浮士德(Faust)
西方传说中的一个德国巫师或星相家，他把自己的灵魂出卖给魔鬼以换取知识和权力。历史上有一个浮士德（实际上或许是两个，两个都死在1540年左右），他到处旅行表演魔法，把恶魔当作朋友，自己则是恶名昭彰。浮士德死後的名声应归功於第一部《浮士德书》（1587）的无名作者，这是一部包括其他一些着名术士如梅林、马格努斯（Albertus Magnus）等的故事集。整个欧洲很快竞相翻译《浮士德书》，马罗（C. Marlowe）在英国散文译本的鼓舞下，写成《浮士德博士的悲剧》（1604），强调浮士德永远下地狱的命运。出版冠以浮士德名字的魔法手册成为一种赚钱的生意，《天然的和人工的魔法》是这类手册中的佼佼者，歌德曾经过目。歌德和莱辛（G. Lessing）认为浮士德对知识的追求是崇高的，於是歌德在其伟大的着作《浮士德》中，使这位英雄获得救赎。许多艺术家受到歌德的鼓舞，也仿效这种故事题材，其中包括白辽士（创作了合唱剧《浮士德的天谴》）和古诺（C. Gounod，他写了歌剧《浮士德》）。
English version：
Faust
Legendary German necromancer or astrologer who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge and power. There was a historical Faust (perhaps two; both died c. 1540), who traveled widely performing magic, referred to the devil as his crony, and had a wide reputation for evil. The Faustbuch (1587), a collection of tales purportedly by Faust, told of such reputed wizards as Merlin and Albertus Magnus. It was widely translated; an English version inspired Christopher Marlowe's Tragicall History of D. Faustus (1604), which emphasized Faust's eternal damnation. Magic manuals bearing Faust's name did a brisk business; the classic Magia naturalis et innaturalis was known to Johann W. von Goethe, who, like Gotthold Lessing, saw Faust's pursuit of knowledge as noble; in Goethe's great Faust the hero is redeemed. Inspired by Goethe, many artists took up the story, including H. Berlioz (in the dramatic cantata The Damnation of Faust) and C. Gounod (in the opera Faust).