上句见：Day53
《哲学的故事》的第54句：第1章Plato《柏拉图》第1节The Context of Plato《柏拉图生活的时代》第1段第2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：伟大的克里特岛在其南面，公元前两千年，就是这只手，在这里开启了人类文明的大门，

解析

这句讲的是希腊的南面的Crete岛屿。
1、"South of it lies the great island of Crete, …”倒装句，正常语序是The great island of Crete lies in the south of it。倒装一来可以清晰地知道it所指代的希腊，二来可以以希腊的各个方面来展开论述。
Crete：克利特岛（位于地中海东部，属于希腊）

2、”...from which those grasping fingers captured, …” 这里的which指代的是前面的Crete。这里采用了拟人化的表达方式，指代居住在Crete的人们，grasping fingers突出其为获得、开发以及扩展早期文明所做出的贡献。
grasping：wanting money and possessions too much : greedy 在这里翻成贪婪有点不适合
Her grasping children fought over her property when she died.
the act of gripping something firmly with the hands按这个意思理解会比较恰当

3、“...in the second millennium before Christ, …” 插入语，Christ代表公元元年，指出当时文明的繁荣时期在公元前2000年。
millennium： a period of 1,000 years
The book describes the changes that have occurred in the landscape over many millennia.

4、"...the beginning of civilization and culture.”这里指的是米诺斯文明，它是希腊古典文明的前驱。
“米诺斯文明（Minoan Civilization/The Minoans）”一名来自古希腊神话中之克里特贤王米诺斯。它是欧洲最早的古代文明，也是希腊古典文明的前驱。以精美的王宫建筑、壁画及陶器、工艺品等著称于世。它是迈锡尼文明之前的青铜时代，约公元前2850年—公元前1450年。该文明的发展主要集中在克里特岛上。

整句可以简化为“South lies Crete from which fingers captured the beginning…”.

南面有伟大的克里特岛，公元前2000年，就是从这里，探索者叩响了希腊文明的大门。

说实在的，“those grasping fingers”的翻译有点困难，显然“紧紧抓住的手指”不符合汉语表达。直接说手，更显得不对的，上一句说手指的是希腊，手显然不是克里特岛出来的。若翻成“手”，是不是有点乱套了。不翻译，感觉缺失了什么。