2008年10月25日 星期六

paraphernalia, Dioscuri, dokana, jingoism

Rogers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


jin·go·ism (jĭng'gō-ĭz'əm) pronunciation

n.

Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; chauvinistic patriotism.

jingoist jin'go·ist n.
jingoistic jin'go·is'tic adj.
jingoistically jin'go·is'ti·cal·ly adv.


paraphernalia (păr'ə-fər-nāl'yə, -fə-nāl') pronunciation

pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
  1. Personal belongings.
  2. The articles used in a particular activity; equipment: a photographer's paraphernalia. See synonyms at equipment.
  3. A married woman's personal property exclusive of her dowry, according to common law.

[Medieval Latin paraphernālia, neuter pl. of paraphernālis, pertaining to the parapherna, a married woman's property exclusive of her dowry, from Greek : para-, beyond; see para-1 + phernē, dowry.]

{城市文化讀本}

翻譯 Walter Benjamin The Arcades Projects(我採用哈佛大學出版社的英文本,p.884)之選文縮編。

現在我們不談它的翻譯,只是要指出:將希臘神話中的一系列人名變成漢字,就是翻譯嗎?【英文翻譯本對the Dioscuri.有古今所指之簡注 說明它喻指作者和 翻譯合作者 Franz Hessel】

…And when that sky opened to the eyes of this young insight, there in the foreground were standing not the divinities of Olynpus—not Zeus, Hephaestus, Hermes, or Hera, Artemis, and Athena—But the Dioscuri.


Dioscuri 簡介

Dioscūri (Dios kouroi, ‘sons of Zeus’), in Greek myth, Castor and Polydeuces (Lat. Pollux). They were native to Sparta, where they were worshipped. In Homer and in Hesiod they are the twin sons Tyndareus and Leda, and the brothers of Helen (of Troy). Later, Polydeuces is represented as the son of Zeus, and immortal. When Castor, the mortal son of Tyndareus, is fatally wounded (see below), Polydeuces chooses to share his immortality with his brother, so that they both spend half their time in the Underworld and the other half with the gods on Mount Olympus. Other accounts make them both sons of Zeus, born like Helen from an egg. They occur in three mythical stories. When Theseus carried off Helen as a child they made an expedition to Attica, recovered her, and took Theseus' mother Aethra as well to be Helen's slave. Helen's place of concealment had been revealed by the hero Akademos (see ACADEMY), whose land was always spared in consequence by invading Lacedaemonians. In another story they took part in the voyage of the Argonauts, Polydeuces distinguishing himself in the fight against Amycus. Finally they carried off the two daughters of a certain Leucippus, Hilaēīra and Phoebē, who were betrothed to their cousins Idas and Lynceus. In the ensuing fight (or, in some versions, in a cattle raid) Castor and both opponents were killed. It was on this occasion that Polydeuces gave Castor a share of his immortality (see above). The Dioscuri are often identified with the constellation Gemini (the Twins). They were commonly regarded as protectors of sailors, to whom they appeared during storms as the lights of St Elmo's fire. They were also notable boxers and horsemen, frequently called ‘riders of white horses’, and therefore the patrons of athletes and athletic contests.

In Roman religion the worship of Castor and Pollux was introduced in early times, Castor always being the more popular. Their temple at Rome (nearly always known as the temple of Castor) was vowed by the dictator Aulus Postumius during the battle of the Romans against the Latins at Lake Regillus (496 BC). The story was that they then fought at the head of the Roman army and after the battle brought the news of the victory to Rome; they were seen watering their horses at the Lacus Iuturnae (‘pool of Juturna’, a fountain in the Forum) and their temple was erected on that spot, beside that of Vesta. According to another story (related in Cicero, De natura deorum), Publius Vatinius (grandfather of the famous tribune) informed the senate that he had met two youths on white horses who told him of the capture of Perseus of Macedon on that day (168 BC); he was thrown into prison until his statement was confirmed by dispatches. The Roman equites regarded the brothers as their particular patrons. The common oaths mecastor and edepol, based on their names, are evidence of their popularity.




They were also called Anaktes (kings), and sometimes they appear as children. Their cult was especially popular at Sparta, where they were evidently house gods. A series of reliefs shows their symbols and cult paraphernalia. Their special symbol was the dokana, two upright beams joined by two transverse beams. This has been interpreted variously and ingeniously both in ancient and modern times. The simple explanation is that the dokana represent the wooden frame of a house built of crude bricks. On certain reliefs from Sparta and from its colony Tarentum, and on Spartan coins, two amphorae appear as the symbols of the Dioscuri (Fig. 29). A snake approaches them or is coiling around them or the beams of the dokana (Fig. 31). That the Dioscuri were house gods is proved by their cult. A meal was set out and a couch prepared for them in the house. This is what Euphorion did; 9 Phormion was punished because he would not open the chamber of his house to them. 10 These meals were called theoxenia. Theron of Agrigentum and Iason of Pherae prepared meals in honor of the Dioscuri, and Bacchylides in a poem invites them to a meal from which wine and songs will not be missing. The Athenians spread the table in the prytaneum for them with a frugal, old-fashioned meal of cheese, cakes, olives, and leeks. Some vase paintings and reliefs show the Dioscuri coming to the meal. Here they are riding, in accordance with the common conception (Fig. 32). In Sparta they appear as snakes. The close affinity of Zeus Ktesios and the sons of Zeus is apparent.


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