6. The Creation and Recreation of man Summary 赫西奥德( Hesiod,公元前八世纪)的神谱( Theogony)在描述人类社会时,神 创造的第一代人类乃是黄金的一代。这代人生活得如同神一样,他们生活安逸, 没有辛苦的劳动,也没有苦恼和贫困。其后神创造第二代的人类,白银的人类, 他们在外貌和精神上都与第一个种族大相径庭。他们的子孙,百年都保持着童年, 不会成熟,受着母亲们的照料和溺爱。但因为他们不能节制他们的感情,放肆的 行动使得这新的人类陷入了灾祸之中。他们粗野而傲慢,互相违戾,不再向神的 圣坛献祭适当的祭品来表示敬意。宙斯很恼怒他们对于神缺乏崇敬的态度,所以 他使这个种族从大地上消灭。万神之王宙斯创造了第三代人类,即青铜的人类。 这代人跟白银时代的人又完全不同。他们残忍而粗暴,只知道战争,总是不间断 地互相厮杀。他们不断进行战争,虽然他们长得高大可怕,却无法避免死亡。他 们离开晴朗而光明的大地之后,便降入阴森可怕的冥府之中。当这一代人也完全 死去后,宙斯又创造了第四代人。这一代人依靠大地的丰产来生活,他们与以前 的人类相比更高尚、更公正。他们就是古代所说的半神的英雄们。然而最后他们 也陷入了战争和残杀,有的为了夺取俄狄甫斯国王的国土,倒在底比斯城门前 有的为了美丽的海伦踏上战船,倒在特洛伊的原野上。 而发生在黄金时代的两大事件(即普罗米修斯盗取神火为人类所用以及宙斯 赠潘多拉与厄庇米修斯为妻),一方面使人类告别茹毛饮血的时代从而开始了文 明进程,同时也给人类带来了无尽的苦难。人类的堕落促使天神降洪水以洗清罪 孽,但丢卡利翁 Deucalion)和皮拉( Pyrrha)的幸免于难则为人类带来了重生的希 望 Selected reading The creation of man Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things were one aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos---a confused and shapeless mass. Earth, sea, and air e all mixed up together, not fluid. and the air was not transparent. God and Nature at last interposed, and put an end to this discord, separating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The fiery part, being the lightest, sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in weight and place. The arth, being heavier, sank below, and the water took the lowest place, and buoyed up the earth Here some god gave his good offices in arranging the earth. He appointed rivers and bays their places, raised mountains, scooped out valleys, distributed wood fountains, fertile fields and stony plains. The air being cleared, the stars began to appear, fishes took possessions of the sea, birds of the air, and four-footed beasts of But a nobler animal was wanted. and Man was made it is not known whether the creator made him of divine materials, or whether in the earth, so lately separated from heaven, there lurked still some heavenly seeds. Prometheus took some of this earth, and kneading it up with water, made man in the image of the god23 6. The Creation and Recreation of Man Summary 赫西奥德(Hesiod，公元前八世纪)的神谱(Theogony)在描述人类社会时，神 创造的第一代人类乃是黄金的一代。这代人生活得如同神一样，他们生活安逸， 没有辛苦的劳动，也没有苦恼和贫困。其后神创造第二代的人类，白银的人类， 他们在外貌和精神上都与第一个种族大相径庭。他们的子孙，百年都保持着童年， 不会成熟，受着母亲们的照料和溺爱。但因为他们不能节制他们的感情，放肆的 行动使得这新的人类陷入了灾祸之中。他们粗野而傲慢，互相违戾，不再向神的 圣坛献祭适当的祭品来表示敬意。宙斯很恼怒他们对于神缺乏崇敬的态度，所以 他使这个种族从大地上消灭。万神之王宙斯创造了第三代人类，即青铜的人类。 这代人跟白银时代的人又完全不同。他们残忍而粗暴，只知道战争，总是不间断 地互相厮杀。他们不断进行战争，虽然他们长得高大可怕，却无法避免死亡。他 们离开晴朗而光明的大地之后，便降入阴森可怕的冥府之中。当这一代人也完全 死去后，宙斯又创造了第四代人。这一代人依靠大地的丰产来生活，他们与以前 的人类相比更高尚、更公正。他们就是古代所说的半神的英雄们。然而最后他们 也陷入了战争和残杀，有的为了夺取俄狄甫斯国王的国土，倒在底比斯城门前； 有的为了美丽的海伦踏上战船，倒在特洛伊的原野上。 而发生在黄金时代的两大事件（即普罗米修斯盗取神火为人类所用以及宙斯 赠潘多拉与厄庇米修斯为妻），一方面使人类告别茹毛饮血的时代从而开始了文 明进程，同时也给人类带来了无尽的苦难。人类的堕落促使天神降洪水以洗清罪 孽，但丢卡利翁(Deucalion)和皮拉(Pyrrha)的幸免于难则为人类带来了重生的希 望。 Selected Reading The Creation of Man Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things were one aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos---a confused and shapeless mass. Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up together; so the earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent. God and Nature at last interposed, and put an end to this discord, separating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The fiery1 part, being the lightest, sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in weight and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below; and the water took the lowest place, and buoyed2 up the earth. Here some god gave his good offices in arranging the earth. He appointed rivers and bays their places, raised mountains, scooped out3 valleys, distributed woods, fountains, fertile fields and stony plains. The air being cleared, the stars began to appear, fishes took possessions of the sea, birds of the air, and four-footed beasts of the land. But a nobler animal was wanted, and Man was made4 . It is not known whether the creator made him of divine materials, or whether in the earth, so lately separated from heaven, there lurked5 still some heavenly seeds. Prometheus took some of this earth, and kneading it up with water, made man in the image of the gods