西方文化历史简答题.doc

1. Give a brief account of the major achievements of Greek culture, such as those in religion, philosophy, literature and science.Greek religion 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. 希腊宗教文化是希腊神话的重要起源，而希腊神话又全部是由菏马史诗中的宗教故事发展而来，希腊宗教还影响了后来希腊各种文化的发展。The core Greek philosophers are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.希腊哲学的三大核心是苏格拉底，柏拉图和亚里士多德。苏格拉底不喜金银珠宝，一心致力于探求行为问题和伦理的定义，如 友谊 和 勇气。柏拉图建立了希腊的第一个高等教育机构，学院。亚里士多德的哲学成就主要在于形而上学论，他试图达到物质于与神学间的妥协。Literary representation centered round the two epic poems of the Iliad and the Odyssey, those works combined Greek myths and social life and won much appreciation and enthusiasm from the public. 在文学方面的成就主要表现在伊利亚特奥德赛这两部史诗。这两部作品结合了希腊神话的现实生活，获得了大众的赞赏和喜爱。In science the mathematician Euclid established plane geometry 在科学方面，数学家欧几里德建立了平面几何。2. What do you think of the influence Greek culture has exerted on Western civilization as a whole? Give examples.希腊文化对西方文明的影响Greek culture is often termed the cradle of the Western civilization and has a enormous impact on Western culture. The specific contributions are found in the area of politics,philosophy,literature and art ,the development of society ,and so on.希腊文化经常被认为是西方文明的摇篮，对西方文化有极大影响。主要的贡献在于政治 哲学 文学和艺术,社会的发展等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.希腊政治对西方文明产生的影响最大。希腊第一个成功建立了以人民的共识为基础的政府，为西方的民主政治提供了基础。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, 第二个最重要的影响是哲学。苏格拉底的对于道德和知识的观点帮助西方人更多关注于知识的影响和道德的价值。In literature and art, later generations of Westerners have benefited a lot from Greek culture, such as those in painting, sculpture, architecture, drama, poetry and historical works. 在文学和艺术方面，后一代的西方人从希腊文化中受益匪浅，例如绘画，雕塑，建筑，戏剧，诗歌，历史著作。In the development of society,Classicism is one of the crucial sources of Greek culture, westerners regard it as the origin of the Renaissance. This changed the intellectual condition of the later medieval period and open the way to the modern era in West. 古典主义是希腊文化的重要来源，而西方人将古典主义认为是文艺复兴的起源，而这改变了中世纪后期的知识的条件，在西方打开了一条通往现代的途径。3. In what sense do you think Roman culture owed its accomplishments to the benefits obtained from Greek culture? Give examples. 在何种程度上你认为罗马的成就是归功于希腊文化呢It is universally acknowledged that Roman culture learned and inherited a lot from Greek culture. those are demonstrated in religion, philosophy and literature.众所周知，罗马文化学习和继承了许多希腊文化，这可以体现在宗教，哲学和文学。In religion, most of the gods in Roman myths came from Greek legends in terms of function and contribution to their myths. The parallel arrangement of gods provide accurate evidence to show the similarity of the two religions and Roman wisdom in borrowing fine elements from an external culture is obvious.在宗教方面，在作用和对他们神话的贡献上，罗马神话中的大部分神都是来自希腊神话。众神的平行安排提供了这两个宗教间相似点，而罗马人借用外来文化的好元素的智慧是显露无疑的。In philosophy,we can find examples to demonstrate Greek influence on their Roman counterpart. The best example is perhaps Stoicism and Epicureanism originated from Greece and were further developed and modified in Rome.在哲学方面，我们也可以找到例子去证明希腊对罗马的影响。最好的例子就是禁欲主义和享受主义在罗马的发展和改进。In literature, Roman men of letters also borrowed a great deal from Greek culture. For example, one could find lots of traces of Greek tragedy in Roman drama. 在文学方面，罗马人的信件也从希腊文化中借鉴了不少。例如，在罗马戏剧中可以找到大量的希腊悲剧色彩All in all, the two cultures are closely linked partly because Greek culture is so illustrious that no one could leave it out without picking up something from it. The Roman people were sufficiently intelligent that they could not refuse to take such an opportunity to learn something when the opportunity was available.总之这两种文化联系紧密，其中一部分原因就是因为希腊文化如此著名，以至于没有人可以不带痕迹得离开这个文明。罗马人足够睿智他们不能拒绝抓住机会学点什么，尤其这机会唾手可得。4. What would you say about the Jewish contribution to Christianity and Western culture? Give examples to show how Jewish culture relates to and differs from Greek culture. 犹太文化对基督教和西方文化的贡献是什么，犹太文化与希腊文化的联系和不同有哪些1.The Jewish has done much for the foundation of Christianity and the transmission of western culture. One of the example is Jewish assistance to the establishment of Christianity.犹太人对基督教的建立和西方文化的传播起到了很大的作用。其中一个例子就是犹太人对基督教的建立的帮助。2.Roman persecution of Jews.1.It was the Jews who worked as the early organizers and participants in the underground activities of the Christians. 早期基督教地下活动的组织者和参与者是犹太人。3.Also some of the principal ideas in Christian beliefs came from Jewish culture, like the concept of the Messiah, which first came out of the Babylonian Captivity when the imprisoned Jews longed for someone to save them. 而且基督教信仰的一些主要观点也来自犹太教。例如弥赛亚，最早来自于犹太人被关押在巴比伦监狱时所祈求的救世主。4.Christianity had been nourished from Jewish culture by the plus of other ideas. especially from the Old Testament. This plus helped provide a fairly/quite large body of influence to the eventual establishment and development of Christianity. 基督教通过与其他文化的融合从希腊文化中汲取了营养，尤其是旧约。这种融合也给基督教的建立和发展带来了相当大的影响。5.Overall, the original difference between Greek culture and Jewish culture resides in the fact that the Greeks were concerned with the rational aspect of the world while the Jew cared more about the human spirit. Hence both sides have benefited from each other with the cultural communication since then.总之，希腊与犹太最原始的不同在于希腊人关心世界的理性部分，而犹太人关注人的精神部分。因此，从那以后双方都受益于彼此的文化交流。 5.Why could Christianity be accepted as the official religion first by the Roman Empire and then by the following kingdoms or empires in Europe?为什么罗马帝国认定基督教为国教？a. For the common people in the empire who were fed up with wars and social turmoil, they needed something to fill up their spiritual vacuum. Christianity could play such a role to pacify and comfort them with love and care more effectively than other organizations or religions. 因为罗马的帝国的大部分人饱受战争和社会动荡之苦，他们需要精神支柱，基督教可以担起这个角色，用爱和关心有效地平息和安抚他们，相比其他组织和宗教来说。b. It could work together with any secular regimes to offer necessary assistance to control ideologically and intellectually the ordinary people, which was thus welcomed by the kings, emperors or aristocrats.基督教可以和任何世俗的政权共同作用，为在思想上和智力上控制普通民众提供帮助。这受到了国王，皇帝，贵族的喜爱。c. The name and influence of Christianity would be a symbol of sacredness and justification, which would help the majority of people to accept the reign of a newly emerging ruler and his followers.基督教的名称和影响将会成为神圣和正义的象征，这会帮助大部分的人接受新出现的统治者和他的追随者。d. Christianity is also a kind of culture, which to many people suggests social stability and recovery of an old life style they are accustomed to. Though conservative as well, it could be tolerated because their life and property could thus be secured in the changed circumstances.基督教也是一种文化，据此人们认为的社会稳定和人们所习惯的生活风格的恢复。虽然同样保守，但他们可以接受基督教是因为他们的生活和财产在这变化中的情景下可以得以保存。6.What are