西方文化第一课讲义

1

Division One

Greek Culture and Roman Culture

European culture is made up of many elements, two of these elements are

considered to be more enduring and they are the Greco-Roman element and the

Judeo-Christian elements.

I. Greek Culture

1. The Historical Context

Ancient Greece was the birthplace of Western civilization about 2500 years ago.

The magnificent achievements of the ancient Greeks in government, science,

philosophy, and the arts still influence our lives.

Greek civilization developed chiefly in small city-states. A city-state consisted of

a city or town and the surrounding villages and farmland. The Greek city-states were

fiercely independent and often quarreled among themselves. But their small size and

constant rivalry had certain advantages. Citizens of a city-state sere strongly patriotic,

and many citizens took part in public affairs. The most advanced city-states

established the world’s first democratic governments. The best-known city-states were

Athens and Sparta.

The ancient Greek city-states never became united into a nation. However, a

common language, religion, and culture bound the people together. The Greeks called

themselves Hellenes and their land Hellas. They thought of themselves as different

form all other people, whom they called barbarians.

The ancient Greeks prized their freedom and way of life. This way of life

stressed the importance of the individual and encouraged creative thought. Greek

thinkers laid the foundations of science and philosophy by seeing logical explanations

for what happened in the world around them. Greek writers created new forms of

expression, which explored human personalities and emotions. Greek civilization 2 reached its height in Athens during the mid-400’s B.C., a period of outstanding

achievement known as the Golden Age.

In a remote period of Greek history, probably around 1200 B.C., a war was

fought between Greece and Troy, a city on the Asiatic side of the Aegean ending in

the destruction of Troy.

Greek culture reached a high point of development in the 5th century B.C. This

was marked by the successful repulse of the Persian invasion early in the century, the

establishment of democracy and the flourishing of science, philosophy, literature, art

and historical writing in Athens.

In the second half of the 4th century B.C., all Greece was brought under the rule

of Alexander, king of Macedon.

In 146 B.C. the Romans conquered Greece.

2. Social and Political Structure

Athens was a democracy. The Greeks loved sports. Once every four years, they

had a big festival on Olympus Mount which included contests of sports. Thus began

the Olympic Games. Revived in 1896, the Olympic Games have become the world’s

foremost amateur sports competition.

3. Homer

Ancient Greeks considered Homer to be the author of their epics. Two such epics,

the Iliad and the Odyssey, have survived. 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 Odyssey deals with the return of Odysseus after the Trojan war to his

home island of Ithaca.

4. Lyric Poetry

Of the many lyric poets of the time, two are still admired by readers today:

Sappho and Pindar. Sappho was considered the most important lyric poet of ancient

Greece. Pindar is best known for his odes celebrating the victories at the athletic

games, such as the 14 Olympian odes.

5. Drama 3 The Greeks developed a powerful drama in the 5th century B.C. The three great tragic

dramatists of ancient Greece are Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus

wrote such plays as Prometheus Bound, (Prometheus in Greek myths was a member of

the earliest race of gods, called titans（泰坦神，巨人）. The god Zeus plotted to destroy

humanity by depriving the earth of fire. Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave

it to human beings. Zeus punished him by ordering him bound to a remote peak in the

Caucasus Mountains（高加索山）. An eagle came to devour Prometheus’ liver every

day, and the liver grew back each night. After Prometheus had suffered for many

centuries, the hero Herules（大力英雄） killed the eagle and set Prometheus free. The

Greek dramatist Aeschylus presented him as a tragic hero and a champion of

humanity in his tragedy Prometheus Bound. The German composer Beethoven, the

German author Goethe, and the English poet Shelley created works inspired by the

Prometheus myth.) Persians, and Agamemnon. He is noted for his vivid character

portrayal and majestic poetry.

Sophocles, the author of plays like Oedipus the King, Electra, and Antigone

contributed greatly to tragic art. He added a third actor and decreased the size of the