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Aristotle writes that the ideal is to have a mostly noble and illustrious character "whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty."
亚里士多德写道：最完美的便是去塑造一个高尚而杰出的人物角色，而“他的不幸不是由邪恶或者堕落造成的，而是由某种错误或者脆弱造成的。”
The word for frailty in Greek is hamartia.
希腊语中表示“缺陷”的词是“hamartia”。
It's a term that comes from archery and it means missing the mark.
这个词来源于“archery”，意思是“矢不中的(偏离正道)”。
Our tragic character doesn't have some horrible inborn flaw, but more like … tries to do a good job, and whiffs it.
我们的悲剧角色并没有什么天生的可怕缺陷，但更像是……努力去做好一件事，但是失败了。
Aristotle thought that a tragic plot needed to have three main elements: reversal, recognition and a scene of suffering. The Greek word for reversal is peripeteia; you might recognize it from the English word peripatetic, which means walking back and forth.
亚里斯多德认为，一部悲剧里的情节需要有三个主要元素：逆转、认知和痛苦的场景。希腊语中表示逆转的词是“peripeteia”；你可能会想到英语单词“peripatetic”，它的意思是“来回走动”。
Reversal means just when you think something's going okay, there's a change, usually signaled by the arrival of a messenger, and then everything gets terrible again.
“逆转”指的是当你认为某件事进展顺利时却发生了变故，通常以信使的到来为信号，之后一切又变得糟糕起来。
Someone's gotta start shooting these messengers! They only made all these problems.
谁来射杀这些可恶的信使！他们只会制造问题。
Recognition, known as anagnorisis, is what happens when a character finally recognizes something.
“认知”，即“anagnorisis”，意思是“一个角色在最后终于看清了什么事”。
That was my mother! That was my son! I shouldn't have eaten that second piece of cake! Oops.
那是我妈妈！那是我儿子！我不该吃第二块蛋糕！简直了。
Recognition combined with a reversal is best, Aristotle says: it automatically produces pity or fear.
亚里士多德说：认知与反转相结合是最好的，这样会自然而然地产生怜悯或恐惧。
Maybe even both! Shortly after recognition comes the scene of suffering—exile, suicide, huge psychological trauma. It's fun stuff.
或许两种情绪都会产生！在醒悟后不久他们便经历了流放、自杀、和巨大的心理创伤。很有趣。
And just the kind of thing a healthy city-state would want to sponsor for the good of its people!
一个正常的城邦都会为了自己人民的利益而赞助这样的事情！
To get a feel for some of these elements, let's take a quick look at "The Oresteia," the only surviving Greek tragic trilogy, which won first prize in 458 BCE.
为了身临其境感受这些情绪，我们来快速观看一下《奥瑞斯忒亚》，这是唯一一部幸存下来的希腊悲剧三部曲，它于公元前458年荣获一等奖。
It retells a mythical story, one covered, at least in part in "The Odyssey."
它讲了一个神话故事，至少在《奥德赛》中出现过。
Its three plays are: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides.
它包含三部戏剧:《阿伽门农》、《奠酒人》、《善好者》。
We'll look at the first two in the Thoughtbubble.
我们在思想泡泡里观看前两部。
In the first play, the general Agamemnon returns to Argos from the Trojan War.
在第一部中，阿伽门农将军从特洛伊战争返回到阿尔戈斯。
His wife, Clytemnestra, only pretends to greet him happily.
他的妻子，克吕泰墨斯特拉，假装高兴地迎接他。
Why is she mad? Because he sacrificed their daughter to make some winds blow, that's why. (Does that sound like a similar plot point from an episode of Game of Thrones? That show steals from the best!).
她为什么不高兴呢？因为为了让风吹起来阿伽门农将军牺牲了他们的女儿，这就是原因。(听起来是不是有点儿像《权力的游戏》里面的情节？那部剧偷了这里面最好的情节！)
To make matters worse, Agamemnon has brought home his concubine, Cassandra.
更糟糕的是，阿伽门农把他的情妇卡珊德拉带回了家。
Clytemnestra's lover, Aegisthus, is also ticked because–get ready–his father, once king, raped his daughter because an oracle said an incest son would get revenge on his uncle who tricked his father into eating his now deceased half siblings.
克吕泰涅斯特拉的情人伊吉斯瑟斯也被激怒了，因为他的父亲——（做好喷血的准备）——曾经的国王，强奸了他的女儿，因为有预言说乱伦生出来的儿子会报复他的叔叔，他的叔叔骗他的父亲吃掉了他现在已经死去的同父异母的兄弟姐妹。
His sister-mom, ashamed, disowns him so he's gotta work his way from GOAT FARMER back up to royalty, which he DOES, but then is ousted by Meneleaus who installs … AGAMEMNON as king.
他的姐姐——也是他的妈妈，羞愧不已并跟他断绝了关系，所以他不得不从牧羊人的身份变回皇室身份，他做到了，但是后来被梅内莱厄斯赶下了台，梅内莱厄斯任命了阿伽门农为国王。
So, long story medium-short, Clytemnestra convinces Agamemnon to walk all on some TAPESTRIES, which is a sacrilegious act, a sign that he's prideful–which he sorta is–thus by ancient tradition justifying his murder.
所以，长话短说，克吕泰涅斯特拉说服阿伽门农在某种挂毯上行走，这是一种亵渎的行为，是他傲慢的证明——他是有点——因此通过古老的传统来为他的谋杀辩护。
In some versions Aegisthus kills Agamemnon, in others it's Clytemnestra, but either way he gets it … in the bath no less!
有的版本里杀死阿伽门农的是伊吉斯瑟斯，还有一些版本里是克吕泰涅斯特拉，但不管是谁，事实是阿伽门农死了……还是死在浴缸里！
In the second play, things go bad in Argos.
在第二部戏里，阿尔戈斯的情况变糟了。
Electra, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's daughter, is miserable.
阿伽门农和克吕泰涅斯特拉的女儿厄勒克特拉很悲惨。
Orestes, her brother, arrives in disguise and together they plot to murder their mother.
她的弟弟奥雷斯特斯乔装打扮来到这里，他们一起密谋谋杀他们的母亲。
Which is usually frowned upon, but the chorus is all: Right. On. So, giving into their worst impulses, they kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.
这通常都是不被大众赞成的，但合唱就是一切：马上，行动。于是，出于最坏的冲动，他们杀死了克吕泰涅斯特拉和伊吉斯特。
Just when it seems like things might get back to normal, the furies, aka the Erinyes arrive.
就在一切似乎要恢复正常的时候，复仇女神，也就是厄里倪厄斯来了。
The furies are scary snake-haired women who terrorize you when you've spilled family blood. They chase Orestes out of the palace.
复仇女神是可怕的蛇发女人，她们会在你洒了家族血之后来恐吓你。他们把奥瑞斯忒斯赶出了宫殿。
Thanks Thoughtbubble, but the tragedy doesn't stop there.
感谢“思想泡泡”，但悲剧还没完。
In the third play, Orestes seeks shelter with the god Apollo, then heads to Athens.
在第三部剧中，奥瑞斯忒斯和阿波罗神一起寻求庇护，然后他们前往雅典。
He appeals to the goddess Athena and she arranges a trial for him, drafting twelve citizens for the jury. Orestes and the furies present their cases, the jury deadlocks, and Athena acts as tiebreaker.
他向女神雅典娜求助，雅典娜为他安排了一场审判，挑选了12名公民作为陪审团。奥瑞斯忒斯和复仇女神陈述了各自的观点，陪审团陷入僵局，雅典娜打破了僵局。
The case comes down to whether it's worse to kill a mother or a husband.
这个案子归结起来就是杀母和杀夫哪个罪名更重。
Apollo argues that mothers aren't really parents, they're just hosts for the father's seed. I'M SORRY WHAT?
阿波罗认为母亲并不是真正的父母，她们只是父亲“精子”的寄主。不好意思~我好像没听懂的亚(样)子~
And then Athena is all like, "I was born from my father's forehead so I can totally get behind that.
然后雅典娜说，“我从我父亲的前额出生，所以我完全可以理解。
Orestes, you're free. Furies, I'm changing your name to the Eumenides, the Kindly Ones, and making you the patron goddesses of marriage and children. Libations all around!"
俄瑞斯忒斯，你自由了。复仇女神，我要把你的名字改成善良的欧米尼德斯，让你成为婚姻和孩子的保护神。奠酒神仪式走起来！”
So that's how we get the jury trial and some messed up ideas about parentage.
所以这就是陪审团审判以及一些混乱的有关亲子关系想法的由来。
As you probably noticed, each of these three plays don't tick every Aristotle Box.
你可能已经注意到，这三部戏剧并不都符合亚里士多德所说的标准。
The third play has a non-tragic ending.
第三部戏剧的结局甚至和悲剧不沾边儿。
But we can see how the engines of Aristotelian tragedy drive these works: in each play, the action is more important than the characters, who can seem somewhat flat and unconvincing.
但我们能看到亚里士多德的悲剧是如何推动这些作品的：在每部戏剧中动作都比人物更重要，人物感觉有些平淡无奇、没有说服力。
Clytemnestra offers about six different motivations for her dastardly deeds, including that she finds murder sexually arousing … which is troubling. But in every play, there's plenty of action.
克吕泰涅斯特拉为自己卑鄙的行为提供了六种不同的动机，包括她发现谋杀能激起性欲…这样就不好了。但是在每部戏剧里都有大量的动作场面。
In the first two plays, we can see mostly noble characters missing the mark.
在前两部戏剧里，我们可以发现大部分的高尚性人物都走向了歧途。
Agamemnon agrees to walk on tapestries, Orestes decides to resort to violence. There's suffering aplenty.
阿伽门农同意在挂毯上行走，奥瑞斯忒斯则决定使用暴力。各种煎熬。
Taking the three plays as a whole, they show that the only thing to break the tragic cycle of bloodguilt and vengeance is literal divine intervention.
把这三部剧连在一起来看的话表明了一点，那就是唯一能打破流血犯罪和复仇的悲剧性循环的只有神的直接干预。
Divine intervention, and jury duty--which was a pretty convincing way to remind the audience of the importance of the city's democratic institutions!
神圣的干预和陪审团的职责——以此来暗示观众实行城邦民主制的重要性，这很有说服力！
Do these plays offer catharsis?
这些戏剧能起到净化的作用吗？
Well, that's gonna depend on how we interpret catharsis.
嗯，那就要看我们如何理解“净化”的含义了。
And of course it's also going to depend on how the plays are performed.
当然，这也取决于戏剧的表演方式。
But in a strong production I'd say chances are good that you feel pity.
但是，如果这场戏剧演出足够优秀，我想说的是，那很可能会让你感到怜悯、
Or fear. Or both. Enjoy your purgation.
或者恐惧、或者两种情绪都有。享受你的情绪净化吧。
And then go vote with a clear head!
然后用清醒的头脑去投票！
We'll see you next time for Greek comedy. Yup. All the phalluses. And…curtain!
下次讲“希腊喜剧”的时候再见。是的，有很多“棒子”。嗯……谢幕！
