| 释义 |
Prometheus|prəʊˈmiːθɪuːs|
[L. Promētheus, Gr. Προµηθεύς.]
1. Gr. Myth. Name of a demigod (son of the Titan Iapetus), who was fabled to have made man out of clay, and to have stolen fire from Olympus, and taught men the use of it and various arts, for which he was punished by Zeus by being chained to a rock in the Caucasus where his liver was preyed upon every day by a vulture. Hence used allusively.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 17 Faster bound to Aarons charming eyes, Then is Prometheus ti'de to Caucasus. 1595Peele Anglorum Feriæ 180 Like Prometheus' life-infusing fire. 1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) II. 205 This..made me think of the manner of our modern Prometheus's, the mountebanks. 1819Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 445 Prometheus, the chained Titan.
2. Entom.
a. = promethea.
b. Hübner's name, 1826, for a genus of Hesperian butterflies, otherwise called Castnia.
1889in Cent. Dict. 1972Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. 265 Efforts to reel or card the fibers of the Prometheus and Polyphemus cocoons have not been successful.
3. Ornith. An American species of warbler.
1884Coues Key N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 302 D[endrœca] blackburniæ... Blackburn's Warbler. Prometheus... Chin, throat, and fore breast, intense orange or flame-color. |