On the parataxis and the hypotaxis: the structural contrarity of early and later cultures (from the example of antiquity)

Abstract

By the case of Antiquity it is shown that the culture of a primitive society is a sum in structure while the culture of a developed society is a system. The first one is organized by the principle of coordination, while the latter — by the principle of subordination; the early culture is additive, the late one is hierarchical. These characteristics are inherent to the mythology, the religion, the language, the literature, the science, the art and social consciousness as well as to the social organization as a whole.