上句见：Day55
The Story of Philosophy的第56句：第1章Plato第1节The Context of Plato第1段第4句：

If you look at a map of Europe you will observe that Greece is a skeleton-like hand stretching its crooked fingers out into the Mediterranean Sea. South of it lies the great island of Crete, from which those grasping fingers captured, in the second millennium before Christ, the beginning of civilization and culture. To the east, across the Ægean sea, lies Asia Minor, quiet and apathetic now, but throbbing, in prePlatonic days, with industry, commerce and speculation. To the west, across the Ionian, Italy stands, like a leaning tower in the sea, and Sicily and Spain, each in those days with thriving Greek colonies; and at the end, the “Pillars of Hercules” (which we call Gibraltar), that sombre portal through which not many an ancient mariner dared to pass. And on the north those still untamed and half-barbaric regions, then named Thessaly and Epirus and Macedonia, from which or through which the vigorous bands had come which fathered the geniuses of Homeric and Periclean Greece.
浙江大学版本：意大利在西边如同一座海上斜塔，与希腊隔伊奥尼亚海相望；继续往西是西西里岛和西班牙，都曾经是繁荣一时的希腊属地。最西边就是被我们称为直布罗陀海峡的“海格力斯之柱”了，过去，只有为数不多的几个人敢于取道这个阴森暗沉的口岸。

解析

这句描述了希腊的西面概况：有意大利、西西里岛、西班牙及直布罗陀海峡。
1、'To the west, across the Ionian, Italy stands, like a leaning tower in the sea, …’指意大利。西面有如海上斜塔的意大利，与希腊隔伊奥尼亚相望。前两句都是用lie这个动词，而这里用了stand，海上一座斜塔。

2、'...and Sicily and Spain, each in those days with thriving Greek colonies; …’还有西西里岛和西班牙。都曾是繁荣一时的希腊属地。这半句省略了stand。
thriving：Something that's thriving is doing very well.旺盛的；蒸蒸日上的；繁荣的
Birmingham is establishing its image as a thriving newborn European city. 伯明翰正在塑造一个繁荣、再生的欧洲城市形象。

3、'...and at the end, the “Pillars of Hercules” (which we call Gibraltar), that sombre portal through which not many an ancient mariner dared to pass.’
Hercules赫拉克勒斯：它是宙斯（Zeus）和阿尔克墨涅（Alcmene）的儿子，属于半神英雄。他以其非凡的力量和英勇的十二项劳苦（Labours of Heracles)而闻名，代表着力量和英勇。

Pillars of Hercule是古代对直布罗陀海峡两侧岩石的称呼。在神话中，赫拉克勒斯的劳苦之一是去获取赫斯珀里得斯守护的金苹果，他在完成任务的途中，为了绕过被认为是世界的尽头的地方，开辟了直布罗陀海峡。因此，海峡两侧的岩石被认为是赫拉克勒斯留下的标记，被称为“赫拉克勒斯之柱”。
Gibraltar直布罗海峡：古时被视为是世界的边缘，万丈深渊。由于海峡具有重大的战略和经济价值，早期为大西洋航海家所利用，至今仍然是经大西洋通往南欧、北非和西亚的重要导航路。
sombre： (顏色)暗淡的;(地方)灰暗的；Sombre colours and places are dark and dull.
It was a beautiful house, but it was dark and sombre and dead.
portal： formal + literary : a large door or gate to a building (such as a church)
You have surely seen this viewing portal — it's in almost every movie about astronauts and space.你肯定看过这个观看门户——几乎每一部关于宇航员和太空的电影都有它。
mariner：a sailor
Altogether he gave me the impression of a respectable master mariner who had fallen into years and poverty.整个地看来，他象是一个年事已高、景况潦倒而令人尊敬的航海家。《福尔摩斯集》

西面越过伊奥尼亚就立着意大利，犹如海上斜塔；还有西西里岛及西班牙，它们都曾是那个繁荣年代希腊的殖民地；最西面便是有着“赫拉克勒斯柱”之称的直布罗海峡，那是古代咸有水手有胆量穿越的黑色门户。