欧洲文化入门复习资料

1、Two major elements in European culture：the Greco-Roman element and the Judeo-Christian element.2、The Homer epics consists of the Iliad and theOdyssey.The Iliad deals with the alliance of the states of the southern mainland of Greece，led by Agamemnon in their war against the city of Troy. The heroes are Hector on the Trojan side and Achilles and Odysseus on the Greek. In the final battle，Hector was killed by Achilles and Troy was sacked and burned by the Greeks.The Odyssey deals with the return of Odysseus after the Trojan war to his home island of Ithaca. It describes many adventures he ran into on his long sea voyage and how finally he was reunited with his faithful wife Penelope.3、古希腊三大悲剧家：Aeschylus, Sophocles,EuripidesWorks of Aeschylus：Prometheus Bound，Persians，and Agamemnon .There are only two actors and one chorus in these plays. Aeschylus is noted for his vivid character portrayal and majestic poetry.Works of Sophocles：Oedipus the King，Electra，and Antigone （theme：the difficult choice between public duty and private feeling）. He has had a great impact on European culture. The Oedipus complex（恋母情结）、Electra（恋父情结）were derived from his plays Work of Euripides：Andromache，Medea，and Trojan Women. He was more of a realist than other two. His characters are less heroic，more like ordinary people. He may be called the first writer of “problem plays”4.Herodotus is often called “Father of History”，wrote about the wars between Greeks and Persians . His history is full of anecdotes and digressions and lively dialogue.5.Thucydides is more accurate as an historian. He told about the war between Athens and Syracuse ，a Greek state on the island of Sicily. He traced events to their causes and brought out their effects. Macaulay called Thucydides “the greatest historian that ever lived”6.Pythagoras was a bold thinker who had the idea that all things were numbers. He was t he founder of scientific mathematics.7.Heracleitus believed fire to be the primary element of the universe，out of which everything else had arisen. To him,“all is flux，nothing is stationary”. He alsosaid，“you cannot step twice into the same river；for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you. The sun is new everyday”he held the theory of the mingling of opposites and believed that it was the strife between the opposites that produced harmony. 8.Democtitus speculated about the atomic structure of matter. Indeed，he was one of the earliest exponents of the atomic theory. He was one of the earliest philosophical materialists and Marx`s first published work was a study of Democritus.9Socrates taught Plato，who taught Aristotle. They were active in Athens in the 5th and the 4th century B.C.Socrates was known through Dialogues by Plato. Socrates liked to talk with people in the marketplace and in the streets ，asking and answering questions. He was ready to discuss anything in heaven and earth，specializing in exposing fallacies. When words like justice ，religiousness，virtue，wisdom，ect. Were used by others，he would ask the speaker to explain them and then dissect the answers to show how they were wrong and or illogical. This method of argument，byquestioning and answering，has come to be known as the dialectical method.Plato showed himself a brilliant stylist，writing with wit and grace. His Dialogues are important not only as philosophical writing but also as imaginative literature. His other works: Apology（Socrates` defense of himself at the trial），Symposium （about beauty and love），and the Republic（about the ideal state ruled by a philosopher but barring poets）Plato built up a comprehensive system of philosophy. It dealt with the problems of how，in the complex，ever —changing the world，men were to attain knowledge. The reply he gave was：men have knowledge because of the existence of certain general“ideas”，like beauty，truth，goodness. Only these ideas are completely real，while the physical world is only relatively real. For this reason，Plato`s philosophy is called Idealism. Many of his ideas were absorbed into Christian thoughtAristotle studied in Plato`s Academy for years. Later he became the tutor of Alexander the Macedonian King. In him the great humanist and the great man of science meet. On logic, moral philosophy，politics，metaphysics（形而上学），psychology，physics，zoology，poetry，rhetoric，he wrote epoch-making works，which dominated Europe thought for more than a thousand years. He did much to form，through his various and diverse interpreters，the philosophical，scientific and cosmological outlook of an entire world. Dante called him “the master of those who know”His works：Ethics（an introduction to moral philosophy），Politics，Poetics（a treatise on literary theory），and Rhetoric （dealing with the art of persuading an audience）Aristotle differed from his teacher in following ways：for one thing，Aristotle emphasized direct observation of nature and insisted that theory should follow fact. This is different from Plato`s reliance on subjective thinking；also，he thought that “form”（idea）and matter together made up concrete individual realities. Here ，he differed from Plato who held that ideas had a higher reality than the physical worldAristotle thought happiness that could only be achieved by leading a life of reason，goodness and contemplation should be a man`s aim in life.10.contending schools of thought:百家争鸣The Cynics：got their name because Diogenes，one of their leaders，decided to live like a dog and the word “cynic”means“dog”in Greek. He rejected all conventions—whether of religion，of manner，dress，housing，food，or of decency. In fact，he lived by begging. He proclaimed his brotherhood，not only with the whole human race，but also with animals. On the other hand，he had no patience with the rich and the powerfulThe Sceptics （诡辩学家）followed Pyrrhon，who heldthat not all knowledge was attainable. Hence he and his followers doubted t the truth of what others accepted as true.The Epicureans were disciples of Epicurus，whobelieved pleasure to be the highest good in life，butby pleasure he meant，not sensual enjoyment，butfreedom from pain and emotional upheaval. Thishe thought could be attained by the practice of virtue.His teaching wa s misunderstood by later peopleand the word“Epicurean”has come to meanindulgence in luxurious living. Epicuruswas a materialist.Opposed to the Epicureans were the Stoics. To them，the most important thing in life was not pleasure，but duty. This developed into the theory that one should endure hardship and misfortune with courage. The chief Stoic was Zeno. He was also a materialist，asserting the existence of the real world. He believed that there is no such thing as chance，and that the course of nature is rigidly determined by natural laws. In the life of an individual man，virtue is the solo good；such things as health，happiness，possessions，are of no account. Since virtue resides in the will，everything good or bad in a man`s life depends only upon himself. If he has to die, he should die nobly，like Socrates.Greek architecture three styles：a.the Doric style （masculine style. powerful, sturdy, showing a good sense of propotion）, the Ionic style(feminine style), the Corinthian style(oranmental luxury)There famous temples: the Acropplis at Athens, the Parthenon.The impact of Greek culture: a,The Greek culture played a vital part in the Renaissance in Italy and other Eruropean countries.b. The Greeks invented mathematics and science and phylosophy. Their spirt of innovation had immence influence in later generations c. The Greek is the birthland of the democracy. d.They set a great example of thinking rationally and logically. e. In literature, they have exerted an influence which can be still felt today. Epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, historical writing f.architecture, sculpture.Romans and Greeks异同：Common:a. Both peoples had traditions rooted in the idea of cittizen-assembly, hostile to monarchy and to servility. b. Their religions were alike enough for most of their deities to be readily identified-Greek Zeus with Roman Jupiter, Greek Aphrodite with Roman Venus, and so on-and their myth to be fused. c.Their languages worked in similar ways, and were ultimately related, both being members of the Indo-European language family which stretches from Banglandesh to Iceland. Difference: a.The Romans built up a vast empire: The Greeks didn’t. b.The Romans were confident in their military and administrative capabilities. c.The Greeks enjoyed an artistic and intellectural inheritance much richer than the Romans.Roman peace: The emperors relied on a strong army-the famous Roman regions-and an efficient bureaucracy to exert their rule, which was facilitated by a well-developed system of roads. Thus the Romans enjoyed a long period of oece lasting 200 years, a remarkable phenomenon in history known as the Pax Romana.Virgil:The greatest of Latin poet, wrote the greatest epic, the Aeneid.Tragic hero: Aeneas was a truely tragic hero because to fufil his hitoric mission he had to betray the great passion of his life. While he gained an empire, his love for Dido, qyeen of Carhage. While he gained an empire, he lost something no empire could compensate, happiness in life.The Colosseum:斗兽场It is an enormous amphitheatre built in the centre of Rome in imperial times. It held more than 5000 spectatots.The relationship between Judaism and Christianity: They are closely related. the Jewish tradition gave birth to Christianity. Both originated in Palestine-thehub of migration and trade toutes, which led to exchange of ideas over wide areas.The bible is a collection of religious writings comprising two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.The Old Testament is about God and the Laws of God. Consists of 39 books, the oldest and most important of which are the first five books called Pentateuch.The Pentateuch.(摩西五经)：Genesis: a religious account of the origin of the Hebrew people, including the origin of the world and of man, the career of Isosa and the life of Jacob and his son Joseph. (The fall of man, Noah’s ark)Exodus: a riligious history of the Hebrews during their flight from Egypt, the period when they began to receive God’s Law. Leviticus: a collection of primitive laws. Numbers: a continuation of the account of the flight from Egypt with two censuses about the Exodus. Deuteronomy: the final words of Moses to his people, restating his orders and fifty years’ experiences as a leader.The spread of Christianity:it spread steadily over the Mediterranean region, instead of being poor people’s religion in the earlier days, it began to draw men and women from all classes. The Romans grew tired of war and feared the collapse of the empire. A war was won by Constantine, he believed that God had helped him in winning the battle, issued the Edict of Milan in 313. it granted religious freedom to all and made Christianity legal. later seeing it the hope of moral solidarity, Constantine renounced pretensions to divinity. In 392AD, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the empire and outlawed all other religions.The New Testament is about the doctrine (教义) of Jesus Christ. His disciples in the first century wrote down in Greek about his life and teaching.Four accounts were accepted as part of the New Testament, which tells the beginning of the Christianity. The four accounts were believed to have been written by Matthew, Mark, Luck,and John, four of Jesus’s early fellows. They tell of the birth, teaching, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles, a history of the early Christian movement; the Epistles, or the letters to the church groups around Mediterranean; the book of Revelation,启示录：a visionary account of the final triumph of God’s purpose.The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek.The most ancient Latin version of the whole Bible is the Vulgate edition by St. Jerome.But the most important and influential of the English Bible is the “Authorized” or the King James version. The New Testament is，in essence (实质上)，the four accounts (四福音书)，written by the four disciples.弟子The word “Testament”means “agreement”，the agreement between God and Man.The New Testament: T he Bible was divided into two sections：the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New Testament is about the doctrine (教义) of Jesus Christ.⑴. The Middle Ages: a period in which classical, Hebrew and Gothic heritages merged. The fusion and blending of different ideas and practices paved the way for the development of what is the present- day European culture.（名词解释）In European history，the thousand-year period following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century is called the Middle Ages.⑵. Feudalism: it in Europe was mainly a systemof land holding---a system of land holding in exchangefor military service. “Feudalism”was derived fromthe Latin “feudum”, a grant of land. It is also a systemof government ---a form of local and decentralizedgovernment.Feudalism was also a system of government---a formof local and decentralized government. This is a periodin which classical,Hebrew and Gothic heritagesmerged.And it is this fusion and blending of different ideas andpractices that paved the way for the development ofwhat is the present-day European culture.⑶. The church:after 1054, the church wasdivided into the Roman Catholic Church and theEastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church madeLatin the official language In the medieval “age offaith”, almost all Europeans belonged to the Christian(Catholic) Church. Religion was of great importance invirtually every phrase of daily life. The word“catholic”, meant “universal”. The Catholic Churchwas a highly centralized and disciplined internationalorganization.政教合一⑷. Lay members of Catholic Church: pope教皇--- supreme head; college of cardinals---elected pope,served as advisors, next in power to pope; archbishops大主教---province, bishops主教---diocese区, priests牧师---parish教区; religious orders---militarymonastic, lived in monasteries (abbeys) governed byabbots.⑸.Early Monasticism(早期修道院制)：Between300 and 500 A.D.，many men withdrew from worldlycontacts to deserts and lonely places. This movementdeveloped into the establishment of monasteries andconvents for monks and nuns. Some of the hermits (隐士)were great scholars known as “Father of theChurch”，whose work is generally consideredorthodox.(东正教)A noble champion of early monasticism was St.Jerome, who translated into Latin both Old andNew Testaments from the Hebrew and Greeksoriginals.His translation work, the Vulgate, becamethe official Latin Bible used by the Roman CatholicChurch of this day.⑹. Augustine of Hippo: The Confession, The Cityof God. （the Roman’s fall was a punishment forhaving become rich and corrupt and for havingpersecuted Christians.⑺.the crusades十字军东征(went on about 200years) :The Objectives of the crusades was at first torelease the Holy Land, in particular Jerusalem, fromthe Saracens, but in time was extended to seizingSpain from the Moors, the Slavs and Pagans fromeastern Europe, and the islands of the Mediterranean.原因：in 1071 Palestine fell to the armies of theTurkish Moslems who attacked the Christian pilgrimsto Jerusalem, killing many of them and sold manyothers as slaves. News of this kind roused greatindignation among Christians in Western Europe. Theresult was a series of holy was called crusades thatwent on about 200 years.后果：by 1291 the Moslems had taken over the lastChristian strongland. They won the crusades and ruledall the territory in Palestine that the crusades hadfought to control.影响：①although the crusades have not achievetheir goal to regain the holy land, they had animportant effect on the future of both the east and thewest. They brought the east into closer contact with thewest. And they greatly influenced the history ofEurope.②during the wars while many of the feudallords went to fight in Palestine, kings at home foundopportunities to strengthen themselves, thus amongother things, crusades helped to break down feudalism,which in turn led to the rise of the monarchies.③through their contact with the more culturedByzantines and Moslems, the western Europeanschanged many of their old ideas. Their desire forwealth or power began to overshadow their religiousideals. ④the crusades also resulted in renewingpeople’s interest in learning and invention. By the13th century, universities, which grew from cathedralschools, had spread all over Europe.⑻Charlemagne, among many other things he did,encouraged learning by setting up monastery schools,giving support to scholars and setting scribes to workcopying various ancient books.The result of Charlemagne’s efforts is called theCarolingian Renaissance. The most interesting facetof this rather minor Renaissance is the spectacle ofFrankish or Germanic state reaching out to assimilatethe riches of the Roman Classical and theChristianized Hebraic culture.⑼christianism基督教: Catholicism天主教,Orthodox Church东正教; Protestantism基督新教⑽Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic, originating fromthe collective efforts oral literature.⑾Dante Alighieri and the divine comedy: one of thelandmarks of world literature. 实质The greatestChristian poem with a profound vision of the medievalChristian world, expresses humanistic ideas whichforeshadowed the spirit of Renaissance; 影响wrotehis masterpiece in Italian rather in latin, influenceddecisively the evolution of European literature awayfrom its origins in latin culture to a new variedexpression.The fall of the Western Roman Empire: in the latterpart of the 4th century, the Huns swept into Europe ,robbing and killing as they came along,, manycivilized Germanic tribes fled their homelands in northEurope and were rushed into the Roman Empire.In476 A.D. a Germanic (日耳曼) general killed the lastRoman emperor and took control of the government.。