Aether（以太）
Of all the deities（神明） in ancient Greek Mythology, those related to darkness and the underworld（地狱） were certainly the most detested（厌恶）.
古希腊神话中，最令人讨厌的恐怕就是那些和黑暗及地狱相关联的神吧。
Although most mortals（凡人） fear of mentioning their names, such deities as Nyx, Erebus, Achlys, Hades and Persephone are bound to fill people’s mind with awe（敬畏） and exhortation（劝勉） so as to force them to be cautious with their earthly undertakings.
尽管凡人都害怕提起他们的名字，但是正因为有尼克斯、埃里伯斯、艾柯吕斯、哈迪斯、珀尔塞福涅这些神的存在，尘世间的人类才会心怀敬畏与警戒，对自己的言行有所顾忌。
哈迪斯
Whether you like it or not, this particular lineage（家系） of Greek deities has contributed a lot of interesting words to the English language.
不管你喜欢与否，希腊神界中这一另类的分支为英语贡献了许多有趣的词汇。
The first divine generation included Erebus, the primordial（最早的） god of darkness, and Nyx, goddess of night. One of their sons was Aether（以太）, the god of pure or upper air.
最早的黑暗之神埃里伯斯和黑夜女神尼克斯构成了这一谱系的第一代。他们的一个儿子以太，代表了天堂纯净的空气。
以太
The English word “quintessence” originally means ether, the fifth substance in addition to air, fire, water and earth, which was considered the essence of the universe. Now the meaning has been extended to the most important features or the best example of something.
英语中quintessence这个词就是指“以太”，即空气、火、水、土之外的第五元素，古希腊人认为这是宇宙的精华。如今，该词的意思已经延伸为表示某物的最重要特征或最佳范例了。
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