Culture
“最近的词源是拉丁文cultura，可追溯的最早词源为拉丁文colere。Colere具有一系列涵义：居住（inhabit）、栽种（cultivate）、保护（protect）、朝拜（honor with worship）。”
Definition of culture:
Culture in narrow sense and meaning refers to the spiritual wealth of human beings, including arts, literature, music, movie, play, education, and even entertainment. Culture in extensive and broad sense meaning refers to the total pattern of beliefs, religion, thinking or philosophy, customs, institutions, objects and techniques that characterize the life of a human community.
Conclusion: Culture covers every part of a people and it is the way of life in a society.
West and Western culture
West ----mainly refers to the Europe
American culture and European culture
Western culture
The Greco- Roman culture, Christianity
The core of Western culture originated from The Greek Rationalism and  Judeo-Christian tradition
Why should we study Western culture?
1. To improve college students’ quality.
2.To adjust to the needs of the world’s development
3.To deepen our understandings of  Chinese culture.
4. To absorb essence of Western culture.
Origin of Ancient Greece
• It originated from 800 BC and ended in 146 BC. It lasted about 650 years.
• It located in the Southern  Europe  and the northeastern Mediterranean, including Southern Balkans, West coast of Asia Minor peninsula and many islands of Aegean.
• In 2000 BC, Crete Civilization(克里特文明) and Mycenae Civilization (迈锡尼文明) originated from Aegean.  Aegean Civilization(爱琴文明) is the earliest Greece Civilization.
The Origin of Greek Mythology
Ancient Greece entered the Age of Heroes (Homer Era)from
1200 BC to 800 BC. The main literary achievements are Mythology and Epic.
Homer
• Homer is the earliest literary form in Western literary history. It includes the Iliad (伊利亚特) and the Odyssey (奥德赛).
• Hesiod (赫西奥德), a possible contemporary with Homer, offers in his Theogony (《神谱》)(Origin of the Gods) the  fullest account of the earliest Greek myths. Hesiod’s Works and Days(工作与时日)is a didactic poem about farming life.
希腊城邦文化 (Greek City-States Culture)
The Development of Greek City-States
希腊城邦的崛起与殖民
在“黑暗时代”(1200BC-800BC)的末期，一批新兴的城市国家——城邦（City-States）开始取代建立在氏族和部落基础上的农村公社；
这种分离主义(Separatism)的政治态度和自由主义(Liberalism)的生活信念构成了希腊城邦社会的重要特征。
在诸城邦中,The most powerful city-states are斯巴达Sparta and雅典Athens。
早期希腊城邦的政治变革
希腊城邦政体的一般发展模式：
君主制—僭主制—民主制
(Monarchy - Tyrants system - Democracy)
开明贵族德拉古在公元前621年制定了第一部成文法典，对贵族权利进行了限制；（ Enlightened aristocracy Dragutin formulated the first written code, in 621 BC to limit the rights of the nobles. ）
梭伦在公元前594年进行了更为彻底的政治改革，通过法律的形式废除了债务奴隶制，设置了公民陪审法庭；(Solon, in 594 BC, did more thorough political reform. debt slavery was abolished through the legal form, and Jury Court was set up.)
继梭伦之后，僭主庇西特拉图(Peisistratus)和民主派领袖克利斯梯尼(Christopher Steele Nepal)又先后进行了政治改革，基本确立了雅典的民主制度，(basically established Democracy in Athens)摧毁了传统贵族依凭的氏族秩序；
到了伯里克利(Pericles)时代，雅典的民主制使其成为希腊诸城邦中最繁盛和最强大的城邦，产生和聚集了一大批伟大的人物。
较有影响的泛希腊文化中心主要有三个，即德尔菲的神庙(Delphi's Temple of Apollo)（希腊人求神谕的最重要的圣地）、伯罗奔尼撒的奥林匹亚(Olympia Peloponnese)（通过全希腊奥林匹亚竞技会来敬拜宙斯）、厄琉西斯祭典仪式(Eleusis ritual)（对农业女神得墨忒耳的神秘崇拜）。
希腊悲剧基本上取材于神话与传说，以古代的英雄故事(Heroic stories)作为主要内容，以命运(Fate)作为永恒的主题。
希腊第一个自然哲学家(Natural philosophers)是小亚细亚米利都城邦的泰勒斯(Thales)，而第一个具有形而上学(Metaphysics)倾向的哲学家是南意大利克罗顿城邦的steele毕达哥拉斯(Pythagoras)。
亚里士多德把希腊自然哲学和形而上学结合起来，成为希腊哲学的集大成者。
公元前336年，亚历山大继承王位，将松散的希腊联盟（“科林斯同盟”）整合为一个统一的
马其顿帝国。
（三)　The Development of Rome Political System
罗马人对欧洲文化所作的最重要的贡献是它所创立的罗马法律。
《十二铜表法》(The Law of the Twelve Tables)前451年， was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law.罗马法的产生： 第一部成文法

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