2017年1月29日 星期日

20170129—barley meal



δώδεκα δ᾽ ἔμπλησον καὶ πώμασιν ἄρσον ἅπαντας.
ἐν δέ μοι ἄλφιτα χεῦον ἐϋρραφέεσσι δοροῖσιν:
εἴκοσι δ᾽ ἔστω μέτρα μυληφάτου ἀλφίτου ἀκτῆς. (Od. 2.353-355)

Fill twelve jars and fit them all with covers, and pour me barley meal into well-sewn skins, and let there be twenty measures of ground barley meal.

δώδεκα twelve
πῶμα lid, cover
ἄλφιτον barley-groats
ἐυρραφής well-stitched
δορός leathern bag
εἴκοσι twenty
μέτρον that by which anything is measured
μυλήφατος bruised in a mill
Telemachus吩咐家中忠實的奶媽幫她準備航行所需的食糧與酒,12甕的酒和20單位(μέτρον, that by which anything is measured)的大麥。甚麼是一單位? 這個字的希臘文是μέτρον,是測量的標準,也可以解釋a vessel for receiving and determining the quantity of things, whether dry or liquid

之前的筆記: http://homegplant.blogspot.tw/2013/10/14-barley.html
Odyssey 2.290行提到大麥穀 (ἄλφιτον, barley-groats),是古希臘人常用主食,還可做成糕點(kneaded cake),比喻用法指日用飲食(one's daily bread)。指是下面一的詞(the marrow of men, μυελὸν ἀνδρῶν)應該是同位格,說明大麥穀是提供人們體力的最佳糧食,王煥生翻譯成「人的精力的源泉麵粉」,似乎不太理想。

_________

## 舊約士師記七章13:「基甸到了,就聽見一人將夢告訴同伴說:我做了一夢,夢見一個大麥餅滾入米甸營中,到了帳幕,將帳幕撞倒,帳幕就翻轉傾覆了。」張文亮教授在《聖經與植物》一書中提到:「大麥是中東地區的主要作物之一,生長在較旱、土壤較貧瘠的土地或山坡地。大麥的蛋白質含量較小麥低,麥麩成份少,烤製出來的麥餅,顏色較黑,質地較硬。大麥餅供窮人食用,或是給家畜作添加用飼料。駱駝以牧草為主食,若是添加一些大麥,牠們會吃得更起勁。中東地區自古以來就有一種給駱駝吃的大麥餅,直徑約2公分,厚度約68公分。」(70)

下面圖片: 公元前530-510stater錢幣。在大希臘的梅塔蓬圖姆城,大麥穗是財富的象徵。


維基百科資料: https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8F%A4%E5%B8%8C%E8%87%98%E8%BE%B2%E6%A5%AD


《奧德賽》顯示古希臘早期,農業和飲食以穀物為主:大麥、硬粒小麥以及較少見的稷。90%的穀物產量是大麥。即使古人知道小麥的營養價值更高,他們仍然以種大麥為主。因為種大麥更加有成效。雖然有人多次嘗試計算這段期間的糧食生產量,但仍未有定論。沒多久,需求超過生產能力。貧瘠的土地說明了為何希臘要擴展殖民地和控制糧食供應。另一方面,希臘的土地郤非常適合種植橄欖樹,橄欖可以提煉橄欖油。早期的希臘已種植橄欖樹。橄欖種植園是一項長期投資:橄欖樹需要生長二十多年,才可提供橄欖,而且每隔一年才有收成。希臘的土壤適合種植葡萄,但它需要很多的照顧。希臘自青銅時代已種植葡萄。菜園和果園增加核心作物(菜園:捲心菜、洋蔥、大蒜、小扁豆、雞豌豆、豆類;果園:杏仁、石榴)的產量。希臘也種植藥草(鼠尾草、薄荷、百里香等)和油籽植物(亞麻子,芝麻,罌粟)。希臘大量種植葡萄和橄欖。

2017年1月28日 星期六

20170128—treasure chamber



ὣς φάν, ὁ δ᾽ ὑψόροφον θάλαμον κατεβήσετο πατρὸς
εὐρύν, ὅθι νητὸς χρυσὸς καὶ χαλκὸς ἔκειτο
ἐσθής τ᾽ ἐν χηλοῖσιν ἅλις τ᾽ ἐυῶδες ἔλαιον:  (Od. 2.337-339)

So they spoke, but Telemachus went down to the high-roofed treasure chamber of his father, a wide room where gold and bronze lay piled and clothes in chests, and stores of fragrant oil.

ὑψόροφος high-roofed, high-ceiled
θάλαμος an inner room
εὐρύς wide, broad
χρυσός gold
χαλκός copper
χηλός large chest, coffer
ἐσθής clothing, raiment,
ἅλις in crowds, in plenty
εὐώδης sweetsmelling, fragrant
ἔλαιον olive-oil
Telemachus不管那群烏合之眾的七嘴八舌,開始為出航做準備。進入他們家的 「寶物室」找遠行需用的行頭!
        古希臘的「寶物室」會放那些東西呢? 這裡提到金、銅、衣服、還有橄欖油! 可見這些物品都可當作重要的家產。

        Greek Peplos Dress

2017年1月25日 星期三

20170125-father and son




παῦροι γάρ τοι παῖδες ὁμοῖοι πατρὶ πέλονται,
οἱ πλέονες κακίους, παῦροι δέ τε πατρὸς ἀρείους. (Od. 2.276-277)

Few sons indeed are like their fathers; most are worse, and those better than their fathers are few.

這一段話出自雅典娜,在她心中奧德修斯是最棒的,所以別人都比不上;但是這裡的說法其實反映大多數人的迷思:兒子通常不像父親? 更慘的是,很少有兒子比父親優秀? 這種說法,不就是「一代不如一代」的理論! 我並不贊成,時代的演進,每一個人都應有自己的特質,不一定要像父親。會認為下一代不如上一代,常常是因為想把自己要的事物觀念勉強下一代接受,也就是傳統的包袱。


        傳統也有好的,但是好的傳統是透過傳承繼續發展、在創新中延續!

2017年1月22日 星期日

20170122—abumdant substance



... μέγα μὲν κλέος αὐτῇ
ποιεῖτ᾽, αὐτὰρ σοί γε ποθὴν πολέος βιότοιο.

Great fame she wins for herself, but for you regret for your abundance substance.  (Od. 2.125-126)

ποθή longing, desire for
βίοτος life, means of living, substance

讀荷馬史詩,覺得十分寫實,看似簡單的一兩行,卻說穿人性。別以為Telemachus是孝順的兒子,很想知道父親的生死,說穿了,他擔憂的自己可以繼承的龐大家產將不保!
        Penelope的聰慧救了自己,雖然被兒子嘲笑與指責,此外,Penelope和織布機也成了文學重要的典故 (參考之前的筆記)


之前的筆記:
主題三:織布機
1      Penelope Odyssey中是重要的女主角,本卷未提到男主角與女主角的對戲,
2      從求婚者的觀點,Penelope又可愛又可恨
2.1   90行,求婚者當中之一的Antinous說到Penelope時在聰明無比:「她一直在愚弄阿開奧斯人胸中的心靈」(she has been cheating the hearts of the Achaeans in their breasts/ ἐξ οὗ ἀτέμβει θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν Ἀχαιῶν) (Od. 2.90),愚弄這裡用的字是ἀτέμβω,也有挫折(frustrate)的意義。當然,Antinous所指的就是Penelope織布的技倆:
πάντας μέν ῥ᾽ ἔλπει καὶ ὑπίσχεται ἀνδρὶ ἑκάστῳ
ἀγγελίας προϊεῖσα, νόος δέ οἱ ἄλλα μενοινᾷ.
ἡ δὲ δόλον τόνδ᾽ ἄλλον ἐνὶ φρεσὶ μερμήριξε:
στησαμένη μέγαν ἱστὸν ἐνὶ μεγάροισιν ὕφαινε,
λεπτὸν καὶ περίμετρον. . . (Od. 2. 91-95)
To all she offer hopes, and has promises for each man, sending them messages, but her mind is set on other things. And she contrived in her heart this guileful thing also: she set up in her halls a great web, and fell to weaving—fine of thread was the web and very wide. . .
2.2   我覺得給人「希望的假像」確實是很大的傷害!聰明的人總以為他們能如此成功地愚弄別人,但這自作聰明的結果是他們必須付出更多更大的代價。 雖然這群求婚者真的很惹人厭,但是Penelope為什麼一定要用欺騙的手段?此外,這種希望的假像是這群求婚者自己篇織出來的嗎?
2.3   所以原本善意的織布變成一種陷阱、釣餌(δόλος)
2.4   織布的動詞是ὑφαίνω,在荷馬史詩中常出現,另一層含意就是策劃伎倆(contrive, plan, of all schemes, good or bad, which are craftily imagined)。更多細節可以閱讀Bergren, Ann. Weaving Truth: Essays on Language and the Female in Greek Thought. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2008.
3      白天織布,晚上拆毀(Then day by day she would weave at the great web, but by night would unravel it/ ἔνθα καὶ ἠματίη μὲν ὑφαίνεσκεν μέγαν ἱστόν νύκτας δ᾽ ἀλλύεσκεν, ἐπεὶ δαΐδας παραθεῖτο)(Od. 2.104-105; Od. 2.119),如是過了三年!就這麼輕易瞞過這群自稱高傲的心靈(θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ(Od. 2.103) 織(ὑφαίνω/weave)與拆(ἀναλύω/unloose, undo)的交替,一如故事的編織與消失,一如希望的升起與幻滅!
3.1   織布的故事會重複,也說明說故事者不同的觀點;在此是這群求婚傳達他們聽到Penelope對他們說:
κοῦροι ἐμοὶ μνηστῆρες, ἐπεὶ θάνε δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
μίμνετ᾽ ἐπειγόμενοι τὸν ἐμὸν γάμον, εἰς ὅ κε φᾶρος
ἐκτελέσω, μή μοι μεταμώνια νήματ᾽ ὄληται,
Λαέρτῃ ἥρωι ταφήιον, εἰς ὅτε κέν μιν
μοῖρ᾽ ὀλοὴ καθέλῃσι τανηλεγέος θανάτοιο,
μή τίς μοι κατὰ δῆμον Ἀχαιϊάδων νεμεσήσῃ.
αἴ κεν ἄτερ σπείρου κεῖται πολλὰ κτεατίσσας. (Od 2.96-102)
Young men, my suitors, since noble Odysseus is dead, be patient, though eager for my marriage, until I finish this robe—I would not have my spinning come to naught—a shroud for the hero Laertes, against the time when the cruel fate of pitiless death shall strike him down; for fear of the Achaean women in the land should cast blames upon me, if he were to lie without a shroud who had won great possessions.
3.2   我要再強調,這是那群情婚者覆誦的話,我們可以想像那諷刺、挖苦與無禮的口氣,因此稱謂—κοῦροι ἐμοὶ μνηστῆρες (Young men, my suitors)—顯得好笑,因為κοῦροι指小男生,好像點出Penelope和他們的年紀差異。而且Penelope會認定Odysseus已經死了嗎?
3.3   織的布或是壽衣(φᾶρος, a large piece of cloth, web, a wide cloak or mantle without sleeves),是預備給年邁的Laertes。但邏輯也是似是而非,因為怕被指責所以必須織壽衣(the burial sheet of a warrior)?因為Laertes有很多財富(πολλὰ κτεατίσσας),所以必須幫他預備壽衣?也看得出這群求婚者圖的是財產。所以他們這群惡棍,就惡意留在Penelope的家,裝瘋裝傻,天天大吃大喝,準備來個「坐吃山空」,把這些產業耗盡(Od. 2.123-28)
3.4   其實,這群求婚者也驚嘆Penelope的巧思巧手(knowledge of beautiful handiwork, and good sense, and cleverness),甚至優於其他希臘婦女:
εἰ δ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἀνιήσει γε πολὺν χρόνον υἷας Ἀχαιῶν,
τὰ φρονέουσ᾽ ἀνὰ θυμόν, ὅ οἱ πέρι δῶκεν Ἀθήνη
ἔργα τ᾽ ἐπίστασθαι περικαλλέα καὶ φρένας ἐσθλὰς
κέρδεά θ᾽, οἷ᾽ οὔ πώ τιν᾽ ἀκούομεν οὐδὲ παλαιῶν,
τάων αἳ πάρος ἦσαν ἐυπλοκαμῖδες Ἀχαιαί,
Τυρώ τ᾽ Ἀλκμήνη τε ἐυστέφανός τε Μυκήνη (Od. 2.115-20)
But if she shall continue for long to vex the sons of the Achaeans, possessing in her mind those advantages with which Athene has endowed her above other women, knowledge of beautiful handiwork, and good sense, and cleverness, such as we have never yet heard that any of the women of old knew, those fair-tressed Achaean women who lived long ago, Tyro and Alcmene and Mycene of the fair crown. . .
4      從兒子Telemachos的觀點,相依為命多年的母親並非軟弱無能,只是在辯駁這群求婚者時,Telemachos透露出幾分無奈(Od. 2.129-145),論點也很薄弱。很明顯,Penelope不會主動改嫁,所以如果Telemachos逼母親離開家(ἀέκουσαν ἀπῶσαι),他要面對賠償的問題:
Ἀντίνο᾽, οὔ πως ἔστι δόμων ἀέκουσαν ἀπῶσαι
ἥ μ᾽ ἔτεχ᾽, ἥ μ᾽ ἔθρεψε: πατὴρ δ᾽ ἐμὸς ἄλλοθι γαίης,
ζώει ὅ γ᾽ ἦ τέθνηκε: κακὸν δέ με πόλλ᾽ ἀποτίνειν
Ἰκαρίῳ, αἴ κ᾽ αὐτὸς ἑκὼν ἀπὸ μητέρα πέμψω.  (Od. 2.131-34
Antinous, in no way can I thrust out of the house against her will the mother that bore me and reared me; and, as for my father, he is in some other land, whether is alive or dead. It would be unfair for me to pay back a great price to Icarius, as I must, if of my won will I send my mother away.
4.1   付這一筆賠償金是不公義(It would be unfair for me to pay back a great price to Icarius/ κακὸν δέ με πόλλ᾽ ἀποτίνειν Ἰκαρίῳ),此外會引起一連串的負面反應與後果。
4.2   Telemachos似乎不是因為愛他的母親才挺身而出,而是因為害怕與經濟的壓力?




2017年1月21日 星期六

20170121-staff



ὣς φάτο χωόμενος, ποτὶ δὲ σκῆπτρον βάλε γαίῃ

δάκρυ᾽ ἀναπρήσας: οἶκτος δ᾽ ἕλε λαὸν ἅπαντα.

Thus he spoke in wrath, and dashed the staff down upon the ground, bursting into tears; and pity seized all the people.  (Od. 2.80-81)

χώομαι to be angry
σκῆπτρον staff

年輕人畢竟是年輕人! Telemachus以為他只要拿著父親的權杖 (σκῆπτρον staff)、坐在父親的王位,就可以當一家之主,召開大會,發號施令。但是,稚嫩的他,說話沒人聽,他也不知如何回應,顯然EQ也差了一點,居然丟權杖、憤怒、大哭,情緒對然失控! 也難怪雅典娜一職懷疑Telemachus到底是不是奧德修斯親生的兒子,怎麼都沒遺傳父親的智商與處事能力?

治理與管理一個家園,仰賴的不是手中拿的權杖或是坐的位置,更需要智慧和方法。


下圖: Penelope at her loom with Telemachos.
Telemachos (Odysseus’s son), stands to the left holding two spears, reproaching his mother. She sits mournfully on a chair, anguished by the unknown fate of her husband. Her head is bowed and legs are crossed in a pose canonical for Penelope. Athenian red-figure cup, c. 440 BC, by the Penelope Painter.




20170120—bride gifts



οἳ πατρὸς μὲν ἐς οἶκον ἀπερρίγασι νέεσθαι
Ἰκαρίου, ὥς κ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐεδνώσαιτο θύγατρα,
δοίη δ᾽ ᾧ κ᾽ ἐθέλοι καί οἱ κεχαρισμένος ἔλθοι: (Od. 2.52-54)

They shrink from going to the house of her father, Icarius, that he may see to his daughter’s bride gifts, and give her to whom he will, that is, to him who meets his favor.

ἑδνόω promise for wedding-presents

滯留在奧德修斯家中的這群人究竟要甚麼? 他們真的愛Penelope? 古希臘女性12-15歲結婚,此時的Penelope可能32-35歲左右,所以他們不是真的要娶Penelope。這段文字看出他們要的是娶了Penelope可以獲得的 「嫁妝」 (bride gifts)Penelope的父親Icarius相當富有,如果Penelope再婚,可以有豐厚的嫁妝! 不過這群求婚者好吃懶做,根本配不上Penelope,他們心裡有數吧?!

下圖: A bride (left of picture) is led to her wedding. Her husband-to-be waits (right).


Dowry: A woman had to bring a dowry with her when she married. A dowry was a gift of money, property, cattle, or something else of real value. The woman's parents worked out an acceptable dowry directly with the groom, unless he was still supported by his parents. In that case, the two sets of parents worked out the details.

關於古希臘嫁妝的文化與歷史,可以參考下面網頁:
Dowries and Bride gifts in Ancient Greece http://www.rwaag.org/grepe14

1835 Engraved Artwork Ulysses, Icarus, And Penelope ~ R Sands/ Gauffier