2014年7月26日 星期六

Odyssey 22. 160-240 奧德修斯的家...其實很髒

Bk XXII:160-240

Odysseus在Eumaeus和Melanthius的協助,還有兒子的裡應外合之下,目前已取得優勢,但突然雅典娜以門托爾(Mentor,心靈導師) 的樣子出現。奇怪的是,似乎只有Odysseus看出這是雅典娜的化身,那群糊里糊塗的追求者,還傻呼呼地先拉攏門托爾,一起對付Odysseus父子。還膽敢跟眼前這位神的化身嗆聲,惹得雅典娜憤怒不已,但她沒有和追求者們對話,反而是激憤地斥責Odysseus,目的當然是希望Odysseus更用力擊垮追求者,只是,話一說完,她化成一隻飛燕:

ἦ ῥα, καὶ οὔ πω πάγχυ δίδου ἑτεραλκέα νίκην,
ἀλλ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἄρα σθένεός τε καὶ ἀλκῆς πειρήτιζεν
ἠμὲν Ὀδυσσῆος ἠδ᾽ υἱοῦ κυδαλίμοιο.
αὐτὴ δ᾽ αἰθαλόεντος ἀνὰ μεγάροιο μέλαθρον
ἕζετ᾽ ἀναΐξασα, χελιδόνι εἰκέλη ἄντην.
(Odyssey 22. 236-240)

Athena spoke. But she did not give him the strength 
to win that fight decisively. She was still testing
the power and resolution of Odysseus
and his splendid son. So she flew up to the roof
inside the smoky hall, and sat there, taking on
the appearance of a swallow.

κυδάλιμος glorious, renowned
αἰθαλόεις smoky, sooty
μέλαθρον roof-tree, ridgepole
χελιδών swallow


雅典娜來去自如,她用獨特的方式幫助Odysseus,鍛鍊與試驗她。這短引文中有兩點有趣之處:第一,Odysseus家中大廳橫樑被煙塵染黑,原因是空氣物染?久未打掃?還是因為追求者在此吃喝多時,累積的煤煙? 第二,雅典娜化為燕子,究竟是怎樣的一隻飛燕呢?

2014年7月22日 星期二

Odyssey 22. 116-159 多麼希望為他人留一條活路

Bk XXII:116-159 Melanthius raids the storeroom


Odysseus果真武功高強,一下子就見屍體滿地,真是恐怖的一幕。此刻牧羊奴Melanthius居然還想偷武器給追求者,一般人都批評他的背叛,但是,至少他從頭至尾支持追求者,還有,我覺得Odysseus也是有得勝之不武,至少應該有個公平的比武,大家都要類似的武器。總之,我在讀到這段,還是同情弱者,即使這群追求者曾經很白目地想娶Penelope,又很誇張地窩在Odysseus的家吃吃喝喝,但是,他們有罪大惡極嗎? 倒是Odysseus如此殺人,犯下滔天大罪。

古希臘思維強調中庸與謙卑,史詩中大部分的英雄都恃才傲物,最終都遭到更大的懲罰。

Odysseus和Telemachus就是不願意留給別人一條活路,每一扇門都緊緊封鎖住:

  
ὀρσοθύρη δέ τις ἔσκεν ἐϋδμήτῳ ἐνὶ τοίχῳ,
ἀκρότατον δὲ παρ᾽ οὐδὸν ἐϋσταθέος μεγάροιο
ἦν ὁδὸς ἐς λαύρην, σανίδες δ᾽ ἔχον εὖ ἀραρυῖαι.
τὴν δ᾽ Ὀδυσεὺς φράζεσθαι ἀνώγει δῖον ὑφορβὸν
ἑσταότ᾽ ἄγχ᾽ αὐτῆς: μία δ᾽ οἴη γίγνετ᾽ ἐφορμή.
(Odyssey 22.126-130)

In that well-constructed wall there was a side door,
and close to the upper level of the threshold
into the sturdy hall the entrance to a passage,
shut off with close-fitting doors. So Odysseus
told the worthy swineherd to stand beside this door
and watch, for there was just one way of reaching it.
ὀρσοθύρη a door high up in the wall
ἄκρος at the farthest point
λαύρα alley, lane, passage
σανίς board, plank, timber





2014年7月21日 星期一

Odyssey 22. 68-115 武器,不祥之開端

Bk XXII:68-115 The battle begins

武器,不祥之開端。當Odysseus打開弓箭,把他當成武器,一連串的死亡降臨。Telemachus還準備搬出更多武器,可以預見這對父子聯手,死神之黑幕全然覆蓋在這個家園:
ὦ πάτερ, ἤδη τοι σάκος οἴσω καὶ δύο δοῦρε
καὶ κυνέην πάγχαλκον, ἐπὶ κροτάφοις ἀραρυῖαν
αὐτός τ᾽ ἀμφιβαλεῦμαι ἰών, δώσω δὲ συβώτῃ
καὶ τῷ βουκόλῳ ἄλλα: τετευχῆσθαι γὰρ ἄμεινον.
(Odyssey 22. 101-104)
Father, now I’ll bring you 
a shield, two spears, and a bronze helmet,
one that fits your temples. When I get back,
I’ll arm myself and hand out other armour
to the swineherd and the keeper of the goats.
It’s better if we fully arm ourselves.


《奧德賽》最後的場面比 《伊里亞特》更血腥,因為Odysseus對付的是手無寸鐵的人,這些追求者欠他的是甚麼?即使古代「以牙還牙」的原始報復思維,這些人需要還他的就是酒與牲畜,不是嗎?

我要說,這是一場不公不義的殺戮。面對一個一個死下他手下的人,Odysseus和Telemachus難道沒一點悲憫的心嗎?


Odyssey 22. 1-67 真的不可原諒嗎?

Bk XXII:1-67 The death of Antinous

第二十二卷,敘述結構有些鬆散,有些評論書給這卷下一個小標題: Death in the Great Hall,血腥之氣似乎抹煞不少原有的浪漫與傳奇。開始先提Odysseus掃射現場的追求者,第一個被殺的是Antinous,第二個是Eurymachus。在讀Odysseus報復成功的這些場景,我並不覺得痛快,反而覺得Odysseus太極端太殘忍,他大開殺戒,毫不手軟,但是這些追求者有如此罪大惡極嗎?這是場總決算(contest, ἆθλος, Odyssey 22.5)?但真的公平嗎?還是Odysseus清算?他甚至沒留任何一個可以逃脫的出口給別人:
    
‘Εὐρύμαχ᾽, οὐδ᾽ εἴ μοι πατρώϊα πάντ᾽ ἀποδοῖτε,
ὅσσα τε νῦν ὔμμ᾽ ἐστὶ καὶ εἴ ποθεν ἄλλ᾽ ἐπιθεῖτε,
οὐδέ κεν ὣς ἔτι χεῖρας ἐμὰς λήξαιμι φόνοιο
πρὶν πᾶσαν μνηστῆρας ὑπερβασίην ἀποτῖσαι.
νῦν ὑμῖν παράκειται ἐναντίον ἠὲ μάχεσθαι
ἢ φεύγειν, ὅς κεν θάνατον καὶ κῆρας ἀλύξῃ:
ἀλλά τιν᾽ οὐ φεύξεσθαι ὀΐομαι αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον.
(Odyssey 22.61-67)

Eurymachus, if you gave me
all the goods you got from your own fathers,
everything which you now own, and added 
other assets you could obtain elsewhere,
not even then would I hold back my hands
from slaughter, not until the suitors pay
for all their arrogance. Now you’ve a choice—
to fight here face to face or, if any man
wishes to evade his death and lethal fate,
to run away. But I don’t think there’s one
who will escape complete destruction.



趕盡殺絕,後患無窮 (Odyssey 22. 27-30),我看到史詩很忠實呈現人類的弱點,當Odysseus握有武器時,當憤怒席捲他的心,力與驕傲奪走他本應有的智慧,更可悲的是,逞一時報復之快,盲目地復仇,導致未來更多的悲劇。

我好奇,為什麼Odysseus不能原諒別人?


2014年7月13日 星期日

Bk XXI:359-403 紙莎草作的繩纜
















 第二十一卷結束,是大家熟知的一幕:真正的主人Odysseus一出手,弓拉開了,而且,過真一箭穿過12個鐵斧的心。每每大家看影片到這幕,都嘖嘖稱奇,真是太神奇了。只是,總覺得《奧德賽》最後幾卷真是拖拖拉拉,速度太慢,讀到這兒,很多趣味都跑掉了。

我並不特別欣賞Odysseus在這兒的表現,反倒是兩個僕人的幫忙,更吸引人。第一個是豬倌出來拿彎弓,還被眾聲喧嘩嚇一跳,馬上把彎弓放在地上。此刻,Telemachus大聲威脅他,他才又拿起。這一幕,顯出豬倌在這家裏的為難處境,還有Telemachus對待僕人的態度欠佳。

第二個出場僕人是 Philoetius,他按照Odysseus的吩咐,把所有可以逃亡的大門都關起來,更重要的是,他還用綁船的繩纜繫緊門。這種繩纜應該是靠海維生的人家常見的設備,這裡特別強調這繩纜適用紙莎草編成的。

σιγῇ δ᾽ ἐξ οἴκοιο Φιλοίτιος ἆλτο θύραζε,
κλήϊσεν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔπειτα θύρας εὐερκέος αὐλῆς.
κεῖτο δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αἰθούσῃ ὅπλον νεὸς ἀμφιελίσσης
βύβλινον, ᾧ ῥ᾽ ἐπέδησε θύρας, ἐς δ᾽ ἤϊεν αὐτός:
ἕζετ᾽ ἔπειτ᾽ ἐπὶ δίφρον ἰών, ἔνθεν περ ἀνέστη,
εἰσορόων Ὀδυσῆα. ὁ δ᾽ ἤδη τόξον ἐνώμα
πάντη ἀναστρωφῶν, πειρώμενος ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα,
μὴ κέρα ἶπες ἔδοιεν ἀποιχομένοιο ἄνακτος.
(Odyssey 21. 388-95)

And Philoetius, without a word, slipped outside
and locked the courtyard gates inside the sturdy walls.
A cable from a curved ship was lying there,  
under the portico, made of papyrus fibres.
With that he lashed the gates, then went inside,
sat down again on the seat where he’d got up,
and observed Odysseus, who already had the bow.
He was turning it this way and that, testing it
in different ways to see if, while its lord was gone,  
worms had nibbled on the horns.

βύβλινος: made of βύβλος

βύβλος the Egyptian papyrus, Cyperus Papyrus

Kingdom:        Plantae
(unranked):     Angiosperms
(unranked):     Monocots
(unranked):     Commelinids
Order:     Poales
Family:   Cyperaceae
Genus:     Cyperus
Species:  C. papyrus

Bk XXI:311-358 一個教育失敗的例子


當老乞丐提出參賽,到底誰可以決定他的資格?我讀這一段的整體感受:Penelope和Telemachus對話,最後由兒子奪到發言權,或許Telemachus是為了讓母親避開等一下的殺戮場面,但是他的談吐顯得他是一個非常不孝順,不尊敬母親的小孩;也許他急著表現自己是長大,但是處事為人都非常的不成熟。史詩沒有刻意美化Telemachus這腳色,而是客觀如實呈現一個心理狀態不穩,欠缺安全感的大男孩的表達方式。
   310-319行,先是Penelope發言,我喜歡她為人的態度,她認為來者是客,不可以輕視任何人。而且,之前比賽規矩明定,誰能拉弓一箭穿十二鑿斧,誰就能娶她;並沒有考慮出身等其他條件。Penelope有原則,處事公開公正。
   320-329行,Eurymachus尖酸刻薄,說希臘人可無法接受,他們輸給一個乞丐,Penelope嫁給一個沒身分地位,沒錢的人。
330-342行,Penelope再次說明一開始訂的比賽規則,而且指責這些人長期肆無忌憚在Odysseus家中胡鬧,早已名譽掃地。
343-353行,Telemachus強烈言論,奪回主導權:
τὴν δ᾽ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα:
‘μῆτερ ἐμή, τόξον μὲν Ἀχαιῶν οὔ τις ἐμεῖο
κρείσσων, ᾧ κ᾽ ἐθέλω, δόμεναί τε καὶ ἀρνήσασθαι,
οὔθ᾽ ὅσσοι κραναὴν Ἰθάκην κάτα κοιρανέουσιν,
οὔθ᾽ ὅσσοι νήσοισι πρὸς Ἤλιδος ἱπποβότοιο:
τῶν οὔ τίς μ᾽ ἀέκοντα βιήσεται, αἴ κ᾽ ἐθέλωμι
καὶ καθάπαξ ξείνῳ δόμεναι τάδε τόξα φέρεσθαι.
ἀλλ᾽ εἰς οἶκον ἰοῦσα τὰ σ᾽ αὐτῆς ἔργα κόμιζε,
ἱστόν τ᾽ ἠλακάτην τε, καὶ ἀμφιπόλοισι κέλευε
ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι: τόξον δ᾽ ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει
πᾶσι, μάλιστα δ᾽ ἐμοί: τοῦ γὰρ κράτος ἔστ᾽ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ.
(Odyssey 21. 343- 353)

  Then Eurymachus,  son of Polybus, answered her:
“Wise Penelope, daughter of Icarius, we do not think
this man will take you home. That would be wrong.
But we would be ashamed by public gossip
from both men and women if later on
some low-born Achaean said something like
‘Those men wooing the wife of that fine man    
are far worse than him—they can’t even string
his polished bow, and yet another man,
a beggar who came here on his travels,
did so with ease and then shot through the iron.’
That’s what men will say, and it would be
a slur on us.”

當Telemachus說出「這個家的權力屬於我」,只能說,古希臘的父系社會已然在他的思維中成形;也表示他已經走入角力的社會,他所缺少的是用平等的美學去觀看世界,以平衡的倫理學反思人與人的關係。

2014年7月12日 星期六

Bk XXI:245-310 Odysseus seeks to try the bow


Eurymachus也是連弓都拉不開,覺得很丟臉,他說一句有趣的話:
ἀλλ᾽ εἰ δὴ τοσσόνδε βίης ἐπιδευέες εἰμὲν
ἀντιθέου Ὀδυσῆος, ὅ τ᾽ οὐ δυνάμεσθα τανύσσαι
τόξον: ἐλεγχείη δὲ καὶ ἐσσομένοισι πυθέσθαι.
(Odyssey 21. 253-255)

But if we are so weak compared to godlike Odysseus
that we can’t string his bow, it’s a disgrace
which men will learn about in years to come.
詩人也知道一件事,寫在史詩的褒貶將傳承千年萬年,這群追求者輸的不只是一次比賽, 而是日後的名聲。
   而Antinous提議,這是一次神聖的節慶( the holy feast),應該酹酒祭 Apollo (Odyssey 21. 256-284)。這時還假扮老乞丐的Odysseus,在一旁附議,特別是贊成把事情交給神明決定,所以且讓他也試一試。(Odyssey 21. 269-284)。 
   顯然,老乞丐這一提議引起反彈,Antinous駁斥,還引用神話故事中Eurytion喝酒鬧事的故事,要眼前這位老乞丐不要發酒瘋:
οἶνος καὶ Κένταυρον, ἀγακλυτὸν Εὐρυτίωνα,
ἄασ᾽ ἐνὶ μεγάρῳ μεγαθύμου Πειριθόοιο,
ἐς Λαπίθας ἐλθόνθ᾽: ὁ δ᾽ ἐπεὶ φρένας ἄασεν οἴνῳ,
μαινόμενος κάκ᾽ ἔρεξε δόμον κάτα Πειριθόοιο:
ἥρωας δ᾽ ἄχος εἷλε, διὲκ προθύρου δὲ θύραζε
ἕλκον ἀναΐξαντες, ἀπ᾽ οὔατα νηλέϊ χαλκῷ
ῥῖνάς τ᾽ ἀμήσαντες: ὁ δὲ φρεσὶν ᾗσιν ἀασθεὶς
ἤϊεν ἣν ἄτην ὀχέων ἀεσίφρονι θυμῷ.
ἐξ οὗ Κενταύροισι καὶ ἀνδράσι νεῖκος ἐτύχθη,
οἷ δ᾽ αὐτῷ πρώτῳ κακὸν εὕρετο οἰνοβαρείων.
(Odyssey 21. 295-304)

The wine, so honey sweet,
has injured you, as it harms other men,
when they gulp it down and drink too much.  
Wine befuddled even great Eurytion,
the centaur, in brave Perithous’ house,
when he’d gone to the Lapiths. Afterwards,
when his heart went blind from drinking wine,
in a mad fit he committed evil acts
in Perithous’ home. Grief seized the heroes.
They jumped up and hauled him out of doors,
through the gate, then cut off his ears and nose
with pitiless bronze. His wits were reckless,
and he went on his way, bearing madness 
in his foolish heart. And that’s the reason
the fight between centaurs and men began.
 希臘神話故事中Eurytion可能有不同的出處。這個喝酒沒節制的故事,說明古代人應該有不少酗酒問題,所以這類故事提醒人要節制。但是,由Antinous這個常常在Odysseus家喝酒鬧事的人說出此故事,顯得格外諷刺。

資料來源: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurytion
In Greek mythology Eurytion (or, alternatively, Eurythion; Greek: Εὐρυτίων, gen.: Εὐρυτίωνος), "widely honoured", was a name attributed to six individuals.
l  The king of Phthia, son of either Actor, or of Ctimenus (Κτίμενος), or of Irus and Demonassa, or of Kenethos and Cerion, and father of Antigone. He is counted among the Argonauts and the Calydonian hunters. In Phthia, Peleus was purified by Eurytion for the murder of Phocus and married Antigone, Eurytion's daughter. Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion during the hunt for the Calydonian Boar and fled from Phthia to Iolcus, where he was purified by Acastus.
l  A Centaur of Arcadia who demanded to marry the daughter of Dexamenus of Olenus, either Mnesimache or Deianira, or who threatened violence against his daughter Hippolyte on the day of her marriage to Azan. Her father was forced to agree, but Heracles intervened on her behalf and killed the wild horse-man.
l  Another Centaur, of Thessaly, who attempted to carry off the bride of Peirithous, king of the Lapiths, on their wedding day. He and his fellows were killed in the fight with the Lapiths that followed, the Centauromachy. Ovid refers to him as "Eurytus", and by his Latinized Greek name "Eurytion".
l  Son of Ares and the Hesperid Erytheia, who bore him "beside the silver-rooted boundless waters of the river Tartessus, in the hollow of a rock," according to a Strabo's quote from a lost poem of Stesichoros. He, and the two-headed dog Orthrus, were the guardians of the cattle of Geryon and were killed by Heracles.
l  This Eurytion was also used as a character in the Percy Jackson book The Battle of the Labyrinth.
l  A Trojan archer during the Trojan War, son of Lycaon and brother of Pandarus. He participated in the funeral games of Anchises.
l  A defender of Thebes against the Seven, was killed by Parthenopaeus.