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Once we realize out of what substance the Promethean dramatists before Euripides had formed their heroes and how far it had been from their thoughts to bring onto the stage a true replica of actuality,
如果你知道，在欧氏之前，普罗密修斯悲剧作家们塑造英雄人物时取材于甚么，把现实的真面影搬上舞台的做法和他们的意图相去多么遥远；
we shall see clearly how utterly different were Euripides' intentions.
那末，你对于欧氏这种背道而驰的倾向，就会恍然大悟了。
Through him the common man found his way from the auditorium onto the stage.
全凭他的力量，日常生活中的人物得以从观众座席闯入舞台；
That mirror, which previously had shown only the great and bold features,
戏剧这面镜子，以前只反映粗豪雄伟的线条，
now took on the kind of accuracy that reflects also the paltry traits of nature.
现在却照出了惨淡的真相，甚或有意地再现自然的败笔。
Odysseus, the typical Greek of older art, declined under the hands of the new poets to the character of Graeculus, who henceforth held the center of the stage as the good humored, cunning slave.
奥德修斯，古代艺术中的典型希腊人，现在，在新兴诗人们的笔下，业已沦落为格拉库罗斯之流的形象；从此之后，这种和气的狡猾的家奴便占据了戏剧趣味的中心地位。
The merit which Euripides, in Aristophanes' Frogs, attributes to himself, of having by his nostrum rid tragic art of its pompous embonpoint, is apparent in every one of his tragic heroes.
阿里斯托芬的“蛙”所以推崇欧里庇德斯，是因为欧氏的家常便药挽救了悲剧艺术于浮夸的臃肿病。这功绩首先表现在他的悲剧人物上。
Now every spectator could behold his exact counterpart on the Euripidean stage and was delighted to find him so eloquent.
现在，观众在欧里庇德斯的剧中真是如见自己的面影，如闻自己的歆咳，而且欣然赏识剧中人的话说得这么美好。
But that was not the only pleasure.
然而，不仅欣赏而已，
People themselves learned to speak from Euripides--don't we hear him boast, in his contest with Aeschylus, that through him the populace had learned to observe, make transactions and form conclusions according to all the rules of art, with the utmost cleverness?
你还可以向欧里庇德斯学习讲话的技巧；他同埃斯库罗斯论战时，就以能言善辩自豪，去观察，辩论，取得结论。
It was through this revolution in public discourse that the new comedy became possible.
要之，他通过改革日常语言为“新喜剧”创造了条件。
From now on the stock phrases to represent everyday affairs were ready to hand.
因为，从此之后，陈言俗语怎样在舞台上表达得恰到好处，就再不是一个秘密了。
While hitherto the character of dramatic speech had been determined by the demigod in tragedy and the drunken satyr in comedy, that bourgeois mediocrity in which Euripides placed all his political hopes now came to the fore.
平凡的市民，是欧里庇德斯一切政治希望所寄托，现在已有了发言之权，但是以前却是由悲剧中的神人，和喜剧中的醉鬼萨提儿或人妖，来决定语言的性质。
And so the Aristophanic Euripides could pride himself on having portrayed life "as it really is" and shown men how to attack it:
所以，阿里斯托芬剧中的欧里庇德斯所引以为荣的一点，是他刻划出最普通、最熟识、最平凡的生活和追求，而且人人都有能力予以评判。
if now all members of the populace were able to philosophize, plead their cases in court and make their business deals with incredible shrewdness,
如果说所有平民大众都能够独立思考，能够非常慎重地管理土地财产和进行诉讼，
the merit was really his, the result of that wisdom he had inculcated in them.
现这都是他的功劳，和他以智慧启迪民众的辉煌成绩。
