Hellenization
Hellenisation (or
Hellenization) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something non-Greek becomes Greek (Hellenic). The process can either be voluntary, or applied with varying degrees of force.
The term is used in a number of historical contexts, starting with the hellenization of the earliest inhabitants of the Greek peninsula, the
Pelasgians, the
Leleges, the
Lemnians, the
Eteocypriots in Cyprus,
Eteocretans and
Minoans in Crete, prior to the
Classical period, as well as the
Sicels,
Elymians,
Sicani in Sicily and the
Oenotrians,
Brutii,
Lucani,
Messapii and many others in what was about to be known as
Magna Graecia.
During the classical period, there was the alleged hellenization of the
Ancient Macedonians[Stanley M Burstein, Walter Donlan, Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, Sarah B Pomeroy, "A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture", Oxford University Press, p. 255], as well as other peoples, such as
Thracians,
Dardanians,
Paionians and
Illyrians, south of the
Jireček Line. Furthermore, the influence of the Greek colonies in
Ionia resulted in the hellenization of the
Phrygians,
Trojans,
Lydians,
Paphlagonians,
Cappadocians,
Pisidians,
Carians,
Lycians and other
Anatolian peoples.
In the
Hellenistic times, the Macedonians, following the death of
Alexander the Great, hellenized the
Syrians,
Jews,
Egyptians,
Persians,
Armenians and a number of other smaller ethnic groups along the
Middle East and
Central Asia. The
Bactrians, an Iranian ethnic group was hellenized during the reign of the
Graeco-Bactrian kings, and soon after various tribes in
India (see
Indo-Greeks). The hellenization was so successful in
South Asia, that even today there are ethnic groups that claim descent from the Greeks (see
Kalasha).
Hellenisation also refers of the
Byzantine Empire from
Constantine's founding of
Constantinople and the primacy of Greek culture and the
Greek language under the emperor
Heraclius in the seventh century.
The modern use is in connection with the policies pursuing ethnic assimilation of the minorities from the modern Greek state in relation to
Turks,
Bulgarians,
Vlachs (
Aromanians and
Megleno-Romanians),
Arvanites/
Albanians, contemporary
ethnic Macedonians (also known as Macedonian Slavs),
Slavic-speaking peoples (adressed as "Slavophone Greeks"), [
1]
Roma and other minorities, and to a lesser extent,
Jews. For example the hellenization policy of the Greek government in
Thessaloniki concerning the Jews after
1912 and in the
1920s and
1930s, which took economic and political forms
[E. Benbassa & A. Rodrigue, Sephardi Jewry: A History of the Judeo-Spanish Community, p. 161] and concerning
their language [
2].
After the Greek War of independence from the
Ottoman Empire, the Greek state embarked on a policy of Hellenisation of those inhabitants of northern Greece who were non-Greek.
De-hellenisation(or De-hellenization) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something Greek becomes non-Greek (non-Hellenic). The process can either be voluntary, or, commonly, applied with varying degrees of force.
Throught history, the term has been used in connection with the
turkification of the Greek inhabitants of the
Byzantine Empire[Stanley Cohen, Professor of Criminology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, ""Law and Social Inquiry", Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter 1995, pp. 7-50 (quote from pp. 13-14)", published by the American Bar Foundation, University of Chicago Press], as well as with the
slavicised Greek inhabitants in the
Balkans (see
Slavophone Greeks) and the
Aromanians, who are considered by the Greek government as Latin-speaking Greeks, and at least 84 Vlach associations located throughout Greece (the membership of the
Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs) also claim that the Vlachs are Latin-speaking Greeks [
3], [
4]. It is unknown if there are any Vlach associations claiming otherwise.
In recent times, it has been used in connection with the
Second World War and the triple occupation of Greece [
5], the
Enver Hoxha's regime in
Albania [
6] (a country with a large Greek minority) [
7] and with the
Greek Muslims.
Re-hellenisation (or
Re-hellenization) is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something which had been originally
Greek, becomes Greek again, after a period of time in which it was not Greek (
De-hellenisation). The process can either be voluntary, or applied with varying degrees of force.
The term is used in a number of contexts, regarding the re-hellenization of the southern Slavic population in the
Balkans[István Vásáry, "Cumans and Tatars. Oriental Military in the Pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185"1365", Loránd Eötvös University, Budapest] in the
Byzantine times. Greek
[Greece in the Twentieth Century, Theodore A. Couloumbis, Frank Cass Publishers (15 Sep 2003). ISBN 071468340X] and international
[Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation, John Shea, McFarland & Company (23 May 1996). ISBN 0786402288] authors have also used the term with regard to the territories the Greek state annexed (from the
Ottoman Empire or from other countries). John Shea in particular attributes a major part in the re-hellenization process to the
Greek Orthodox Church .
In modern times, it has been used by Greek authors in connection with governmental policies and exchanges among the
linguistic and cultural minorities in
Greece in relation to
Arvanites[Haris Exertzoglou, "Shifting Boundaries: language, community and the 'non-Greek speaking Greeks'"],
Aromanians,
Megleno-Romanians and
Slavophone Greeks. Arguably, the term can be used for the
Kalasha tribe in
Pakistan, that claims descent from the
Greeks of
Alexander the Great, and where Greek volunteers (with the help of the Greek government) have built 5 schools.[
8]. Regarding the Vlachs of Greece (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians) in particular, their origins are disputed. It should be noted though that the Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs (Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Πολιτιστικών Συλλόγων 'λάχων), a federation of at least 84 Vlach associations located throughout Greece, on the 28th February 2001 voted that
we the Vlach-speaking Greeks do not request recognition from out state as a minority because both historically and culturally we were and are an integral part of the Greek nation [
9]. Other Vlach associations (from
Romania,
Albania,
Republic of Macedonia, and especially the ones from the Diaspora) reject the idea of a Greek origin for Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians. The existence Vlachs in
Albania claiming a Greek identity has been reported though: they are invited by Vlachs of Greece in their festivals, and receive help from them to rebuild churches or in the form of other necessary assistance to Vlach villages in Albania. On the contrary, no links exist with the Vlachs in the
Republic of Macedonia, as there do not appear to be many who claim the Greek identity there [
10].
*
Albanization*
Romanianization*
Turkification
