The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism

This volume assembles twenty-three essays by Erich S. Gruen, who has written extensively on the literature and history of early Judaism and the experience of the Jews in the Greco-Roman world. Twenty-two of the articles have previously been published, and one new one was composed for the volume

The Coronation of the Diadochi

The year 310 B.C. witnessed the extinction of the Argead line. Cassander had ordered the murder of Young Alexander IV and his mother Roxane, widow of Alexander the Great. The kingdom of Macedonia was now without a king. Cassander's deed cleared the way for the ambitious dynasts who controlled the armies and lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Yet no one stepped forth to claim the crown. The throne lay vacant for four years. In 306 the situation changed in dramatic fashion. Antigonus Monophthalmus took the title of King, and a chain reaction followed. Within a short span of time, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander all acquired the same title. The Hellenistic world which had had no monarch for half a decade suddenly had a plethora of them. But what kind of monarchy, how viewed and how justified? The matter is important. It helped give shape to the age of Alexander's Successors.El año 310 a. C. Fue testigo de la extinción de la línea Argead. Cassander había ordenado el asesinato del joven Alexander IV y su madre Roxane, viuda de Alejandro Magno. El reino de Macedonia estaba ahora sin rey. La acción de Cassander despejó el camino para las dinastías ambiciosas que controlaban los ejércitos y las tierras del Mediterráneo oriental. Sin embargo, nadie se adelantó para reclamar la corona. El trono quedó vacante durante cuatro años. En 306 la situación cambió de manera dramática. Antigonus Monophthalmus tomó el título de Rey, y siguió una reacción en cadena. En un corto lapso de tiempo, Ptolomeo, Seleuco, Lysimachus y Cassander adquirieron el mismo título. El mundo helenístico que no había tenido monarca durante media década de repente tuvo una gran cantidad de ellos. ¿Pero qué tipo de monarquía, cómo se ve y cómo se justifica? El asunto es importante. Ayudó a dar forma a la edad de los sucesores de Alexander

La Coronación de los Diádocos

The year 310 B.C. witnessed the extinction of the Argead line. Cassander had ordered the murder of Young Alexander IV and his mother Roxane, widow of Alexander the Great. The kingdom of Macedonia was now without a king. Cassander’s deed cleared the way for the ambitious dynasts who controlled the armies and lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Yet no one stepped forth to claim the crown. The throne lay vacant for four years. In 306 the situation changed in dramatic fashion. Antigonus Monophthalmus took the title of King, and a chain reaction followed. Within a short span of time, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander all acquired the same title. The Hellenistic world which had had no monarch for half a decade suddenly had a plethora of them. But what kind of monarchy, how viewed and how justified? The matter is important. It helped give shape to the age of Alexander’s Successors.El año 310 a. C. Fue testigo de la extinción de la línea Argead. Cassander había ordenado el asesinato del joven Alexander IV y su madre Roxane, viuda de Alejandro Magno. El reino de Macedonia estaba ahora sin rey. La acción de Cassander despejó el camino para las dinastías ambiciosas que controlaban los ejércitos y las tierras del Mediterráneo oriental. Sin embargo, nadie se adelantó para reclamar la corona. El trono quedó vacante durante cuatro años. En 306 la situación cambió de manera dramática. Antigonus Monophthalmus tomó el título de Rey, y siguió una reacción en cadena. En un corto lapso de tiempo, Ptolomeo, Seleuco, Lysimachus y Cassander adquirieron el mismo título. El mundo helenístico que no había tenido monarca durante media década de repente tuvo una gran cantidad de ellos. ¿Pero qué tipo de monarquía, cómo se ve y cómo se justifica? El asunto es importante. Ayudó a dar forma a la edad de los sucesores de Alexander

Heritage and hellenism: the reinvention of Jewish tradition

The interaction of Jew and Greek in antiquity intrigues the imagination. Both civilizations boasted great traditions, their roots stretching back to legendary ancestors and divine sanction. In the wake of Alexander the Great's triumphant successes, Greeks and Macedonians came as conquerors and settled as ruling classes in the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Hellenic culture, the culture of the ascendant classes in many of the cities of the Near East, held widespread attraction and appeal. Jews were certainly not immune. In this thoroughly researched, lucidly written work, Erich Gruen draws on a wide variety of literary and historical texts of the period to explore a central question: How did the Jews accommodate themselves to the larger cultural world of the Mediterranean while at the same time reasserting the character of their own heritage within it? Erich Gruen's work highlights Jewish creativity, ingenuity, and inventiveness, as the Jews engaged actively with the traditions of Hellas, adapting genres and transforming legends to articulate their own legacy in modes congenial to a Hellenistic setting. Drawing on a diverse array of texts composed in Greek by Jews over a broad period of time, Gruen explores works by Jewish historians, epic poets, tragic dramatists, writers of romance and novels, exegetes, philosophers, apocalyptic visionaries, and composers of fanciful fables - not to mention pseudonymous forgers and fabricators. In these works, Jewish writers reinvented their own past, offering us the best insights into Jewish self-perception in that era

The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism. Essays on Early Jewish Literature and History

This volume assembles twenty-three essays by Erich S. Gruen, who has written extensively on the literature and history of early Judaism and the experience of the Jews in the Greco-Roman world. Twenty-two of the articles have previously been published, and one new one was composed for the volume

The Coronation of the Diadochi

The year 310 B.C. witnessed the extinction of the Argead line. Cassander had ordered the murder of Young Alexander IV and his mother Roxane, widow of Alexander the Great. The kingdom of Macedonia was now without a king. Cassander's deed cleared the way for the ambitious dynasts who controlled the armies and lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Yet no one stepped forth to claim the crown. The throne lay vacant for four years. In 306 the situation changed in dramatic fashion. Antigonus Monophthalmus took the title of King, and a chain reaction followed. Within a short span of time, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander all acquired the same title. The Hellenistic world which had had no monarch for half a decade suddenly had a plethora of them. But what kind of monarchy, how viewed and how justified? The matter is important. It helped give shape to the age of Alexander's Successors.El año 310 a. C. Fue testigo de la extinción de la línea Argead. Cassander había ordenado el asesinato del joven Alexander IV y su madre Roxane, viuda de Alejandro Magno. El reino de Macedonia estaba ahora sin rey. La acción de Cassander despejó el camino para las dinastías ambiciosas que controlaban los ejércitos y las tierras del Mediterráneo oriental. Sin embargo, nadie se adelantó para reclamar la corona. El trono quedó vacante durante cuatro años. En 306 la situación cambió de manera dramática. Antigonus Monophthalmus tomó el título de Rey, y siguió una reacción en cadena. En un corto lapso de tiempo, Ptolomeo, Seleuco, Lysimachus y Cassander adquirieron el mismo título. El mundo helenístico que no había tenido monarca durante media década de repente tuvo una gran cantidad de ellos. ¿Pero qué tipo de monarquía, cómo se ve y cómo se justifica? El asunto es importante. Ayudó a dar forma a la edad de los sucesores de Alexander

The Last Years of Philip V

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