in the time of Homer's poetry and they claimed direct descent

荷马史诗所描述时代的领军人物他们宣称
from Agamemnon and the other Argive kings.

他们是阿伽门农及其他阿尔戈斯王的直系后裔
We hear about various Macedonian monarchs of

我们了解过不少在菲利普之前
some importance prior to Philip,

比较重要的马其顿国王
back at the time of the Persian War,

在波斯战争的时候
Alexander the first played an interesting and shady role

亚历山大一世在希腊人和波斯人之间
between the Greeks and the Persians.

扮演了一个有趣的见不得人的角色
During the Peloponnesian War we hear of a King Perdiccas,

在伯罗奔尼撒战争之时我们认识了帕迪卡王
who also played a role shifting between the Spartans and the Athenians.

他同样在斯巴达和雅典之间摇摆不定
This business of shifting between sides is not

他们在势力之间摇摆不定
just because they're shifty people.

不仅仅因为他们生性善变
It's that their status is such that they're always vulnerable

他们的现状决定了他们是弱小的