Why is Aristophanes called "The Father of Comedy"? - Mark Robinson

翻译人员: Yifan L

At the annual Athenian drama festival in 426 BC,

公元前426年， 在一年一度的雅典戏剧节上，

a comic play called The Babylonians,

有一处喜剧叫做《巴比伦人》

written by a young poet named Aristophanes,

是由一位名叫阿里斯托芬 的年轻诗人所写的,

was awarded first prize.

它斩获了头奖。

But the play’s depiction of Athens’ conduct during the Peloponnesian War

但是，这部喜剧对雅典人 在伯罗奔尼撒战争中的行为描述

was so controversial that afterwards,

颇具争议， 以至于后来，

a politician named Kleon took Aristophanes to court

一位名叫克利翁的政客 将阿里斯托芬告上法庭，

for "slandering the people of Athens in the presence of foreigners."

指责他“在外邦人面前诋毁雅典人。”

Aristophanes struck back two years later with a play called The Knights.

两年后，阿里斯托芬 用他的新喜剧《骑士》回击指控。

In it, he openly mocked Kleon,

在这剧中，他公开嘲弄克利翁，

ending with Kleon’s character working as a lowly sausage seller

把他的角色写成一个在城门外

outside the city gates.

卖香肠的小贩。

This style of satire was a consequence

这种讽刺喜剧的形成

of the unrestricted democracy of 5th century Athens

归功于5世纪 雅典不加制约的民主制度，

and is now called "Old Comedy."

而在现在已经被称为“旧喜剧”。

Aristophanes’ plays, the world’s earliest surviving comic dramas,

阿里斯托芬的剧作 是世界上可追溯的最早的喜剧，

are stuffed full of parodies, songs, sexual jokes, and surreal fantasy.

他的作品中充斥着滑稽模仿、 歌曲、低俗笑话和超现实主义的幻想。

They often use wild situations,

他经常描述荒唐的故事，

like a hero flying to heaven on a dung beetle,

比如说，一个英雄 乘坐屎壳郎飞向天堂，

or a net cast over a house to keep the owner’s father trapped inside,

或者一只从天而降的网 把房主的父亲困在里面，

in order to subvert audience expectations.

这些作品都颠覆了观众的想象。

And they’ve shaped how comedy’s been written and performed ever since.

而且他们还奠定了 今后喜剧的写作和演出方式。

The word "comedy" comes from the Ancient Greek "komos," – revel,

“喜剧”一次由两个古希腊词组成， “komos” （狂欢），

and "oide," – singing,

和“oide” （唱歌），

and it differed from its companion art form, "tragedy" in many ways.

它与另外一个对应的艺术形式 —悲剧，是很不同的。

Where ancient Athenian tragedies dealt with the downfall of the high and mighty,

古代雅典悲剧描述了 贵族与帝王们的衰落

their comedies usually ended happily.

而喜剧大多是大团圆结局。

And where tragedy almost always borrowed stories from legend,

悲剧作品大多引用神话故事，

comedy addressed current events.

而喜剧更着重于当下时事。

Aristophanes’ comedies celebrated ordinary people and attacked the powerful.

阿里斯托芬的喜剧 拥护民众，反对强权，

His targets were arrogant politicians,

他嘲弄的对象包括傲慢的政客，

war-mongering generals,

好战的军官，

and self-important intellectuals,

自以为是的知识分子，

exactly the people who sat in the front row of the theatre,

而他们正是那些坐在剧院最前排的人，

where everyone could see their reactions.

观众们能清楚地看到 他们对于剧目的反应。

As a result, they were referred to as komoidoumenoi:

因此，这些人被称为 “komoidoumenoi”，

"those made fun of in comedy."

意为“在喜剧中被戏弄的人”。

Aristophanes’ vicious and often obscene mockery

阿里斯托芬带有恶意 而且下流的嘲弄

held these leaders to account, testing their commitment to the city.

警示着统治者们， 使他们时刻记住自己的职责。

One issue, in particular, inspired much of Aristophanes’ work:

雅典与斯巴达之间的 伯罗奔尼撒战争

the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.

是阿里斯托芬创作的主要灵感之一。

In Peace, written in 421 BC,

在公元前421年创作的《和平》中，

a middle-aged Athenian frees the embodiment of peace from a cave,

一位雅典中年人从洞穴中 解放了和平的化身，

where she’d been exiled by profiteering politicians.

她曾被牟取暴利的 雅典政客们放逐。

Then, in the aftermath of a crushing naval defeat for Athens in 411 BC,

公元前411年， 在雅典人海战全面失势后，

Aristophanes wrote "Lysistrata."

阿里斯托芬创作了 《利西翠妲》（Lysistrata）

In this play, the women of Athens grow sick of war

在这部戏剧中， 雅典的女人们厌倦了战争，

and go on a sex strike until their husbands make peace.

发动了性罢工， 逼迫她们的丈夫与敌方和解。

Other plays use similarly fantastic scenarios to skewer topical situations,

其他的剧目同样运用幻想的情景 来反映时事政况

such as in "Clouds,"

例如在《云》中，

where Aristophanes mocked fashionable philosophical thinking.

阿里斯托芬嘲弄了 当时流行的哲学思考

The hero Strepsiades enrolls in Socrates’s new philosophical school,

主人公史萃普赛底斯 去苏格拉底的新哲学学校就读，

where he learns how to prove that wrong is right

他在那里学到了 证明对为错的方法，

and that a debt is not a debt.

还有否认债款的诡辩法。

No matter how outlandish these plays get, the heroes always prevail in the end.

不论这些剧情发展变得多荒唐， 主人公总是会获胜。

Aristophanes also became the master of the parabasis,

阿里斯托芬还充分运用了 合唱团主唱段的技巧

a comic technique where actors address the audience directly,

这种喜剧技巧让演员 直接对观众们演说，

often praising the playwright or making topical comments and jokes.

常常是赞美剧本， 对时事进行评论或者开玩笑

For example, in "Birds,"

例如在作品《鸟》中，

the Chorus takes the role of different birds

合唱团演员扮演各类飞鸟，

and threatens the Athenian judges that if their play doesn’t win first prize,

威胁雅典评委们 让他们的剧目拿头等奖，

they’ll defecate on them as they walk around the city.

如果不从，就在他们穿过街道时 把鸟粪排泄到他们头上。

Perhaps the judges didn’t appreciate the joke,

似乎评委们并不待见这种幽默，

as the play came in second.

因此这部剧只拿了第二名。

By exploring new ideas

通过探索新的点子，

and encouraging self-criticism in Athenian society,

并且鼓励雅典社会 进行自我批判，

Aristophanes not only mocked his fellow citizens,

阿里斯托芬不仅嘲弄了他的城邦人，

but he shaped the nature of comedy itself.

还诠释了喜剧的本质。

Hailed by some scholars as the father of comedy,

他被一些学者们称为“喜剧之父”，

his fingerprints are visible upon comic techniques everywhere,

各地的喜剧手法中都有他的影子，

from slapstick

比如打闹喜剧、

to double acts

双人喜剧、

to impersonations

身份模仿

to political satire.

还有政治讽刺剧。

Through the praise of free speech and the celebration of ordinary heroes,

通过歌颂言论自由和平民英雄，

his plays made his audience think while they laughed.

他的喜剧不仅让人发笑， 也使人深思。

And his retort to Kleon in 425 BC still resonates today:

在公元前425年， 他对克利翁的回击仍让我们记忆犹新：

“I’m a comedian, so I’ll speak about justice,

"我是一个喜剧作家， 所以不论你爱不爱听，

no matter how hard it sounds to your ears.”

我都会为维护公正而说话。"