欧洲文化入门—英语

欧洲文化入门1.What did the Roman have in common with the Greeks?And what was the chief difference between them?1)The Romans had a lot in common with the Greeks.Both peoples had traditions rooted in the idea of the citizen-assembly,hostile to monarchy and to servility.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 myths to be fused. Their languages worked in similar ways and were ultimately related, both being members of the Indo-European language family which stretches from Bangladesh to Iceland.(2)There was one big difference.The Romans built up a vast empire. The Greeks didn’t,excepted for the brief moment of Alexander’s conquests,which soon disintegrated.1.What was the Hebrew’s major contribution to world civilization?The history of the Hebrews was handed down orally from one generation to another in the form of folktales and stories,which were recorded later in the Old Testament,which still later became the first part of the Christian Bible.The Hebrews’major contribution to world civizalation wan Judasam.2.Why do we say Judaism and Christianity are closely related?⑴it was the Jewish tradition which gave birth to Christianity;⑵both originated in Palestine.1.What happened in Western Europe after the decline of the RomanEmpire?After the Roman Empire lost its predominance,a great manyGermanic Kingdoms began to grow into the nations know as England,France, Italy,and Germany in its place.These nations of Western Europe were in the scene of frequent wars and invasions.The political unity had given way to widespread destruction and confusion.Hunger and disease killed many lives and village fell into ruin and great areas of land lay waste.There was no central government to keep the order.The only organization that seemed to unite Europe was the Christian church. Christianity was almost the all and the one of Medieval lives in western Europe and took lead in politics,law,art,and learning for hundreds years.2.What were the cultural characteristics of the period from500to1000?Above all,the cultural characters of this period were the heritage and achievement of Roman culture and the emergence of Hebrew and Gothic culture.1.What made Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance?Because of its geographical position,foreign trade developed early in Italy.This brought Italy into contact with other cultures and gave rise to urban economy and helped Italy accumulate wealth which was anessential factor for the flowering of art and literature.For two centuries beginning from the late15th century,Florence was the golden city which gave birth to a whole generation of poets,scholars, artists and sculptors.There was in Florence a revival of interest in classical learning and rising of humanist ideas.And to spread the new ideas,libraries and academies were founded.In the15th century printing was invented and helped to spread humanist ideas.2.What are the main elements of humanism?How are these elementsreflected in art and literature during the Italian Renaissance? Humanist is the essence of Renaissance.Humanists in renaissance believed that human beings had rights to pursue wealth and pleasure and they admires the beauty of human body.This belief ran counter to the medieval ascetical idea of poverty and stoicism,and shifted man’s interest from Christianity to humanity,from religion to philosophy,from heaven to earth,from the beauty of God to the beauty of human in all its joy,senses and feeling.The philosophy of humanism is reflected in the art and literature during the Italian Renaissance in the literature works of Boccaccio and Petrarch and in the art of Giotto,Brunelleschi,Donatello,Giorgione,daVinci,Michelangelo,Raphael,and Titian,etc.In their works they did not stress death and other world but call on man to live and work for the present.DIVISION ONE1.战争双方:1200B.C Greece(希腊)and Troy(特洛伊）The5th centry B.C colsed with civil war between Athens（雅典）and Sparta in Greece（希腊）.146B.C.the Romans conquered Greece。

Renaissance 文艺复兴：The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century, which encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures.Constantinople君士坦丁堡：Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantium, which was founded on the site of the ancient city of Byzantium.Lombard 伦巴族人：The term Lombard refers to members of or things related, directly or indirectly, to Lombardy, a region in northern Italy.Justinian Code《查士丁尼法典》：Justinian Code was a coherent body of law that was codified by all Roman laws and it was the preservation and systematization of a large number of existing Roman laws.Iconoclasm 反圣像运动：The Iconoclasm controversy concerned the use of icons as aids to worship. In 726, Emperor Leo Ⅲlaunched it to destroy and forbid icons.Sassanid 桑萨王朝: Sassanid was one of the two major powers divided by west Asua.Zoroastrianism 波斯拜火教: Zoroastrianism is an ancient Iranianreligion and a religious philosophy. It arose in the eastern region of the ancient Persian Empire, and it was the state religion of the Sassanid.Kaaba: K aaba is a sacred black meteorite. Arabs called it “the black stone that fell from the heaven in the days of Adam” and considered it the holiest shrine in the Arabia.Allah: Allah is the supreme deity of Arabs, and he is the creator and the giver of rain, the Arabic word for the only God in Islam.Medina 麦地那：“the city of prophet”Hegira: the migration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 CEQur’an《古兰经》：the holy book of Islam. The word Qur’an means recitation, which Muslims believe to be the revelation from Allah.Ramadan 斋月: Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting. This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam.Islamic Golden Age: an age of discovery and exploration for Arab traders and explorers from the mid-8th to the mid-13thFatalistic belief（宿命化信仰）: believe that nothing would happen unlessthe God actively willed itKnowledge of Truth: it is not just knowledge, rather, it is "epi - gnosis"（from the Internet and can not find a exact definition）Arab numeral system（阿拉伯数字体系）: a system that log with Latin numberArabian Nights（一千零一夜）: also called The Book of One Thousands and One Nights, mostly a compilation of earlier folk tales.Feudalism(封建制度): the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th century; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in war Charlemagne(查理曼大帝): (also called Charles the Great) the greatest Frankish king who established the vast Carolingian EmpireCarolus Magnus: the Latin version of Charlemagne’s nameVassal（封臣）: a person holding a fief; a person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lordCounty（郡）: distinct similar to the Roman ProvinceCount（伯爵）: the administrator, judge and military leader of the county Clergy(什一税): 10% income taxDark Ages: the two centuries after Carolingian Empire collapsed which Western Europe being attached by non-Christian invadersTribute(贡金)：money that forced to pay to the invaders after being occupiedNormandy(诺曼底): (also called “land of Norse”) the part of the northern Frankish coastal region which under Norseman’s control in 911 Vassalage(采邑制，封臣制): the relationship between a vassal and his lordCrusader(十字军)：a warrior who engages in a holy warTreaty of Verdun(凡尔登条约): a treaty that divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts in 843, signed by Louis the PiousTreaty of Meerssen（莫尔森条约）: a treaty signed in 870 that ended the civil war between the East Franks and the West Franks。

European Culture: An Introduction Introductiones of the Subject2.Two Major Elements in European CultureEuropen culture is made of many elements, which has gone through changes over the centuries. Two of these elements are considered to be more enduring and they are: the Greco-Roman element, and the Judeo-Christian element.DIVISION 1 GREEK CULTURE AND ROMAN CULTUREI. Greek CultureGreek CultureTimeline of Ancient GreeceAncient Greece--- no fixed dates for the beginning or the end of the period. In common usage it refers to all Greek history before the Roman Empire.Its history is usually divided into several periods, among which we introduce three of them.1600 BC to about 1100 BC History of Mycenaean GreeceThis period is known for the reign of King Agamemnon, and the wars against Troy. Around 1200 B.C., Trojan WarIn Greek legend, famous war waged by the Greeks against the city of Troy. Ending in the destruction of Troy. This is the war Homer refers to in his epics. It is the historical setting of the epics of Homer and much other Greek mythology.1100 BC to the 8th century BC “Greek Dark Ages"The word ―dark‖ here refers to the period of Greek prehistory. No primary texts, and only scant archaeological evidence, survive. During this time the culture of Greece dwindled. The great trading empire which had begun with the Minoans (弥诺斯人) and was inherited by the Mycenaean's, was destroyed in the Dark Ages.8th century BC to 323 BCGreek culture reached a high point of development in the 5th century BC. marked by successful repulse 击退of Persian invasion, establishment of democracy and flourishing of science, philosophy, literature, art and historical writing in Athens.The century closed with civil war between Athens and Sparta. (雅典-斯巴达）In the second half of the 4th century BC, all Greece was brought under the rule of Alexander, King of Macedon.马其顿his armies went out to conquer large areas of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 146B.C. the Romans conquered Greece. By that time Greek culture had firmly established itself in much of eastern wand western Europe and north africa.This period ended with his death in 323 BC.Social and political structureAthens was a democracy. Democracy means“exercise of power by the whole people‖, but by“the whole people‖ the Greeks meant only the adult male citizens, and citizenship was a set of rights whichi a man inherited from his father. Women, children, foreigners and slaves were excluded. They had no rights.The economy of Athens rested on immense amount of slave labour. There was harsh exploitation in Greek society.The Greek love sports. Once every 4 years, they had a big festival on Olympic Mount, thus began the Olympic Games. Revived in 1896, the Games have become the world‘s foremost amateur sports competition.Homer and his EpicsAncient Greeks considered Homer to be the author of their epics. Lived around 700 B.C.. First recorder of former oral, epic poems served to entertain the ancient Greeksauthor of The Iliad and The OdysseyThe two major epics of ancient Greece, a major part of ancient history, especially that of Ancient Greece, thought by some to have been the backbone of an ancient Greek youth's education.The Iliad is set in the final year of the Trojan war. The odyssey describes the return of the Greek hero Odysseus(Ulysses) from the Trojan war. They both not events about Homer‘s own time, but remoter about 1200-1100B.C..The IliadDeals 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 Odysseus on the Greek. In the final battle, Hector was killed by Achilles and Troy was sacked and burned by the Greeks.The OdysseyDeals with the return of Odysseus after the Trojan war to his homeland of Ithaca.The epic tells of Odysseus's ten years of traveling.The second half of the poem: Odysseus's arrival at his home island of Ithaca.Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is serious and industrious, a perfect wife and mother in many aspects. Exercising infinite patience and self-control, Odysseus tests the loyalty of his servants; plots and carries out a bloody revenge on Penelope's suitors; and is reunited with his son, his wife, and his aged father.Lyric PoetryOf the many lyric poets of the time,two are still admired by the readers today: Sappho and Pindar Sappho (612-580B.C.), woman poet of Lesbos, is noted for her love poems of passionate intensity, some of which are addressed to women. She was considered the most important lyric poet of ancient Greece. In the 10th century the Christian church burned her works. Only fragments remain.Pindar (518-438B.C.) is best known for his odes颂celebrating the victories at the athletic games, s uch as the 14 Olympian odes. These were chanted by a chorus in a procession, and marked by an elevated tone and stiring sound effects. His imitators as the 17th poet John Dryden. DramaGreeks performed plays at religious festivals. A powerful drama developed in th e 5th century B.C. Performances were given in open-air theatres, with the audience sitting on stone benches and looking down at the stage from three sides.a.Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.)---noted for his vivid character portrayal and majestic poetry. Prometheus Bound-(composed almost entirely of speeches; identified Zeus as a tyrant（暴君）and criminal.), Persions, Agamemnon . in these plays there are only two actors and a chorus. There is no escape but death. Plays written in verse.b.Sophocles (496-406 B.C.)--- has had a strong impact on European literature, contributed greatly to tragic art. He added a third actor and decreased the size of the chorus.Oedipus the King(-had a perfect plot ,with the fulfilled the oracle“killed his father and married his mother‖―the Oedipus complex‖ Austrian psychiatrist Freud‘s term.)Antigone is what happened to the this girl ,daughter of the Oedipus and Jocasta.Euripides (484-406)---more of a realist, concerned with conflicts, may be called the first writer of ―problem plays, ―the most tragic of the poets‖, ―Euripides the human‖.Comedy also flourished in the 5th century B.C., with its best writer Aristophanes(450-380B.C.)，who has left 11 plays, including: Frogs, Clouds, Wasps, and Birds. Loose in plot and satirical in tone, clever parody诙谐的模仿and acute criticism. They treat of contemporary events and contain direct attacks on well-known people of the day as Socrates in Clouds and Euripides in Frogs. Coarse粗糙粗俗language is a striking feature of Aristophanes. Swift says of him: As for comic Aristophanes, The dog too witty and too profane 亵渎异教世俗is。