AdonisIf you are looking for Greek/Eastern cultural interplay, the Greek cult of Adonis is a great place to start.
Adonis is an ancient figure, much older then the Greeks. Most modern scholars trace his roots to the Semetic hero Tammuz. in fact, his Greek name is taken from a semetic word "Adonai" which means he who is blessed (Adonai is of course instantly recognizable to Jews and well taught Christians as a Hebrew name for Yahweh.) The supposition is that dark age Greeks witnessed Semites praying to statues of Tammuz and saying something like "he is blessed" and thought that was Tammuz's name.
In Greek culture, the cult of Adonis was practiced exclusively by women. They celebrated in July, the time at which Adonis, who had been forced to spend half of his time with the living as the consort of Aphrodite and half his time with Persephone in the land of the dead, returned to the "land of the living." During the year, women in the cult of adonis would grow plants in urban areas, then during the festival they would emerge, unclothed and beating their (bare) breasts, and would throw the plants down the nearest well.
Some argue that the "return of Adonis" is the proto-resurrection that was used as the model for Jesus's return from the dead. The Jews certainly knew the story of Tammuz, that much is for sure.
But this is an interesting example of how cultures blend together, at all times, in all places and it points to the universality of human culture.
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