本論文是以兩篇宴飲文學作品──柏拉圖（424/423-348/347 BCE）的《宴饗》與Methodius of Olympus（？-311 CE）的《宴饗》進行比較研究，作為檢視希臘羅馬異教文化和基督教文化之間關係的基礎。宴饗（Symposium）是古希臘重要的社會體制，屬於上層貴族階級的社會活動，排除一般公民的參與，但是對內講求平等精神。由這社會體制發展出的文類，主題多和宴飲本身有關，如飲酒、食物、愛與性或是用餐的禮儀與規範，具有包容多元意見的特性。因此基督教教父Methodius刻意模仿異教徒柏拉圖的作品，取用古典文學傳統來發展基督教思想的動機，則格外耐人尋味。本論文即針對這兩篇作品裡的主題：對身體之規範，特別是性及性別問題，進行探索。

古希臘的性論述須置於城邦（polis）脈絡中理解，強調親密接觸者之間主動與被動者的角色，而柏拉圖在《宴饗》中以男性同性戀以及極為特殊之pederasty體制為探索對象，視之為理解最高哲學本質：「理型」的動力。另方面，Methodius的《宴饗》則是以守貞為最高尚之身體規範，也是得到贖救的捷徑。這些關於身體規範的討論以及它們與真理之間的關係，分別構成兩個文化的核心議題。

Methodius的作品除了形式上模仿柏拉圖之外，在精神上似亦有雷同。兩者皆與主流文化的價值觀相悖，皆貶抑肉體：柏拉圖認為同性戀產下不朽的思想，Methodius則認為守貞優於其他的身體選項。此外，異教和基督教對性關係的看法同樣具有階層順序，且都將之視為企及終極目標的途徑：由Eros和基督扮演媒介的角色，讓同性戀行為提供哲學追求的動力，以及守貞作為獲得贖救的前提，而且這種過程是高度感受性、情緒性的體驗，非純粹理性與邏輯可概括。

儘管我們對Methodius本人的認識相對缺乏，但他對貞潔的廣泛討論，四世紀教父們皆難出其右。這或許是symposium文類所被賦予的特性，提供一個可以充分包容及討論各種可能性的論述空間。對於這位在教會史上被忽略之教父的重要性，我們應給予重新肯定。但Methodius之後，教父們對身體規範的見解逐漸僵化及教條，是否象徵著基督教對身體規範之教誨逐漸不容異議，所以饗宴的文類也不復可見？

This is an inquiry into how the relatively unknown church father Methodius of Olympus (?-311 CE) appropriated the classical tradition he inherited by a comparison of his Symposium with that of Plato (427-347 BCE). It is an in-depth analysis of texts by a comparative method in the examination of related social institution, genre and topic in both texts. Both Symposiums are structured with an insight that a certain kind of physical regulation could be closely bounded to the pursuit of truth: in Plato it is eros (male homosexuality above all) leading one to a love of beauty that became the first step to the final grasp of Form while in Methodius it is female virginity that constitutes a precondition for a prelapsarian return and for a final salvation.

Besides these two texts, there is a brief review of related texts ranging from the classical authors, via New Testament and Apocryphal Acts, to the church fathers in the late Roman Empire. All of these are used as a foil for an illumination of these two key texts in their paradigmatic discourses on sexuality and truth. This thesis will prove that Methodius is an excellent reader and interpreter of Plato both in his depth of thinking though never losing sight of his Christian faith and in his mastery of the skill and epistemology implied in the symposium as a literary genre. This research therefore provides an insight into how a church father transformed a classical text of homosexuality into a masterpiece on Christian virginity.

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（二）中文
翁嘉聲，〈身體與政體 身體之社會建構：對希臘Pederasty及同性戀之初步探討〉，《成大西洋史集刊》，第7期，臺南：國立成功大學歷史學系，1997，頁1-109。
翁嘉聲，〈赫希爾德，潘朵拉及希臘厭惡女人之傳統〉，《成大西洋史集刊》，第8期，臺南：國立成功大學歷史學系，1998，頁1-70。
翁嘉聲，〈希臘舊喜劇之嘉年華理論並試論亞里士多芬尼斯之《雅典女人在婦女節》〉，《成大西洋史集刊》，第9期，臺南：國立成功大學歷史學系，1999，頁1-125。
翁嘉聲，〈柏拉圖是古代的女性主義者嗎？三論柏拉圖對女性的討論〉，《成大西洋史集刊》，第10期，臺南：國立成功大學歷史學系，2002，頁7-91。
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