Thebes – 1313 BC; Hercules’s birthdate – 1261 BC; the Argonaut Expedition – 1225 BC; the war of Seven against Thebes – 1213 BC; the crowning of king Agamemnon of Mycenae – 1200 BC; the fall of Troy – 1183 BC; colonization of Thessaly by the Tesproti - 1124 BC; colonization of the Peloponnesus by the Dorian Hellenes – 1104 BC; Aeolian colonization of Lesbos - 1053 BC; and Ionian colonization of Asia Minor - 1044 BC.

Kalimah was believed to be the author of the first library catalogue called “Pinakas” (list) which consisted of 120 volumes. It promoted criticism, history, literature, grammar and lexicography. Kalimah wrote some 800 books in verse and prose, he also left 60 epigrams, 6 hymns, fragments of plays and more. His writings influenced the Roman poets Ovid and Catullus. Kalimah was also a teacher who taught Aristophanes (262-185 BC) of Byzant, famous critic and writer, and Apolonei (295-215 BC) of Rhodes, author of a poem about the Argonauts, which served as an example for Roman poets. Kalimah’s opus serves as an example of Alexander’s literary history.

When Kalimah was custodian of the Alexandrian Library it housed as many as 500,000 manuscripts and during Cleopatra’s rule the Library had acquired over 700,000 manuscripts. The Library was also connected to the Museum and had great influence on the development of the ancient Macedonian language, dubbed “Alexander’s Koine”, and on world culture and civilization. In time the Library became the world’s most important scientific centre where scholars from East and West came to study and do research. During Ptolemy II’s time the Old Testament was translated from Judaic to Koine by 70 Jewish students. Because of that, this important translation had the favour of two cultures and both were “Alexandrian” since the translation took place in Alexandria, “Septuagint”, in accordance with the number of interpreters, and there were exactly 72, 6 from every tribe. According to tradition, each translator had to work independently. However, in the end, all translations were identical, as interpreted by the general inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The translation was later used by the writers of the New Testament, the early Christians, until this day. Since then this translation was also translated into Latin (Vulgati) and Slavic. The Library of Alexandria was also committed to translating the Buddhist canons to Chinese. The Ancient Macedonian “Koine” was the Empire’s official language spanning from the Danube and the Adriatic Sea all the way to India.

One of the more famous and important scholars working at the Royal Macedonian Academy in Egypt was Poseidonei (135-51 BC). He was a philosopher, historian, naturalist, geographer and astronomer. He taught Cicero and Pompey, unfortunately his works were only preserved in fragments.

Another prominent academic working in the Academy was Aristarchus (217-145 BC) of Samothrace. He collected the works of Homer, Aeschylus, Aristophanes and others and rewrote them in the ancient Macedonian “Koine” language. Another scholar of course was Aristarchus (320-250 BC) of Samos; one of the greatest astronomers of his time. He was the first philosopher to have claimed that the Earth revolved around the Sun – i.e. the “heliocentric” theory. He discovered a method of calculating the distance between the earth and the sun and determined that the sun was about 300 times larger than the earth. Also among the greats of science was Euclid (around 300 BC) who lived and worked during Ptolemy I’s time. He formulated geometry and geometric laws which apply to this day. He wrote his “Elements of Geometry” in 13 books which, during the VII century AD, were translated to Arabic and Latin and later to other languages. According to Papastavrou (Papastavrou, I.: Istoria tis Arhaias Ellados, p. 476, Hiotelli, Athinai, 1972), with minor modifications, we still teach “Euclidian” geometry in our schools to this day.

Archimedes (287-212), the greatest mathematician and physicist of the old world, studied in Alexandria and then moved to Syracuse in Sicily, but maintained constant correspondence with Alexandrian mathematicians. Thanks to this correspondence some of his works have been saved. Included among his works are the geometry of the circle, sphere, cylinder, parabola, fluid displacement, centre of gravity of planes, quadrature of the parabola, etc. Archimedes is also known for some of the laws of physics, Archimedes’ axiom in geometry, etc.

Among the most important mathematicians to come out of the Alexandrian Academy were Hiparh (190-125 BC), astronomer and founder of trigonometry, and Philon (about 250 BC), engineer, tactician and author of “The System of Mechanics”, considered to be “the king of machines”.

The Macedonian Royal Academy in Alexandria was also a world centre for medical science where Herophil, a celebrity doctor practiced medicine during Ptolemy I’s rule. Herophil was particularly interested in human anatomy and the central nervous system. He discovered that the brain was the centre of the nervous system. Also attending the Academy was Erazistrat (304-227), a prominent physician and anatomist who practiced medicine during Ptolemy II’s reign. He founded the Alexandrian School of Anatomy, distinguished the differences between motor and sensory nerves, introduced therapy, etc. In addition to that he also extensively described Histon’s anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, the eureo-genital and digestive systems and more. He thought of the cell (atom) as the smallest unit and that atoms formed the tissue, from which the organs obtained their functions, i.e. the organ systems.

There was also Nicander (about II century BC) who led the field of pharmacotherapy and at the same time wrote songs about wild beasts (“Thyriaka”) in which he spoke about drug treatments for wild beast bites, about drugs that counteracted food poisoning, herbs, etc. and agriculture. He influenced the Roman poets Ovid and Virgil.

The Antioch and Pergamum Library

We will not be analyzing the cultural and civilizational contribution made to the world by “Macedonianism” and the Macedonian kingdoms in Europe and Asia, but there is a need to emphasize that the Seleucids were the first Europeans to establish trade routes and cultural ties with the Chinese Han Dynasty and to also have founded the Antioch Library, which was of the same caliber as the Alexandria Library. Euphorion (about 275 BC) was put in charge of the Antioch library and was representative of the same poetic style established by Kalimah. Another Macedonian library was the Pergamum Library in Asia Minor, built by Macedonian king Attalus I Soter (241-197 BC). This library too was of a similar caliber as the Alexandrian Library and greatly contributed to the spread of Macedonian Culture in Asia Minor. This Library handled approximately 200,000 books and parchments made of smoothed out sheep, goat, or calfskin. Zeus’s Altar was discovered during an archaeological excavation carried out in 1878. Among other things, this excavation uncovered information about the war of the gods against the giants. Pergamum,

during the Roman era, was an important cultural centre often attended by young Roman aristocrat students.

The new Alexandrian Library in Egypt

The last Macedonian monarch to rule the last Macedonian Empire before it was conquered by the Romans was Macedonian queen Cleopatra VII, queen of Egypt, older daughter of Ptolemaic king Aulet. To preserve her kingdom and save the Library, Cleopatra did everything in her power including marry Caesar and then Mark Antony. But there was nothing more to do after Antony was defeated by Octavian, in Actium in 30 BC. Fortunately the Romans did not destroy the library and thus preserved Macedonian and world culture. The Library in Alexandria was destroyed by Arab Caliph Omar Ibn al Hattab (634-644 AD) when he conquered Egypt and ordered the Alexandrian library to be incinerated. Before giving the order to burn the library the Caliph said: “...What people need to know is written in the Koran, what is not written in the Koran people do not need to know…” But, despite this cultural catastrophe, many documents were saved and eventually translated into Arabic, Latin and other languages.

Sponsored by UNESCO and under the initiative of the Egyptian government, the Alexandrian Library came to life once again in 2002 at a cost of more than $ 200 million.

The new Library was built on the same site where the old building was. It consisted of 11 floors, 300 rooms, conference rooms, amphitheaters for 3,500 people, 8,000,000 books and is equipped with the most modern of information technology. Thus, the old tradition is again renewed. Like Alexander’s old library, which was a symbol of knowledge and served the Macedonian and world culture, the new library will also be a symbol of knowledge and it will serve the entire world culture and civilization; all in the lasting memory of Alexander, the great Macedonian son. The library will preserve the identity and continuity of its original creators, their culture in our time and serve as the guardian of their future.

Given what we said this far, it should be obvious that attributing all this to “Hellenism” and not to “Macedonism” is not only wrong and immoral; it is downright spiritual theft, forgery of history and the appropriation of Macedonian cultural heritage with far-reaching consequences. Cultural identity is the essence of a people.