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Hellenist

Hellenist

9.6
A person who follows the ancient Greek religion and honors its gods
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛlənɪst/
translation icon : helenista
  • As a dedicated Hellenist, she observes the rituals and festivals of the ancient Greek gods.

Examples

  • I'm a devotional/traditional Hellenic Polytheist, but unlike most traditional Hellenists, I'm following Boeotian traditions rather than Attic traditions.

    Blog text (26)

  • The Hellenist community gathered to celebrate the summer solstice with traditional offerings.

  • Many modern Hellenists seek to revive the teachings and practices of ancient Greek religion.

Synonyms

pagan
vsHellenist
29 6.7

A person who follows an older religion with many gods, not Christianity, Judaism, or Islam

is limited to one ancient culture's religion rather than any polytheistic faith
heathen
vsHellenist
  • Offensive
10 8.0

Not believing in the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam

centres on reviving one ancient regional religion rather than denying Abrahamic belief
polytheist
vsHellenist
1 7.4

A person who believes in or worships many gods

practices a specific ancient religion rather than only believing in many gods
neopagan
vsHellenist
8.2

A person who follows a modern form of ancient nature religions

focuses on revival limited to one ancient regional religion

Surface Forms

Hellenist singular
Hellenists plural

Morphology

Hellenist = Hellenism (semi-transparent) = hellen + ist

The agentive suffix '-ist' marks a follower or practitioner; 'hellen-' signals Greek religion/culture but is specialized vocabulary for learners.

Etymology

Hellenist comes from the Greek Hellas 'Greece' and the ending -ist 'person who'. A helpful way to remember the religious sense is to think of someone who chooses the old Greek gods and festivals, so a Hellenist is a person who follows ancient Greek religion.