Hellenistic Culture: Fusion and Diffusion

The miracle of Greece is not single but twofold: first the unrivaled rapidity and variety and quality of its achievement, and then its success in permeating and imposing its values upon alien civilizations. What combination of factors gave rise to the first we can only speculate; for the second we have tangible evidence. In this book, Moses Hadas sets forth and illustrates some of the ways in which Greek modes of thought, Greek taste, and Greek ideals became part of the continuing European heritage.