He was schooled in the pharisaic rabbinic school (his master was Gamaliel).
He was very cultivated and most probable that he was familiar with the greek art of rhetoric. But he was not influenced by the greek philosophers. His thinking was influenced/renewed by the revelation of Christ.
yes. all of his previous education, everything he had thought valuable before christ,
he considered less than 'dung' (and worse), compared to the surpassing experiential true living knowledge of yahshua hamashiach as savior messiah king. this is correctly and completely in line with
yahshua's praise to ABBA for hiding the things about salvation from the educated and revealing everything concerning salvation to the uneducated, unsophisticated, unlearned, poor, people who are considered trash in and by society.
No... ...... as mean to the purpose of his sermon: proclaiming the real God, the good news. He wanted to get close to his audience and prepare his greek audience for the message.
So, his talk at the Aeropagus does not show that he was influenced by greek poets, but instead, it shows how spontaneous he was and how he knew to use for his purpose/in his favor the situation, the environment in which he was.
If Saint Paul was to talk about God with a science man, he would know how to use the man's "scientific language" in order to deliver a christian message. This is how I see the sermon at Aeropagus: Saint Paul uses your language, your reality, your "normal" as a mean to arrive to the real purpose of the message. It's a way of gaining your trust, attention and sympathy.
this is the human/debate/collegiate way of describing what yahweh does entirely another way ---
the human/debate/collegiate way is 'persuasive' as the enemy has shown the last 2000 years deceiving over 2billiion people in the heresy and in the daughters of the abominable 'false christ' harlot. --- remember most all of the people of the world, including in the chruches, are deceived and not alive in christ.
paul learned by revelation of yahshua hamashiach directly, yet not just paul,
as it is written yahweh teaches his own children what to do and what to say --- with a command "don't think ahead of time what you are going to say" in perfect agreement with "for it is not you who speak but my father who speaks through you" and who gives/breathes the perfect words at each moment (not just special moments of anointing or teaching or whatever) as each of the members of his body abides(remains in union continually) in harmony in him listening
to yahweh/father in yahshua's grace as if life depends on it, (and it does!).....
so each person, littlest to biggest, poorest to richest,
share with each other what yahweh gives and has done for them
when they meet together to talk about yahweh and yahweh records every word (malachi).
yes, he does start with the statue to the unknown god... then he builds up some ideas, and caps them with the quote from the greek poet (or two)... imo, two of the main points of his talk, that God isn't far from us, and we are his children, are based on that quote...
then Paul continues building with other points... so, I think Paul's sermon is influenced by the poet...
now, is Paul's theology influenced by greek peeps? probably very little... he is raised Jewish, though in an area that has been Helenized for a long time... Paul does use the lxx a lot, which, being in greek would imo have at least some influences from greek culture...
if paul was influenced by the poet, then he wasn't speaking as the father speaks, as yahshua trained hiim and all the apostles and disciples to do....
he taught and spoke as the father gave him utterance, as yahshua said yahshua spoke "not of himself, but what the father speaks"
not of human learning, nor of human wisdom, nor of human knowledge - all of which mankind has used to reject the creator and to replace him with a 'man' at the head of the world's biggest demonically controlled organizations ---
human wisdom and knowledge and understanding , everything that is of the flesh, cannot learn nor grasp at all one jot or tittle of yahweh's kingdom or spirit or truth.