Transcript 08. The Low Countries at the crossroads of European history

Brief Introduction
to European Culture
European Culture
Broad sense of Culture
•
•
•
•
•
•
history, geography,
natural conditions,
social customs,
means of life,
literature and art,
codes of conduct,
moral values
What’re involved in the course?
1.The Greco-Roman Culture
2.The Bible & Christianity
3.The Middle Ages
4.Renaissance & Reformation
5.Science in 17th Century
6.Age of Enlightenment
What’re involved in the course?
7.French Revolution
8.Classicism & Romanticism
9.Communist International
10.Socialist Movement
11.Realism & Naturalism
12.Modernism & Post-Modernism
What’re related to the course?
1.Ancient Egypt
3300- 30 BC
2.Ancient Babylonia 1700-500 BC
3.Kingdom of Israel 1000-722 BC
4.Persian Empire
539 BC-651
5.Arabian Empire
632---665
6.Ottoman Empire
1299-1922
Suggested way of learning
1.Reading as thinking in nature
a. To compare and to contrast
b. From macro-scope to micro-scope
2.Materials available in
sfs.scnu.edu.cn/hhzhang/index.htm
3.References available in
Encarta Encyclopedia 2004
4.Course paper as conclusion
Significance of Course Paper
1.Writing aims at cultivating scientific
spirit of learning with discovery and
analysis by means of extensive and
selective reading.
2.A course paper is made up of
a. summary of related readings to the
topic under discussion;
b. arguments or hypothesis
c. confirmation of the hypothesis
Ancient Greece
1.Definition
a. Historically
3000—100 B.C.
Xia—Han :
2100—206 B.C.
b. Geographically
c. Culturally
2.Prime of the civilization
the Classical Age 480—323 B.C.
Spring-Autumn: 770—476 B.C.
Warring States: 475—221 B.C.
freedom of self-government was
treasured---ruled with no king
Early history
1.
2.
3.
4.
Afro-Asian settlement 50000 ago
Farming from Asia Minor 7000 BC
Greek Bronze Age 3000-1200 BC
Minoan Period
2200-1400 BC
Xia:
2100-1562 BC
5. Mycenaean Period 1550-1000 BC
Shang:
1562-1066 BC
6. The Greek Dark Age 1000-750 BC
Western Zhou:
1066-771 BC
The Archaic and Classical Ages
a. The Archaic Age 750-480 BC
Spring-Autumn:
770-476 BC
b. The Classical Age 480-323 BC
Warring States:
475-221 BC
1. Athenian Empire 480-359 BC
2. Macedonian Supremacy-323BC
c. Hellenistic Greece 323--31 BC
Western Han:
206BC-AD 23
Unit I Greco-Roman Culture
Greek Mythology
1.What is the significance of learning
Greek mythology?
1) Greek mythology reflects the Greeks’
a.deification of natural forces
b.idealization of human powers
c.perception, interpretation and
personification of the universe
d.rich and colorful treasure of oral
literary creation in the primitive society
2) It provides lifelike materials for us to
understand early human civilizations
a.mode of production—farming
b.social structure—matriarchal
c.family structure—communal marriage
2.In what aspects does it influence the
shaping of the European culture?
a.development of Roman culture
b.development of Christian culture
c.as subjects for artistic creation in-painting, sculpture, music, literature
3.What are the three principal types of
figures involved in Greek mythology?
1) Gods
a.The creation of Gods
b.Cronus and Rhea
c.Zeus and the Olympian Gods
d.The Offspring of Zeus
e.Disruptive Deities
2) Mortals
a.The creation of Human Beings
b.The Greek People
3) Heroes
a.Jason and the Golden Fleece
b.Meleager
c.Heroes of the Trojan War
d.Heracles and Theseus
e.Oedipus
4.Are the images of gods in Greek
mythology the same as that of God in
Christianity?
a.with human emotions among us
b.dominating, almighty above us
5.What are the Greek gods in nature?
a.symbols of human desire to show
authority
b.symbols of human desire to punish
anyone against authority
c.symbols of human such emotions as
jealousy, love, and grief
d.idealized human forms
6.What are the Greek heroes in nature?
a.supermen empowered by gods
b.symbols of god-man relationship
7.What are the functions of Greek
mythology?
1) Explanation
2) Exploration
3) Legitimation
4) Entertainment
8.What are the origins of Greek
mythology?
The Middle Eastern mythologies
9.How did it develop?
By oral and written literature, and artistic
works of sculpture and decorated pottery
The Greeks built the Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Turkey (about 300 bc). The
temple supposedly housed an oracle who foretold the future to those seeking
knowledge. The predictions of the oracles, delivered in the form of riddles,
often brought unexpected results to the seeker. With Ionic columns reaching
19.5 m (64 ft) high, these ruins suggest the former grandeur of the ancient
temple.
After wounding his father and taking away his power, Cronus became ruler of
the universe. But Cronus, in turn, feared that his own son would supplant him.
When his sister and wife Rhea gave birth to offspring—Hestia, Demeter, Hera,
Hades, and Poseidon—Cronus swallowed them. Only the youngest, Zeus,
escaped this fate, because Rhea tricked Cronus. She gave him a stone
wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow in place of their baby son, Zeus.
Zeus in Greek
mythology was
ruler of both the
Olympian gods
and the human
race. Sometimes
he is portrayed as
a just and merciful
defender of the
weak. At other
times he appears
to be passionate,
inconstant, and
vengeful. This
ancient Greek bust
of Zeus is in the
National Museum
in Naples, Italy.
Hermes Holding
Infant Dionysus
the
(about 340 bc) is
attributed to the Greek
sculptor Praxiteles.
Dionysus, the god of
wine, had two distinct
aspects—ecstasy and
violence. The followers
of Dionysus often
worshiped him in
drunken revelry. This
statue of him as an
infant with Hermes, the
messenger of the gods,
was originally made for
the Temple of Hera at
Olympia.
Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs
In Greek mythology, the centaurs were notorious for
uncivilized behavior. When the Lapiths—neighbors of the
centaurs—invited them to a wedding feast, they
attempted to carry off the bride and other women.
Dionysus, also known as Bacchus, was the Greek god of wine and
was celebrated in annual festivals.
The Sirens
In Greek
mythology
sirens were sea
nymphs who
lured sailors
with their
sweet singing,
causing their
ships to
founder.
Odysseus
overcame the
temptation by
tying himself to
his ship’s mast
This modern
reconstruction of the
legendary Trojan Horse
stands at the
archaeological site of
Troy in what is now
Turkey. During the
Trojan War, attacking
Greek soldiers hid in a
hollow wooden horse,
which the unsuspecting
Trojans brought inside
the city walls of Troy.
The Trojan War ended
soon afterward with a
Greek victory.
In the classical myth Penelope waited 20 years for her husband,
Ulysses (the Latin name for the Greek hero Odysseus), to return from
the Trojan War.
Struggle of Hercules with the Hydra of Lerna
Hercules engaged in one of his twelve great labors, battling a nine-headed
serpent called the Hydra. Each time one of its heads was cut off, the Hydra
would grow two more in its place. Standing to one side with a torch is
Hercules's nephew Iolaus, who, according to one version of the story, helped
to cauterize the necks of the monster after Hercules cut the heads off,
thereby preventing them from growing back.
Oedipus and the
Sphinx
French painter
Jean-AugusteDominique Ingres
was a superb
draftsman who
created numerous
depictions of
historical and
mythological
figures. Shown
here is his
Oedipus and the
Sphinx (1808),
Artemis, Goddess
of the Hunt
The Greek
goddess Artemis
was associated
with hunting and
wild animals. She
was also
connected to
childbirth, nature,
the harvest, the
moon, and the
protection of
young women.
Venus
Adonis
and
Adonis was a
Greek
mythological
figure noted
for his great
beauty.
Three Gorgons,
monstrous,
dragonlike sisters
with snakes for
hair, who were
shunned because
they turned all
who looked at
them to stone.
The only mortal of
the three, Medusa
was killed when
the young hero
Perseus severed
her head.
Death of Achilles
Achilles, a Greek mythological hero, was invulnerable to
injury except on one of his heels.
Palace at Knossos
The ancient city of Knossos was a center of the Minoan civilization, an
advanced society on Crete named after Minos, a legendary Cretan king.
Skilled in such fields as engineering and architecture, the Minoans
constructed the palace at Knossos in 1700 bc.
Dido Receiving Aeneas
According to the Roman poet Virgil, Venus caused Dido to fall in love with the Trojan
warrior Aeneas when he was shipwrecked at Carthage. When he was forced to
continue his journey to Rome, Dido killed herself. Dido Receiving Aeneas and Cupid
Disguised as Ascanius, created in the 1720s by Italian artist Francesco Solimena, is in
the National Gallery in London, England.
Roman Mythology
1.What is Roman Mythology?
A set of religious beliefs and practices
of the people of ancient Rome
2.How was the combination of GrecoRoman mythology created?
a.the Romans began to represent their
gods in human form when they met the
beliefs of Greek culture in the 500 BC
b.Roman writers introduced the names &
functions of Roman gods into Greek arts
3.What does the story of Romulus & Remus
tell about the founding of Rome?
a.sons of the god Mars & a woman
b.set by great uncle to float on the river
c.found & cared for by a she-wolf
d.found & raised by a shepherd
e.grown up, restoring grandfather to throne
4.What does the story of Aeneas tell about
the founding of the city of Rome?
a.Aeneas, son of Venus & the Trojan prince
b.surviving the war, arriving at Carthage,
leaving the queen Dido, he reached Italy
Remus and Romulus
Left to drown at the edge of the flooding Tiber River, the legendary twins Romulus and
Remus were found and raised by a she-wolf. As men, the brothers returned to the spot
where they had been abandoned and founded the city of Rome. The Romans
celebrated the festival of Parilia, today called the Natalis Romae, or the birth of Rome,
on April 21 to commemorate the day the brothers founded the city.
Aeneas and Anchises
According to mythology,
Aeneas was a Trojan prince.
After Troy fell to the Greeks
during the Trojan War,
Aeneas traveled to Italy and
met and married a woman in
the kingdom that occupied
the region that would one day
become Rome. Through this
marriage, Aeneas was the
direct ancestor of Romulus
and Remus, the legendary
founders of Rome. In this
painting he is carrying his
father, Anchises, on his back
while fleeing from Troy.
5.How did Roman mythology inspire
writers, musicians and artists?
a.Virgil’s poem Aeneid, as celebration of
supposed Trojan origin of the Romans,
transformed Zeus into amazing Jupiter,
and Hera into the angry Juno
b.Ovid produced a whole piece of Greek
mythology covering the world’s history
c.musicians, writers and artists drew on
stories told by Virgil, Ovid and other
Roman writers, combining Roman
literary figures into their works
6.What did early Romans associate their
gods with?
particular places-not in human form
7.What functions of gods did early Romans
care about?
Control of life/death including agriculture
8.How important were the gods Jupiter,
Mars, and Quirinus to the early Romans?
Jupiter as protector of the Roman state
Mars as a fighter god and protector of the
farmers’ fields
Quirnus as a symbol of Romulus
Jupiter
Jupiter was the ruler of
the Roman pantheon.
He exhibited many of
the characteristics of his
Greek counterpart,
Zeus. In this 1811
painting by French artist
Jean-AugusteDominique Ingres, the
sea nymph Thetis
beseeches Jupiter on
behalf of her son,
Achilles.
In The Origin of the Milky Way the Roman god Jupiter places his infant son
Hercules on the goddess Juno’s breast. According to legend, Juno’s milk
spilled up while feeding the boy, and the Milky Way was formed. In Roman
mythology, Juno was the queen of the gods.
9.How were Jupiter, Juno and Minerva
treated as holy figures in the 6th
century BC when Rome was ruled by
the dynasty of Etruscan kings?
Jupiter as ruler of the Roman state
Juno as protector of women in marriage
and childbirth, and supporter of
several groups in Ancient Italy
Minerva as goddess of craftsmanship
10.How important was the Capitoline
temple in the time of the Roman
Republic?
New officers offered sacrifices to open
the new year
Local governors took religious promises
before leaving for their provinces
Generals offered sacrifices for victories
11.What caused the Romans to accept
gods of other cultures?
a.Expansion of Roman territory led to their
contact with other cultures of the East
b.Rome as an international business center
allowed for foreign gods to find their way
into the Roman culture
12.When was the religious belief in the
Greek gods introduced into Rome?
In the late 5th century BC
13.What else did the Romans show their
respect for besides the Greek gods?
Domestic gods and gods of the fields
14.How and when did the practice of the
religion devoted to more gods come
to an end?
By the end of the 4th century when it
was officially banned by the emperor
who was a supporter of Christianity
15.How did the Romans develop the
treatment of emperors as gods?
a.Territorial expansion to the east caused
them to meet the culture of kings as holy
b.absolute authority caused emperors to
accept holy honors
16.What foreign cultural experiences could
probably contribute to the shaping of the
Roman culture?
Greek mythology, Persian mythology and
beliefs of other cultures of the eastern
Mediterranean Sea region
Constantine the Great,
who reigned from 306
to 337 ad, was the first
emperor of Rome to
convert to Christianity.
During his reign
Christians, previously
persecuted, gained
freedom of worship. By
the end of the 4th
century ad, under
Emperor Theodosius I,
Christianity had
become the official
religion of the Roman
Empire, and the old
Roman pagan religion
was banned.
Julius Caesar
One of the most
influential political
and military
leaders in history,
Julius Caesar
helped establish
the vast empire
ruled by Rome.
With Caesar began
a tradition in
Roman mythology
of worshiping
Roman rulers as
gods.
Birth of Venus (after 1482) depicts a mixture of Roman mythology,
astrology, and Christianity. The painting is a famous rendition of how
Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, was born.
Fortuna
In this 15th-century
manuscript
illumination, Fortuna,
the Roman goddess
of chance, is shown
blindfolded and
turning a wheel,
which symbolizes the
situation of humanity,
subject to alternating
fortunes and
perpetual change.