外国文学语教学课程.doc

外国文学双语教学课程 Foreign Literature (A Bilingual Course) 古希腊、罗马文学 课程负责人：陈义海 教授 盐城师范学院文学院 2004-2008 15课时 Chapter I European Classic Literature Introductory remarks European ancient literature includes ancient Greek literature and Roman literature. The former originated earlier than 2000 BC and the whole ancient literature lasted until the fall of Roman Empire. Greek literature combined with Roman literature formed the great tradition of European literature. Without knowing and understanding Greek as well as Roman literature, we cannot really grasp the spirit of European even Western literature and culture. That’s to say Greek and Roman literature is the key to Western literature and culture; in other words, Greek and Roman literature marked the foundation of the whole European literature. Greek literature is the oldest and the most glorious literature in Europe, much earlier than Roman literature, while Roman literature which owed much to the former is usually regarded as the bridge between ancient Greek literature and European literature in later times. Geographical situation of Greece The central part of ancient Greece is on the Greek Peninsula beside the Aegean Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean sea. Greek civilization is much younger than the “four great civilizations”: the Nile civilization, the Babylonian, the Hindu River civilization and Yellow River civilization. When Greek civilization reached its peak, it exerted its influence upon its neighboring places, too. When discussing Greek civilization, we see an interesting phenomenon that all the ancient civilizations have connections with the water. However, “the four oldest great civilizations” all originated from the rivers, while the Greek civilization originated beside the sea, the Aegean Sea. We usually call the four civilizations as “civilizations of grand rivers”, while the Greek civilization as “civilization of the ocean” or “Blue Civilization”. [Some key words] Greek Peninsula Aegean Sea The Medi