(前2章)欧洲文化入门课后习题答案

1、欧洲文化入门课后习题答案：Division one: Greek culture and Roman culture希腊、罗马文化.Greek culture 希腊文化1. What are the major elements in European culture?There are two main elements the Greco-Roman element and the Judeo-Christian element.2. What were the main features of ancient Greek society?In Greek society, only ad

2、ult male citizen had real power and the citizenship was a set of rights which a man inherited from his father. The economy of Athens rested on an immense amount of slave labor. Slaves worked for their masters. The exploitation was a serious social problem. The Greeks loved sports. They often took pa

3、rt in the contests of sports in Olympus Mount, thus Olympic Games came into being.3. What did Homer do? Why is he important in the history of European literature?He depicted the great Greek men who lived in the period 1200-1100B.C. and wars happening at that time. As an author of epics, he employed

4、fine literary language to describe wars and men, even though they were dull. He stood in the peek of Greek literature and exerted a great influence on his followers.4. Who were the outstanding dramatists of ancient Greece? What important plays did each of them write?Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripide

5、s were three outstanding dramatists of ancient Greece.Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound, Persians, AgamemnonSophocles: Oedipus the King, Electra, AntigoneEuripides: Andromache, Medea, Trojan Women5. Were there historians then? Who were they? What did each of them write about?Yes, there are. They were Hero

6、dotus and Thucydides.Herodotus wrote about the wars between Greeks and Persians. Thucydides wrote about the war between Athens and Sparta and between Athens and Syracuse.6. Would you say that philosophy was highly developed then? Who were the major philosophers?No, I wouldnt. Because those philosoph

7、ical ideas were only idealism or simple materialism or metaphysics. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were the major philosophers at that time.7. Did Socrates write any book? How then do we know about him? What distinguished his philosophy?No, he didnt. We know Socrates chiefly through what Plato record

8、ed of him in the famous Dialogues written by Plato. He considered that philosophy rested with the dissect of oneself and virtue was high worth of life. His method of argument, by questions and answers, was known as the dialectical method.8. Tell some of Platos ideas. Why do people call him an ideali

9、st?(1) Men have knowledge because of the existence of certain general “ideas”, like beauty, truth, and goodness. (2) We should not look at the things which are not seen: for the things which are not seen eternal. Because he emphasized the importance of “ideas” and believed that “thought” had created

10、 the world, people call him an idealist.9. In what important ways was Aristotle different from Plato? What are some of Aristotles works that are still influential today?(1) Aristotle emphasized direct observation of nature and insisted that theory should follow fact. This is different from Platos re

11、liance on subjective thinking. (2) He thought that “idea” and matter together made concrete individual realities in which he differed from Plato who held that ideas had higher reality than the political world. His significant works includes: Ethics, Politics and Rhetoric.10. Who were some of the oth

12、er philosophers active in that period? Does the word “Epicurean” in its modern sense convey the true meaning of the philosophy of the ancient Epicureans? What were their views on pleasure?(1) They were Heracleitue, Democritus, Diogenes, Pyrrhon, Epicurus and Zeno.(2)No, it doesnt. The ancient Epicur

13、eans believed pleasure to be the highest worth of life, but by pleasure they meant, not sensual enjoyment but that attained by the practice of virtue. But this idea was misled by modern people, in their sense, the word “Epicurean” has come to mean indulgence in luxurious living.11. Say something abo

14、ut Greek sculpture, pottery and architecture. What was the most famous Greek temple? Is it still there?(1) Along with the formation of Greek civilization, Greek sculpture, pottery and architecture got many great achievements. Greeks put into works of art the things they admired and worshiped, the sc

15、ientific rules they discovered. Greek art evolved from the archaic period to the classical period which marked its maturity. (2) the most famous temple was the Acropolis at Athens. (3) Yes, it is still there.12. Give some examples to show the enormous influence of Greek culture on English literature

16、. Some examples:(1) A Freudian term “Oedipus Complex” of 19th century originating from a Greek tragedy in which king Oedipus unknowingly killed his father and married his mother. (2) In the early part of the 19th century , in England alone, three young Romantic poets expressed their admiration of Gr

17、eek culture in works which have themselves become classics: Byron s Isle of Greece, Shelley s Hellas and Prometheus Unbound and Keats s Ode on a Grecian Urn. (3) In the 20th century, there are Homeric parallels in the Irishman James Joyces modernist masterpiece Ulysses. . Roman culture 罗马文化1. What d

18、id 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 t

19、heir deities to be readily identified Greek Zeus with Roman Jupiter, Greek Aphrodite with Roman Venus, and so onand 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

20、Iceland.(2) There was one big difference. The Romans built up a vast empire. The Greeks didnt, excepted for the brief moment of Alexanders conquests, which soon disintegrated.2. Explain Pax Romana.In the year 27 B.C., Octavius took supreme power as emperor with the title of Augustus. Two centuries l

21、ater, the Roman empire reached its greatest extent in the North and East. The emperors mainly relied on a strong armythe famous Roman Legions and an influential bureaucracy to exert their rules. Thus the Romans enjoyed a long period of peace lasting 200 years. This remarkable phenomenon in the histo

22、ry is known as Pax Romana.3. What contributions did the Romans make to the rule of law?In Romans earliest stage, only a number of patricians knew the customary legal procedure. When the rules were put into writing in the middle of the third century B.C. it marked a victory for the plebeians. There w

23、as further development of law under the emperors until it was codified, eventually to become the core of modern civil and commercial law in many Western countries.4. Who were the important prose writers in ancient Rome? What does “Ciceronian” mean? Did Cicero write that kind of rhetorical prose all

24、the time?<1>Marcus Tullius Cicero and Julius Caesar were two important prose writers. <2> Ciceronian means Ciceros eloquent oratorical manner of writing, Which has had an enormous influence on the development of European prose.<3> No, he didnt. Because Cicero appears as a different

25、 man with a different style, far less rhetorical, but colloquial and intimate.5. Give the example of the terse style of Julius Caesars prose.An example: I came, I saw, I conquered (models of succinct Latin).6. Who was Lucretius? What did he do?(1)Lucretius was a poet of ancient Rome.(2)He wrote the

26、philosophical poem On the Nature of Thing to expound the ideas of Epicurus the Greek atomist.7. What is the book for which Virgil has been famous throughout the countries? In what ways is the book linked with the Greek past?(1)The book was Aeneid. (2)The story was about Aeneas, one of the princes of

27、 Troy, who escaped from that burning city when it fell to the Greeks, to carry on the Trojan cause in a new place, Rome. He didnt go alone, but, carrying his father on his shoulders and leading his little son by the hand, a family group of three generations moved together. Thus in this way the book

28、is linked with the Greek past.8. Why do we say Aeneus is a truly tragic hero?Because Aeneas had to betray the great passion of his life, his love for Dido, queen of Carthage, so that he could fulfill his historic mission.9. What is the chief Roman achievement in architecture? Give some examples.(1)

29、The Romans were great engineers. They covered their world from one end to the other with roads, bridges, aqueducts, theatres and arenas.(2) Some examples: A. The Pantheon: the greatest the best preserved Roman temple built in 27B.C.B. Pont du Gard: it is an exceptionally well-preserved aqueduct that

30、 spans a wide valley in southern France.10. Why are the wall-paintings of the ancient Romans still significant to us today?Roman painting was strongly influenced by the art of Greece. And it also had pecularities of its own. Unfortunately much of the painting no longer exists. There are, however, so

31、me wall-paintings from Pompeii and other towns near Naples. These wall-paintings include still lives, landscape paintings and figure paintings. Among them were Lady Musician and Young Girl, the Maiden Gathering Flowers and the Landscape.Division two: the Bible and Christianity 基督教及其圣经1. What was the

32、 Hebrews 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. Thus the Hebrews ma

33、de one of the greatest contributions to the world civilization.2. Why do we say Judaism and Christianity are closely related?Judaism and Christianity are closely related: it was the Jewish tradition which gave birth to Christianity; both originated in Palestinethe hub of migration and trade route, w

34、hich led to exchange ideas over wide areas.3. When did the great exodus take place?Around 1300 B.C., Moses, the famous Hebrew leader, went to see the pharaoh of Egypt, telling him that Yahweh wanted the pharaoh to end Hebrew slavery and let the Hebrew leave Egypt. With this began the Exodus, which l

35、asted forty years.4. Who was Moses? What did he do for the Hebrews?Moses was a famous Hebrew leader. Around 1300 B.C., Moses led the Hebrews to leave Egypt for the Promised Land. This was called the Exodus which lasted forty years. When the wandering Hebrews left the desert and entered the mountaino

36、us Sinai, Moses climbed to the top of the mountain to receive form god message, which came to be known as the Ten Commandments. He died shortly before the Hebrews arrived at their homeland.5. What are the Ten Commandments about?The Ten Commandment are a set of rules Moses commands all Israel to obey

37、 in the name of God: Yahweh is the only God all Israel should worship; Do not carve and serve any idol to worship; Do not take the name of God in vain; Keep the Sabbath day and labor in the other six days; Honor and respect ones parents; Do not kill; Do not commit adultery; Do not steal; Do not bear

38、 false witness against people; Do not desire ones neighbors wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his servants, nor his livestock, nor anything else.6. What writings make up the New Testament?The New Testament consists of 14 books. The four accounts, which were believed to have been written by Mat

39、thew, Mark, Luke, and John, four of Jesus early followers, are the first part of the New Testament and tell of the birth, teaching, death and Resurrection of Jesus. Then come: the Acts of the Apostles, a history of the early Christian movement: the Epistles, or letters to the church groups around th

40、e Mediterranean; and lastly the book of Revelation, a visionary account of the final triumph of Gods purpose.7. How did the relations between Christians and the Roman government change?The early Christian were subject to persecutions by the Roman government. Jesus Christ was crucified by the Roman g

41、overnment. After Jesus died, his disciplines St. Peter and St. Paul suffered martyrdom under the Roman Emperor Nero about 65 A.D. Nero even burned Christians in his garden in 64 A.D. For 240 years after the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, persecutions of Christians continued. The chief persecutions we

42、re under Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Valerian and Diocletian. Despite these persecutions, Christians continued to spread steadily over the Mediterranean region. It began to draw men and women from all classes and the attitude of the Roman government toward Christianity began to change. By 305 Diocletian

43、 gave up his effort to destroy the young religion. When Constantine won the throne from his rivals, he believed that God had helped him, and in 313 he issued the Edict of Milan which granted religious freedom to all and made Christianity legal. Under Constantine Christianity made great contribution

44、of the empire. The emperors who followed Constantine continued pro-Christian policies. In 392 A.D., Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the empire and outlawed all other religions. Now Christianity had changed from an object of oppression to a weapon in the hands of the rul

45、ing class to crush their opponents.8. How did Christian monks help Western civilization survive?The Christian monks helped western civilization survive in many ways: The Christian monks spread Christianity to the Mediterranean region and some of them even suffered martyrdom; Some monks translated th

46、e Old Testament into Greek and St. Jerome translated the whole Bible into Latin. Later some such as John Wycliffe and William Tyndale translated the Bible into the vernacular; In the Middle Ages, people in Western Europe were mainly divided into three classes: clergy, lords and peasants. Of these three classes, the only literate section was the clergy. The Christian monks did a lot to help preserve and transmit a large part o