Echoes of the East

The notion that Greek culture is derivative from the East is an ancient one. Eusebius made the claim in his Praeparatio Evangelica . As summarized by Raoul Mortley ( The Idea of Universal History from Hellenistic Philosophy to Early Christian Historiography , 65), Eusebius claimed:

“In a passage attributed to Porphyry, Eusebius notes that all the details of Jewish history, even prior to the Trojan wars, were known to the historians of the Phoenicians (I.9.20-21). To both the Egyptians and Phoenicians he attributed the polytheistic errors which later passed to the Greeks (I.9.19). This claim carries with it, of course, the implication that those cultures were more ancient than that of the Greeks, and that the Greeks are relative newcomers on the world scene. The Greeks are said to have taken over in large part the Phoenician culture, and Eusebius is able to quote Porphyry as well as Philo of Byblos in support of this proposition. The Greek culture, it is said, is nothing more than an echo: the name of the gods, the statues, the cults – all are borrowed (II.1.53). Further, theology in Greece only begins with Cadmus, and Moses predates Cadmus.”