The scientific origins of the Minotaur - Matt Kaplan

翻译人员: Simon Sun 校对人员: Sharon Sun

Far beneath the palace of the treacherous King Minos,

在阴险的米诺斯国王的宫殿深处，

in the damp darkness of an inescapable labryinth,

在不可逃脱的迷宫的潮湿黑暗中，

a horrific beast stalks the endless corridors of its prison,

一个恐怖的怪兽在无尽的监狱走廊中徘徊，

enraged with a bloodlust so intense that its deafening roar shakes the Earth.

它对血的渴求强到它的怒吼可以撼动地球。

It is easy to see why the Minotaur myth has a long history

很容易看到米诺陶尔德神话有

of being disregarded as pure fiction.

被认作为纯虚构的长远历史。

However, there's a good chance that the Minotaur

但是，很有可能米诺陶尔

and other monsters and gods were created by our early ancestors

与那些我们早期祖先创造以用来合理化

to rationalize the terrifying things that they saw in the natural world

那些他们在自然世界中看到的

but did not understand.

但又不能够理解的恐怖事情的神与怪兽。

And while we can't explain every aspect of their stories,

虽然我们不能够解释这些故事的所有方面，

there may be some actual science that reveals itself

但是会有一些真实的科学可以解释它们，

when we dissect them for clues.

当我们把它们拆分为线索时。

So, as far as we know, there have never been human-bull hybrids.

就我们所知， 世界上从未有人牛同体的混血生物存在。

But the earliest material written about the Minotaur

但是最早的关于米诺陶尔的文字材料

doesn't even mention its physical form.

并没有描述它的物理存在。

So that's probably not the key part of the story.

所以，外表并不是这个故事的核心部分。

What the different tellings do agree upon, however,

然而所有的版本都对得上的是

is that the beast lives underground,

那只怪兽生活在地下，

and when it bellows, it causes tremendous problems.

当它吼叫时，它会引起非常大的问题。

The various myths are also specific in stating that genius inventor Daedalus,

每个版本的神话 都展现了天才故事家Daedalus

carved out the labyrinth beneath the island of Crete.

想象了那个克里特岛底下的迷宫。

Archeological attempts to find the fabled maze

考古学家尝试寻找那个神话中存在的迷宫

have come up empty handed.

并没有找到什么。

But Crete itself has yielded the most valuable clue of all

但是克里特岛本身产生了很多有价值的线索

in the form of seismic activity.

从地震活动来看。

Crete sits on a piece of continental crust called the Aegean Block,

克里特岛在一个叫做Aegean Block的地壳上，

and has a bit of oceanic crust known as the Nubian Block

并且覆盖了部分Nubian Block海洋地壳

sliding right beneath it.

刚好在它底下的位子。

This sort of geologic feature, called a subduction zone,

这种被称之为潜没的地理构造，

is common all over the world and results in lots of earthquakes.

在全球都很常见，并且会造成大量的地震。

However, in Crete the situation is particularly volatile

并且，克里特岛的情况尤其不稳定，

as the Nubian Block is attached

因为Nubian Block贴在了

to the massive buoyant continental crust that is Africa.

非洲的巨大的浮动地壳上。

When the Nubian Block moves,

当Nubian Block运动的时候，

it does not go down nearly as easily or as steeply

它不能轻松地向下滑动

as oceanic crust does in most other subduction zones.

或者像别的潜没区域的海洋地壳一样陡得滑动。

Instead, it violently and abruptly forces sections of the Mediterranean upwards

它而是剧烈地并且突然地将地中海向上翘动，

in an event called uplift,

被称作“上升”，

and Crete is in uplift central.

而克里特岛刚好在“上升”中心。

In the year 2014, Crete had more than 1300 earthquakes

在2014年，克里特岛发生了

of magnitude 2.0 or higher.

超过1300次震级不低于2.0的地震。

By comparison, in the same period of time,

对比下，在同样的时期，

Southern California, a much larger area, experienced a mere 255 earthquakes.

南加州这个大得多的区域只发生255次地震。

Of course, we don't have detailed seismic records from the days of King Minos,

当然，我们没有米诺斯国王时期的地震数据，

but we do know from fossil records and geologic evidence

但是我们确实可以从化石与地理纪录看出

that Crete has experienced serious uplift events

克里特岛经历了很多次

that sometimes exceeded 30 feet in a single moment.

单次超过30英尺的“上升”。

Contrast this for a moment with the island of Hawaii,

和夏威夷岛比比：

where earthquakes and volcanic activity

夏威夷岛的地震和火山活动

were tightly woven to legends surrounding Pele,

和Pele的神话紧紧串联在一起，

a goddess both fiery and fair.

Pele是一个燃烧着得美丽的女神。

Like the Minotaur, her myths included tales of destruction,

就像米诺陶尔， 她的神话包含了毁灭的故事，

but they also contained elements of dance and creation.

但是它们也包含了舞蹈和创造的元素。

So why did Hawaii end up with Pele and Crete end up with the Minotaur?

所以为什么夏威夷创造了Pele 而克里特岛创造了米诺陶尔？

The difference likely comes down

这区别可能来自于

to the lava that followed many of Hawaii's worst earthquakes.

夏威夷岛最剧烈的地震中流出的岩浆。

The lava on Hawaii is made of basalt, which once cooled, is highly fertile.

夏威夷的岩浆由玄武岩组成， 该岩一旦冷却，会非常肥沃。

Within a couple of decades of terrible eruptions,

在剧烈爆发的几十年内，

Islanders would have seen vibrant green life thriving

岛民会看到生机勃勃的绿色植被生长

on new peninsulas made of lava.

在岩浆新组成的群岛上。

So it makes sense that the mythology captured this

所以这就说得通为什么

by portraying Pele as creator as well as a destroyer.

神话将Pele同时描述成创造者与毁灭者。

As for the people of Crete,

对于克里特岛人民来说，

their earthquakes brought only destruction and barren lands,

他们的地震只会带来毁灭与贫瘠的土地，

so perhaps for them the unnatural and deadly Minotaur was born.

所以对他们来说虚构猛兽米诺陶尔诞生了。

The connections between mythical stories

神话故事与它们起源的地区的地理环境

and the geology of the regions where they originated

之间的联系

teach us that mythology and science are actually two sides of the same coin.

告诉我们神话与科学事实上是一个硬币的两面。

Both are rooted in explaining and understanding the world.

两者都为了解释与理解这个世界而生。

The key difference is that where mythology uses gods, monsters and magic,

关键区别在于，神话使用神，怪兽与魔法，

science uses measurements, records and experiments.

而科学使用测量，纪录与实验。