The Worst of Evils (1)

Thomas, Dormandy. The Worst of Evils: The Fight against Pain.

But since the mid-nineteenth century there has been a tendency to separate physical pain from mental anguish. There is a reason for this—or at least an explanation. Suppression of the acute pain of surgical operations has been one of the triumphs of the past 150 years. Advances in the treatment of mental states like grief, fear and anguish have been significant but less spectacular. To some, therefore, the separation seems to make sense today. But it would have made no sense to Homer and other chroniclers of ancient civilizations. (p.10-11) 

19世紀中期之後，身體的疼痛與心理的疼痛漸漸分成兩種不同的觀念，為什麼呢? Dormandy認為與過去150年來外科麻醉技術大幅突破有關；相對的，心理疼痛問題或許在理論或知識層次有進步，但卻沒有非常明顯的減痛良方。

醫學史的重要典故是：

l   1844年，牙醫師霍勒斯·威爾士在友人協助下，接受笑氣麻醉，拔掉自己的大臼齒。

l   1846年，當時一名美國牙醫師威廉·莫頓，在美國波斯頓麻州總醫院，公開展示以吸入乙醚方式麻醉一名病患，完成頸部手術。

這段文字點出兩個問題，第一，解痛技術方法的歷史發展，改變人對身心看法，也就是物質層次的轉變，徹底翻轉我們的認知模式；第二，疼痛的心理層面難題，顯然很難以藥物或醫學技術方法克服。

mythology 2

Justice became Zeus’s companion.

古代人如何談正義? 《舊約‧約伯記》探索的主要大問題之一就是公平正義，攸關個人、群體、世間的大正義，永遠無法用人類的思維下斷論。古希臘人如何思考這問題? 擁有強權的首領，不談正義，他們要的是眾神站在他們那邊，讓他們盡情奪取想要的一切；Hesiod則看出需若要替弱勢發聲，唯有借助天神之力：

 The buccaneering chieftains in the Iliad did not want justice. They wanted to be able to take whatever they chose because they were strong and they wanted a god who was on the side of the strong. But Hesiod, who was a peasant living in a poor man’s world, knew that the poor must have a just god. . . . These passages show that the great and bitter needs of the helpless were reaching up to heaven and changing the god of the strong into the protector of the weak. (Edith Hamilton, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, p.20)

荷馬史詩的創舉之一是讓無法決斷的難題交給宙斯的天平。希臘神話不僅神祉眾多，每個神的塑造也是多元，宙斯是多情、好色、懦弱、荒謬，但卻也是保護人類、幫助人類、救人類的正義化身，如此複雜的性格，不正是「人性」的寫照?

mythology 1

這學期我們的西洋文學概論選用一本書：

Edith Hamilton, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

這本書1942年出版，之後不斷再版，成為希臘羅馬神話的經典入門款。除了簡要地介紹神話故事諸神與英雄的故事，這本書的導言也十分精彩。根據Hamilton的觀察，古希臘文化最特別之處是無限奔馳的想像力與至高理性兩者的微妙結合。

到底希臘神話是不是一種宗教信仰? 很難界定，Hamilton點出一個重點：

But religion is there, too. In the background, to be sure, but nevertheless plain to see. From Homer through the tragedians and even later, there is a deepening realization of what human beings need and what they must have in their gods. (p. 19)

希臘神話潛藏一種幽微的宗教觀點，一種深入人性之觀點，人總是擁有一些眾神身上的神性。此觀點閱讀荷馬史詩中刻畫的天神宙斯，饒富趣味：

But Homer’s Zeus is not a fact of nature. He is a person living in a world where civilization has made an entry, and of course he has a standard of right and wrong. It is not very high, certainly, and seems chiefly applicable to others, not to himself; but he does publish men who lie and break their oaths; he is angered by any ill treatment of the dead; and he pities and helps old Priam when he goes as a suppliant to Achilles. In the Odyssey, he has reached a higher level. The swineherd there says that the needy and the stranger are from Zeus and he who fails to help them sins against Zeus himself.

在荷馬史詩中，宙斯不僅僅是居高臨下的天神，更是參與事件的腳色，偶爾也當在旁邊熱情觀戰的觀眾；不過，荷馬史詩賦予宙斯一個道德的天平，處罰背信說謊者，並保護死者、孤苦伶仃的人、流浪異鄉的人。用我們熟知的術語，天神宙斯等同某種希臘人認定的「天道」。

sonnet 23 (3)

轉(第三闕，9-12行)、合(結語對句)

O! let my books be then the eloquence

And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,

Who plead for love, and look for recompense,

More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

   O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:

   To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

詩人話鋒一轉，秀出解決之鑰: O! let my books be then the eloquence或是O! let my looks be then the eloquence, 既然無法用口語表達，替代方案就是「無言之書」，也就是寫在臉上的款款真情，一串的對照look/eloquence, dumb/ speaking, read/hear等等轉向聲音與圖像文字的互補可能，希冀心海澎湃之感情能藉由文字書寫打動對方心坎。

        最後結語之對聯 (couplet)也是詩人之心，終其一生不斷為餬口寫劇本，莎士比亞更愛的是他的詩作，看是寫男女之愛的情詩，也可視作詩人與創作之愛戀，這款沉默之深情(silent love)，字字句句記下，字裡行間的巧思(fine wit)，傳唱幾百年，等待我們每次重新登場，讀出箇中美妙之旋律!

sonnet 23 (2)

承(第二闕，5-8行)

So I, for fear of trust, forget to say

The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,

O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.

第二闕是再現部，相同主題會以不同模式呈現，詩人在此直接了轉回第一人稱，怯場與遺忘之舞台背景是the perfect ceremony of love’s rite，愛情舞台完美之儀式，用字遣詞、動作等等的完美展現，都因為恐懼而無法好好地表現。For fear of trust，並非缺少自信，而是害怕得不到對方之信任獲青睞。

第七和第八行似乎很繞口，我讀幾種翻譯本仍有一頭霧水之感，可見翻譯之難! 若論愛情，因為太強烈的熱情，反而無法適當表達，積在心中的壓力，反而壞了原本想表達之愛。

回應第二行的 is put beside his part，這段用的是遺忘forget，這種經驗常常發生，明明準備充分，但一登台就因為過度緊張忘了台詞，不知所措。面對自己所愛，發生這種尷尬場面，該如何是好?

Sonnet 23：不完美之懼

第二十三首十四行詩：不完美之懼

十四行詩，Sonnet，也翻譯成商籟體，義大利文學中稱之為愛情的最佳語言，莎士比亞善用此利器，寫了154首十四行詩，有不少劇本中也直接或間接運用此特殊風格，特別是表達愛情的主題。

莎士比亞的十四行詩中，我特別喜歡第二十三首，此詩表面上是一首道地的情詩，其實詩人以此詩抒發一生之職志：

Sonnet XXIII

As an unperfect actor on the stage,

Who with his fear is put beside his part,

Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,

Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;

So I, for fear of trust, forget to say

The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,

O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.

O! let my looks be then the eloquence

And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,

Who plead for love, and look for recompense,

More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

   O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:

   To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

這首詩的結構完美地架在起(第一闕，1-4行)、承(第二闕，5-8行)、轉(第三闕，9-12行)、合(結語對句)。


詩人開場是以第三人稱出現，他是一位怯場、緊張、焦慮的演員，雖滿腔熱情卻因過於緊張忘了台詞。他不完美，但卻滿腔熱情，詩人比喻此生澀之演員如some fierce thing，一隻失控的野獸？為什麼?因為怒火中燒? rage照字面翻譯是生氣、憤怒，其實是指燃燒心中之火焰，放在愛情的網絡閱讀，這位初登情場新手，應該是熱情洋溢，難以自拔；若這是舞台，此情境描寫超乎此演員足以控制之力道或能力。不過，此詩不單單描述愛情與舞台，讀到最後才了然，詩人終究在意的是名山之業。不完美，所以擔憂，因為期待的是完美

。