侯冬意

◆Platos Atlantis

The mythical island of Atlantis has often been described in creative works such as films， books and paintings. Is it real？

The lost city of Atlantis is a fictional1 island mentioned in Platos works Timaeus and Critias. It represents the enemys naval2 power against “Ancient Athens”.

At the end of the story， there occur portentous3 earthquakes and floods， and their warriors are swallowed up by the earth， and the island of Atlantis in like manner is swallowed up by the sea and vanishes4. The ocean at that spot has become impassable and unsearchable.

Eventually， Atlantis famously falls out of favor with the gods and submerges5 into the Atlantic Ocean.

◆The lost city of Atlantis

Despite its minor6 importance in Platos work， the Atlantis story has had a considerable impact on literature7. The allegorical8 aspect of Atlantis was taken up in utopian9 works of several Renaissance10 writers， such as Bacons New Atlantis and Mores Utopia.

Platos vague11 indications12 of the time of the events—more than 9，000 years before his day， and the so-called location of Atlantis—beyond the Pillars of Hercules， an area at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar， has led to much speculation13. Atlantis has become a byword for all supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilizations14 and continues to inspire modern works， from comic books to films.

◆But is Atlantis real？

Many teams of scientist have tried to find the location of the lost city of Atlantis in vain. Many of the proposed15 sites share some of the characteristics of the Atlantis story （water， catastrophic16 end， time period）， but none has been proved to be a true Atlantis.

◆柏拉圖的亞特蘭蒂斯

在電影、書籍和繪畫等作品中，常常有對(duì)神話中的亞特蘭蒂斯島的描繪。它是真的嗎？

失落之城亞特蘭蒂斯是柏拉圖的著作《蒂邁歐》和《克里底亞篇》中提到的一個(gè)虛構(gòu)的島嶼，它代表了與“古雅典”敵對(duì)的海上力量。

在故事的結(jié)尾，發(fā)生了可怕的地震和洪水，他們的戰(zhàn)士全都被大地吞沒了，而亞特蘭蒂斯島同樣也被大海吞沒了，蹤影全無。那個(gè)地方的海洋也變得不可逾越，神秘莫測(cè)。

最終，亞特蘭蒂斯以失去了眾神的青睞，并沉入大西洋而聞名。

◆失落之城亞特蘭蒂斯

盡管亞特蘭蒂斯的故事在柏拉圖的作品中并不重要，但它對(duì)文學(xué)產(chǎn)生了相當(dāng)大的影響。亞特蘭蒂斯的寓言性在一些文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期的作家的烏托邦式的作品中有所體現(xiàn)，如培根的《新亞特蘭蒂斯》和莫爾的《烏托邦》。

柏拉圖模糊地指出了事件發(fā)生的時(shí)間——在他所處時(shí)代的九千多年前，以及亞特蘭蒂斯所謂的位置——赫拉克勒斯之柱外，即直布羅陀海峽入口處的一個(gè)區(qū)域，導(dǎo)致了許多猜測(cè)。亞特蘭蒂斯已經(jīng)成為所有先進(jìn)史前失落文明的代名詞，并繼續(xù)給從漫畫書到電影的當(dāng)代作品帶來靈感。

◆但亞特蘭蒂斯是真的嗎？

許多科學(xué)家小組試圖找到亞特蘭蒂斯這座失落的城市的位置，但卻徒勞無功。人們提出的許多地點(diǎn)都有亞特蘭蒂斯故事的一些特點(diǎn)（水，災(zāi)難性的結(jié)局，時(shí)間段），但沒有一個(gè)被證明是真正的亞特蘭蒂斯。

（英語原文選自：www.myenglishpages.com）

【Notes】

1. fictional [■] adj. 虛構(gòu)的;小說的

2. naval [■] adj. 海軍的

3. portentous [■] adj. 不祥的;令人驚訝的

4. vanish [■] vi. 消失;突然不見

5. submerge [■] vi. 淹沒;湮沒

6. minor [■] adj. 次要的;較小的

7. literature [■] n. 文學(xué)

8. allegorical [■] adj. 諷喻的;寓言的

9. utopian [■] adj. 烏托邦的;空想的

10. Renaissance [■] n. 文藝復(fù)興

11. vague [■] adj. 模糊的;不明確的

12. indication [■] n. 指出;跡象

13. speculation [■] n. 推測(cè);思索

14. civilization [■] n. 文明;文化

15. proposed [■] adj. 被提議的，建議的

16. catastrophic [■] adj. 悲慘的;災(zāi)難性的，毀滅性的