- Hellenistic religion developed under Greek cultural influence between 300 BCE to 300 CE and incorporated aspects of traditional Greek religion and new religions introduced from other regions. The Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis became particularly prominent. Ruler cults also developed where Hellenistic monarchs received divine status. Magic, astrology, mystery religions, and philosophical systems like Stoicism and Epicureanism were other features of the religious landscape during this period. However, the traditional Greek gods and practices largely continued as before.

1. From Wikipedia,the free encyclopedia
Serapis, a Greco-EgyptianGod worshipped in Hellenistic Egypt
Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and
practices of the people who lived under the influence of
ancientGreek culture during the Hellenistic period and the Roman
Empire (c. 300 BCE to 300 CE). There was much continuity in
Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to be worshipped,and
the same rites were practiced as before.
Change came from the addition of new religions from other countries,
including the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis,and theSyrian Gods
of Atargatis and of Hadad, which provided a new outlet for people
seeking fulfillment in both the presentlife and the afterlife. The
worship of Hellenistic rulers was also a feature of this period,most
notably in Egypt, where the Ptolemiesadoptedearlier pharaonic
practice, and established themselves as god-kings. Elsewhere rulers
might receive divine status without the full status of a God.
Magic was practiced widely, and this too, was a continuation from
earlier times. Throughout the Hellenistic world, people would
consult oracles, and use charms and figurines to deter misfortune or
to cast spells.Also developedin this era was the complexsystem
of astrology, which sought to determine a person's character and
future in the movements of the sun, moon, andplanets. The systems
of Hellenistic philosophy, such as Stoicism and Epicureanism, offered
an alternative to traditional religion, even if their impact was largely
limited to the educated elite.
ClassicalGreek religion
Main article: AncientGreek religion
Remains of the temple of Apollo atCorinth.
Central to Greek religion in classical times were the twelve Olympian
deities headed by Zeus.Each god was honored with
stone temples and statues, and sanctuaries (sacred enclosures),
which, although dedicated to a specific deity, oftencontained statues
commemorating other gods.[1]
The city-states would conductvarious
festivals and rituals throughout the year, with particular emphasis

2. directed towards the patron god of the city, such as Athena at Athens,
or Apollo at Corinth.[1]
Religious practice would also involve the worship of heroes,people
who were regarded as semi-divine. Such heroes ranged from the
mythical figures in the epics of Homer to historical people such as the
founder of a city.[1]
At the local level, the landscape was filled with
sacred spots and monuments; for example, many statues
of Nymphs were found near and around springs, and the stylized
figures of Hermes could often be found on street corners.[1]
Magic was a central part of Greek religion[2]
and oracles would allow
people to determine divine will in the rustle of leaves; the shape of
flame and smoke on an altar; the flight of birds;the noises made by a
spring; or in the entrails of an animal.[3]
Also long established were
the Eleusinian Mysteries, associated
with Demeterand Persephone.[3][3]
People were indoctrinated into
mystery religions through initiation ceremonies,which were
traditionally kept secret.These religions often had a goal of personal
improvement,which would also extend to the afterlife.
In the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek
culture spread widely and came into much closercontact with the
civilizations of the Near East andEgypt. The most significant changes
to impact on Greek religion were the loss of independence of the
Greek city-states to Macedonian rulers; the importation of foreign
deities;and the developmentof new philosophicalsystems.[4]
Older
surveys of Hellenistic religion tended to depictthe era as one of
religious decline,discerning a rise
in scepticism,agnosticism and atheism, as well as an increase
in superstition, mysticism,and astrology.[5]
There is, however, no reason to suppose that there was a decline in
the traditional religion.[6]
There is plenty of documentary evidence that
the Greeks continued to worship the same gods with the same
sacrifices,dedications,and festivals as in the classical period.[7]
New
religions did appear in this period,but not to the exclusion of the local
deities,[8]
and only a minority of Greeks were attracted to them.[9]
New religions ofthe period

3. The Egyptian religion which follows Isis was the mostfamous of the
new religions. The religion was introduced to Greece by Egyptian
priests,initially for the small Egyptian communities in the port cities of
the Greek world.[9]
Although the Egyptian religion found only a small
audience among the Greeks themselves,her popularity spread under
the Roman empire,[10]
and Diodorus Siculus wrote that the religion
was known throughout almost the whole inhabited world.[11]
Almostas famous was Serapis, a Greek religion despite the Egyptian
name, which was created in Egypt under the Ptolemaic
dynasty.[12]
Serapis was patronized by the Greeks who had settled in
Egypt. This religion involved initiation rites like the Eleusinian
Mysteries.[13]
Strabo wrote of
the Serapeionat Canopus near Alexandria as being patronized by
the most reputable men.[14]
The religion of Atargatis (related to the Babylonian and
Assyrian Ishtar and Phoenician Ba`alat Gebal), a fertility- and sea
goddess from Syria, was also popular. By the 3rd century BCE her
worship had spread from Syria to Egypt and Greece,and eventually
reached Italy and the west.[10]
The religion following Cybele (or
the Great Mother) came from Phrygia to Greece and then to Egypt
and Italy, where in 204 BCE the Roman Senate permitted her
worship. She was a healing and protecting goddess,and a guardian
of fertility and wild nature.[10]
Another mystery religion was focused around Dionysus. Although
rare in mainland Greece,it was commonon the islands and
in Anatolia.[15]
The members were known as Bacchants, and the rites
had an orgiastic character.[15]
These newly introduced religions and gods only had a limited impact
within Greece itself;the main exceptionwas at Delos,[9]
which was a
major port and trading center. The island was sacred as the
birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, and by the 2nd century BCE was
also home to the native Greek religions that follow Zeus, Athena,
Dionysus, Hermes, Pan, and Asclepius.But there were also cult
centers for the Egyptian Sarapis and Isis, and of the Syrian Atargatis
and Hadad.[16]
By the 1st century BCE there were additional religions
that followed Ba'al and Astarte, a Jewish Synagogue and Romans

4. who followed the original Roman religions of gods like Apollo and
Neptune.[16]
Ruler cults
Furtherinformation: imperial cult and hero cult
Another innovation in the Hellenistic period was the institution of cults
dedicated to the rulers of the Hellenistic kingdoms.The first of these
was established underAlexander, whose conquests, power, and
status had elevated him to a degree that required specialrecognition.
His successors continued his worship to the point where
in Egypt under PtolemyI Soter, we find Alexander being honored as
a god.[17]
Ptolemy's son Ptolemy II Philadelphus proclaimed his late
father a god,and made himself a living god.[17]
By doing so, the Ptolemies were adapting earlier Egyptian ideas
in pharaonic worship. Elsewhere,practice varied; a ruler might
receive divine status without the full status of a god,[9]
as occurred
in Athens in 307 BCE, when Antigonus I
Monophthalmus and Demetrius I Poliorcetes were honored as saviors
(soteres)for liberating the city, and, as a result, an altar was erected;
an annual festival was founded; and an office of the "priestof the
Saviours" was introduced.[18]
Temples dedicatedto rulers were rare,
but their statues were oftenerected in other temples,and the kings
would be worshiped as "temple-sharing gods."[19]
Astrology and magic
A curse tablet.

5. There is ample evidence for the use of superstition and magic in this
period.Oracular shrines and sanctuaries were still popular.[3]
There is
also much evidence for the use of charms and curses. Symbols
would be placed on the doors of houses to bring good luck or deter
misfortune for the occupants within.[2]
Charms, oftencut in precious or semi-precious stone,had protective
power.[2]
Figurines, manufactured from bronze, lead, or terracotta,
were pierced with pins or nails, and used to cast spells. Curse
tablets made from marble or metal (especially lead) were used for
curses.[2]
Astrology— the belief that stars and planets influence a person's
future — arose in Babylonia, where it was originally only applied to
the king or nation.[20]
The Greeks, in the Hellenistic era, elaborated it
into the fantastically complex system ofHellenistic astrology familiar to
later times.[20]
Interestin astrology grew rapidly from the 1st century
BCE onwards.[20]
Hellenistic philosophy
Main article: Hellenisticphilosophy
An alternative to traditional religion was offeredby Hellenistic
philosophy. The most widespread of these systems was Stoicism,
which taught that life should be lived according to the rational order
which the Stoics believed governed the universe; human beings had
to accepttheir fate as according to divine will, and virtuous acts
should be performedfortheir own intrinsic value. Its principal rival
was Epicureanism, which taught that the universe was subjectto the
random movements of atoms, and life should be lived to achieve
psychologicalcontentmentand the absence of pain.[7]
Other philosophers such as the Cynics, who expressed contemptfor
convention and material possessions,and
the Academics and Peripatetics,who studied the works
of Plato and Aristotle, also flourished.All of these philosophies,to a
greater or lesserextent, sought to accommodate traditional Greek
religion, but the philosophers,and those who studied under them,
remained a small selectgroup, limited largely to the educated elite.[7]