不多废话,太久没码字人也变得懒了,从昨日起开始阅读古希腊罗马神话英文原著,在此和有幸看到这篇文章的人分享,同时也对自己的阅读形成监督和及时的反馈。我暂时跳过了简介部分直接开始了阅读,简介在后期将会补上。
The first part of the book, The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, talked about the First Dynasty and the Origin of the world. The main point of the article is two first great primeval deities of the Greeks, Uranus and Ge (乌拉诺斯和盖亚). Uramus had united himself in marriage with Ge. But they didn't live happily ever after.
"The smiles of heaven produce the flowers of earth, whereas his long-continued frowns exercise so depressing an influence upon his loving partner, that she no longer decks herself in bright and festive robes, but responds with ready sympathy to his melancholy mood."(The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, p.8)
This sentence shows that their married life is not happy.But they did reproduce. The first-born child of Uranus and Ge was Oceanus (欧申纳斯),the god of the ocean. Then their children were born, including Aether (Ether) (埃忒尔,太空神),Air (埃尔),Nephelae (纳菲莱,云之女神), Pontus(蓬托斯,海洋之神), etc.
In these myths, the relationship between the Gods is disordered, even suggesting incest. For example, Ge had united with Pontus.Their descendants are Nereus (涅柔斯,代表大海丰厚海产的海神), Thaumas (陶玛斯,奇观之海神), Phorcys (福尔马斯,原始海神,深海之化身), Ceto (刻托,代表海洋的危险和所有海怪的女神), Eurybia (欧律比亚,代表海洋掌握权的女神),etc.
Co-existent with Uranus and Ge were two maghty powers who were also the offspring of Chaos. These were Erebus (厄瑞波斯,黑暗之神) and Nyx (尼克斯,代表黑夜的女神). Uranus was supposed to have been united with Nyx. Their children were Eos (厄俄斯,黎明女神), Hemera (赫墨拉,光明之神). Nxy again, on her side was also doubly united, having been married at some indefinite period to Erebus.
Other than that, Uranus and Ge produced two distinctly different races of being called Giants (葵干忒斯) and Titans (提坦). Giants are a bunch of guys with brawn and no brains. Titans have varying degrees of intelligence in addition to physical strength. There are three Giants:Briareus (布里阿瑞俄斯), Cottus (科托斯), Gyges (古革斯). Each of had 100 arms and 50 heads, so they sometimes were known as Hecatoncheires (百臂巨人). And the 12 Titans are Oceanus, Ceos, Crios, Hyperion, Iapetus, Cronus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Teyhys.
In the end Uranus held in abhorrence his crude, rough, and turbulent offspring, the Giants, and even feared their great power might eventually prove harmful to himself. So Uranus drove the Giants to Tartarus (塔尔塔洛斯,地狱深渊). Ge took revenge on Uranus. Ge incited the Titans against Uranus. With the help of the Titans, Cronus succeeded in overthrowing his father and gaining power. His father, enraged by defeat, cursed Cronus to share his fate. Cronus gained supreme power and rewarded his brothers. But when his position became secure, he no longer needed the help of his brothers, so he turned his back on them. In the end ,with the help of Giants, Cronus defeated the Titan brothers and won the war.