lecture 4 古希腊罗马神话 英文版 教学课件.ppt

Classical Greek and RomanMythology Lecture 4 Part II The heroes in mythology 1. The story of Perseus 2. The story of Cadmus 3. The labors of Heracles 1. Perseus (珀耳修斯) Perseus, founder of Mycenae (迈锡尼), one of the most famous heroes in Greek Mythology, was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danae (达那厄). Danae was a very beautiful girl, the daughter of King Acrisius. An oracle (神谕) told the king that his own grandson would someday kill him. To prevent this, Acrisius kept her in a bronze tower, so that no man might approach her and that she would have no children. But Zeus fell in love with her, and turned himself into a shower of gold to fall on her. When Danae had a son, Acricius locked them in a chest and cast them into the sea. Perseus (珀耳修斯) However, they did not drown. Instead, blessed by Zeus, they drifted to the island of Seriphos (赛里福斯岛) and were rescued by Dictys, brother of King of Seriphos and Perseus grew up in his home.Later, Polydectes, the king, fell in love with Danae, but his love was not returned.Perseus was now a young man, and Polydectes, fearing that Perseus might interfere with his plan to marry Danae, sent him to fetch the head of Medusa (美杜莎), who was a snake-haired monster and whose head was so horrible that anyone who looked at it was turned to stone.In this way, Polydectes hoped that Perseus would be destroyed, but the gods favored the young man.Perseus: 英仙座 Perseus got Medusas head With the help of Hermes, Perseus made his way to the Graeae(格赖埃三姐妹), three old ugly sisters who shared one eye and one tooth between them. Perseus took their eye and tooth and refused to return them and forced them to tell him where to find Medusa. Then, Athena lent him a shield that had a smooth surface and could be used as a mirror so that he didnt have to look directly at Medusa; Hermes lent him wings for his shoes and a sword that could never be bent or broken; and Hades lent him a helmet (头盔) that would make him invisible. Armed with these, Perse