Antiyochos

When Alexander the Great approached Jerusalem to capture the city, Shimo’n the High Priest donned his holiest garments, and led an envoy out of the city to meet the great conqueror. As the two entourages approached each other, Alexander descended from his chariot and bowed down before the High Priest.
Based on Bab. Talmud, Yoma 69a

After a short while the king (Antiochus) sent an old man from Athens to keep the Jews from following in the customs of their fathers and the ways of their God. The Temple in Jerusalem was defiled, and renamed after Zeus the Olympian. It became a place of orgies, and on the sacred altar were brought blasphemous sacrifices. It became impossible to celebrate there the Sabbaths or the Festivals, for no Jewish symbols remained. Jews were forced to participate in the celebrations of Dionysus and to eat from forbidden foods. Two women accused of circumcising their children were thrown from the wall. Jews attempting to keep the Sabbath in secrecy were discovered in their cave, and burned to death.
Based on the Second Book of Maccabees, chapter 6
 
 

Achad-Ha’am on Assimilation

Some time before the Hellenizers began their attempts to trounce Judaism under the boots of the Greek enlightenment, Jews in Egypt had become close to their Greek neighbors, to their way of life, their spirit and their wisdom. They used their newfound Greek wisdom to discover the inner spirit of Judaism.