
HOWDIDANCIENTGREECEGETSOGREAT.pdf
14页HOW DID ANCIENT GREECE GET SO GREAT? -------BY JESSE MCDERMOTT INTRODUCTION According to Greek mythology, Zeus feared having a son who might one day take Zeus’s place as king of the gods. To ensure his companion, Metis, did not bear a son, Zeus hatched a plan. He and Metis began playing a game of shape-changing —as gods could do. They changed into many creatures, big and small. When Metis turned intoa fly, Zeus swallowed her, and he presumed his problem was solved.古希腊为何如此辉煌-----杰西·麦克德莫特简介根据希腊神话记载,宙斯害怕有一天他的儿子将会取代他成为众神之首,所以为了确保他的妻子墨提斯不会怀上儿子,便策划了一个阴谋。
他和墨提斯开始玩一个叫做变形的游戏(众神都可以做到),当墨提斯变成一只苍蝇时,宙斯吞下了她,宙斯以为这个问题已经解决了Zeus was wrong. A while later, he began to suffer from a terrible headache. Zeus called for help to another god, who split open Zeus’s head (since Zeus was a god, this didn’t hurt). From the opening, out sprang the goddess Athena fully formed and wearing battle armor. This was one version of how Athena was born.但是宙斯错了,之后,他的头痛的很厉害,他向另一个神寻求帮助,他把宙斯的头劈开了 (因为宙斯是神,所以这并不会对他造成伤害) 一个完全成形的,身披战甲的女神雅典娜从中跳了出来这是关于雅典娜如何诞生的其中一个版本Unlike Athena, the civilization of the ancient Greeks did not spring to life fully formed and ready for battle. It took a long time, and it was not completely the work of the Greeks alone. Many important aspects of Greek civilization were learned through contact with other parts of the world. As other nations of the Near 然而,与雅典娜的诞生不同,古希腊文明并不是一开始就焕发生机,完备成熟的。
它经历了漫长的时间,而且并不单单是希腊人的功劳希腊文化的许多重要层面都来源于与外界联系,近东和非洲的国家在该地区进行贸易合作,希腊人吸收了新想法,从这次交流中,他们学到了新技术、思维方式、艺术技巧East and Africa began to trade in the region, the Greeks absorbed new ideas, and from these exchanges, they learned new technologies, ways of thinking, and artistic techniques. CHAPTER 1: GREECE IN THE DARK AGES For hundreds of years prior to 1200 B.C., a civilization existed in the area we now call Greece. The people there became prosperous by trading with other groups, including Phoenicians, who lived on the Mediterranean Sea, north of Palestine. These first Greeks also worked as soldiers for Egypt. Through trade and plunder, they amassed great wealth. Their kings built palaces so big that future generations of Greeks believed giants, called Cyclops, had built them. Around 1200 B.C., however, something happened. Greek civilization seems to have fallen apart. The great palaces were destroyed, taxes were no longer collected, and roads fell into disrepair. Gold was no longer plentiful, trade with other nations ceased and Greek craftsmen vanished. Scholars call this time the Greek Dark Ages. It lasted until around 750 B.C. 第一章 黑暗时代的希腊早在公元前 1200多年前的数百年里,在如今的希腊地区就存在着一种文明。
那里的人们通过与其它国家的人进行贸易交易而变得富有,包括住在巴勒斯坦北部地中海的腓尼基人这批最早的希腊人还当过埃及的雇佣兵通过贸易和掠夺,他们积累了大量财富,当时的国王把宫殿建造得如此之大以至于希腊人的子孙后代都以为是称作“库克罗普斯”的独眼巨人们建造的大约在公元前1200年,不幸发生了希腊文明似乎已经瓦解,这些大宫殿被破坏,赋税不再上交,道路破损,因为黄金也不再充裕,所以与其它国家的贸易都已停止,希腊工匠们都销声匿迹,学者们称这是希腊的黑暗时代这种状况一直持续到大约公元前 750年左右CHAOTER 2: TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES During the Dark Ages, trade 第二章:技术进步在黑暗时代期间,希腊与爱琴海broke down among the nations of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. After a time, however, Phoenicians began using the long- distance trading routes through the Mediterranean Sea to Greece and other nations. Another group, called the Hittites, who ruled a vast empire in Western Asia, also ventured west toward the Aegean Sea, where the Greeks lived. These groups were responsible for bringing two very important new technologies to Greece. 及地中海地区国家的贸易都停止了。
然而,过了一段时间后,腓尼基人开始使用远途贸易路线通过地中海到达希腊及其他国家另一组同样前往西方冒险,向着希腊人居住的爱琴海地区的是赫梯人,他们在西亚统治有一个庞大的帝国这些民族给希腊带来了两种非常重要的新技术The Hittites were the dominant cultural power in Western Asia for hundreds of years. Traders who brought their goods to the Mediterranean region as far as Greece and Egypt, they also were among the first people to learn to temper iron, which enabled them to create superior weapons and tools.数百年来,赫梯文化一直都是西亚的主导文化力量那些把货物带到地中海地区远至希腊和埃及的商人们,也是第一批学习炼铁的人,这使得他们能够制造出更为精良的武器和工具IRON Why was iron so important to the ancient Greeks? Until around 1200 B.C., the Greeks had depended on tin and copper, the two metals from which they made bronze—the metal from which their weapons, armor, tools, and other objects were forged. In fact, the years from 3000 – 1200 B.C. are known as the Bronze Age.炼铁为什么炼铁对于古希腊人来说如此重要?直到大约公元前1200年,希腊人依赖锡和铜两种材料,因为这两种材料可以制造青铜器,武器,装备和其它锻造物品。
事实上公元前1200年到公元 3000年就是众所周知的青铜器时代But tin and copper were expensive, as they had to be imported from far away. Further, conflicts in 但是,由于锡和铜需要从很远的地方进口,所以价格比较昂贵除此之外,各个地区间的冲突也常常使贸various regions often interrupted trading. The supply of tin began to dwindle. The Greeks could have recycled the bronze they had, but what they really needed was a new material and technology from which to make their tools and weapons. 易被迫中断锡的供应量开始日渐减少虽然希腊人能够对他们所拥有的青铜进行循环利用,但是,他们真正需要的是一种新的材料和新的技术来制造他们的工具和武器Iron ore was found in the Greeks’ own lands, as well as in the Near East, which was not so far away. As knowledge of how to work with iron spread from the Hittites to Cyprus, and then throughout Greece, the Greeks began to replace bronze with iron. Iron is a great example o。
