欧洲文化简明教程Classic Age Greek Culture and Roman CultureWord文档格式.docx

1、 During this period, science, philosophy, literature, art and history writing developed quickly. But when foreign threat was removed, a civil war broke out between Athens and Sparta at the end of the century. In the second half of the 4th century B. C, one of the Greek states called Macedon became m

2、ore and more powerful under the leadership of Alexander the King who unified the whole Greece as Qinshihuang （the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty） unified the whole China. Macedon enjoyed large territories including parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. But history is always like such that fall comes a

3、fter rise. No country can avoid such a fate. In 146 B.C. Greece was conquered by the Romans.2. Literature1） Homer （荷马）HomerHomer lived around 700 B.C. It is said that he was a slave and blind. It is considered that he wrote two epics，namely, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad deals with the war be

4、tween Troy and the united forces of the states on the mainland of southern Greece. The Odyssey tells the story about the return of Odysseus after the Trojan War to his country Ithaca. 2） Lyric PoetryThe famous lyric poet of this time is worth remembering. She is Sappho （萨福）. Sappho （ca. 612-580 B.C.

5、）, born in Lesbos, is the most important lyric poet of ancient Greece and is famous for her burning love poems because of which the English Romantic poet George Gordon Lord Byron called her “burning Sappho” . Plato called her the tenth Muse. 3.DramaGreek drama developed quickly and prosperously in t

6、he 5th century B.C. based on its rich tradition. The Greek drama has the following features. First, most early plays were performed at religious festivals. Second, the plays were performed in open-air theaters. Third, actors wore masks. Fourth, there was a big chorus but few actors. In the Greek dra

7、ma during this period, tragedy is the most noteworthy. The achievements of tragedy are greater than those of comedy. The tragedies mostly wrote about royal families, noble families and great heroes. It gives the impression that the term “tragedy” is applied only to high-born people. In this sense, s

8、ome tragedies in Chinese drama cannot use this term because some tragedies in Chinese drama talk about the fate of the common people. The Greek drama has something in common with the ancient Chinese drama in which actors wore masks and dramatic faces with diverse colors and designs as symbols of cha

9、racter. In Sichuan drama, the dramatic faces are more mysterious and interesting. A. Aeschylus （埃斯库罗斯, 525-456 B.C.） AeschylusB. Sophocles （索福克勒斯, 496-406 B.C.） SophoclesSophocles wrote Oedipus the King （俄狄浦斯王） Sophocles made his contribution to the art of drama. He used three actors and decreased t

10、he size and the function of the chorus. He made the drama develop in the direction of performing rather than narrating by the chorus. C. Euripides （欧里庇得斯, 484-406 B.C.）EuripidesIn comparison with Aeschylus and Sophocles, Euripides was less influential but more realistic, always concerned with confli

11、cts, on account of which he was referred to as the first playwright of “problem plays”.D. Comedy and Aristophanes （阿里斯托芬, ca. 450-380 B.C.）AristophanesComedy also developed quickly in the 5th century B.C. But it was less brilliant than tragedy. The best comedy playwright is Aristophanes who left 11

12、plays among which Frogs, Clouds, Wasps and Birds are worth seeing. Aristophanes was bold enough to satirize even some of the famous people of his day, including Socrates and Euripides respectively in his Clouds and Frogs. He was often criticized for his use of coarse language in his plays.4. History

13、1） Herodotus （希罗多德, 484-430 B.C.）HerodotusHerodotus is famous for the writing of wars between the Greeks and the Persians, because he believed that “the great and wonderful deeds done by Greeks and Persians should not lack renown.” The remarkable features of his history writing are his application o

14、f anecdotes, digressions and lively dialogue, Herodotus, though not very accurate, as the forerunner of history writing, is thus often called “Father of History”.5. PhilosophyThe Greek peoples curiosity about things and the nature of them cultivated their enquiring mind to search, doubt, speculate,

15、imagine and form new ideas. Imagination is not science, but it is the foundation of science and base of philosophy. So the Greeks created their mythologies and formed their ideas about the universe and its operation. 1） Pythagoras （毕达哥拉斯, ca. 580-500 B.C.） PythagorasPythagoras, founder of scientific

16、 mathematics, is one of the early philosophers who boldly thought about the universe. In his eyes, only numbers spoke and all things in the world were numbers. He used numbers to understand the world and the universe2） Socrates （苏格拉底, ca. 470-399 B.C.）SocratesSocrates is often mentioned together wit

17、h Plato and Aristotle whenever people talk about the ancient Greek philosophy and thinking. Socrates taught Plato. Plato taught Aristotle. They were all great masters in the field of philosophy. In terms of teaching methodology, it is Socrates who invented the teaching method of interrogative and in

18、teractive approach in the same manner as Confucius did when he taught his disciples. 3） Plato （柏拉图, ca. 428-348 B.C.）PlatoPlato, as the disciple of Socrates, made his greatest contribution to the world in writing The Dialogues, a collection of Socrates life and ideas, like the Analects in which Conf

19、ucius teaching and his dialogues with his disciples were recorded.4） Aristotle （亚里士多德, 384-322 B.C.）AristotleTo Athens, Aristotle was a foreigner, who was born in Stagire. He was Platos disciple, but he was more versatile in that he taught and wrote about logic, ethics, politics, metaphysics, psycho

20、logy, physics, zoology, poetry and rhetoric. Most of his ideas on the above-mentioned fields dominated the world culture for over a thousand years. So it is not overstatement to say that Aristotle is the “father of science or knowledge”.5. ScienceBesides many people who were both philosophers and sc

21、ientists like Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato and Aristotle, two other men were worth mentioning. One was Euclid（欧几里德, 330-275 B. C.）, who was, noted for his Elements （解析几何）, called the father of geometry. The other was Archimedes（阿基米德, 287-212 B. C.） .6. Art, Architecture, Sculpture and Pottery1） Art

22、Greek art is the witness of Greek civilization, because it reflected the Greek civilization in many fields including science, literature, philosophy, mythology and whatever the Greek people admired and worshipped. It recorded the progress of the Greek civilization in the form of art. 2） Architecture

23、It is always a wonder to see the ancient Greeks to have built so many miraculous buildings at the early times when construction machinery was under-developed. Parthenon （巴特浓神庙） was one of the brilliant examples. It was built in 438 B.C. It was a temple 240 feet long and 110 feet wide, with many spec

24、tacular columns evenly spaced. Parthenon in the twilightParthenon at daytimeThere were three styles of Greek architecture, namely, the Doric style （多力克式）, the Ionic style（挨奥尼克式）and the Corinthian style（科林斯式）. The following picture is the Acropolis at Athens（雅典卫城）which was built in the 5th century B.

25、 C. for the purpose of praising Athens and holding religious activities.The Acropolis at Athens3） SculptureThe ancient Greek sculptures were all connected with gods or goddesses who were presented as lifeless figures. Sculpture developed quickly in the 5th century B.C. the sculpture began to show be

26、auty and strength of the people or things sculptured. A. Discus Thrower （铁饼运动员; 掷铁饼者）The Discus Thrower was the work of Myron （米隆，date of birth unknown, but active 480-440 B. C.）. The sculpture shows the sculptors skill in presenting the throwers beauty, strength and balance. As a duplicate of the f

27、ormer bronze statue, this statue made of marble can clearly display even the muscles and ribs of the handsome young man.Discus Thrower4） PotteryPottery, unlike sculptures, was closely connected with daily needs in life at home and abroad. There were mainly Black-figure paintings （700-600 B.C.） and R

28、ed-figure paintings （50 B.C.）.The Black-figure paintings are paintings on pottery with red background and black figure. The red-figure paintings are paintings on pottery with black background and pink figure.7. Influence and ContributionThe influence of Greek culture can be felt in many ways and fie

29、lds. The ancient Greek culture made its greatest contribution to the world culture, especially in the Renaissance in Europe. The ancient Greeks made their never-dying contribution to the whole world with their invention of mathematics, philosophy, history writing and other things. They made the utmo

30、st achievements in all walks of life. The Greeks spirit of innovation or invention and their effort to understand the world with daring spirit set a good example for the whole world. In literature, the Greeks heavily influenced the later writers of many countries at all times. Many of the Greek works are studied, q