Hesperides 的词源

1590年代，这个词源自希腊语，意为“赫斯佩里得斯的女儿们”，最初是指那些照料金苹果园的女神们（数量各异，但最初通常被认为是三位）。后来，这个名字误传到了花园本身。

The Gardens of the Hesperides with the golden apples were believed to exist in some island in the ocean, or, as it was sometimes thought, in the islands on the north or west coast of Africa. They were far-famed in antiquity; for it was there that springs of nectar flowed by the couch of Zeus, and there that the earth displayed the rarest blessings of the gods; it was another Eden. As knowledge increased with regard to western lands, it became necessary to move this paradise farther and farther out into the Western Ocean. [Alexander Murray, "Manual of Mythology," 1888]

赫斯佩里得斯的花园，盛产金苹果，传说位于海洋中的某个岛屿，或者有时被认为在非洲北部或西部海岸的岛屿上。在古代，这个花园声名显赫；因为那里是宙斯的长椅旁流淌甘露的地方，也是大地展现神祇稀世恩赐的所在；简直是另一个伊甸园。随着对西方土地的认识不断加深，这个乐园的传说也被越来越远地推向西海洋深处。[亚历山大·穆雷，《神话手册》，1888年]

相关词汇：Hesperidean（赫斯佩里得斯的），Hesperidian（赫斯佩里得斯的）。