Eros

向娅宁

Eros, in Greek mythology, was the primordial god of lust, love, and intercourse; he was also worshipped as a fertility deity（生育神）. His Roman counterpart was Cupid(爱神丘比特). In some myths, he was the son of the deities Aphrodite(爱与美的女神阿芙罗狄蒂) and Ares(战神阿瑞斯), but according to Plato's Symposium he was conceived by Poros (Plenty) and Penia (Poverty) at Aphrodite's birthday. This explains the different aspects of love.
Like Dionysus(酒神狄俄尼索斯), he was sometimes referred to as the sexual beast, "the liberator". His Roman equivalent was Cupid, "desire", also known as Amor, "love". According to tradition which was made by Eratosthenes(公元三世纪希腊天文学家,数学家和地理学家埃拉拖色尼), Eros was principally the patron of male love, while Aphrodite ruled the love between men and women. His statue could be found in the palaestrae or wrestling schools, one of the principal venues for men to associate with their beloveds, and it was to him that the Spartans(斯巴达人) sacrificed before battle. Meleager(英雄梅利埃格) records this role in a poem preserved in the Greek Anthology: "a woman, hurls the fire that maddens men for women; but Eros himself sways the passion for males."
Throughout Greek thought, there appear to be two sides to the conception of Eros; in the first, he is a primeval deity who embodies not only the force of erotic love but also the creative urge of ever-flowing nature, the firstborn Light for the coming into being and ordering of all things in the cosmos. In Hesiod's Theogony (希腊诗人赫西奥德的神谱), the most famous Greek creation myth, Eros sprang forth from the primordial Chaos together with Gaea(大地女神盖亚), the Earth, and Tartarus(地狱下暗无天日的深渊), the underworld; according to Aristophanes(雅典剧作家阿里斯托芬)' play The Birds, he burgeons forth from an egg laid by Night conceived with Darkness. In the Eleusinian(古希腊的一个市) Mysteries, he was worshiped as Protogonus', the first-born.
Alternately, later in antiquity, Eros was the son of Aphrodite and either Ares (most commonly), Hermes(掌管商业等的赫尔默斯) or Hephaestus(神赫菲斯托斯), or of Porus and Penia, or sometimes of Iris(彩虹女神) and Zephyrus(西风的拟人格.西风是禇神中最温柔的); this Eros was an attendant to Aphrodite, harnessing the primordial force of love and directing it into mortals. Worship of Eros was uncommon in early Greece, but eventually became widespread. He was fervently worshiped by a fertility cult(礼拜) in Thespiae(古希腊一个城市), and played an important role in the Eleusinian Mysteries. In Athens, he shared a very popular cult with Aphrodite, and the fourth day of every month was sacred to him.
Eros, very angry at the lovely Apollo(太阳神阿波罗) for making fun of his archery(箭术) skills, caused him to fall in love with the nymph Daphne(居于山林中的仙女达芙妮), daughter of Ladon(一条巨龙拉东), who had scorned him. Daphne prayed to her father, the river god Peneus to help her escape Apollo and was changed into a laurel tree(月桂树), which became sacred to Apollo.
The story of Eros and Psyche(附故事于后) has a longstanding tradition as a folktale of the ancient Greco-Roman world long before it was put to print; The story is told as a digression and structural parallel to the main storyline of Apuleius(罗马哲学家阿普列乌斯)' novel. It tells of the struggle for love and trust between Eros and Psyche, whose name is difficult to appropriately translate as it transcends both the Greek and Latin language, but can be taken to mean "soul", "mind" or rather both. Aphrodite is jealous of the beauty of mortal Psyche, as men are leaving her altars barren to worship a mere human woman instead, and so commands her son Eros to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest creature on earth. Eros falls in love with Psyche himself and spirits her away to his home. Their fragile peace is ruined by a visit of Psyche's jealous sisters, who cause Psyche to betray the trust of her husband. Wounded, Eros departs from his wife and Psyche wanders the earth, looking for her lost love.
In Apuleius's The Golden Ass Psyche bears Eros a daughter, Hedone, whose name means "pleasure."
附Eros and Psyche的故事中文版
从前有一位国王和王后，他们有三个漂亮的女儿。最小的女儿普绪喀是最漂亮的，人们都说她是阿弗洛蒂狄——美神下凡。临国的男人也为了欣赏她的美蜂拥而至，但却没人把她当作可以追求的女孩。因此，普绪喀一直独身一人。她开始感到难过，并憎恨自己的美貌。
　　同时，美神阿弗洛蒂狄对此也很是不满，所以她命令儿子——爱神爱洛斯把他的箭射向这个女孩，让她爱上人间最差的一种人——他没有高贵的出身，没有钱财和智慧，既没个性也不英俊，甚至没有勇气。
阿波罗的神谕
　　
在古希腊，当人们对未来感到迷茫的时候，会觉得应该请示阿波罗的神谕。于是普绪喀的父王动身去了德尔斐请示神谕，问自己最漂亮的女儿将嫁给什么样的丈夫，神谕宣称普绪喀将在一座山峰上嫁给一个可怕的怪物。
　　而爱洛斯也奉其母亲的命令来到了普绪喀的家。但是，他被女孩的美貌深深吸引，以至于在匆忙完成使命时，不小心让金箭划伤了自己，因而他无可救药地爱上了普绪喀。
   当普绪喀和父亲决定遵循神谕的指示，来到一座山脚下时，突然西风之神平地而起，把普绪喀带到了山谷中，又轻轻地把她放在缀满鲜花的床上。这时，她陷入了沉睡中。醒来后，她走向附近的一片树林，发现了一座富丽堂皇的宫殿。
普绪喀生活在山顶
　　当普绪喀徜徉在这座富丽宫殿的种种奇幻中时，不知从何处传来一个声音，告诉她说，这座城堡将为她所有，并温柔地邀请她到卧室休息，等待沐浴更衣以及婚宴。
　　婚宴结束，她听到了从未谋面的丈夫轻声的呼唤，他来到了她的床上。但天亮之前，丈夫就离开了。就这样夜复一夜，丈夫来了又去，却从未以真面目示人。
　　与此同时，普绪喀的姐姐们开始寻找她。普绪喀知道后，哭着对丈夫说：如果见不到姐姐们，她就会死掉的。她丈夫尽管知道她的姐姐们是邪恶的女人，但最终还是很不情愿地同意了。
　　第二天，西风之神把普绪喀的两个姐姐带到了城堡中。她们看到普绪喀美丽的家之后，立刻开始异常嫉妒起她来。
　　她们开始密谋骗她，催促她看一眼她的丈夫，说她的丈夫实际上是嘶嘶吐信的大毒蛇。普绪喀出于好奇，决定听从姐姐们的建议，回到房间后，趁爱洛斯熟睡之际，她举起了灯……

真相大白

　　但并没有什么毒蛇，那里沉睡的正是甜美的爱神。
　　在查看他的武器时，普绪喀抽出一支箭，但却不小心刺破了皮肤，从此爱上了丈夫。慌乱间，她将一滴灯油溅落到了爱洛斯的肩头，他痛得从窗户飞走了。
　　而普绪喀发现自己怀孕了，而且深爱着爱洛斯，因此非常后悔自己的所作所为，于是她找到阿弗洛蒂狄请求帮助。阿弗洛蒂狄给了普绪喀很多难以完成的任务。但是，在诸神的帮助下，普绪喀顺利完成了所有任务。
　　于是，阿弗洛蒂狄给了普绪喀最后一项任务：去地狱冥后那里把“美之盒”带回来给她。
　　冥后把盒子给她，但是警告她不要打开盒子。可是就像从前一样，普绪喀无法控制自己的好奇，她也想从盒子中获得一些美丽，于是她打开了盒子。但是，从盒子中飞出来的并非美丽而是睡神。她就这样倒在地上，像死尸般沉沉地睡去。
　　如果不是爱洛斯及时出现，也许普绪喀会一直沉睡。爱洛斯这时已经痊愈了，他把睡神重新关回盒子里，用他的箭尖轻轻戳醒了她(尽管艺术家更愿意把这个动作描述为一个吻)。宙斯被他们之间的爱感动，赐予普绪喀永生，美神也原谅了她，他们自此幸福地生活在奥林匹斯山上。

1. Eros, 爱洛斯，希腊爱神。罗马艺术作品中一般把他描绘成长翅膀的小男孩，并把他作为生命的象征，雕刻在石棺上，英语文化中他常以此形象出现；而希腊人把他当成最英俊、最可爱的青年男子，他的雕塑则往往被放在体育馆作为男子汉完美形体的象征。爱洛斯的箭分两种，一种是锋利的金箭，尾部饰白鸽翎，此箭能激发男女爱欲；一种为蠢钝的铅箭，尾部装乌鸦翎，此箭则令人彼此漠视。如果是小写的eros，则一般强调爱的欲念的一面(经常在旧小说中被翻译成“爱乐死”)；由此衍生的词有：erotic (色情的)。罗马人从希腊神话中借鉴了这个人物，并叫他“Cupid(丘比特)”(因为拉丁语中cupido的意思为欲望)。

2. Psyche：普绪喀。古希腊神话中，她的形象是一只蝴蝶。在古典神话中，该词的意思是“Soul(灵魂)”；在日常生活中，引申为“人类的灵魂，精神，心志”；由此派生出的词有“Psychology(心理学), Psychoanalysis(心理分析)”。

3. Zephyrus：西风之神。希腊神话中，四个方向的风分别由四位神人掌管，其他三个方向的风神分别是：Boreas北风之神；Eurus东风之神；Notus南风之神。西方文学中，出现的比较多的是西风之神和北风之神。

4. Muse：缪斯，九位分管文艺和科学的女神的通称，都是主神宙斯的女儿。她们出生在奥林匹斯山麓的庇厄里亚斯，因此又称为庇厄里亚斯的女神。她们把阿波罗奉为自己的保护神和领袖。今天的音乐(Music)一词即来源于此。

5. Styx：冥河。希腊神话中通往冥间的黑色的河，具有神奇的魔力。希腊神话中的Achilles(大英雄阿基硫斯)正是因为在此河中洗澡，才获得了刀枪不入的魔力。而由于脚踝没有洗到，脚踝就变成了他的致命弱点。