The Acropolis 雅典衛城

　　希臘人在希波戰爭中擊退了波斯的侵略。隨后作為全希臘的盟主，雅典進行大規模的建設，重點是衛城。衛城的建筑群布局自由，高低錯落，主次分明。它達到了古希臘圣地建筑群、廟宇、柱式和雕刻的最高水平。

　　The boldness and ambition of the Acropolis was funded by the spoils of war, a war that determined the fate of Greece. In 480 BC, Athens lay in ruins conquered by the seemingly upstoppable Persian Empire. At sea the Persian armada of 800 vessels bore down on the retreating Greek fleet who were hopelessly outnumbered. On the night before the inevitable battle, an owl, symbol of their protective goddess Athena, was seen flying through the night sky. Inspired by this good omen, the Greek navy daringly engaged and defeated the Persian fleet at the battle of Salamis. In one of the great naval victories of history, the Greeks sank 200 enemy ships while losing only 40 of their own. The Persian threat had been overcome. The unexpected victory heralded a new period of stability for Athens and her allies. The Golden Age of Greece was born.

　　A permanent alliance of Agean city-states was formed called the Delian League to defend Greece’s new found independence from the Persian menace. One man, Heracles of Athens emerged as its undisputed leader. His ambition was simple: to make Athens a political and cultural capital, effectively creating the Athenian Empired. The Acropolis was to be the master stroke of Heracle’s power broking, a monumental declaration of Athens’ dominance in the New World order.

　　 In 447 BC, he committed the new empire and its wealth to its construction. He brought together three unique artistic talents, Phidias the sculptor, and architects Ictinus and Callicrates. Together they imagined a complex of temples and public places to be built along classical ideals but exceeding them in scale and perfection. Amazingly they worked without architectural plans or drawings as we understand them today. Instead they were guided by the art of geometry. For the architects of Athens’ Golden Age, the mastery of geometry was a magical discovery that revealed the glories of nature. The Acropolis of Callicrates and Ictinus is a startling celebration of their new intellectual power.

　　 The Acropolis shows a maturity of Greek mathematics and also an appreciation of geometrical ideas. This is a work of utmost importance in that it lays the foundations of logic into mathematics and enables us to use this as a tool to explore the unknown.

　　 Every detail of the Acropolis, its masonry, sculptures and painted decorations were to be the finest ever created.

譯文：

　　 建造雅典衛城的大膽想法和雄圖來自一場紛憂的戰事，一場決定了希臘命運的戰事。公元前480年，銳不可擋的波斯帝國大軍攻克雅典，雅典夷為廢墟。汪洋大海上，800艘波斯戰艦窮追猛打希臘戰船，數量遠遠落后的希臘戰船步步后退。就在不可避免即將開戰的前夜，象征著希臘人守護女神雅典娜的貓頭鷹在夜空中飛翔出現。在此吉兆的鼓舞下，希臘海軍軍心大振，在撒拉米斯戰役中一舉擊敗波斯艦隊。在歷史上一次獲得偉大勝利的海軍戰中，希臘軍隊擊沉200艘敵船，己方只損失40艘。擊敗了入侵的波斯軍隊。意想不到的勝利令雅典及其盟國得到新的安定。希臘進入了黃金時期。

　　 愛琴海各城邦組成德利安聯盟，攜手永久保衛脫離波斯魔掌、新獲獨立的希臘。一個名叫赫拉克利斯的人眾望所歸成為雅典領袖。他的抱負很明確，就是令雅典成為政治文化中心，有效地創建起一個雅典人的王國。雅典衛城便是在赫拉克利斯的大力策劃下興建起來的，它具有非常的意義，宣告雅典在世界新秩序中的統治地位。

　　 公園前447年，他全力建設新帝國，由聚斂財富到興建土木。他請來了三位不同凡響的藝術天才——雕刻家裴迪亞斯，建筑師艾士提努、卡利克拉提斯。他們一起設想如何將神殿和公共場所組合到一起，并決定沿用古典設計，但將在規模和美學上進行突破。神奇的是，他們當時既沒有諸如我們今天的建筑計劃也沒有藍圖，而是依據一套幾何學的符號和法則來施工。雅典黃金時期的建筑師認為，掌握幾何學是發掘自然美的魔法。衛城使卡利克拉提斯和艾士提努有機會一展杰出的智慧與身手。

　　 雅典衛城顯示了希臘人對數學的精通以及對幾何學的推崇。這項工程至關重要，它奠定了將邏輯引入數學的基石，令后人得以借此途徑探索未知世界。

　　 雅典衛城在每一處細節上，無論石匠技術、雕刻藝術，還是繪畫裝飾，都是前無古人的精美絕倫。