What do fans of atmospheric? post-punk music?have in common with ancient barbarians?

Not much. So why are both known as goths?

Is it a weird coincidence or a deeper connection stretching? across the centuries?

atmospheric??adj.??大氣（層）的，有關(guān)大氣的；有神秘（美）感的，富有情調(diào)的

post-punk? ?n.??后朋克adj.??后朋克的

barbarian??n.??野蠻人；未開化的人；無教養(yǎng)的人??adj.??野蠻的；未開化的

The story begins in Ancient Rome. As the Roman Empire expanded, it faced raids and invasions? from the semi-nomadic populations? along its borders.

Among the most powerful were a Germanic people known as Goths who were composed of two tribal groups, the Visigoths? and Ostrogoths.

raid??n.??突襲，襲擊；突擊檢查，突然搜查；搶劫，打劫；??v.??突襲，偷襲；突擊搜捕，突然搜查；搶劫，劫掠；

nomadic?adj.??游牧的；流浪的

tribal??adj.??部落的，部族的

While some of the Germanic tribes remained Rome's enemies, ?incorporated others into the imperial army.

As the Roman Empire split in two, these tribal armies played larger roles in its defense and internal power struggles.

?incorporate??v.?包含，合并；adj.??合成一體的，合并的；具體化的；

imperial??adj.??帝國的，皇帝的；宏偉的，華麗的；專橫的，飛揚跋扈的；

struggle??v.??奮斗，努力；搏斗，扭打，掙扎脫身??n.??奮斗，斗爭；難事；搏斗，扭打

In the 5th century, a mercenary revolt lead by a soldier named Odoacer captured?Rome? and deposed the Western Emperor.

Odoacer and his Ostrogoth successor Theoderic technically remained under the Eastern Emperor's authority and maintained Roman traditions.

But the Western Empire would never be united again.

Its dominions fragmented into kingdoms ruled by Goths and other Germanic tribes who assimilated into local cultures, though many of their names still mark the map.

mercenary??adj.??雇傭的；唯利是圖的??n.??雇傭兵；唯利是圖者

depose??vt.??免 職；作證；廢黜

successor??n.??繼承者，接替的事物

dominion??n.??主權(quán)，統(tǒng)治權(quán)；支配；領(lǐng)土

fragment??n.?碎片；片段；殘存部分??v.（使）破碎，分裂

assimilate??v.融入，（使）同化；吸收，理解；使相似，成為相似

This was the end of the Classical Period and the beginning of what many call the Dark Ages.

這標志著古典時期的終結(jié)，以及黑暗時期的開始。

Although Roman culture was never fully lost,?its influence declined and new art styles arose focused on religious symbolism and allegory?rather than proportion and realism.

allegory??n.?寓言

This shift extended to architecture? with the construction of the Abbey of Saint Denis in France in 1137.

Pointed arches, flying buttresses, and large windows made the structure more skeletal and ornate.

尖拱、飛拱、大窗這樣的設(shè)計使得建筑結(jié)構(gòu)顯得更加瘦削豪華。

That emphasized its open,? luminous interior rather than the sturdy walls and columns of Classical buildings.

Over the next few centuries, this became a model for Cathedrals throughout Europe.

construction??n.建造，建筑；創(chuàng)立，構(gòu)建；構(gòu)造，結(jié)構(gòu)；建筑物；

buttress??n.扶壁；山邊扶壁狀凸出部分；支持力量??v.支持；用扶壁支撐（建筑物等）

flying?buttress 飛拱

skeletal??adj.骨骼的，像骨骼的；骸骨的；骨瘦如柴的

ornate??adj.華麗的；

luminous??adj.夜光的，發(fā)亮的；鮮亮的，鮮艷的；照亮的，明亮的；睿智的，美麗的；

?sturdy??adj.結(jié)實的，堅固的；（人或身體）強壯的，健壯的；堅決的，堅定的

Cathedral 教堂

But fashions change. With the Italian Renaissance's renewed admiration for Ancient Greece and Rome, the more recent style began to seem crude and inferior in comparison.

Writing in his? book,? "Lives of the Artists," Giorgio Vasari was the first to describe it as Gothic, a derogatory reference to the Barbarians thought to have destroyed? Classical civilization.

The name stuck, and soon came to describe the Medieval period overall, with its associations of darkness, superstition, and simplicity.

crude??adj.粗略的，大概的；粗糙的，粗制的；冒犯的，粗俗的；天然的，自然的

inferior??adj.次的，較差的；低等的，下級的；自卑的

derogatory??adj.貶低的，貶義的

superstition? n.? 迷信

simplicity?n.簡單（性)，容易（性）；簡樸，樸素；簡單（或質(zhì)樸、樸素）之處；愚蠢，無知

But time marched on, as did what was considered fashionable.

In the 1700s, a period called the Enlightenment came about, which valued scientific reason? above all else.

Reacting against that, Romantic authors like Goethe and Byron sought idealized visions of a past of natural landscapes and mysterious spiritual forces.

Here, the word Gothic? was repurposed again to describe a literary genre that emerged as a darker strain of Romanticism.

march?on??繼續(xù)前進：表示不斷向前推進

landscape??n.（陸上 ，尤指鄉(xiāng)村的）風景，景色；形勢，情形

spiritual??adj.精神的，心靈的；宗教的

strain??n.焦慮，緊張；負擔，緊張；張力，壓力；損傷，扭傷；品種，類型；氣質(zhì)，個性特點；旋律，曲調(diào)；口吻，語氣；

The term was first applied? by Horace Walpole to his own 1764 novel,? "The Castle of Otranto" as a reference to the plot? and general atmosphere.

Many of the novel's elements became genre staples inspiring classics and the countless movies they spawned.

小說中的眾多元素成為了哥特體裁的典型，并啟發(fā)了眾多經(jīng)典故事及改編電影。

The gothic label belonged to literature and film until the 1970s when a new musical scene emerged.

spawn? v.?引發(fā)，促生；大量生產(chǎn)

Taking cues from artists like The Doors and The Velvet Underground, British post-punk groups, like Joy Division, Bauhaus, and The Cure, combined gloomy lyrics? and punk dissonance with imagery inspired? by the Victorian era, classic horror, and androgynous glam fashion.

By the early 1980s, similar bands were consistently described as Gothic rock by the music press, and the stye's popularity brought it out of dimly lit clubs to major labels and MTV.

cue??n.暗示，提示

?lyric??n.歌詞? adj. 抒情的

dissonance??n.不一致；不調(diào)和；不和諧音

androgynous? adj.? 中性的，雌雄同體的

glam??adj.迷人的；華麗搖滾樂的??n.魅力；華麗搖滾樂

And today, despite occasional negative media attention and stereotypes, Gothic music and fashion continue as a strong underground phenomenon.

They've also branched into sub-genres, such as cybergoth, gothabilly, gothic metal, and even steampunk.

The history of the word gothic is embedded in thousands of years? worth of countercultural movements, from invading outsiders becoming kings to towering spires? replacing solid columns to artists finding beauty in darkness.

哥特這個詞伴隨了上千年的歷史，它是一種反對傳統(tǒng)文化的運動，開始于哥特民族作為外族入侵稱王，而后，高聳的尖塔代替了粗壯的圓柱，藝術(shù)家在黑暗中發(fā)現(xiàn)了美。

Each step has seen a revolution of sorts and a tendency for civilization to reach into its past to reshape its present.

每一步都是一種改革，也是文明回溯過去進而重塑現(xiàn)在的趨勢。