Here is a series of lectures given by Sean Gabb in 2022, in which he discusses the influence of the Greeks on the other peoples of the Ancient World. For reasons of politeness and data protection, all student contributions have been removed.
This tenth lecture in the course discusses the conversion of the Greeks to Christianity, and their own conversion of the peoples about them. The lecture argues that this was the greatest triumph of the Greeks. Subjects covered include:
- The mission of St Paul
- The growth of the Church
- The decay of Pagan civilisation
- The Christian response to Greek philosophy
- The Christian appropriation of classical art
- The Conversion of the Latins, Egyptians and Syrians
The Greeks are perhaps the exceptional people of the Ancient World. They were not saints: they were at least as willing as anyone else to engage in aggressive wars, enslavement, and sometimes human sacrifice. At the same time, working without any strong outside inspiration, they provided at least the foundations for the science, mathematics, philosophy, art and secular literature of later peoples.