45 Laurel

45 Laurel

Laurel, sweet bay

月桂

Laurus nobilis

樟科

Lauraceae

δάφνη

45

月桂是樟科植物，台灣樟樹很多，一種微妙的香味，醒腦又能趕走疲倦，是我的最愛。希臘神話的月桂樹非常有名，而我在閱讀史詩中，發現月桂居然在獨眼巨人住的島上，而且還是特別高大的月桂樹，想必阿波羅的光環都遜色不少。

下面圖片出處: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurus_nobilis_flowers.jpg

下面圖片出處: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurus_nobilis_(K%C3%B6hler).jpg

希臘神話中的月桂樹

主題: 獨眼巨人島上的大月桂樹

《奧德賽》第九卷第105-566行說的就是很有名的故事：Odysseus遇見獨眼巨人(Cyclopes)，以智取勝，但又因為驕傲惹一身禍的故事。Κύκλωψ，本指圓的眼睛(round eye)，荷馬史詩中，特指獨眼的。 獨眼巨人(the Cyclops)， 瘋狂野蠻，不文明，不耕種，但是靠天然資源，就有小麥大麥和葡萄等果實。他們沒有議事集會，也沒法律，居住在高拔的山峰或是山洞之中。 Odysseus和他的同伴們島上信步漫遊，山野間的很多羊群，他們打獵，捕獲很多羊，每艘船分九隻，Odysseus自己分得十隻。之後大家一起享用豐盛的羊肉與甜酒。他們登上船，準備打探島上居民情況的策略。第177-192行描述船划到一島嶼附近，島嶼邊緣有一高大的山洞，山頂覆蓋許多月桂樹，可以看見山羊和綿羊也在洞裡過夜，高高的庭園有石牆包圍，許多高大的松樹與大樹。巨人出現了，一個龐然大物，不向食穀物的凡人，比較像一座高峰。這裡特別用有圓圓長長的樹鬚( ὑψίκομος: with high-bound tresses)修飾大樹。(原文並無橡樹一字)。

 

字彙:

πολιός: grey, grizzled, grisly

ἅλς: sea

ἐρετμόν: oar

ὑψηλός: high, lofty

σπέος: cavern, grotto

δάφνη: sweet bay, Laurus nobilis

κατηρεφής: covered over, vaulted, overhanging

κατῶρυξ: dug out, quarried

πίτυς: pine, Aleppo pine, Pinus halepensis or Pinus Laricio, Corsican pine

ὑψίκομος: with high-bound tresses

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0135%3Abook%3D9%3Acard%3D161

ὣς εἰπὼν ἀνὰ νηὸς ἔβην, ἐκέλευσα δ᾽ ἑταίρους

αὐτούς τ᾽ ἀμβαίνειν ἀνά τε πρυμνήσια λῦσαι.

οἱ δ᾽ αἶψ᾽ εἴσβαινον καὶ ἐπὶ κληῖσι καθῖζον,

ἑξῆς δ᾽ ἑζόμενοι πολιὴν ἅλα τύπτον ἐρετμοῖς.

ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ τὸν χῶρον ἀφικόμεθ᾽ ἐγγὺς ἐόντα,

ἔνθα δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐσχατιῇ σπέος εἴδομεν ἄγχι θαλάσσης,

ὑψηλόν, δάφνῃσι κατηρεφές. ἔνθα δὲ πολλὰ

μῆλ᾽, ὄιές τε καὶ αἶγες, ἰαύεσκον: περὶ δ᾽ αὐλὴ

ὑψηλὴ δέδμητο κατωρυχέεσσι λίθοισι

μακρῇσίν τε πίτυσσιν ἰδὲ δρυσὶν ὑψικόμοισιν.

ἔνθα δ᾽ ἀνὴρ ἐνίαυε πελώριος, ὅς ῥα τὰ μῆλα

οἶος ποιμαίνεσκεν ἀπόπροθεν: οὐδὲ μετ᾽ ἄλλους

πωλεῖτ᾽, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπάνευθεν ἐὼν ἀθεμίστια ᾔδη.

καὶ γὰρ θαῦμ᾽ ἐτέτυκτο πελώριον, οὐδὲ ἐῴκει

ἀνδρί γε σιτοφάγῳ, ἀλλὰ ῥίῳ ὑλήεντι

ὑψηλῶν ὀρέων, ὅ τε φαίνεται οἶον ἀπ᾽ ἄλλων. (Odyssey 9. 177-192)

http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/homer/odyssey9.htm

“I said these words, then went down to my ship and told my crew

to loose the cables lashed onto the stern

and come onboard. They embarked with speed,

and, seated at the oarlocks in their rows,

struck the grey sea with their oars. And then, 

when we’d made the short trip round the island,

on the coast there, right beside the sea,

we saw a high cave, overhung with laurel.

There were many flocks, sheep as well as goats,

penned in there at night. All around the cave

there was a high front courtyard made of stones

set deep into the ground, with tall pine trees  

and towering oaks. At night a giant slept there,

one that grazed his flocks all by himself,

somewhere far off. He avoided others

and lived alone, away from all the rest,

a law unto himself, a monster, made

to be a thing of wonder, not like man

who lives by eating bread, no, more like

a lofty wooded mountain crag, standing there

to view in isolation from the rest.
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神話故事中的月桂樹

最有名的月桂樹故事，就是阿波羅和Daphne的故事。阿波羅愛上Daphne，窮追不捨，最後Dapne乞求大地女神蓋亞(Gaia)幫忙，蓋亞把Daphne變成一顆月桂樹。而阿波羅的愛就延伸到這樹，所以阿波羅神殿都栽種很多月桂樹。

這故事是許多名畫的主題:

下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_and_Daphne

Apollo and Daphne by Piero and/or Antonio del Pollaiolo.

下面圖片與資料出處: http://www.toadhaven.com/mythology%20in%20art.html

This painting is titled, "Apollo Pursuing Daphne" by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1755/1760)

有趣的是 Daphne (Δάφνη)也是植物分類一屬(genus)的名稱，約有50-95種，屬於瑞香科(Thymelaeaceae)，例如瑞香(Daphne odora): 

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下面圖片與資料出處: http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z5.1.html

Apollo & Daphne, Greco-Roman mosaic from Antioch

C2nd-3rd A.D., Antakya Museum, Turkey

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下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_wreath

A golden laurel wreath, origin: probably Cyprus, 4th—3rd century BCE

Alexander Garden Grille

月桂花環（Laurel wreath），以月桂編織而成的環狀頭冠，在希臘神話中，阿波羅頭上所戴的就是月桂花環。在古希臘時代，月桂花環是頒授給比賽優勝者的獎勵，而在古羅馬時代，月桂花環則是頒授給兵士的一種獎勵品，特別是賜於在戰場上凱旋的軍隊將領。古時候的月桂花環是被編織成馬蹄環狀的，而現代的月桂花環則是被編織成圓環狀。

下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_wreath

Ovid with laurel wreath, common in poets.

 下面圖片與資料出處: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_wreath

A laurel wreath decorating a memorial at the Folketing, the national parliament of Denmark.