希腊被说成是西方文明的发源地，因为古代希腊有过高度发达的文化；而且许多文明思想和新发现，都是由希腊传遍全欧洲的。
不好译文：Greece was said to be the originating place of Western civilization, because the ancient Greece had had a highly developed culture and from Greece were many civilized ideas and new discoveries spread to all Europe.
较好译文：Greece is said to be the home of Western civilization, because ancientGreece had a highly developed culture and it was from here that many civilized ideas and new discoveries spread throughout Europe.
讨论：
1． Greece was said…应改为Greece is said…，因为希腊不但是过去被说成是西方文明的发源地，现在也是这样说的；
2． “发源地”有一个比较地道的表达：the home of sth.
2.1 the place where something was first discovered, made, or developed 某事物的发祥地，某事物的发源地
America is the home of baseball. 美国是棒球的发源地。
3． 古代希腊，其实谷歌上面有古希腊 “Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 13th–9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity (c. 600 AD).”因此，可以断定“古希腊”是个专有名词，这里说的“古代希腊”，时间范围应比“古希腊”大，因此不适合套用“Ancient Greece”。
4． from Greece were...是一个倒装强调句，在这里用一个强调结构是对的，但是在because从句中使用强调结构是比较少见的，可以改为：it was from here that...（其一，here代替了Greece，避免重复；其二，were spread 改成了主动的spread，文明的传播并不是被动的）。
5． “spread to all Europe”中的”to”应改为”throughout”。原因是to的意思是指从外部来到，比如说从亚洲传到欧洲，那就用to Europe，但希腊是在欧洲内部，所以不应该用”to”，而是改成”throughout”
6． 文明和文化：civilization，culture和civilized这些用词恰当。
摘自《通过翻译学英语》实例24（经整理）
译海拾珠
发源地：the home of sth.
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