神聖英雄崇拜與索發克里斯的《埃阿斯》

The Cult of Heroes and the Ajax of Sophocles

十九世紀末，英國學者傑布（Richard Jebb）對於索發克里斯（Sophocles）的悲劇《埃阿斯》（Ajax）提出了新的看法：他認為想要了解該劇本，首先必須知道劇中主角埃阿斯（Ajax）與當時雅典人所崇拜的「神聖英雄埃阿斯」（Ajax the sacred hero）有著密不可分的關係。一個多世紀以來，許多學者對於這樣的說法提出批評。他們宣稱《埃阿斯》劇本當中毫無證據支持傑布的觀點。本論文重新探討傑布的看法，並主張他當初所言甚是。本論文共分為兩部分：第一部分討論「神聖英雄」的意涵；第二部分則是討論《埃阿斯》當中支持此一觀點的例證。

In his commentary on Sophocles’ Ajax, Richard Jebb proposed that to understand the play properly we must learn to perceive Ajax as a sacred hero, in the full religious sense of the term. Jebb’s theory, however, has been rejected by many scholars, on the grounds that there is insufficient textual evidence to support such a view. This paper reconsiders the evidence and argues that Jebb was right after all. In the first half of the paper hero cults are considered in some detail. In the second, textual evidence is adduced to support Jebb’s original thesis.