Ecumene

Reconstruction of the map of the Ecúmene de Herodoto, circa 450 a. C.

The ecumene (from the Greek οἰκουμένη, oikouménē, "inhabited [earth]") is the whole world known by a culture. It is generally distinguished as that permanently inhabited portion of the Earth, as opposed to anecumene or uninhabited or temporarily occupied areas.

History of the term

During the Hellenistic period, ecumene referred to the part of the Earth that was inhabited, either by all of humanity or only a subset of it. He frequently referred to the lands inhabited by the Greeks, excluding those that were occupied by the barbarians. With the rule of Rome, ecumene was generally used to refer to the Empire as a whole.

In the New Testament the term can refer to both the present world and the future kingdom of Christ:

⁵ κ γγρ φγγγλοις gulπθεν ταεν τ ν οut ουμον τν μον μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ ο μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ ο μ ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο ο, ππερك,ς λαλο·μεν··

⁵ Because he didn't hold the angels the world to comeabout which we are talking;

Hebrews 2:5.

In the literature of the Eastern Roman Empire, Greco-Roman usage is reflected, but due to the influence of Christianity, peoples outside the imperial domain where there are Christian churches or communities are included.

This meaning of ecumene was incorporated by ecclesiastical use; therefore, the councils of the whole Church were called ecumenical and the Patriarch of Constantinople had the title of Ecumenical Patriarch. This allusion to universality is the root of the modern concept of ecumenism.

Ecumene in fiction

• J. R. R. Tolkien described his concept of Middle Earth as the equivalent of what the Greeks called ecumene: the place where men lived.
• In the series of science fiction novels The devil princes, written by Jack Vance, the term Oikumene refers to the worlds of the galaxy inhabited by human beings.
• In The left hand of darkness and other related works of Ursula K. LeGuin, the Ekumen is a sort of confederation of inhabited worlds, united by instant communication, but separated by the slowest journey than light.
• In the trilogy The golden age by John C. Wright, the Golden Ecumene is a political unit that covers part of the solar system.
• In the universe of Halo, the ecumene is the form of political affiliation of the Forerunners.