《奥狄浦斯王》中“晦暗的东西”

On the “Obscurity” in Oedipus Tyrannus

拉伊奥斯被杀事件是《奥狄浦斯王》中"晦暗的中心",而文本对这一事件的叙述也足够晦暗。伊奥卡斯特和奥狄浦斯分别提供了关于此事的两个版本,令人疑心他们所说的并非同一回事;伊奥卡斯特的叙述还出现了两个不能兼容的时间顺序,使得《奥狄浦斯王》几乎成了荒诞剧。但可以认为,索福克勒斯在这段文本中有意安排了一个时间的"分岔口",以与地点的"分岔口"构成互涉关系。这个"时间分岔口"也暗合了传说中的第二个斯芬克斯之谜,即时间的"白天"与"黑夜"。从"黑夜时间"角度来理解,奥狄浦斯"杀父娶母"就具有了更切身的意义。

The murder of Laius is regarded as the 'obscurity'by Oedipus in Oedipus the King,and it is also obscurely narrated. Iocasta and Oedipus respectively provide their versions of this murder,but they are so different that one wonders whether they refer to the same thing. There are also two contradicted temporal sequences in Iocasta's narration,which almost makes Oedipus the King a work of the absurd theater.However,it is believed that in this text Sophocles intentionally arranged a 'fork of time',so as to correlate the 'fork of space'. This 'fork of time'may also allude to the second legendary Sphinx's riddle,the answer of which is 'day and night'. From the perspective of 'time of night',Oedipus' killing his father and marrying his mother would have a more literal meaning concerning his own body.