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【簡(jiǎn)譯】羅馬宗教中的灶神——維斯塔（Vesta）

2022-09-25 10:40 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過(guò) | 我要投稿

Vesta was the goddess of the hearth, the home, and domestic life in the Roman religion (idenitified with the Greek goddess Hestia). She was the first-born of the titans Kronos and Rhea and, like the others, was swallowed by her father. When her brother Jupiter (the Greek Zeus), who managed to escape their father's appetite, freed his siblings, Vesta was the last to be released (because she was the first swallowed) and so is regarded as both the oldest and the youngest of the gods. She was very beautiful and attracted the attention of both Apollo and Neptune who fought for her hand. Vesta rejected them both, however, and begged Jupiter to allow her to remain forever a virgin. When he consented to this, Vesta was pleased and took care of his home and hearth; thus identifying her with domestic life but, more importantly, with domestic tranquility.

? ? ? ? ? 灶神（Vesta）是羅馬宗教中的壁爐、家庭生活的女神（與希臘女神赫斯提亞同名，赫斯提亞等同于羅馬神話中的維斯塔）。她是泰坦巨人克洛諾斯和雷亞的第一個(gè)孩子，和其他孩子一樣，維斯塔被她的父親吞噬了。當(dāng)她的哥哥朱庇特（希臘神話中的宙斯），設(shè)法逃脫了他們父親的胃，釋放了他的兄弟姐妹，維斯塔是最后一個(gè)被釋放的（因?yàn)樗堑谝粋€(gè)被吞的），所以維斯塔被認(rèn)為是最年長(zhǎng)和最年輕的神。她非常美麗，使得阿波羅和涅普頓（羅馬宗教中的淡水和海洋之神）為此大打出手。然而，維斯塔拒絕了他們兩個(gè)，并懇求朱庇特允許她永遠(yuǎn)保持處女之身。當(dāng)朱庇特同意后，維斯塔很高興，并照顧朱庇特的家和爐灶；因此，她逐漸與家庭生活相聯(lián)系，但更重要的是與家庭和睦相聯(lián)系。

The hearth fire in the home of the ancient Romans was not only essential for cooking food and heating water, but also served as the gathering place for the family and, in time, became associated with the spirit of that particular family gathered around that particular hearth. The Latin word for `hearth' is focus which, of course, is used in English to designate a center or activity of interest. The hearth in Rome was most certainly such a center of activity and the fire which burned there was most important. Sacrifices to the gods of the home were made by the fire and thrown into the flames. When one left home on a business trip, or even on vacation, one carried some of the hearth fire along in order to keep one's home close even when away. Further, the difficulty of making or transporting fire made the constantly-burning hearth a vital element in the home as well as state buildings. Vesta, therefore, along with the house spirits of the Penates, Panes and Lares, was a goddess revered in every strata of Roman society as she was thought to literally "keep the home fires burning" from the most modest apartment to the grandest villa.

? ? ? ? ? 古羅馬人家中的爐灶不僅是烹飪食物和加熱水所必需的設(shè)施，而且也是家庭聚會(huì)的場(chǎng)所，久而久之，就與聚集在該特定爐灶周圍的特定家庭的精神聯(lián)系在一起。爐灶的拉丁語(yǔ)是focus，當(dāng)然，在英語(yǔ)中被用來(lái)指代一個(gè)中心或感興趣的活動(dòng)。羅馬的壁爐無(wú)疑是這樣的一個(gè)活動(dòng)中心，在那里燃燒的火是最重要的。向家里的神靈獻(xiàn)上的祭品被放在火邊，并被扔進(jìn)火焰里。當(dāng)人們離開家去出差，甚至度假時(shí)，人們會(huì)帶著一些爐火，以便在離開時(shí)也能攜帶著自己的“家”。此外，由于生火或搬運(yùn)火很麻煩，使得不斷燃燒的爐灶成為家庭和宮廷建筑中的重要元素。因此，維斯塔與Penates（羅馬人和其他拉丁民族的家庭神）、Panes（山區(qū)和高地牧場(chǎng)的鄉(xiāng)村神）和拉雷斯（古羅馬宗教中的守護(hù)神，是英雄的祖先，是壁爐、田野、邊界或果實(shí)的守護(hù)者）一樣，是一位被羅馬社會(huì)各個(gè)階層所敬仰的女神，因?yàn)榫S斯塔真正地“保持家庭火焰的燃燒”——從最普通的公寓到最宏偉的別墅。

In the shrine of Vesta in the Roman Forum a fire perpetually burned and was tended to by the Vestal Virgins (Latin: Vestales). The fire was renewed annually on March 1 (which was originally the Roman new year) and the sanctuary was not open to the public save during Vesta's feast days (June 7-15, known as the Vestalia) when matrons were allowed to visit barefoot and in humility. When the Vestalia ended there was a ceremonial sweeping of the sanctuary and it was considered a time of bad luck and unfriendly omens until the sweepings were disposed of in the Tiber River or in a certain spot agreed upon in the city. Vestal Virgins were expected to remain chaste throughout their tenure as servants of Vesta and the punishment for failing to do so was to be buried alive or, in one notable case, to have molten lead poured down the throat.

? ? ? ? ? 在羅馬廣場(chǎng)上的維斯塔神廟里，有一團(tuán)火永遠(yuǎn)燃燒著，并由維斯塔貞女（拉丁文：Vestales）照看著。每年的3月1日（最初是羅馬的新年），圣殿不對(duì)公眾開放，只有在維斯塔的節(jié)日（6月7日至15日，稱為Vestalia）期間，才允許女仆們赤腳和謙卑地參觀。當(dāng)紀(jì)念維斯塔的節(jié)日結(jié)束時(shí)，會(huì)有一個(gè)清掃圣殿的儀式，這被認(rèn)為是一個(gè)不吉利和不友好的預(yù)兆，直到清掃物被處理到臺(tái)伯河或城市中某個(gè)約定的地方。維斯塔貞女在作為維斯塔的仆人的期間都要保持貞潔，如果不這樣做，懲罰是被活埋；在一個(gè)值得注意的案例中，失貞的維斯塔貞女的喉嚨被灌入熔化的鉛。

Vesta is always depicted as a fully-clothed woman accompanied by her favorite animal, the ass. Since Vesta was goddess of the hearth she was also the patron goddess of the bakers of the city and, as the ass turned the millstone to grind the wheat for the bread, the animal became closely associated with the goddess. She is also frequently depicted holding a kettle (a symbol of the hearth) and also cut flowers (symbolizing domesticity). Like the goddess Bastet in Egyptian belief, Vesta was of special service to women but was popular with both sexes. She was the proctectress of Rome in that she cared for and maintained the homes of each of its citizens. Of all the Roman deities, only Vesta was accorded the honor of full time clergy devoted solely to her rites.

? ? ? ? ? 灶神總是被描繪成一個(gè)衣冠楚楚的女人，旁邊還有她最喜歡的動(dòng)物——驢子。維斯塔是壁爐之神，她也是城市面包師的守護(hù)神，由于驢子轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)磨刀石來(lái)磨制面包的小麥，這只動(dòng)物就與維斯塔緊密相連。她還經(jīng)常被描繪成拿著水壺（爐灶的象征）和切花（象征著家庭生活）。就像埃及信仰中的巴斯泰特女神一樣，維斯塔特別為婦女服務(wù)，但也受到男女兩性的歡迎。她就像是羅馬的女檢察官，因?yàn)樗P(guān)心和維護(hù)每個(gè)公民的家庭。在所有的羅馬神祗中，只有灶神被賦予了全職神職人員的榮譽(yù)，專門有人負(fù)責(zé)其儀式。

The Vestal Virgins kept the sacred fire burning in her temple and tended to her hearth in gratitude for her charity and care of the people. They were disbanded in 394 CE by the Christian emperor Theodosius I who also prohibited the worship of Vesta along with the other gods of the pagans and closed the schools and temples. After almost one thousand years of observance in Rome, the sacred fire of Vesta was extinguished and the new Christian faith instituted their own rituals.

? ? ? ? ? 維斯塔貞女在神廟中維持著圣火的燃燒，并照料維斯塔的爐灶，以感謝她的慈善和對(duì)人民的關(guān)懷。維斯塔教在公元394年被基督教皇帝狄?jiàn)W多西一世解散，他還禁止對(duì)維斯塔和其他異教徒的神靈進(jìn)行崇拜，并關(guān)閉了學(xué)校和寺廟。維斯塔信仰在羅馬持續(xù)了近一千年后，其圣火被熄滅了，新的基督教信仰制定了他們自己的儀式。