2015-06-29

【Aiden in English】

        To be honest, I don’t know too much about the god of Apollo and the goddess of Artemis. Sure, they’re one of the 12 Olympians in Greek Mythology. Well, as for the details, let’s just say I learned a lot on the island of Delos in Greece.

        Delos is an island 7.0 kilometers/4.3 miles long and 2.5 km/1.6 miles wide. Like the town of Mykonos, everything had to be white since the heat was unbearable. Only thing is that all the buildings are in ruins derived from the 3rd millennium B.C to the paleochristian era. The archaeological site was basically walls and pillars with no roof. They left just enough to see that there was a sacred site that the pilgrims paid tribute to and the square houses people lived in as well. You see, Delos was a very populated island as a prosperous trading port at the time. Markets flourished in the center. Merchants came and went. People all over the Mediterranean came here. This place was also arguably the first multicultural city. Oddly, they had the same religion. 

        Delos was a Cyclades island dedicated to Apollo and Artemis. The legend says that Zeus fell in love to a Titaness Leto and his wife Hera was angry. She cursed the baby that not a single person in Greece would accept it. What actually happened was that two children came: Apollo and Artemis, brother and sister. As I said, don’t ask for details since, well, I don’t know much. But somehow, people came to this island and settled down here. They celebrated the god of Sun in a very … ah … fun way, because Apollo was the god of music that sounded wonderful for the parties the people participated. The other god these people celebrated was the opposite of Apollo, but not Artemis. Dionysus was the god of wine. He originated from an Indian god of wine, and the Greeks took him for their own, considering that everyone, even 5,000 years ago, absolutely loved alcohol. And what I must say, I would love to be a part of that religion, when all the other Islam, Christian, Jewish, etc., the people following Dionysus are the partiers. I am saying the true partiers! As a prayer, people got drunk. Yep, they drank their bladders full of wine, and danced into the night until they were knocked out cold. The party was usually followed by a few, uh, an inside-out stomach. 

        The island of Delos has one of Greece’s most famous archaeological sites filled the history of gods, and the people really prayed their stomachs out to one of them. But for me now, it’s a learning opportunity.

【红霞译文】

        坦率地说，我对阿波罗太阳神和阿尔特弥斯月亮女神了解不多，没错，他们是希腊神话十二个奥斯匹克神中的两位，至于详细情节，我总算在出游希腊提洛岛之后才加深了认识。

        提洛岛全长7.0公里／4.3英里，总宽2.5公里／1.6英里。与米科诺斯岛相似，由于天气热得够呛，因此所有建筑物一律被涂成白色；不同的是，这个从公元前3000年伊始横贯古基督教时代的历史名城如今早已变成了废墟，所谓考古遗址无非是一堆上无片瓦下无卓椎的残垣断壁，唯有朝圣者祭拜之地和平衣百姓生活场所仍然依稀可见，作为当时繁荣兴旺的贸易港口，提洛岛曾一度人口稠密，城中市场热闹非凡，小商小贩们忙里忙外，地中海人纷纷从四面八方云集于此，提洛岛堪称史上第一个多元化城市，奇怪的是所有人共有同样的宗教信仰。

        提洛岛是献给阿波罗和阿尔特弥斯的基克拉泽斯海岛，传说中宙斯因爱上提坦女神勒托而惹怒了他的夫人赫拉，她发誓要让勒托在希腊找不任何地方生孩子，没想到阿波罗和阿尔特弥斯兄妹俩却先后降生在提洛岛上。我有言在先，千万莫问我到底怎么回事，因为我自己也不太清楚，无论如何，移民们来到提洛岛并定居了下来。大家载歌载舞，以极其热烈的形式颂扬太阳神，主要因为阿波罗掌管音乐，而音乐带给聚会无限欢乐。同时，百姓也会庆祝另一位神，不是月神，而是酒神狄俄尼索斯。狄俄尼索斯最早源于印度，希腊人毫无保留地将他融入自己的文化之中，即使在五千年前的过去，古人照样嗜好喝酒。鉴于所有追随酒神的回教徒、基督徒、犹太徒这么热衷聚会，我郑重声明本人巴不得成为那个宗教团体一员。教徒们一边祷告，一边喝酒，真的，不喝得烂醉不跳得失控，谁都不肯善罢甘休，可以说每次狂欢总有几位吐爬下的。

        就这样，提洛岛因蕴藏着大量神话历史包括那位让多少人肝脑涂地的大仙而一跃成为希腊最有名的考古遗址之一，但对我而言，不失为一次学习机会。