一颗“献给世界上最美的女人”的金苹果和一位被诱拐的貌美女子居然引发了一场旷日持久的战争?抑或这两者只是掩人耳目的烟雾弹,为了掩盖其背后隐藏着的“不足为世人道”的秘密?
The Anger of the Gods 天神的愤怒
Laomedon was the son of Ilus and became king of Troy after his father's death. Laomedon was known for his arrogance and impiety1) and as one who refused to honor his promises.
Poseidon and Apollo, being punished for rebelling2) against Zeus, had to work for a mortal for one year. So the two disguised3) themselves as builders, and were hired by Laomedon to build the walls of Troy. Poseidon and Apollo wanted only the vine of gold as payment for their work. Laomedon readily4) agreed.
The walls built by Poseidon and Apollo were impregnable5). After the gods finished building the wall, Laomedon refused to pay the agreed wage for their services. Furious, Apollo caused a plague6) within the city, while Poseidon sent a sea-monster to ravage7) the Trojan countryside. Laomedon then ordered them to be expelled from the city and Apollo and Poseidon vowed revenge.
Later, Priam, the son of Laomedon, ascended8) to the throne. His wife had a strange dream before she gave birth to their second son. She dreamed that she gave birth to a torch, which burnt Troy to ashes. A seer9) interpreted this dream as a sign that the boy would bring destruction to the city. Therefore, Laomedon ordered the baby prince to be taken by a shepherd and abandoned on Mount Ida10).
The baby prince survived by suckling11) from a she bear, and nine days later, when the shepherd came back, he decided to raise him as his own son instead of letting him die. He named the boy Paris.
Paris later grew up to be a handsome and strong shepherd. The lad12) was later chosen by Zeus to make the famous judgment of the golden apple. This apple was thrown into a banquet13) on Mount Olympus by Eris, the goddess of strife14), who was jealous that she had not been invited. It was marked as a gift for "the most beautiful one". Several goddesses argued over who was the most beautiful. Paris was tasked with choosing who the most beautiful was. He picked Aphrodite, thus angering Athena and Hera. Being the prince of Troy, Paris turned these powerful gods against his city.
拉俄墨冬是伊洛斯的儿子,他父亲死后,他继承父位成了特洛伊国王。拉俄墨冬以傲慢自大、对神不敬以及拒不兑现承诺而著称。
波塞冬和阿波罗因为反抗宙斯而受罚为一位凡人做工一年。所以他们化身成建筑工匠,受拉俄墨冬雇用建造特洛伊城墙。波塞冬和阿波罗仅仅要一根金丝作为他们工作的报酬。拉俄墨冬欣然应允。
波塞冬和阿波罗建造的城墙坚不可摧。但是当两位神完工后,拉俄墨冬却拒绝付给他们应得的工钱。愤怒的阿波罗在城中引发了一场瘟疫,而波塞冬则招来一只海妖,在特洛伊乡里胡作非为。拉俄墨冬于是令人将阿波罗和波塞冬驱逐出境,他们两人发誓要进行报复。
不久之后,拉俄墨冬之子普里阿摩斯继承了王位。他的妻子在生第二个王子前做了一个奇怪的梦,梦见自己生出了一个火炬,火炬把特洛伊城燃烧成了灰烬。一位先知阐释说,这个梦标志着即将诞生的这个男孩将为这座城市带来毁灭。因此,拉俄墨冬命令一位牧羊人将小王子带走并弃于艾达山下。
小王子靠从一只母熊那里吸食乳汁活了下来,九天之后,当牧羊人回来的时候,他决定将小王子视若己出、抚养成人,不让他死去,并给他起名帕里斯。
帕里斯后来长成了一位英俊健壮的牧羊人。后来宙斯挑选这个年轻人作出了一个著名的金苹果的判决。不和女神厄里斯因为嫉恨自己没有受邀参加在奥林匹斯山上举行的宴会,于是将一枚金苹果扔在了宴会上。这枚金苹果是献给“世界上最美的女人”的礼物。众女神对于谁才是最美的女人争论不休。帕里斯受命决定谁是最漂亮的女人。他选择了阿佛洛狄忒,却因此引起了雅典娜和赫拉的不满。而帕里斯又是特洛伊城的王子,于是这些威力强大的神便将矛头指向了他的城市。
Helen of Troy 特洛伊的海伦 
Helen of Troy, the daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta, would become the cause of the epic Trojan War that lasted more than ten years. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, and Aphrodite promised15) her to Paris as a bribe16) to choose her as the most beautiful woman.
When Helen was ripe17) to marry, many kings and princes from around the world came to seek her hand, bringing rich gifts with them. Finally, Helen's father Tyndareus had to make a decision, but he was afraid to select a husband for his daughter, or send any of the suitors18) away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel.
Odysseus, the future military leader of the Trojan War, was one of the suitors, but had brought no gifts because he believed he had little chance to win the contest. He thus promised to solve the problem on the condition that the king in turn would support him in his courting of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should quarrel with him.
After the suitors had sworn not to retaliate19), Menelaus20), was chosen by Helen herself to be her husband. Helen had actually mistaken Agamemnon21), the future Greek commander-in-chief of the Trojan War, for his brother Menelaus. However, Agamemnon didn't take advantage of his brother and told them the truth that he was just a representative. Therefore, Helen later married Menelaus and not Agamemnon. Menelaus became the king of Sparta after Tyndareus abdicated22), and Agamemnon eventually came to rule Mycenae23) and became the most powerful prince in Greece.
But the marriage of Helen and Menelaus was doomed to fail, as Helen had been promised to Paris by Aphrodite. Paris came to Sparta, and when he saw Helen, he indeed fell in love with her. Paris raided24) Menelaus's house and kidnapped Helen, likely with her consent25) since Aphrodite made her fall in love with paris. Their elopement26) summoned27) the warships of Greece, commanded by all of Helen's suitors who had vowed to defend Menelaus's marriage. Helen's abduction28) became the righteous29) and immediate cause of the Trojan War, which consumed30) the lives of Greece's warriors, thus ending the age of heroes.
斯巴达国王廷达瑞俄斯的女儿特洛伊的海伦就成了这场持续了十年之久的大规模战争的导火索。她是世界上最漂亮的女人,阿佛洛狄忒为了贿赂帕里斯选自己成为最漂亮的女 人,把她许配给了帕里斯。
海伦到了适婚年龄时,世界各地的国王、王子争相前来,带着丰厚的礼品,希望赢得她的青睐。最终,海伦的父亲廷达瑞俄斯不得不作出决定,但是他不敢为女儿择婿,也不敢把任何追求者撵走,因为他怕得罪他们,引起争端。
未来特洛伊战争的军队领导人奥德修斯也是追求者之一,但是他没带礼物,因为他觉得自己赢得竞争的机会十分渺茫 。他因此承诺说他能解决这个问题,但作为交换条件,国王要支持他赢得伊卡里俄斯的女儿珀涅罗珀的芳心。廷达瑞俄斯欣然应允。奥德修斯要求所有的追求者在国王作出决定之前庄严地发誓:无论谁获选,其他人都要捍卫中选者,反对任何与之争吵的人。
追求者们发誓不报复后,海伦亲自选择了梅内莱厄斯作为自己的丈夫。但事实上,海伦看到的那个人实际是梅内莱厄斯的兄弟阿伽门农,后来特洛伊战争中希腊军队的主帅。但是阿伽门农没有占自己兄弟的便宜,他将真相告诉了人们:他只是代替他的兄弟来竞争的。因此,海伦日后还是嫁给了梅内莱厄斯,而不是阿伽门农。廷达瑞俄斯退位后,梅内莱厄斯继承王位成了斯巴达国王,而阿伽门农最终统治了迈锡尼,成了希腊最强大的王子。
然而海伦和梅内莱厄斯的婚姻注定了其不幸的结局,因为海伦之前已经被阿佛洛狄忒许配给了帕里斯。帕里斯出使斯巴达时,看到海伦后便一见钟情。帕里斯冲进梅内莱厄斯家,绑架了海伦,而海伦也似乎默许了他的这一做法,因为阿佛洛狄忒早已令她爱上了帕里斯。他们的私奔使得当时希腊所有的战船都召集到了一起,这些战船由当时海伦的追求者、曾经发誓守护梅内莱厄斯婚姻的人指挥。海伦遭诱拐就成了特洛伊战争的直接起因。这场战争吞噬了所有希腊武士的生命,也因此结束了英雄的时代。
词汇学习
1. Paris (帕里斯)。很多同学容易把这个词与法国的首都巴黎混作一谈,并因此认为巴黎得名与帕里斯有关。这完全是个误会,巴黎得名于其城里的居民,他们是高卢部落帕里斯的后裔,即巴黎因部落而得名。
文化链接
1. TROJANWALL (木马防火墙)。很多人因为知道Trojan.exe在电脑中是病毒程序,所以看到包含这个词的名称就以为是木马,但实际上TROJANWALL.exe是Windows木马清道夫的木马防火墙软件相关程序,它背后的文化内涵是:该程序就像“特洛伊城墙”那样坚不可摧,防毒效果强大。但实际使用中是否如此,就仁者见仁智者见智了。
2. Treasure of Priam (普里阿摩斯宝藏,也叫特洛伊宝藏)。探险家、考古学家施里曼凭着荷马史诗的指点,不仅证明了希腊人用木马计攻陷特洛伊城是历史事实,挖掘出埋没两千多年的特洛伊城遗址,找到了“普里阿摩斯宝藏”,而且还在伯罗奔尼撒半岛的一条山谷发现了迈锡尼王阿伽门农的坟墓,打开了埋藏三千年之久的地下宝库,由此揭开了世界考古史上最为辉煌的一页 。但也有学者认为,这些宝藏只是一个特洛伊神话的爱好者一厢情愿的定性,实际和特洛伊城无关。
3. Helen of Troy (特洛伊的海伦)。此成语类似于现如今我们所说的“红颜祸水”,但是史学家一般认为古代部落战争实际都是利益的争夺,和女人关系不大,女人只是提供了一个看上去合理的借口而已。所谓“特洛伊的海伦”,实质上是财富和商业霸权的化身。中国历史上也有过“妲己亡商”、“西施沼吴”等传说,以及唐明皇因宠幸杨贵妃而招致“安史之乱”,吴三桂“冲冠一怒为红颜”等说法。汉语中有个成语叫“倾国倾城”(语出《汉书·外戚传》:一顾倾人城,再顾倾人国),这里的“倾”字一语双关,既可指美艳非凡、令人倾倒,也可指倾覆邦国,其含义与Helen of Troy十分近似。
1. impiety [Im5paIEtI] n. 不虔诚,不敬神
2. rebel [rI5bel] vi. 反叛,造反;武力反抗
3. disguise [dIs5^aIz] vt. 假扮,化装
4. readily [5redIlI] adv. 乐意地
5. impregnable [Im5pre^nEbl] adj. (城堡等)攻不破的;固若金汤的;不能征服的
6. plague [pleI^] n. 瘟疫;鼠疫
7. ravage [5rAvIdV] vt. 使荒芜;彻底毁灭,毁坏,蹂躏;劫掠
8. ascend [E5send] vi. (渐渐)上升,升高
9. seer [sIE(r)] n. 预言家;先知;有异常洞察力的人
10. Mount Ida: 艾达峰,克里特岛中部一山峰。它是该岛的最高点,在古代它与人们对宙斯的崇拜有密切的联系。
11. suckle [5sQkl] vi. 吸奶
12. lad [lAd] n. 男孩,少年;青年男子,小伙子
13. banquet [5bANkwIt] n. 宴会;盛宴,筵席
14. strife [straIf] n. 冲突;争吵;争斗
15. promise [5prCmIs] vt. [常用被动语态] <古> 把(某人)许配(给)。常和介词to连用。
16. bribe [braIb] n. 贿赂,用来买通别人的钱财(或物品、好处等)
17. ripe [raIp] adj. 作好充分准备的;适龄的。常和介词for连用。
18. suitor [5sju:tE(r)] n. 求婚者
19. retaliate [rI5tAlIeIt] vi. 报复,回报;以牙还牙
20. Menelaus [7menI5leIEs] n. 【希神】梅内莱厄斯(斯巴达国王,美人Helen之夫,Agamemnon之弟,请求其兄出兵帮助从Paris手中夺回被劫之Helen)
21. Agamemnon [7A^E5memnEn] n. 【希神】阿伽门农(特洛伊战争中的希腊联军统帅)
22. abdicate [5AbdIkeIt] vi. 正式放弃权力(或责任等);退位;辞职
23. Mycenae [maI5si:ni:] n. 迈锡尼(希腊南部古城)
24. raid [reId] vt. (警察等)突入⋯⋯查抄(或搜捕)
25. consent [kEn5sent] n. 同意;赞同,准许
26. elopement [I5lEupmEnt] n. 潜逃,私奔
27. summon [5sQmEn] vt. 召集
28. abduction [Ab5dQkFEn] n. 诱拐;劫持;绑架
29. righteous [5raItFEs] adj. 正义的;正当的
30. consume [kEn5sju:m] vt. 毁灭