VOA标准英语2010-Hollywood Rediscovers Ancient Greek Mytho

Sam Worthington as Perseus in “Clash of the Titans”

Hollywood has rediscovered ancient Greek mythology¹ with its gods and monsters, muscular men with shields and swords and the hero's quest to save humanity in the 2010 version of "Clash of the Titans:"

With Zeus and his fellow gods ruling from Mount Olympus, the ancient world should be safe and secure. But the mortals have turned their backs on their creators.

"You are provoking the gods and you act as if there will be no consequence."
"Well, what do you want? Should we be afraid? Should we be trembling in fear? The gods need us. They need our worship. What do we need of them? We are the gods now!"

 

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Liam Neeson as Zeus in “Clash of the Titans”

This disobedience …this refusal to bow down in grateful prayer …does not sit well up on Olympus.

As the storm clouds gather for a titanic² battle, a young man named Perseus is thrust into the middle. What he does not know, but is about to learn, is that he is a demi-god: the child of a human mother and a god …and not just any god.

"Is it true? Am I the son of Zeus?"
"Yes."

It is now up to Perseus to lead a battle with the monsters loosed by the gods and save the city-state of Argos from destruction.

Sam Worthington, fresh off his star-making role in the global sci-fi smash "Avatar," stars as Perseus in this remake of a 1981 hit film.

"Hopefully what we've done is ramped³ it up and made the themes relevant to this generation," he said. "With visual effects nowadays, you can see that it is easy to take to another level."

 

Jay Maidment
Director Louis Leterrier (center) on location for “Clash of the Titans”

Director Louis Leterrier counts himself among fans of the original version; and the French-born action filmmaker says sought the advice of 89-year-old Ray Harryhausen, the special effects pioneer who used stop-motion animation⁴ to bring mythological⁵ creatures to life in the 1981 film.

"Obviously we are all here because we love Ray Harryhausen's work so I said before we do this I'd love to talk to him about it and ask if there was anything he didn't do in the original one that he would have always loved to do," he said. "It's funny, he didn't speak about the creatures and the visual effects; he spoke⁶ about the story and the actors. It was great …and he was not against remakes. He is a good friend with Peter Jackson and we talked about how Jackson's 'King Kong' was different than the original and how he understood that a new filmmaker's vision can take a story into another direction."

 

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Medusa from a scene in “Clash of the Titans”

The digitally-created monsters add a modern touch to this "Clash of the Titans," but star Sam Worthington says the exploits of Perseus are firmly rooted in the ancient tales of mythological heroes.

"They are around and they stand the test of time because they can still raise questions about what we are going through today," he said. "This is a movie based on a family. It is a young, troubled teenager whose family gets wiped out. He goes - like Charles Bronson - on a revenge spree and learns to calm a bit when he finds another family. He is struggling with dilemmas⁷ of where he fits into the world, dealing⁸ with stuff to do with his dad and why he was abandoned. There are things that we can all relate to, so just because it is set in that era or in this mythological world or even a million years into the future, any movie that is worth its salt in this kind of genre⁹ should reflect issues that we deal with today. That is why they are around."

Of course, along with the issues there is the fun: loads of action with Worthington and his fellow cast members leaping, lunging and rolling around while wearing …essentially mini-skirts …very short, revealing tunics¹⁰.

"I wanted to show more than I did, to be honest with you," he said. "I kept hoisting¹¹ mine up, but when you've got Christmas hams like mine, mate, the other boys tended to say 'pull your skirt back down again.' That's when you know what the tone of the movie is. It's a bunch of guys in skirts with rubber swords fighting monsters. You kind of know the world we're getting into. It is not a history lesson. We've got flying horses and scorpions¹² the size of dump trucks. You'd walk up the first day, see your mates wearing a dress, have a couple of laughs and then go and take it seriously so an audience doesn't have to."

The international cast in "Clash of the Titans" features Liam Neeson as Zeus with Ralph Fiennes as his brother god Hades. Danish screen star Mads Mikkelsen is Perseus's brother-in-arms Draco; Alexa Davalos is the good-hearted princess Andromeda and Gemma Arterton plays the guardian¹³ Io. The musical score is composed by German-born Iranian Ramin Djawadi.
 

1 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

2 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

3 ramped   

土堤斜坡( ramp的过去式和过去分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• With the arrival of George Lucas, the pace has ramped up. 随着乔治·卢卡斯的到来，速度大大加快。
• They also sold corporate bonds as the global financial crisis ramped up. 在全球金融危机加剧之际，他们还抛售了公司债券。

4 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

5 mythological   

adj.神话的

参考例句：

• He is remembered for his historical and mythological works. 他以其带有历史感和神话色彩的作品而著称。
• But even so, the cumulative process had for most Americans a deep, almost mythological significance. 不过即使如此，移民渐增的过程，对于大部分美国人，还是意味深长的，几乎有不可思议的影响。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

10 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

11 hoisting   

起重，提升

参考例句：

• The hoisting capacity of that gin pole (girder pole, guy derrick) is sixty tons. 那个起重抱杆（格状抱杆、转盘抱杆）的起重能力为60吨。 来自口语例句
• We must use mechanical hoisting to load the goods. 我们必须用起重机来装载货物。

12 scorpions   

n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You promise me that Black Scorpions will never come back to Lanzhou. 你保证黑蝎子永远不再踏上兰州的土地。 来自电影对白
• You Scorpions are rather secretive about your likes and dislikes. 天蝎：蝎子是如此的神秘，你的喜好很难被别人洞悉。 来自互联网

13 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。