0 Introduction to the Gods

Introduction to the Gods The Greeks believed that the universe created the gods. Before there were gods, there was Heaven and Earth. Father Sky and Mother Earth were the first parents. The children of GAEA, Mother Earth, and OURANOS, Father Sky, were not quite human. In fact, they were unlike any form of creature known to people. They were giant monsters with terrible, forceful energy. They had the overwhelming strength of an earthquake, a hurricane, and a volcano combined.

希腊人相信是宇宙创造了众神。 在神存在之前，就有了天地。 天空之父和大地之母是最早的父母。 大地母亲盖亚和天空之父乌拉诺斯的孩子们并不完全是人类。 事实上，它们与人类已知的任何生物都不一样。 他们是巨大的怪物，有着可怕而强大的能量。 它们具有地震、飓风和火山喷发加起来的压倒性力量。

The TITANS were also the children of Heaven and Earth. The Titans were known as the Elder Gods. They ruled the universe for many ages. The Titans were enormous in size and had incredible strength. CRONUS was the most important Titan. He ruled over all the others. Then his son ZEUS overthrew him and stole the power of the universe from him. Some other important Titans were OCEANUS and his wife, TETHYS; HYPERION, the father of the sun, moon, and dawn; MNEMOSYNE, the goddess of memory; THEMIS, the goddess of justice; ATLAS, who held the world on his shoulders; and PROMETHEUS, who gave fire to humans, saving them from dying out. ZEUS became the king of the gods. In the beginning, Zeus and his brothers divided up which areas they would rule. Zeus became

泰坦也是天地之子。 泰坦被称为上古之神。 他们统治了宇宙许多年。 泰坦们体型巨大，力量惊人。 克洛诺斯是泰坦中最重要的人物。 他统治着所有其他人。 然后他的儿子宙斯推翻了他，并从他那里偷走了宇宙的力量。 其他一些重要的泰坦有OCEANUS和他的妻子TETHYS；亥伯龙，太阳、月亮和黎明之父；记忆女神涅莫辛涅；忒弥斯，正义女神；阿特拉斯，肩负着整个世界；普罗米修斯给了人类火，使人类免于灭绝。 宙斯成为众神之王。 一开始，宙斯和他的兄弟们划分了他们将要统治的地区。 宙斯成为

the supreme ruler. He was the Lord of the Sky, the Rain-god, and the Cloud-gatherer. He could throw down a terrible thunderbolt whenever he was angry. Zeus's power was greater than that of all the other gods combined. He could appear in many shapes and forms. He often fooled mortals into thinking he was something he was not. Sometimes he was even invisible. But the rustling of oak leaves was one way to know that Zeus was there. HERA was Zeus's wife. She was the protector of marriage and married women. But in most stories, Hera is described as jealous and mean. She liked to punish humans even if they had done nothing wrong. Also, Hera never forgot if someone did something bad to her. She always wanted vengeance and was usually unstoppable. POSEIDON was the ruler of the sea. He was Zeus's brother and was second to him in

最高统治者。他是天空之主，雨神，和云的收集者。 每当他生气的时候，他就会发出可怕的霹雳。 宙斯的力量比其他所有神的总和还要强大。 他可以以多种形态出现。 他经常愚弄凡人，让他们以为他是另一个人。 有时他甚至是隐形的。 但橡树叶的沙沙声是知道宙斯在那里的一种方式。 赫拉是宙斯的妻子。她是婚姻和已婚妇女的保护者。 但在大多数故事中，赫拉被描述为嫉妒和卑鄙。 她喜欢惩罚人类，即使他们没有做错任何事。 此外，如果有人对她做了坏事，赫拉永远不会忘记。 她总是想复仇，而且总是势不可挡。 波塞冬是海洋的统治者。 他是宙斯的兄弟，在

power and importance. Poseidon had a splendid palace beneath the sea. But he was most often found on Mount Olympus. Both storm and calm were controlled by Poseidon. When he drove his golden chariot over the water, the waves became still. Peace followed his smooth-rolling wheels. Yet Poseidon was also known as the Earth-shaker. He would use his trident, a three-pronged spear, to shake up the sea and earth. Poseidon, the god of the sea, was very important to the Greeks, since many of them were sailors. HADES was also Zeus's brother. He ruled the underworld and the dead. His other names were King of the Dead and God of Wealth. He was the god of wealth because precious metals, like gold and silver, are found beneath the earth. Hades hardly ever left his dark underworld to visit Mount Olympus or Earth. No one really wanted him to visit, either. He wasn't an evil god, but he

权力和重要性。波塞冬在海底有一座富丽堂皇的宫殿。 但他最常出现在奥林匹斯山上。 风暴和平静都由波塞冬控制。 当他驾着金色的战车驶过水面时，海浪平静了下来。 和平随着平稳滚动的车轮而来。 然而波塞冬也被称为震天神。 他会用他的三叉戟，一种有三个尖的矛，来震动海洋和大地。 海神波塞冬对希腊人来说非常重要，因为他们中的许多人都是水手。 哈得斯也是宙斯的兄弟。 他统治着冥界和死人。 他的其他名字是亡灵之王和财神。 他是财神，因为像金和银这样的贵重金属是在地下发现的。 哈迪斯几乎从不离开他黑暗的地下世界去奥林匹斯山或地球。 也没人想让他来拜访。 他不是恶神，但他