Oikumena - it's fashionable. "Developed land" in geography and literature

Oikumena is an ancient Greek word, which means "populated", from ἰἰκέω - "I inhabit, I live". Ancient Greek geographer Hecataeus of Miletus called this word known to the Greeks part of the planet centered in Hellas. Gradually Hecataeus of Miletus changed the meaning of the term - at first he called so only the Greek lands, later - all the territories inhabited by people in general.

Oikumene in literature and culture

In addition to geographical meaning, there are others. In history, there is such a thing as the "Old World" - a cultural oecumene, a populated part of the earth, which included the territories known to Europeans before they discovered America. After the discovery of America , the concept "New World" appeared. The Old World is not just a collection of lands, it's a certain culture, a world view of people. Historically, the lands that were part of the concept of the "Old World" are divided into Europe, Asia and Africa.

Ivan Efremov "On the Edge of the Oecumene"

Oikumena is not only an ancient Greek term and a historical territory: it is also the name of the novel by Soviet writer Ivan Efremov. The work of Efremov "On the Edge of the Oecumene" tells about the world of the times of Ancient Greece of the Aegean period.

Young sculptor Pandion had to travel through the then known inhabited territories, to visit slavery among the Egyptians, cross Africa from east to west, passing the lands of the present Sudan, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and complete his travels through the Strait of Gibraltar on the ship of the Phoenicians. He visited very distant lands from Greece, literally on the edge of the oecumene - then known to the Greeks of the inhabited earth.

Henry Lyon Oldie's "Oecumene"

Efremov is not the only one who addressed in his work to this not very common name. Henry Lyon Oldie also used a sonorous word in his fantastic "Oikoumena World", which includes a total of 9 books, divided into three semantic parts.

The first ("Oykumena") and the third ("The Savages of the Oecumene") - are related to the plot. The second - "Urbi et orbi, or the City and the World" - occurs in the universe "Oikumene", but is not connected with the rest of the parts.

In this cycle, under "oikumenea" is meant the undeveloped land. Here this word is used in the meaning of "Universe", meaning all known and visited places - on the planet Earth, in space, and on other planets of the Universe.

Evolution of the concept of "ecumene"

In Russian, the oecumene is the "Universe", the "inhabited Universe". With the passage of time that has passed since the appearance of this term to the present day, its significance not only expanded, but also acquired new shades.

Approximately in the second half of the nineteenth century the original term came to Russian - in two different ways, with different pronunciation and different meanings. Since then, the oecumene is a geographical, ecological, cultural and historical concept. The second option concerns relations between different religions and churches, and sounds like "ecumenism."

Ecumenism as a phenomenon began to emerge in the Middle Ages. The term itself was proposed in 1937 - the origin of the word is the same as the term "oikumene."

In the very basis of ecumenism is the theory of the branches of the church. In other words, all Christian movements and confessions (Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox and others) are different branches of the same Christian church. They have quite a lot in common - the faith in Christ, the institution of communion. The main motive of this movement is the rapprochement, the desire for unity and mutual enrichment in the spiritual plan.

Both meanings are completely independent in the Russian language, each has its place. It is not ruled out that over time the meaning will expand even more, enriching the language with new semantic nuances and concepts.