The tragedy of the one guy who was right about the Trojan Horse - Noah Charney

翻译人员: Tianyun Liu 校对人员: suya f.

For ten grueling years, the Greeks laid siege to Troy,

在艰苦的十年中， 希腊人围困了特洛伊，

scattering ships and encampments across the city's shores.

将船只和营地分散在 城市的海岸上。

But as the Trojans awoke for another day of battle,

但当特洛伊人醒来， 准备迎接新一天的战斗时，

they found their enemies had vanished overnight—

他们发现敌人在一夜之间消失了，

leaving behind only an enormous wooden horse.

只留下了一匹巨大的木马。

Seeing this as a symbol of the Greek’s surrender,

士兵们将这视为希腊人投降的象征，

the soldiers dragged their prize into the city and began to celebrate.

他们将奖品拖入城市并开始庆祝。

But one Trojan wasn't happy.

然而，并非所有特洛伊人都感到高兴。

Laocoön, a seer and priest, was deeply suspicious of the Greek gift.

先见兼牧师拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 对希腊的礼物深表怀疑。

He reminded his fellow Trojans of their enemy’s reputation for trickery,

他提醒同胞们， 他们的敌人以诡计多端而闻名，

and cautioned them not to accept this strange offering.

并告诫他们不要接受 这个奇怪的献礼。

The crowd jeered at his warning, but Laocoön was undeterred.

人群嘲笑他的警告， 但拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 毫不动摇。

He forced his way to the wooden beast and thrust his sword into its belly.

他强行冲向那只木兽 并将剑刺入其腹部。

Yet his blade drew no blood.

然而，剑刃并未染上鲜血。

And if there were men shifting inside,

即使里面有人的动静，

Laocoön couldn't hear them over the crowd.

拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 在人群 中听不见他们的声音。

Still grim with foreboding, Laocoön retreated home

尽管心中充满不祥的预感， 拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 还是回到家中，

and enlisted his sons in preparing a sacrifice to the gods.

并与他的儿子们一起准备 向神明献祭。

But his fate— and that of his fellow Trojans— was already sealed.

但他的命运——以及 特洛伊人的命运——已然注定。

The gods had decided to grant the Greeks victory

众神决定将胜利赐予希腊人，

by ensuring the success of their scheme to infiltrate Troy.

以确保他们渗透特洛伊的计谋成功。

And Poseidon sought to punish the priest for threatening that plan.

而波塞冬也想要惩罚 这位威胁到计划的祭司。

Two great serpents emerged from the sea’s rolling waves

两条巨大的海蛇从 波涛汹涌的海中浮现出来，

and descended on Laocoön and his sons.

向拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 和他的儿子们袭去。

The seer’s violent death went unnoticed amidst the celebrations.

在庆祝的喧嚣中， 先知的惨死无人察觉。

But, that night, when tragedy struck,

然而，当夜幕降临， 悲剧降临时，

the Trojans finally remembered the old priest’s warning.

特洛伊人终于想起 这位老祭司的警告

Laocoön's tragic tale inspired countless retellings across the ancient world.

拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 的悲惨故事 在古代世界中被无数次传颂。

Virgil describes the seer’s demise in his epic poem “The Aeneid,”

维吉尔在他的史诗《埃涅阿斯纪》 中描写了这位先知的死亡，

and Sophocles composed an entire play about the ill-fated priest.

而索福克勒斯则为这位 命运悲惨的祭司创作了一整部戏剧。

However, his most famous and influential depiction

然而，他最著名且 最具影响力的形象描绘

is a marble statue called “Laocoön and His Sons.”

是一座名为 《拉奥孔与他的儿子们》

的大理石雕像,

Likely carved by a trio of artists from Rhodes,

这座雕塑可能出自 罗德岛的三位艺术家之手，

the exact origins of this piece remain mysterious,

但其确切的起源仍然充满谜团，

with current theories dating its creation anywhere from 200 BCE to 68 CE.

目前的理论将其创作时间

定位在公元前 200 年 至公元 68 年之间。

Whenever it was made,

无论其创作时间为何，

this sculpture remains the epitome of the Hellenistic Baroque style.

这座雕塑仍然是 希腊化巴洛克风格的缩影。

But even within a tradition known for its dramatic facial expressions

即便在以戏剧性面部表情

and contorted figures,

和扭曲姿态闻名的传统中，

no other piece in this style comes close to the intensity

也没有任何一件作品能与 《拉奥孔与他的儿子们》的

of “Laocoön and His Sons.”

表现力相媲美。

The nearly life-sized figures are writhing in agony,

几乎与真人等大的雕像 人物在剧痛中扭动，

straining to untangle massive snakes from their limbs.

奋力摆脱缠绕在四肢上的巨大毒蛇。

Their faces are packed with desperation and hopelessness,

他们的面容充满了绝望和无助，

yet Laocoön’s expression is fiercely determined to resist.

但拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 的表情 却顽强而坚定，誓要抗争到底。

The scene is also uniquely brutal—

这一场景也异常残酷——

paused precisely as the serpent’s venomous jaws are about to bite down.

正好定格在毒蛇的利齿即将咬下的瞬间。

Displayed as the centerpiece of Emperor Nero’s Domus Aurea palace complex,

这座惊悚的雕塑被展示在皇帝 尼禄的金宫（Domus Aurea）宫殿群中，

this gruesome sculpture was one of the most talked about artworks of its time.

成为当时最受关注的艺术作品之一。

Renowned Roman writer Pliny the Elder even went so far as to call it

著名的罗马作家老普林尼甚至称其为

“preferable to any other production of the art of painting or of statuary.”

“在绘画或雕塑艺术中， 无与伦比的佳作。”

Unfortunately, the statue was lost

不幸的是，公元 109 年， 金宫被大火吞噬，

when Domus Aurea was consumed by fire in 109 CE.

这座雕像也随之遗失。

But Laocoön's tale was far from finished.

然而，拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 的故事远未结束。

In 1506, Michelangelo Buonarotti— then the most famous sculptor in Rome—

1506 年，当时罗马最著名的雕塑家 米开朗基罗·博那罗蒂

received a message that Pope Julius II had unearthed something marvelous.

收到了一条消息：教皇尤利乌斯二世 出土了一件奇妙的作品。

Even caked with dirt, “Laocoön and His Sons” astonished Michelangelo.

即使雕像上还沾满尘土，

《拉奥孔与他的儿子们》 依然令米开朗基罗震撼不已。

The dramatic musculature was over-the-top,

戏剧化的肌肉线条极为夸张，

but all the more powerful for being so extreme.

却因其极致而更显力量。

And the curving shapes of its serpent and human figures

蛇与人形的弧线形态，

drew his eyes in constant motion.

让他的目光随之不断流动。

Pope Julius prominently displayed the piece at the Vatican,

教皇朱利叶斯在梵蒂冈 显著地展示了这件作品，

but its influence on Michelangelo is what made the statue truly famous.

但让这座雕像真正声名鹊起的， 是它对米开朗基罗的深远影响。

The sculpture's emotive, exaggerated elements transformed his approach

雕塑中情感丰富、 夸张的元素彻底改变了

to representing the human body.

他表现人体的方式。

His paintings and sculptures began to feature contorted poses,

他的绘画和雕塑开始展现 扭曲的姿态，

referred to as “figura serpentinata,” meaning snake-like shapes.

这被称为“蛇形姿态” （“figura serpentinata”），

意为蛇一般的形态。

他在西斯廷教堂的杰作则以充满肌肉感、

And his celebrated work in the Sistine Chapel

centered on muscular, hyperextended figures.

极度伸展的形象为中心。

Soon, Michelangelo’s new style sparked an entire artistic movement

不久，米开朗基罗的新风格引发了一场

called Mannerism—

名为风格主义的整场艺术运动，

influencing artists throughout the 1500s to exaggerate and twist human bodies

影响了整个 16 世纪的艺术家们 通过夸张和扭曲人体的方式

for dramatic effect.

来营造戏剧性的效果。

Since artists of the Renaissance revered ancient Greco-Roman art above all else,

由于文艺复兴时期的艺术家们 崇拜古希腊罗马艺术至高无上，

perhaps it’s not surprising that “Laocoön and His Sons” made such a large impact.

因此，“拉奥孔与他的儿子们” 产生如此巨大的影响也不足为奇。

But not even the real Laocoön could have predicted that his likeness

即便是拉奥孔 (Laocoön) 本人, 也无法预料到他的形象

would become one of the most influential sculptures ever made.

会成为有史以来最具影响力的雕塑之一。