In the history of world civilization, ancient Greek civilization is famous for its unique style and outstanding achievements, and there is even a saying that "words must be called Greece". Shelley once said in a poem, "We are all Greeks." Greece is the birthplace and cradle of European civilization. Without Greece, it is impossible to imagine what European civilization would be like. Today, the western world has the tradition of Greek civilization everywhere. However, few people think of themselves as Greeks with philosophical imagination like Shelley, except citizens living in the Greek peninsula. So who is the Greek?
History shows that Mycenae, the conqueror of Crete and the destroyer of Troy, was one of the earliest inhabitants of Greece. Later, he became a slave of the northern barbarians and gradually split into Dorian and Ionian. They all have the same belief and language, so they are called Greeks.
By BC12nd century, the Aegean civilization was seriously damaged by the invasion of barbarians in the north. However, the unyielding Greeks re-established a splendid Greek civilization on the ruins of this once rich civilization and became the true ancestor of European civilization.
In the Greek peninsula, which entered the slave society, more than 200 slave city-states were established. Each city-state takes the city as the center and forms countries of different sizes together with suburban villages. The most powerful of these are Athens and Sparta. Because the country is poor and the people are poor, in order to survive and develop, wars between the city-states continue, and the law of the jungle prevails. In order to save themselves and plunder wealth, the city-state implemented the policy of strengthening the country Qiang Bing, implemented democratic politics within the city-state, and the free people directly participated in the governance of the city-state, attaching great importance to the exercise of the national physical fitness. Therefore, it is the sacred duty of every citizen to manage the country and exercise power.
Greece has a pleasant climate, abundant sunshine and moderate temperature, which is suitable for outdoor nude sports and competitions under such natural conditions. Because of the nudity movement, people's ideas have changed, and they are no longer ashamed of nudity, but proud of bodybuilding, which has attracted the attention of aestheticians and the performance of artists. Aestheticism discovered the beauty of the human body, and artists created beautiful human bodies. The great politician Pericles once said, "We are people who love beauty." The Greek nation loves and creates beauty.
In the environment of democracy, freedom and fierce competition, the Greeks not only discovered, bred and created beauty, but also created God. In the eyes of the Greeks, the most perfect person is God, so the Greeks respect people.
Greek mythology: Greek mythology originated in ancient Greece and has been passed down orally for a long time. It is the collective creation of the ancient Greeks, and it is scattered in Homer's epic, hesiod's genealogy and later literature, history and other works. Therefore, the image or story of the same mythical figure is often different or even contradictory in the works of different writers. Now the common systematic Greek mythology is written by later generations according to ancient books.
Greek mythology mainly includes two parts: the story of god and the legend of hero. The confluence of the story of God and the legend of heroes can be found in Homer's epic, Herzog's Divine Spectrum, and literature, history and philosophy in the classical period.
The story of God mainly includes the creation, the appearance of God, the genealogy of God, the alternation of the celestial dynasties, the origin of mankind, and the daily activities of God. In the imagination of the ancient Greeks, mountains, rivers, trees, the sun, the moon, the ocean, the land, even rainbows after the rain and daffodils by the river were all gods; The success or failure of birth, illness, illness and death depends entirely on providence. They created a huge family of God. Zeus is the head of the gods, Poseidon is the sea god, Hades is the ghost god, Apollo is the sun god, themis is the god of hunting, Ares is the god of war, hephaestus is the god of fire, Hermes is the god of commerce, nine muses are the goddess of literature and art, and three moira are the goddess of fate. The gods live on the highest mountain of Olympus in Greece and so on.
The gods in Greek mythology are different from those in other developed religions, and they are very close to secular life. Most gods are very much like nobles in the clan. They are willful, hedonistic, vain, jealous and revengeful. They are eager for power and interests, and sometimes they secretly go down the mountain to have sex with beautiful men and women on earth. The gods, represented by Zeus, mostly like to play tricks on human beings, and even intend to destroy human beings three times and five times. The ancient Greeks often laughed at the evil of God in mythology and accused God of injustice. Homer once said, "God gives fear and pain to the poor, but God himself lives happily." However, there are also great gods like Prometheus who benefit mankind. Prometheus stole skyfire to the world, which made mankind make epoch-making progress. Zeus nailed him to the Caucasus Mountain and released an evil eagle to peck at his liver every day.
The legend of heroes is a memory of ancient history, social life and people's struggle with nature. Heroes are regarded as descendants of gods and people, and are actually representatives of collective strength and wisdom. The legend of heroes formed many systems centering on different families, including the Trojan War, Hercules' achievements at the 12th National Congress, King theseus of Athens, and the capture of golden fleece by Jason's hero. Among them, Achilles described in Homer's poetic history is said to have two fates: one is to live a long life in obscurity; Or die honorably on the battlefield. The mother was so eager to love her son that she disguised him as a girl, but the clever Odysseus recognized him. Achilles set foot on the battlefield against Trojans and made great contributions. His mother predicted that he would be buried under Troy, but he still stood up and took part in the war, which showed the courage of the Greeks.
Another example is the widely circulated story of Hercules' achievements at the 12th National Congress. Hercules is a famous Hercules who killed a water snake in the cradle. When he was young, the evil goddess came to lure him to the road of enjoyment, but he listened to the advice of the good goddess and decided to take risks to benefit everyone. Legend has it that when he came of age, he killed nine-headed dragons and Medusa, a snake-haired banshee, and even defeated Hades in the lower bound, rescued theseus from captivity, and made their husband and wife live happily. The story about Hercules is full of heroism, which embodies the ancient people's precious qualities of loving labor and cherishing the collective.
Tips of ancient Greek civilization:
Greece: The word "Greece" means elegance and beauty. The ancient Greeks who created a splendid ancient civilization are worthy of this elegant and beautiful name.
Homer's Epic: Homer, the Blind Poet, is a milestone in the history of European literature. It is based on short epics spread orally in Asia Minor, including Iliad and Odyssey. It is like an encyclopedia, including astronomy, geography, history, society, philosophy, art, mythology and other knowledge. Iliad is a story about the Trojan War, and Odyssey is a story about the Greek hero Odysseus returning home after the Trojan War. The Odyssey is the first work in European literature with personal experience as its main content.
Music: Greece calls music a muse, which refers to the nine goddesses in Greek mythology who are in charge of music. At that time, the word was not the music we refer to now, but all the arts, such as poetry and drama. This is the origin of the word "music" today.
Drama: The world drama art first appeared in ancient Greece about 2,400 years ago. There were three great tragic writers Aeschylus, Sophocles, euripides and a great comic writer in ancient Greece.
Sha Fu: The first famous poetess in the history of western literature. Some people once compared her with Homer, while others called her the tenth goddess of poetry.
History: Herodotus is recognized as the first important historian in ancient Greece in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. He traveled all over the East and collected many legends and stories. Later, his works developed to record the history of the wars between Greece and Persia. His book is fluent and solemn. It is not only an important historical document, but also an important literary work, which can be compared with Historical Records written by Sima Qian in China.
Ancient Greek philosopher:
▼ Socrates, Plato and Aristotle jointly founded today's western philosophy.
▼ anaximander-the man who drew the first global map.
▼ Anaxagoras-the first person to assume that moonlight is the reflection of the sun's light, and the first person to explain solar eclipse and lunar eclipse with the view that the moon shadow covers the earth and the earth shadow covers the moon.
▼ Pythagoras-Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician. He was the first person to discover Pythagorean theorem.
▼ Heraclitus-His famous saying is: "People can't step into the same river twice, because this river is different from this person."
▼ Taylor-Taylor believes that everything is made up of water, and water is the source of everything.
Greek Myths All myths about ancient Greek gods, heroes, nature and the history of the universe, whether oral or written. Most of the Greek myths or legends known today come from Greek literature, including Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, hesiod's Work and Time and the Divine Spectrum, Ovid's Metamorphosis, and classic works such as the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and euripides. Myth is about the origin of the gods and the world, the struggle for the highest position between the gods and Zeus' final victory, the love and quarrel between the gods, the influence of the adventures and powers of the gods on the world, including the relationship with natural phenomena such as storms or seasons, places of worship and ceremonies. The most famous stories in Greek mythology are the Trojan War, Odysseus' trip, Jason's search for golden fleece, Heracles's achievement, theseus's adventure and Oedipus' tragedy.
Jiushenpu
The Book of Old Gods records the origin of heaven and earth. The original universe was chaotic. From chaos, the earth (Gaia) and Airos (eros) first appeared, and then "Erevus" and "Niquette" appeared at the bottom of the earth. The combination of the two gave birth to "light" and "night". The earth gave birth to "Ouranos". Gaia, the god of the earth, combined with her son Uranus and gave birth to the Twelve Titans and Centimani, the cyclops. We can see from the Book of Old Gods that it preserved the barbaric customs of cannibalism and polygamy in ancient society, which became a continuous motif in later western literature.
Xinshenpu
In the genealogy of the new gods, all the gods lived on Mount Olympus, and Zeus promoted his father's rule and established a new ruling order. There are twelve gods:
Zeus: (also known as Jupiter in Rome) Zeus, the father of the gods and the supreme ruler of all things on earth.
Zeus is the highest god in ancient Greek mythology, and Jupiter in Roman mythology is the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea. Cronus gained supreme power by overthrowing his father Uranus. He was afraid that his children would follow his example, so he swallowed his children. His wife Rhea couldn't bear to be swallowed by Zeus, so she took a stone and pretended that Zeus had swallowed it for him. When Zeus grew up, he rebelled against his father with his brothers and sisters and launched a fierce struggle. After ten years of war, my grandmother Gaia defeated my father with the help of the goddess of the earth. Zeus and his brothers Poseidon and Hades were in charge of heaven, the sea and the underworld. Since then, Zeus has become the ruler in charge of the universe. Jupiter's Latin name comes from him.
Hera: (Rome is also called Juno) Hera, the wife and wife of Zeus. Is the representative of women, in charge of marriage and childbirth. Personality is characterized by jealousy.
Zeus and Hera
Hera is the diva in ancient Greek mythology, the first wife of Zeus, and Juno in Roman mythology. She is the eldest daughter of Cronus and Gaia and the elder sister of Zeus. Being in charge of marriage and childbearing is the patron saint of women, but she is jealous. She is also a symbol of power.
Poseidon: (Rome is also called Neptune) Poseidon, the king of the sea, the master of all oceans and waters.
Boston, the god of the sea in Greek mythology, is the younger brother of Zeus. Its symbol is trident, which corresponds to Neptune in Roman mythology. Neptune's Latin name comes from him. His mount is a huge mountain whale.
Athena: (also known as Minerva) Athena Rome) Athena, one of the three virgins, was regarded as Sivir at first, and then gradually became the goddess of wisdom and the guardian goddess of Athens.
Athena is the abbreviation of Athena or Athenaia in Greek, and it is also written as Athene or Athenaiae in Ionian dialect. Is the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology, corresponding to Minova Minerva in Roman mythology. Athena taught human skills, such as spinning, painting, carving and pottery making.
be born
Athena's appearance is very legendary. In Greek mythology, Zeus swallowed his wife for fear that his son was stronger than himself. I suddenly felt a splitting headache, so I ordered Vulcan to split her head, and Athena jumped out of it in armor.
The patron saint of Athens
Athena competed with Poseidon, the sea god, and won by displaying the first olive tree, becoming the patron saint of Athens. The Parthenon in the Acropolis is dedicated to her.
Apollo: (Rome is also called Apollo) Apollo, the sun god, is the god of light, youth and music in poetry and art, and is a twin brother and sister with god of light Al themis.
Apollo is the sun god in Greek mythology and the patron saint of musicians, poets and shooters. He is the son of Zeus and the brother of themis. Greece and Rome have the same name. His typical image is holding a lyre in his right hand and a golden ball symbolizing the sun in his left hand. His other Latin name is Phobos. Phevos, translated from Greece, is one of the mascots of the 2004 Olympic Games.
Themis: (also known as Di Anna in Di Anna) Artemis, the goddess of the moon, one of the three virgins, the god of hunting, the god of women, the embodiment of women's purity, and the twin brother and sister of Apollo.
Artemis, corresponding to Di Anna in Roman mythology, is the goddess of hunting, the goddess of the moon and the sister of Apollo.
Aphrodite: freyja Aphrodite. Her loyal follower little love god eros (also known as Cupid in Rome) holds a bow and arrow. The person who is shot with his golden arrow will fall in love with the first person he sees later, while the person who is shot with his lead arrow will have inexplicable hatred for another person.
Aphrodite (α φ ρ ο δ? τ η, Aphrodite), corresponding to Venus in Roman mythology, Latin Venus and "Friday" all come from her Roman name.
Hermes: (also known as Mercury) Hermes, the god of commerce and market, messenger.
Ares: (also known as Mars in Roman mythology) Ares.
Ares, corresponding to Mars in Roman mythology, is the lover of Venus and the son of Zeus and Hera. Latin words "Mars" and "Tuesday" both come from his Roman name.
Demeter: (Rome is also called Cyrus Cyrus) Demeter, a goddess closely related to the land, is the goddess of grain and harvest.
Hephaestus: hephaestus, the God of Fire and Forging.
Hephaestus corresponds to Vulcan in Roman mythology, Vulcan, the husband of Venus. The word "volcano" in western languages comes from his Roman name. According to legend, the volcano is a melting pot for his blacksmith to make weapons for the gods.
Kitchen God Hestia. One of three virgins.
Two little gods on the earth:
Hades: (Plauto Pluto of Rome) Hades, the keeper of the underworld.
Dionysus: (also known as Dionysus) Dionysus Rome) Dionysus, Dionysus and the god of madness.
All the twelve gods have distinct personalities and secular desires. They have human character and emotion and superhuman special skills.
hero
In ancient Greece, besides the stories of gods, there were many legends of demigods and heroes. The most famous legend about heroes is the story of Achilles and Odyssey described in Homer's Iliad. Other famous heroes include:
Hercules (Hercules)
Theseus
Poerxiusi
Ethan
intimidate
Agamemnon
huge
Medusa: A gorgon. Anyone who sees her face will become a stone statue.
Hydra: Hydra was killed by Hercules.
Minotto: A Minotaur monster in Crete.