Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes 神祇與英雄的永恆傳說
MYTHOLOGY 神話
EDITH HAMILTON 艾迪斯˙漢彌頓
PART ONE 第一部
The Gods, the Creation, and the Earliest Heroes 神祇、萬物與最早期英雄
1. The Gods 神祇
Strange clouded fragments of an ancient glory, Late lingerers of the company divine. They breathe of that far world wherefrom they come, Lost halls of heaven and Olympian air.
怪誕雲怖片片段段的古老榮光，伴伺神祇的暮歸遊蕩者；祂們鼻息仰賴，源於祂們所來的遙遠世界---眾天神與奧林匹亞神的唯一大堂。
(此處LATE 與 LOST 是兩個相互對應的形容詞，翻譯信達雅的難處就是如此，誰能建議較好的中文形容呢!)
The Greeks did not believe that the gods created the universe. It was the other way about: the universe created the gods. Before there were gods heaven and earth had been formed. They were the first parents. The Titans were their children, and the gods were their grandchildren.
希臘人不相信神祇創造宇宙，而是繫於另種方式。宇宙創造神祇，在之前已有神祇且天地便已形成。祂們是最先的始祖，泰坦諸神是祂們的子嗣，而神祇是祂們的孫嗣。
THE TITANS AND THE TWELVE GREAT OLYMPIANS
泰坦諸神與12位偉大的奧林匹亞神
The Titans, often called the Elder Gods, were for untold ages supreme in the universe. They were of enormous size and of incredible strength. There were many of them, but only a few appear in the stories of mythology. The most important was CRONUS, in Latin SATURN. He ruled over the other Titans until his son Zeus dethroned him and seized the power for himself. The Romans said that when Jupiter, their name for Zeus, ascended the throne. Saturn fled to Italy and brought in the Golden Age, a time of perfect peace and happiness, which lasted as long as he reigned.
泰坦諸神通常稱為元老神，是宇宙中年庚不可勝數之至尊，渠等碩大無比且力大無窮；祂們有好幾位但只有少數在神話裡現蹤，最重要的是哥隆納斯---即古羅馬的薩登(農神˙土星)。祂統治其他泰坦諸神直到祂的兒子宙斯篡位並奪取祂的權力，羅馬人說當朱彼特(天神˙木星)---希臘名宙斯---登上王位，薩登逃往義大利並為義大利帶來黃金年代，一個持續與祂統治一樣長久的非常和平與幸福時期。
The other notable Titans were Ocean, the river that was suppose to encircle the earth; his wife TETHYS; HYPERION, the father of the sun, the moon and the dawn; MNEMOSYNE, which means memory; THEMIS, usually translated by Justice; and IAPETUS, important because of his sons. ATLAS, who bore the world on his shoulders, and PROMETHEUS, who was the savior of mankind. These alone among the older gods were not banished with the coming of Zeus, but they took a lower place.
其他著名泰坦諸神是澳仙(河神)，河流被認為環繞大地；祂的妻子提蒂絲；海伯倫---太陽、月亮與黎明之父；敏姆士尼意即記憶之神；狄米斯通常譯為記憶之神；伊亞帕特斯因祂的兒子亞特拉斯肩擔地球而貴；普羅米修斯是人類的救世祖。單單就這幾位神祇在所有元老諸神中，不因宙斯的出現而被放逐，但祂們卻位居低下。
The twelve great Olympians were supreme among the gods who succeeded to the Titans. They were called the Olympians because Olympus was their home. What Olympus was, however, is not easy to say. There is no doubt that at first it was held to be a mountain top, and generally identified with Greece's highest mountain. Mt. Olympus in Thessaly , in the northeast of Greece. But even in the earliest Greek poem, the Iliad, this idea is beginning to give way to the idea of an Olympus in some mysterious region far above all the mountains of the earth. In one passage of the Iliad Zeus talks to the gods from “the topmost peak of many-ridged Olympus,” clearly a mountain. But only a little further on he says that if he willed he could hang earth and sea from a pinnacle of Olympus, clearly no longer a mountain. Even so, it is not heaven. Homer makes Posedion say that he rules the sea, Hades the dead, Zeus the heavens, but Olympus is common to all three.
在所有繼承泰坦諸神中的12位偉大奧林匹亞神是至尊，祂們之所以被稱為奧林匹亞神是因為奧林匹斯是祂們的家。然而奧林匹斯是甚麼，並不容易說明；毫無疑問的剛開始時，它被認為是山頂而且通常與希臘東北方，位於底斯理的最高峰奧林匹斯山是同一座山。但在最早期希臘史詩伊里亞德中，這個信念已經支持不住奧林匹斯在某些神秘區域是遠高於地球上任何一座山的信念。伊里亞德的其中一個章節，宙斯從奧林匹斯山脈綿亙的山峰最頂端明白告訴眾神說是一座山。但是他更進一步說：假使他有意志的話，祂能夠把大地與海洋掛在奧林匹斯的尖峰上，明白表示奧林匹斯不是一座山；縱使如此，奧林匹斯也不是天國。荷馬透過波西迪恩說：祂統治海洋、海德斯統治冥界、宙斯統治天空，但是奧林匹斯是三者共有的。
Wherever it was, the entrance to it was a great gate of clouds kept by the Seasons. Within were the gods’dwellings, where/they lived and slept and feasted on ambrosia and nectar and listened to Apollo’s lyre. It was an abode of perfect blessedness. Now wind, Homer says, ever shakes the untroubled peace of Olympus; no rain ever falls there or snow; but the cloudless firmament stretches around it on all sides and the white glory of sunshine is diffused upon its walls.
無論奧林匹斯在何處，它的入口是雲朵所建構的大門，由四季所看管；裡面是眾神居住、作息、啖珍饈、飲瓊漿、欣賞阿波羅七弦豎琴演奏的所在，它是個十分幸福的居所。荷馬說：不曾有風撼動奧林匹斯的平和、未曾有雨雪肆虐、而無雲的蒼穹在其四面八方延伸，陽光的白色榮光漫射在它的四周。
The twelve Olympians made up a divine family:---
12位奧林匹亞神組成神的家族。
(1) ZEUS(JUPITER), the chief; his two brothers next, (2) POSEIDON (NEPTUNE), and (3) HADES, also called PLUTO; (4) HESTIA (VESTA), their sister; (5) HERA (JUNO), Zeus’s wife, and (6) ARES (MARS), their son; Zesus children; (7) ATHENA (MINERVA), (8) APOLLO, (9) APHRODITE (VENUS), (10) HERMES (MERCURY) , and (11) ARTEMIS (DIANA); and Hera’s son (12) HEPHAESTUS (VULCAN), sometimes said to be the son of Zeus too.
(1) 宙斯(朱彼特˙木星)，主神；祂的兩個弟弟居次、(2)波西頓 (奈普頓˙海王星)、(3)海德斯也稱之為普魯圖˙冥王星、(4)海斯狄亞(維斯達˙女灶神)，宙斯等的妹妹、(5)海娜(朱諾˙婚姻神)，宙斯的太太、(6)雅爾斯(瑪斯˙火星)，宙斯與海娜的兒子。
宙斯的子女(7)雅典娜(美娜娃˙智慧、工藝、發明女神)、(8)阿波羅、(9) 愛芙黛蒂(維納斯˙愛與美女神)、(10)赫密士(密格利˙水星)、(11)亞特密斯(黛安娜˙月、狩獵、森林、野獸女神)。
海娜的兒子(12)希費斯特斯(法肯˙火和鍛冶神)，有時說祂也是宙斯的兒子。
ZEUS(JUPITER) 宙斯(朱彼特˙木星)，主神
Zeus and his brothers drew lots for their share of the universe. The sea fell to Poseidon, and the underworld to Hades. Zeus became the supreme ruler. He was Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god and Cloud-gatherer, who wielded the awful thunder－bolt. His power was greater than that of all the other divinities together. In the Iliad he tells his family, “I am mightiest of all. Make trial that you may know. Fasten a rope of gold to heaven and lay hold, every god and goodness. You could not drag down Zeus. But if I wished to drag you down, then I would. The rope I would bind to a pinnacle of Olympus and all would hang in air, yes, the very earth and the sea too.”
宙斯和他的弟弟們抽籤來瓜分宇宙，海洋落在波西頓 (奈普頓˙海王星)手中、冥界歸海德斯(普魯圖˙冥王星)統治，宙斯則為至高無上的統治者；祂是天主、雨神和聚雲神、祂支配可怕的閃電，祂的權力大到所有其他神祇的總和。在史詩伊里亞德中祂跟他的家人說：我是所有神祇中最有權力的，你們試試看就能明白。每一位男神祇與女神祇綁一條金繩到天國並拉緊，你們無法把宙斯拉下來，但是如果我要的話，你們沒有一個我拉不下來的。我將把金索綁在奧林匹斯的峰頂，並把一切懸在空中，當然也包括大地與海洋。
Nevertheless he was not omnipotent or omniscient, either. He could be opposed and deceived. Poseidon dupes him in the Iliad and so does Hera. Sometimes, too, the mysterious power, Fate, is spoken of as stronger than he. Homer makes Hera ask him scornfully if he proposes to deliver from death a man Fate has doomed.
然而宙斯並也非無所不能或無所不知，祂會被抗拒與欺騙；在史詩伊里亞德中波西頓愚弄祂而海娜也是，有時候神奇的權力---命運之神，被說成比祂更強。荷馬透過海娜輕蔑地問祂：是否打算救贖一位命運之神已經註定死亡的人。
He is represented as a falling in love with one woman after another and descending to all manner of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife. The explanation why such actions were ascribed to the most majestic of the gods is, the scholars say, that the Zeus of song and story has been made by combining many gods. When his worship spread to a town where there was already a divine ruler the two were slowly fused into one. The wife of the early god was then transferred to Zeus. The result, however, was unfortunate and the later Greeks did not like these endless love affairs.
祂接二連三的和女性墬入情網，並用各式各樣的詭計來對妻子掩飾祂的不忠。學者們解釋說：此種行為何出之於最莊嚴的神祇身上，被歸因宙斯的歌頌與故事是結合眾多神祇所成。當祂的聲望擴散到已經有神祇統治的城鎮時，兩位神祇慢慢地結合為一。然後先前神祇的夫人被過繼給宙斯，然而結果是不幸的，而爾後的希臘人不喜歡這些沒有結果的愛情。
Still, even in the earliest records Zeus had grandeur. In the Iliad Agememnon prays：”Zues, most glorious, most great, God of the storm-cloud, thou that dwellest in the heavens.” He demanded, too, not only sacrifices from men, but right action. The Greek Army at Troy is told “Father Zeus never helps liars or those who break their oaths.” The two ideas of aim, the low and the high, persisted side by side for a long time.
然而甚至早期記載宙斯顯赫，伊里亞德史詩希臘統帥亞基米倫祈禱說：宙斯最榮耀、最偉大，暴風雨雲之神，你居住在天國。祂不僅不向人類需索祭品但是需行為正當，特洛伊城的希臘軍人被告誡說：天父宙斯絕不會協助說謊或違背誓言的人。祂的兩個目標信念，崇高與卑賤長期堅持並肩而行。
His breastplate was the aegis, awful to behold; his bird was the eagle, his tree the oak. His oracle was Dodona in the land of oak trees. The god’s will was revealed by the rustling of the oak leaves which the priests interpreted.
祂的盔甲是盾，看來威風凜凜；祂的神鳥是老鷹、神樹是橡樹；神諭之所是橡樹林內的多多娜，神祇旨意經由橡樹葉窸窣聲詔示而透過祭司來譯述。
HERA (JUNO) 海娜 ( 朱諾˙婚姻神 )，宙斯的太太
She was Zeus’s wife and sister. The Titans Ocean and Tethys brought her up. She was the protector of marriage, and married women were her peculiar care. There is very little that is attractive in the portrait the poets draw of her. She is called indeed, in an early poem,
Golden-throned Hera, among immortals the queen.
Chief among them in beauty, the glorious lady
All the blessed in high Olympus revere,
Honor even as Zeus, the lord of the thunder.
祂是宙斯的妻子與妹妹，由泰坦神澳仙與提希司養育成人；祂是婚姻的守護神，已婚婦人受到祂特別照護。詩歌中對祂的敘述與描繪不具吸引力，實際上在早期詩篇中，祂被稱呼為：
擁有黃金王位海娜，所有神祇中的皇后；
雍容華貴的貴婦，諸神祇中美麗的后冠；
所有崇高的奧林匹斯神祇都尊崇；
榮典甚至如宙斯、雷電之神亦如是。
But when any account of her gets down to details, it shows her chiefly engaged in punishing the many women Zeus fell in love with, even when they yielded only because he coerced or tricked them. It made no difference to Hera how reluctant any of them were or how innocent; the goodness treated them all alike. Her implacable anger followed them and their children too. She never forgot an injury. The Trojan War would have ended in an honorable peace, leaving both sides unconquered, if it had not been for her hatred of a Trojan who had judged another goddess lovelier than she. The wrong of her slighted beauty remained with her until Troy fell in ruins.
但是有關祂的描述鉅細靡遺紀錄。揭露出祂主要在懲罰宙斯談情說愛的眾多女神，縱使祂們懾於威權屈服、或僅因為宙斯強逼或欺騙。對海娜而言都不予以理會，不管祂們多麼無辜或多麼不心甘情願，女神對待祂們大都一致。祂怒火中燒焰及等身也波及子女，祂絕忘不了這傷痛。特洛伊戰爭已經光榮和平落幕，留下雙方都未被征服。如果不是祂憎恨特洛伊人評斷另個女神比他更美麗的話，祂藐視美貌的邪惡將常遺留祂心中，直到特洛伊城變為廢墟為止。
In one important story , the Quest of the Golden Fleece, she is the gracious protector of heroes and the inspirer of heroic deeds, but not in any other. Nevertheless she was venerated in every home. She was the goddess married women turned to for help. Ilithyia (or Eileithyia ), who helped women in childbirth, was her daughter.
在尋求金羊毛的重要故事裡，祂是英雄們的優雅守護神與英勇事蹟的鼓舞神，但在其他故事裡就不是了；但是祂在每一個家庭內受崇敬、祂是已婚婦女求助的女神，伊莉蒂亞(或愛蕾蒂亞)是祂的女兒，祂協助婦女分娩。
The cow and the peacock were sacred to her. Argos was her favorite city.
母牛與孔雀用以奉祀祂，阿果斯是她最喜愛的城市。
POSEIDON (NEPTUNE) 波西頓 ( 奈普頓˙海王星 )
He was the ruler of the sea, Zeus’s brother and second only to him in eminence. The Greeks on both sides of the Aegean were seamen and the God of the Sea was all-important to them. His wife was Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the Titan,
Ocean. Poseidon had a splendid palace beneath the sea, but he was oftener to be found in Olympus.
祂是海洋的統治者、宙斯的哥哥，在威權方面僅次於宙斯。居住在愛琴海兩岸的希臘人是海員，而海神對他們而言最為重要。祂的妻子安妃垂德，泰坦神澳仙的孫女。波西頓在海底有個華麗的宮殿，但祂在奧林匹斯屢番現身。
Besides being Lord of the Sea he gave the first horse to man, and he was honored as much for the one as for the other.
除了身為海神之外，祂賜給人類第一匹馬，祂跟其他神祇一樣受人尊崇。
Lord Poseidon, from you this pride is ours,
The strong horses, the young horses, and also the rule of the deep.
Storm and calm were under his control:---
He commanded and the storm wind rose
And the surges of the sea.
波西頓神，這些榮寵來自於你，是賜予我們的，
強壯、年輕的馬隻而且還有深海的統御；
風暴與寧靜在你的控制下，
你一發號施令風暴起且海澎湃。
But when he drove in his golden car over the waters, the thunder of the waves sank into stillness, and tranquil peace followed his smooth-rolling wheels.
但當你駕馭你的黃金馬車行駛於水面時，雷霆般的波浪轉趨沉寂、平靜，隨著平順轉動的輪子而至。
He was commonly called “Earth-shaker” and was always shown carrying his trident, a three-pronged spear, with which he would shake and shatter whatever he pleased.
祂一般被喚為”大地的撼動神”而總是攜帶三叉戟(有著三個叉型尖頭茅)現身，只要祂高興就搖動它劈啪響。
He had some connection with bulls as well as with horses, but the bull was connected with many other gods too.
祂跟牡牛與馬有些關連，但牡牛也跟其他許多神祇有關係。
HADES (PLUTO) 海德斯 ( 普魯圖˙冥王星 )
He was the third brother among Olympians, who drew for his share the underworld and the rule over the dead. He was also called Pluto, the God of Wealth, of the precious metals hidden in the earth. The Romans as well as the Greeks called him by this name, but often they translated it into Dis, the Latin word for rich. He had a far-famed cap or helmet which made whoever wore it invisible. It was rare that he left his dark realm to visit Olympus or the earth, nor was he urged to do so. He was not a welcome visitor. He was unpitying, inexorable, but just; a terrible, not an evil god.
奧林匹雅神諸兄弟中，祂排行老三，祂抽籤分得冥界與亡靈的統治。祂也稱之為普魯圖，藏在大地的珍貴金屬的財富之神
His wife was Persephone (Proserpine ) whom he carried away from the earth and made Queen of the Lower World. He was King of the Dead not Death himself, whom the Greeks called Thanatos and the Romans, Orcus. PAllAS ATHENA (MINERVA) She was the daughter of Zeus alone. No mother bore her. Full-grown and in full armor, she sprang from his head. In the earliest account of her, the Iliad, she is a fierce and ruthless battle-goddess, but elsewhere she is warlike only to defend the State and the home from outside enemies. She was pre-eminently the Goddess of the City, the ptotector of civilized life, of handicrafts and agriculture; the inventor of the bridle, who first tamed horses for men to use. She was Zeus’s favorite child. He trusted her to carry the awful aegis, his buckler, and his devastating weapon, the thunderbolt. The word often quotes to describe her is “gray-eyed,”or as it is sometimes translated, “flashing-eyed.”Of the threevirgin goddesses she was the chief and was called the Maiden, Parthenos, and her temple the Parthenon. In later poetry she is the embodiment of wisdom, reason, purity. Athens was her special city, the olive created by her was her tree; the owl her bird.
(Unfinished, to be continued.) ( 未完，待續 )
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