楊璐

The Greeks3 loved sports and the Olympic Games were the biggest sporting event4 in the ancient5 times.

希臘人熱愛體育運(yùn)動，奧林匹克運(yùn)動會是古代最大的體育賽事。

The Olympic Games began over 2，700 years ago in Olympia， in south west Greece. Every four years， around 50，000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and join in. The ancient games were also a festival， in honour6 of Zeus7， the king of the gods.

奧林匹克運(yùn)動會始于2700多年前，在位于希臘西南部的奧林匹亞舉行。每四年，來自希臘各地的約50000人到這里來觀看和參與比賽。這項(xiàng)古代體育賽事也是一個節(jié)日，為了紀(jì)念眾神之王宙斯。

People who won8 the games were given a wreath9 and a welcome back home. The award10 is different from now. People raced for their city and people who won were seen as being loved by the gods.

比賽優(yōu)勝者將獲得花環(huán)，并在回家時受到熱烈歡迎，這個獎與現(xiàn)在不同。人們?yōu)樽约旱某鞘卸悾瑒倮弑灰曌鳛楸娚袼珢邸?/p>

★A Truce11 for the Sacred12 Games

☆為神圣的比賽休戰(zhàn)

Before the games began， a “sacred truce” would be made. Any wars should be called off so that people could go to Olympia.

在奧運(yùn)會開始之前，會宣布“休戰(zhàn)”。任何戰(zhàn)爭都要取消，以便人們可以前往奧林匹亞。

The games were in honour of Zeus. People went to the games to see the Temple13 of Zeus. There was a big statue14 of the king of the gods himself at the center of the temple.

比賽為紀(jì)念宙斯而舉辦，人群蜂擁到宙斯神廟參觀，廟宇中央放著一個巨大的眾神之王雕像。

The biggest event at the Olympics was not a sporting event， but a sacrifice15. On the third day of the games， 100 horses were sacrificed to Zeus.

奧運(yùn)會最盛大的不是體育賽事，而是獻(xiàn)祭儀式。比賽的第三天， 100頭牛將被當(dāng)做祭品獻(xiàn)給宙斯。

★Women at Olympia

☆奧林匹亞運(yùn)動會上的女性

Only men， boys and unmarried16 girls could take part in the Olympic Games. Married women could not. If they were found going to the games， they could be thrown17 off a mountain！

只有男人、男孩和未婚女孩能夠參加奧運(yùn)會，已婚婦女禁止參加。如果她們被發(fā)現(xiàn)偷偷溜進(jìn)去，可能會被扔下山坡！

But one story tells of a mother didnt follow the no-women rule. Kallipateria， from a rich family， made herself looked as a man. She went to the games to watch her son race. Her son won. When her son was awarded the wreath， Kallipateria ran out to talk to her son. Because of her rich family， she wasnt thrown off the mountain. But at every Olympics after， people had to taking off their clothes before walking into the games.

然而，一個故事講述了有位母親打破了禁止女人參賽的規(guī)則。她叫卡拉特里亞，來自一個富裕家庭，將自己偽裝成男人去看她兒子比賽。她兒子贏得了比賽，在給兒子頒獎的時候，卡拉特里亞沖出來跟兒子說話。因?yàn)樗酆竦募彝ケ尘埃龥]有被扔下山坡。但此后每次奧運(yùn)會，人們必須脫掉外衣走進(jìn)賽場。

But women could still have horses in the races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their festival at Olympia every four years. This was called the Heraia and was held in honor of Hera， Zeuss woman. People who won were awarded sacred olives18， the same as men. But in ancient Greece， only Spartan19 women were really interested in sport.

但是，婦女仍然可以在奧運(yùn)會的比賽中擁有馬匹，未婚婦女每四年在奧林匹亞有自己的專屬比賽，稱為“赫利亞”，是為了紀(jì)念宙斯的妻子赫拉而舉行的。優(yōu)勝者被授予與男人一樣的神圣橄欖枝。但是在古希臘，只有斯巴達(dá)婦女才真正對運(yùn)動感興趣。

（英語原文選自：bbc.co.uk）