Characteristics of ancient western culture

Western classical culture was first created by the Greeks. Based on their own national characteristics and their own creation, the Romans selectively absorbed and integrated the ancient Greek culture and constantly injected new content, so as to carry it forward and finally form a unique cultural tradition or system. Of course, ancient Greek culture and ancient Roman culture also have their own different characteristics. As early as Augustus' time, Virgil, a famous Roman poet, had already expressed their respective themes. In his view, the genius of the Greeks lies in the creation in the field of culture and art, while the Romans lie in ruling the world and "promoting peace" in the world with power. Just as "Greece can be called glory, it is the glory of human spirit's free creation, free thought and free belief;" Rome can be called great, great strength, discipline and consistency. "This is caused by their national character, historical tradition, social and natural environment and other factors. However, the ancient Greek and Roman culture, as a homogeneous culture in the same strain, has condensed into a cultural tradition with its unique connotation and system in the long history. Here, the following will roughly summarize the characteristics of western classical culture.

1. Democracy and legal spirit

The democratic political system created by the ancient Greeks is one of the most attractive cultural achievements in classical culture. The democratic political system in Athens is a model. In Athens, civil democracy reached its peak. All official positions are elected and drawn by lots, and the hereditary, monopoly and privileged system of power is abolished. This democratic political system embodies the principle of separation of powers and equality between people and political sovereignty. This is the most fully developed, complete and typical form of democracy in the ancient world. Democracy and the rule of law are inseparable. Democratic politics inevitably needs a sound legal system, which will ensure the smooth implementation of democratic politics. Herodotus has realized its true meaning. The first advantage of his propaganda of democratic politics through other people's mouths lies in its good reputation that everyone is equal before the law. Pericles elaborated on the characteristics of democratic politics in the speeches of the fallen soldiers. He said, "Our system is an example for others. Our system is called democratic politics because political power is in the hands of all citizens, not a few. When solving public-private disputes, everyone is equal in law; When a person takes precedence over others in holding public office, it is not the members of a particular class who are considered, but their real talents. " Rome * * * and the times also practiced democratic politics. Although Rome embarked on the road of monarchy, the influence of democratic system and democratic thought has been running through it. In the imperial era, the expansion and unification of Roman civil rights within the empire and the prosperity of autonomous cities throughout the empire not only enabled democratic politics to continue, but also had great significance for the development of classical traditions. Because, as the commentator said, "Classical culture is the culture of cities and civil society first. Only on the basis of this broader civil rights and the development of autonomous cities, the extension of classical culture will not weaken its tradition, but will strengthen it. " More importantly, the classical legal spirit founded by the ancient Greeks gained great popularity among the Romans. Although the Romans were not as good as the Greeks in the discussion of jurisprudence, they kept making progress in concrete judicial practice, and finally made Roman law a profound and systematic system. It can be said that the creed of equality before the law has been realized by the Romans in a broader sense. The spirit of democracy and rule of law in classical culture has exerted a wide and lasting influence on later generations. It can be said that the civil democracy and legal system in the Middle Ages, as well as the democracy and legal system in modern society, were established through development and evolution under its direct or indirect influence.

2. Science and rational spirit

Starting from Thales, the ancient Greeks finally got rid of the mythical way of thinking and embarked on the road of rational thinking development, so they began their exploration journey from the mythical kingdom to the natural kingdom. It is in the endless exploration of the universe, nature and human society itself that the ancient Greeks and Romans initially established their scientific system. The modern scientific system is developed on this basis. Science is the antithesis of ignorance and superstition. It is on the journey of overcoming ignorance and superstition that human beings make continuous progress. Therefore, the liberation of human thoughts and the progress of society are often guided by the development of science. In fact, in Thales' time, most Greeks were still ignorant and despised science. Thales is also clearly aware that his responsibility is to let the light of science and wisdom illuminate the whole city and drive away ignorance completely. It is also through the efforts of ancient Greek scientists that the traditional Greek religious beliefs were questioned and the rational way of thinking was established. It is this new way of thinking that has changed the way people look at problems, stimulated their endless creativity, and enabled them to develop and create in the field of hematology. This kind of rationality discovered by the ancient Greeks is usually called autonomous rationality. It does not depend on any supernatural god or external authority, but on people's wisdom and thinking ability to grasp and understand things. It can be said that in ancient Greece, the spirit of independence and rationality was fully developed. When they explore everything, they look at it on the platform of rational judgment. In this regard, Plato, an ancient Greek, once preached in the Pleadings, and Socrates argued that anything that was judged wrong by human reason should not be thought about or done. The ancient Romans not only inherited the scientific spirit in ancient Greek culture, but also made brilliant achievements in practical science and technology. They also inherited this rationalistic spirit. The so-called simple and pragmatic spirit of Roman culture in academic circles is actually a rationalist spirit. In Cicero's remarks, we still appreciate its true meaning. He said: "The human beings we are talking about are animals with foresight, sensitivity, comprehensive strength and machine intelligence, with rich memories, rationality and foresight. ..... Because man is the only one among so many living lives who has a rational and thoughtful life, all other lives are ruled by man. However, I still think, I don't know whether it is on earth or in God's whole world, the whole universe. Is there anything more sacred than reason? Only when rationality is fully developed and perfected can it be called wisdom. " Even some emperors of the Roman Empire pinned their ideals on the principles of humanity and rationality, such as the emperor of Antoine. It can be said that in the western classical era, rational thinking mode has become the dominant thinking mode of that era. In particular, this rational way of thinking has developed into a rigorous logical reasoning form and a preliminary empirical scientific method for ancient Greek philosophers and scientists, and has become an indispensable tool for later thinkers and scientists to explore science and philosophy. The scientific rational spirit of modern western countries is developed on this basis.

3. Humanistic spirit

Classical culture is full of strong humanistic spirit. So what are the characteristics of this humanism? Ann pugna, a famous western classical cultural scholar, once made a wonderful exposition on this: "The starting point and object of all Greek civilizations are people. It starts from people's needs and pays attention to people's interests and progress. In order to seek people's interest and progress, it explores the world like Bonnachos, and explores the other side through one side. This generalization of Ampangna also applies to ancient Rome. In other words, it is also a summary of the humanistic characteristics of the whole classical era. Humanism in the classical era is embodied in the relationship between God and man, that is, the so-called "the theory of the oneness of God and man". In the eyes of the ancient Greeks, God is only the most perfect embodiment of human beings. God, like man, has secular desires, emotions, courage and cowardice, kindness and cruelty, tolerance and jealousy. Therefore, it is very different from the ancient eastern religions, which believe that God is divorced from reality, majestic and unattainable. This religious concept of the ancient Greeks is intended to "embody the highest state of human wisdom and beauty in the image of God". God is only the object that people express their ideals. Therefore, ancient Greek religion has humanistic color. And ancient Rome not only accepted the gods of the ancient Greeks, but also fully accepted its religious spirit and its humanistic thought. At the same time, no matter in Greece or Rome, monks did not form a privileged class, so they could not play an authoritative role in the public and private fields. Of course, in ancient Greece and Rome, people's religious ideas were also quite strong, but compared with other places in the ancient world, the humanistic spirit embodied in their religious thoughts is one of the outstanding characteristics. This humanistic spirit in the western classical era can be said to have penetrated into all aspects of culture, such as humanism in political life, bold description and praise of human emotion, humanity, human value and dignity in literary works, vigorous description and praise of human body in artistic works, and the promotion of humanism in "Vitruvetu" in classical architecture. Among them, protagoras's famous saying: "Man is the measure of all things", Pericles's remark at the funeral of the fallen soldiers: "Man is the first important thing, and everything else is the fruit of man's labor", and Sophocles' line in antigone: "Although there are many miracles in the world, nothing is more strange than man" has become a famous humanistic motto in classical culture. The ancient Roman poet Terrence, a famous politician and scholar Cicero's in-depth exposition and attention to human nature are also convinced by future generations. It can be said that humanism is a theme of classical culture.

4. Solemn and elegant, beautiful and harmonious literary style

Winkelmann, a famous art historian in the 20th century, made a wonderful and apt summary of the style of western classical literature, namely "noble simplicity and quiet greatness". Zhu Longhua further added: "Classical style is characterized by solemnity, elegance, beauty and harmony, or as winkelmann said, it is a noble, simple and quiet grandeur, emphasizing the dialectical unity, balance and even the highest harmony between form and content, reality and ideal, norms and freedom, purity and richness, and it is non-classical to excessively tilt and destroy these relationships." The ancient Greeks were the founders of western classical styles. Of course, this style gradually matured on the basis of their continuous practice, and its formation time was in the heyday of classical in the 5th century BC. This style is the embodiment of ancient Greek humanism, realism, rationalism and the spirit of pursuing harmony between man and nature in the art field. It has been perfectly embodied in the temple architecture and sculpture art in Athens, and the Parthenon is one of them. The level of understanding reached by the ancient Romans in imitating ancient Greek literature and art. In the Augustus era, the solemn Augustus style formed by Roman artists on the basis of fully absorbing Greek artistic achievements (especially neoclassical school) was the inheritance of Greek classical style under the condition of monarchy. This is reflected in the peace altar in Augustus Square. In the early days of the empire, Roman art continued the Augustus style on the one hand, and fused the Hellenistic factors on the other, thus forming the so-called new imperial art, which was reflected in the architecture and art of the early empire. Among them, the most representative is the well-known "laocoon Group Image". From the Renaissance to the rationalist era of the century, it has been regarded as a model of classical artistic ideals by countless scholars and artists who worship classical traditions. Winkelmann's comments on the classical artistic style are based on this. However, before the s, most scholars mistakenly classified this statue as Greek art, but later archaeological facts showed that it was precisely the work of the early Roman Empire, which reflected the characteristics of the art of the new empire, which also fully showed that the Romans' understanding of the spirit of classical art had reached a perfect level, and ancient Greece and Rome had the same artistic style and spiritual inheritance. Especially in architectural art, the ancient Romans also carried forward the classical traditional style, thus creating "world architecture as the ruler of the world". The style and spirit of classical literature and art depend on reasonable forms to embody and express. Therefore, literature and art in the classical era have also formed a set of effective and distinctive expressions that people generally follow, such as the combination of columns (Dorian, Ionian and Corinthian) and arches in architecture, anthropocentrism ("Vitruvian figures") and human proportions in art, and the norms of epics and tragedies in literature and various poems (three unifications). It can be said that these forms or formats are inseparable from their contents, thus making the classical literary style unique in the ancient world literature and art. The classical artistic style and its manifestations not only became the objects pursued and imitated by scholars and artists in the Renaissance, but also had a great influence on the European classicism movement in the 18 and 19 centuries.

Editing this Western Classical Culture —— Inheritance of Classical Culture

In the late Roman Empire, the classical cultural tradition began to decline. With Christianity becoming the state religion of the Roman Empire, the church stepped up the process of destroying and destroying classical culture in order to gain an exclusive position in the field of spiritual culture. Because classical culture was denounced by the church as a heretic thing, many classical buildings and works of art were destroyed, universities and libraries were closed, and the works of classical writers were banned. An archbishop at that time proudly declared: "The books of ancient writers have disappeared from the earth, and Cicero, Socrates and Homer (not to mention mathematicians and astronomers hated by Christians) have been left in attics and cellars." Since then, classical culture has been gradually replaced by Christian culture dominated by theology and orthodoxy, and then it has fallen into a dark abyss. However, in the Middle Ages, where Christian culture dominated, classical culture, as the crystallization of ancient human wisdom, could not and could not be completely lost. So, how is it passed down in the future history?

1. Preservation of classical cultural knowledge

In the two centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, although the classical culture was on the verge of extinction, a few scholars were still trying to save it. These scholars are the last generation educated by ancient culture. For example, Boethius (480-525) translated some works of Aristotle into Latin and wrote commentaries, while his works in geometry, algebra, music and logic became textbooks in the Middle Ages. Diodor Russ (about 477- 565) not only wrote an Overview (the second volume of which is a summary of the "seven arts of freedom"), but also opened a library to collect translations of ancient Greek works. Etymology, written by isidore (about 560-636), is a collection of all ancient and theological knowledge. Their translated works have also become a channel for early medieval scholars to understand classical culture, although this channel is extremely narrow. Although Christian culture and classical culture are different cultures, in fact, Christian theology has not completely cut off its connection with classical culture, and Christian philosophy has developed on the basis of absorbing classical philosophy. Especially in the century A.D., Augustine absorbed Plato's philosophical thoughts, which led to the first great integration of Christian theology and ancient Greek philosophy. Therefore, people also call Augustinianism Plato-Augustinianism. The ideological process of the whole Middle Ages was influenced by it. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), which continued and developed in the wave of national migration, became the barrier of the whole medieval classical culture (especially the ancient Greek culture). It has played a great role in the preservation and inheritance of classical culture. At the same time, in the Latin Christian world, there are still many classical works surviving. Most of them are dusty in monasteries or private libraries around the world.

2. The revival of classical culture in the East and the West.

In the 8th 8- 10/0th century, classical culture began to revive in the Arab Empire in the East and Caroline Dynasty in the West. When Charlemagne was in power, he took a series of measures to realize the revival of education and culture. To this end, he hired famous scholars from all over Europe to join this action, and issued imperial edicts many times, requiring all parishes and monasteries in the country to set up schools. At the same time, books and libraries related to it have mushroomed, and a number of Latin classical books have been rescued and copied, such as the works of Cicero, Caesar, Virgil, Tacitus, Levi, Lucretius, Horace, Ovid and other classical writers. Most of the classics of Latin classical writers we see today are printed on the basis of replicas of this period. It is also in the process of copying and reproducing classical Latin works that monks have established some connection with classical culture. Some priests are even obsessed with the works of Latin classical writers. Although the "Carolingian Cultural Renaissance" did not produce amazing academic innovation, it played an important role in the inheritance of classical Latin culture. However, as the Vikings went south, the revival movement was also interrupted. If the Carolingian dynasty was mainly devoted to the revival of Latin classical culture in the Latin Christian world, then the Arab Empire was mainly devoted to the study and research of Greek classical culture. During the period of 100 in 750-850 AD, a large-scale translation movement was launched from Arabs, which was called "Centennial Translation Movement" in history. This is one of the components of large-scale cultural construction activities in the heyday of the Arab Empire. In this translation movement, Arabs not only translated a large number of ancient Persian and Indian classics, but also translated a large number of ancient Greek works. As we all know, in the Hellenistic era, the Greeks once spread the seeds of Greek culture in the vast areas of West Asia and North Africa. Until the Arabs conquered these areas, many cities that spread Greek culture still existed, including the famous Persian army Dishabur, Harlan in Iraq, Edesa and Antioch in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt. In this translation movement, Nie Storey, who is proficient in Greek culture, became the backbone. In particular, the rulers of the empire became advocates and strong supporters of this translation movement, such as Mansour, Rashid and Maimeng. Mai, in particular, was not only fascinated by ancient Greek philosophy, but also always got a sneak peek at the works of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle when they were translated into Arabic. Moreover, in order to regularize the academic research and translation movement, he also built the famous "Wisdom Hall" on the basis of Baghdad Library in 830. This is a comprehensive academic institution integrating library, research institute and translation center. At the same time, Maimang also sent people to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, to search for ancient Greek classics. As a result, ancient books shipped from all over the world are constantly enriched to the wisdom museum. In this way, under the auspices of Mai, hundreds of scholars and translators carried out large-scale organized and planned translation activities, thus bringing the "Centennial Translation Movement" into its heyday. In this translation movement, almost all the works of important ancient Greek scientists and philosophers have been translated into Arabic. This not only effectively promoted the development of Arab science and philosophy, but also played a great role in the inheritance of ancient Greek culture. In terms of the preservation and inheritance of classical culture, compared with the achievements of the Carolingian Cultural Renaissance in the same period, the achievements of the Arab "Centennial Translation Movement" are more brilliant and far-reaching.

3. The first wave of the revival of western classical culture

Since 1 1 century, Latin westerners who suffered from disasters have finally stepped out of the "dark age" and stepped into the revival and expansion of Zhang Zhilu. In the process of expansion, they returned to the vibrant Mediterranean world and carried out fruitful cultural exchange activities with Arabia and Byzantine Empire. It is in Spain, Sicily, West Asia and other outposts of cultural exchanges between the East and the West that Latin and Western talents come into contact with the long-lost classical Greek culture. From the end of 1 1 to the end of 13, a long-lasting and large-scale "translation movement" was in full swing in the Latin Christian world. In this translation movement, more than 200 ancient Greek classics were translated into Latin and other western languages through Arabic, Hebrew and Greek. However, more than 90 translators participated in the translation movement, some of whom translated more than 80 works in their lifetime. It can be said that in this large-scale translation movement, almost all scientific and philosophical works in ancient Greece were translated into Latin and other western languages. This not only led to the rapid revival of various disciplines in the Latin Christian world, but also led to the spirit of free rationality in ancient Greek culture, which led to the establishment of universal rationality in the Latin Christian world in the Middle Ages. At the same time, the revival wave of Roman law also spread from Italy to France, Germany, Spain and other continental European countries, and Romanesque architectural art also prevailed in the Latin Christian world. No wonder many modern western scholars call this century the century of "cultural renaissance". It can be said that this is the first large-scale revival wave of classical culture in the western world.

4. The second revival wave of western classical culture.

Renaissance is a major turning point in western history. During this period, the emerging bourgeois intellectuals criticized the Christian church and theology in the Middle Ages under the banner of reviving classical culture. As a result, a strong wave of revival of classical culture once again spread to the western world. Renaissance humanists worshipped classical culture to the extreme. They studied ancient Greek with special enthusiasm and actively participated in the movement of collecting, excavating, sorting out and retranslating ancient Greek classics. In the libraries of monasteries and churches, they patiently, meticulously and hopefully searched for what they needed from piles of old documents covered with thick dust. As a result, they have gained a lot in these forgotten corners, and found some rare or even isolated books of classic works. Most of these rare books have rotted away. They carefully repaired these "gentle prisoners imprisoned by savage jailers". Unwilling to be lonely, medici family and the Pope also joined the ranks. Cosimo invested heavily in the collection of ancient Greek classics. Pope Nicholas V went bankrupt when he was a priest because he bought classical books. He remains the same after he became pope. He himself once said publicly: "If I take my talents as two careers, namely books and architecture, and become a pope in the future, I will put them into practice." Until his death, he was still heavily in debt. However, he left 800 ancient Greek manuscripts to the world. Many humanists went to Greece for academic trips, and when they returned to Italy with hundreds of ancient Greek classics, people welcomed them like a general who returned home in triumph. On the other hand, many humanists are heavily in debt for buying classical manuscripts. 1453, Constantinople fell under the siege of the Turks, and many Byzantine scholars went into exile in Italy with the rescued ancient Greek manuscripts. They teach Greek everywhere, thus adding vitality to the revival of western classical culture. It is because of the efforts of humanists that ancient Greek classics can be handed down from generation to generation. Most of the ancient Greek works we see today were collected during this period. At the same time, Latin classical culture has also had a great influence on the cultural and artistic style of humanism. During this period, "humanist historians translated all thoughts and all narratives into Latin disguised as Cicero, at least in the golden age". Accompanied by this Cicero doctrine in literature, the revival of Nevitt Luwei's architectural art in the art field and the prevalence of antiquities search and collection. Humanists tried their best to explore classical works of art, and ancient Rome became the center of this movement. By the end of the Renaissance, Rome had gathered countless antiquities, most of which were works of ancient Romans, but there were also a few original works of late ancient Greece. It was these works that became the creative source of Renaissance artists. The Renaissance in the heyday of the Middle Ages was a limited revival of classical culture. Christians only translate and study ancient Greek philosophy and scientific works. They interpret classical culture according to the way of thinking of that era on the premise of supremacy of faith. Humanists in the Renaissance completely broke through this limitation and turned their attention to classical science, philosophy, literature and art. Based on the new perspective of humanism, they re-examined and interpreted the true meaning of classical culture and made a new interpretation of it from the height of the times. It was inspired by classical culture that they played a resounding ode to mankind, in which the ghost of the Middle Ages retreated to a dark corner. In fact, the wave of classical cultural renaissance did not end with the end of the Renaissance. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, the rise of the Enlightenment led to the continuous revival of classical culture. In this century, the search for antiquities has not only increased, but also spread from Rome to other cities in Italy and Europe. Therefore, Britain, France, Germany and other countries replaced Rome as the new center of this movement. People from these countries flocked to Venice, the mysterious ancient city of Pompeii, Greece and Asia Minor to pay their respects, explore strange things and explore treasures. Especially in Germany, some artists started a "retro" movement under the banner of rationality. They opposed Rococo's artistic style of paying too much attention to luxury enjoyment and lacking ideas, and advocated returning to classicism, which led to the emergence of neo-classicism as a new art school. This school once prevailed in Germany and France and made great achievements in painting, architecture and sculpture. Winkelmann is an active advocate of this movement. Neoclassical artists pay attention to getting nutrients from classical art, so whenever they encounter problems, they seek answers from classical culture and art. For example, French neoclassical artist David once said that the key to encouraging students to create great themes is: "Read Plutarch's books." At the same time, when the thinkers of the Enlightenment held high the banner of rationality and criticized the traditional Christian theology, classical culture once again became a treasure house for them to obtain ideological materials. Therefore, classical culture has also become the mentor of rationalism movement.

5. Olympia City

/kloc-After the 0/9th century, with the appearance and development of archaeology, the mystery of classical culture was gradually uncovered, which led to the reappearance of classical culture in a wider range. In this century, archaeological bonfires have been lit in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor and other places. Famous sites such as Rome, Pompeii, Acropolis, Olympia, Crete and Mycenae civilization have been discovered and excavated, and some classical cultural relics and books have also been discovered from time to time. This situation lasted until the 20th century, even today. In this way, classical culture gradually revealed its panorama. At the same time, in western countries, classicism is gradually established as a discipline.