"Du siehst an mir, wozu sie nützt,
Dem, der nicht viel Verstand besitzt,
Die Wahrheit durch ein Bild zu sagen."[18]
But then it seemed to Socrates that tragic art did not even "tell the truth": not to mention the fact that it addresses itself to him who "hath but little wit"; consequently not to the philosopher: a twofold reason why it should be avoided. Like[Pg 108] Plato, he reckoned it among the seductive arts which only represent the agreeable, not the useful, and hence he required of his disciples13 abstinence and strict separation from such unphilosophical allurements15; with such success that the youthful tragic poet Plato first of all burned his poems to be able to become a scholar of Socrates. But where unconquerable native capacities bore up against the Socratic maxims16, their power, together with the momentum17 of his mighty18 character, still sufficed to force poetry itself into new and hitherto unknown channels.
An instance of this is the aforesaid Plato: he, who in the condemnation19 of tragedy and of art in general certainly did not fall short of the na?ve cynicism of his master, was nevertheless constrained20 by sheer artistic necessity to create a form of art which is inwardly related even to the then existing forms of art which he repudiated21. Plato's main objection to the old art—that it is the imitation of a phantom,[19] and hence belongs to a sphere still lower than the empiric world—could not at all apply to the new art: and so we find Plato endeavouring to go beyond reality and attempting to represent the idea which underlies22 this pseudo-reality. But Plato, the thinker, thereby23 arrived by a roundabout road just at the point where he had always been at home as poet, and from which Sophocles and all the old artists had solemnly protested against that objection. If tragedy absorbed into itself all the[Pg 109] earlier varieties of art, the same could again be said in an unusual sense of Platonic24 dialogue, which, engendered25 by a mixture of all the then existing forms and styles, hovers26 midway between narrative27, lyric28 and drama, between prose and poetry, and has also thereby broken loose from the older strict law of unity29 of linguistic30 form; a movement which was carried still farther by the cynic writers, who in the most promiscuous31 style, oscillating to and fro betwixt prose and metrical forms, realised also the literary picture of the "raving32 Socrates" whom they were wont33 to represent in life. Platonic dialogue was as it were the boat in which the shipwrecked ancient poetry saved herself together with all her children: crowded into a narrow space and timidly obsequious34 to the one steersman, Socrates, they now launched into a new world, which never tired of looking at the fantastic spectacle of this procession. In very truth, Plato has given to all posterity35 the prototype of a new form of art, the prototype of the novel which must be designated as the infinitely36 evolved ?sopian fable, in which poetry holds the same rank with reference to dialectic philosophy as this same philosophy held for many centuries with reference to theology: namely, the rank of ancilla. This was the new position of poetry into which Plato forced it under the pressure of the demon-inspired Socrates.
Here philosophic14 thought overgrows art and compels it to cling close to the trunk of dialectics. The Apollonian tendency has chrysalised in the logical schematism; just as something analogous[Pg 110] in the case of Euripides (and moreover a translation of the Dionysian into the naturalistic emotion) was forced upon our attention. Socrates, the dialectical hero in Platonic drama, reminds us of the kindred nature of the Euripidean hero, who has to defend his actions by arguments and counter-arguments, and thereby so often runs the risk of forfeiting37 our tragic pity; for who could mistake the optimistic element in the essence of dialectics, which celebrates a jubilee38 in every conclusion, and can breathe only in cool clearness and consciousness: the optimistic element, which, having once forced its way into tragedy, must gradually overgrow its Dionysian regions, and necessarily impel39 it to self-destruction—even to the death-leap into the bourgeois40 drama. Let us but realise the consequences of the Socratic maxims: "Virtue41 is knowledge; man only sins from ignorance; he who is virtuous42 is happy": these three fundamental forms of optimism involve the death of tragedy. For the virtuous hero must now be a dialectician; there must now be a necessary, visible connection between virtue and knowledge, between belief and morality; the transcendental justice of the plot in ?schylus is now degraded to the superficial and audacious principle of poetic43 justice with its usual deus ex machina.
How does the chorus, and, in general, the entire Dionyso-musical substratum of tragedy, now appear in the light of this new Socrato-optimistic stage-world? As something accidental, as a readily dispensable reminiscence of the origin[Pg 111] of tragedy; while we have in fact seen that the chorus can be understood only as the cause of tragedy, and of the tragic generally. This perplexity with respect to the chorus first manifests itself in Sophocles—an important sign that the Dionysian basis of tragedy already begins to disintegrate44 with him. He no longer ventures to entrust45 to the chorus the main share of the effect, but limits its sphere to such an extent that it now appears almost co-ordinate with the actors, just as if it were elevated from the orchestra into the scene: whereby of course its character is completely destroyed, notwithstanding that Aristotle countenances46 this very theory of the chorus. This alteration47 of the position of the chorus, which Sophocles at any rate recommended by his practice, and, according to tradition, even by a treatise48, is the first step towards the annihilation of the chorus, the phases of which follow one another with alarming rapidity in Euripides, Agathon, and the New Comedy. Optimistic dialectics drives, music out of tragedy with the scourge49 of its syllogisms: that is, it destroys the essence of tragedy, which can be explained only as a manifestation50 and illustration of Dionysian states, as the visible symbolisation of music, as the dream-world of Dionysian ecstasy51.
If, therefore, we are to assume an anti-Dionysian tendency operating even before Socrates, which received in him only an unprecedentedly52 grand expression, we must not shrink from the question as to what a phenomenon like that of Socrates indicates: whom in view of the[Pg 112] Platonic dialogues we are certainly not entitled to regard as a purely53 disintegrating54, negative power. And though there can be no doubt whatever that the most immediate55 effect of the Socratic impulse tended to the dissolution of Dionysian tragedy, yet a profound experience of Socrates' own life compels us to ask whether there is necessarily only an antipodal relation between Socratism and art, and whether the birth of an "artistic Socrates" is in general something contradictory56 in itself.
For that despotic logician57 had now and then the feeling of a gap, or void, a sentiment of semi-reproach, as of a possibly neglected duty with respect to art. There often came to him, as he tells his friends in prison, one and the same dream-apparition, which kept constantly repeating to him: "Socrates, practise music." Up to his very last days he solaces58 himself with the opinion that his philosophising is the highest form of poetry, and finds it hard to believe that a deity59 will remind him of the "common, popular music." Finally, when in prison, he consents to practise also this despised music, in order thoroughly60 to unburden his conscience. And in this frame of mind he composes a poem on Apollo and turns a few ?sopian fables61 into verse. It was something similar to the demonian warning voice which urged him to these practices; it was because of his Apollonian insight that, like a barbaric king, he did not understand the noble image of a god and was in danger of sinning against a deity—through ignorance. The prompting voice of the Socratic[Pg 113] dream-vision is the only sign of doubtfulness as to the limits of logical nature. "Perhaps "—thus he had to ask himself—"what is not intelligible62 to me is not therefore unreasonable63? Perhaps there is a realm of wisdom from which the logician is banished64? Perhaps art is even a necessary correlative of and supplement to science?"
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1 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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2 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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3 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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4 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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5 lauded | |
v.称赞,赞美( laud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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7 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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8 diversified | |
adj.多样化的,多种经营的v.使多样化,多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 );进入新的商业领域 | |
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9 incentive | |
n.刺激;动力;鼓励;诱因;动机 | |
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10 irritable | |
adj.急躁的;过敏的;易怒的 | |
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11 fable | |
n.寓言;童话;神话 | |
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12 complaisance | |
n.彬彬有礼,殷勤,柔顺 | |
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13 disciples | |
n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 );门徒;耶稣的信徒;(尤指)耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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14 philosophic | |
adj.哲学的,贤明的 | |
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15 allurements | |
n.诱惑( allurement的名词复数 );吸引;诱惑物;有诱惑力的事物 | |
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16 maxims | |
n.格言,座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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17 momentum | |
n.动力,冲力,势头;动量 | |
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18 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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19 condemnation | |
n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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20 constrained | |
adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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21 repudiated | |
v.(正式地)否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 );拒绝接受;拒绝与…往来;拒不履行(法律义务) | |
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22 underlies | |
v.位于或存在于(某物)之下( underlie的第三人称单数 );构成…的基础(或起因),引起 | |
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23 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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24 platonic | |
adj.精神的;柏拉图(哲学)的 | |
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25 engendered | |
v.产生(某形势或状况),造成,引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 hovers | |
鸟( hover的第三人称单数 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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27 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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28 lyric | |
n.抒情诗,歌词;adj.抒情的 | |
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29 unity | |
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调 | |
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30 linguistic | |
adj.语言的,语言学的 | |
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31 promiscuous | |
adj.杂乱的,随便的 | |
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32 raving | |
adj.说胡话的;疯狂的,怒吼的;非常漂亮的;令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话;疯话adv.胡言乱语地;疯狂地 | |
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33 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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34 obsequious | |
adj.谄媚的,奉承的,顺从的 | |
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35 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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36 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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37 forfeiting | |
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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38 jubilee | |
n.周年纪念;欢乐 | |
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39 impel | |
v.推动;激励,迫使 | |
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40 bourgeois | |
adj./n.追求物质享受的(人);中产阶级分子 | |
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41 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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42 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
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43 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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44 disintegrate | |
v.瓦解,解体,(使)碎裂,(使)粉碎 | |
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45 entrust | |
v.信赖,信托,交托 | |
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46 countenances | |
n.面容( countenance的名词复数 );表情;镇静;道义支持 | |
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47 alteration | |
n.变更,改变;蚀变 | |
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48 treatise | |
n.专著;(专题)论文 | |
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49 scourge | |
n.灾难,祸害;v.蹂躏 | |
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50 manifestation | |
n.表现形式;表明;现象 | |
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51 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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52 unprecedentedly | |
adv.空前地 | |
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53 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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54 disintegrating | |
v.(使)破裂[分裂,粉碎],(使)崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 ) | |
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55 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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56 contradictory | |
adj.反驳的,反对的,抗辩的;n.正反对,矛盾对立 | |
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57 logician | |
n.逻辑学家 | |
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58 solaces | |
n.安慰,安慰物( solace的名词复数 ) | |
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59 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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60 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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61 fables | |
n.寓言( fable的名词复数 );神话,传说 | |
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62 intelligible | |
adj.可理解的,明白易懂的,清楚的 | |
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63 unreasonable | |
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的 | |
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64 banished | |
v.放逐,驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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