The Olympin Gods between macedon and thessaly of eastern greece there
stood a high mountain.its cloudy top rushed into the very heavens.on the
top of the mountain ， the home of the gods was bathed in brightness.
at olympus zeus ruled as the father of gods and men. zeus was not a crude
ruler by any standards.all the gods listened to his final words ，it was
true.but zeus made them all sit on a committee of twelve members，including
six gods and six goddesses. the first in the olympian crowd sat zeus himself.
he was the overlord of gods and men and the operator of the thunderbolt
。next to him was hera ，his proud and greeneyed queen.poseidon was ruler
of the sea，and hades ，king of the lower world ，had no seat in the committee.apollo
was the god of the sun，music and poetry，while his twinsister artemis
was the goddess of the moon and the chase. athena was the goddess of wisdom
and patroness of house holdarts.hestin，the goddess of the family ，represented
home life and family happiness.the frightening ares was the god of war，
and the charming aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty.the god of fire，
hephaestus，was the forger of the thunderbolts of zeus.the wing footed
messenger hermes was the god of invention and commerce；and the goddess
of grains and harvests，demeter ，looked after agriculture and stood for
mother ofcivilization. all the chief gods mentioned above took human forms
of incomparable beauty and grace. often moved by human feelings and desires，
they frequently gave way to anger and jealousy.they became involved in
ceaseless battles with the world of man. among themselves at olympus they
plotted and struggled for power.in the human world they experienced competitions
and difficulties.they enjoyed earthly friendships and loves.acrowd of
everlasting gods looked and acted in a perfectly human fashion that is
what all gods at olympus actually were. 奧林波斯山神在馬其頓和希臘東部
的色薩利之間矗立著壹座高山。大霧彌漫的山頂直插雲霄。山頂上，眾神們的家
園沐浴在陽光之中。宙斯作為山神和人類之父主宰著那裏的壹切。總的說來，宙
斯並不是壹個獨裁統治者。但毫無疑問，凡事山神們都要聽從他的命令。宙斯將
男女山神12人組成壹個委員會，宙斯本人則坐第壹把交椅，是眾神與人類的太上
皇，也是雷電的操縱者。他旁邊是他那傲慢且嫉妒的皇後赫拉。波塞冬是大海的
統治者。哈得斯是主宰陰間的冥王，他在委員會中沒有席位。阿波羅是太陽神、
音樂和詩神。他的孿生姐妹阿耳特彌斯是月亮和狩獵女神。雅典娜是智慧女神和
家居藝術品的守護女神。赫提斯是家室之神，象征著家庭中的生命與幸福。氣勢
洶洶的阿瑞斯是戰神。媚人的阿芙羅狄蒂是愛與美神。火神赫菲斯托斯是宙斯雷
電的創造者。以翅代步的信使海爾墨斯掌管商業與發明事務。谷物與豐收女神得
墨特爾負責管理農業，她是文明之母。以上所提到的主要天神們都假裝成凡人的
樣子，他們的美麗與魅力無可匹敵。因常受到凡人情感與願望的感染，他們不時
地勃然大怒，妒嫉別人。他們卷入與人類世界無休止的爭鬥中。在奧林波斯，他
們之間也充滿了陰謀與權力之爭。在凡人的世界裏，他們經歷了敵對與挫折。他
們珍惜人間的愛與友善。這群長生不老的天神們的外表與行為完全符合人間的方
式。這就是奧林波斯山神們的本來面目。
Pandora after the stealing of fire，zeus became increasingly unkind
to men.one day he ordered his son hephaestus tobuild an image of a beautiful
maiden out of clay.he then asked the gods and goddesses to award her with
different kinds of gifts.among others ，athena clothed her in an attractive
coat and hermes gave her the power of telling lies.a charming young lady，
she was the first woman that ever lived.zeus called her pandora.because
she had received from each of the gods and goddesses a gift.the gift was
harmful to men. zeus decided to send her down to men as a present.so hermes
them essenger brought her to epimetheus ，brother of prometheus.the greatness
of her beauty touched the hearts of all who looked upon her ，and epimetheus
happily received her into his house.he had quite forgotten pometheus'
warning ：never to accept anything from zeus.the couple lived a happy
life for some time.then trouble came on to the human world. when he was
busy with teaching men the art of living，prometheus had left a bigcask
in the care of epimetheus.he had warned his brother not to open the lid.pandora
was a curious woman.she had been feeling very disappointed that her husband
did not allow her to take a look at the contents of the cask.one day，
when epimetheus was out ，she lifted the lid and out itcame unrest and
war ，plague and sickness ，theft and violence， grief sorrow ，and all
the other evils.the human world was hence to experience these evils.only
hope stayed within the mouth of the jar and never flew out.so men always
have hope within their hearts.潘多拉偷竊天火之後，宙斯對人類的敵意與日俱增。壹天，他令兒子赫菲斯托斯用泥塑壹美女像，並請眾神贈予她不同的禮物。
其中，雅典娜飾之以華麗的衣裳，赫耳墨斯贈之以說謊的能力。世上的第壹個女人是位迷人女郎，因為她從每位神靈那裏得到了壹樣對男人有害的禮物，因此宙斯稱她為潘多拉（pander：意為煽動）。宙斯決定把她作為禮物送給世間的男子。
於是信使赫耳墨斯將她帶給普羅米修斯的弟弟厄庇墨透斯。她姿容絕美，見者無不為之傾心。厄庇墨透斯興高采烈地把她迎入屋內。普羅米修斯警告過他不得接受宙斯的任何饋贈，而他已將之忘於腦後。這壹對夫妻有過壹段幸福的生活，但不久災難卻降臨人間。當普羅米修斯忙於教授人們生存之道的時候，他把壹個桶托付給厄庇墨透斯。他警告過他的弟弟不要打開桶蓋。潘多拉好奇心強。她的丈夫不允許她看桶中之物，這使她感到十分懊惱。壹天乘厄庇墨透斯出門在外，她打開桶蓋，從桶裏跑出的是不和與戰爭，瘟疫與疾病，偷竊與暴力，悲哀與憂慮，以及其他壹些人類從此要遭受的不幸。只有希望被關在桶口，永遠飛不出來，因此人們常常把希望藏於心中。
二.阿波羅
Apollo among the crowd of olympian gods the one most widely admired
was apollo.he was the son of zeus and let to.according to greek mythology，
leto was driven by hera from land to land at last poseidon took pity on
her and brought the island of delos out of water for her to live on.there
she gave birth to the twins ，apollo and artemis. apollo was me sun-god.he
wore a purple robe.he usually sat in his bright eastern palace early in
the morning and madeready to start his daily journey across the sky.during
the day hed rove his carriage of gold and ivory ， and brought light，
life and love to the great world below. iate in the afternoon he came
to the end of his journey in the far western sea and got on his golden
boat to return to his eastern home. apollo was the god of music and poetry.he
could stir up all feelings.these feelings are expressed in lofty songs.with
his lyre of gold and the sweet accents of his godlike voice heled the
choir of the muses at olympus.the pleasant music from his lyre was so
exciting that stones marched into their places in rhythmic time and of
their own will when he helped poseidonbuild up the walls of troy.on one
occasion，invited to a contest by the human musician marsyas，he won and
then flayed him to death for his pride.on another occasion，he lost out
topan at a musical contest and turned the ears of the judge ，king midas，
into those of an ass. his son ，orpheus ，took over such skill from the
father that his lyre moved man and animals alike. apollo stood for youthful
and manly beauty.his goldenhair ，stately manner and air all combined
to make him the admiration of the world.a beautiful girl，by the name
of clytle ，was so fond of his beauty and glory that from dawn to dusk
she knelt on the ground ，her hands outstretched towards the sungod ，
and her eyes looked at his golden wheeled carriage racing across the blue
sky.though her love was not returned，she had never changed her mind about
apollo.the gods were moved at the sad sight ，and changed her into a sunflower.
阿波羅在眾多的奧林波斯山神中，主神宙斯和雷托之子阿波羅最受推崇。據希臘
神話記載，雷托被天後赫拉驅趕得四處流浪。最終是海神波塞冬憐憫她並從海中
撈起提落島讓她居住。在島上，她生了孿生兒子阿波羅和阿爾特彌斯。阿波羅是
太陽神。清晨他身著紫色袍，坐在那明亮的東方宮殿，準備開始每日穿越天空的
旅行。白天，他駕著用金子和象牙制成的戰車，給廣闊無垠的大地帶來光明、生
命和仁愛。黃昏時分，他在遙遠的西海結束了旅行，然後就乘上金船返回東方的
家中。阿波羅是音樂神和詩神。他可喚起人們傾註於聖歌中的各種情感。在奧林
波斯山上，他手拿金質裏拉，用悅耳的音調指揮繆斯的合唱。當他幫助波塞冬建
造特洛伊城墻時，裏拉奏出的音樂如此動聽，以致石頭有節奏地、自動地各就其
位。有壹次他接受凡人音樂家馬斯亞斯的挑戰參加壹次競賽。戰勝對方後，他將
對手剝皮致死以懲罰他的狂妄自大。在另外壹次音樂比賽中，因輸給了潘神，他
就將裁判邁爾斯國王的耳朵變成了驢耳朵。阿波羅的兒子俄耳甫斯繼承了父親這
方面的才能。他的豎琴使人與動物皆受感動。阿波羅象征著青春和男子漢的美。
金色的頭發、莊重的舉止、容光煥發的神態，這些足以使他受到世人的青睞。
壹位名叫克裏提的美麗少女迷戀於他的英俊瀟灑，跪在地上，從黎明到黃昏，雙
手伸向太陽神。她凝視著那輛金質馬車在蔚藍的天空馳騁。雖然她的愛並未得到
回報，但她對阿波羅的癡情卻從未改變。目睹這悲哀的場面，眾神深受感動，將
她變成了壹株向日葵。
三.普羅米修斯
Prometheus prometheus was a titan .in the war between zeus the giants
he had stood on the side of the new olympiangods.out of the clay he made
the first man ，to whom athena gave soul and holy breath.prometheus spent
a lot of time and energy in creating the gift of fire.and fire raised
man above all animals .later，there held a joint meeting of gods and men.the
meeting was to decide what part of burnt animals should begiven to gods
and what to men.prometheus cut up an ox and divided it into two parts
：under the skin he placed the fresh，and under the fat he put the bones，
for he knew the selfish zeus loved fat. zeus saw through the trick and
felt displeased at the prometheus' favor towards men.so in a masterful
way he took away the gift of fire from mankind.however，prometheus managed
to steal fire from heaven and secretly brought it down tomen.flying into
an anger at this unjustified act of rebellion ，zeus let the other gods
chain prometheus to a rock on mountain caucasus ，where a hungry eagle
ever tore at his liver which ever grew again.his period of pain was to
be thirty-thousand years.prometheus faced his bitter fate firmly and never
lost courage before zeus.at last heracles made prometheus and zeus restore
to friend ship，when heracles came over in search of the golden apple
and killed the eagle and set the friend of mankind free.普羅米修斯普羅
米修斯是泰坦巨人之壹。在宙斯與巨人的戰爭中，他站在新的奧林波斯山神壹邊。
他用粘土造出了第壹個男人。雅典娜賦予了這個男人靈魂和神聖的生命。普
羅米修斯還花費了很多時間和精力創造了火，並將之贈予人類。火使人成為萬物
之靈。
在這之後，舉行了第壹次神與人的聯席會議。這個會議將決定燒烤過的動物
的哪壹部分該分給神，哪壹部分該給人類。普羅米修斯切開壹頭牛，把它分成兩
部分：他把肉放在皮下，將骨頭放在肥肉下。因為他知道自私的宙斯愛吃肥肉。
宙斯看穿了他的把戲。普羅米修斯偏袒人類，這使宙斯感到不快。因此，他專橫
地把火從人類手中奪走。然而，普羅米修斯設法竊走了天火，偷偷地把它帶給人
類。
宙斯對他這種肆無忌憚的違抗行為大發雷霆。他令其他的山神把普羅米修斯
用鎖鏈縛在高加索山脈的壹塊巖石上。壹只饑餓的老鷹天天來啄食他的肝臟，而
他的肝臟又總是重新長出來。他的痛苦要持續三萬年。而他堅定地面對苦難，從
來不在宙斯面前喪失勇氣。最後，海格立斯使普羅米修斯與宙斯恢復了他們的友
誼，找到了金蘋果，殺死了老鷹，因而解救了人類的老朋友。
四.納魯斯和普魯吐斯
Nereus and Proteus of all the small sea divinities nereus and proteus
stood out as peculiar sea-gods.nereus ，known as“the old man of the sea”，
represented the pleasant aspect of ocean waters.he lived beneath the sea
with his fifty lovely daughters ，of whom the most famous were amphritrite，
thetis，galate a and panope.it was nereus who advised heracles to seek
prometheus in the hero's search of the golden apples. proteus was poseidon's
herdsman. he was well known for two qualities ：the gift of prophecy and
the power to take various forms.at one time he was a lion with a curly
wavy hairs；at another he appeared in the shape of a wild boar；and still
another he stood a stately tree covered with rich leaves.when ，after
all these and many other changes，he failed to get rid of his questioner，
the god offered detailed answers. 納魯斯和普魯吐斯在所有的小海神中，納
魯斯和普魯吐斯異常獨特。納魯斯是人們熟知的“海中的老人”。他代表了海水
友善的壹面。他和50個可愛的女兒壹起生活在海中。她們當中最著名的有；安菲
瑞垂托、塞提絲、蓋拉蒂和潘諾珀。在勇敢地尋覓金蘋果的時候，納魯斯建議赫
格立斯尋找普羅米修斯。普魯吐斯是波塞冬的牧羊人。他有兩種非凡的能力：他
能預言，他還能夠變成不同的動物。有時他是壹頭獅子，有著波浪般的卷發。有
時他是壹頭兇猛的野豬。而有時他又是壹棵枝葉繁茂、外表威嚴的大樹。經過這
些變化之後，當他無法擺脫詢問者時，神就替他作出詳盡的回答。
五.厄洛斯（丘比特）
Eros（Cupid ） eros was the god of love ，better known by hislatin
name cupid.son of aphrodite by ares ，he took his place among the small
gods of olympus.he was represented asa little naked boy ，with sparkling
wings ，and he carried his bowand arrows wherever he wandered.shooting
his thrilling arrows in evils ，he inspired the passion of love and provided
all nature with life and power of reproduction.the lovely ，naughty god
had two kinds of arrows ：the gold tipped arrows used to quicken the pulse
of love and the lead tipped ones to palsy it. besides ，he had a torch
to light hearts with. though sometimes he was blindfolded ，no man nor
god ，zeus himself included ，was safe from his evils.at one time the
little naughty god was wounded by his own arrows and suchburning love
was awakened in him for the human maiden psyche that he disregarded the
constant interference of his mother and plucked up his courage to beg
zeus for justice.another famousstory where eros played an important part
was the argonautic expedition.medea ，daughter of king aeetes ，was wounded
by eros'' arrows，took jason''s part in recovering the golden fleece and
eventually became the hero''s wife. 厄洛斯（丘比特）厄洛斯是愛神，它的
拉丁名稱丘比特更為人熟知。他是阿瑞斯和阿芙羅狄蒂的兒子，是壹位小奧林波
斯山神。他的形象是壹個裸體的小男孩，有壹對閃閃發光的翅膀。他帶著弓箭漫
遊。他惡作劇地射出令人震顫的神箭，喚起愛的激情。給自然界帶來生機，授予
萬物繁衍的能力。這位可愛而又淘氣的小精靈有兩種神箭：加快愛情產生的金頭
神箭和中止愛情的鉛頭神箭。另外，他還有壹束照亮心靈的火炬。盡管有時他被
蒙著眼睛，但沒有任何人或神，包括宙斯在內，能逃避他的惡作劇。有壹次這位
淘氣的精靈被自己的箭射中。對人間少女普賽克熾熱的愛在他心中復蘇，以致於
他不顧他母親的幹預，鼓起勇氣讓宙斯給予公正評判。厄洛斯起了重大作用的另
壹個著名的故事是亞爾古英雄的遠征。美狄亞，國王埃厄忒斯的女兒，被厄洛斯
的神箭射中，和伊阿宋壹起尋覓金羊毛，最後成為這位英雄的妻子。