“老寡头”的民主观——论伪色诺芬《雅典政制》的写作意图

The Democratic Idea of “The Old Oligarch”——On the Writing Intention of Pseudo-Xenophon’ The Athenian Politeia

在现代学界,伪色诺芬《雅典政制》被普遍认为是《老寡头》,概因学者并未深入分析这篇长文的内容和主旨。尽管作者“老寡头”在文中最醒目之处反复表明了自己的反民主观点,并且用很长的篇幅来批判雅典民主;但是,在批判之余,他又立即为雅典民主辩护,并且承认雅典人已成功维护了他们的民主政体,不存在推翻的可能性。同时,民主政体仍然允许贵族在政治上崭露头角,雅典帝国又能带来丰厚的经济收益,所以贵族普遍选择适应民主政体。面对这些现实,作者暗示寡头派们应该放弃原有政治立场并且适应当下的民主政体,这或许是它的写作意图。

In modern academics,Pseudo-Xenophon’The Athenian Politeia is generally called The Old Oligarch,probably because the scholars did not thoroughly study the content and theme of this pamphlet.Although the“old oligarch”repeatedly expressed his anti-democratic viewpoint in the most striking parts of the article,and criticized the Athenian democracy at length,he immediately defended it after the criticism,and admitted that the Athenians had successfully maintained their democracy and that it was not possible to overthrow it.At the same time,the democratic government allowed the aristocrats to play important role in politics,and the Athenian empire brought abundant economic benefits,so the aristocrats generally adapted to democracy.In the face of these realities,it may be the author’s intention to suggest that the oligarchs should abandon their political positions and adapt to the current democratic constitution.