西方经典导读

Chapter 1 Greek Culture

Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek speaking world in ancient times it refers not only to the territory of the present Greek state , but also to those areas settled by Greeks : Cyprus, the Aegean coast of turkey (then known as lonia ),Sicily and southern Italy (known as great Greece ), and the scattered Greek settlements on the coasts of what are now Albania , Bulgaria , Egypt , France , Libya , Romania , Spain , and Ukraine.

古希腊是用来描述希腊语世界在古代，它不仅是指现在的希腊国家的领土内，而且这些地区定居的希腊人：塞浦路斯、土耳其爱琴海岸（当时称为尼），西西里岛和意大利南部（被称为大希腊），和散落在海岸的希腊殖民地现在的阿尔巴尼亚、保加利亚、埃及、法国、利比亚、罗马尼亚、西班牙、乌克兰。

Athens, in particular, grew dramatically. Drama, poetry, sculpture, architecture, and philosophy flourished, and there was a vigorous intellectual life. some of the greatest names of western cultural and intellectual history heard in Athens during this period : the dramatists Aeschylus , Aristophanes, Euripides , and Sophocles , the philosophers Aristotle , Plato , and Socrates , the historians Herodotus , Thucydides , and Xenophon , the poet Simonides and he sculptor Phidias . The city became, in Pericles words, the school of Hellas.

雅典，特别是急剧增长。戏剧、诗歌、雕塑、建筑和哲学繁荣，并有一个蓬勃的知识生活。一些西方文化和知识史听到雅典这一时期最伟大的名字：剧作家埃斯库罗斯、阿里斯多芬尼斯、欧里庇得斯和索福克勒斯，哲学家亚里士多德，柏拉图，苏格拉底，历史学家希罗多德、修昔底德、色诺芬、诗人西摩尼得斯他雕塑家菲迪亚斯。城市成为，在伯里克利的话，希腊的学校。

The three selections in this chapter address the political foundation democracy-of Greek cultural excellence. The famous speech presented by the great historian Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War is a eulogy delivered by the Athenian leader Pericles for the Athenians killed during the first campaigns against the Spartans. It is an obviously idealized description of the Athenian city-state at its height, and the reader cannot help imagining how a typical Athenian citizen lived his daily public and private life. This eulogy also shows how Pericles defined the proper balance between Athenians' freedom as individuals and their commitments as Citizens. 本章的三个选择，解决了希腊文化卓越的政治基础民主。由伟大的历史学家修昔底德在他的伯罗奔尼撒战争史的著名的演讲是一个悼词由雅典领袖伯里克利发表于雅典人杀死在对斯巴达第一战役。这显然是一个理想化的描述，雅典城邦在它的高度，和读者无法想象如何帮助一个典型的雅典公民住他的日常公共生活与私人生活。这个颂词也显示了如何定义“伯里克利雅典人作为个体的自由和自己的承诺作为公民之间的适当平衡。

Thucydides (460-395 B.C.) is generally taken as one of the first true historians. unlike his predecessor Herodotus known as the father of history ) who absorbed myths and the gods in his writing Thucydides loved consulting written documents and conducting necessary interviews . he gathered available evidence and decided what he thought was the truth. It is fair to say that he created the first scientific approach to history.

修昔底德（公元前460-395）通常被视为是第一个真正的历史学家。不像他的前任希罗多德称为历史之父）吸收了神话和神在他的写作修昔底德爱咨询书面文件和进行必要的访谈。他收集了可用的证据，并决定了他认为是真理。这是公平的说，他创造了历史上第一个科学方法。

When reading the oration by Pericles, we need to keep in mind that Pericles left no writing of his own. It was Thucydides who recorded the s historical moment in his book History of the Peloponnesian War.

当读祭文由伯里克利，我们需要记住，伯里克利没有留下自己的写作。这是修昔底德的历史时刻谁记录在他的书<<伯罗奔尼撒战争史。

In the year 431 B.C. a war (known as the Peloponnesian war ) Athenian leader and orator at the time , made this speech' at a funeral ceremony in honor of the lost lives after the first year of the campaign This funeral oration was delivered to justify the loss and boost the morale of all Athenians. Its significance in cultural terms, however, went far beyond that. By making contrasts with Athens’ rival, the Spartans, Pericles took the opportunity to highlight the ideals, values and virtues of the Athenians. Which constitute the enduring themes and spirit in western culture. 公元前431年战争（称为伯罗奔尼撒战争）当时雅典的领袖和演说家，发表了这番讲话“在生命失去荣誉葬礼的竞选这祭文交证明损失和提高所有雅典人的士气一年后。然而，它在文化术语上的意义远远超出了它的意义。通过与雅典的对手斯巴达人做对比，伯里克利趁机突出理想、价值观和雅典人的美德。构成了西方文化中永恒的主题和精神。

Since Socrates left nothing for us to read, our knowledge of his came from his contemporaries, chiefly from Plato 428-347 B.C. his disciple. It is said that Plato was present when Socrates took own life. Plato took Socrates as his main character in his collections of dialogues in line with Socrates' dialectic method. he recorded Socrates life and teachings in earlier dialogues , while in later ones he apparently conveyed his own thought through Socrates.

自苏格拉底什么也没有留给我们读，我们认识他是从他的同时代人，主要是从柏拉图428-347公元前弟子。据说柏拉图是在苏格拉底拿自己的生命的时候出现的。柏拉图以苏格拉底为主要特征，在他与苏格拉底的辩证法的集合中的对话。他在早期的对话中记录了苏格拉底的生活和教导，而在后来的对话中，他显然通过苏格拉底表达了自己的思想。

Plato was born in a distinguished family he became Socrates student at about 20.In spite of his respect and admiration for Socrates, he was much more conscious of his own philosophic pursuits. In less than a decade's time after the death of his teacher, Plato established his own school, the Academy. Often seen as the first university in the world, it remained in use for more than 900 years one of its well-known students being Aristotle.

柏拉图出生在一个杰出的家庭，他在20岁时成为苏格拉底的学生，尽管他对苏格拉底的尊敬和钦佩，但他更意识到自己的哲学追求。在不到十年的时间里，他的老师死后，柏拉图建立了自己的学校，学院。被认为是世界上第一所大学，它仍然在使用超过900年的著名的学生之一，是亚里士多德。

Plato's philosophy is a comprehensive entity of physics, metaphysics, ethics and politics. Like his teacher Socrates, Plato acknowledged that the soul is immortal and that concepts are the sole

access to knowledge. But he extended his mentor's approach by substituting ideas for concepts, and elevating the latter to the or in other words he that in a word of itself. According to Plato, the world revealed by our senses is merely an imitation, or a shadow of the higher world This higher world is the realm of truth, where one can find the ideas or forms of greatness, goodness, beauty, wisdom, etc. as well as concrete material objects such as man , horse , tree and the like. The knowledge of this higher world is available only to the philosopher whose mind can leap from worldly particulars to an ideal world beyond space and time. Thus, true wisdom is obtained through knowledge of the ideas, not the imperfect reflections of the ideas that are perceived with the senses.

柏拉图的哲学是一个物理学、形而上学、伦理学和政治学的综合实体。像他的老师苏格拉底，柏拉图承认灵魂是不朽的，而概念是知识的唯一获得。但他延长了他的导师的方法，以取代概念的概念，并提高后者的或换句话说，他说，在一个字本身。根据柏拉图，我们的感官所揭示的世界只是一个模仿，或一个更高的世界的影子，这个更高的世界是真理的境界，在那里可以找到的思想或形式的伟大，善良，美丽，智慧等，以及具体的物质对象，如人，马，树等。这个更高的世界的知识只适用于哲学家，他们的思想可以飞跃从世俗的细节，超越空间和时间的理想世界。因此，真正的智慧是通过知识的想法而获得的，而不是那些被感官感知的想法的不完美的反映。

Aristotle respected his teacher Plato but held different ideas in theosophy. He rejected Plato’s theory of forms, arguing that universals would not be set apart from particulars and that man understands the world through empirical investigation. He also rejected Plato’s idea that the soul exists separately from the body. More than this, he established his own philosophical framework in several works. In physics, he identified four causes or modes of explanation, i.e., material cause, formal cause efficient cause and final cause. In Nicomachean Ethics, he held that moral virtue is formed by habit one becomes good by repeatedly doing good. Besides his philosophical ideas, in logic Aristotle laid out the basics of logic and in poetics and rhetoric he commented on drama, speech and writing. His interests were so broad that he virtually went ST into every possible social and scientific field of his time.

亚里士多德尊重他的老师柏拉图但神智持不同观点。他拒绝了柏拉图的理论形式，认为共相不应离开详情及人们了解世界通过实证调查。他也拒绝了柏拉图的灵魂存在于身体的想法。不仅仅如此，他在几部作品中建立了自己的哲学框架。在物理学中，他确定了四个原因或解释的模式，即物质的原因，正式的原因有效的原因和最终原因。在<<尼各马可伦理学，他认为道德是由习惯的形成变得好反复做的好。除了他的哲学思想，在逻辑亚里士多德奠定了逻辑基础，并在诗学和修辞，他评论戏剧，演讲和写作。他的兴趣是如此之广，几乎到了他那个时代的每一个可能的社会和科学领域。

In Politics Aristotle conducts a comprehensive examination o the origin and structure of the state , dealing with the timeless topics on political science : the role of human nature in politics , the relation of the individual to the state , the place of morality in politics , the theory of political justice , the rule of law , the analysis and evaluation of constitutions , the relevance of ideals to practical politics , the causes and cures of political change and revolution , and the importance of a morally educated citizenry. The following selection focuses on the nature and purpose of a state and the central role of the middle class in politics.

亚里士多德在政治上进行全面检查的起源和结构状态，处理政治科学永恒的主题：人性在政治中的作用，对个别国家的关系，道德在政治中的地位，政治正义理论、法治、宪法和评价分析，理想对现实政治的关联，与政治变革和革命的原因和治疗，一个在道德上受过教育的公民的重要性。下面的选择集中在一个国家的性质和目的和政治中的中产阶级的中心作用。

Chapter 2 Rome Culture

Roman history falls into two broad periods-the republic and the Empire. The roman republic began in 509 B.C., and lasted until 27 B.C., when Octavian (Augustus) became in effect the first roman emperor. For the next 500 years, Rome would be governed by emperors.

罗马历史分为两大时期，共和国和帝国。罗马共和国开始于公元前509年，一直持续到公元前27年，当屋大维（Augustus）成为影响第一个罗马皇帝。在未来的500年里，罗马将被皇帝统治。

The history of the Roman Empire influenced western civilization in many ways. from Latin , the language of Rome , came the Romance languages French , Italian , Spanish , Portuguese , and Romania . Roman law game the basis of the legal codes of most modern European states. Rome preserved Greek culture, the foundation of western learning and aesthetics, and spread it to other lands. And Christianity, the religion of the west, was born in the Roman Empire.

罗马帝国的历史在许多方面影响了西方文明。来自拉丁语，罗马语，法语，意大利语，西班牙语，葡萄牙语和罗马尼亚的浪漫语言。罗马法游戏是最现代欧洲国家的法律法规的基础。罗马保存的希腊文化，西方学习和美学的基础，并将其传播到其他土地。和基督教，西方的宗教，出生在罗马帝国。

The first selection in this chapter is an oration delivered by a second - century Greek intellectual probably in Rome. The orator glowingly praises the Pax Romana, a well-run world-state that brought order and stability to the different nations of the Mediterranean world. Notice the universalism and cosmopolitanism that characterized the Roman Empire. 在这章的第一选择是演说的第二世纪的希腊知识可能在罗马交付。演讲者热情洋溢地称赞大同世界，一个运转良好的国家带来秩序和稳定的地中海世界不同的国家。注意到普世主义和世界主义是罗马帝国。

Pax Romana refers to the 200-year peace and prosperity in roman history, starting from the absolute rule of Augustus in 27 B.C. to the death of Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180.

大同是指200年的和平与繁荣在罗马的历史，从公元前27年奥古斯都的绝对统治马库斯奥勒留死在公元180年。

Aelius Aristides (A.D. 117-181) was a popular Greek orator who lived during the Roman Empire. After being sufficiently prepared for his profession, he traveled for some time throughout Asia and Africa, particularly Egypt, Greece, and Italy. The fame of his talents and acquirements which preceded him everywhere, was so great that monuments were erected in his honor in several towns he visited his surviving works include speeches on religious and political life. His Sacred Discourse and fragments of poems, Foremost of his orations are Panathenaicus and Encomium of Rome. Aristides' works were highly esteemed by his contemporaries. His style, formed on the

best models, is generally clear and correct, though sometimes obscured by rhetorical ornamentation His admirers compared him to Demosthenes, the greatest of Greek orators, and even Aristides did not think himself much inferior.

阿里斯蒂德乌斯（公元117-181）是一个受欢迎的希腊演说家谁生活在罗马帝国。在充分准备了他的职业生涯后，他在整个亚洲和非洲各地旅行了一段时间，特别是埃及、希腊和意大利。他的才华和学识，先于他无处不在的名声，很大，纪念碑被竖立在他的荣誉在一些城镇，他拜访了他的存世作品包括宗教和政治生活的演讲。他神圣的话语和片段的诗歌，最重要的是他的演说是罗马panathenaicus和颂词。阿里斯蒂德作品敬重他的同时代的人。他的风格，形成最好的模式，一般是明确的和正确的，但修辞装饰他的崇拜者有时掩盖了他相比，最伟大的希腊演说家德摩斯梯尼，鼓动，甚至认为自己没有很差。

In the following speech, Aristides speaks highly of the glory of the Roman Empire in times of the Pax Romana. His accounts are marked by apparent exaggeration but he does capture the Romans universal and cosmopolitan vision.

在下面的演讲，阿里斯蒂德称赞罗马帝国的荣耀在罗马和平时期。他的账目有明显的夸张，但他确实抓住了罗马人的普遍性和世界性的眼光。

Stoicism was the most influential philosophic tradition of the roman times. It began to take hold at the time when the provincial city-states gave way to the cosmopolitan Roman Empire. People living admit this dramatic change of cultural makeup needed a philosophy to help them adapt to the more complex environment. As a result, stoicism became increasingly popular by advocating such core values as unity, harmony duty and indifference.

淡泊是罗马时代最有影响力的哲学传统。当省的城邦让位给世界性的罗马帝国时，它开始举行了。人们生活承认这种戏剧性的变化，文化化妆需要一个哲学，以帮助他们适应更复杂的环境。作为一个结果，斯多葛学派倡导团结成为核心价值观的日益流行，和谐的责任和冷漠。

The roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D 121-180) was a convinced stoical philosopher, and at his accession there was widespread rejoicing that at last Plato’s dream of a philosopher-king had become reality. He was the last emperor during the 200-year Pax Romana, i.e., the peak of roman history. In his time, he was afflicted by multiple misfortunes, public and private. Publicly, he had to confront revolts, plague and financial crisis; privately, he faced an unfaithful wife, four short-lived sons and an incompetent heir. These disastrous afflictions never got the better of this remarkable emperor. On the contrary, it was these plights that contributed to his unique role in Roman History.

罗马皇帝奥勒留（公元121-180）是一个坚信坚忍的哲学家，在他加入有广泛的欣喜，最后柏拉图梦想哲学家国王已经成为现实。他在200年的大同，即末代皇帝，罗马历史峰值。在他的时代，他受到了多个不幸的折磨，公共和私人。在公开场合，他不得不面对叛乱，瘟疫和金融危机；私下里，他面对一个不忠的妻子，四个儿子和一个不称职的继承人短命。这些灾难性的痛苦从来没有这个明显的皇帝更好。相反，正是这些困境，促使他在罗马历史的独特作用。

Marcus Aurelius is regarded as the only philosopher king in the Roman times and perhaps one of the few in word history. He was a devout practitioner of stoicism. He shared the basic stoical belief that human beings should submit to providence-stay in harmony with all things, and

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