2　Language Points

2.1　Words and Phrases

eternity

n. time without an end

永恒；永生

e.g. The fifth chapter is an extended discourse on God's relationship to both time and eternity and the last expounds the doctrine of the Trinity.

第五章是一个扩展的话题，是关于上帝与时间和永恒的关系；最后一章阐述了三位一体教义。

(Movie) Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity.

人类总想追求永生。

impudence

n. the quality of not showing due respect for another person

傲慢；厚颜无耻；冒失

e.g. His arrogance and impudence had offended many.

他的傲慢和无礼冒犯了许多人。

(Movie) I should have you whipped for your impudence!

你这样傲慢，我真该抽你一顿！

massacre

n. an indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of many people

大屠杀

e.g. I thought that I had seen one tiny corner of an indiscriminate massacre of students and intellectuals, a bloodbath.

我想我看到的只是对学生和知识分子任意屠杀的冰山一角，这简直就是一场血淋淋的大屠杀。

(Movie) I don’t want to watch another massacre.

我不想看到另一场屠杀。

wrong

v. to act unjustly or dishonestly towards

对不起；委屈；无理地对待

e.g. They would kill a man who wronged a family.

他们会杀死一个背叛家庭的人。

(Movie) What you’re saying is true. I’ve wronged you. I’ve wronged our father.

你说的都对，我对不起你，对不起父亲。

forge

v. to create (sth.) strong, enduring, or successful

铸造；锻造

e.g. The country is forging a bright new future.

这个国家正在开辟一条崭新的未来之路。

(Movie) Empires are forged by war.

战争成就帝国。

the way of the world

the manner in which people typically behave or things typically happen

世道常情；理所当然的事

e.g. All those millions of pounds are not going to create many jobs, but that's the way of the world.

那数百万英镑不会带来太多的就业机会，但世道就是这样。

(Movie) You’re the elder; you reap the glory. This is the way of the world.

你是兄长，荣耀属于你，这是理所当然的。

devastate

v. to cause (someone) severe and overwhelming shock or grief

使伤心欲绝

e.g. She was devastated by the loss of Damian.

达米安不见了，她伤心欲绝。

(Movie) The young men of Troy were devastated when Briseis chose the virgin robes.

布里塞伊斯选择做了女祭司，特洛伊城里的少年为此伤心欲绝。

become legend

to become popular

流传开来；变成传奇

e.g. History became legend; legend became myth...

历史演变成传奇，传奇变成了神话……

(Movie) Your reputation for hospitality is fast becoming legend.

你的大方好客很快远近闻名。

have a silver tongue

to have a clever way with words

有口才；善于雄辩

e.g. I know our products well and I have a silver tongue.

我对我们的产品很了解，而且我有三寸不烂之舌。

(Movie) They say the King of Ithaca has a silver tongue.

据说以色卡王舌灿莲花。

hand in hand

closely associated

与……有密切关联

e.g. She had the confidence that usually goes hand in hand with experience.

她有自信，自信通常都是和经验密不可分的。

(Movie) For your glory walks hand in hand with your doom.

因为你的荣耀将为你带来灭亡。

mock

v. to tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner

愚弄，嘲弄

e.g. Later, he mocked the Premier's economic recovery plan.

后来，他嘲讽总理的经济复苏计划。

(Movie) Do not mock the gods.

不准亵渎神明。

come down with

to begin to suffer from (a specified illness)

染上病

e.g. To avoid coming down with the illness, he recommends that the old, the very young, or caregivers receive flu shots.

他建议老人、孩子和医护人员应该接种流感疫苗，以防感染。

(Movie) When you were very young, you came down with scarlet fever.

你很小的时候就得了猩红热。

scour

v. to make a thorough search in order to locate sth.

搜索，搜查，搜寻

e.g. David scoured each newspaper for an article on the murder.

大卫翻遍了每一张报纸，找一篇关于这个谋杀案的文章。

(Movie) I want patrols to scour the countryside.

我想派巡逻队搜查乡间。

patron

n. a person who gives financial or other support to a person, organisation, or cause

赞助人；保护人；主顾

e.g. The organisers are deeply grateful for the support of patrons over the past

months.

组织者非常感谢赞助人在过去几个月里的支持。

(Movie) The sun god is a patron of Troy, our enemy.

太阳神是我们的敌人特洛伊的守护神。

desecration

n. the action of spoiling (sth. that is valued or respected)

亵渎神圣；侮辱神物

e.g. He also wanted it to be saved from destruction or desecration in future wars.

他也希望这能在未来战争中免遭破坏或亵渎。

(Movie) The desecration of his temple angers Apollo.

阿波罗神庙被毁，激怒了阿波罗。

no match for

no competition for无法对抗

e.g. I was no match for a man with such power.

我根本不是这样强大的男人的对手。

(Movie) Even Agamemnon is no match for the gods.

就连阿伽门农也无法对抗神威。

siege

n. a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside

围攻；包围；围城

e.g. After more than a month of siege warfare, Pemberton surrendered to Grant on July 4, 1863.

经过一个多月的攻城战，1863年7月4日（美国南军将领）彭伯顿向（北军将领）格兰特投降。

(Movie) And Troy is built to withstand a 10-year siege.

特洛伊修建得能抵抗十年的长攻。

valiant

adj. possessing or showing courage or determination

英勇的，勇敢的

e.g. She made a valiant effort to hold her anger in check.

她拼命地控制着自己的愤怒。

(Movie) I see you’re not hiding behind your high walls. Valiant of you.

我发现你们并没有躲在城墙后面。你们非常勇敢！

one-sided

adj. (of a relationship or conversation) having all the effort coming from one

participant单方面的；不公正的

e.g. A one-sided caring relationship denies the essential element of reciprocity.

单方一厢情愿的关心无法构成互惠关系。

(Movie) I think you’ll find the romance one-sided.

我觉得你会明白这段恋情就是一厢情愿。

brute

n. a cruel or insensitive person

残暴的人；愚蠢的人

e.g. He's a brute, an offense to human decency.

他是一个畜生，简直就没有做人的尊严。

(Movie) I thought you were a dumb brute.

我以为你是一个蠢汉。

enthrall

v. to enslave

使某人成为奴隶

e.g. It is hard and dangerous to enthrall a people that would live free.

要奴役一个自由生存的民族是很难的，也是很危险的。

(Movie) What are you doing enthralled to that pig of a king?

你为何为那个蠢猪般的国王效命？

slaughter

v. to defeat (an opponent) thoroughly

使惨败；屠杀；杀戮

e.g. In the first game of the Summer Cup, Walkers’ Dominoes Team was slaughtered.

在“夏之杯”第一场比赛中，步行者多米诺骨牌队就惨败了。

(Movie) Greeks are being slaughtered. We can’t just sail away.

希腊人一败涂地，我们不能一走了之。

prophesy

v. to say that (a specified thing) will happen in the future

预言

e.g. The papers prophesied that he would resign after the weekend.

报纸预言他过了周末就会辞职。

(Movie) The last time the high priest spoke to us; he prophesied a great victory for Troy.

上一次大祭司亲口预言特洛伊大胜。

dissension

n. disagreement that leads to discord

纠纷；意见不合；争吵；倾轧

e.g. These issues caused bitter dissension in the party.

这些问题引起了内部的激烈纠纷。

(Movie) The Myrmidons didn’t fight yesterday. There must be dissension among the Greeks.

（阿基里斯的）部下昨天并没有参战，希腊大军现在一定是一盘散沙。

smash

v. to violently break (sth.) into pieces

打碎，捣烂

e.g. The thief smashed a window to get into the car.

小偷打碎了车窗，想进入汽车。

(Movie) I will smash their walls to the ground.

我将把他们的城墙夷为平地。

unleash

v. to release from a leash or restraint

解除……的束缚；解开……的皮带

e.g. We unleashed the dog and carried it down to our car.

我们解开狗的皮带，把它带到我们的车那里。

(Movie) We don't need to control him; we need to unleash him.

我们不必控制他，我们只需要让他出击。

pay homage to

to show honour or respect to sb. publicly

向某人表示敬意

e.g. Many villagers come here to pay homage to the Virgin.

很多村民都来这里朝拜圣女。

(Movie) Kings did not pay homage to Achilles.

国王们没有向阿基里斯致敬。

in the blink of an eye

very quickly

在眨眼之间

e.g. The software would do lots of boring calculations in the blink of an eye.

这款软件瞬间就能完成大量枯燥的计算工作。

(Movie) I could have your head on a spit in the blink of an eye.

我眨眼间就能砍掉你的头，拿去烤了。

treason

n. the action of betraying sb. or sth.

叛国罪；不忠

e.g. African-Americans, it is cynically assumed, will remain loyal to the Democrats regardless of the treasons committed against them.

有人还可笑地以为美国黑人尽管遭受到民主党的背叛还会忠于民主党。

(Movie) Achilles makes a secret pact, and I have to honour it? What treason is this?

阿基里斯偷偷跟敌人做了约定，我也得恪守？这简直就是背叛！

2.2　Terms

(1) Trojan Horse

The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the subterfuge that the Greeks used to enter the city of Troy and win the war. Metaphorically, a "Trojan Horse” has come to mean any trick or stratagem that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or place. A malicious computer program which tricks users into willingly running it is also called a "Trojan Horse”.

(2) Achilles’ Heel

In Greek mythology, when Achilles, a great Greek hero, was born, his mother Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. However, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him, i.e. his heel. Because of his death from a small wound in the heel, the term "Achilles’ Heel” has come to mean a person's point of weakness, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall in spite of overall strength. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.

(3) Apple of Discord

According to Greek mythology, Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited for her troublesome nature, and upon turning up uninvited, she threw a golden apple into the ceremony, with an inscription that read: "to the most beautiful”. Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They brought the matter before Zeus. Not wanting to get involved, Zeus gave the apple to Paris of Troy and told him that the goddesses would accept his decision without argument. Each of the goddesses offered Paris a gift as a bribe in return for the apple. Hera offered to make him the king of Europe and Asia, Athena offered him wisdom and skill in battle, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife, Helen of Sparta (later to be titled Helen of Troy). Paris chose Aphrodite, a decision that ultimately led to the start of the Trojan War.

A golden apple, also an apple of discord, is used to signify the core, kernel, or crux of an argument, or a small matter that could lead to a bigger dispute.