西方文化导论课件1-6课后题答案

(1) Give a brief account of the major achievements of Greek culture, such as those in religion,

philosophy, literature and science.

Greek

religion

really

took

shape

during

the

Homeric

Age

and

featured

polytheism

with

gods

taking

human

form

and

feeling.

Greek

religion

made

a

great

contribution

to

Greek

literature,

philosophy and art. It is an important origin of Greek mythology which was fully developed by the

religious tales of the Homeric epic and thus affected the later development of all kinds of Greek

culture.

Greek

philosophy

started

with

Thales

(640

BC

–

547

BC)

who

believed

that

the

material

world

originated

in

water.

His

philosophy

was

materialism.

He

was

followed

by

Pythagoras

who

assumed

that

the

key

to

the

understanding

of

the world

is

numbers,

on

the

opposition

of

the

spokesman for idealism.

The

core

Greek

philosophers

are

Socrates,

Plato

and

Aristotle.

Socrates

had

scant

regard

for

material

wealth,

but

was

keen

on

probing

into

the

definition

of

some

ethical

and

behavioral

issues, such as “friendship” and “courage”.

Plato established the Academy

－

the first Greek institution of higher learning. His contributions

included his theory of ideas and his arguments on “republic” which was supposed to embrace his

ideals about a future state where humans could enjoy a happy life. Aristotle is

also

a learned

man and his work covers wide-ranging areas. His reputation as a philosopher largely depends on

his

argument

on

metaphysics

which

he

tried

to

achieve

a

compromise

between

matter

and

divinity.

Literary

representation

centred round

the

two

epic

poems

of

the

Iliad

and

the

Odyssey

,

lyrical

poetry by Sappho and Pindar and drama by Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes. Their works

combined

Greek

myths

and

social

life

and

won

much

appreciation

and

enthusiasm

from

the

public.

In science the mathematician Euclid established plane geometry and Archimedes discovered the

ratio of radius of a circle and the relationship between the volume and surface of a sphere.

(2)

What

do

you

think

of

the

influence

Greek

culture

has

exerted

on

Western

civilization

as

a

whole? Give examples.

Greek

culture

is

often

termed

the

cradle

of

the

Western

civilization

and

has

had

an

enormous

impact

on

Western

culture.

The

specific

contributions

are

found

in

the

areas

of

philosophy,

politics, literature, art, science and architecture.

Greek politics was one of the greatest influences on the Western civilization. The Greeks were the

first to successfully create a government based on the consensus of the people and thus provided

a foundation for Western democracy.

The

second

significant

influence

was

that

of

philosophy.

The

Socratic

idea

about

ethics

and

knowledge helped the Westerners care more for the effect of knowledge and value of morality,

both of which give sound guidance to people in the later years to improve and change the world

outside themselves, i.e., human society and the natural world.

Later

generations

of

Westerners

have

benefited

a

lot

from

Greek

culture,

such

as

those

in

painting,

sculpture,

architecture,

drama,

poetry

and

historical

works.

Classicism

had

Greek

culture as one of the crucial sources, and this has helped Westerners so much that they ascribed

the origin of the Renaissance to it. This changed the intellectual conditions of the later medieval

period and opened the way to the modern era in the West.

(1) Tell briefly the major characteristics and contributions of Roman culture, as are demonstrated

in religion, poetry, history and architecture.

In the early period, Roman culture often depended heavily on the introduction and imitation of

other cultures, particularly, Greek culture. However, the Romans showed the eclectic aspect in

their culture

，

i.e. Romans did not take in all that they collected from other cultures but modified

and developed it according to their own need. Thus Romans created their own powerful culture,

laying the foundation for subsequent Western culture in many fields.

Before

Christianity

appeared

in

Roma,

ancient

Romans

were

polytheists.

They

adopted

many

cults

from

other religions,

fusing

them

into

their

own religion.

According

to Greek culture

and

others’ culture, they created their own gods and myth, such as Jupiter, Juno, and Venus, which

become subject matter for the artist, writers, and architects in their creative production.

In poetry, ancient Rome made brilliant achievements, producing numerous distinguished poets

and

poems.

The

poet

Virgil’s

Aeneid

is

considered

as

a

model

epic

in

the

European

literary

tradition. He is so famous in poetry that he was modeled for many pastoral writers. For example,

Italian poet

Dante called him his teacher in his masterpiece

The Divine Comedy

. Horace was not only famous

for his poems but his critic. In his

Epistles

, he advanced many influential principles for creative

writing,

exerting

great

influences

on

later

generations.

In

the

17th

century

his

work

was

translated into English. Another important poet was Ovid, whose

Metamorphosis

was translated

into English and quoted frequently by many famous writers, such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Ben

Jonson, Shirley and T.S. Eliot.

A number of important historians came forth in the ancient Roman period. Polybius created his

tremendous

works

consisting

of

40

books,

History

,

which

spanned

about

500

years.

Livy

was

responsible

for

the

great

History

of

Rome

in 142

volumes. His

works

has

always

been

cited

by

later statesmen, writers and scholars such as Niccolo Machiavelli and Shakespeare.

The architecture of ancient Rome adopted the Greek style for its own purposes, but the Romans

also developed a new kind. They were more utilitarian and showed an interest in grandeur and

scale. They constructed many public edifices which still existed today and became the famous key

point of interest for the world. Romans used the arch, the vault and the dome, and discovered

how to make concrete.

The

Roman

culture

introduced

the

Roman

realism

and

realistic

style

in

Western

culture

in

painting

and

sculpture

through

modern

times.

Roman

culture

nourished

emerging

Western

culture, and even the world culture. Such a splendid culture has greatly enriched cultural heritage

of human kind.

(2) In what sense do you think Roman culture owed its accomplishments to the benefits obtained

from Greek culture? Give examples.

It is universally acknowledged that Roman culture learned and inherited a lot from Greek culture.

This

could

be

seen

in

what

Roman

culture

adopted

from

Greek

culture

as

is

demonstrated

in

religion, philosophy and literature.

In

religion,

we

know

most

of

the

gods

in

Roman

myths

came

from

Greek

legends

in

terms

of

function and contribution to their myths. Nevertheless, Rome had its own system of beliefs which

had

been

simple

and

could

hardly

compare

with

the

plurality

of

Greek

religion.

The

parallel

arrangement of gods provides accurate evidence to show the similarity of the two religions and

Roman wisdom in borrowing fine elements from an external culture is obvious.

The

same

is

true

of

Roman

philosophy

where

we

could

find

examples

to

demonstrate

Greek