Introduction of Greek commentary

Ελλ? δ α, η [Greece]

Country. Located at the southern tip of Balkan Peninsula in southern Europe, including many nearby islands, the land borders Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey. It borders the Mediterranean Sea in the southwest and the Aegean Sea in the east. Area132,000 square kilometers (including island area of 25,000 square kilometers). The population is 1.055 million (1.989), about 95% are Greeks, and the rest are Turks, Macedonians, Bulgarians, etc. The Greek Orthodox Church is the state religion. Greek is the national language. The capital Athens. Three quarters of it is mountainous, with lowlands along the coast. The coastline is10.5 million kilometers, and there are many tortuous harbors. The river is short and urgent. Except for the mountains, it belongs to the Mediterranean climate, with humid winter and dry heat in summer. The average temperature from north to south is 65438+5-1 1℃, and it is 25-27℃ in July. The annual precipitation is 400-700mm in the east and about 900- 1, 200mm in the west. Mineral resources include oil, natural gas, uranium, iron, chromium, bauxite, barite and zinc. Water resources are abundant. Ancient European civilization reached its peak in the 5th century BC. BC 146 was conquered by the Roman Empire. Since 1396 occupied by Turkey. 1829 became an autonomous principality. 1830 declared independence and established the kingdom of Greece. 194 1 occupied by fascist Germany. 1944101October 15 restored independence. 1June 973 abolished the monarchy and changed to Greece * * * and the Republic. Initially, it mainly produced and exported agricultural products, producing wheat, corn, tobacco and dried fruits. Since the 1960s, industry has developed rapidly. The manufacturing industry has occupied the first place in the gross national product. There are metallurgical, electronic, chemical, textile, shipbuilding and food departments. Export industrial products, mineral products, tobacco, fruits, leather, etc. Import oil, grain, machinery, etc. There are many ancient monuments, beautiful scenery and developed tourism. Shipping is very important, and seaports include Thessaloniki, Piraeus and Pettre.

ancient Greece

Historically, it refers to the Aegean region, including the southern Balkans, Aegean islands and the western coastal areas of Asia Minor. After 3000 BC, the Aegean civilization flourished. Later, Aegean civilization declined due to the invasion of backward tribes in the north. 1 1 century ago, it entered the Homer era. Since the 8th century, hundreds of slave cities have been established in various parts of Greece. After the Greek-Persian War in the 5th century, the Greek city-states entered a prosperous stage, with prosperous economy and trade and outstanding cultural achievements. After the Peloponnesian War, it went into decline. The Greek peninsula was conquered by the Kingdom of Macedonia in the 4th century and ruled by Rome in the 2nd century.

Ancient Greek tragedy

One of the oldest plays in the history of world drama. It was formed in the early 5th century BC and evolved from the ode to Dionysus in the ceremony of bacchanalia in ancient Greece. At first, an actor told the story and accompanied it with a chorus. Later, it developed into three actors performing on stage. Actors wear masks and high-heeled boots, and actresses are played by actors. Most of them are based on Homer's epics or myths and legends. Later, it gradually expanded to the scope of myth and the legend of heroes-the form of tragedy gradually developed and improved.

In this process, three great tragic writers have made great contributions: one is Aeschylus, known as the "father of tragedy" in Greece, whose masterpiece is Prometheus Bound; Secondly, Sophocles, the "Homer of Dramatic Art", whose book Oedipus the King is a model of Greek tragedy; The third person is euripides, the originator of psychological drama. His masterpiece Medea first raised the issue of women.

The tragedy of ancient Greece presents the tragedy of human existence to us with the most sober realistic attitude. The tragic consciousness of the ancient Greek tragedians also inspires us to look at the difficult life correctly and forge ahead in this kind of difficulty. From the perspective of existentialism, the ancient Greek tragic writers especially showed us the consciousness of human existence. Man is no longer a doll blindly manipulated by fate, but a freer man. People who are more responsible for their actions and passions. From the cultural point of view, the ancient Greek tragic writers exposed the cultural dilemma by the destruction of the tragic hero, and revealed the great power of cultural stereotypes, thus laying the foundation for a new cultural form. With the destruction of the tragic hero, people feel the dignity of new cultural values, see the dawn of new culture, and realize the negation and transcendence of tragedy. From the aesthetic point of view, the tragic hero's struggle, with its shocking power, shows human dignity and wins people's admiration, while his destruction also wins people's praise, which still gives us unattainable artistic enjoyment.

Greek tragedy is not mainly about writing sadness, but about expressing lofty heroic thoughts. "According to Aristotle's definition, Greek tragedy describes serious events; The purpose is to arouse pity and fear, leading to the purification of these emotions; The protagonist often encounters misfortune unexpectedly, leading to tragedy, so the conflict of tragedy becomes the conflict between man and fate. "

Greek history

From around 2000 BC to 30 BC, the ancient Greeks established a series of slave countries in the whole Mediterranean region, including North Africa, West Asia, southern Italy and Sicily, centering on the Balkans, Aegean Islands and the coast of Asia Minor.

Modern archaeological excavations in Greece in the second millennium BC and early 1 millennium BC reveal that human beings have lived in the Greek mainland since the Paleolithic Age. At the end of 3000 BC, bronze culture appeared in Crete, and at the beginning of 2000 BC, there were countries and characters. Around 2000 BC, some Greek-speaking tribes began to settle in the Greek peninsula. In the middle and late 2000 BC, the Greeks established Mycenae, Tirins, Pailos and other small countries, which had written languages and created splendid Mycenae civilization. From the middle of the second millennium BC, the Greeks gradually expanded to the Aegean islands (including Crete). Legend has it that the Trojan War in Asia Minor may have occurred in the second half of the 3rd century BC/KLOC-0 or at the beginning of the 2nd century BC/KLOC-0 when the Greeks expanded outward. (See Crete Civilization and Mycenae Civilization).

Mycenaean civilization gradually declined within one or two hundred years after12nd century BC. Some Greek-speaking tribes living at the end of primitive society entered the Greek peninsula from the north, which led to the migration of many Greek tribes and tribes in Thessalonica and its south in different directions. Countries, writing and magnificent palaces have disappeared, followed by the "Homeric Age" in which social organizations and lifestyles at the end of primitive society ruled the Greek peninsula, Aegean islands and the areas inhabited by Greeks in Asia Minor.

From the 8th century BC to the first half of the 4th century BC in Greece, from the beginning of the 8th century BC to the end of the 6th century BC, most parts of the ancient Greek world were in a peaceful environment and were not seriously threatened by foreign countries. Due to the increasingly close ties with other civilization centers in the ancient world, the Greeks learned a lot from Egypt and West Asia. Iron tools have been widely used in agriculture and handicrafts. Although agriculture is the main economic sector in all regions, in some regions with superior geographical conditions, such as Corinth, Egina, Miletus, Athens, Hakis, Errett Riya and Jos, commerce and handicrafts, such as oil exploitation, wine making, metal processing, pottery making and weapons manufacturing, have made great progress. Shipbuilding technology and navigation industry have also made great progress, and three rows of paddle warships have appeared. In the 8th century BC, the Greeks recreated their own characters on the basis of transforming the Phoenician alphabet. In the middle of 6th century BC, Egina, Corinth and Athens minted coins. With the development of productive forces, the increase of population and the emergence and development of cities, countries began to form among the Greeks in the Greek Peninsula, Aegean Islands and the coastal areas of Asia Minor from the 8th century BC. Within a century or two, a number of small countries called "polis" by historians appeared one after another. However, some tribes still stay in the late primitive society.

From the middle of 8th century BC to the end of 6th century BC, the large-scale migration of Greeks was an important factor of social and economic changes. Businessmen go out to do business, bankrupts go abroad to make a living, and losers in political struggles occupy some colonial sites overseas one after another. With the growth of Greek population and the development of social economy, the scope of colonization has been expanding. Dozens of Greek city-states (far from all participating in immigration) have successively established a total of more than 100 immigration areas in a wide area from the east coast of the Black Sea to Marseille, France, including parts of the southern Italian peninsula and Sicily, to the mouth of the Nile River and Libya in the south, and to the Adriatic coast of Albania in the north. Among them, the most famous ones are Syracuse built by the Lins, the tower built by Spartans (see Great Greece), Byzantium built by Megara and Olbia built by Miletus. The main reasons for most city-state immigrants are population growth and insufficient cultivated land. The main feature of immigrants in this period was that most immigrant areas became independent city-states. Their relationship with their mother state is mainly limited to worshipping the same god. With the change of conditions, their relationship is distant and close, and they are in a state of war. At the same time, in many areas, immigrants enslaved and exploited aborigines. In a vast area, many immigrant areas have been established closely, and some have met each other. At the same time, in many areas, immigrants enslaved and exploited aborigines. The establishment and development of numerous immigrant areas in a vast area is conducive to the economic and cultural exchanges between Greeks and other ethnic groups, to the development of Greek economy, and to the evolution of social and political systems in various city-States.

While the Greeks expanded outward, they also constantly developed internal exchanges between regions. The establishment of many "Neighborhood Alliances" with religious activities as the main content, as well as the emergence and development of religious centers and competition centers such as Olympia and Delphi, which have gradually taken on all Greek significance, have promoted mutual understanding and economic and cultural exchanges between Greeks. There have also been wars of different natures between the city-states, including the wars in which Sparta conquered Messenia and enslaved the Greeks.

After the middle of the 7th century BC, heavy infantry gradually became the main arms of citizen soldiers in every city-state. The reform of military system affects the political and social development of the city-state. The intensification of the polarization between the rich and the poor has caused the common people to struggle against the exploitation, slavery and political monopoly of clan and nobility, developed the slave possession system which mainly enslaved foreigners, and changed the class structure, social system and political system of many city-states. Its outstanding performance is the formation of "equal commune" in Sparta and the rise and fall of tyrant politics in many city-states. At the same time, there have been some activities of "legislators" who stipulated the basic system of the city-state by statute law, such as the reforms of Lycurgos in Sparta, Solon in Athens and Cleisthenes. Except for some tyrants supported by Persians, in Greece in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, the word "tyrant" refers to those who came to power without election. Most of them were supported by the middle and lower class citizens, and took some measures that were beneficial to the lower class, which weakened the power and influence of clan nobles and promoted the development of economy and culture. The most famous tyrants were Periander of Corinth and peisistratus of Athens.

From the middle of the 6th century BC, Sparta in the south of the Peloponnesian Peninsula gradually united with most peninsula city states, forming the Peloponnesian League and becoming the leader of a Greek city-state group. The Greek city-state uprising in Asia Minor (500-494 BC), headed by Miletus, overthrew Persian rule and opened the prelude to Greek history in the 5th century BC. Persian troops invaded Greece in 492 BC, 490 BC and 480 BC respectively, all of which ended in failure. In the marathon, Salamis, Platia and other battles, the people of dozens of Greek city-states who resisted aggression showed a high degree of patriotism, and the victory of the Greeks had a far-reaching impact both inside and outside the Greek world (see the Greek-Persian War). In 480 BC, the Greeks in Sicily also won a great victory over Carthage.

In 478 BC or before 477 BC, some Greek city-states headed by Athens formed the Tyrol Union. The establishment of the alliance and the evolution of its nature made the whole political structure of the Greek world increasingly complex. The development of democracy based on slave ownership in Athens had a great influence on the political, ideological and cultural development of the whole Greek world. Sparta became more and more uneasy about the continuous growth and expansion of Athens' military and economic strength, and tried to limit it. Thebes, Corinth, Argos and other big city-states all weighed the gains and losses, and dealt with the two big city-state groups headed by Sparta and Athens respectively. After the end of the Greek-Persian War in 449 BC, the contradictions among Greek states became more prominent. Athens reached its peak during the reign of Pericles. The contradiction between the city-states eventually led to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. This war not only involved many city-states on the Greek peninsula, but also touched many Greek city-states scattered in Sicily, Aegean islands, Thrace coast and Asia Minor to a great extent. The war ended in the defeat of Athens. After the war, the polarization between the rich and the poor in Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Syracuse and other major city-states intensified, and social contradictions became increasingly acute. In some areas, the civil service system gradually disintegrated and the mercenary system continued to develop.

Persia, which was defeated in the Persian War and temporarily withdrew from Europe, became an important force to manipulate the Greek political situation again from the late Peloponnesian War, and supported Sparta with a lot of money to help it defeat Athens. Soon, Sparta had an armed conflict with Persia because of the political status of the Greek city-state in Asia Minor, and the Persians turned to support the Greek States dissatisfied with Sparta's rule. In 395 BC, the Corinthian War (which ended in 387 BC) broke out when Athens and other countries jointly opposed Sparta. In the same year, the fleet commanded by Athenian farmers working in Persia defeated the Spartan navy and quickly cleared the Spartan army stationed in the Aegean Islands. He successfully returned to Athens and rebuilt the Athens wall that was demolished at the request of Sparta in 404 BC. In order to win the support of Persians, the two warring parties in Greece competed to send representatives to negotiate with the Persian king. In 387 BC, under the direct intervention of Persians, Sparta forced many Greek city-states, including Athens, to accept the antar Kidas Peace Treaty in favor of Sparta. Since then, Sparta has unscrupulously interfered in the internal affairs of other city-states, ravaged the sovereignty of other countries and fostered oligarchs.

In 378 BC, the Democrats in Thebes, with the support of the Athenians, overthrew the oligarchy established by Sparta in 382 BC and expelled the troops occupying the Acropolis. The Viotia League headed by Thebes, under the leadership of Epaminondas and others, temporarily became the leading force of Greek local political situation. After the Battle of Luctra in 37 1 BC, the Spartan army was expelled from central Greece. Subsequently, Epaminondas led the army into the Peloponnesian Peninsula, which contributed to the independence of Acadia and made Mycenae get rid of the rule of Sparta for a hundred years and regain political independence. Since then, Sparta is no longer the first military power in Greece, and its political influence is also declining. In 362 BC, the rule of Thebes ended after the Battle of Montania. In Thessaly, Ferrer's tyrant Song Ya (reigned from 380 BC to 370 BC) once ruled this country and tried to rule Greece.

Monument to the Battle of Liuktra

Taking advantage of people's general dissatisfaction with Sparta's tyrannical rule, Athens organized a new city-state alliance in 378 BC. At first, it solemnly promised that all states that joined the Union would be equal, would not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, would not station troops in other countries, and would not resettle Athenian military immigrants, which won wide support for a while. However, the second city-state alliance organized by Athens (known as "the second Athens maritime alliance" in history) did not last long. Thebes was dissatisfied with Athens' proximity to Sparta, which led to the split of some supporters. Then, because Athens violated the treaty of alliance, an "alliance war" broke out between the Allies and Athens (357-355 BC). The failure of Athens led to the disintegration of the alliance, which was formally dissolved in 338 BC.

With the rise of the kingdom of Macedonia and the Hellenistic era, the residents of Macedonia, Greece's northern neighbor, are very close to the Greeks in race and language, and are deeply influenced by the advanced Greek culture. The rapid rise of ancient Macedonia under Philip II (reigned from 359 BC to 336 BC) not only greatly promoted the development of Macedonian history, but also integrated Macedonian history with Greek history for a long time. Macedonia's external expansion during the reign of Philip II seriously damaged the interests of many Greek city-states and threatened their survival. The anti-Macedonian faction in Athens, represented by Demosthenes (384-322 BC), resolutely opposed Macedonian aggression in Athens and abroad from the 1950s, but ended in failure. In 338 BC, the allied forces of Greek states were defeated in the Battle of Caronia. Since then, most Greek city-states have gradually lost their political independence and fell under the rule of Macedonian kingdom.

The expedition of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, which began in 334 BC, was essentially an invasion of Asia and North Africa by Macedonian and Greek troops. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Greek history entered the "Hellenistic era". After decades of war, a number of "Hellenistic countries" have emerged in Europe, Asia and Africa, mainly Ptolemy, Seleucia, Macedonia and other countries. In the Hellenistic era, most Greek city-states became local autonomous units with certain autonomy under the rule of kings or tyrants to varying degrees. In Greece, only Aetolian League, Ahaia League and Sparta have maintained political independence for a long time. In 299 BC, Roman troops began to invade the Balkans. With the gradual disappearance of the Hellenistic kingdom, the Romans gradually became the masters of the fate of the Greeks. In 30 BC, Rome perished the last Hellenistic country, the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt, and the history of ancient Greece ended.

On the basis of absorbing the cultural achievements of West Asia and Egypt, ancient Greek culture has made creative contributions in many fields, including mathematics, astronomy, medicine, architecture, sculpture, drama, poetry, philosophy, history and oratory, according to the needs of production, society and politics. In different periods and in different cultural fields, all Greek states have made efforts to enrich the Greek cultural treasure house. During the Hellenistic period, due to the integration and mutual influence of Greek culture and Asian-African culture under the new historical conditions, the traditional Greek culture has new contents. Ancient Greek culture belongs to the socio-economic form of slave possession, and its development can not be separated from slave possession, which has a great influence on future generations.

Ancient Greek culture

Ancient Greek civilization

It refers to the culture created by the ancient Greeks who lived in the Balkans and the vast areas around the Mediterranean from the end of 3000 BC to the second half of 1 century BC. Ancient Greek culture is an important part of human cultural heritage, which has a great influence on the development of the whole world, especially on European culture. Since the 4th century BC, "Greek" is not a simple concept of race, but refers to all people who accept Greek culture and speak Greek.

At the end of 3,000 BC and before 2,000 BC, the earliest bronze culture in Europe appeared in the Aegean Islands and the Greek mainland (see Crete civilization and Mycenae civilization). Here we mainly talk about Greek culture in BC 1 millennium. The Greek culture in this period adapted to the needs of the socio-economic development of the Greeks in a certain stage of primitive society and the disintegration of slave ownership, and reflected and served this development; It is the result of the Greeks' extensive absorption of the outstanding cultural achievements of neighboring nationalities, especially the ancient countries of West Asia and North Africa, and their creative transformation and development. It is also the crystallization of the wisdom of Greeks in different regions.

Myth and religion

At the beginning of ancient Greek culture, myth and religion were inseparable. The Greeks created many myths with eternal charm. Greek religion worships everything in the universe, ancestors and heroes, and develops from totem worship to personification. Many clans and tribes in ancient Greece once had their own gods, and later they had the gods of city-states and gods that were universally respected throughout the Greek world. Hesiod, a poet from the end of the 8th century BC to the beginning of the 7th century BC, once described the family of gods headed by Zeus, including Poseidon, Apollo, Athena and Hera.

Religion plays a very important role in Greek life, but its role is different in different historical periods. When the class division is not serious and all clan members participate in productive labor, many gods are related to the labor process. Such as Hermes grazing, Athena cultivating olives, Artemis hunting, etc. When the gentry and nobles became the rulers of the commune, God became their protector and source of power. Clan nobles who hold the power of sacrifice use their religious power to control and enslave ordinary clan members. They tried clan members with unwritten laws that were said to come from or be protected by God. When the rule of clans and nobles was weakened or destroyed by the development of city-state system, religion with the nature of the whole city-state came into being, which linked all citizens together. Building temples and festivals for all citizens of the polis is a concrete embodiment. In Athens, all important sacrificial activities are under the control of the state, and various festivals and celebrations have also become an important means to strengthen the unity of citizens. In the Hellenistic era, many religious beliefs in Egypt and West Asian countries had a wide influence on the Greeks. The king of Ptolemy dynasty vigorously promoted the worship of Serabis, which had the characteristics of both Egyptian and Greek gods.

Architecture and art

The Greek sacrificial ceremonies were usually held in front of the temple, not in the temple, so the scale of the temple was not large. The earliest temples were wooden structures, and later developed into stone structures, mostly marble buildings rich in Greece. Before the 7th century BC, primitive temples appeared in Corinth and other places, and their structures were obviously born out of the "Megaron" (main hall) in Mycenae. In the 7th century BC, there were two ways to build temples, Dorian and Ionian. The former prevailed in the Balkan Peninsula, Greater Greece and the Greek region of Sicily, while the latter was widely adopted by the Greeks in Asia Minor. As the foundation of Greek architecture, column structure is a great creation of Greeks and has a far-reaching influence on later generations. At the end of 5th century BC, Corinthian order was formed on the basis of Ionian order which was widely adopted in 4th century BC. The decoration of the temple is from scratch. For a long time, shaping gods and decorating temples and altars were the main aspects for Greek painters and sculptors to display their talents. Ancient Greek Statues-In addition to creating statues, discus throwers also created many idealized human statues, including a large number of statues showing outstanding athletes. As early as the 7th century BC, a stone statue of naked youth named "Kuros" appeared. In terms of techniques, Greek sculptors have long been committed to expressing the posture of the human body in sports and have made great achievements. Sculptors in the 4th century BC began to pay attention to expressing people's feelings. In the Hellenistic era, there appeared some works describing the daily life of ordinary people.

The representative figures of Greek sculpture art in the 5th century BC include Miron, who is famous for expressing athletes in sports, Polly Cletus, who is famous for his exquisite bronze statues of young athletes, and phidias, who is famous for his sculptures (the activity period is about 490-430 BC). The statue of Zeus in temple of olympian zeus created by phidias is known as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World". Under his leadership, the Parthenon (designed by Ektino and Caliklatus) standing on the Acropolis is still regarded as the highest achievement of ancient Greek architecture. The statue of Athena he created for this temple is also famous. Outstanding sculptors in the 4th century BC included plessy Thales, Scopas and Leigh Sipos.