Kelley, Donald R. The Historian 51, no. 2. 1989.

Abstract:

The dramatic success and sudden death of Alexander the Great challenged and partially defeated the Greek sense of self in relation to the traditional concepts of the polis, the Hellenic world and the cosmos. What followed was a period of political, intellectual and religious crises. The political turmoil was calmed by Rome. The intellectuals kept a Greek outlook. They reflected on the changed position of Greek affairs and alternately turned skeptical, returned to the notion of the former glory of Greece, or turned away from consideration of worldly affairs altogether. Hellenistic religious thought followed suit.

Read online on Jstor: Review: The New History and the Old: Critical Essays and Appraisals by Gertrude Himmelfarb