Anybody who looks at Greek mythology and Greek poetry,

任何浏览过希腊神话诗歌和故事的人
and Greek stories sees there is a powerful influence coming into Greek

都能发现来自美索不达米亚的文化
thought from mainly the Mesopotamian direction.

对希腊思想的巨大影响
Anybody who looks at the earliest Greek art for quite some time,

任何鉴赏早期希腊艺术的人
I'm talking about sculpture and temple building,

我指的是雕塑和神庙建筑
will see the influence of Egypt enormously powerfully.

都会发现来自于埃及的巨大影响
So, the Greeks are sopping up tremendously useful

希腊汲取了极其有用的
information and talent, and skills,

信息才能和技术
and all sorts of things that help explain what's going to be coming.

而这对我们解释以后的历史启发良多
It is inconceivable

难以想象
the Greeks could have developed a civilization

希腊人可以在脱离与东方的联系
that they did without contact with these eastern civilizations

并未向东方学习的情况下