西方文化导论论文

In my opinion, the Ancient Greek Culture is one of the most shining parts in the western culture. It can be looked on as the start of the western civilization and the end of the barbarous age. Without the Greek Culture as the foundation, the development of the western countries can’t be so outstanding in the world. When we talk about the Ancient Greece, its democracy, economy, and colorful culture always occur to our minds.

Democracy

As early as the 6th century BC, the archon solon tried to reduce the power of the old aristocrats by establishing the jury system for legal judgments in order to restrict the rights of nobility. Then Cleisthenes carried out the legislative reform, by establishing the boule which was composed of five hundred representatives selected from each of ten demes. We should feel surprised at the high standard of the democracy. Even today, the democracy system is still in use.

In America, the President Selection through the Senate and House of representatives just can’t be a better example of the great influence of the Greek democracy. The strength of the democracy system can reflect the power of people to some degree. What’s more, it makes a great contribution to the development of western politics.

Economy

As it’s known to all, good politics may have a positive effect on the economy. In the Ancient Greece, it proved to be true The economy of increasing prosperity .In this period, the use of iron tools instead of bronze ones leaded the further economic development .So the society was restructured, along class lines，based on the property ownership . City-states come into being, in this way, the civilization of Ancient Greece continued.

Culture

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外国语学院08级英语2班 尚晶晶

It’s generally acknowledged that the Greek Culture is the most precious treasure left not only for Europe but also for the whole world.

It falls into four categories, namely the Greek mythology and religion, the Greek art and science, the Greek literature, and the Greek philosophy. i.Greek mythology

Are you familiar with these names, such as Zeus, Athena, Apollo. They are the names of some major gods in the Greek mythology. According to Karl Marx, the Greek mythology is not only a treasure house, but also the soil for Greek art.

So it’s certain that the religious tales became fully developed myths and thus contributed a lot to the later development of Greek art.

In the Greek mythology, we can find numerous characteristics in the gods and goddesses. Sometimes we may find many tales reflected the feature and life of human beings.

ii.Greek art and science

We can’t ignore the Greek art and science achievements because they are so amazing. Towards us, they’re so important in fully understanding the Greek Culture. The Greek art is made up of three main parts, they’re architecture, sculpture, and painting.

You can find noble simplicity and calm grandeur from the greatest building in Athens, the Parthenon. In addition, you can also find the kindred art of vase decoration which will make you astonished. Then what about the science? As we know, the Greeks did three biggest things: astronomy, philosophy, and democracy. We can draw a conclusion that the geography, astronomy, and mathematics achievements were all remarkable.

In this period, there’re some prestigious scholars. Pytheas

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外国语学院08级英语2班 尚晶晶

applied his solid scientific training primarily to geography. Hipparchus, he perfected measuring instruments and calculated the movements of stars .Another ever greater achievements are in mathematics and physics. The best known mathematician was Euclid who established the science of plan geometry. The other familiar name is Archimedes who discovered the principle of floatation and lever. His famous words “Give me a piece to stand, I will move the earth” impressed me most.

iii.Greek literature and history

The Greek literature is well-established for its epic, lyrical poetry, and drama. The most out-standing epics are Odyssey and Iliad written by Homer. The Trojan War takes up the most part. So we can see the epics related with the history. The person who is “the father of history” named Herodotus. With his book Histories, which deals with the Persian Wars.

Thanks to their works, we can fully witness what has happened during this time.

iv. Greek philosophy

When we talk about “Platonic Love”, we can think of the famous Plato, besides his teacher Socrates.

Socrates had a reputation for irony and a sense of humor. And in my view, the Republic is his representative. In this work, Plato built up an ideal kingdom for us, his thoughts made much influence on the followers.

Have you heard about “I love my teacher, but I love science more”. This is from Aristotle, he was regarded as the greatest thinker and most learned person of ancient times. His works cover wide ranging areas including philosophy, psychology, logic, rhetoric, literary, etc. His thoughts were completely different from Plato. He was a materialist. He indeed made great contribution to the Greek philosophy.

Owing to this class: “Western Culture Introduction”, it makes me

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外国语学院08级英语2班 尚晶晶

gain a good knowledge of Greek Culture. We marvel at so many wonderful achievements made by the people in the old times. Meanwhile, I believe we can benefit a lot from the Greek Culture, and treasure it forever.

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