3. Fact and Fiction: Jewish Legends in aHellenistic Context The terms Ioudaismos and Hellenismos first appear in the text of II Maccabees.* That work provides the locus classicus for confrontation between the two cul- tures,abuttress for the idea thataclash or competition characterized the en- counter.The comingofHellenismtothe land of the Jews, so it has been inferred, brought athreat to tradition and faith. Increasing Hellenization entailed erosion of ancestral Jewishpractice or belief. And the Jews faced achoice of either as- similationorresistancetoHellenism.¹ Various statements in II Maccabees ostensiblylend weighttothe conclusion. New institutions introducedbythe High Priest Jason in the 170’sB.C.E., namely the gymnasium and the ephebate,were, accordingtothattext,the “height of Hellenism.”² He had the Jews conform to the “Greek style of life.”³ And in three separate passages, the author of II Maccabees refers to thosewho fought for Judas Maccabaeus and resisted the persecutor Antiochus Epiphanes as ad- * This paper adherescloselytothe lecturedeliveredinJanuary at the Cambridge Ancient History Seminar honoringFrank Walbank—mentor, guide, and inspiration to all who have labored in the fields of Hellenistic studies for the past two generations.Footnotes have been added to supplyessential citations, selective references to modern work, and some evaluation of the scholarship. The paper’sprincipal purpose is to layout ideas and research plans for Heritage and Hellenism: TheReinvention of JewishTradition Hellenistic Culture and Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, ). The influential work of M. Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism (London, )makes astrong case for the Hellenization of Judaea which, however,inhis view,encounteredvigorous Jewish resist- anceafter the early nd century b.c.e. See the summary of his interpretation in Judaism and Hel- lenism, I, –.The broad-rangingstudyofL.H.Feldman, Jewand Gentile in the Ancient World: Attitudes and Interactions fromAlexander to Justinian (Princeton,N.J.: Princeton Univer- sity Press, ), takessharp issue with Hengel’sfindings on the spread of Hellenism among the Jews and attributes Jewish success to an internal strengthand vitality that overcame the chal- lengeofGreek culture; see, especially, –, –.Both scholars,however,operate from the premise that Jews whodid not resist the blandishments of paganism ranthe risk of succumbingtoassimilation. Asimilar struggle is outlined by V. Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civiliza- tion and the Jews, st ed. (Philadelphia,: Jewish Publication Society of America, ), –, –;cf. C. Habicht, JhrbHeidAkad () –;A.Momigliano, RivStorItal () – = EssaysonAncient and Modern Judaism (Chicago, ) –.For S. J. D. Cohen, the Maccabaean crisis stimulated the Jews to develop asense of identity that would highlight their own distinctiveness and allow them to resist the forcesofassimilation, in P. Bilde et al., Religion and Religious Practice in the Seleucid Kingdom (Aarhus, ) –. Macc. .: ἀχμή τις Ἑλληνισμοῦ. Macc. .: πρὸςτὸνἙλληνιχὸνχαραχτῆρα;cf. ., .. 80 3. Fact and Fiction: Jewish Legends in aHellenistic Context herents of Ioudaismos.⁴ Hence it is not surprising that Hellenism and Judaism have regularlybeen reckoned as competing systems. Yetapeculiar paradoxlies here. The very work that employs thoseterms,its author astaunch advocate of the Maccabaean cause and fiercelyhostiletothe Seleucid invader,was composed in Greek and addressed to areadership conver- sant with the language. Outside thattext,one would be hard pressed to find tes- timonytoany conflict between Hellenism and Judaism in contemporary or near contemporarytexts. No evidence for culturalstrife appears in IMaccabees. It is absent also from the work of BenSira, written in the earlysecond century.Ben Siradenouncesthose who fall away from righteousness, tyrannize the poor,and abandon fear of the Lordorthe teachings of the law. But he nowherecontrasts Jews and Greeks or suggests astruggle for the conscienceofhis fellow-Jews being waged by Hellenizers and traditionalists.⁵ Nor can one discern such astruggle in the Book of Daniel, composed at the very time of the Maccabaean revolt.The apocalyptic visions allude to contests among the Hellenistic powers and forecast delivery of the Jews from the foreign oppressor—but no culturalcontest for the soul of Judaism.⁶ In fact,not even II Maccabees juxtaposes the terms Ioudaismos and Hellenismos or expresses them as competingopposites.Itisamistake to imagine azero-sum game, in which every gain for Hellenism was alossfor Ju- daism or vice-versa. That sort of analysis,asanincreasingnumber of scholars now acknowledge,issimplistic and misleading.⁷ Adaptation to Hellenic culture did not requirecompromise of Jewish precepts or conscience.When aGreek gym- nasium was introducedinto Jerusalem,itwas installed by aJewishHighPriest. And other priests soon engaged in wrestlingmatches in the palaestra.⁸ They plainlydid not reckon such activities as undermining their priestlyduties.The idea of an irremediable culturalconflict needs to be abandoned. Adifferent and more interesting line of inquiry warrants attention. How did Jewishintellectuals accommodate themselvestothe largercultural world of the Mediterranean—while at the same time reaffirming the character of theirown traditions within it?The subject,ofcourse, is massive and daunting.Onlyase- lect portion of it can be touched on here. Thisisnot the place to pronounceona Macc. ., ., .. See the cogent remarks of J. Goldstein in E.P.Sanders, Jewishand Christian Self-Definition (Philadelphia, ) –. Contra: Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism, I, –;A.Momigliano, Alien Wisdom (Cambridge, ) . Dan. .–..See Momigliano, Alien Wisdom –. Cf. E. Will and Cl. Orrieux, Ioudaismos-Hellenismos (Nancy, ) –;G.Delling, ANRW II.. () –;L.Grabbe, Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian (Minneapolis, )I,–. Macc. ., .. 3. Fact and Fiction: Jewish Legends in aHellenistic Context 81 number of matters thathavebeenmuch discussed and defy treatment within a limited compass—such as how far Greek culturehad penetrated Palestineinthe Hellenistic period and how profound or superficial that penetration was, or to what degree Palestinian Judaism represented an entity distinct from “Hellenis- tic” Judaism of the Diaspora. Nor can one outline in brief the influenceof Greek language, literature,philosophy, historiography, political theory,and art upon Judaism. Analyses along these lines, however learned and insightful, too often tend to presuppose passive receptivity on the part of Jewish thinkers to Hel- lenic culture, aone-waystreet.What this paper seeks to stress is amoredynamic relationship, an active engagement by Jews with the traditions of Hellas which they recast and refashioned for their own purposes. One form of such activity comes underinvestigation here, an especiallyintriguingone: the elaboration of legends, fictions, and inventions, by which the Jews both connected them- selveswith aHellenic culturallegacyand simultaneouslydefined adistinctive culturalidentity of their own. The first and most revealing category of such stories involves putative kin- ship associations. The tracing of relationships between cities, states,orpeoples through supposed genealogical links and imagined common ancestors regularly appears in Greek literary speculation—afamiliar feature in Hellenic folklore and legend. It makes amore striking impression, however,tofind tales of this sort attestingconnections between Greeks and Jews. Anotable fiction stands in the forefront.Tradition had it that Jews and Spar- tans both descended from the line of Abraham. The weboftales requires only brief summary here. The subject has been treated more extensively elsewhere.⁹ Adiplomatic correspondence, consistingofthree letters,recorded in IMaccabees and reproduced in avariant form by Josephus, constitutes the central testimony. The exchangebegan with amissive from KingAreus to the Judaean High Priest Onias, ostensiblyinthe earlythird centuryB.C.E. Areus declaredablood tie be- tween the two people, deriving from their common ancestor Abraham.Hedrew that information,soheclaimed, from awritten document in Sparta.¹⁰ Morethan acenturylater,the Maccabaean leader Jonathan, successor of Judas, resumed re- lationswith an embassy to Sparta, addressing the Lacedaemonians as ἀδελφοί and renewingthe relations of friendship and alliance between the peoples.¹¹ The Spartans responded in kind.Some time later, when Simon had taken the reins See E. S. Gruen, “The Purported Jewish-Spartan Affiliation,” in R.W. Wallaceand Ε. Μ.Harris, eds., Transitions to Empire: EssaysinGreco-Roman History, – b.c.,inHonor of E. Badian (Norman,Oklahoma, ) –,also available in this volume. Macc. .–;Jos. A. J. .–. Macc. .–;Jos. A. J. .–, .–. 82 3. Fact and Fiction: Jewish Legends in aHellenistic Context from the fallenJonathan, envoys from their state reached Jerusalem, greeted the Jews as brothers,proclaimed their intent to renew friendship and alliance, and announced that the association would be preserved in written form in the Spar- tan archives.¹² The authenticity of that correspondence has long engendered debate and controversy—with an increasinginclination towardbelief. Some have proposed that King Areus’ scribesmanaged to learn Aramaic and composed aletter in that language, or that the Spartans had read the Scriptures even before appearance of the Septuagint,orindeed thatthey had learned of the patriarch Abraham from readingHecataeus of Abdera—of course, in some portion of his work that we no longer possess.¹³ These exercises