欧洲文化入门名词解释.docx

1、欧洲文化入门名词解释The Introduction of European Culture- English TermsDivision One Greek Culture and Roman Culture1. Iliad（伊利亚特）: 1) It is one of the two great ancient Greek epics by Homer. 2) It deals with the alliance of the states of the southern mainland of Greece, led by Agamemnon in their war against t

2、he city of Troy probably in the period 1200-1100 B. C. 3) The heroes are Hector on the Trojan side and Achilles and Odysseus on the Greek. 4) In the final battle, Hector was killed by Achilles and Troy was sacked and burned by the Greeks.2Herodotus（希罗多德）: 1) He is one of great ancient Greek historia

3、ns. 2) He is often called “ Father of History. 3) He wrote about the wars between Greeks and Persians. 4) His history, full of anecdotes and digressions and lively dialogue, is wonderfully readable.5) His object in writing was “ that the great and wonderful deeds done by Greeks and Persians should n

4、ot lack renown.” 3 Socrates: 1) He was the philosopher of ancient Greece in the 5th and 4th century. 2) He was considered one of the three greatest names in European philosophy. 3) He hold that philosophy took the aim to reach the conclusion of oneself and virtue was knowledge. 4) His thoughts were

5、recorded in Dialogues by Plato. 5) He devised the dialectical method.4. Dialectical method（辩证法）: 1) It was devised by ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. 2) It is a method of argument, by questions and answers.5. Plato: 1) He was the greatest philosopher of ancient Greece, pupil of Socrates. 2) His

6、Dialogues are important not only as philosophical writing but also as imaginative literature. Of the Dialogues he wrote, 27 have survived, including: the Apology, Symposium and the Republic. 3) Plato built up a comprehensive system of philosophy. 4) His philosophy is called idealism.6. Diogenes（狄奥艮尼

7、）（北京市2002年自考真题名词解释）: He was one of the Cynics leaders in ancient Greece, who decided to live like a dog. 2) The word “cynic” means “dog” in Greek. 3) He rejected all conventions, advocated self-sufficiency and extreme simplicity in life. 7Stoics（斯多咯派）: 1) It was one of four ancient Greek schools of

8、philosophers in the 4th century B. C. 2) To them , the most important thing in life was “duty”. 3) It developed into the theory that one should endure hardship and misfortune with courage. 4) The chief Stoic was Zeno. 8Doric Style（陶立克柱）: 1) It is one of three ancient Greek architecture styles. 2) It

9、 is also called the masculine style. 3) It is sturdy, powerful, severe-looking and showing a good sense of proportions and numbers. 4) The Doric style is monotonous and unadorned.9Pax Romana（罗马和平）（北京市2001年自考真题名词解释）: 1）In the year 27 B.C. Octavius took supreme power as emperor with the tile of August

10、us. 2) Two centuries later, the Roman empire reached its greatest extent in the North and East. 3) The emperors mainly relied on a strong army-the famous Roman Legions and an influential bureaucracy to exert their rules. 4) Thus the Roman enjoyed a long period of peace lasting 200 years. This remark

11、able phenomenon in the history is know as Pax Romana. 10. Virgil（维吉尔）: 1) He was the greatest of Latin poets. 2) He wrote the great epic, the Aeneid. 3) The poem opened out to the future, for Aeneas stood at the head of a rce of people who were to found the first the Roman republic and then the Roma

12、n Empire.Division Two The Bible and Christianity1. The Bible: 1) The Bible is a collection of religious writings comprising two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. 2) The former is about God and the laws of God; the latter, the doctrine of Jesus Christ. 2. The Old Testament: 1)The Bible

13、was divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. 2) The Old Testament is about God and the Laws of God. 3)The word “Testament” means “agreement”, the agreement between God and Man.3. The New Testament: 1) The Bible was divided into two sections: the Old Testament and the New T

14、estament. 2) The New Testament is about the doctrine (教义) of Jesus Christ. 3)The word “Testament” means “agreement”, the agreement between God and Man.4. Pentateuch（摩西五经）: 1) In the Old Testament, the oldest and most important are the first five books, called Pentateuch.2) Pentateuch contains five b

15、ooks: Genesis (创世记), Exodus (出埃及记), Leviticus(利未记), Numbers (民数记), Deuteronomy (申命记).5Genesis： 1） Genesis is the first one of the five books in Pentateuch in Old Testament. 2) It tells about a religious account of the origin of the Hebrews people, including the origin of the world and of man, the ca

16、reer of Issac and the life of Jacob and his son Joseph.6. Exodus: 1) Exodus is the second one of the five books in Pentateuch in the Old Testament. 2) It tells about a religious history of the Hebrews during their flight from Egypt Led by Moses. 3) During the period they began to receive Gods Law. 7

17、. Noahs Ark（挪亚方舟）: 1) For many hundred years after Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden, the family of man multiplied and spread over the earth, but they became more and more corrupt 2) Thus God decided to destroy all life on earth in a great flood. 3) Because Noah always kept his faith in God, God

18、spoke to him about His intention and told him to build an ark to protect him and his kin from the waters. 4) .Noah followed Gods instructions. 5) For 40 days it rained, the whole earth was covered with water, those sheltered in the ark being the only survivals.8. The Prophets (先知)：1）For more than a

19、thousand years in the Middle East there had been a class of people known as “Prophets” or the spokesmen of God.2） Earlier prophets lived in groups as temple officials. Later on there appeared in dependent prophet. 3）The Prophets can be grouped into the Major Prophets and Minor Prophets.（分为大小先知）9The

20、Book of Daniel（但以理书）： 1）The Book of Daniel belongs to The Old Testament of the Bible. 2)The book appeared in the early days of Jews revolt against the Syrian King Antiochus IV. 3) It is a story mixed with vision, describing how Daniel and his friends were taken prisoner to Babylon after the fall of

21、Jerusalem and how they refused to compromise their faith. 10The Edict of Milan（米兰赦令）: 1) Roman emperor Constantine believed that God had helped him in winning the battle for the throne, so he issued the Edict of Milan in 313. 2) It granted religious freedom to all, made Christianity legal.11 The fou

22、r accounts in the New Testament（四福音书）: 1) The four accounts are the first four books in the New Testament. 2) They were believed to have been written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, four of Jesus early followers. 3) They tell of the birth, teaching, death and Resurrection of Jesus.12King James ver

23、sion of Bible（钦定版本圣经）: 1）As the most important and influential of English Bible, it is also called the “Authorized” version. 2) It was produced by 54 biblical scholars at the command of King James, and was published in 1611. 3) With its simple, majestic Anglo-Saxon tongue, it is know as the greatest

24、 book in the English language.Division Three The Middle Ages1the Middle ages（中世纪）（北京市2002年自考真题名词解释）: 1) In European history, the thousand-year period from the 5th century to 15th century following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century is called the Middle Ages.2)The middle ages i

25、s so called because it came between ancient times and modern times. 3) During the Medieval times there was no central government to keep the order. The only organization that seemed to unite Europe was the Christian church.4) Christianity took the lead in politics, law, art, and learning for hundred

26、s of years. It shaped peoples lives. That is why the Middle Ages is also called the “Age of Faith”.2Feudalism（封建主义）：1）Feudalism in Europe was mainly a system of land holding a system of holding land in exchange for military service. 2）The word “feudalism” was derived from the Latin “feudum”, a grant

27、 of land.3Fiefs（封地，采邑）：1）In Feudalism, the ruler of the government redivided the large lands into small pieces to be given to chancellors or soldiers as a reward for their service. 2）The subdivisions were called fiefs.4. vassals（诸侯）: 1)In Feudalism, the ruler of the government redivided the large la

28、nds into small pieces to be given to chancellors or soldiers as a reward for their service. 2)The subdivisions were called fiefs.3) The owners of the fiefs w call vassals.5. Code of Chivalry (骑士制度): 1) In the Middle Ages of western Europe, as a knight, he were pledged to protect the weak, to fight f

29、or the church, to be loyal to his lord and to respect women of noble birth. 2) These rules were known as code of chivalry, from which the western idea of good manners developed.6. dubbing (骑士头衔加冕仪式) : After a knight was successful in his trails and tournaments, there was always a special ceremony to

30、 award him with a title, knight. This special ceremony is called dubbing.7. The Manor (庄园)： 1） The centre of medieval life under feudalism was the manor. 2）Manors were founded on the fiefs of the lords. 3）By the twelfth century manor houses were made of stone and designed as fortresses. They came to

31、 be called castles.8The Catholic Church(天主教): 1) In the medieval “ age of faith”, almost all Europeans belonged to the Catholic Church. 2) The word “catholic” meant “universal” 3) The Catholic Church was highly centralized and disciplined international organization and the Pope was the head of the C

32、hurch. He not only ruled Rome and parts of Italy as a king, he was also the head of all Christian churches in western Europe. Those who opposed the Pope lost their membership and their political right. 4) The Church even set up a church court-the Inquisition to stamp out so-called heresy. 5) Latin was the accepted official language in the Roman Catholic Church. 6) This Church had great influence on peoples daily life and the western thinking.9Monasticism (修道院制度): 1）Heeding the spiritual message of Christianity, between 300 and 500 A.D., many men withdrew from worldly contacts to deserts and