Pallas Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
智慧女神雅典娜
难度2.5 陈昉 译
上期神话中的美杜莎的故事想必大家还记忆犹新吧，你瞧！这幅图中，盾牌上刻着美杜莎的头颅以及她的儿子飞马座佩加索斯的饰纹。而这位手持盾牌的美女神色冷峻、高贵典雅。她是谁呢？她就是智慧女神雅典娜。
Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, was the 1)embodiment of strategy, 2)tactics and reason. Remember the 3)Trojan Horse? Just one of Athena’s great ideas! Handsome, 4)benevolent, fair, and merciful, she won the admiration of all of the gods.
雅典娜，智慧女神及战神, 是策略、战术及理性的化身。特洛伊木马想必大家不陌生吧？这只是雅典娜的妙计之一。她的端庄、仁慈、公正及富于同情心为她赢得了众神的褒扬。
Birth of Athena 雅典娜的降生
Athena was the daughter of Zeus and 5)Metis, the 6)Titaness of wisdom. When Zeus was walking through the gardens on Olympus, he saw the beautiful Metis, and fell in love with her. After their union, Zeus went to consult the Oracle of 7)Delphi, and received word that Metis would bear him two children: first a girl, and then a boy that would overthrow him, just as he did to his father. He feared the consequences and decided to swallow Metis. He challenged her to a game of shape 8)shifting. The two of them assumed many forms, shifting into smaller and smaller forms. Finally, Metis
9)
assumed the form of a small fly, and Zeus opened his mouth and swallowed her
immediately. He was too late: Metis had already 10)conceived a child. Weeks after swallowing Metis, Zeus was suddenly stricken with severe head pains. None of the gods could do anything to heal him. Finally, he called on his son Hephaestus to split his head open with his sledge. Other versions say that inside Zeus’ stomach, Metis immediately began making a helmet and robe for her
11)
fetal daughter. The
hammering as she made the helmet caused Zeus great pain and Hephaestus 12)cleaved Zeus’ head with an axe. Athena leaped from Zeus’ head, fully grown and clad in battle armor with her spear held 13)aloft.
雅典娜是宙斯和提坦女神中的智慧神墨提斯的女儿。当宙斯在奥林匹斯花园散步时，他看到美丽的墨提斯，并且爱上了她。他俩结合后，宙斯去特尔斐神殿询问，得知墨提斯将会生一对儿女：第一个是女孩，然后是个男孩，这个男孩将会推翻他的统治，如同他以前对其父亲做的一样。他害怕这样的结果，于是决定把墨提斯吞进肚里。宙斯提出跟墨提斯玩一种变形游戏。他俩变了各种样子，而且越变越小。最后，墨提斯变成一只小苍蝇。宙斯立即张开嘴，把她吞入腹中。不过已经太晚了，墨提斯已经怀了一个孩子。吞下墨提斯几周后，宙斯的头突然疼痛异常。众神都无法医治他。最后，他命令他的儿子赫菲斯托斯用雪橇劈开他
的脑袋。其他版本说，在宙斯的腹中，墨提斯立即开始为她未出生的女儿制作头盔和长袍。制作盔甲过程中的锤打使得宙斯痛苦不堪，于是赫菲斯托斯用斧头劈开他的头。体态婀娜、披坚执锐的雅典娜，从宙斯的头里跳出来。
Athena and Athens 雅典守护神
When 14)Athens was first founded and built, the people began to look for a
15)
patron
16)
deity to protect the city from harm. Both Athena and
17)
Poseidon
competed with each other for the honor. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon slammed his 18)trident into the ground, and a spring welled up from the earth, providing the town with an inexhaustible source of water. However, the water was from the sea, and the people weren’t able to drink it, or make any use of it whatsoever. Athena planted an olive tree in the centre of the town. It provided the people with wood, oil and a source of food. So, Athena was proclaimed victor and the patron of Athens. From then on, Athena and Poseidon became bitter enemies, and opposed each other. But according to another account, the two deities
19)
compromised at last, and became co-patrons of Athens.
So, Athens got its name from the goddess. And on the hill of the Acropolis the
Athenians built a beautiful temple to Athena called the 20)Parthenon.
雅典初建之时，人们期待着能有一个守护神来保护城市免受灾害。雅典娜和波塞冬为此殊荣互相竞争。他们同意每人给雅典人一份礼物，然后由雅典人来选择他们中意的那份。波塞冬把他的三叉戟插在地上，一条小溪立即涌出，为城市提供取之不尽的水源。但是，由于水源来自大海，人们无法饮用，也无法作其他的用途。雅典娜则在城中央栽种了一棵橄榄树。这棵树为人们提供木材、橄榄油及食物。因此，雅典娜在此次比赛中获得了胜利，成为了雅典的守护神。从此，雅典娜和波塞冬成了死对头，总是对着干。但是根据另外的说法，他们两个最终还是彼此做了让步，成为雅典共同的守护神。
因此，雅典，这个城市名字来源于女神雅典娜。雅典人在雅典卫城的山上建了一座纪念雅典娜的神庙——帕特农神庙。
Contest between Athena and Arachne 与凡人针线竞技
Athena was also the patron of the art of weaving and other women’s crafts, such as cooking and spinning. One woman named 21)Arachne learned Athena’s craft very well and boasted that she was a superior weaver to Athena. Athena appeared to Arachne, disguised as an old woman, and told Arachne to 22)repent for her pride but Arachne instead challenged Athena to a contest. The old woman threw off her disguise and accepted the challenge. Athena wove a depiction of the conflict with Poseidon over Athens while Arachne wove a 23)depiction of Zeus’ and other gods’ many exploits or scenes of 24)amorous conquests. Athena was furious, particularly since she could find no fault with Arachne’s excellent work and her choice of subject. She tore up the 25)embroidered tapestry and beat Arachne’s face with the shuttle. Grief-stricken, Arachne hanged herself, but Athena took pity and turned her into the first spider, hence the word 26)arachnid. 雅典娜也是编织及其他女子手艺，如烹饪和纺织的守护神。一个名叫阿拉克尼的女子学会了雅典娜的手艺，吹嘘她的手艺胜过雅典娜。于是，雅典娜装扮成一位老妇，出现在阿拉克尼面前，劝说阿拉克尼应该为她的自大忏悔，但是阿拉克尼却向雅典娜发出了挑战。雅典娜现出真身，接受了她的挑战。雅典娜编织了一幅跟波塞冬争夺雅典守护神的图案，而阿拉克尼则编织了一幅宙斯及其他神追求爱情的行为或场景。当雅典娜对阿拉克尼的完美作品和题材的选择找不出任何瑕疵时，她勃然大怒。她撕毁绣花的织锦，并用梭子鞭打阿拉克尼的脸。阿拉克尼在悲伤绝望中上吊自杀。但雅典娜同情她，就把她变成了第一只蜘蛛，蜘蛛这个词就由阿拉克尼而生。 1) embodiment n. 化身 2) tactics n. 战术，策略
3) Trojan Horse 特洛伊木马：一匹巨大的木马，是希腊军留给特洛伊的战利品。然而其中埋伏着希腊军，他们乘夜间攻下城池，结束了长达十年的特洛伊战争。 4) benevolent adj. 慈善的
5) Metis 墨提斯，提坦女神中的智慧神 6) Titaness n. 提坦女神
7) Delphi n. 特尔斐，希腊古都，因 Apollo（太阳神）的神殿而著称。 8) shift v. 转换
9) assume v. 呈现……形式 10) conceive v. 怀孕 11) fetal adj. 胎儿的 12) cleave v. 劈开
13) aloft adv. 在高处, 在上 14) Athens n. 雅典（希腊首都） 15) patron n. 守护神 16) deity n. 神
17) Poseidon n. （海神）波塞冬 18) trident n. 三叉戟 19) compromise v. 妥协 20) Parthenon n. 帕特农神庙
21) Arachne n. 阿拉克尼，因向雅典娜挑战而被变成蜘蛛
22) repent v. 后悔 23) depiction n. 描绘 24) amorous adj. 爱情的 25) embroider v. 绣花
26) arachnid n. （希腊语）蜘蛛
四级阅读：智慧女神雅典娜
