散文:The Labors of Hercules 赫克拉斯的磨難

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Hercules是希臘神話中的著名人物，他因得罪了女神赫拉，被施以魔法，精神失常而誤殺了家人，從而被施加了12個磨難。盡管很痛苦，他還是勇敢地和命運抗爭，最終戰(zhàn)勝了苦難。同時也成為家喻戶曉的英雄……

The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children.

When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.

* insanity：“精神錯亂”的意思，本詞的意思不難由lose his mind推測出來。lose his mind也表示“精神失常”。

* oracle：“神諭”。另外ORACLE還是美國著名的計算機公司的名字，相信熟悉電腦的朋友一定不會陌生。

As part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult that they seemed impossible. Fortunately, Hercules had the help of Hermes and Athena, sympathetic deities who showed up when he really needed help. By the end of these Labors, Hercules was, without a doubt, Greece's greatest hero.

* deity：是“神”的意思，還可以表示“神性”、“被奉若神明的人或物”等意思。如：a society in which money is the only deity(金錢至上的社會)。

His struggles made Hercules the perfect embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which would lead to fame and, in Hercules' case, immortality.

* embodiment：“體現(xiàn)”、“具體化”等意思。

* pathos：“激起憐憫和同情的因素”、“傷感力”等等。Hercules因其所受的苦難而成為“痛苦”和“不幸”的代名詞。embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos即為此義。

* virtuous：是“道德高尚的”、“品行端正的”等意思。他與命運的抗爭使他成為“正義斗爭的典范”。