穿行于神、人两界的第三“种属”——“英雄”的重新释义

A reinterpretation of“hero”:A third species in-between gods and men

英雄(hero)是人类学,包括神话学、历史学、文化学等领域涉及的一个重要术语。但长期以来,英雄一词没有得到严格的梳理,常常被学界所混解与混归,主要表现在:英雄被混同于作为普通意义上的英雄,被混归于神话范畴(如出现"英雄神话"的悖谬说法)。在中外文献中,仅有的若干定义并未能准确地揭示出英雄的核心含义。基于维柯的"历史三分论",对英雄的概念进行重新释义。认为,英雄是穿行于神、人两界的第三"种属",该"种属"有4个重要特征:1.俗人般的生命期限;2.具有可与神祇比肩的伟绩;3.特殊的诞生方式;4.有着自己的赞歌,即史诗。

＂Hero＂ as an important term in such fields as anthropology, mythology and history has long been misinterpreted by scholars. Its vague definitions find expression in the following： it means a hero in the ordinary sense, or is classified into the terms of mythology like the paradox of the myth of a hero. The existing definitions at home and abroad cannot reveal its core meaning accurately. Based on Vico＇s theory of trisections in history, this paper gives a reinterpretation of ＂hero＂ and concludes that ＂hero＂ is a third species in-between gods and men with the following four characteristics： it has a mortal life like ordinary humans; it has some glorious achievements that rival those of gods; its birth is different from that of a god or a human being; it has its own epic.