遠古的失落之城

Pompeii：The Buried City

龐貝：被掩埋的城市

In the blink[眨眼] of an eye， the once busy city of Pompeii， Italy， was turned into ash-covered ruins， forever frozen in time. It was a normal day in the year 79 A.D. for the residents[居民] of Pompeii. Suddenly， Mount Vesuvius erupted[爆發(fā)]， covering the city in ashes and other debris[碎片，殘骸]. Many residents were able to escape before the volcanic[火山的] waste landed. However， those 2，000 people who didnt escape in time were trapped under the ashes.

The ruins of Pompeii werent disturbed until they were discovered in 1748 and archaeologists[考古學家] began the excavation[挖掘] process[過程]. Archaeologists never expected the near-perfect preservation of the buildings and objects that had been buried for more than 1，500 years. They were even able to create molds[模子] of the people trapped underneath the debris. Though their bodies had long since turned to dust， the spaces where they were trapped still remained. Once filled with plaster[石膏]， the molds allowed one to see the exact position the person was in when he or she died.

一眨眼的工夫，龐貝這座曾經繁華的意大利城市，就化為廢墟，被灰燼覆蓋，永遠定格在時間深處。對于龐貝居民而言，那只是公元79年普普通通的一天。突然，維蘇威火山爆發(fā)，火山灰和其他碎屑覆蓋了整座城市。許多居民都在火山噴發(fā)出來的廢物降落之前成功逃離，但還有2000人未能及時逃生，被困在火山灰下。

此后龐貝古城的遺址一直未受打擾，直到1748年才被人重新發(fā)現，隨后考古學家開始對其進行挖掘。他們沒有料到，這些已被掩埋了一千五百多年的建筑和物品，竟然保存得近乎完美。他們甚至還能制作出被困廢墟下遇難者的模型。雖然遇難者的遺體早已化為塵土，但他們被困在那里時留下的空穴卻保存了下來。給這些空穴注入石膏而制作出來的模型，可以讓我們清楚看到這個人在遇難那一刻的姿態(tài)。

El Dorado：The lmaginary City

埃爾多拉多（黃金城）：想象中的城市

The pursuit[尋求] of wealth has long encouraged treasure-seekers to play the lottery[彩票] and search for pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. However， few legends make people go as crazy as that of El Dorado， the famed （and almost definitely imaginary[想象的]） city of riches that has been hunted by explorers for centuries.

The origin[起源] of El Dorado， which is Spanish for“The Gilded[鍍金的] One，” dates back to the 16th or 17th century， when European explorers in South America first heard tales about a wealthy American Indian chief who was covered in gold dust. The city was said to be full of precious[寶貴的] gems[寶石] and gold. Thousands of explorers have tried to locate[找到位置] this city of riches， but many of them have died in the process.

One of the most famous cases involves[涉及] Percy Harrison Fawcett， a British explorer who set out in 1925 to find El Dorado， which he named the City of Z. Fawcett and his team entered the jungles of the Amazon， never to be heard from again. Still more explorers have tried to find Fawcetts group but have repeatedly turned up dead or empty-handed. Given this track record[記錄]， even Indiana Jones注 might encourage El Dorado seekers to buy a lottery ticket instead of risking their lives.

對財富的追求一直鼓舞著尋寶者們孜孜不倦地賭運氣、尋找藏在彩虹盡頭的一桶桶黃金。但很少有哪個傳說像埃爾多拉多那樣讓人們如此瘋狂——數百年來，無數探險家們一直在尋找這座據說（幾乎可以肯定是虛構的）埋藏著巨額財富的城市。

“埃爾多拉多”在西班牙語中意為“鍍過金的”，其歷史可以追溯到16或17世紀。當時，歐洲的探險家在南美洲第一次聽到關于一個渾身覆蓋著金粉的富有美洲印第安酋長的故事。據說這座城市到處都是珍貴的黃金寶石。成千上萬的探險家都試圖找到這座財富之城，但很多人都在尋找的過程中喪命。

其中一個最著名的例子是珀西·哈里森·福西特。1925年，這位英國探險家出發(fā)尋找黃金城，他把這座城市叫做Z城。福西特和他的探險隊進入亞馬遜河叢林后就音訊全無。其他探險家試圖尋找福西特那隊人，但每次不是丟掉性命就是空手而回。鑒于這種歷史記錄，可能連印第安納·瓊斯都會勸那些想尋找黃金城的人還是去買彩票算了，不要拿生命去冒險。

Troy：the Legendary City

特洛伊：傳說中的城市

Few epic[史詩] tales are studied more than The Odyssey or The Iliad， which was written by Homer around 800 B.C. and described the Trojan War. The city of Troy was located in what is now modern-day Turkey. Homers epic poems describe how Helen， the beautiful wife of Spartas King Menelaus， was said to have run off with a Trojan prince named Paris. This affair[風流韻事]， according to legend， caused the Trojan War. Menelaus launched a huge attack against Troy， resulting in the war that may have involved the Trojan Horse， Achilles and a number of other famous tales.

With a history so rooted[（使）扎根] in legend， its no wonder that historians were unsure whether Troy actually existed. Its evident[顯然的] that Troy was abandoned[遺棄] following the Trojan War， from 1100 to 700 B.C. It was then resettled[重新定居] before it was taken by the Romans in 85 B.C. Soon after， the civilization died out and was left in ruins until its discovery in 1822. Archaeologists have since found many layers of cities built on top of each other. The stone walls and fortresses in the sixth and seventh oldest layers are now believed to be the Troy described in Homers epics， and the legend of the Trojan War is now widely accepted， although its cause is still uncertain.

由荷馬在大約公元前800年創(chuàng)作的《奧德賽》和《伊利亞特》是少數被研究最多的史詩，這兩部作品講述了特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭的故事。特洛伊城位于今天的土耳其。荷馬在史詩里描述了斯巴達國王墨涅拉俄斯美麗的妻子海倫與特洛伊王子帕里斯私奔的故事。根據傳說，就是這件事引發(fā)了特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭。墨涅拉俄斯發(fā)動了對特洛伊的猛攻。特洛伊木馬、阿喀琉斯和其他一些有名的故事都與這場戰(zhàn)爭有關。

這段歷史與傳說的關系如此密切，也難怪歷史學家們難以確定特洛伊是否真的存在。但顯而易見的是，在特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭之后，從公元前1100年至公元前700年間，特洛伊城都處于被遺棄的狀態(tài)。該城重建之后，于公元前85年又落入羅馬人之手。不久，這個文明覆滅，只留下一片廢墟，直到1822年才重見天日。此后，考古學家發(fā)現遺址包含了許多層彼此層疊的城市。人們相信，目前所發(fā)現的最古老的第六和第七層石墻和堡壘，就是荷馬史詩中所描述的特洛伊城。而特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭的傳說如今已被廣泛接受，雖然其起因仍是未解之謎。

Atlantis：The Utopian City

亞特蘭蒂斯：烏托邦的城市

According to the Greek philosopher[哲學家] Plato， Atlantis was a healthy society， filled with wealthy and happy people. While Platos colorful descriptions of Atlantis are widely believed to be fictional[虛構的]， some historians think the city really existed. Plato noted that the island of Atlantis disappeared 9，000 years before he wrote about it， but some scholars think this number was incorrect[錯誤的] because 900 seems more possible. Some archaeologists believe that Atlantis was located in the Greek Islands and was sunk by a volcanic eruption. Still others think its location is underwater near the Caribbean， Ireland， South America or even Antarctica.

Whether or not Atlantis actually existed， the mere idea of this utopian city has led to the creation of numerous[無數的] books， movies and documentaries[紀錄片]， hoping to solve the mystery[神秘的事物] of its disappearance.

據希臘哲學家柏拉圖所說，亞特蘭蒂斯是一個運作良好的社會，到處是富裕和幸福的人。雖然人們普遍認為柏拉圖對亞特蘭蒂斯豐富多彩的描繪只是虛構，但一些歷史學家認為這座城市確實存在。柏拉圖說，亞特蘭蒂斯島在他寫它前的九千年前就已經消失，但也有學者認為這個數字并不準確，九百年似乎比較有可能。有些考古學家認為亞特蘭蒂斯位于希臘群島，因火山噴發(fā)而沉入水底。還有些人認為它位于加勒比海、愛爾蘭、南美洲甚至南極洲的水下。

不管亞特蘭蒂斯是否真實存在，單是關于這座烏托邦城市的概念，就已經激發(fā)人們創(chuàng)作了無數相關的書籍、電影和紀錄片，以期解開它的消失之謎。

Rnow More

荷馬（約前9世紀——前8世紀），相傳為古希臘的游吟詩人，生于小亞細亞，失明，創(chuàng)作了史詩《伊利亞特》和《奧德賽》，兩者統(tǒng)稱《荷馬史詩》。歷史上究竟有無荷馬這個人？這兩部史詩真是他寫的嗎？這些問題在西方學術界爭論已久。所以也有人認為他是傳說中被構造出來的人物。而關于《荷馬史詩》，大多數學者認為是當時經過幾個世紀口頭流傳的詩作的結晶。

《伊利亞特》的故事背景設在特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭，這是一場希臘城邦之間的沖突，軍隊對特洛伊城圍困了十年之久，故事講述了國王阿伽門農與英雄阿喀琉斯之間的爭執(zhí)。

《奧德賽》延續(xù)了《伊利亞特》的故事情節(jié)，主要講述了希臘英雄奧德修斯在特洛伊陷落后返鄉(xiāng)的故事。十年特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭結束后，奧德修斯又漂泊了十年才回到了故鄉(xiāng)伊薩卡。人們認為他已經死去，而他的妻子珀涅羅珀和兒子忒勒瑪科斯必須面對一群放肆的求婚者，這些人相互競爭，以求與珀涅羅珀成婚。

柏拉圖（約公元前427—前347）是著名的古希臘哲學家，雅典人，創(chuàng)辦了著名的雅典學院，他的著作大多以對話錄形式記錄。柏拉圖是蘇格拉底的學生，也是亞里士多德的老師，他們三人被認為是西方哲學的奠基者，史稱“西方三圣賢”。

注：印第安納·瓊斯是《奪寶奇兵》系列電影的主角，其典型形象特征為哈里森·福特所扮演的頭戴牛仔帽、腰掛長鞭的探險家裝扮。