位于《会饮》中心的高峰——试析阿里斯托芬颂词的重要性

The Peak Located in the Center of Plato’s Symposium:an Analysis of the Significance of Aristophanes’Speech

阿里斯托芬在《会饮》中为爱若斯所作的颂词,于柏拉图精心构造的整场戏剧而言,具有不可替代的重要意义,主要体现在三个方面:首先,柏拉图单独为阿里斯托芬颂词设置了不同于罗格斯形式的神话式颂词,用意颇深;其次,阿里斯托芬的颂词被有意安排在《会饮》全篇的中心位置,并承担了顺承前人颂词,清除误导障碍,开启苏格拉底之爱欲真理序幕的功用;最后,阿里斯托芬颂词中包含了柏拉图对旧喜剧诗人及其作品的认识,以及对现实城邦政治问题的深刻反思。即使在全篇对话结束后,该颂词仍有袅袅余音。柏拉图对该颂词独具匠心的处理方式,使其成为没有被苏格拉底哲学演讲撼动的一座高峰。

Aristophanes’speech for Eros in Plato’s Symposium is of irreplaceable significance in the whole play that Plato has carefully constructed,which is mainly reflected in three aspects:Firstly,Plato establishes a mythological framework for Aristophanes’speech,distinct from the logos-driven approach,imbued with profound intentions.Secondly,Aristophanes’speech was purposely arranged at the center of Symposium and assumed the function of inheriting the eulogy of predecessors,removing misleading obstacles,and then opening the prelude to the truth of Socrates’speech.Finally,Aristophanes’speech contains Plato’s knowledge of the old comic poets and their works,as well as a profound reflection on the political problems of the real city-state.Even after the conclusion of the dialogue,the speech still has a lingering effect,and Plato’s ingenious treatment of it in Symposium makes it a peak that is not defeated by Socrates’philosophical speech.