Mythical Creatures of Ancient Greece

MYTHICAL CREATURES OF ANCIENT GREECE Written by Elizabeth Jane Pistilnik Illustrated by Timothy Truman Focus Question What are some mythical creatures of ancient Greece. And what do they represent in that culture?

《古希腊神话生物》 作者：伊丽莎白·简·皮斯蒂尔尼克 插画：蒂莫西·杜鲁门 思考问题：古希腊都有哪些神话生物 它们在古希腊文化中代表着什么呢？

Introduction. People in many cultures have myths. Myths are stories that explain important ideas, such as good and evil, in ways people can understand. A myth can be a lesson, a story about history or a tale about a natural wonder. It can even be a warning. In ancient Greece, myths were an important part of religion. Fantastic creatures often played a central role in Greek myths along with gods, goddesses, and heroes.

引言 世界上很多文化都流传着神话 神话用人们容易理解的方式，诠释善恶这类重要的观点 神话可以是一则教训，一段历史，或是一则关于自然奇观的传说 它甚至还可以是一句警示 在古希腊，神话是宗教十分重要的组成部分 除了男神、女神和英雄，神奇怪物常常在希腊神话中占据核心位置

Centaurs. Centaurs had the head and chest of a human and the body of a horse. Their animal side was more powerful than their human side. To the Greeks, the centaurs were animal -like and driven by their feelings, while the Greeks were civilized. The story of the centaurs began with a Greek king named Ixion. Zeus had allowed Ixion to live on Mount Olympus. Zeus heard that Ixion had fallen in love with Hera, Zeus's wife. As a test for Ixion, Zeus created a cloud that looked like Hera.

半人马 半人马长着人类的头和胸膛，下半截是马的身体 它们兽性的一面比人性的一面更强大 在希腊人看来，半人马像野兽一样全凭情绪驱动，而希腊人自己是文明的 半人马的故事要从一位名叫伊克西翁的希腊国王说起 宙斯允许伊克西翁住在奥林匹斯山上 宙斯听说伊克西翁爱上了自己的妻子赫拉 为了试探伊克西翁，宙斯变出了一朵长得像赫拉的云

Ixion fell in love with the cloud, thinking it was Hera. The cloud gave birth to the first centaur. Zeus punished Ixion by forcing him to spin on a burning wheel forever. Ancient Greeks put pictures of battles showing themselves fighting centaurs many objects, from drinking cups to stone temples. The Greeks did not often show current events in their art. Rather, they used pictures of myths to show how they felt about what was going on in the world around them. For example, the Greeks connected one of their greatest enemies, the Persians, with the centaurs.

伊克西翁以为云就是赫拉，爱上了它 这朵云生下了第一个半人马 宙斯惩罚伊克西翁，罚他永远在燃烧的轮子上不停旋转 古希腊人会把自己和半人马作战的画面画在各种物件上，从酒杯到石庙都有 希腊人很少在艺术作品里描绘当下发生的事件 他们反而用神话画面，来表达自己对周遭世事的感受 比如说，希腊人把他们最强劲的敌人波斯人和半人马联系在了一起

Sirens. Like centaurs, sirens were also hybrid creatures. Sirens were women with the wings, legs, and bodies of birds. They stood for the importance of self -control. They lived on an island in the middle of the sea, where they sang beautiful songs to lure sailors. The sailors would lose control of their ships and crash on to the rocky shores of the island. The myth about the sirens says that they had once been human maids to the goddess Persephone. One day, the god of the underworld took Persephone while she was picking flowers. Their wings helped the sirens search for Persephone. The sirens never found her and settled on the island.

塞壬 和半人马一样，塞壬也是混血怪物 塞壬是长着鸟类翅膀、腿和身体的女人 它们象征着自制力的重要性 它们住在大海中央的小岛上，唱着动听的歌引诱水手 水手们会控制不住船，撞到小岛怪石嶙峋的海岸上 关于塞壬的神话记载，她们原本是女神珀耳塞福涅的人类女仆 一天，珀耳塞福涅摘花的时候，被冥王抓走了 翅膀能帮助塞壬们寻找珀耳塞福涅 塞壬们一直没找到她，最后就在小岛上定居了

The sirens drew many sailors to them, but a few were able to pass them by. One played music so loud that it blocked out the siren's song. Another told his sailors to tie him tightly to his boat. His sailors plugged their ears so they could not hear the song. Being able to avoid the siren's song stood for the strength of will that Greek people valued.

塞壬引诱了很多水手，但也有少数人成功从她们身边驶过 有个人用响亮的音乐盖过了塞壬的歌声 另一个人让水手把自己牢牢绑在船上 他的水手们堵住耳朵，这样就听不到歌声了 能躲过塞壬的歌声，象征着希腊人十分推崇的坚强意志