Cultural Trend of the Parthians: Hellenism or Iranism

Subject Areas : Journal of History (Tarikh)

Ali Rahmani ¹ , Nadereh nafisi ² , Soleyman Aminzade ³ , Farzad Mafi ⁴

1 - Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran
2 - Department of Ancient Iranian Languages and Culture, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Abhar Branch,,Islamic Azad University, Abhar, Iran
3 - Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Abhar Branch,Islamic Azad University,, Abhar, Iran
4 - Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Abhar Branch, Islamic Azad University,Abhar, Iran

Received: 2021-01-12 Accepted : 2021-05-04 Published : 2021-11-22

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Abstract :

The term “Hellenism” was first proposed by “Johann Gustav Droysen”, a 19th century German historian and politician. Since then, this term and various views arising from it have been the subject of much controversy. According to Droysen, Hellenism was a phenomenon that emerged as a result of Alexander’s conquests and campaigns to the countries of the East, and from the influence of Greek culture and the culture of the defeated nations. Belief in the all-encompassing influence of Hellenistic culture in the Parthian period in Iran and in Armenia is a controversial issue that has always been raised by Western researchers in a very exaggerated way. However, recently, signs of change have emerged in the historiography of the Parthian period. This is due to the criticism of the sources and texts of the classical authors. It is gradually moving towards the reform of the attitudes of the 19th century. The authors of this article have tried to evaluate and criticize this thinking by briefly examining the background of the term Hellenism and then searching for traces of this culture in the Parthian period.