Take knocking on wood, thought to date back to pagan rituals aimed at eliciting help from powerful tree gods. We still do it today, though few, if any, of us worship tree gods.

就拿敲木来说吧，这种被认为在拜占廷时期用来从强大的树神得到帮助的方法，今天我们仍然在做，尽管现在几乎都没有人崇拜树神了。

youdao

The gods don't take too kindly to that and so poor old Tantalus was made to stand in a lake with water up to his chin. Overhead were branches of a tree hanging with fruit.

神对于此非常的不仁慈，所以可怜的老坦塔罗斯被迫站在水面到他下巴的湖中，他的头上有垂挂着结满果实的树枝。

youdao

Traditionally, many people believe that there are gods living in the mountain and Yakusugi (a kind of cedar) is considered as sacred tree.

传统认为此山有神灵的存在，屋宇杉被认为是神树。

youdao

It is to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge because if human beings obtain knowledge, they will be like the gods,and that is unacceptable.

食用智慧树的果实,如果人类得到智慧,将与诸神无二,这当然是不能接受的

耶鲁公开课 - 古希腊历史简介课程节选