Detail from The Procession of the Trojan Horse in Troy by Domenico Tiepolo (1773), inspired by Virgil's Aeneid
Keywords:
Troy (特洛伊)
Paris (帕利斯)
Helen (海伦)
Homer (希腊诗人荷马)
Achilles (阿基里斯)
1
In modern-day Turkey, many archaeologists believe that this was once the site of the ancient city of Troy. In the 11th century BC, the mighty heroes and Greek gods fought in a decade-long battle called the Trojan War. This bloody war symbolised the age of the heroes or so said the Greek poet Homer, whose bookThe Iliad,recounted the long and bloody conflict in approximately 1200 BC.
许多考古学家相信现今的土耳其曾是古代特洛伊城邦的旧址。公元前11世纪，强大的英雄和希腊神并肩作战，经历了长达十年的特洛伊之战。这场血流成河的战争象征着英雄时代，或如希腊诗人荷马约公元前1200年在《伊利亚特》书中所记载的“漫长血腥冲突”。
Map of the Troad, including the site of Troy
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A Trojan Prince named Paris visited Greece. There he met Helen, said to be the most beautiful woman in the world and the wife of Menelaus the king of Sparta. Paris then eloped with Helen, sweeping her off to Troy but King Menelaus wanted her back. Thus began the long and infamous Trojan War. Homer said it took ten years and over a thousand Greek ships to defeat Troy. Finally, the clever ruse of the Trojan horse enabled the Greeks to sack the city.
The Abduction of Helen (1530–39) by Francesco Primaticcio, with Aphrodite directing
特洛伊王子Paris出访希腊，在那里遇到美艳绝伦的女子Helen。彼时，Helen已是斯巴达国王Menelaus的妻子。Paris带Helen私奔、把她掠到特洛伊，与此同时，Menelaus想把Helen抢回来。于是，开始了这场漫长而声名狼藉的特洛伊战争。荷马记载到：为了击败特洛伊，上千艘战船共花了十年时间。最终，希腊人用特洛伊木马的诡计攻陷并洗劫了整座城邦。
The Burning of Troy (1759/62), oil painting by Johann Georg Trautmann
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But were the heroes of the Trojan War such as Nestor, Ajax and Achilles real historical figures? Or was the story merely inspired fiction? Historians debated whether the Trojan War occurred at all. Yet, one amateur archaeologist devoted his life to try to prove the story true. His name was Heinrich Schliemann, a self-made millionaire, who in 1875 excavated a site he presumed to be Troy. There, he found palace walls and gilded tombs of Bronze Age Kings. He felt sure that they were the remains of the mighty city Homer had written about.
Triumphant Achilles dragging Hector's body around Troy, from a panoramic fresco of the Achilleion
Ajax and Achilles playing a board game (Black-figure Attic lekythos, c. 500 BC)
然而特洛伊战争中的英雄人物Nestor、Ajax和Achilles是真实存在吗，或着，这些故事仅仅是得自富有灵感的虚构故事？历史学家们曾就“特洛伊战争是否发生过”展开过激烈的讨论。所幸，一位毕生致力研究的业余考古学家证明了故事的真实性，他就是白手起家的百万富翁Heinrich Schliemann。他曾于1875年挖掘出一处他认为的特洛伊遗址。在那里，他找到了青铜器时代国王的宫殿城墙和镀金墓穴。他确信那就是荷马笔下强大城池的遗址。
Walls of Troy, Hisarlik, Turkey
“I believe there probably was a Trojan War. There's a great deal of evidence that the city of Troy was sacked numerous times. In fact, it’s staggering how many times that city was was sacked and destroyed by presumably invading armies and fires over a period of centuries, and to which strata of Troy, Homer’s Iliad pertains, I don't think anyone can ever know.”
“我相信特洛伊战争曾真实发生过，有大量证据证明特洛伊城曾被洗劫过数次。事实上，数世纪以来，入侵军队和战火洗劫、摧毁城池的次数，令人难以置信。至于荷马所著《伊利亚特》中提到的特洛伊地层，我个人觉得不可能有人知道。”
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The city of Troy and the heroes have clashed in the legendary Trojan War are among the most haunting symbols of the ancient world. Although for most ancient Greeks, their gods and heroes were a fact of life. There are a few who questioned their existence.
传奇色彩的特洛伊战争中展现了特洛伊城与英雄间的冲突，他们是最难忘的古代世界象征。尽管大多数古希腊人把神和英雄都当作了生活现实，依旧有少数人质疑神和英雄的存在。
“Heraclitus is another philosopher around that time, said the gods lie and steal and commit adultery. Who can believe in gods like these?”
“Heraclitus是当时的一位哲学家，他曾说这些神撒谎、行窃、通奸，谁能信仰这样的神？”
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As Christianity swept through the Mediterranean, the mighty and mischievous Greek gods and heroes replaced by other divinities. Yet in some form, the gods of ancient Greece still exists today.
“随着基督教席卷地中海，其他神灵取代了强大、爱恶作剧的希腊神和英雄。然而某种形式上，这些古代希腊众神依旧现存至今。”
“The gods continue to exist in one sense that we're still talking about them, we read about them, we hear about them, particularly in Greece and Italy. We can find cults of various saints within Christianity that seem to be rooted in the very same ancient places, where there used to be worship of ancient deities.”
“这些神某种意义上依旧存活，特别在希腊和意大利，我们至今还会谈论、阅读、听闻到他们。我们可以在基督教供奉圣徒的仪式里，找到古代遗址祭祀仪式的影子。”
The gods who were believed to have lived here 3,000 years ago, still have the power to haunt the modern imagination, a tribute to the magnetic draw of the past, which beckons us in search of history.
被认为在这儿居住了长达3000年之久的众神，依旧经常出现在现代想象世界中，致敬让人遐想的过往，指引我们去探寻历史。
Source from: Youtube
Dictated by: Nieve
Translated by: Nieve
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