漢語中，人們常用“驚天地，泣鬼神”來描述偉大的壯舉或者感人的事件，但這只是一種夸張的說法。在希臘神話中，卻真的存在這樣一位英雄，他為了拯救自己的愛人，用琴聲融化了冥王與冥后內(nèi)心的寒冰，真正做到了“驚天地，泣鬼神”。令人惋惜的是，他的琴聲和歌聲能感動萬物蒼生，能拯救阿爾戈英雄，卻最終沒能救回自己最愛的人。

A Different Type of Hero

Orpheus is a different type of Greek hero because he is remembered neither for his physical strength， nor for his sacrifice for his country， but for his soft touching songs and divine1) music.

Orpheus is generally believed to be the son of Apollo and Calliope2). Apollo taught him the art of music and gave him his own musical instrument. Orpheus learned it so well that his songs could even move stones and trees， and his tunes could tame3) wild beasts.

Rescuing the Argonauts4)

Centaur Chiron tutored many famous Greek heroes such as Achilles， Heracles and Jason. When Jason was about to board the Argo5)， Chiron told him to take with them Orpheus—the famous musician， otherwise they could not pass the Sirens' three small islands. The Sirens were three dangerous bird-women. They could chant beautifully to entice6) sailors， who would forget their homes， ambitions and oars7)， so their boats would drift in currents and be shipwrecked8). The surviving ones would be killed on the island. Despite all this， sailors would prefer to come closer to the most beautiful songs of the Sirens.

When the Argo was near the isles， the sea was calm and beautiful， and the birds seemed to listen to the music in the air. Suddenly， the sailors felt weary9) of their task andjourney. They would rather die in this heavenly beauty rather than fight and return to their homes with glory. So they quit their oars， and the Argo gradually drifted towards the island of the Sirens...

Suddenly， Orpheus realized the danger， so he struck his instrument and a heroic song soared into the air， which overwhelmed the song of the Sirens and wakened all the sailors from their sweet reveries10). They took their oars again， and the Argo shot from the Sirens' island as swiftly as an arrow.

Orpheus' Love Regained But Lost

Despite some glorious moments， Orpheus lived most of his life simply and carelessly until the day he met Eurydice. When they fell in love and got married， love meant everything to them. But the god of bees and honey，Aristaeus11)， saw Eurydice's beauty， so he kept chasing her. Eurydice ran from him in terror， but stepped onto a deadly poisonous snake. The venom12) of its bite killed her at once， and her spirit went to the Underworld.

Orpheus came as the nymphs13) who saw the tragedy cried for help， but it was too late. Sad songs were poured from his bosom14) and sad tunes which withered15) flowers flew from his lyre16)， but they couldn't call Eurydice back. With his lyre， Orpheus moved the ferryman of Styx17)， so he agreed for the first and only time to take a living person to the Underworld.

Having descended into the Underworld， Orpheus charmed Cerberus18) into letting him pass. Facing Hades and his cold Queen Persephone， Orpheus played for them his sorrow at the loss of his love. The frozen heart of Persephone was melted and a tear rolled down her cheek. Even Hades could not withhold his tears. They agreed to give Orpheus one more chance on one condition: that he should not turn to look at Eurydice until they reached the human world， where she would change into a maiden form again.

Orpheus and Eurydice turned from the Underworld and began their ascent19). But either because Orpheus was eager to see Eurydice again， or because Eurydice groaned20) for the snakebite， Orpheus couldn't help turning his head at the last moment. Then they just saw a beam of light from the above world. Eurydice vanished21) the moment Orpheus turned back. Orpheus tried to enter the Underworld again， but this time he was refused by the ferryman.

Orpheus' End

Orpheus felt that life without Eurydice was meaningless， so he lost all his passion and wandered in the wilderness. One day he met a group of maenads22). They forced Orpheus to sing joyful songs for them. When they were refused， they tore this unfortunate man into pieces. Even after death， Orpheus' head was still singing the mournful23) song for his lost love.

Orpheus' mother and the other muses collected his remains and buried him properly. Zeus was moved by this story and he decided to honor Orpheus' instrument. He sent his eagle to retrieve24) the lyre from the water and placed both of them on the sky， which became Aquila and Lyra.

另類英雄

俄耳甫斯是一位與眾不同的希臘英雄。他被世人銘記并不是因?yàn)樗麖?qiáng)壯，也不是因?yàn)樗麨閲易龀龅臓奚?，而是因?yàn)樗麥赝窀腥说囊鞒兔烂罘欠驳臉氛隆?/p>

一般來說，人們認(rèn)為俄耳甫斯是阿波羅和卡利俄珀之子。阿波羅教他歌唱藝術(shù)，并把自己的樂器贈予他。俄耳甫斯學(xué)得爐火純青，他的歌聲能感動樹木與頑石，他的曲調(diào)能馴服野獸。

拯救阿爾戈英雄

半人半馬的怪物喀戎曾指導(dǎo)過許多著名的希臘英雄，如阿喀琉斯、赫拉克勒斯及伊阿宋。當(dāng)伊阿宋準(zhǔn)備乘上阿爾戈號時，喀戎告誡他一定要帶上著名的音樂家俄耳甫斯，否則他們將無法通過塞壬的三個小島。塞壬是三個半人半鳥的危險女海妖。她們曼妙的歌聲能誘使水手們忘記家園、忘記抱負(fù)甚至忘記劃槳，他們的船會隨波逐流，最后觸礁沉沒。而幸存下來的水手則會在島上遇害。盡管存在種種危險，水手們依然愿意駛近去聆聽塞壬最動人的歌聲。

當(dāng)阿爾戈號駛近島嶼的時候，海面上波瀾不興，美麗迷人，鳥兒們似乎都在聆聽空中的歌聲。突然之間，所有的水手對他們的旅途和偉業(yè)都感到興味索然。他們寧愿死在這仙境般的美景中，也不愿意前去作戰(zhàn)然后榮歸故里。所以他們紛紛丟下自己的船槳，阿爾戈號漸漸地漂向了塞壬之島……

突然，俄耳甫斯意識到了危險，于是他撥動琴弦，一曲英雄的贊歌飛入云霄，把塞壬的歌聲壓了下去，也把所有的水手從甜美的白日夢中喚醒。他們重新執(zhí)槳，阿爾戈號如飛箭一般駛離了塞壬之島。

得而復(fù)失的愛

盡管俄耳甫斯的人生有一些輝煌的時刻，但他多數(shù)時候還是生活得簡單而自在，直到有一天他遇到了歐律狄刻。當(dāng)他們墜入愛河并結(jié)為夫妻后，愛就成了他們的全部。然而，養(yǎng)蜂釀蜜之神阿里斯泰俄斯窺見了歐律狄刻的美貌，所以一直追逐她。歐律狄刻惶恐地躲避著他，卻不慎踩到一條致命的毒蛇。毒蛇咬了歐律狄刻，蛇毒立刻讓她香銷玉殞。她的靈魂來到了地獄。

看到這幕悲劇的仙女馬上呼救，俄耳甫斯聞訊趕到，但為時已晚。憂傷的歌從他的胸中涌出，哀怨的樂曲在他的琴下流淌，花兒聽后也為之凋殘，但這都不能喚回歐律狄刻。俄耳甫斯用他的琴聲感動了冥河的艄公，所以艄公第一次也是唯一一次同意把一個未死的人送到冥間去。

下到地獄后，俄耳甫斯的音樂令守衛(wèi)冥府入口的三頭犬刻耳柏洛斯也心醉神迷，允許他過去。面對冥王哈德斯和他冷酷的冥后珀耳塞福涅，俄耳甫斯奏響了哀傷的樂曲，訴說失去愛侶的傷痛。冥后冰封的心融化了，一顆淚珠從她的面頰滾落。連冥王也無法抑制自己的淚水。他們決定再給俄耳甫斯一次機(jī)會，但有一個條件，即在他們到達(dá)人間之前，他不能回頭看歐律狄刻，只有到了人間，歐律狄刻才能起死回生。

俄耳甫斯和歐律狄刻轉(zhuǎn)身離開冥間，開始向上的路程。然而，也許是出于好奇，也許是因?yàn)闅W律狄刻由于被蛇咬傷而發(fā)出了呻吟，在最后時刻，俄耳甫斯還是忍不住回頭去看了。那時他們剛剛看到了地面的一束陽光。就在俄耳甫斯回頭的那一刻，歐律狄刻立刻消失不見了。俄耳甫斯試圖再回到冥間，但是這一次，他遭到了艄公的拒絕。

俄耳甫斯的結(jié)局

俄耳甫斯覺得沒有歐律狄刻的人生毫無意義，失去一切激情的他在荒野中游蕩。一天，他遇到了一群酒神的女祭司。她們強(qiáng)迫他唱?dú)g快的歌。遭到拒絕后，她們便把這個不幸的人撕成了碎片。即便死后，俄耳甫斯的頭依舊為他失去的愛人唱著哀傷的歌。

俄耳甫斯的母親和其他的繆斯女神收集了他的遺骸并給他安排了一場得體的葬禮。宙斯也被這個故事所感動，他決定賜俄耳甫斯的樂器以榮耀。他派神鷹去水里取回了俄耳甫斯的琴，并把它和神鷹一起放到了天上，分別成了“天琴座”和“天鷹座”。

詞匯學(xué)習(xí)

The Sirens: 塞壬。希臘神話中，她們是半人半鳥的女海妖，以美妙歌聲誘惑過往海員，使駛近的船只觸礁沉沒。她們是各個希臘英雄途經(jīng)海上必定會遇到的主要障礙。久而久之，“siren”便用來指“美艷又危險、對男人有媚惑力的女人”;又因?yàn)樗齻兠烂畹母杪暎髞怼皊iren”還用來指“汽笛，警報器”。

文化鏈接

1. Centaur:半人半馬的怪獸。他們實(shí)際上是一個妖族，電影《指環(huán)王》(The Lord of Rings)以及《納尼亞傳奇》(The Chronicles of Narnia)中人馬怪獸的神話便源于此。他們一般都英勇善戰(zhàn)，卻比較貪婪好色。但Centaur Chiron卻是比較特殊的一位，他非常有才華，是希臘神話中很多著名英雄的老師。除了文中提到的三位大英雄，他的學(xué)生還包括醫(yī)神Asclepius (阿斯克勒庇俄斯)、養(yǎng)蜂蜜釀的農(nóng)神Aristaeus (阿里斯泰俄斯)、特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭中體形巨大的Ajax (亞甲斯)、特洛伊王子Aeneas (埃涅阿斯)和阿提卡英雄Theseus (特修斯)等。

2. Lyra:天琴座。傳說這個星座是由俄耳甫斯的琴升天而成。頂部一顆亮星在西方，稱為Vega (織女星)，是夏夜最明亮的星?？椗侵睆綖樘柕娜?，表面熱度較低。在織女星旁邊有四顆星構(gòu)成一個小菱形。傳說這個小菱形是織女織布用的梭子，而在希臘故事中則是天琴的琴體。

3. Aquila:天鷹座。天鷹座中最亮的一顆星是Altair (牛郎星)，世界上第一臺用微處理器裝配的微型計算機(jī)即以此命名，這臺計算機(jī)的問世開啟了如今的網(wǎng)絡(luò)時代。牛郎星直徑為太陽的1.6倍，表面溫度能達(dá)到7000攝氏度。

Vocabulary

1.divine [dI5vaIn] adj. 非凡的;極美的

2.Calliope [kE5laIEpI] n. 【希神】卡利俄珀(九位繆斯之一，主管雄辯和英雄史詩的女神)

3.tame [teIm] vt. 馴養(yǎng)，馴服

4.Argonaut [5B:^EnC:t] n. 【希神】阿爾戈英雄(乘阿爾戈號快船隨Jason去海外覓取金羊毛的英雄)

5.Argo [5B:^Eu] n. 【希神】阿爾戈號(Jason率領(lǐng)其他英雄尋找金羊毛乘用的船)

6.entice [In5taIs] vt. 誘使，誘惑;慫恿;吸引

7.oar [C:(r)， Eur] n. 槳，櫓

8.shipwreck [5FIprek] vt. 使(人)遭遇海難;因擱淺(或沉沒)而使(船)毀壞

9.weary [5wIEri:] adj. 使人疲勞的;使人厭煩的

10.revery [5revErI] n. = reverie [5revErI] n. (尤指企求好東西的)幻想;白日夢

11.Aristaeus [7ArI5sti:Es] n. 【希神】阿里斯泰俄斯(Apollo和Cyrene之子，以善養(yǎng)蜜蜂著稱)

12.venom [5venEm] n. (毒蛇、蝎子或其他動物分泌的)毒液

13.nymph [nImf] n. 【希神】居于山林水澤的仙女

14.bosom [5buzEm] n. 胸;懷

15.wither [5wITE(r)] vt. 使干枯，使枯萎

16. lyre [5laIE(r)] n. 里拉(古希臘的一種弦樂器)

17.Styx [stIks] n. 【希神】(環(huán)繞冥土四周的)冥河

18.Cerberus [5sE:bErEs] n. 【希神】刻耳柏洛斯(守衛(wèi)冥府入口的有三個頭的猛犬)

19.ascent [E5sent] n. 上升;升高;上坡路

20.groan [^rEun] vi. (表示痛苦等的)呻吟聲

21.vanish [5vAnIF] vi. 突然不見，消失

22.maenad [5mi:nAd] n. [常作M-]【希神】酒神的女祭司

23.mournful [5mC:nful] adj. 令人憂傷的，使人悲痛的

24.retrieve [rI5tri:v] vt. 收回，取回;領(lǐng)回