来自《耶鲁大学开放课程：古希腊历史简介 第3集 第3集》

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  down to the earliest possible exception, I suppose;
  我想"最早的"可能除外
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  well, it depends what you think is earliest.
  当然 这取决于你是怎么理解"最早的"
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  You could say the Hebrews are the earliest,
  你完全可以说《希伯来书》是最早提及的
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  pure and simple, but depending on how you date biblical things,
  但根据圣经的记载来推算
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  there's an outside chance that
  公元前十六世纪的一位埃及法老
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  an Egyptian pharaoh in the sixteenth century B.C.,
  可能宣扬过一神论
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  I think, might have claim to have some such state.
  但我认为可能性不大
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  But otherwise, there is no such thing.
  但除此之外 再没有这样的情况
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  So, this is a polytheistic society
  因此 这是个多神崇拜的社会
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  with heroic characteristics.
  有着英雄式的人物
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  That is, this kind of aristocratic outfit, aristocracy of birth,
  也就是说 由于他们在战场上的英雄行为
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  which is legitimized by heroic behavior on the battlefield.
  他们的贵族的身份和贵族出身是被认可的