精选希腊神话故事英语词源

writing/Finger on the Wall 不详之兆；大祸临头

这个成语的字面意思是“墙上的文字（或手指）”，而实际含义是 a sign or warning ofimpending disaste（迫在眉睫的凶兆）；a sign that sth bad will happen; a feeling that ones numberis up；等等。其语言外壳与内涵是怎样联系起来的呢？还是出自《圣经》。

据《旧约。但以理书》(Daniel)第 5 章记述：有一次古巴比伦(Babylonian)的国王伯沙撒 (Belshazar)正在宫殿里设宴纵饮时，突然，不知从哪里出现了一个神秘的手指，当者国王的 面，在王宫与灯台相对的粉墙上写西了四个奇怪的单词：MENE（弥尼）、MENE（弥尼）、 TEKEL（提客勒）、UPHARSING （乌法珥新）。国王张皇失措，惊恐万分，谁 也不懂墙上所写的字是什么意思。后来叫来了被虏的犹太预言家但以理，才明白了这几个字 的意思就是大难临头。他说：“弥尼就是上帝已经数算你国的年日到此为完毕；提客勒就是你被称在天平里显出你的亏欠；乌法珥新就是你的国分裂，归与玛代人和波斯人。”果然，当夜 伯沙撒被杀，又 62 岁的玛代人大利乌取而代之。

因此，“墙上的文字（或手指）”就表示身死国亡的凶兆。英语中这个成语有几种表达方式： the writing/handwriting on the wall 或 a finger on the wall

通常与 be，like 等系动词连用；有时 写成 see/read the writing on he wall 的句型，表示提出警告

such as :Don't you see the writing on the wall

有时候也可省略 on the wall，只说 Don't you see the writing？意思也是一样的。

eg:This inexplicable incident seemed

like the Babylonian finger on the wall

to be spelling out the letter of my judgement

In this house of his there was writing on every business-like temperament protested against a mysterious warning that she was not made for him

John's emplyer had less and less work for him;John could read the writing on the wall

The writing on the wall is clear:if man behaves like an animal and allow hs population to increase while each nation steadily increases he coplexity and range of its environment

nature will take her course and the law of the Jungle will prevail

When Bill's team lost four games in a row

he saw the handwriting on the wall

首先说明，由于英文水平有限，这段话是我从维基百科综合编辑出的，所以并非原创，请体谅。文中对地名及人名作了注释

On the way back to Seriphos Island（塞里福斯岛，珀尔修斯在此斩杀美杜莎并取其首级）, Perseus（珀尔修斯） stopped in the kingdom of Ethiopia（埃塞俄比亚，今非洲东部一国家） This mythical Ethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus（刻甫斯） and Queen Cassiopeia（卡西俄珀亚，即天空中的仙后座） Cassiopeia, having boasted her daughter Andromeda（安德洛墨达， 即天空中的仙女座） equal in beauty to the Nereids（海神涅柔斯的女儿们）, drew down the vengeance of Poseidon（波塞冬）, who sent an inundation on the land and a sea serpent, Cetus（一条名为塞特斯的鲸鱼海怪，即天空中的鲸鱼座）, which destroyed man and beast The oracle of Ammon（阿蒙神，古代埃及的太阳神） announced that no relief would be found until the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, and so she was fastened naked to a rock on the shore Perseus slew the monster and, setting her free, claimed her in marriagePerseus married Andromeda in spite of Phineus（菲纽斯）, to whom she had before been promised At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of Medusa's（美杜莎） head that Perseus had kept Andromeda ("queen of men") followed her husband to Tiryns（梯林斯） in Argos（阿哥斯）, and became the ancestress of the family of the Perseidae who ruled at Tiryns through her son with Perseus, Perses（珀耳塞斯）After her death she was placed by Athena（雅典娜） amongst the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia

摘取了一个，其他的在附件里。 古希腊神话故事:海尔墨斯 Hermes immediately after he was born，hermes was appointed godof thieves at olympus．and a thief he became when he was barely a few hours old．feeling hungry，the infant left his cradle after nightfall to hunt for food．he chanced uponapollo\'\'s oxen grazing on a meadow and drove a number ofthese animals away，tying tree branches around the feet of thecattle to make their footsteps dim．he killed two of these oxenand had a magnificent dinner．then he slipped back into his littlebed in his mother\'\'s house．when apollo came to question himhermes pretended to be innocent．the angry sungod draggedhim up to olympus，where he was accused of the stealing andmade to return the cattle to their master．in reconciliation little hermes gave apollo the lyre he had made out of a tortoise shell，and apollo was so pleased with the gift that he presented his little brother with a magic stick．the stick could pacify hostileforces． in due time hermes was appointed messenger of zeus andthe gods．the gods equipped him with a pair of winged sandalsand winged cap to enable him to travel swifter than sight．it was hermes who took the messages of zeus to the world below． hermes was a patron of travellers．his busts and statueswere set up as dividing marks at crossroads or street corners toguide passersby．the hermes，as these statues were called，were regarded as sacred，and their mutilation was sacrilegiousand punishable by death．the destruction of the numerous hermes within the city of athens caused a terrible excitement amongits citizens that it might be no exaggeration to state that itchanged the whole course of historic development of athens ． 海尔墨斯 海尔墨斯一生下来就被任命为奥林波斯山的贼神。他出生后几个小时的时候就做了贼。黄昏时分，他感到饥饿，于是还是婴孩的海尔墨斯离开了他的摇篮去找食物吃。他碰巧看见阿波罗的牛在草地里吃草，于是他偷走了许多牛，并将树枝绑在牛脚上，让脚印变得模糊不清。他杀了其中两头牛，美餐了一顿。然后悄然地回到他妈妈的房里，爬上床。当阿波罗发现牛少了，来质问他时，海尔墨斯佯作不知。愤怒不已的太阳神把他拖到奥林波斯山上，告他偷窃并责令将牛如数还给主人。为了平息这件事，小海尔墨斯将他用乌龟壳做的琴送给阿波罗。阿波罗得到这件礼物非常高兴，并送给他的小兄弟一支魔棍，这支魔棍可以化解敌对力量。 到了一定的时候，海尔墨斯被指定为宙斯和众神的传令官。众神赐他一双带翅膀的草鞋和一顶带翅膀的帽子，让他可以行动神速。海尔墨斯成了宙斯和凡世之间传递消息的人。 海尔墨斯是行人的保护神。十字路口或街角都有他的半身像和雕像。并作为独特的标记，看护着每一个过往的人。这些雕像也用海尔墨斯的名字命名，并被视为神圣不可侵犯的。任何毁坏雕像的行为都被认为是亵渎神灵，要被处以极刑。一次在雅典城，海尔墨斯的像遭到大量破坏。这一捣毁神像的行为在国民中引起了强烈的反响。毫不夸张地说，它改变了雅典历史发展的全部进程。 附件： 中英文对照古希腊神话故事集锦doc

奇怪，大家对希腊神话没兴趣吗？都很有趣的。。。我找的第一个是大家耳熟能详的潘多拉之盒。。。虽然以故事来说这已经算很短了，而且单字都不难，但是基于你”要短的“的强调，我第二个还是找了个超级短的。。。。是个关于回声的故事。有看不懂的欢迎追问~

潘多拉之盒

Pandora's Box

Once up a time, a long time ago, Zeus ordered Hephaestus (Aphrodite's husband) to make him a daughter It was the first woman made out of clay Hephaestus made a beautiful woman and named her Pandora

Zeus sent his new daughter, Pandora, down to earth so that she could marry Epimetheus, who was a gentle and lonely man

Zeus was not being kind He was getting even Epimetheus and Prometheus were brothers Zeus was mad at one of the brothers, Prometheus, for giving people fire without asking Zeus

first

Zeus gave Pandora a little box with a big heavy lock on it He made her promise never to open the box He gave the key to Pandora’s husband and told him to never open the box Zeus was sure that Epimetheus' curiosity would get the better of him, and that either Epimetheus or

his brother would open the box

Pandora was very curious She wanted to see what was inside the box, but Epimetheus said no Better not "You know your father," Epimetheus sighed, referring to Zeus "He’s a tricky one"

One day, when Epimetheus lay sleeping, Pandora stole the key and opened the box

Out flew every kind of disease and sickness, hate and envy, and all the bad things that people had never experienced before Pandora slammed the lid closed, but it was too late All the bad things were already out of the box They flew away, out into the world

Epimetheus woke up at the sound of her sobbing

“I opened the box and all these ugly

things flew out,” Pandora cried “I tried to catch them, but they all got away!”

Pandora opened the box to show him how empty it was But the box was not quite empty One tiny bug flew quickly out before Pandora could slam the lid shut again

“Hello, Pandora,” said the bug, hovering just out of reach “My name is Hope” With a nod of thanks for being set free, Hope flew out into the world, a world that now held Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease – and Hope

回声 与 赫拉

Echo and Hera

One day, Zeus tore into the woods, looking for a

place to hide His wife, Hera, was after him again Would he never learn to stop

flirting with the nymphs who lived deep in the woods Apparently not Spotting

Echo, he asked her to help him escape the eagle eye of his wife One did not

turn down a request from Zeus, not and live to tell about it

When Hera tore into the woods after Zeus, Echo

sidetracked her with chatter and gossip For some time, this worked well for

Zeus

When Hera figured out what was going on, she punished

Echo by denying her much of her beautiful voice All Echo could do forever after

was repeat the last few sounds she heard

故事来源：一个叫做”Mr Donn's Social Studies Site“的网站。。。

经典古希腊神话中英双语12 - 埃杰克斯（巨人） Ajax（the Great） Ajax was a man of giant stature，daring but slow．When the Trojan War was about to break out he led his forces from Salamis to join the Greek army at Aulis．As one of the trustiest champions of the Greek cause，he was given thejob of guarding one end of the Greek camp near Troy．He was noted in the battlefield for his bravery and courage．After Achilles' death he became one of the two hot contestants for the dead hero's shield and armour，the other being Odysseus．When the weapons were finally judged to his rival，Ajax went mad for grief．Unable to get over the hardships，he took his own life．When，in order to seek the advice of，Odysseus came to visit the lower world，the shade of Ajax frowned uponhim．In the lower world Ajax chose to be a lion，guided clearly by the bitter recollection of his former life． 埃杰克斯是位身材魁梧、骁勇善战、但头脑迟钝的人。当特洛伊战争即将爆发时，他率领军队从萨拉米斯到达奥尔墨斯加入了希腊军队。作为一名为希腊事业奋斗的最可信赖的斗士，他被派去保卫近特洛伊的希腊军营边界。战场上，他因作战勇猛而出名。阿基里斯死后，他成为两个最有可能获得阿基里斯的盾甲的有力竞争对手之一。另一名对手是奥德修斯。最后，他的对手胜利了，并得到了盾甲。埃杰克斯悲伤至极，无法自拔，最终结束了自己的生命。奥德修斯为了得到盲人底比斯的忠告而来到阴间；埃杰克斯的幽灵冲着他直皱眉头。在阴间，由于受到前世痛苦记忆的折磨，埃杰克斯选择了做一头狮子。

[ 中英文对照] 古希腊神话故事：奥林波斯山神 The Olympin Gods between macedon and thessaly of eastern greece there stood a high mountainits cloudy top rushed into the very heavenson 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 standardsall the gods listened to his final words ，it was truebut 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 queenposeidon was ruler of the sea，and hades ，king of the lower world ，had no seat in the committeeapollo 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 holdartshestin，the goddess of the family ，represented home life and family happinessthe frightening ares was the god of war， and the charming aphrodite the goddess of love and beautythe god of fire， hephaestus，was the forger of the thunderbolts of zeusthe 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 jealousythey became involved in ceaseless battles with the world of man among themselves at olympus they plotted and struggled for powerin the human world they experienced competitions and difficultiesthey enjoyed earthly friendships and lovesacrowd of everlasting gods looked and acted in a perfectly human fashion that is what all gods at olympus actually were 奥林波斯山神在马其顿和希腊东部 的色萨利之间矗立着一座高山。大雾弥漫的山顶直插云霄。山顶上，众神们的家 园沐浴在阳光之中。宙斯作为山神和人类之父主宰着那里的一切。总的说来，宙 斯并不是一个独裁统治者。但毫无疑问，凡事山神们都要听从他的命令。宙斯将 男女山神12人组成一个委员会，宙斯本人则坐第一把交椅，是众神与人类的太上 皇，也是雷电的操纵者。他旁边是他那傲慢且嫉妒的皇后赫拉。波塞冬是大海的 统治者。哈得斯是主宰阴间的冥王，他在委员会中没有席位。阿波罗是太阳神、 音乐和诗神。他的孪生姐妹阿耳特弥斯是月亮和狩猎女神。雅典娜是智慧女神和 家居艺术品的守护女神。赫提斯是家室之神，象征着家庭中的生命与幸福。气势 汹汹的阿瑞斯是战神。媚人的阿芙罗狄蒂是爱与美神。火神赫菲斯托斯是宙斯雷 电的创造者。以翅代步的信使海尔墨斯掌管商业与发明事务。谷物与丰收女神得 墨特尔负责管理农业，她是文明之母。以上所提到的主要天神们都假装成凡人的 样子，他们的美丽与魅力无可匹敌。因常受到凡人情感与愿望的感染，他们不时 地勃然大怒，妒嫉别人。他们卷入与人类世界无休止的争斗中。在奥林波斯，他 们之间也充满了阴谋与权力之争。在凡人的世界里，他们经历了敌对与挫折。他 们珍惜人间的爱与友善。这群长生不老的天神们的外表与行为完全符合人间的方 式。这就是奥林波斯山神们的本来面目。

Long long ago,there was a naiad called 库尔采 who had a crazy crush on God of sun - ApolloEvery morning the sun arose from the east,she started to watch him with fixed eye,from morning to night,she didn't look back until the God of sun had setAs time go by,the naiad rooted at her feet,and her face turned into a beautiful flower named "sunflower"

中文

很久很久以前，有个叫库尔采的水中仙女，疯狂的迷恋阿波罗神。每当太阳一早从东方出来 ，他就目不转晴的望着，从早到晚，直到太阳神西坠，才恋恋不舍的收回目光。久而久之，水仙脚下生了根，脸也变成一朵花的模样，名曰“向日葵”

1、Pandora’s box(潘朵拉的盒子) ：普罗米修斯(Prometheus)为人类盗来了天火，激怒了宙斯(Zeus)。Zeus决定惩罚人类，于是他命令火神造出一个美貌的女人 Pandora，让她去勾引Prometheus的弟弟埃比米修斯(Epimetheus)。结果Epimetheus上当，接近了 Pandora，Pandora于是就将手中的盒子打开，放出了里面的罪恶、灾难、疾病、不幸，只留下了“希望”在盒子里。于是Pandora’s box就成了“灾难的根源”的代名词。

2、the sword of Damocles(达摩克利斯之剑)：Damocles是叙拉古王朝的一位大臣，非常羡慕帝王的荣华富贵。一天，国王让他坐在王位上，在 Damocles的头上用一根头发悬一把利剑，告诉他王权的危险就象那把剑一样，随时可能降临。因此the sword of Damocles就成了“富贵中隐藏的危险”的同义语，也可以指形势危急，千钧一发。

3、Damon and Pythias ：Damon和Pythias是好朋友。Pythias出事被判了死刑，为了使他能够回家探视亲人，Damo留在牢中作人质，如果Pythias不按时返 回，就处死Damon。当期限满，临处刑之际，Pythias及时赶回。国王深受感动，将二人全部释放，因此，Damon and Pythias意思就是“生死之交”。

4、Penelop’s web：源自史诗《奥德赛》(Odyssey)。泊涅罗珀(Penelop)是奥底修斯(Odysseus)的妻子，以忠贞而著称。特洛伊战争持续 了十年，Odysseus在返家的途中又耽搁了十年。在这漫长的二十年中，许多王公贵族向Penelop求婚，她都托辞说必须等织完布后才能予以考虑，一 到晚上，她又将白天织好的布再拆开。因此Penelop’s web就成了一项永远也完不成的工作。

5、apple of discord：意思是“不和的根源、发生纠纷的事端”。佩琉斯和忒提斯举行婚礼时忘记了邀请不和女神厄里斯(Eris)。这位女神大为恼火，留下 一个刻有“献给最美者”的金苹果，引起了雅典娜、赫拉和阿芙罗狄忒的纷争。此事导致漫长的特洛伊战争(Trojan War)。

扩展资料：

希腊神话文献记载

最早的几部参考文献当推荷马的两部史诗：《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》。除此之外的这方面的史诗都被归结到了《史诗集成》，但这些作品到现今基本已经全部不可靠了。尽管这部合集原来的名字称为“荷马赞歌”，但其实际上和荷马没有任何关系，它们实际上是从被称为抒情诗时期早期流传下来的赞美诗。

荷马基本同期的诗人赫西俄德在其作品《神谱》中全面的记录了关于世界的形成，众神，提坦和巨人的起源的早期希腊神话以及详细的族谱。

赫西俄德的《工作与时日》系统地记录了当时农耕生产的知识，表现了平静而优美的农村生活场景。其中包括了对普罗米修斯， 潘多拉以及五个时代的描写。这些诗篇给予了在那个危险的时期最好生活方式的建议和全貌。

参考资料：