And one of the best places to do that is ancient Greece -
古希腊就是最好的例子之一
in particular, the city of Athens from around 700 BC.
具体点说就是约公元前700年的雅典城
Never much more than a small town in our terms,
在我们看来它只是个小城镇
it was a place where you could find
但你却能发现
people of different classes and backgrounds cheek by jowl
不同阶级不同背景的人们共同生活于
in a grand experiment in urban living.
一场城市生活的大型实验中
And one of the most distinctive things about Athenian culture
雅典文化最突出的特征之一
was an intense focus on the youthful, athletic body.
就是格外关注年轻健美的身材
This body was a symbol of political and moral virtue.
这种身材是政治和道义美德的象征
And Athens became a whole city of images
而雅典逐渐变成了
devoted to the human form.
追求人体形象的城市
Greek art almost never means landscape.
希腊艺术几乎不关心风景
It almost never means still life.
也几乎不关心静物
Greek art means
希腊艺术关心的是
statues and drawings, paintings and models of human beings.
人类雕像 素描 油画和模型
These images were everywhere.
这些形象到处都是
They were out in the world playing their part.
他们在世界上有着重要的地位