| 词源 |
Ratkiller. The ancient Greeks placed great faith in their god Apollo Smintheus as a ratcatcher, calling him Ratkiller. He earned this sobriquet when he sent a swarm of rats against his priest Crenis because Crenis had neglected his duties. When the priest repented, seeing the rodent invaders coming, Apollo forgave him and with his far-reaching arrows killed the swarm of rats he had sent. Some authorities, however, say that Apollo should be called Mousekiller (his name Smintheus meaning a mouse) and was the god who protected Greek farmers against mice. |