philhellenism means A 19th-century intellectual movement which supported the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “philhellenism” is a great word
PHILHELLENISM — [Noun] An ardent admiration for Greece and its culture, historically crystallized in the 19th century as a potent intellectual and political movement advocating for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire. From Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, "friend, lover") and ἑλληνισμός (hellēnismós, "Hellenism, Greek culture"). Unlike "Hellenism" (which denotes the culture itself and its historical diffusion) or "Orientalism" (which frames its subject through a colonial lens of exotic difference), philhellenism is an external, idealizing advocacy from afar. It is the young Romantic poet sailing to a war not his own, the Prussian scholar meticulously sketching ruins he believes belong to all mankind, and the drawing-room society donating coins for a freedom fought in a landscape known only from Homer. It is a testament to the power of an idea to compel action, even when that idea is a beautiful ghost of the thing itself.
noun
- A 19th-century intellectual movement which supported the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire.
- Love of Greece or Greek culture.