An elegant and entertaining account of the transformations of the Greek gods across the ages, from antiquity to the Renaissance and the present day

The gods of Olympus are the most colorful characters of Greek civilization: even in antiquity, they were said to be cruel, oversexed, mad, or just plain silly. Yet for all their foibles and flaws, they proved to be tough survivors, far outlasting classical Greece itself. In Egypt, the Olympian gods claimed to have given birth to pharaohs; in Rome, they led respectable citizens into orgiastic rituals of drink and sex. Under Christianity and Islam they survived as demons, allegories, and planets; and in the Renaissance, they triumphantly emerged as ambassadors of a new, secular belief in humanity. Their geographic range, too, has been little short of astounding: in their exile, the gods and goddesses of Olympus have traveled east to the walls of cave temples in China and west to colonize the Americas. They snuck into Italian cathedrals, haunted Nietzsche, and visited Borges in his restless dreams.

In a lively, original history, Barbara Graziosi offers the first account to trace the wanderings of these protean deities through the millennia. Drawing on a wide range of literary and archaeological sources, The Gods of Olympus opens a new window on the ancient world, religion, mythology, and its lasting influence.

一本关于希腊诸神从古代到文艺复兴时期以及当代的变化的优雅而有趣的书。

奥林匹斯山诸神是希腊文明中最丰富多彩的人物：即使在古代，他们也被说成是残忍的、性欲旺盛的、疯狂的，或者只是愚蠢的。然而，尽管他们有很多缺点和瑕疵，但事实证明他们是坚强的幸存者，远远超过了古典希腊本身。在埃及，奥林匹斯诸神声称自己生下了法老；在罗马，他们把受人尊敬的公民带入酒和性的狂欢仪式中。在基督教和伊斯兰教中，他们作为恶魔、寓言和行星而生存；在文艺复兴时期，他们作为新的、世俗的人类信仰的使者胜利地出现。他们的地理范围也是惊人的：在流放期间，奥林匹斯山的诸神向东走到中国的洞穴寺庙墙上，向西走到美洲殖民。他们潜入意大利的大教堂，困扰着尼采，并在博尔赫斯不安的梦中拜访他。

芭芭拉-格拉齐奥西（Barbara Graziosi）在一部生动、原创的历史中，首次描述了这些保护神在数千年间的游荡。奥林匹斯众神》借鉴了广泛的文学和考古资料，为了解古代世界、宗教、神话及其持久影响打开了一扇新的窗口。