西方文明起源导读(英汉对照版)(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)

作者：（英）马克·巴克

出版社：中国人民大学出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

西方文明起源导读(英汉对照版)试读：

This is a book written for the general reader who is interested in evaluating and understanding Western culture.It aims to provide an introduction to the two main sources of Western civilization — Greek mythology and the Bible — and assumes no previous background knowledge of either.Until recently the study of Greek and Roman culture,and of the classical languages of Greek and Latin in particular,was a major feature of western education.Until very recently too,most educated westerners had a fairly extensive knowledge of the Bible,as a result both of their education and of fairly widespread religious observance.So Western writers assumed a quite detailed knowledge of both Greek mythology and the Bible in everything they wrote.A working knowledge of these two very large areas is therefore a necessary key to understanding most Western literature and art.

The book’s first object is therefore to select from very extensive and often very complex material what is most essential.However,in doing this,we have been reluctant to restrict ourselves and our readers to a purely narrative presentation of the subject.We wish to make the reader acutely aware of the historical context in which the Greek myths and the books of the Bible were written,and to insist that this historical context shaped what they said and how they said it.We also wish to provoke the reader into detecting the values of the people who told these stories,and to judge them against the values of other ancient civilizations and against our own today.

There is plenty of room for textual criticism.Stories both mythological and historical are transformed as they are repeated.They are often used for purposes quite different from those intended by their creators.There is therefore a need for critical analysis,especially when dealing with the Bible.It is important to treat the Bible as a series of historical documents and to apply the same rules of textual criticism to them as one would apply to any other text.This is not to denigrate a text which many regard as sacred;it is to enable a deeper,more mature and more relevant understanding of it.

We have often raised questions without offering definitive answers.That is because to some questions there are none,while to others the conventional answers are unsustainable.We contend that it is important never to fear rational enquiry or critical analysis,even with religious texts.

We are much indebted to the generous sponsorship of the University of Science and Technology Beijing.We are also grateful to Professor William Horbury of Cambridge University and the Revd.William Church of St Andrew’s Hertford for their advice and comments.Mark BuckChen HongweiBeijingAugust 2018

I.GREEK MYTHOLOGY

The English word“myth”comes from the Greek μύθος meaning a story.Today we are so used to a world in which the printed or electronic word is easily available that it is easy to forget that in more ancient civilizations writing was a specialized skill,rather like that of a calligrapher today.In ancient civilizations information was transmitted far more by the spoken word than by the written word.The stories which make up Greek mythology would have first been passed orally from one generation to another.

Of course,we have no recordings of ancient peoples speaking aloud.But the spoken word was reinforced by visual images and there is plenty of evidence of ancient Greek art.The stories that make up the Greek myths are often first found in the painting on Greek vases.About 100,000 vases survive from ancient Greece.The images become far more sophisticated from the late 7th century B.C..The superman Herakles was a highly popular subject.One Version or Many?

So myths were originally transmitted by oral or visual means.And of course there were lots of different people telling these stories.So the ways they told them soon began to vary.Quickly there began to be many versions of the same story.That is why there are many versions of the Greek myths.However,that is not something that should concern us.There is no need for us to try to establish a single authentic version.It is not the case that there is one correct version and all the others are wrong.

We should next consider how anything that is transmitted orally is likely to be transformed as it passes from one storyteller to another.Most probably,the storyteller wishes to impress;at the very least he wants to hold the audience’s attention.So he develops and elaborates what he has to tell.He knows that people are fascinated by what is exceptional,by deeds which exceed what normal humans are capable of,by what can be called“epic”tales.So the stories become more and more fantastic.Many of them may have a basis in fact,but the facts have been elaborated and dramatized with the telling of them.

So it is not surprising that there are many inconsistencies in different versions of the Greek myths as we know them today.And it is not surprising that many of the myths are stories that enter the realm of fantasy to the point of absurdity.Why Do People Tell Stories?

We need to ask ourselves：Why do people tell each other stories? We have already identified one simple reason：to impress and hold the attention of the listener.But there are other reasons too.One is the need to explain the world around us — how it all began;Man’s powerlessness in the face of Nature.Another is to explore the psychological strengths and weaknesses of human nature.This need to explain and make sense of the world and the human condition goes a long way to account not only for the Greek myths but also for the myths which every civilization and people develop.

For the Greeks were not unique.Other civilizations and religions have their“myths”too,even though they may not call them that.Many people are unwilling to call many of the stories in the Bible“myths.”But that is what they are.For example,the account of the fall of man at the start of the Bible is a myth.As we shall see later,it tells us something about the human condition,the fallible and fallen（but not evil）nature of man.And what it tells us is,arguably,eternally true.The story was expressed in a way we would probably not express it today,but the truth that lies behind it remains relevant.Are Myths“True”or“False”?

One reason why some people are reluctant to call stories in the Bible“myths”is that the word“myth”has developed a meaning it never originally had.In everyday use today,it means something that is“not true,”not scientifically proven.So to say that something is a“myth”is to say that it should be rejected and disbelieved.Certainly the great majority of the Greek myths,like the myth of the Creation and the Fall in the Bible,if they are taken literally,contradict sense and science and cannot be true.However,there are different kinds of Truth.It is possible for a story which is not literally true to convey a psychological truth.This is the case with many of the Greek myths and with many of the stories in the Bible.There are many Chinese myths which have a value of this kind too.Why Do Ancient Myths Survive in the Modern World?

We have already argued that myths changed because,before the written word was common,storytellers in the ancient world elaborated and developed them.We need also to notice that the changes did not stop with the arrival of the written word.A good story is referred to,repeated and used by generation after generation.The way it is used reflects the concerns and interests of each succeeding generation.So these changes tell us a great deal about the societies that made use of the myths.

Furthermore,until the mid-20th century a classical education in Greek and Latin was common in Western society,as was knowledge of the Bible.For this reason,writers,poets,painters,sculptors and musicians readily used ancient myths and the Bible as material to enrich their work,to make a point,to draw a parallel,to reinforce a perception about human psychology or simply to be elegant and show off.So ancient myths and biblical narratives have become deeply embedded in Western culture.Some ages have used them more extensively and more skillfully than others but right up to the present day they are essential to an understanding of western culture.

The Romans adopted and re-named the Greek gods,sometimes combining their cults with other eastern cults they encountered as their territories expanded.

Despite its rejection of polytheism,in the Middle Ages Christianity preserved many classical texts,and hence the myths in them.This was mainly because these texts provided material for language training,Latin being the language of the church.As a consequence the myths were preserved.

At the Renaissance,the rediscovery of ancient Greece and Rome led to a widespread revival of interest in Greek and Roman mythology,much of which was absorbed through the medium of the Roman poet Ovid.Botticelli,Titian,Rubens and many other artists portrayed not only Christian themes but also the pagan subjects of Greek mythology.As we shall see,the Greek gods have very human features and characteristics（unlike ancient Chinese gods）,so ancient Greek and Roman“humanism”was attractive at the Renaissance,which placed new stress on the realization of human potential.

Shakespeareand Miltonassumed that their readers would have a close knowledge of the Greek myths.The late 17th century French dramatist Racine re-worked many myths in his tragedies.For the composer Handel in the 18th century they formed the subjects of some of his operas.

In the early 19th century the romantics displayed a new enthusiasm for all things Greek.As we shall see later,the myth of Prometheus appealed particularly to revolutionaries looking for a model of heroic self-sacrifice and struggle against tyranny.And in the 20th century Freud used Greek myths,particularly the myth of Oedipus,as the basis of the new science of psychoanalysis.

To approach Western culture without some knowledge of Greek mythology would therefore be to seek to enter a building without having first secured the key to its front gate.Chapter 2SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR

Among the most basic questions to excite human curiosity are those which ask how the world began and how it is sustained.We are still searching for answers to these questions today.Ancient peoples asked them too.In fact,they were concerned by them even more than we are today.For we live today in a world dominated by science and technology,in a world in which man has increasingly used his ingenuity to control his natural environment.However,before the rise of science,and when technology was still primitive,Nature seemed far more powerful,majestic and threatening.This was particularly the case in ancient Greece,with its many mountainous areas,extensive coastline,and islands surrounded by the sea.So how did the ancient Greeks explain the origins of the universe? Here is a summary of their account of how things began.Be warned：you will find it utterly revolting.The Beginning of the World：Titans and Olympians

In the beginning there was Chaos or nothingness.Out of the Chaos emerged Gaia（the Earth）,Eros（Love）and Tartarus（the Abyss or Hell）.Without any male assistance,Gaia gave birth to Uranus（the Sky）and the giant one-eyed Cyclopes.

Uranus（the Sky）then fertilized Gaia（the Earth）,who gave birth to the Titans,six male and six female.（The modern adjective“titanic,”meaning gigantic or colossal,is derived from“Titan.”）However,Uranus was afraid that his own children might usurp his throne,and so he drove them all down to earth.This angered Gaia,who persuaded the youngest male Titan,Kronos（Saturn）,to castrate his father.Kronos threw his father’s genitalia into the sea,and from the blood issuing from the wound the Furiesemerged,while Aphrodite,the goddess of love,was born from the resulting sea foam（as is depicted in the exceptional Renaissance painting by Botticelli,The Birth of Venus）.Kronos（Saturn）took over as the ruler of the universe.Kronos then married his sister,Rhea,and established domination over the other Titans.

Having treated his father in this way,Kronos feared that any children to whom Rhea gave birth would treat him in the same way.So every time Rhea gave birth,he snatched up the child and ate it.In this way Kronos swallowed five of his children.However,when Rhea gave birth to the sixth,Zeus（Jupiter）,she wrapped up a stone in baby’s clothing and fed it to her husband in place of Zeus,while she sent Zeus himself to Mount Ida in Creteto be protected by nymphs.By the time Kronos discovered what had happened,it was too late.The Victory of Zeus

When Zeus had grown up,he gave his father a drugged drink which caused Kronos to vomit,throwing up Rhea’s other children and the stone.He then challenged Kronos to fight for dominion over the gods.In a war that lasted ten years,with the help of the Cyclopes,who provided him with thunderbolts,Zeus and his siblings were victorious,and Kronos and his sibling Titans were hurled down to imprisonment in Tartarus.Zeus became the ruler of Olympus,married his sister,Hera（Juno）,and distributed power to his other siblings and children.For example,Poseidon（Neptune）was made god of the seas and oceans,Hades（Pluto）the god of the Underworld.The Birth of Athena

Zeus,like his father,feared what his children might do to him — all the more so when he heard of a prophecy that Metis,one of his wives,would give birth to a god greater than him.Zeus therefore persuaded his wife to turn herself into a fly and then swallowed her.However,Metis was already pregnant at that time with Athena（Minerva）.This caused Zeus considerable discomfort,in particular headaches,which arose as a result of Metis constructing a helmet for Athena while inside the body of Zeus.Eventually Zeus asked his son Hephaistos（Vulcan）to split open his head with an axe.Out of Zeus’s head emerged Athena,the goddess of wisdom and war,fully grown and fully armed.The Characteristics of the Gods

No sane person could find these stories anything other than disgusting and unbelievable.It is possible to see in the distrust of the older generation for the younger the fear that the older must eventually give way to the younger,but for resistance to inevitable change to be so brutal is shocking.The full nature of the horror of Saturn devouring his children has been conveyed several times by western artists,most strikingly by the early 19th century Spanish artist Goya.

We tend to associate the idea of God,or of the gods,with the idea of the good.So there seems to be a major contradiction here.These Greek gods are frequently cruel,greedy,suspicious,violent and promiscuous.So can we can conclude that the idea of“god”/“God”has changed since the days of ancient Greece? Have human beings become more civilized and better able to organize themselves in society? And has our idea of gods / God changed accordingly? Surely it has.

There has also developed an idea of a God.“Transcendence”is the quality of being above and beyond the physical world.The Greek gods are certainly not transcendent.They are anthropomorphic.In other words,they have human form and characteristics;they are not simply abstractions or ideas.For this reason it was natural to portray them in art and sculpture.

But the Greek gods,although they have human characteristics,also have characteristics unique to themselves.They are immortal and can only be wounded in very unusual circumstances.Mostly they remain young.Their immortality and youth are secured by the constant use of nectar or ambrosia.Nectar,which literally means“overcoming death,”is a sweet liquid secreted by plants to attract insects.For example,bees collect nectar from which they make honey.Ambrosia literally means“food of the gods.”

Another feature of ancient Greece very foreign to modern western culture is that there are very many Greek gods.Greek religion was thus polytheistic rather than monotheistic.Most Greek gods have a particular area of expertise.For example,Ares（Mars）is the god of war,Athena（Minerva）the goddess of wisdom and courage,Hades（Pluto）the god of the dead,Aphrodite（Venus）the goddess of love,Hephaistos（Vulcan）the god of metallurgy and volcanoes.In the Greek and Roman world,temples were frequently dedicated in honour of particular gods and goddesses.Later,the three major monotheistic religions,Judaism,Christianity and Islam,emphatically rejected polytheism.

The stories of Kronos and Zeus appear to us as extremely primitive.The gods often lack the minimum requirements of human social behaviour.For example,there appears to be no taboo on incest（although later,as we shall see in the story of Oedipus,this became a major taboo in Greek society）.Indeed these gods have very little notion of“society.”The defining characteristic of the behaviour of Kronos and Zeus is not the promotion of what is good — in other words,the welfare of society or the establishment of peace and stability.Rather they devote their energies entirely to the struggle for individual power.Having the strength to prevail is the defining characteristic of these gods.Here is an ugly and primitive aspect of the ancient Greek world.

However,we must remember that the ancient Greek world covers a period of very many centuries and that opinion did not remain constant and unchanging.In particular,the 5th century B.C.saw the growth of scientific enquiry,the questioning of traditional religion and the beginnings of atheism.There were those who called for ancient myths to be censored.For example,the great Greek philosopher Plato（427B.C.– 347 B.C.）so strongly disapproved of the immoral example set by the gods that,in his most famous work,The Republic（around 380 B.C.）,which sets out his idea of an ideal society,he specifically banned mention of their immorality from his education system.He wrote:

The story of what Kronos did,and what he suffered at the hands of his son,is not fit to be repeated as it is to the young and innocent,even if it were true … we can permit no stories about Hera being tied up by her son,or Hephaistos being flung out of heaven by his father for trying to help his mother when she was getting a beating,or any of Homer’s battles of the gods … it is of the utmost importance that the first stories children hear shall aim at producing the right moral effect.

So we can see here that educated and thoughtful Greeks came to reject their badly-behaved gods.Bad examples could do harm to society,especially to the young and impressionable.There were also Greek thinkers,including Plato,who went further by challenging polytheism and advocating monotheism.This was something that later made Greek culture of interest to some Jewish leaders.However,cultures as thoroughly grounded as Greek culture have enduring qualities.Greeks and Romans continued to observe the ritual worship of their many gods until eventually the Roman emperor became a Christian and made Christianity,a monotheistic religion,the official religion of the Roman Empire.Gods and Heroes

Although,as has been noted,there is no single authoritative version of the Greek myths,there is a mythological chronology.The poet Hesiod arranged the Greek myths in a kind of order by providing the Five Ages of Man：Golden,Silver,Bronze,Heroic and Iron.

Writing in the Iron Age,Hesiod saw his own age as far inferior to those which preceded it.This is very different from the way most people think today.Since the rise of science in the 17th century,human beings have had confidence in the possibility of progress in all areas of human activity.There is a strong sense of moving forwards and of things getting better.But this was not the case in the ancient world or the medieval world.Very often there was,rather,a strong sense of falling away,of decline from a better past that was irrecoverable.

As the mythological chronology unfolds,the gods become increasingly distant figures.Whereas to begin with,it is their own activities which are the focus of the myths,by the Heroic agethe focus has shifted to the heroes,one of whose parents is often a god or goddess but the other of whom is human.In between is a transitional period in which gods and humans intermingle.Many of the myths of this period are myths about love or punishment.

The tales of love often involve incest or the seduction or rape of a mortal woman by a male god,resulting in heroic offspring.As we shall see in a later chapter,there is almost no sense of outrage at a man violating a woman in these stories.Rather,the man is to be admired：he is powerful enough to have been able to conquer and dominate.Just as Kronos’ and Zeus’ behaviour towards their relatives revolts us,so does this attitude.

The tales of punishment usually involve the theft of some invention or artifact.The story of Prometheus is one of the best examples of this.

试读结束[说明：试读内容隐藏了图片]

下载完整电子书