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Before explaining how the Romans assimilated anthropomorphic ancient Greek deities,
在解释罗马人如何吸收拟人的古希腊神灵之前
I need to define two terms.
我需要定义两个术语
First the word anthropomorphic means that these gods and goddesses basically look
第一个是anthropomorphic意思是这些神的外貌和行为
and behave like mortal men and mortal women,
和凡人看上去一样
only they're more stronger, more beautiful and immortal.
只是神更强大更美丽，生命更长
Belief in anthropomorphic deities usually becomes more common,
信仰拟人神灵通常变得更加普遍
as the civilization becomes more advanced.
以为文明越来越进步
An anthropomorphic deity with a human appearance and human personality traits often seems easier to understand
拟人的神灵有人类的外表和人类的个性品质这样更容易理解
and easier to persuade than an animistic counterpart.
比万物有灵更容易为人接受
The animistic supreme god of the archaic Romans was Jupiter or shining father.
万物有灵论中，至高无上的罗马神是朱庇特，或者闪亮的父亲
Jupiter was quite literally a lightening bolt.
朱庇特字面上来看是闪电光速拳
He likes to strike oak tress, which became the official tree of this animistic god.
他喜欢捶橡树后来变成了这位神的象征
Through a process called syncretism,
经过合并
the Romans gradually adopted the Greek gods and goddesses usually in Etruscanized form.
罗马人逐渐接受了伊特鲁利亚形式的希腊神
Syncretism suggested that Jupiter basically
合并暗示着朱庇特
was equivalent to the Greek god Zeus, hurler of thunder bolts,
基本上等同于希腊的宙斯，雷神
the number one cause of pregnancy in ancient Greece.
他是古希腊令人怀孕最多的人
Through syncretism Jupiter's wife Juno became associated with Zeus's wife Hera.
整合后，朱庇特的妻子朱诺变成了宙斯的妻子赫拉
The Roman housecraft goddess Minerva
罗马的家政女神密涅瓦
became associated with the Greek housecraft goddess Athena.
和希腊的家政女神雅典娜联系起来
The sewer goddess Cloacina
下水道女神克罗阿西娜
became associated with the love goddess Venus.
变成了爱之女神维纳斯
It's generally assumed that the funky Etruscans were also involved in this process,
通常认为伊特鲁利亚人参与了这个过程
as many Etruscan deities show both Greek deity's names
因为很多伊特鲁利亚神灵有希腊神灵的名字
and the Roman deity's personalities.
以及罗马神灵的个性
Finally, the Roman anthropomorphic gods and goddesses made up a family
最后，罗马拟人的神组成了一个家庭
ruled in the very best Roman sense
这个家庭在罗马人看来很棒
by the great shining pater familias Jupiter, formerly a lightening bolt.
由朱庇特作为家父他之前是闪电光速拳
Unlike the major religions of the Roman world,
和罗马世界中，的主要宗教不同
and certainly unlike the Judeo-Christian tradition,
和犹太基督教的传统也不一样
in which most, if not all, of us are brought up,
和我们成长中接触到的宗教不一样
the ancient Roman deities didn't care at all about things like human morality or human actions.
古罗马的神灵不在乎任何事情，例如人类的道德或者人类行为
The relationship between Romans and their deities
罗马人和他们神灵之间的联系
was not a spiritual bond, but a business contract.
不是精神联系，而是商业合同
A Roman prayed for favor from a god or goddess,
罗马人向神祈祷，要求帮忙
and offered to do the deity a favor,
并且提出为神做事作为交换
if and only if the deity provided a favor.
前提是神灵要先帮他的忙
In Latin, this was called do ut des, or I give so that you may give.
拉丁语称之为do ut des我做你就要做
If the favor was granted, the Roman was expected to carry out his or her end of the bargain.
如果达成统一意见那么罗马人就要实现这次交易
If the favor was not provided, the Roman was under no obligation to do anything.
如果没有实现愿望罗马人就没有义务做什么
In the case of the official public rituals dating back to Rome's second king Numa Pompilius,
罗马第二位国王努马·庞皮利乌斯时期，举办官方的公共仪式
these rituals had to be performed exactly as handed down, or again the gods would be angry.
这些仪式一定要按照之前的方式进行否则神灵就会发怒
The Pax Deorum or peace of the gods would be violated.
或者神的和平就会被违反
If there was any flaw in the ritual,
如果仪式中有任何纰漏
or the sacrificial animal made the wrong noise, or the priest mispronounced a phrase, or someone in the audience started laughing,
或者献祭的动物发出错误的声音、或者祭祀发错音了或者观众中有人笑出声
the entire ritual had to be started again from scratch, a process called instalratio.
那么整个仪式就要重来一遍从头开始，这个过程被称作instalratio。
