2015-06-22

【Aiden in English】

        People know Shakespeare and his poems. Although the language is a bit… quirky to say the least people adore him. People also adore Greek history. So they should also love Homer. 

        Homer was the great teacher and famous poet of the ancient epics Iliad and Odyssey. These two epics are composed of long poems that tell a story or in this case, multiple historical stories. Obviously, many of these poems sounded greatly exaggerated, and some historians even say that Homer’s stories weren’t even original and that they were oral traditions passed down through generations. Somebody finally wrote them down, and that lucky person was named Homer. 

        In Khios of Greece, Daskalopetra or Teacher's Stone in Greek claimed to be a birthplace of Homer and have a rock where Homer sat on while writing the stories and teaching his students. Many other places also claim to have housed Homer. But so far, Daskalopetra is considered as an archaeological site. He captured the stories about the brutal battles in Troy in 1270 B.C. The rock was nothing special, just a platform with a piece jutting out in the center. If I were the rock, I would love the attention given to me from just having a person sit on me.

        Homer and Shakespeare are two amazing poets who are on a level of their own. Although you can’t compare them whose poem styles are way too different, they both have a common goal in writing.

【紅霞譯文】

        人們都知道莎士比亞和莎士比亞詩句，儘管其言辭有點拗口……，但還是得到大家的推崇。人們同樣痴迷希臘歷史，由此也應敬仰荷馬。

        荷馬曾是一位了不起的老師以及聞名天下的詩人，著有史詩《伊利亞特》和《奧德賽》，這兩部長卷實為敘述故事，其中涉及到許多歷史事件。顯然，若干詩句聽起來天花亂墜，有些歷史學家甚至認為荷馬之作並非出自原著，故事情節都是代代相傳的軼事趣聞，總而言之，早晚有人出面整理成章，而荷馬恰好榮膺時代俊傑。

        在希俄斯島上，有一個名叫達斯卡洛佩特拉即希臘語“教師之石”的小鎮自稱是荷馬的出生地，鎮裡存有一塊石頭，據說當年荷馬曾坐在上面寫詩並給學生授課。其它不少地方趨之若鶩，紛紛揚言自己所在的地方才是偉人的家鄉，但至今只有這個考古遺址得到史學界認可。《荷馬史詩》描述了公元前1270年殘酷的特洛伊戰爭，但眼前所謂的“荷馬岩”卻沒有什麼特別，只不過在平台上豎起一塊大石頭而已，假如我是那塊石頭，心中難免美滋滋的，這麼多人主動與我親熱。

        荷馬與莎士比亞是兩位超乎尋常的偉大詩人，當然我們不能把他倆放在一起進行比較，畢竟彼此詩風迥異，但兩人的寫作目標是一致的。

《奧德賽》節選

            公主在對面站定，奧德修斯不禁思忖，

            是抱住美麗的姑娘，以雙膝的名義請求，

            還是遠遠地這樣站定，用溫和的語言，

            真切地懇告，請求指點城市贈衣穿。

            他心中思慮，覺得這樣做更為合適：

            遠遠站住，用溫和的語言真切懇求，

            不要魯莽去抱膝，令少女心中生嗔怨。

            他於是溫和而富有理智地開言這樣說：

            ‘恕我求問，姑娘，你是天神或凡人？

            你如果是位執掌廣闊天宇的神明，

            我看你與偉大的宙斯的女兒最相似，

            無論容貌，無論身材或是那氣度。

            如果你是位生活在遼闊大地的凡人。

            那你的父親和尊貴的母親三倍地幸運，

            你的兄弟也三倍地幸運，你會使他們

            心中永遠充滿不滅的喜悅和歡欣，

            看見你這樣一美麗的姑娘去歌舞。

            但有一人比所有其他的人更幸運，

            他若能把你娶回家，付出優厚的聘禮。

            我從未親眼見過如此俊美的世人，

            或男或女，我一看見你不由得心驚異。