学文网It's All Greek To Me...
宁波的Lydia问：
Tom，你好，我是一名英语系的学生。在一次考试中，我碰到了“Achilles' heel”这个词组，当时怎么也猜不出它的意思，只好空在那里。后来经老师讲评才得知这个词源于希腊神话。后来，我留心地注意了一下，发现在英语中类似的词汇好像还真不少，所以想请你帮忙总结一些英文中比较常用的这类词语。
Tom：
英语中有很多词语都源于希腊神话故事。应Lydia的要求，本次，我就讲讲其中一些最为常用的表达法，以及它们背后的故事。如果你能在别人面前讲出这些典故，相信大家都会对你刮目相看的。
Theseus & the Minotaur
Theseus was the Athenian king's son who travelled to Crete and killed the terrible Minotaur, a monster that was half-man, half-bull. The Minotaur lived in a complex underground maze called the Labyrinth. Today, a labyrinth means a difficult maze, or anything that is very convoluted and confusing (e.g. "a labyrinth of rules and regulations").
特修斯和弥诺陶洛斯
特修斯是雅典国王之子，曾前往克利特岛杀死了可怕的半人半牛怪物――弥诺陶洛斯。弥诺陶洛斯生活在一个名叫拉比林特斯（Labyrinth）的复杂地下迷宫里。而今“labyrinth”的意思是一个难解的迷宫，或者那种非常令人费解与迷惑的事情（例如“a labyrinth of rules and regulations”）。
Hercules
Known in Greek as Herakles, he was the son of Zeus - king of the gods - and a mortal woman. He was famous for his amazing strength. He once killed his own children in a bout of temporary insanity, and was punished by having to undertake twelve near-impossible tasks for his cousin, King Eurystheus. From his name, we get the word Herculean, meaning incredibly strong or powerful (e.g. "Herculean strength") or very difficult (e.g. "a Herculean task").
海格立斯
在希腊语中被称为赫拉克勒斯的他，是宙斯（众神之王）和一个凡间女子所生之子。他以其惊人的力量而著称。因一时的精神失常，他曾杀死了自己的孩子，并受惩必须为其堂弟欧律斯透斯国王处置12项几乎不可能完成的任务。从他的名字中，我们得到了一个词“Herculean”，意思是不可思议的强壮或强大（例如“Herculean strength”）或是非常困难（例如“a Herculean task”）。
The Trojan War
The greatest Greek fighter in the war with the Trojans was Achilles, who was invulnerable except in one place - his heel, and that was just where the Trojan Paris fatally wounded him with an arrow. So a crucial weakness is called an Achilles' heel.
The siege of Troy came to an end when the Greeks pretended to depart, leaving behind a massive wooden horse as a "gift". In fact, the horse contained soldiers, and when the Trojans brought it inside their city, they sneaked out at night and opened the gates to let in the rest of their army. Now, a Trojan Horse means a seemingly benign enemy in your midst, and in computing refers to a kind of virus. The saying "beware of Greeks bearing gifts" also comes from this, meaning that you should not trust enemies who suddenly appear friendly to you.
Another Greek warrior at Troy, Odysseus, angered the god of the sea and suffered great troubles and years of delay when he tried to sail home. This story was called The Odyssey and today, "an odyssey" means a long and eventful journey.
特洛伊战争
在与特洛伊人的这场战争中，最伟大的希腊斗士就是阿基里斯，此人身上除了一个部位，即他的脚踵之外，都是无懈可击的，而特洛伊的帕里司正是用箭射中了这个地方，给他造成了致命的伤害。于是，致命弱点就被称作“Achilles' heel”。
当希腊人佯装退去，留下一匹巨大的木马作为“礼物”之时，特洛伊城之围便告一段落。事实上，那匹马中藏有士兵，当特洛伊人将其带入城中之后，他们便在夜间偷偷溜了出来，打开城门将余下的***队放了进来。如今，“Trojan Horse”的意思是指在你方人群之中有伪善之敌，而在计算机方面则指一种病毒。谚语“beware of Greeks bearing gifts”（要小心带着礼物的希腊人）也是来缘于此，意思是指你不该相信那些突然对你友善相对的敌人。
特洛伊之战中的另一位希腊勇士――奥德修斯，曾惹恼了海神，于是在他试***乘船返乡的途中，遭遇到了巨大的麻烦，被拖延了数年时间。这个故事被称为“奥德赛”，如今，“an odyssey”的意思就是指一段路遥多舛的旅程。
Narcissus
Echo was a nymph cursed by Hera, queen of the gods, to have no power of speech except to repeat the words of others. Echo fell in love with the handsome Narcissus, but he wanted nothing to do with her. Heartbroken, she retreated to secluded caves, where her flesh began to wear away. Her bones turned to rocks, then only her voice was left. She is still ready to reply to anyone who calls her, says the legend, and that is why in mountains and caves if you shout out you will hear an echo.
Now, Narcissus was not exactly a nice guy. He was incredibly vain and thought of no one but himself. He was punished by the goddess Artemis by being cursed to fall in love, but a kind of love that could never be fulfilled. Narcissus came upon a clear spring and, as he bent to take a drink, caught sight of himself for the first time, reflected in the pool. Try as he might to touch this exquisite person in the waters, however, he never could. His love was his obsession and he would not leave the stream to eat, nor disturb his image to drink and so he died of thirst and hunger and unrequited love of himself. Where he lay a flower grew, still called the narcissus flower. In modern English, if you call someone a narcissist, you are saying that they are completely in love with themselves.
那喀索斯
艾科（Echo）是一位仙女，遭到了众神之后赫拉的诅咒，丧失了说话能力，只能重复别人的话语。艾科爱上了英俊的那喀索斯，但那喀索斯却不想与她产生任何关系。伤心的她退居僻静的山洞，其肉体在那里开始消逝。她的骨骼变成了岩石，之后只有她的声音留了下来。据传说，她依旧准备好对那些呼唤她的人做出回应，而这就是为什么你若是在群山和洞穴中大喊就会听到一声“echo”（回音）的原因。
那喀索斯算不上一个好人。他自负得令人不可思议，只考虑自己不顾他人。他受到了阿耳特弥斯女神的惩罚，被诅咒陷入爱恋，不过却是一种永远也无法实现的爱恋。那喀索斯偶然碰到一湾清泉，当他俯身喝水之时，第一次瞥见了池中倒映出来的自己。他力尽所能地去触摸水中那个貌美之人，但却永远都做不到。他的爱困惑住了他，他既不愿离开泉水去进食，也不愿破坏自己的映像来饮水，于是他死于饥渴以及对自己的那个没有结果的爱恋之中。在他倒下的地方，生长出一种花朵，至今仍被叫做“the narcissus flower”（水仙花）。在现代英语中，如果你称某人是“narcissist”（自我陶醉者），那么你就是在说他们十分自恋。
The Underworld
Afterlife for the ancient Greeks was a pretty grim prospect, at least if you were being punished for wickedness.
One such punishment was the literal definition of tantalising. The word has its origin in the punishment of Tantalus. He was uniquely favored among mortals since he was invited to share the food of the gods. However, he abused the guest-host relationship (accounts differ as to how). Sent to Hades, he was immersed in water, but when he bent to drink, it all drained away; fruit hung on trees above him, but when he reached for it winds blew the branches beyond his reach.
A Sisyphean task is one that is both extremely laborious and futile. Sisyphus was a murderer who was severely punished when he tricked the god of death so that the dead could not reach the afterlife. His punishment was to push a huge boulder up a steep hill, which tumbled back down every time he reached the top. Then the whole process started again, lasting for eternity.
冥府
对古希腊人来说，阴世是一个相当可怕的景象，至少在你因恶行而遭到惩罚的时候是如此的。
“干着急”这个词的字面意思就是此类惩罚之一。这个词源于对坦塔罗斯的惩罚。由于他受邀与众神一同进餐，所以他是凡人中唯一受到恩宠之人。然而，他妄用了宾主关系（至于如何妄用，说法不一）。被送到地狱后，他被浸泡在水中，但是当他俯身喝水之时，水却全部枯竭；在他的头上就有果子挂在树上，但是当他伸手去够之时，风却把树枝刮到他够不到的地方。
一项“Sisyphean”（艰苦而没有尽头的）的任务就是那种既艰辛至极又徒劳的任务。西西弗斯是一个凶手，曾戏弄了死神，导致死者无法来到阴间，因而受到了严厉的惩罚。他的惩罚是将一块巨石推到陡峭的山上，而每次当他到达山顶石头便会滚落下来。此后整个过程又重来往复，永不停歇。
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