半斤八两
Nolan's Odysseus is no Homeric hero, but a guilt-ridden modern who accidentally speaks Confucian: Greek scholar_我的网站
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新华社巴黎7月26日电 题：巴黎奥运会倒计时两周年：浪漫过后，更需应对现实挑战新华社记者肖亚卓、胡雪2024年7月26日，第33届夏季奥林匹克运动会将在法国首都巴黎正式开幕，在倒计时两周年这一重要时间节点，巴黎奥组委揭晓了巴黎奥运会与残奥会的口号——奥运更开放（Games Wide Open）。 
We shall first consider some of the positive and negative appraisals of the film, before turning to its significance for Chinese viewers and, more broadly, to possible comparisons between the philosophical and cultural traditions of East and West. This commentary draws primarily on reviews by Emily Wilson in the London Review of Books and in The Atlantic, and Daniel Mendelsohn in the New York Review of Books, as well as on questions raised by Zhong Shu.
It should first be acknowledged that Nolan has produced an impressive action movie, condensing and abridging most of the major episodes of Odysseus' adventurous journey back to Ithaca. Avoiding digital technology based on artificial screens, he gives the story an unusually tangible quality.
The film also benefits from a distinguished cast, whose performances illuminate the different strands of the narrative as conceived by the director. At the same time, the viewer is invited to reconstruct the complex temporal layers of the epic, extending from the fall of Troy to Odysseus' homecoming (nostos), his reunion with Telemachus and Penelope, and the harsh punishment of the suitors.
Many objections concerning anachronisms in costumes and armor, the use of American English, details of the Mycenaean or Archaic periods, or the casting of particular characters seem unfair. Some degree of anachronism is inevitable, and the pursuit of historical or textual fidelity would ultimately be futile. Nolan was obliged to omit or substantially rework parts of the original narrative in order to fit it into a three-hour film. Some omissions are nevertheless regrettable -- notably the treatment of the Cyclops episode and Odysseus' descent into the Underworld, as well as the complete omission of the Phaeacian episode and his encounter with Nausicaa.
There are, however, more serious grounds for concern with regard to the central idea underlying Nolan's reinterpretation of the Odyssey. In his attempt to convey a modern moral message largely alien to Homer's world, Nolan presents an Odysseus who has surprisingly little in common with the "complicated" (polytropos) man depicted by the ancient poet. The ethical ambiguities of a shrewd and resourceful character, ready to deceive and to commit violence in pursuit of his ends, are largely absent from Matt Damon's Odysseus. Instead, we encounter a hero repeatedly tormented by guilt for atrocities perpetrated or condoned during the Trojan War and consequently seeking some form of atonement.
Zhong Shu is therefore justified in asking Nolan whether he intends to "Christianize" Odysseus. The filmmaker seems to have moved him, almost imperceptibly, from what anthropologists have described as a "shame culture" -- the world of Homer, in which honor and fame, as perceived by others, are of central importance -- to a "guilt culture," characterized by an internalized sense of responsibility and remorse for wrongdoing. This latter moral orientation emerges with classical Greek ethics, particularly with Socrates and Plato, and reaches its fullest expression in Christian and post-Christian conceptions of morality.
Nolan appears to believe that such a transition toward guilt follows naturally once we recognize the force of a commitment to "Zeus' law," particularly in the obligations of mutual hospitality (xenia). He connects these obligations with a version of the "Golden Rule," understood as a principle of reciprocal respect in our treatment of others.
This, however, is problematic as a construal of Homeric morals. Early variants of the Golden Rule can be found from the fifth century BC onwards in Democritus and Isocrates, and later in Epictetus and, of course, in the teachings of Jesus. More importantly, the moral conscience Nolan attributes to Odysseus not only "Christianizes" him; it arguably "Kantianizes" him as well. "Zeus' law" is presented almost as a universal proto-categorical imperative, something that could readily be endorsed by Kant. This differs significantly from the ancient injunction against hybris: the warning against excessive pride, the transgression of human limits, and the violation of the divine and cosmological order that we encounter throughout Homer's epics.
One may, of course, concede to Nolan the artistic right to create his own Odysseus: a depressed war veteran, conscious of the dangers of violating moral rules, and concerned with preserving the normative foundations of civilization. The difficulty lies elsewhere. Nolan's attempt to accommodate this new hero and his moral psychology within the narrative framework of the original Odyssey is not entirely successful. The result is a tension between the Homeric story the film seeks to reconstruct and the modern moral drama superimposed upon it. This tension, I believe, accounts for much of the film's weakness.
When we turn, however, to the horizon of the Chinese tradition, a more intriguing possibility emerges. The moral dimension of Nolan's Odysseus may be closer to certain aspects of Confucian thought than to the Homeric model. Confucian relational role ethics can be interpreted as encouraging a form of moral self-consciousness in which responsibility, integrity, and the cultivation of the self become increasingly internalized. In this qualified sense, one might speak of a movement from "shame" towards something resembling a "guilt" culture.
The Golden Rule is also prominent in Confucian teaching. Furthermore, the demand to examine and rectify one's conduct in accordance with yi (righteousness), while cultivating ren (benevolence or humaneness), can be understood as pointing toward a more inward and spiritual form of the Greek nostos: a return not simply to one's geographical home, but to one's moral center, situated within a network of relationships.
In addition, Nolan's relative downplaying of divine intervention, and his tendency to integrate the divine dimension into a more naturalistic moral order, may make his construal more congenial to the practical ethos of Chinese philosophy than to a worldview grounded explicitly in metaphysical theology.
There is, therefore, a certain paradox. Although Nolan's film may be criticized as an interpretation of Homer, its very misreading of the epic may enable it to contribute to a dialogue between East and West. By transforming Odysseus into a figure whose moral conscience combines Christian, Kantian, and perhaps unexpectedly Confucian elements, Nolan brings into contact traditions that otherwise belong to very different intellectual worlds. His Odyssey is not true to Homer's spirit. But precisely for this reason, it raises questions about how different civilizations understand responsibility, moral identity, the relation between the individual and the community, and, ultimately, the meaning of returning home.
The author is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Secretary of the Center of Greek and Chinese Civilizations. [email protected]
。无论是官方发布的宣传片，还是巴黎奥组委主席埃斯坦盖在接受采访时对这一口号的解读，无不透露着法国人对本届奥运会的宏大愿景——更开放、更包容、打破各种隔阂与限制，给奥林匹克运动带来一次前所未有的创新。塞纳河上的开幕式、市中心协和广场的运动公园、比赛场地融入著名景点，这些种种打破常规的设想，无不彰显着法国人的浪漫气质。然而，浪漫过后，终究还得面临实际问题。随着巴黎奥运会日益临近，包括安保隐患、预算超支在内的种种问题日益凸显，成为组委会乃至法国政府必须面对的严峻考验。今年5月底在巴黎举行的欧冠决赛，因赛前球迷入场的混乱造成比赛推迟36分钟才开哨，赛后当地警方和球迷的互相指责引人关注，这也进一步引发了人们对巴黎奥运会安保问题的担忧。毕竟，相比一场足球赛，奥运会的时间跨度长得多，涉及的人员规模也要大得多。
We shall first consider some of the positive and negative appraisals of the film, before turning to its significance for Chinese viewers and, more broadly, to possible comparisons between the philosophical and cultural traditions of East and West. This commentary draws primarily on reviews by Emily Wilson in the London Review of Books and in The Atlantic, and Daniel Mendelsohn in the New York Review of Books, as well as on questions raised by Zhong Shu.
It should first be acknowledged that Nolan has produced an impressive action movie, condensing and abridging most of the major episodes of Odysseus' adventurous journey back to Ithaca. Avoiding digital technology based on artificial screens, he gives the story an unusually tangible quality.
The film also benefits from a distinguished cast, whose performances illuminate the different strands of the narrative as conceived by the director. At the same time, the viewer is invited to reconstruct the complex temporal layers of the epic, extending from the fall of Troy to Odysseus' homecoming (nostos), his reunion with Telemachus and Penelope, and the harsh punishment of the suitors.
Many objections concerning anachronisms in costumes and armor, the use of American English, details of the Mycenaean or Archaic periods, or the casting of particular characters seem unfair. Some degree of anachronism is inevitable, and the pursuit of historical or textual fidelity would ultimately be futile. Nolan was obliged to omit or substantially rework parts of the original narrative in order to fit it into a three-hour film. Some omissions are nevertheless regrettable -- notably the treatment of the Cyclops episode and Odysseus' descent into the Underworld, as well as the complete omission of the Phaeacian episode and his encounter with Nausicaa.
There are, however, more serious grounds for concern with regard to the central idea underlying Nolan's reinterpretation of the Odyssey. In his attempt to convey a modern moral message largely alien to Homer's world, Nolan presents an Odysseus who has surprisingly little in common with the "complicated" (polytropos) man depicted by the ancient poet. The ethical ambiguities of a shrewd and resourceful character, ready to deceive and to commit violence in pursuit of his ends, are largely absent from Matt Damon's Odysseus. Instead, we encounter a hero repeatedly tormented by guilt for atrocities perpetrated or condoned during the Trojan War and consequently seeking some form of atonement.
Zhong Shu is therefore justified in asking Nolan whether he intends to "Christianize" Odysseus. The filmmaker seems to have moved him, almost imperceptibly, from what anthropologists have described as a "shame culture" -- the world of Homer, in which honor and fame, as perceived by others, are of central importance -- to a "guilt culture," characterized by an internalized sense of responsibility and remorse for wrongdoing. This latter moral orientation emerges with classical Greek ethics, particularly with Socrates and Plato, and reaches its fullest expression in Christian and post-Christian conceptions of morality.
Nolan appears to believe that such a transition toward guilt follows naturally once we recognize the force of a commitment to "Zeus' law," particularly in the obligations of mutual hospitality (xenia). He connects these obligations with a version of the "Golden Rule," understood as a principle of reciprocal respect in our treatment of others.
This, however, is problematic as a construal of Homeric morals. Early variants of the Golden Rule can be found from the fifth century BC onwards in Democritus and Isocrates, and later in Epictetus and, of course, in the teachings of Jesus. More importantly, the moral conscience Nolan attributes to Odysseus not only "Christianizes" him; it arguably "Kantianizes" him as well. "Zeus' law" is presented almost as a universal proto-categorical imperative, something that could readily be endorsed by Kant. This differs significantly from the ancient injunction against hybris: the warning against excessive pride, the transgression of human limits, and the violation of the divine and cosmological order that we encounter throughout Homer's epics.
One may, of course, concede to Nolan the artistic right to create his own Odysseus: a depressed war veteran, conscious of the dangers of violating moral rules, and concerned with preserving the normative foundations of civilization. The difficulty lies elsewhere. Nolan's attempt to accommodate this new hero and his moral psychology within the narrative framework of the original Odyssey is not entirely successful. The result is a tension between the Homeric story the film seeks to reconstruct and the modern moral drama superimposed upon it. This tension, I believe, accounts for much of the film's weakness.
When we turn, however, to the horizon of the Chinese tradition, a more intriguing possibility emerges. The moral dimension of Nolan's Odysseus may be closer to certain aspects of Confucian thought than to the Homeric model. Confucian relational role ethics can be interpreted as encouraging a form of moral self-consciousness in which responsibility, integrity, and the cultivation of the self become increasingly internalized. In this qualified sense, one might speak of a movement from "shame" towards something resembling a "guilt" culture.
The Golden Rule is also prominent in Confucian teaching. Furthermore, the demand to examine and rectify one's conduct in accordance with yi (righteousness), while cultivating ren (benevolence or humaneness), can be understood as pointing toward a more inward and spiritual form of the Greek nostos: a return not simply to one's geographical home, but to one's moral center, situated within a network of relationships.
In addition, Nolan's relative downplaying of divine intervention, and his tendency to integrate the divine dimension into a more naturalistic moral order, may make his construal more congenial to the practical ethos of Chinese philosophy than to a worldview grounded explicitly in metaphysical theology.
There is, therefore, a certain paradox. Although Nolan's film may be criticized as an interpretation of Homer, its very misreading of the epic may enable it to contribute to a dialogue between East and West. By transforming Odysseus into a figure whose moral conscience combines Christian, Kantian, and perhaps unexpectedly Confucian elements, Nolan brings into contact traditions that otherwise belong to very different intellectual worlds. His Odyssey is not true to Homer's spirit. But precisely for this reason, it raises questions about how different civilizations understand responsibility, moral identity, the relation between the individual and the community, and, ultimately, the meaning of returning home.
The author is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Secretary of the Center of Greek and Chinese Civilizations. [email protected]
。无论是官方发布的宣传片，还是巴黎奥组委主席埃斯坦盖在接受采访时对这一口号的解读，无不透露着法国人对本届奥运会的宏大愿景——更开放、更包容、打破各种隔阂与限制，给奥林匹克运动带来一次前所未有的创新。塞纳河上的开幕式、市中心协和广场的运动公园、比赛场地融入著名景点，这些种种打破常规的设想，无不彰显着法国人的浪漫气质。然而，浪漫过后，终究还得面临实际问题。随着巴黎奥运会日益临近，包括安保隐患、预算超支在内的种种问题日益凸显，成为组委会乃至法国政府必须面对的严峻考验。今年5月底在巴黎举行的欧冠决赛，因赛前球迷入场的混乱造成比赛推迟36分钟才开哨，赛后当地警方和球迷的互相指责引人关注，这也进一步引发了人们对巴黎奥运会安保问题的担忧。毕竟，相比一场足球赛，奥运会的时间跨度长得多，涉及的人员规模也要大得多。
二 | 尤其是在塞纳河边这场计划由60万人参与的开幕式大派对，更成为所有人担心的焦点。就在倒计时两周年的前一天，法国总统马克龙召集多位有关部门的政府高级官员以及巴黎奥组委的负责人召开了一次线下会议，讨论的重点之一就是如何应对奥运期间的安全问题。据法国媒体透露，法国政府甚至不排除最终会调动军队来维持开幕式现场的秩序，防止意外情况的发生。
三 | 具体到赛事期间，法国政府有可能将推迟包括环法在内的多项体育赛事及文化活动，优先保证奥运期间的安保力量需求。法国内政部官员在26日接受采访时表示，届时每天参与安保工作的警力将达到11000人。毫无疑问，增强安保力量相应地会带来另一个问题——预算成本的增加。近几个月来，一直有传闻法国政府要征收“奥运税”以应对举办奥运预算超支的问题，尽管总统马克龙已在近日否定了这一传闻，但依然无法打消各方对于奥运会花钱超支的担忧。巴黎奥运会的预算包括两部分——其中一部分约38.7亿欧元为巴黎奥组委的办赛费用，这笔费用的来源主要包括国际奥委会的补贴、商业赞助以及票务收入等；而另一部分大约有32亿欧元则交由一家名为奥运工程交付公司（SOLIDEO）的机构，负责奥运相关的场馆以及基础设施建设等。目前来看，由于通货膨胀带来的人力及原材料价格的上涨，场馆和基础设施建设面临的预算超支问题将更为严峻。如何保证所有场馆及基础设施按期交付，同时又将支出成本控制在合理范围之内，将考验所有相关方的智慧。对于现代奥林匹克运动来说，巴黎是一座绕不开的城市，这里是现代奥林匹克之父顾拜旦的出生地，1900年、1924年这里曾两次举办过奥运会。百年之后，奥运再回“浪漫之都”，难免让人对这届奥运会有着非同寻常的期待。巴黎奥组委希望借助这次奥运会，向全世界展现巴黎丰厚的历史文化底蕴，正如巴黎奥组委主席埃斯坦盖所说，要将奥运融入巴黎的壮丽之中，而这也是那些天马行空的方案背后的灵感来源。理想很丰满，但现实很骨感。对于巴黎奥组委甚至法国政府来说，接下来两年的筹办工作将充满挑战。
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