神谱
红色①为一代神王
黄色②为二代神王
绿色圆为三代神王
蓝色人为儿子
红色为女儿
紫色为妻子
The religions of ancient Greece and Rome are extinct. The so-called divinities（神）of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men. They belong now not to the department of theology（神学）, but to those of literature and taste. There they still hold their place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion（湮没，被遗忘）.
We propose to tell the stories relating to them which have come downto us from the ancients, and which are alluded to by modern poets, essayists, and orators. Our readers may thus at the same time be entertained by the most charming fictions which fancy has ever created, and put in possession of information indispensable（不可或缺的） to every one who would read with intelligence the elegant literature of his own day.
In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe which prevailed among the Greeks—the people from whom the Romans, and other nations through them, received their science and religion.
The Greeks believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount Olympus, the abode（住所） of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle（神示所，祭司）.
The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east and dividedinto two equal parts by the Sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine, the only seas with which they were acquainted.
Around the earth flowed the River Ocean, its course being from southto north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction on the eastern side. It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed（安详的，不受干扰的） by storm or tempest. The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their waters from it.
The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by ahappy race named the Hyperboreans, dwelling in everlasting bliss and spring beyond the lofty mountains whose caverns（洞） were supposed to send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people of Hellas (Greece). Their country was inaccessible by land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare.
On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Ocean, dwelt apeople happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans. They were named the Aethiopians. The gods favored them so highly that they were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes and go to share their sacrifices and banquets（宴会）.
On the western margin of the earth, by the stream of Ocean, lay ahappy place named the Elysian Plain, whither mortals favored by the gods were transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss. This happy region was also called the "Fortunate Fields," and the "Isles of the Blessed."
We thus see that the Greeks of the early ages knew little of any real people except those to the east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagination meantime peopled the western portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses（女巫）; while they placed around the disk of the earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying the peculiar favor of the gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity（长寿）.
The Dawn, the Sun, and the Moon were supposed to rise out of the Ocean, on the eastern side, and to drive through the air, giving light to gods and men. The stars, also, except those forming the Wain（北斗七星） or Bear, and others near them, rose out of and sank into the stream of Ocean. There the sun-god embarked in a winged boat, which conveyed him round by the northern part of the earth, back to his place of rising in the east.
网友评论