4) Beyond the Greco-Egyptian magical papyri, you’re not seeing the connection of religion to power & empire. To the Germans and Finns who didn’t know better, Jesus was just as great as Herakles, because they both came from “those powerful and wonderful people in the South”. There were plenty of Jews who were absolutely dazzled by Hellenic culture for the same reason, but when it went too far, the monotheistic Jews of Jerusalem grew angry at the encroaching imperialism & became fanatical in hopes to preserve their ways. Hopefully you can see some sort of connection between the Hasmonean revolts then and the “revolting” polytheistic counter-culture today. There shouldn’t be any irony in that, if the concept of imperialism is understood.