2014年9月11日 星期四

Odyssey 10. 76-132 giant cannibals

主題: Laestrygonians
沒了風神的幫助,Odysseus一行人的船隻,海上亂飄,經過六天六夜,第七天到了The Laestrygonians (or Laestrygones, Laistrygones, Laistrygonians, Lestrygonians; Greek: Λαιστρυγόνες) 是希臘神話中的巨人食人族(giant cannibals),地理位置有兩種說法,第一是西西里島的北方,第二種說法,特別是依照92-97行描述,可能是斯堪地那維亞 (Scandinavian fjord)。
  Odysseus一到,就發現這裡的人有工作狂(workaholic),日夜不眠,放牧牛羊,賺雙倍的報酬。(Odyssey 10.80-86)
  然後到了一個港口,這裡中文翻譯又提到烏荊子: 「長滿烏荊子的是懸崖綿延港灣的兩側」,原文[ἔνθ᾽ ἐπεὶ ἐς λιμένα κλυτὸν ἤλθομεν, ὃν πέρι πέτρη ἠλίβατος τετύχηκε διαμπερὲς ἀμφοτέρωθεν, 英譯: We came up there, into a lovely harbour, with a sheer cliff around it on both sides] (Odyssey 10. 87-88),我推論中文翻譯的烏荊子,可能是指大岩石或是懸岩。
  Odysseus派人觀察地形與居民。第105-108行提到,遇到一健壯的女子Antiphates出來汲水,他們打聽誰是他們的國王等問題。可以比較創世紀 29.2-11,雅各也是遇到汲水的Rachel。Antiphates熱心點出她父親高大的宮邸位置,Odysseus的人走入,發現王后長得像一座高山,果真是巨人族。巨人隨即用手一抓,這幾個Odysseus的同伴就成為他們美味的午餐,這,就是恐怖的食人族。快逃!

字彙:
δοιοί: two, both
μισθόω: let out for hire, farm out

ὣς εἰπὼν ἀπέπεμπε δόμων βαρέα στενάχοντα.
ἔνθεν δὲ προτέρω πλέομεν ἀκαχήμενοι ἦτορ.
τείρετο δ᾽ ἀνδρῶν θυμὸς ὑπ᾽ εἰρεσίης ἀλεγεινῆς
ἡμετέρῃ ματίῃ, ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι φαίνετο πομπή.
ἑξῆμαρ μὲν ὁμῶς πλέομεν νύκτας τε καὶ ἦμαρ,
ἑβδομάτῃ δ᾽ ἱκόμεσθα Λάμου αἰπὺ πτολίεθρον,
Τηλέπυλον Λαιστρυγονίην, ὅθι ποιμένα ποιμὴν
ἠπύει εἰσελάων, ὁ δέ τ᾽ ἐξελάων ὑπακούει.
ἔνθα κ᾽ ἄυπνος ἀνὴρ δοιοὺς ἐξήρατο μισθούς,
τὸν μὲν βουκολέων, τὸν δ᾽ ἄργυφα μῆλα νομεύων:
ἐγγὺς γὰρ νυκτός τε καὶ ἤματός εἰσι κέλευθοι. (Odyssey 10. -76-86)

Once he’d said this, he sent me from his house,
for all my heavy groans. Then, sick at heart,
we sailed on further, my crewmen’s spirits
worn down by the weary work of rowing.
Because we’d been such fools, there was no breeze
to help us on our way. We went on like this
for six whole days and nights. On the seventh 
we came to Telepylus, great citadel
of Lamus, king of Laestrygonians,  
where the herdsman driving in his flock
salutes the herdsman moving his beasts out.
There a man who had no need of sleep
could earn two wages—one for tending cattle,
one for grazing sheep. Day and night-time trails
lie close together.

下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laestrygonians

Wall painting from the late 1st century BC.

2014年9月10日 星期三

Odyssey 10.1-27 windbag


Odyssey: Book X
本卷故事大綱
l   Odysseus continues his narrative: he and his ships reach Aeolia, home of Aeolus, god of the winds;
l   Aeolus welcomes them and gives Odysseus a bag with all the winds tied up inside it;
l   Odysseus sails from Aeolia, but his men open the bag, bringing on a storm which drives them back to Aeolia; Aeolus refuses Odysseus’ request for further help and orders him off the island;
l   Odysseus and his men reach the land of the Laestrygonians, who attack them and destroy all the ships except Odysseus’ vessel; that one ship sails to the island of Aeaea, land of Circe;
l   Odysseus kills a stag for a meal; half the men go to Circe’s house and are changed into pigs;
l   Eurylochus brings the news to Odysseus; Odysseus meets Hermes, who gives him an antidote to Circe’s spells; Circe tries to bewitch Odysseus and fails; they go to bed together;
l   Circe changes the men back to human beings; they stay there one year, and then sail on, heading for Hades’ home.

主題: 風袋 windbag

《奧德賽》第十卷Odysseus繼續描述他們的奇幻之旅,逃開獨眼巨人,幾個同伴喪生,海上漂泊,到了風神Aeolus住的島Aeolia,Aeolus是Hippotas的兒子,他住的島是漂浮的(πλωτός: floating),傳說中Delos也是漂浮的島。Odysseus抵達時,風神家正在舉辦婚禮,他們有12個小孩,六男六女,正好配成六對結婚。Aeolus熱情招待Odysseus,而Odysseus又發揮本行,講故事給風神聽。
   Odysseus詢問歸程的事,並尋求協助。風神致贈一口非常特別的袋子,用九歲大的牛皮製作,裡面裝著各種方向呼嘯的風,他把風袋放在船,用光亮銀線綁住袋口,不讓一點風露出。還派最好的西風(Ζέφυρος)助行,如果一切順利真的可以「一路順風」,可惜,人性的愚昧與貪婪,還是壞了大事。
  這樣順利航行九天九夜,第十天時都看見故鄉的土地了,Odysseus已經疲憊,應該是打瞌睡了吧! 他的同伴們開始議論紛紛,猜想袋子裡裝的是甚麼金銀財寶,就打開偷看,這一打開所有的狂風又吹起,他們又被吹回Aeolia。風神發現原來Odysseus是神所憎惡的,才會如此,不可能再幫他一次,所以,海上苦難之旅又繼續。
今天英文中windbag,吹牛的意思。(Informal. an empty, voluble, pretentious talker.)

字彙
ναίω: dwell, abide
πλωτός: floating
ἐκδέρω: strip off the skin from
ἀσκός: skin, hide
βοῦς: bullock, bull, ox
ἐννέωρος: in the ninth season
μέρμις: cord, string, rope
Ζέφυρος: westerly wind
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D1
‘Αἰολίην δ᾽ ἐς νῆσον ἀφικόμεθ᾽: ἔνθα δ᾽ ἔναιεν
Αἴολος Ἱπποτάδης, φίλος ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσιν,
πλωτῇ ἐνὶ νήσῳ: πᾶσαν δέ τέ μιν πέρι τεῖχος
χάλκεον ἄρρηκτον, λισσὴ δ᾽ ἀναδέδρομε πέτρη.
τοῦ καὶ δώδεκα παῖδες ἐνὶ μεγάροις γεγάασιν,
ἓξ μὲν θυγατέρες, ἓξ δ᾽ υἱέες ἡβώοντες:
ἔνθ᾽ ὅ γε θυγατέρας πόρεν υἱάσιν εἶναι ἀκοίτις.
οἱ δ᾽ αἰεὶ παρὰ πατρὶ φίλῳ καὶ μητέρι κεδνῇ
δαίνυνται, παρὰ δέ σφιν ὀνείατα μυρία κεῖται,
κνισῆεν δέ τε δῶμα περιστεναχίζεται αὐλῇ
ἤματα: νύκτας δ᾽ αὖτε παρ᾽ αἰδοίῃς ἀλόχοισιν
εὕδουσ᾽ ἔν τε τάπησι καὶ ἐν τρητοῖσι λέχεσσι.
καὶ μὲν τῶν ἱκόμεσθα πόλιν καὶ δώματα καλά.
μῆνα δὲ πάντα φίλει με καὶ ἐξερέεινεν ἕκαστα,
Ἴλιον Ἀργείων τε νέας καὶ νόστον Ἀχαιῶν:
καὶ μὲν ἐγὼ τῷ πάντα κατὰ μοῖραν κατέλεξα.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ καὶ ἐγὼν ὁδὸν ᾔτεον ἠδ᾽ ἐκέλευον
πεμπέμεν, οὐδέ τι κεῖνος ἀνήνατο, τεῦχε δὲ πομπήν.
δῶκε δέ μ᾽ ἐκδείρας ἀσκὸν βοὸς ἐννεώροιο,
ἔνθα δὲ βυκτάων ἀνέμων κατέδησε κέλευθα:
κεῖνον γὰρ ταμίην ἀνέμων ποίησε Κρονίων,
ἠμὲν παυέμεναι ἠδ᾽ ὀρνύμεν, ὅν κ᾽ ἐθέλῃσι.
νηὶ δ᾽ ἐνὶ γλαφυρῇ κατέδει μέρμιθι φαεινῇ
ἀργυρέῃ, ἵνα μή τι παραπνεύσῃ ὀλίγον περ:
αὐτὰρ ἐμοὶ πνοιὴν Ζεφύρου προέηκεν ἀῆναι,
ὄφρα φέροι νῆάς τε καὶ αὐτούς: οὐδ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔμελλεν
ἐκτελέειν: αὐτῶν γὰρ ἀπωλόμεθ᾽ ἀφραδίῃσιν. (Odyssey 1-27)

“Next we reached Aeolia, a floating island,
where Aeolus lived, son of Hippotas,
whom immortal gods hold dear.1 Around it,
runs an impenetrable wall of bronze,
and cliffs rise up in a sheer face of rock.
His twelve children live there in the palace,
six daughters as well as six full-grown sons.
He gave the daughters to the sons in marriage,
and they are always at a banquet feasting,
beside their dear father and good mother, 
with an infinite supply of tasty food
set out before them. The smells of cooking
fill the house all day. The courtyard echoes
to the sounds of celebration. At night,
they go to sleep beside their faithful wives,
on coverlets and beds well strung with cord.
“We reached the splendid palace in the city,
and for one whole month he entertained me,
always asking questions about everything—
Troy, Argive ships, how Achaeans made it home—
and I told him all from start to finish.
When, for my part, I asked to take my leave
and told him he should send me on my way,
he denied me nothing and helped me go.
He gave me a bag made out of ox-hide,
flayed from a creature nine years old,
and tied up in it all the winds that blow 
from every quarter, for Cronos’ son
has made Aeolus keeper of the winds,
and he could calm or rouse them, as he wished.
With a shining silver cord he lashed that bag
inside my hollow ship, so as to stop
even the smallest breath from getting out.
He also got a West Wind breeze to blow
to carry ships and men on their way home.
But that’s not how things happened to turn out—
we ruined everything with our own folly.

下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolis
伊奧利亞(古希臘語: Αἰολίς, Aiolís),古希臘一個地域的稱呼,範圍為小亞細亞西北部與西部地區。這一地區濱臨地中海,建有許多伊奧利亞人城邦。北部與米西亞南部連接,南鄰伊奧尼亞,東臨呂底亞。

下面圖片與資料出處: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23227570@N07/2224330035/
Æolus (son of Hippotes)
This Æolus is most frequently conflated with Æolus, the son of Poseidon. It is difficult to delineate this Æolus from the second Æolus, as their identities seem to have been merged by many ancient writers. The father of this third Æolus is given as Mimas, a son of the first Æolus (son of Hellen). According to some accounts, Mimas married the same Melanippe who was the mother of Arne. This Æolus lived on the floating island of Aeolia and was visited by Odysseus and his crew in the Odyssey. He gave hospitality for a month and provided for a west wind to carry them home. Unfortunately he also provided a gift of a bag containing each of the four winds, which Odysseus's crew members opened just before their home was reached. They were blown back to Aeolia, where Æolus refused to provide any further help. This Æolus was perceived by later authors (i.e., after Homer) as a god, rather than as a mortal and simple Keeper of the Winds (as in the Odyssey). In the Aeneid by Virgil, Juno offers Aeolus the nymph Deiopea as a wife if he will release his winds upon the fleet of Aeneas.

下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolus
Aeolus by Alexandre Jacovleff shows Aeolus as an embodiment of Wind himself.









2014年9月9日 星期二

Odyssey 9.506- 525 海神能治好眼睛嗎

主題: 海神能治好眼睛嗎?
 在逃離之際,Odysseus不再甘心當Nobody,大聲報出名號。獨眼巨人聽到這名字,想起一個老預言,說他將會在一個名叫Odysseus的手中失去視力,只是他沒想到原來Odysseus 是這一位小人。
  獨眼巨人Polyphemos就送給Odysseus一份大禮,他會請他的父親海神Poseidon護送Odysseus一程。這一程,其實就是十年,大風大浪,失去所有同伴,十年後即使回到家也還會遭到不幸。
  這一段有一個細節值得深思,Polyphemos說他會請海神Poseidon醫治他的眼睛,而Odysseus反諷,Poseidon不可能醫好他的眼睛,就像Odysseus不可能送Polyphemos到Hades的家,就是不可能讓他死。我猜Poseidon是沒有醫好Polyphemos的眼睛,第一醫療不是他的強項,第二如果能醫好兒子的眼睛,他的怒火就不會那麼大了。
    兩個更重要的問題: 第一,古代應該有類似的眼傷與治療,不過,醫療技術與成果可能有限。第二,「盲眼」或瞎子等問題,在遠古時代已有,發生率可能不低。
  古埃及的醫學文獻(Papyrus Ebers)提到的治療眼睛秘方:
Remedies in the 'Papyrus Ebers'
For a diseased eye
To clear up the pus: honey, balm from Mecca and gum ammoniac. To treat its discharge: frankincense, myrrh, yellow ochre.
Remedy for blindness
A pig's eye, antimony, red ochre and a little honey are finely ground and mixed together and poured into the ear of the man so that he may be cured at once. Then recite this spell twice: "I have brought this ointment and applied it to the trouble spot and it will remove the horrible suffering." ... A really excellent remedy.

字彙
ὀπωπή: sight
ἰάομαι: heal, cure

ὣς ἐφάμην, ὁ δέ μ᾽ οἰμώξας ἠμείβετο μύθῳ:
‘ὢ πόποι, ἦ μάλα δή με παλαίφατα θέσφαθ᾽ ἱκάνει.
ἔσκε τις ἐνθάδε μάντις ἀνὴρ ἠύς τε μέγας τε,
Τήλεμος Εὐρυμίδης, ὃς μαντοσύνῃ ἐκέκαστο
καὶ μαντευόμενος κατεγήρα Κυκλώπεσσιν:
ὅς μοι ἔφη τάδε πάντα τελευτήσεσθαι ὀπίσσω,
χειρῶν ἐξ Ὀδυσῆος ἁμαρτήσεσθαι ὀπωπῆς.
ἀλλ᾽ αἰεί τινα φῶτα μέγαν καὶ καλὸν ἐδέγμην
ἐνθάδ᾽ ἐλεύσεσθαι, μεγάλην ἐπιειμένον ἀλκήν:
νῦν δέ μ᾽ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἄκικυς
ὀφθαλμοῦ ἀλάωσεν, ἐπεί μ᾽ ἐδαμάσσατο οἴνῳ.
ἀλλ᾽ ἄγε δεῦρ᾽, Ὀδυσεῦ, ἵνα τοι πὰρ ξείνια θείω
πομπήν τ᾽ ὀτρύνω δόμεναι κλυτὸν ἐννοσίγαιον:
τοῦ γὰρ ἐγὼ πάϊς εἰμί, πατὴρ δ᾽ ἐμὸς εὔχεται εἶναι.
αὐτὸς δ᾽, αἴ κ᾽ ἐθέλῃσ᾽, ἰήσεται, οὐδέ τις ἄλλος
οὔτε θεῶν μακάρων οὔτε θνητῶν ἀνθρώπων.
’ ὣς ἔφατ᾽, αὐτὰρ ἐγώ μιν ἀμειβόμενος προσέειπον:
‘αἲ γὰρ δὴ ψυχῆς τε καὶ αἰῶνός σε δυναίμην
εὖνιν ποιήσας πέμψαι δόμον Ἄϊδος εἴσω,
ὡς οὐκ ὀφθαλμόν γ᾽ ἰήσεται οὐδ᾽ ἐνοσίχθων.’(Odyssey 9.506- 525)

“When I said this, he groaned and spoke out in reply:
 ‘Alas! Now an ancient prophecy about me
has truly been fulfilled!  Telemus,
fine, tall son of Eurymus, a seer
who surpassed all men in prophecy,
reached old age among the Cyclopes 
as a soothsayer. He said all these things
would come to pass someday—I’d lose my sight
at the hand of someone called Odysseus.
But I always expected he’d be large,
a noble man, with enormous power.
But now a puny, good-for-nothing weakling,
after overpowering me with wine,
has destroyed my eye. Come here, Odysseus,
so I can give you your gift as my guest,
and urge the famous Shaker of the Earth
to escort you home—I am his son,
and he boasts he’s my father. If he wishes, 
he himself will cure me. No other blessed god,
nor any mortal man, can do that.’          
“He finished speaking. I answered him and said:
‘I wish I were as certain I could end your life,
rob you of your living spirit, and send you
off to Hades’ home, as I am confident   
not even the great Shaker of the Earth
will fix your eye.’

下面資料與圖片出處: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0420.1997.tb00792.x/pdf

古埃及眼科