《云》的神话叙事及其悲剧性

Mythological Narrative of The Clouds and Its Tragic Characteristic

在阿里斯托芬的《云》中,苏格拉底是一个普罗米修斯式的人物。普罗米修斯为了拯救人类,盗取天火到大地上;苏格拉底为了拯救智者运动冲击下的雅典公民的道德,用其思想问答术教育人们通过理性思考做正确的事。但是正如普罗米修斯的火对于人类有两面性一样,苏格拉底的问答术对雅典公民来说也具有危险性,因为人类总是有欲望的,大多数人都不大可能做到像他那样依靠理性生活,因而这种道德教育是失败的。阿里斯托芬在《云》中继续探讨了在埃斯库罗斯的悲剧中就已经出现的主题,并以其诗人的敏感和明智洞察到人类智慧的局限性,他的这部喜剧更具悲剧性。

In Aristophanes's The Clouds,Socrates is a Promethean figure.While Prometheus steals fire from heaven in order to rescue human beings from extinction,Socrates attempts to educate Athenian citizens in rational conduct with his method so as to save their morality from the impact of the Sophistic movement.However,just like the fire that Prometheus has brought to mankind,which has both good and bad sides,the Socratic method could also be dangerous.His moral education is doomed to fail because people have desires and cannot live with their reason only.In The Clouds,Aristophanes continues to explore the theme that has appeared in Aeschylus's tragedies.The comedy thus becomes tragic,when the keen and wise poet captures the limitation of human intelligence.