希腊神话（纯英文版）/5000词床头灯英语学习读本

作者简介

内容简介

The creation of the world is a problem naturally fitted to excite the liveliest interest of man, its inhab- itant. The ancients had their own way of telling the story, which is as follows. Before earth and sea and heaven were created, all things wore one aspect, to which we give the name of Chaos -- a confused and shapeless mass, nothing but dead weight, in which, however, slumbered the seeds of things. Earth, sea, and air were all mixed up to- gether; so the earth was not solid, the sea was not fluid, and the air was not transparent. God and Na- ture at last interposed, and put an end to this dis- cord, separating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The heated part, being the lightest, sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in weight and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below;and the water took the lowest place, and floated upon the earth. Prometheus was one of the Titans, a gigantic race, who inhabited the earth before the creation of man, took sand from the earth and mixed it with wa- ter to create man in the image of the gods.To him and his brother Epimetheus was committed the office of making man, and providing him and all other ani- mals with the faculties necessary for their preserva- tion. Epimetheus undertook to do this, and Prome- theus was to overlook his work, when it was done. Epimetheus accordingly proceeded to bestow upon the different animals the various gifts of courage, strength and swiftness, but when he came to man, who was to be superior to all the animals, there was nothing left. He then turned to his brother Prometheus, who, with the aid of Athena, brought down fire to man. This gift allowed man to make weapons subdue the other animals and to cultivate the earth with, to warm his home and introduce the arts and coin mon- ey, the means of trade. P39-40