by Poyo
From Hellenism to cultural globalization
Hellenism - Alexander the Great
The term "Hellenism" was used for the first time by the historian Johann Gustav Droysen in 1800 to deal with the spread of Greek culture in the Mediterranean and the Near East.
The Hellenistic age is therefore the historical period that follows the death of Alexander the Great, whose ideals launched to default, and which places between 323 BC. and 31 BC Previously, the Peloponnese war had started the poleis crisis, which led to the unification of the Greek cities-state under the dominion of a monarchical figure. To play this role was Philip II of Macedonia. After his death in 336 BC, his son came to power, Alexander III .
Under his guide, the army achieved many successes, leading to the expansion of the kingdom in the territories of Asia Minor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persepolis and Babylon. In fact, what Alexander wanted, was to create a single great empire that included numerous different peoples, but with a single cultural identity . These ideals can be connected to his education: Alexander had had the well -known philosopher Aristotle as a pedagogue.
In fact, thanks to Alexander's conquests, the concept of cosmopolitanism was born. If only there was only localism, or feeling related to the place of origin, this new principle of identity sees people from different territories that feel belonging to a single common authority, regardless of their place of birth.
Thus takes place a meeting between various cultures which, feeling linked by Alessandro's dominion, merge to create a new culture, characterized by a language common to all peoples belonging to the empire: the koiné ofálektos. It can therefore be said that the Koiné was one of the main tools for spreading cosmopolitanism, since the integration of the won peoples allowed.
The birth of this new Hellenistic culture had many consequences on the society of the Empire. New centers of culture were born, among which the most important was that of Alexandria, in Egypt, where the literature developed for which the library and the museum of Alexandria were then established. Furthermore, literature began to deal with psychological and sentimental issues, also through particular attention to the choice of words. Culture then specialized with the introduction of a new intellectual figure to replace the wise: the erudite.
While the Paidéia present previously affected only the aristocracy and therefore the highest social classes, to meet the pedagogical needs of the people, noticed a new Greek-hellenistic paidéia , which committed itself to giving everyone the literacy (together with the grammar of the common language and mathematical bases).
However, if the Hellenization of the Greek world brought many positive and innovation effects, however, we can also observe negative consequences.
Hellenistic culture, aimed at welcoming the different, instead had an opposite effect. In fact, this common culture caused the approval of the different peoples who, adopting the koiné, lost their languages of origin and with them also part of their cultures. In fact, the language has an important role in determining the cultural ideas of the different peoples and the obligation to use the koiné therefore means imposing a single way of thinking.
Globalization
By globalization we mean the phenomenon that presented itself at the end of the twentieth century, a consequence of rapid economic development and means of communication, which favored the relationships and relationships between the different parts of the world. A decisive factor, in fact, was the technological advancement that therefore led to the introduction of the Internet, accelerating information flows. The consequences of technological progress were observed by the American sociologist Marshall McLuhan in his work "The tools of communicating" of 1964. Here uses the expression "global village" to affirm that the increase in communication promotes the uniforming of countries from a cultural point of view, making the world smaller.
The term "globalization" appeared for the first time in the 1930s, but the meaning associated with it today was born from the economist Theodore Levitt, in 1983, in an article called "Globalization of Markets".
Globalization, however, concerns several areas: we can observe an economic globalization , but also cultural . Both types of globalization focus on an increase in exchanges between countries.
When we refer to the phenomenon in the economic field, it is the intensification of the commercial exchanges which has led to the interdependence of national economies.
Cultural globalization is, however, that which sees a meeting between different cultures. We can identify many factors that have led to this phenomenon, including, for example, immigration. The movements of individuals have in fact allowed an introduction of new values and traditions within the various countries and therefore a cultural exchange .
The effects of globalization are many and scholars have contrasting points of view regarding this.
An example of an economist who underlines the positive consequences is Amartya Sen, who in "Globalization and Freedom", of 2002, writes about the progress of the world at a social and cultural level thanks to the phenomenon. In fact, scholars argue that globalization brings an increase in well -being and opportunities for a large part of the population.
On the contrary, according to others, this further highlights the economic, technological, cultural and political differences and imbalances.
Hellenism and globalization compared
By observing the two periods treated, we can see common elements and elements that instead diversify them.
Both eras are characterized by the unification of multiple peoples and territories, with the difference that globalization affects a much wider territory. The formation of a common culture and therefore of a cultural identity that does not depend on the place of origin, is the main element of the two periods and for this, when we speak of Hellenism, we can consider it a first form of globalization, placing the roots that then developed in the ideals of the contemporary. However, there are also significant differences, which we can also define improvements from the era of Alexander the Great.
As we have seen, Hellenistic culture involuntarily had negative approval effects, which oppose the main objective of the expansion and its positive vision of the different.
Globalization, on the other hand, does not impose a common language and culture, but connects the different countries by creating a feeling of belonging, not to a single state but in the world, however allowing people to maintain their values and cultural ideas.
Globalization therefore is not imposed by a figure in power, but it is a natural consequence of the development of the economy and technology that has connecting the different parts of the world, also favoring people's movements, creating a feeling of unification.
Even nowadays we can find negative effects of this phenomenon, since globalization is still a new phenomenon, born in the last decades of the century before ours. The homologation element, however, is not present in the contemporaneity and this is certainly a big step forward.
To conclude therefore, although there are differences between the two periods, Hellenism is what gave the foundations to today's world through the creation of the concept of cosmopolitanism and cultural identity.
By M. Arangio