中国神话与希腊罗马神话中阎王和冥王的比较研究_英语论文

A Comparative Study on Gods of Underworld in Chinese and Greco-Roman Mythologies

摘要

在中国神话与希腊罗马神话中都出现了掌控地下王朝的神话人物，他们分别是中国的阎王以及希腊罗马神话中的冥王。虽然神话人物距今已有几千年的历史，但是在诸多著作和影视作品中，仍然能看到神话人物的身影。阎王和冥王有着诸多异同，比如说他们都代表着正义和公平，但又同时被丑化成了令人畏惧的神。在中国神话中，阎王并没有明确的指代，不少人在死后都做过阎王，但是在希腊罗马神话中，冥王却是唯一的地下王国之神。除此以外，两位神的性格特征也有着不同之处。本文旨在通过对阎王和冥王的比较研究，让人们中西文化差异有更深入的了解，从而促进中西文化的交流。

关键词：阎王；冥王；相同；不同；中西文化差异

Abstract

The gods who took control of the underground have appeared both in Chinese mythology and Greco-Roman mythology. They were called Yama in China and Hades (Pluto) in ancient Greece and Rome. It is generally known that although the mythical figures have a history of thousands of years, but today, they are still popular in books and television works. Yama and Hades (Pluto) have many similarities and differences. For example, they were both uglified as a horrible and mysterious god, and represented justice and majesty. The image of Yama has a couple of unspecific versions, whereas Hades (Pluto) is the only God of the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology. They also differ in their characteristics. A comparative study of the two mythical figures could help people have a better understand of the culture differences and in turn promote the cross-culture communication.

Key words：Yama; Hades; similarity; differences; Chinese and western culture