Unit10DiogenesandAlexander

1、unit ten diogenes and alexanderby gilbert highetpart one background information:hellenistic (and roman) philosophynfrom the 4th century bc to the rise of christian philosophy in the 4th century ad, the main philosophical schools in the greco-roman world were:n cynicismn epicureanismn stoicismn skept

2、icismn neoplatonism non the whole, these philosophical trends continued to work with the problems raised by socrates, plato, and aristotle. ncommon to them all was their desire to discover how mankind should best live and die. they were concerned ethics. nthe main emphasis was on finding out what tr

3、ue happiness was and how it could be achieved.historical notenhellenism refers to the period of about 300 years from the conquest of alexander the great (356-323 b.c.) of athens near the end of fourth century b.c. to the rise of roman empire around 50 b.c. nthe term hellenism refers to both the peri

4、od of time and the greek-dominated culture that prevailed in the three hellenistic kingdoms of macedonia, syria, and egypt.nhowever, from about the year 50 b.c., rome secured the upper hand in military and political affairs. the new superpower gradually conquered all the hellenistic kingdoms, nand f

5、rom then on roman culture and the latin language were predominant from spain in the west to far into asia. nthis was the beginning of the roman period, which we often refer to as late antiquity.1. cynicismnthe story goes that one day socrates stood gazing at a stall that sold all kinds of wares. fin

6、ally he said, “what a lot of things i dont need!”nthe cynic school, founded by antisthenes in athens around 400 b.c., who was a pupil of socrates.2. diogenesnthe best known of the cynics, a pupil of antisthenes; lived in a barrel and owned nothing but a cloak, a stick, and a bread bag.ndescribed by

7、plato as “a socrates gone mad”nfor his vagrant lifestyle, diogenes was nicknamed “the dog” (from which the name cynic is derived”);n(why was he called a dog? diogenes: because i fawn upon those who give me anything, and bark at those who give me nothing, and bite the rogues. )he was also depicted in

8、 the school of athens, by raphaeldiogenes doctrinenpersonal happiness could only be achieved by living “according to nature”; i.e. it is satisfied by meeting ones natural needs. what is natural cannot be shameful or indecent. nthis means one should live with extreme simplicity, inured to want, and w

9、ithout shame.nexternal advantages, such as material luxury, political power, or good health, cannot lead to true happiness. true happiness lies in not being dependent on such random and fleeting things. ntrue happiness is within everyones reach. moreover, having once been attained, it can never be l

10、ost.nthe nude cynic fears no fire for his tub; if broken, he will make himself a new house to-morrow, or keep it repaired with clamps of lead.”n -juvenal, satires (xiv.308ff)most people were only half-alive.the dog looking for a mannhe was reported as walking through the market place carrying a ligh

11、ted lamp at noon and inspecting the face of everyone he met. when asked why, he answered “i am trying to find a man.” nseeing a young man blush, he remarked that it was the complexion of virtue. nseeing a child drinking from his hands, diogenes threw away his cup and remarked, a child has beaten me

12、in plainness of living. nwhen invited to the house of plato, he trampled upon his carpet, saying that he thereby trampled on the vanity of plato. nto platos definition of a man as an animal, bipedal and featherless, diogenes plucked a chicken and declared, here is platos man. 3. alexander the greatn

13、the king of macedonia (336323bc) and conqueror of asia minor, syria, egypt, babylonia, and persia. nhis reign marked the beginning of the hellenistic age. n-i am alexander, the great king. n-i am diogenes the dogndiogenes was using his nickname to show his contempt for the titles others valued.n-ale

14、xander: “is there anything i can do for you?”n-diogenes: “yes, stand to one side. youre blocking the sunlight.”n “blocking the sunlight”: here has both a literal and a symbolic meaning:nwhen alexander asked diogenes whether there was anything he could do for him, he of course was thinking of money,

15、power, a job, a decent house or a warm garment. nbut diogenes did not want any of these. what he wanted from the king was not to block the sunlight, not to interfere with his life, not to stand in his way.nnowadays the terms “cynical” and “cynicism” have come to mean a sneering disbelief in human si

16、ncerity, and they imply insensitivity to other peoples suffering.lesson 10 diogenes and alexander plot of the story setting of the story protagonists of the storytheme of the storypart two text analysisnplot: description of two legendary figures, diogenes the beggar and alexander the conqueror, and

17、their encounternsetting: in a little square in corinth, greecenprotagonists: diogenes and alexanderntheme of the story: ?lesson 10 diogenes and alexandermen should live a free life, a life free from the dependencies introduced by culture, society, civilization and opinion. men are free when they sto

18、p toiling and sweating only for themselves. great men are free and they are few in number. theme of the storythe theme is summed up at the very end.part 1 (paras. 19) about:part 2 (paras. 10-11 ) about:part 3 (para.12) about:part 4 (paras. 13-17) about: lesson 10 diogenes and alexanderstructure of t

19、he textportrait : diogenes the beggardiogenes response (as compared to the other peoples ) to the coming visit of alexanderportrait: alexander the conqueroralexanders call on diogenes part three detailed discussion of the textn1. he looked like a beggar or a lunatic.(1)nlunatic: (offensive slang abb

20、reviation: loony) an insane or mad or crazy person; someone who is extremely foolish or recklessnword origin: insanity was once believed to be controlled by the moon and its phases. lunatic literally means “moonstruck”, subject to the changes of the moon , and comes from the latin word luna, moon.pa

21、rt 1 (para. 1) lesson 10 diogenes and alexandertopic supporting detailsappearance of a beggardaily life typical of a beggarattitude&behavior of a beggar sanity of a philosopherdiogenes, a beggar, not a lunaticlesson 10 diogenes and alexander2. he had opened his eyes, done his business like a dog at

22、the roadside, eaten them squatting on the ground, and washed them down with a few handfuls of water scooped from the spring. (1)lifted out as if with a ladle had answered natures call like a doglesson 10 diogenes and alexander3. everybody knew him or knew of him. (1)was familiar withwas told or had

23、read or heard aboutnotice when these two expressions are contrasted, the “of” in “know of” should be stressed.lesson 10 diogenes and alexander4. sometimes they threw bits of food, and got scant thanks; sometimes a mischievous pebble, and got a shower of stones and abuse. (1)contrast: a pebble (a sma

24、ll round stone, indicating the teasing manner of the pitcher) is sharply contrasted with a shower of stones.transferred epithet: a pebble playfully thrown by a naughty personrepetition, the second is followed by a paralleled structurenscant: not enough or sufficientnthe story has received scant atte

25、ntion in the press.they produce goods with scant regard for quality nbe scant (of, in): be short of; be lacking innhe is of breath.他在喘气nthis paper is in documentation.n这篇论文缺乏文献上的证明5. he knew they were mad, each in a different way.they amused him. (-1)npara.nhe knew that other people were all insane

26、in this way or another. for example, some were mad about money; some were mad about power; some were mad about sex, etc. their folly was funny to him.namuse: make sb laugh or smile; make sb pass time in an enjoyable way.namuse oneself (by, with)自娱自乐,消遣，解闷nhe d himself by reading mysteries。6. it was

27、noteven a squatters hut.(-2)na squatter is a person who lives in an empty building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying any rent. na squatters hut naturally is in a poor condition.7. he thought everybody lived far too elaborately, expensively, anxiously.(-2)nhe thought that ev

28、erybodys life was too complicated, too costly, and thus gave them too much pressure. (he argued that people should live a simplest life possible.)n8. the animals live healthy lives(-2)nto live a healthy life, people must go back to nature, like other animals.n9. he was the founder of the creed calle

29、d cynicism(doggishness).(-2)ncynicism originally meant doggishness because diogenes philosophy made it a virtue to live like a dog. nbut today when we say somebody is cynical we mean that this person is not willing to believe that people have good, honest, or sincere motives for doing something.10.

30、he spent much of his life in the rich, lazy, corrupt greek city of corinth, mocking and satirizing its people, and occasionally convert one of them.(-2)nhe chose to live among the wealthy, lazy and dishonest citizens of corinth for many of his years, ridiculing and criticizing them. and he occasiona

31、lly persuading one of them into adopting his belief.nto convert: to change someones religious or political belief to something else. its interesting to note that he was only able to convert “one of them” occasionally.n11. he was not the first to inhabit such a thing. but he was the first who ever di

32、d so by choice, out of principle.(-3)n he was not the first to live in a cask. yet he was the first to do so because he wanted to, based on his principle, not because he was forced to by necessity.nmore examples of the use of “by choice”:qi did not become a teacher by choice. i was assigned to be a

33、teacher as was the practice in our time. but soon i began to like my job.nout of principle: based on principlenout of: because of; motivated by:npandora opened the box out of curiosity and out of it flew all evils.ni decided to visit him out of respect.nshe began to learn how to cook out of interest

34、, not out of necessity.main idea of para. 2-3ndiogenes doctrine on house & the reason he chose to live in a cask.n12. but he taught chiefly by example.(-4)ndiogenes sometimes taught by talking to people, but he mainly taught by setting an example for others to follow.n13. they possess him. he is the

35、ir slave.(-4)qto possess: to control, ne.g.qwhat possessed him to say a stupid thing like that?qshe seemed possessed. nobody could talk her out of it.14. live without conventions, which are artificial and false; escape complexities and extravagances: only so can you live a free life. (4)nonly when y

36、ou get rid of those man-imposed and false conventions and avoid living complex and luxurious lives can you live a real, free life.n15. in order to procure a quantity of false, perishable goods he has sold the only true, lasting good, his own independence.(-4) people all toil to get only those materi

37、al things that are false and fleeting, but at the sacrifice of their own everlasting cure: obtain something, especially with effort or difficulty; acquiremain idea of para. 4ndiogenes is a philosopher, who preached his philosophy of life by his personal practice of doggishness.16. he

38、 was a missionary.(-5)nmissionary: originally a person sent by a church to a foreign country to convert local people to christianity.nhere: a person who feels that he has a mission or sacred duty to do something.ncf. socrates mission:n“to expose the ignorance of those who thought of themselves wise.

39、”17. his lifes aim was clear to him: it was “to restamp the currency”: to take the clean metal of human life, to erase the old false conventional markings, and to imprint it with its true values. (5)ndiogenes and his father, a banker, were once convicted for adulterating or defacing the coins, i.e.

40、counterfeiting.life is like a metal marked with false and conventional values. his life task is to remove those false markings and imprint a true value on it.lesson 10 diogenes and alexander18. diogenes took his old cask and began to roll it up and down. “when you are all so busy,” he said, “ i feel

41、 i ought to do something!” (9)when the corinthians were busy preparing for the coming war, diogenes rolled his cask up and down to ridicule their silly behavior.sharp contrast between diogenes and the corinthian people in attitudes and behaviormain idea of para. 5-9ndiogenes, a missionary, an actual

42、 public practitioner of cynicism, who was different from hermits or other great philosophers of his time.19. now he was lying in the sunlight, contented and happy, happier (he himself used to boast) than the shah of persia.(-10)nshah: used formerly as hereditary monarch of iranncontent / contented:

43、adj. satisfied, happyshe is content with very little.he contented himself with one piece of cake.i am content to go as far as i could.main idea of para. 10ndiogenes, in his natural state of a free man, would receive his visitor.nnotice that this sentence serves as the transition to the second half o

44、f the article which describes the other chief character: alexander.main idea of para. 11nthe preparation for the arrival of alexander by his myrmidons.n20. only twenty, alexander was far older and wiser than his years.(-12)nalexander looked far older than a man of his age normally does, and was much

45、 wiser than a man of his age normally is.nthan his years: than his age would suggest21. like all macedonians he loved drinking, but he could usually handle it; and toward women, he was nobly restrained and chivalrous.(-12)nrestrained: controlled, moderate, temperate, disciplinedn22. to seek employme

46、nt with him(-13)nto ask for an appointment from him; to beg the king to assign them to a certain position; to look for a job from him.main idea of para. 12-13ngreatness of alexander, a young but powerful and wise conqueror, who determined to visit diogenes.n23. with his handsome face, his fiery glan

47、ce, his strong body, his purple and gold cloak, and his air of destiny, he moved through the parting crowd toward the dogs kennel.(-14)qfiery glance: burning or passionate look; qair of destiny: the air of someone who has the power to determine the course of events in future.qkennel: doghouse (the h

48、umorous reference to diogenes cask).24. “yes,” said the dog. “stand to one side. youre blocking the sunlight.”(-16)n “blocking the sunlight”: here has both a literal and a symbolic meaning:nwhen alexander asked diogenes whether there was anything he could do for him, he of course was thinking of mon

49、ey, power, a job, a decent house or a warm garment. nbut diogenes did not want any of these. what he wanted from the king was not to block the sunlight, not to interfere with his life, not to stand in his way.n25. they took it as a paradox(-17)nthey regarded it as a paradox: to be alexander is not t

50、o be diogenes. nparadox (悖论): a statement that seems impossible because it is self-contradictory, e.g.qtimeless aging.qthe more haste, the less speed. qpeople often say that many hands make light work. but the paradox is, in some cases, too many hands spoil the broth.26. he understood cynicism as th

51、e others could not.(-17)nwhile ordinary people thought that diogenes was either a lunatic or a beggar, alexander understood him because he was also a philosopher in a way, and that was why he later took one of diogenes pupils along with him in his expedition to india as his philosophical interpreter

52、.nnotice how the author makes a contrast using the word “as”, which means “while”.n27. he was what diogenes called himself, a “citizen of the world”. like diogenes, he admired the heroic figure of hercules, who labored to help mankind while all others toiled and sweated only for themselves.(-17)n n

53、a citizen of the world”: a man whose mission is to help humanity, a man whose concern is the welfare of the world rather than of individuals.ntoil and sweat: to work very hard for a long time cosmopolitanismnthe word cosmopolitan, which derives from the greek word kosmopolits (citizen of the world),

54、 has been used to describe a wide variety of important views in moral and socio-political philosophy. nthe nebulous core shared by all cosmopolitan views is the idea that all human beings, regardless of their political affiliation, do (or at least can) belong to a single community, and that this com

55、munity should be cultivated. ndifferent versions of cosmopolitanism envision this community in different ways, some focusing on political institutions, others on moral norms or relationships, and still others focusing on shared markets or forms of cultural expression. the philosophical interest in c

56、osmopolitanism lies in its challenge to commonly recognized attachments to fellow-citizens, the local state, parochially shared cultures, and the like. heraclesheraclesngreek name hrakls: from hra, hera, and kleos, glory.“na divine hero in greek mythology, the son of zeus and alcmene. as hera fed hi

57、m with her milk, he possessed extraordinary strength, courage and ingenuity.nnow, the name heracles means a man of might, a man of muscle, or a strong man. =samsonlabors of heraclesnto kill the nemean lion 捏死涅墨亚的狮子nto destroy the lernaean hydra 消灭九头蛇许德拉nto capture the ceryneian hind 生擒刻律涅亚山上的牝鹿nto c

58、apture the erymanthian boar 活捉厄律曼托斯山上的野猪 nto clean the augean stables 清洗奥革阿斯的牛圈 nto kill the stymphalian birds 驱逐斯延法洛斯湖的是人鸟 nto capture the cretan bull 捕捉克里特疯牛 nto round up the mares of diomedes 把色雷斯人狄俄墨得斯的一群牝马赶回迈肯尼 nto steal the girdle of hippolyte 夺取亚马孙女王希波吕忒的腰带(征服亚马孙人) nto herd the cattle of gery

59、on牵回巨人革律翁的一群壮件. nto fetch the apples of hesperides摘取赫斯珀里得斯的金苹果 nto capture cerberus从冥王那里牵回地府的看门狗刻耳柏洛斯. nbesides the twelve labors, heracles also rescued prometheus.kill the stymphalian birdssteal the girdle of hippolytemain idea of para. 14-17neven with a sharp contrast between the ascetic philosoph

60、er and the all-powerful king, the two figures had something in common: their eyes are both on the freedom and happiness of the world.lesson 10 diogenes and alexander1. polysyndeton he was a philosopher who wrote plays and poems and essays expounding his doctrine.he spent much of his life in the, moc