中西方神话的比较.docx

1、中西方神话的比较The cultural comparison of Ancient Chinese myth and the Greek mythology Zhang San A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of BA in EnglishSouth China Business CollegeGuangdong University of Foreign Studies April, 2011 DECLARATION The thesis contains no mat

2、erial which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institutions of higher learning and to the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except when due references are made in the text of the thes

3、is.Signature: Zhang San 张三 Date: April 23rd, 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank a number of people who have helped me with my thesis academically and mentally. First of all I want to express my gratitude to my supervisor,_ _ . In the period of my thesis preparation, her/his professional and

4、 patient instructions have led me into the field of Education; his/her strict requirements have enabled me to learn how to do research work; and her/his benevolent understanding and kind encouragement have been supporting me all the time. I especially appreciate her/his insightful suggestions for th

5、e original perspective of my thesis as well the polishing of the structure of the thesis. My sincere thanks go to all of my teachers in Faculty of English Language and Culture, South China College, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Without their earnest and comprehensive instructions, which h

6、ave laid the solid foundation in my learning. I cannot have completed this thesis smoothly. For them, I will strike to be better.(以上仅供参考， 请同学们根据实际情况自行撰写致谢词) ABSTRACT Myth is a kind of deposit of the primitive culture; it is the spirit heritage of different nations from the primitive period.As two gr

7、eat resources of ethical culture and accumulation of ethical spirit,chinese and greek mythologies differ from each other with distinctive features.This article compares the mythology of the mythology of the two great cultures and explores the cultural backgrounds for the differences in the aspects l

8、ike the images of god and man,the ethical psychology and spirit behind the mythology,etcKey words: Chinese mythology Greek mythology culture comparison 摘 要 神话是民族精神最集中最本色的闪光，是民族文化最悠久古老、最顽强健壮的生命之根，也是民族文化的本质特征所在。神话座位一种辉煌的人类精神文化产品，在其漫长的生成过程中，由于各民族的社会经济条件、历史背景、宗教意识、文化传统和民族审美心理的巨大差异，似的不同的民族神话的具体表现形式呈现出多样性

9、特征。中国神话和希腊神话历来被视为东西方文化特征的体现，本文试图从中国希腊神话的相似点、差异及产生的文化背景因素等几个角度对中国神话和希腊神话做一个比较。关键字：中国神话 希腊神话 文化背景 比较 CONTENTS 1. Definition and Origin of Myth.62. the difference and relationship. . 72.1 The common points .8 2.2The different points.93.The specialty of chinese myths and Greek myth.104.Similarities Betw

10、een Chinese Mythology and Greek Mythology.11 4.1 Gods and Nature-the Creation of the World.11 4.2 Gods and Mankind.12 4.2.1 The Origin of Human Beings.135. Cause of Diversities.13 5.1 Difference of time .14 5.2 Difference of geographical environment.14 5.3 Differences in store and spread process146.

11、 Conclusion.147.Bibliography.151.Definition and Origin of MythMyth is a precious treasure that is inherited from our ancient ancestors. It is the production of the development of society and history. Studying myth is good for us to understand history. Comparing different nations myths can help us st

12、udy common character and specialties of each nations development from each other. But in the beginning, we should explain a question. Whats the myth? Only after we understand it, can we ensure our study keep in right direction. The word “mythology” is originated from Greek. Before defining the term

13、mythology one needs to define the meaning of the word myth. The word itself comes from the Greek mythos which originally meant speech or discourse but which later came to mean fable or legend. In this thesis the word myth will be defined as a story of forgotten or vague origin, basically religious o

14、r supernatural in nature, which seeks to explain or rationalize one or more aspects of the world or a society. “Mythology” is a kind of unreal imagination. Mr. Mao Dun defined it as “tales that prevailed in primitive society. Gods who had more incredible power than human conducted them. They were tr

15、ansmitted and believed by ancient people though its ridiculous”1. A myth is also distinctly different from an allegory or parable which is a story deliberately made up to illustrate some moral point but which has never been assumed to be true by anyone. Some myths describe some actual historical eve

16、nt, but have been embellished and refashioned by various story tellers over time so that it is impossible to tell what really happened. In this last aspect myths have a legendary and historical nature.Therefore, myth, which is the primitive peoples recognition, understanding and explanation about ob

17、jective world (mainly the nature) with imaginative thinking, is a cultural phenomenon. Its the reflection of primitive peoples natural value and social value.Another aspect is what the origin of myth was and how myth was formed. We have known that myth is originated from primitive society. It was pr

18、imitive peoples recognition, understanding and explanation about objective world. In primitive society, human just learned walking and making tools that differentiated people from animal. The greatest progress was they had learned thinking. At that time, for poor productivity and knowledge, many thi

19、ngs such as thunder, lightening, sunrise and sunset were out of the peoples ability to give a reasonable explanation. For fear of the nature, they thought these natural phenomena were dominated by certain invisible power. So they embodied this power. Thats the formation of so called “God”. They cons

20、idered those Gods who are closely concerned with their life and production as their protectors. They created the stories of Gods to praise. Each race lives in different areas with different kinds of environments. Therefore, the shape and their way of respects were different. As developing of society

21、 and increasing of social productivity, their life and production was greatly improved. However, some tradition were remained, the ancient myth was one of them. The people embellished the original myths to make them more colorful and legendary. Therefore, myth is not produced at certain period but g

22、radually enriched, developed and perfected as developing of society and history.2the difference and relationship - Greek mythology and ancient Chinese myth from Gods appearance and personality :2.1 the common pointsChinese and Greek mythology gives the universe personality and will, reflect the ance

23、stors of human force firm belief.Chinese myth and the Greek mythology emphasizes the role of womenThe sub, Rhea, and Hera goddess Nuwa these in the creation of the universe in the process are play a decisive role, this is the matriarchal clan society condition reflection, is on the womens social sta

24、tus recognition. Can say, a creation of God giant portrayed a female image, are human beings born with a pair of maternal attachment complex reflection, is also full of human affection.2.2 the different pointsIn Greek mythology, Greek mythological gods are divided into new and old God, the God of th

25、eir generation after generation reproduction and finally formed a pedigree.The new God and God has been in the struggle, the new gods gradually replaced the old gods. While Chinese mythology is no such argument, the Chinese God is immortal, is regarded as the ancestor worship. Chinese ancestor worsh

26、ip and worship are often linked together. At this point, the Greek myth of the philosophy of Chinese myth is more advanced than.In Greek mythology, the image of God is completely personified. God is the most beautiful person, on the contrary, Chinese mythology is the God depicted adult animal commun

27、ity.Ancient Greek mythology the God grow up with the face and body that are similar to man, which can be derived from Greek gods of ancient temple, even the God like Poseidon, God of the sun all are no exception. The Greeks believed that, God is the most beautiful people. The ancient statues spread

28、to more than two thousand years later, still exudes the charm of endless, it shows the beauty of human body is also in line with the modern aesthetic standard. Visible, the ancient Greek ancestors aesthetic taste is very modern. Many people make the mistake of ancient statue Venus as a modern man s

29、creation, it is proved that.Chinese mythology is the God depicted as body is made up of people and animal.For example, the gods Fu body like a snake, the Sun God Yan Di long horns, God sent them to earth, they tend to be mysterious and authority. This is in fact a kind of totem worship, its reason i

30、s in a state of the ancestors of the fear of nature.Greek myth not only records Gods power, but also records God also has passion and desire.Chinese ancient god is superior, honest, serious, if we give them the desires of men, it will be considered a blasphemy to them. Greek mythology a lot of love story, no matter male god, goddess, all full of desire. Zeus fell in love with the beautiful woman many times, the goddess or ordinary woman and gave birth to a lot of Ze