「翰林技術高中一年級下學期 Lesson 4: Achilles the Great Warrior」- Reading

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The ancient Greeks had many great warriors, but Achilles was the greatest. He was the son of a king and a nymph. Achilles' mother, Thetis, wanted him to live forever. Therefore, just after his birth, she took him to the River Styx. She held him by the heel and put his body into the water. Its special power could protect him from harm.

When Achilles was a boy, the gods told Thetis about his future—he would either die in a war and become famous, or grow old and be forgotten. Thetis hoped to keep her son alive, so she sent Achilles to a nearby kingdom. He was dressed as a girl and kept among the king's daughters. However, Achilles grew into a great soldier. He longed for fame and did not fear death. He wanted people to remember him as a hero.

Achilles fought for the Greeks in the long war against Troy. At first, he didn't want to fight because he didn't like the Greek king, but Troy could not be taken without Achilles. Achilles was truly the best soldier in the world. The Greek soldiers begged him to fight with them. During the first nine years of the war, Achilles and his soldiers destroyed twelve cities around Troy. He killed many Trojan fighters, and one of them was Prince Hector, the Greeks' most dangerous enemy. Hector killed Achilles' best friend, so Achilles tied Hector's body to a chariot and dragged him in front of the walls of Troy. In this way, he deeply angered the god Apollo, the guardian of Troy.

Later in the war, Hector's younger brother Paris shot an arrow from the city walls. Apollo guided it toward Achilles' heel on purpose because it was the great warrior's only weakness. Thetis did not put his heel into the Styx, so Achilles died from the wound. Although Achilles was a killing machine, he still had weaknesses like any human. Now, we use the phrase "Achilles' heel" to describe a fatal weakness in a person or thing.

古希臘人有許多偉大的戰士，但阿基里斯是其中之最。他是一位國王和仙女所生的兒子。阿基里斯的母親塞諦斯，希望他永生不死。因此，她在他剛出生不久，就把他帶到冥河。捉著他的腳跟，將他的身體浸到水中。河水特殊的力量可以保護他免受傷害。

當阿基里斯還是個孩子，眾神告訴塞諦斯有關他將來的命運，他要不是死於戰爭而揚名天下，就是漸漸老去而遭人遺忘。塞諦斯希望自己的兒子可以活下去，所以她把阿基里斯送去附近的一個王國。他被打扮成少女，安置在國王的女兒當中。然而，阿基里斯逐漸長成一名偉大的戰士。他渴望名聲，不懼怕死亡。他希望自己在人們的記憶中是一位英雄。

阿基里斯在與特洛伊的長期戰爭中為希臘人而戰。一開始他不想戰鬥，因為他不喜歡希臘國王，但沒有阿基里斯，特洛伊是不可能被攻下的。阿基里斯是貨真價實的最強戰士。希臘士兵懇求他與他們作戰。在戰爭的前九年，阿基里斯和他的士兵摧毀了特洛伊周圍的十二座城池。他殺死了許多特洛伊戰士，其中之一是赫克特王子，希臘人最危險的敵人。赫克特殺死了阿基里斯最好的朋友，所以阿基里斯將赫克特的屍體綁在一輛戰車後面，在城牆前拖行。這樣一來，他深深地激怒了特洛伊城的守護神阿波羅。

戰爭後期，赫克特的弟弟帕里斯從城牆上射出一箭。阿波羅故意導引它向著阿基里斯的腳跟射去，因為那是這位偉大戰士的唯一弱點。塞諦斯沒把他的腳跟浸到冥河中，阿基里斯就因為這個傷口而死了。雖然阿基里斯是殺人機器，但也和任何凡人一樣有弱點。現在，我們常用「阿基里斯的腳跟」一詞來形容一個人或事物的致命要害。