Forms of Astonishment: Myths of Metamorphosis in Ancient Greece

惊讶的形式：古希腊的变形神话

• 批准号: AH/E003338/1
• 负责人: Richard George Alexander Buxton
• 金额: $ 4.28万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FE003338%2F1
• 关键词: Forms; Astonishment; Myths; Metamorphosis; Ancient

(A) Context of research:My project tries to make sense of stories which the ancient Greeks told about astonishing kinds of bodily transformation: changes which gods chose to undergo, for a variety of reasons (as when Zeus adopted different shapes to pursue his erotic affairs) and changes which mortals experienced in extreme situations (as when Actaeon was changed into a stag as punishment for seeing a goddess naked). This project fits into four main research contexts: (1) the continuing interest in understanding Greek mythology and religion in new and increasingly sophisticated ways; (2) the importance which scholars now attribute to uncovering 'the interpreter's assumptions' when approaching another (or our own) culture; (2) work being done on representations of metamorphosis in post-classical literature and art; (3) research by historians into how different cultures classify and depict 'marvellous' events.(B) Aims and objectives:I want to explore questions such as: Why did the Greeks tell stories about metamorphosis? What do metamorphosis stories tell us about the Greeks' attitudes to their gods? How do Greek metamorphosis narratives differ from those of other cultures? How seriously did the Greeks take these tales? What about those Greeks who rejected the notion of astonishing change? These issues form the basis of a book which I am writing for Oxford University Press; my research project is designed to allow me to have the typescript complete by the end of my leave. There are three main parts to my argument:(1) Introduction: I first set out various ways in which the concept of metamorphosis has been understood: in literature (Ovid, Dante, Kafka), in art (the rich visual tradition of the Renaissance, with its modern inheritors such as Dalí), in cinema and computer graphics (the notion of 'morphing' as seen in, for instance, Willow and the Terminator movies), in biology. After that, I outline the most important scholarly approaches to metamorphosis in ancient Greece, and I explain what my own treatment will add: namely (Part I) a detailed analysis of specific narratives in different types of literature and art, followed by (Part II) an investigation into themes which recur in several genres.(2) Analysis of narratives: I examine how metamorphosis is explored in Homer's Odyssey, in Athenian tragedy and comedy, in visual art, and in some literary texts of the Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic periods. I want to highlight some important aspects of the works concerned, while at the same time keeping my eye on general questions like: What could have made the Greeks keep telling these stories?(3) Analysis of themes: I divide the material into four chapters: the gods; transformations of humans into features of the landscape; transformations of humans into plants/trees; thinkers who were sceptical of the whole idea of metamorphosis. In discussing the gods I investigate what the stories about the transformations of divinities tell us about Greek religion, including how we should locate Greek religion in relation to other religions (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hindu). In discussing humans transformed into landscape and plants or trees I put the question: did the Greeks really take such possibilities seriously? (My answer is: it all depends on the context.) Finally I listen to the voices of those who were sceptical about belief in metamorphosis; how representative of Greek opinion were these critics?(C) Potential applications and benefitsAn important question underlying all this research is: How should we interpret what we identify as 'strange' in the beliefs of another society? As well as contributing to our knowledge about the Greeks, asking this question is relevant more generally to historians and anthropologists; but it should also have resonance for any thoughtful member of a modern society who reflects on how one group of people thinks about another group which holds apparently 'strange' beliefs.

(A)研究背景：我的项目试图理解古希腊人讲述的关于惊人的身体变化的故事：神选择经历的变化，出于各种原因（当宙斯采用不同的形状来追求他的色情事务时）和凡人在极端情况下经历的变化（当Actaeon变成雄鹿作为看到女神裸体的惩罚时）。这个项目符合四个主要的研究背景：（1）以新的和日益复杂的方式理解希腊神话和宗教的持续兴趣;（2）学者们现在认为在接近另一个神话和宗教时，（或我们自己的）文化;（2）在后古典文学和艺术中对变形的表现所做的工作;（3）历史学家对不同文化如何分类和描述“奇迹”事件的研究。(B)目的和目标：我想探讨这样的问题：为什么希腊人要讲变形的故事？关于希腊人对他们的神的态度，变形的故事告诉了我们什么？希腊的变形叙事与其他文化有何不同？希腊人对这些传说有多认真？那些拒绝接受惊人变革的希腊人呢？这些问题构成了我为牛津大学出版社写的一本书的基础;我的研究项目旨在让我在休假结束时完成打字稿。我的论点有三个主要部分：（1）引言：我首先阐述了变形概念被理解的各种方式：在文学（奥维德、但丁、Kafka）中，在艺术（文艺复兴时期丰富的视觉传统，其现代继承者如达利）中，在电影和计算机图形学（“变形”的概念，如杨柳和终结者电影）中，在生物学中。在此之后，我概述了研究古希腊变形的最重要的学术方法，并解释了我自己的处理方法将增加的内容：即（第一部分）对不同类型的文学和艺术中的具体叙述进行详细分析，其次是（第二部分）对几种类型中反复出现的主题进行调查。(2)叙述分析：我研究如何变形是在荷马的奥德赛，在雅典的悲剧和喜剧，在视觉艺术，并在希腊化和后希腊化时期的一些文学文本探索。我想强调相关作品的一些重要方面，同时关注一些一般性的问题，比如：是什么让希腊人继续讲述这些故事？(3)主题分析：我将材料分为四个章节：神;人类转化为景观的特征;人类转化为植物/树木;怀疑整个变形观念的思想家。在讨论神的时候，我调查了关于神的转变的故事告诉我们关于希腊宗教的什么，包括我们应该如何定位希腊宗教与其他宗教（美索不达米亚，埃及，印度教）的关系。在讨论人类转化为景观和植物或树木时，我提出了一个问题：希腊人真的认真对待这种可能性吗？(My答案是：一切都取决于上下文）。最后，我倾听了那些对变态信仰持怀疑态度的人的声音;这些批评者在希腊人的意见中有多大的代表性？(C)潜在的应用和好处所有这些研究背后的一个重要问题是：我们应该如何解释我们在另一个社会的信仰中认为“奇怪”的东西？除了有助于我们了解希腊人，问这个问题更普遍地与历史学家和人类学家有关;但它也应该引起现代社会中任何有思想的成员的共鸣，他们反思一群人如何看待另一群人，他们持有明显的“奇怪”信仰。