A Comparative Study of Marital Relations in Greco-Roman Mythology and Chinese Mythology_英语论文

摘要

家庭是每个社会最小的单元，但它也是每个文化总最重要的元素。而婚姻是每个家庭的关键关系。婚姻关系是人类社会关系的基石。由于民族性格的差异，表现在神话里的爱情故事也不相同。不同的文化所培育的婚姻关系是其母文化特质的完美体现。对古希腊罗马神话和中国神话中的婚姻关系做对比研究，可以帮助我们理解两种神话中关于婚姻关系的相似和差异,为思考与探索人际关系和人与自然之间关系提供一种思路,转而可以让我们更好地了解西方文化与中西文化差异。

关键词:  婚姻关系；中国神话 ；希腊罗马神话；中西方文化；相似和不同

Contents

Introduction 3

1. A brief introduction of mythology 4

1.1 An introduction of Greco-Roman mythology 5

1.2 An introduction of Chinese mythology 6

2. Types of martial relations in Greco-Roman mythology and Chinese mythology 6

2.1 Miscegenation 6

2.2 Communal marriage 7

2.3 Allelomorph marriage 7

2.4 Plural marriage of patriarchy 8

3. Examples of marital relations in Greco-Roman mythology and Chinese mythology 8

3.1 Couples in Greco-Roman mythology 8

3.1.1 Zeus and Hera 8

3.1.2 Hippodameia and Pelops 9

3.1.3 Jason and Medea 9

3.2 Couples in Chinese mythology 9

3.2.1 Nu Wa (女娲)  and Fu xi(伏羲) 9

3.2.2 Cowherd(牛郎) and the Weaving Maid(织女) 10

3.2.3 The Silkworm girl 10

4. Similarities and differences of the marital relations in the specific mythology tales 10

4.1 Similarities 10

4.1.1 Marriages between brothers and sisters 10

4.1.2 Marriages based on love 11

4.2 Differences 11

4.2.1 Different purposes of marriage 11

4.2.2 Filial piety first (China) vs Love first (Greece & Rome) 11

5. Cause analysis 12

5.1 Family bond vs Individual relationship 12

5.2 The release of human nature vs the repression of human nature; 13

5.3 Religion vs LI and patriarchal system 14

Conclusion 15

References 16