西方文學的源頭：
• 時間：c. 850 B.C.? 與 c. 750 B.C.?
• 地點：地中海 (the Mediterranean Sea) 四周
• 民族：the Greeks and the Jews
• 語言：Hellenic (古希腊語)，Hebrew (古閃族語)
• 文類：mythological (神話的)，religious (宗教的)
• 代表作：the Homeric epics (荷馬的史詩)，
The Bible (聖經)
What is an epic (史詩)?
• It is an extended narrative poem, exalted
in style and heroic in theme.
early or primary epics vs. literary epics
Epic conventions: invocation, in medias
res (in the middle of things), hero’s notable
deeds (descent into the underworld), etc.
E.g.: Iliad, Odyssey, Beowulf; Aeneid,
Paradise Lost
荷馬的史詩 Homer’s Epics：
• 作品：The Iliad (伊里亞德) &
The Odyssey (奧迪賽)
• 內容：the Trojan War (c. 1200 B.C.)
Iliad: for Ilios (Troy) or for Helen
Odyssey: Odysseus’ homeward wanderings
• 趣事：a. The Golden Apple: “To the fairest”
Peleus & Thetis, Eris (Discord)
Hera, Athena, Aphrodite
Zeus, Paris, Helen, Menelaus, Agamemnon
To
the
Fairest
荷馬的史詩：
• 趣事：b. Achilles’ Anger:
Agamemnon, Chryseis, Apollo
Briseis, Achilles, Patroclus,
Hector, Priam
•
c. The Escape from Sirens:
Odysseus and his men, the Sirens
Filling ears with beeswax, tying to the mast
•
d. The Chaste Penelope:
50 suitors, weaving a shroud,
Telemachus, Odysseus’ bow
Achilles and Patroclus
Odysseus & the Sirens
Penelope & her Suitors
聖經 (The Bible)：
• 包括： the Old Testament,
the New Testament (& the Apocrypha)
• 舊約：共 39 Books (篇) in 6 groups (類)
written originally in Hebrew：
History, Prophetic Books, Lyric Poetry
Drama, Wisdom Literature, Tales
• 故事：Genesis: the creation of the world and
man, the fall of Adam and Eve,
Noah’s flood, the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
聖經 (The Bible)：
• Exodus: the escape by the Jews from their bondage in
•
•
Egypt, led by Moses, crossing the Red Sea,
wandering 40 years in the Sinai wilderness,
reaching Canaan.
“The Book of Job” (drama): the problem of evil.
Satan, God, Job, the Voice out of the Whirlwind
theodicy (神義論)
“Jonah and the Whale” (tale):
Jehovah wanted the prophet to preach in Nineveh.
Rebelliousness & selfishness;
universality & mercifulness of God.
Job suffering from boils
Moses & Tablet
二源 即 二元：
• The Hellenic Tradition The Hebraic Tradition
希腊的：神話的文化
希伯萊的：宗教的文化
Mythological culture
Religious culture
Polytheistic 多神
Monotheistic 單神
Humanism 人文主義
Theism 神文主義
Hedonism 享樂
Asceticism 禁慾
For this world 今生
Secular life 世俗生話
Id (抑德) & Ego (本我)
For the other world 來世
Divine life 神明生活
Super-ego (超我)
至今的影響：
•
•
•
•
建築、雕刻：
繪畫、音樂：
戲劇、文學、電影：
日常生活：
• It’s a choice between Scylla and
Charybdis.
• We are David and Jonathan.
Scylla and Charybdis
David and Jonathan