《俄狄浦斯王》全文英译

《俄狄浦斯王》Oedipus the King

Introduction of the Writer: Sophocles(索福克勒斯)---(born c. 496, Colonus, near Athens-died 406 BC, Athens) Greek playwright. With Aeschylus and Euripides, he was one of the three great tragic playwrights of Classical Athens. A distinguished public figure in Athens, he served successively in important posts as a treasurer, commander, and adviser. He competed in dramatic festivals, where he defeated Aeschylus to win his first victory in 468 BC. He went on to achieve unparalleled success, writing 123 dramas for dramatic competitions and achieving more than 20 victories. Only seven tragedies survive in their entirety: Antigone, Ajax, Electra, The Trachinian Women, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus, and Oedipus the King, his best-known work. He increased the size of the chorus and was the first to introduce a third actor onstage. For their supple language, vivid characterization, and formal perfection, his works are regarded as the epitome of Greek drama.

索福克勒斯:(约公元前496——前406), 出生于雅典西北郊的克罗诺斯，父亲是兵器作坊主，早年曾受过良好的教育，擅长音乐、体育及舞蹈，这极大的影响了童年时代的索福克勒斯。公元前480年，希腊人于萨拉米斯海战中击败波斯人后，年轻的索福克勒斯曾因貌美和音乐天赋而被选为庆祝胜利的朗诵队领队少年。后来索福克勒斯进入政界。他于前443年出任以雅典为盟主的“德利亚联盟”的财政总管，后来又两次担任重要的将军职务。公元前431年伯罗奔尼撒战争爆发，翌年雅典流行瘟疫，他曾担任祭司一职。总体来说，在政治上索福克勒斯是个温和的民主派。他的一生大抵是平静而成功的。阿里斯托芬曾称赞他“生前完满，身后无憾。”他擅写悲剧 ， 一共写过 120多部剧本 ， 得过24次奖，现存完整的剧本7部：《埃阿斯》、《 安提戈涅 》、《奥狄浦斯王》、《埃勒克特拉》、《特拉基斯少女》、《菲罗克忒忒斯》、《奥狄浦斯在科洛诺斯》。索福克勒斯生活时期适值雅典民主制全盛时期，因此他的剧本反映的也是雅典民主制繁荣时期的思想意识。他拥护民主制度，主张公民平等，法律治邦。他赞扬人的自由意志，赞扬人在同恶运斗争中的坚韧精神。他的宗教观念偏于保守，主张维护传统的宗教观念。他善于刻画人物，人物个性鲜明，语言简明有力。他使剧中演员增加到3个 ，从而增加了对话的作用 ，但歌队仍然是剧情发展的有机组成部分。索福克勒斯早年就盛名远扬，在戏剧竞赛中总能获得胜利，自从公元前468年在戏剧比赛中赢了埃斯库罗斯，到72岁后败给欧里庇得斯，其间罕有人能与之匹敌。

Content summary:

Acclaimed for over,2000 years for its ingeniously constructed plot and extraordinary insight into the drama of human experience,Sophocles'masterpiece is revealed in all its riveting intensity in this translation by Bernard Knox.Here is the provocative tale of a great man hurtling toward his own destruction-a story of pride and power,incest and murder,which has never ceased to debate.

Some fifteen years previously,OEDIPUS,then a young man,was told by the Oracle at Delphi that he was destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Shocked, he determines never to go back to Corinth, where he was brought up by the king and queen,who he thinks are his father and mother. His wandering bring him eventually to the city of Thebas,where his real father and mother reign.However,on the way, he brawls with an old man in a carriage over right of way and in a fit of temper kills him. Arrived at Thebas, he finds the city in am uproar:the king,LAIUS,has gone on a mysterious journey and never returned, and a female monster, the Sphinx, has taken up her position on a rock outside thebas and is strangling the inhabitants one by one for not being able to answer her riddle.OEDIPUS answes the riddle and the Spjinx throws herself from her rock.The citizens, in gratitude ,make OEDIPUS their king and he marries JOCASTA, their widowed queen. No one knows that JOCASTA is OEDIPUS 's mother and that the old man he killed on the road was LAIUS, his father.Nor do they know that these parents of his had tried to murder him as a baby,and thought they had succeeded. There follow fifteen years of apparent prosperity:a sham prosperity cloaking corruption. The gods are disgusted. Thebas is struck by plague. The people of the city,led by their priests and elders, flock around the great and successful OEDIPUS, now in teh prime of life and power. He saved them once: he can save them again.

底比斯国瘟疫盛行，天神宣告，只有杀害前王拉伊俄斯的凶手伏法，才能消灾祛祸。前王外出，与卫兵一起遇害，至今不知凶手是谁。国王俄狄浦斯严厉诅咒凶手，并号令全国追查。先知却说，凶手就是俄狄浦斯本人。俄狄浦斯出生时有神谕，说他将来会杀父娶母，于是他被抛弃在荒山上，辗转成了科林斯国王之子。成年后他得知神谕，为了躲避杀父娶母的预言，逃出科林斯国，在途中与人抢道，将主仆数人打死。他来到底比斯国，制服了狮身人面怪，被拥立为王，并娶寡后为妻。俄狄浦斯这些经历恰好符合当初神谕所说的杀父娶母。经过一番追查，事实俱在，俄狄浦斯正是凶手。王后羞愤自尽，俄狄浦斯刺瞎双眼，自我放逐。

全文翻译在 http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.pl.txt上都有，《俄狄浦斯王》原著是希腊语 《俄狄浦斯王》最索福克勒斯的剧作中最具震撼力的一部。希腊人笃信命运，这在悲剧中也有所反映。埃斯库罗斯的《奥瑞斯提斯》被看作是命运剧，《俄狄浦斯王》更是命运剧的代表。但是，命运固然是不可战胜的，俄狄浦斯并不是消极地等待，而是展开英勇的斗争，他的品德，他那种完全不顾自己痛苦的行动，他那种不惜任何代价去寻求真相的决心，本身就是可歌可泣的。可以说，这是一曲人与命运作殊死斗争的悲歌．　　　不好意思，他的英文简介没有找到，本来想对照中文简介帮你翻译下，但文学专用术语太多，就不拿出来丢人了....希望能给你带来点帮助