Far beneath the palace of the treacherous King Minos,

在陰險米諾斯國王宮殿的地底深處

in the damp darkness of an inescapable labyrinth,

一個潮溼黑暗、難以逃脫的迷宮中

a horrific beast stalks the endless corridors of its prison,

一隻恐怖的怪獸怒氣沖沖徘徊在無盡的監獄走廊中

enraged with a bloodlust so intense that its deafening roar shakes the Earth.

它充滿狂怒殺氣，發出震耳欲聾的怒吼震撼地球

It is easy to see why  the Minotaur myth has a long history

不難理解為什麼米諾陶爾神話長久以來

However, there's a good chance that the Minotaur

and other monsters and gods were created by our early ancestors

還有我們祖先所創造出的其他怪獸和神

to rationalize the terrifying things that they saw in the natural world

能合理解說祖先們在自然界中看到恐怖

And while we can't explain every aspect of their stories,

當我們無法解釋故事的每個部份時

there may be some actual science that reveals itself when we dissect them for clues.

或許我們分析現行科學的線索，一切便昭然若揭

So, as far as we know, there have never been human-bull hybrids.

就我們所知，迄今尚未有人牛混血生物存在

But the earliest material written about the Minotaur

So that's probably not the key part of the story.

所以，那可能不是故事的核心部分

What the different tellings do agree upon, however,

and when it bellows, it causes tremendous problems.

當它吼叫時，會引起極度嚴重的問題

The various myths are also specific in stating that genius inventor Daedalus,

不同版本的神話也都詳盡地描述了天才發明家 Daedalus

carved out the labyrinth beneath the island of Crete.

Archeological attempts to find the fabled maze

考古學家試圖找出神話中的迷宮

But Crete itself has yielded the most valuable clue of all in the form of seismic activity.

但克里特島本身以地震的形式，提供了最有價值的線索

Crete sits on a piece of continental crust called the Aegean Block,

克里特島坐落在一塊稱為「愛琴板塊」的大陸地殼上

and has a bit of oceanic crust known as the Nubian Block

以及在一塊名為「努比亞板塊」的海洋地殼之一小部分

This sort of geologic feature, called a subduction zone,

is common all over the world and results in lots of earthquakes.

在全球都很常見，並且會造成許多的地震

However, in Crete the situation is particularly volatile

然而，在克里特島地震特別容易發生

to the massive buoyant continental crust that is Africa.

it does not go down nearly as easily or as steeply

as oceanic crust does in most other subduction zones.

如同其他隱沒帶的海洋地殼一樣

Instead, it violently and abruptly forces sections of the Mediterranean upwards

相反地，它突然且猛烈的力量反而把地中海區塊向上推升

In the year 2014, Crete had more than 1300 earthquakes

2014 年，克里特島發生了超過 1300 次地震

By comparison, in the same period of time,

Southern California, a much larger area, experienced a mere 255 earthquakes.

比它大很多的南加州只發生 255 次地震

Of course, we don't have detailed seismic records from the days of King Minos,

當然，我們沒有米諾斯國王時期詳細的地震記錄

but we do know from fossil records and geologic evidence

但我們確實可以從化石與地質的證據瞭解

that Crete has experienced serious uplift events

克里特島經歷多次重大的地殼隆起

that sometimes exceeded 30 feet in a single moment.

Contrast this for a moment with the island of Hawaii,

were tightly woven to legends surrounding Pele,

Like the Minotaur, her myths included tales of destruction,

就像米諾陶爾，她的神話包含了毀滅的故事

but they also contained elements of dance and creation.

So why did Hawaii end up with Pele and Crete end up with the Minotaur?

為什麽夏威夷和貝蕾相連，而克里特島和米諾陶爾相連？

to the lava that followed many of Hawaii's worst earthquakes.

夏威夷島多次劇震所流出的岩漿

The lava on Hawaii is made of basalt, which once cooled, is highly fertile.

夏威夷的岩漿由玄武岩組成，一旦冷卻，會非常肥沃

Within a couple of decades of terrible eruptions,

在多次劇烈火山爆發的數十年內

Islanders would have seen vibrant green life thriving

島民看到了生機勃勃的綠色植物茂密地長在

So it makes sense that the mythology captured this

因此神話是有道理的，依據以上現象

by portraying Pele as creator as well as a destroyer.

描述了貝蕾身兼創造者與毀滅者

their earthquakes brought only destruction and barren lands,

so perhaps for them, the unnatural and deadly Minotaur was born.

也許因此殘暴又具破壞性的米諾陶爾應運而生

The connections between mythical stories and the geology of the regions where they originated

神話故事與故事起源地的地質情況之間的關係

teach us that mythology and science are actually two sides of the same coin.

告訴我們神話與科學事實上是一體兩面的

Both are rooted in explaining and understanding the world.

兩者都是用來解釋與瞭解這個世界

The key difference is that where mythology uses gods, monsters and magic,

關鍵差別在於，神話是使用神、怪獸與魔法

science uses measurements, records and experiments.

而科學是使用測量、紀錄與實驗

米諾陶爾的神話述說一隻憤怒的怪獸不斷地在潮濕的地下迷宮中徘徊，狂怒至其震耳欲聾的怒吼震撼地球。但是這個故事只是虛構的，還是我們早期祖先嘗試為這世界所發生的事作解釋？Matt Kaplan 檢驗了神話中的科學依據。 1King Minos0:11 在古希臘神話中，King Minos 米諾斯國王是宇宙之子，也是 Crete...