欧洲文化史名词解释

The Introduction of European Culture- English Terms

Greek Culture and Roman Culture

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 the 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.

2．Herodotus（希罗多德）: 1) He is one of great ancient Greek historians. 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 not lack renown.‖

31) 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 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.

1) He was the greatest philosopher of ancient Greece, pupil of Socrates. 2) His 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）（北京市2002年自考真题名词解释）: He was one of the Cynic’s 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.

7．Stoics（斯多咯派）: 1) It was one of four ancient Greek schools of philosophers in the 4th century B. C. 2) To them , the most important thing in life was ―duty‖. 3) It developed into the

8 1) It is one of three ancient Greek architecture styles. 2) It 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.

9．Pax 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 Augustus. 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 remarkable 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 Roman Empire.

Division Two The Bible and Christianity

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.