外國人最想和你聊的文化話題：希臘神話

　Realize the Greek Mythology　認識希臘神話
     1　希臘神話起源
     Most Greek myths or legends are from ancient Greek literature,including Iliad and Odyssey in Homeric Epic, Hesiod's Work and Days, Austria Vader's The Metamorphosis and other classics, as well as the opera of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Myths are about the origin of the gods and the world, competition for the highest position and the God Zeus' final victory of the struggle, as well as the love and quarrel, impaction of Gods' adventure and power on the normal world, including storms or other natural phenomena and the relationship between places of worship and ritual.
     The most famous Greek myths are the Trojan War and Odysseus's travels, Jason find the Golden Fleece, Hercules' achievements, Theseus'adventure and Edipusri's tragedy.
     Most Greek myths or legends are from the ancient Greek civilization, like China's Shang and Zhou civilization. They are the ancestors of Western civilization, with excellent nature and extraordinary imagination. In that primitive era, they felt mysterious and obscure of natural phenomena, human life and death. So they kept dreaming, kept meditating. In their imagination, all things have life in the world. However, after the Dorians invaded the Aegean civilization, because Greek peninsula is overpopulational, they had to expand living space. In that time they worship heroes, thus creating many national hero stories. The people, the God, the story material created, quenched by the time, are called as "Greek Mythology" according to the historians.
     The Greeks were polytheistic in their religious beliefs. Polytheistic means they believed in and worshiped many different gods. In Greek mythology, the gods often represented different forms of nature. Their religion had no formal structure with the exception of various festivals held in honor of the gods. There was no sacred book or code of conduct to live by. The most powerful Greek gods were known as the Olympians. The Greeks believed the Olympians lived on the highest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus. The Olympian gods included：Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hades, Hermes, Hephaestus, Poseidon and Hestia or later she was replaced in some lists by Dionysus.
     2　希臘神話里主要的神
     宙斯　　　　　 Zeus-King of the Gods
     赫拉　　　　　 Hera-Queen of Zeus
     阿芙洛狄忒 　　Aphrodite-goddess of love and beauty
     阿波羅　　　　 Apollo-god of light, truth, healing, archery, music, poetry
     阿瑞斯　　　　 Ares-god of war
     阿爾忒彌斯　　 Artemis-goddess of hunt, moon, children and good citizenship
     德墨忒爾　　　 Demeter-goddess of grain, agriculture, fertility
     狄俄尼索斯　　 Dionysus-god of wine, vegetation, and theater
     哈迪斯　　　　 Hades-god of the underworld
     赫淮斯托斯 　　Hephaestus-god of forge and fire
     赫斯提亞　　　 Hestia-goddess of the hearth and home
     波塞冬　　　　 Poseidon-god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses
     希臘神話寄托了人們的很多愿望，當人從現(xiàn)實生活中得不到時，就會希望神的幫助來實現(xiàn)夢想。它是古代勞動人民的信仰。隨著時間的推移，一些神話被流傳下來，無論那個神話可信還是不可信，重要的是我們都能找到自己所寄予的那一段就行了。
Part 2　Key words ＆ Sentences　關(guān)鍵詞語全知道
     Greek mythology is a group of traditional tales told by the ancient Greeks about the deeds of gods, heroes and their relations with human beings.
     希臘神話講了很多古希臘的故事，有神、英雄的故事以及他們和普通人之間的關(guān)系。
     The Greek mythology is an important part of the ancient culture which has vast and deep influence on the whole western culture.
     希臘神話是古文化重要的一部分，與整個西方文化有著廣泛而又緊密的聯(lián)系。
     Its great influence upon the English language and literature is beyond description. A great number of words and idioms in the English language come from the Greek mythology.
     它在英語和文學(xué)作品方面的巨大影響力是無法形容的。英語中的很多單詞和語言表達方式都是來自希臘神話。
     In the beginning, the universe is a cosmos evolving from Chaos. Chaos and Gaea (the earth) generate everything that exists, including seas, mountains, gods and monsters. Then Gaea's mating with her son Uranus (the sky), which produces 12 Titans with Gronus as their leader.
     宇宙之初，只有卡俄斯（即"混沌")。卡俄斯和蓋亞（大地）創(chuàng)造了大海、大山、神還有妖怪，并賦予它們生命。后來蓋亞與她的兒子烏拉諾斯（天空）結(jié)婚，由此產(chǎn)生了以克羅諾斯為首的12泰坦。
     Advised and helped by his mother, Grouns beats his father Uranus, and severs the link between sky and earth. Then he becomes the new king of the cosmos. Gronus copulates with his sister, Rhea to bring about Zeus and siblings, the future of older Olympians.
     克羅諾斯在他母親的建議和幫助下打敗了他的父親烏拉諾斯，分開了天地間的連接，成為了宇宙的新首領(lǐng)?？肆_諾斯與他的姐姐瑞亞結(jié)婚，誕生了宙斯以及他的兄弟姐妹，翻開了古奧林匹亞嶄新的一頁。
     In Greek mythology, Prometheus brought fire to mankind and as a result enraged the king of the gods.
     在希臘神話中，普羅米修斯給人類帶來了火，結(jié)果激怒了眾神之王。
     In Greek mythology, the gods often represented different forms of nature.
     在希臘神話中，神往往代表了不同的人性。
     The most powerful Greek gods were known as the Olympians.
     最強大的希臘眾神被稱為奧運匹亞神。
     Myths exist in almost every ancient culture. You can find myths not only from Ancient Greece and Rome, but from Africa, Native American, Egypt, Japan, China and many more cultures.
     每一個古老的文化都會有神話的存在。不僅有來自希臘和羅馬的，也有來自非洲、印第安人、埃及、日本、中國的。
     The Greeks used mythology to explain what they did not understand.
     希臘人用神話來解釋他們不明白的事物。
     The 5th-century-BC Greek historian Herodotus remarked that Homer and Hesiod gave to the Olympian gods their familiar characteristics.
     公元前第5世紀，希臘歷史學(xué)家希羅多德表示，荷馬和赫西奧德讓他們了解了奧林匹亞眾神的特點。
     Famous events in epics, such as the Trojan War, were generally regarded as having really happened, and heroes and heroines were believed to have actually lived.
     著名的史詩事件，如特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭，被普遍視為真的發(fā)生了，英雄和女英雄相信是真的存在。