书城外语一本书读懂消失的文明:英汉对照
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第6章 古希腊——西方历史与文化的开源(5)

At the end of nine years a prophet predicted that Troy would not fall as long as the Palladium stayed within its walls. Odysseus and Diomedes went into the city in disguise and stole it out of the temple of the city. Then the Greeks designed a great wooden horse, in which some Greek soldiers hid themselves, and made believe to withdraw. Taken in by rumour that the horse had been sent by Athena, the overjoyed Trojans hauled it into their capital. At night the hidden Greeks crawled out and threw the whole city into confusion. Tory was robbed. King Priam was killed.Queen Hecuba,her daughter Cassandra and her daughter in law Andromache were all carried into slavery. Helen and Menelaus were on good terms again and disappeared in the west. Agamemnon went back to Mycenae, only to be murdered by his own wife. His son Orestes killed his mother and was pursued by the Furies. Odysseus went through untold hardships, struggling with wind and wave, before he reached his home island Ithaca to reunite with his faithful wife Penelope. Aeneas, one of the Trojan princes, after narrowly escaping death at Troy, wandered from land to land for a long time and became, in the end, the founder of the Roman race.

特洛伊城和特洛伊战争:争夺世上最美丽的女人

特洛伊是一个现实与传奇并存的古城,位于安纳托利亚的西北边,也即现在的土耳其所在地,北临达达尼尔海峡西南端的南边。这座古城因希腊史诗中描述的特洛伊战争而闻名天下,特别是在荷马史诗的一部力作《伊利亚特》中有一段精彩描述:

在新婚宴会上,不和女神厄里斯抛出一只写有献给最美丽的人字样的金苹果,赫拉、阿芙罗狄蒂和雅典娜都希望得到这只金苹果,她们被送到帕里斯那里以做出裁决。帕里斯是爱达山上的一个牧羊人,他把金苹果判给了阿芙罗狄蒂,因为她答应帮他得到世上最美丽女子的爱。

帕里斯是特洛伊国王皮安姆的儿子,他出生时他的母亲赫尔犹巴王后梦到自己手握一根燃木,因此人们认为帕里斯很可能会给城市带来毁灭。一个很偶然的机会,他被遗弃在爱达山上,在经受了风吹雨淋和日晒之后被那里的牧民救了下来并抚养成人。这次,在阿芙罗狄蒂的授意下,他下山参加在特洛伊城举办的集会。在那里,帕里斯是如此的出众,国王皮安姆和王后赫尔犹巴兴高采烈地接纳了他,他重新成为王室家族的一员。

不久,帕里斯被任命为船队首领并被派往希腊。他来到斯巴达,因为阿芙罗狄蒂曾经告诉他,当时最美的女子海伦就住在那儿。海伦的丈夫墨涅劳斯国王热情地款待了帕里斯,但他却恩将仇报,趁着国王不在,说服海伦与他一起私奔到特洛伊城。为了报仇雪恨,希腊人民拿起了武器,特洛伊战争爆发了。

当希腊舰队停驻在奥利斯海港时,风向一直不顺。一位先知告诉远征军的统帅阿伽门农让他牺牲自己的女儿伊菲革涅亚,把她献给阿耳特弥斯。伊菲革涅亚被摆到了女神祭坛上,但是阿耳特弥斯却在最后关头将她带走了,另将一只鹿放到她的位置上。阿伽门农的妻子克吕泰涅斯特拉对丈夫的残忍深感愤怒。

战争持续了十年,在这段时间里双方损失惨重。阿伽门农与阿基里斯争夺一位俘获的公主,暴怒之下的阿基里斯拒绝继续参战。阿基里斯的朋友普特洛克勒斯借走他的盔甲想扭转战局,很不幸,他死在了皮安姆的大儿子海克特的手下。阿基里斯一心一意要为朋友报仇,他不再与阿伽门农斗气,披上赫斐斯塔司为他赶制的新盔甲出征了。阿基里斯杀死了海克特,还拖着其尸体绕特洛伊城跑了三圈。但很快他又被帕里斯射中了脚跟,死在战场上。帕里斯也没活多久,他被阿基里斯的朋友杀死了。由于阿基里斯遗言要把他的盔甲送给希腊最勇敢的战士,在两位得此称号的勇士间展开了激烈的争夺。当盔甲最后判定应该奖给奥德修斯时,另一位勇士埃杰克斯郁郁寡欢,羞愧万分地结束了他的生命。

仗打到第九年年底的时候,一位先知预言,只要城里的雅典娜神像在,特洛伊城就永远不会被攻陷。于是,奥德修斯就和狄俄墨得斯伪装入城,偷偷地将神像盗了出来。随后希腊人精心制作了一匹庞大的木马,将一些希腊士兵藏进了马腹。与此同时,希腊军队假装撤兵并散布谣言说这匹马是雅典娜送来的。信以为真的特洛伊人欢天喜地地将马拖进城里,夜幕降临时隐藏的希腊士兵们蹑手蹑脚地从马肚里钻出来,使整个城市陷入一片混乱之中。特洛伊城被洗劫一空,国王皮安姆被杀,赫克犹巴王后和她的女儿卡珊德拉及儿媳安德洛玛切都被充做奴隶。海伦和墨涅劳斯重归于好,他们到西方隐居起来。阿伽门农返回锡尼,却不幸遭到自己妻子的谋杀。他的儿子杀死了自己的母亲,又被愤怒女神追捕。奥德修斯历尽艰难险阻,一路与大风大浪搏击,最终到达伊塞沙与忠实的妻子珀涅罗珀团聚在一起。特洛伊城的一位王子埃厄安斯幸免于难,很长一段时间他从一个国家流浪到另一个国家,最后创建了罗马民族。

Acropolis of Athens:the Cradle of Western Civilization

Athens got its name from Athena, the goddess of wisdom and just wars. The sacred tree of Athens is the olive tree which is a symbol of wisdom and peace.Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece, and Greece’s economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural center. It has a recorded history of 3,000 years, and it’s the world famous cultural city.

Acropolis is a pearl of Athens and Greece, and a symbol of Athenian democracy. It is a group of the most outstanding ancient Greek buildings, comprehensive public buildings, and also the center of religions and politics. Acropolis has an altitude of above 156 meters and can be seen from anywhere of the city. Its peak blends of the most outstanding works of the ancient Greek civilization. It also has a blue and white Greek flag. From here you can overlook the entire city of Athens.Among them, the Parthenon, also called Athenaeum, is standing at the top of the Acropolis hill.It was built in 447 BC, the masterpiece of Phidias, a famous architect. The Parthenon was built to worship the goddess Athena. It is a masterpiece of architecture and sculpture in the heyday of Greece. The Parthenon is the pride of Athens. It was a true reflection of prosperity when Pericles came to power at Athens.

Greece is the birthplace of philosophy.Socrates, Herodotus, Pericles, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Euripides, Aeschylus, and other well-known philosophers, statesmen and writers were born or lived here. Athens still retained a lot of historical sites and a large number of works of art, among which the most notable is Parthenon, a symbol of the western culture. Therefore, Athens was called “the Cradle of Western Civilization” and the origin of democracy.

Athens is the origin place of the Olympic Games. In 1896, the 1st Summer Olympics were hosted in Athens. In 2004, the 28th Summer Olympic Games were also held in Athens.

雅典卫城:西方文明的摇篮

雅典的名字来源于智慧与正义战争的女神雅典娜。雅典的圣树是橄榄树,象征着智慧与和平。雅典是希腊的首都和最大城市,也是希腊的经济、财政、工业、政治和文化中心,它记载的历史长达3000多年,是驰名世界的文化古城。

雅典卫城是雅典以及希腊的一颗明珠,是雅典民主的象征。它是希腊最杰出的古建筑群,是综合性的公共建筑,为宗教政治的中心地。雅典卫城海拔156米,从雅典市的任何地方都可以看到。卫城的山顶荟萃着古希腊文明最杰出的作品,卫城还设有蓝白相间的希腊国旗,从这里可以俯瞰整个雅典城。其中,帕特农神庙耸立于雅典卫城山上的顶端。帕特农神庙又叫雅典娜神庙,建于公元前447年,是著名建筑师和雕刻家菲迪亚斯的杰作。帕特农神庙是崇奉雅典娜女神的神殿,是希腊全盛时期建筑和雕刻艺术的代表作。帕特农神庙是雅典的骄傲,也是伯里克利当政时雅典繁荣的真实反映。

希腊是哲学的发源地,苏格拉底、希罗多德、伯里克利、索福克勒斯、阿里斯托芬、欧里庇得斯、埃斯库罗斯和其他著名的哲学家、政治家和文学家或在雅典诞生或在这里居住过,所以雅典保留了很多历史遗迹和大量的艺术作品。最著名的帕特农神庙是西方文化的象征,雅典也因此被称作“西方文明的摇篮”和民主的起源地。

雅典还是奥运会起源的地方,1896年曾举办过第一届夏季奥运会,2004年第28届夏季奥林匹克运动会也在雅典举行。