Do you also remember the tale of the wily Odysseus?

你还记得足智多谋的奥德修斯的故事吗？

How, returning from Troy, he experienced the strangest adventures,

他如何回到特洛伊，经历了最奇妙的冒险，

Till, at last, on miraculous ships, he returned to his homeland,

最终乘坐魔船回到他的家乡，

To the wife who awaited her lord all the years of his absence.

找到这些年他不在却一直等待他的忠贞的妻子

Verses like these were chanted at feasts by Greek minstrels as they played their lyres.

所有这些诗句都是宴会上希腊吟游歌手吟唱出来的。

Later, they were written down and people came to believe that one poet, called Homer, had composed them all.

后来，有人把这些歌记下来，人们相信是一位名叫荷马的诗人写了这些歌。

They are read to this day and you, too, can enjoy them,

这些歌人们今天还在读，你也会喜欢他们的，

for they are as fresh and vivid as ever – full of beauty and wisdom.

因为他们现在仍这样生动和有趣——充满美与智慧。

Now wait a minute, you're going to say.

现在等一等，你会说。

These are stories, not history.

这些事故事，不是历史。

What I want to know is, when and how did these events take place?

我想知道，这是什么时候、是如何发生的。

A German businessman called Schliemann asked himself that same question, more than 100 years ago.

100多年前一个名叫施利曼的德国商人恰恰正是怀着这样的心情。