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 ▼

THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

 THE

POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

EDITED

WITH CRITICAL NOTES AND A TRANSLATION

BY

S. H. BUTCHER
PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH ; FORMERLY FELLOW OF
TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE , AND OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD ;
HON. LL.D. GLASGOW HON. LITT.D. DUBLIN

THIRD EDITION REVISED

London
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1902

All rights reserved

First Edition 1895
Second Edition 1898
Third Edition 1902

276.513411
 2447

1902
2002

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

THE following Text and Translation of the Poetics

form part of the volume entitled Aristotle's Theory
ofPoetry and Fine Art, second edition (Macmillan
and Co. , 1898). In this edition the Critical Notes
are enlarged, and the Translation has been care-
fully revised. The improvements in the Translation
are largely due to the invaluable aid I have received
from my friend and colleague, Professor W. R.
Hardie. To him I would express my warmest
thanks, and also to another friend, Professor
Tyrrell, who has most kindly read through the
proof - sheets, and talked over and elucidated
various questions of interpretation and criticism.
In making use of the mass of critical material
which has appeared in recent years, especially in
Germany, I have found it necessary to observe a
strict principle of selection, my aim still being
to keep the notes within limited compass. They
are not intended to form a complete Apparatus
Criticus, still less to do duty for a commentary.
I trust, however, that no variant or conjectural
V

483
vi THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

emendation of much importance has been over-

looked.
In the first edition I admitted into the text
conjectural emendations of my own in the following
passages :-iii. 3 : xix. 3 : xxiii. 1 : xxiv. 10 :
xxv. 4 : xxv. 14 : xxv. 16. Of these, one or two
appear to have carried general conviction (in
particular, xxiii. 1) : two are now withdrawn, —
iii. 3 and xxv. 14, the latter in favour of < οἱονοῦν >
(Tucker).
In the first edition, moreover, I bracketed, in
a
certain number of passages, words which I
regarded as glosses that had crept into the text,
viz.:-iii. 1 : vi. 18 : xvii. 1 : xvii. 5. In vi. 18
I now give Gomperz's correction τῶν λεγομένων, for
the bracketed words τῶν μὲν λόγων of the MSS. ,
and in xvii. 5 Bywater's conjecture ὅτι αὐτός for
[τινὰς αὐτός].
There remains a conjecture which I previously
relegated to the notes, but which I now
take into the text with some confidence. It
has had the good fortune to win the approval of
many scholars, including the distinguished names
of Professor Susemihl and Professor Tyrrell. I
refer to οὐ (οὕτω MSS.) τὰ τυχόντα ὀνόματα in
ix. 5. 1451 b 13, where the Arabic has ' names
not given at random.' For the copyist's error
cf. ix. 2. 1451 a 36, where Aº has οὕτω, though
οὐ τὸ rightly appears in the ' apographa ' : and for
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION vii

a similar omission of oὐ in Aº cf. vi. 12. 1450 a 29,

οὐ ποιήσει ὁ ἦν τῆς τραγῳδίας ἔργον, the indispensable
negative being added in ' apographa ' and found
in the Arabic. The emendation not only gives a
natural instead of a strained sense to the words
τὰ τυχόντα ὀνόματα, but also fits in better with
the general context, as I have argued in Aristotle's
Theory of Poetry, etc. (ed. 3 pp. 375-8).
Another conjecture of my own I have ventured
to admit into the text. In the much disputed
passage, vi. 8. 1450 a 12, I read <πάντες> ὡς εἰπεῖν
for οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν ὡς εἰπεῖν of the MSS., follow-
ing the guidance of Diels and of the Arabic. I
regard οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν as a gloss which displaced
part of the original phrase (see Critical Notes). As
a parallel case I have adduced Rhet. i. 1. 1354 a
12, where οὐδὲν ὡς εἰπεῖν, the reading in the
margin of Aº, ought, I think, to be substituted in
the text for the accepted reading ὀλίγον. The
word ὀλίγον is a natural gloss on οὐδὲν ὡς εἰπεῖν,
but not so οὐδὲν ὡς εἰπεῖν οι ὀλίγον .
In two other difficult passages the Rhetoric
may again be summoned to our aid. In xvii. 1 .
1455 a 27 I have (as in the first edition) bracketed
τὸν θεατήν, the object to be supplied with ἐλάνθανεν
being, as I take it, the poet, not the audience.
This I have now illustrated by another gloss of
a precisely similar kind in Rhet. i. 2. 1358 a 8,
where λανθάνουσίν τε [τοὺς ἀκροατὰς] has long been
b
viii THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

recognised as the true reading, the suppressed

object being not the audience but the rhetoricians.
Once more, in xxiv. 9. 1460 a 23, where A
gives the meaningless ἄλλου δέ, I read (as in the
first edition) ἀλλ' οὐδέ, following the reviser of Aº.
This reading, which was accepted long ago by
Vettori, has been strangely set aside by the chief
modern editors, who either adopt a variant ἄλλο
δὲ or resort to conjecture, with the result that
προσθεῖναι at the end of the sentence is forced into
impossible meanings. A passage in the Rhetoric,
i. 2. 1357 a 17 ff., appears to me to determine the
question conclusively in favour of ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ..

ἀνάγκη προσθεῖναι.. The passage runs thus :

...

ἐὰν γὰρ ᾖ τι τούτων γνώριμον, οὐδὲ δεῖ λέγειν · αὐτὸς

γὰρ τοῦτο προστίθησιν ὁ ἀκροατής, οἷον ὅτι Δωριεὺς
στεφανίτην ἀγῶνα νενίκηκεν, ἱκανὸν εἰπεῖν ὅτι Ὀλύμπια
γὰρ νενίκηκεν, τὸ δ᾽ ὅτι στεφανίτης τὰ Ὀλύμπια, οὐδὲ
δεῖ προσθεῖναι · γιγνώσκουσι γὰρ πάντες. The general
idea is closely parallel to our passage of thePoetics,
and the expression of it similar even to the word
οὐδέ (where the bare oὐ might have been expected)
in the duplicated phrase οὐδὲ δεῖ λέγειν, οὐδὲ δεῖ
προσθεῖναι. One difficulty still remains. The sub-
ject to εἶναι ἢ γενέσθαι is omitted. To supply it
in thought is not, perhaps, impossible, but it is
exceedingly harsh, and I have accordingly in this
edition accepted Professor Tucker's conjecture,
ἀνάγκη < κἀκεῖνο > εἶναι ἢ γενέσθαι.
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION ix

The two conjectures of my own above mentioned

are based on or corroborated by the Arabic. I
ought to add, that in the Text and Critical Notes
generally I have made a freer use than before of
the Arabic version (concerning which see p. 4).
But it must be remembered that only detached
passages, literally rendered into Latin in Professor
Margoliouth's Analecta Orientalia (D. Nutt 1887),
are as yet accessible to those like myself who are
not Arabic scholars ; and that even if the whole
were before us in a literal translation, it could not
safely be used by any one unfamiliar with Syriac
and Arabic, save with the utmost caution and
subject to the advice of experts. Of the precise
value of this version for the criticism of the
text, no final estimate can yet be made. But it
seems clear that in several passages it carries us
back to a Greek original earlier than any of our
existing MSS. Two striking instances may here
be noted :-

(1) i. 6-7. 1447 a 29 ff., where the Arabic

confirms Ueberweg's excision of ἐποποιία and the
insertion of ἀνώνυμος before τυγχάνουσα, accord-
ing to the brilliant conjecture of Bernays (see
Margoliouth, Analecta Orientalia, p. 47).
(2) xxi. 1. 1457 a 36, where for μεγαλιωτῶν of
the MSS. Diels has, by the aid of the Arabic,
restored the word Μασσαλιωτῶν, and added a most
ingenious and convincing explanation of Ἑρμοκαϊ
X THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

κόξανθος (see Critical Notes). This emendation

is introduced for the first time into the present
edition. Professor Margoliouth tells me that
Diels' restoration of ἐπευξάμενοs in this passage is
confirmed by the fact that the same word is
employed in the Arabic of Aristotle's Rhetoric
to render εὔχεσθαι.
Another result of great importance has been
established. In some fifty instances where the
Arabic points to a Greek original diverging from
the text of Aº, it confirms the reading found in
one or other of the ' apographa,' or conjectures
made either at the time of the Renaissance or in
a more recent period. It would be too long to
enumerate the passages here ; they will be found
noted as they occur. In most of these examples
the reading attested by the Arabic commands our
undoubting assent. It is, therefore, no longer
possible to concede to As the unique authority
claimed for it by Vahlen.
I have consulted by the side of Professor
Margoliouth's book various criticisms of it, e.g. by
Susemihl in Berl. Phil. Wochenschr. 1891, p. 1546,
and by Diels in Sitzungsber. der Berl. Akad.
1888, p. 49. But I have also enjoyed the special
benefit of private communication with Professor
Margoliouth himself upon a number of difficulties
not dealt with in his Analecta Orientalia. He has
most generously put his learning at my disposal,
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION xi

and furnished me, where it was possible to do so,

with a literal translation. In some instances the
Arabic is itself obscure, and throws no light on
the difficulty ; frequently, however, I have been
enabled to indicate in the notes whether the exist-
ing text is supported by the Arabic or not.
In the following passages I have in this edition
adopted emendations which are suggested or con-
firmed by the Arabic, but which did not find a
place in the first edition :-
ii. 3. 1448 a 15, ὥσπερ οἱ τοὺς 1
vi. 7. 1450 a 17, < ὁ δὲ βίος>, omitting καὶ εὐδαιμονίας
καὶ ἡ εὐδαιμονία of the MSS.
xi. 6. 1452 b 10, [τούτων δὲ ..

εἴρηται]
xviii. 6. 1456 a 24, < καὶ> εἰκὸς 2
xx. 5. 1456 b 35, < οὐκ> ἄνευ 2
xxi. 1. 1457 a 34, [καὶ ἀσήμου]. The literal trans-
lation of the Arabic is ' and of this some is
compounded of significant and insignificant,
only not in so far as it is significant in the
noun '

xxi. 1. 1457 a 36, Μασσαλιωτῶν (see above, p. ix.)

xxv. 17. 1461 b 12, < καὶ ἴσως ἀδύνατον >

I hesitate to add to this list of corroborated

conjectures that of Dacier, now admitted into the
text of xxiii. 1. 1459 a 21 , καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις
τὰς συνθέσεις, for καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις

1 In ed. 3 I simply give the MSS. reading in the text, ὥσπερ

tyast.
2 In ed. 3 the words here added are omitted in the text.
xii THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

of the MSS. The Arabic, as I learn from Professor

Margoliouth, is literally ' and in so far as he does
not introduce (or, there do not enter) into these
compositions stories which resemble.' This version
appears to deviate both from our text and from
Dacier's conjecture. There is nothing here to
correspond to συνήθεις of the MSS.; on the other
hand, though συνθέσεις may in some form have
appeared in the Greek original, it is not easy to
reconstruct the text which the translation implies.
Another conjecture, communicated privately to
me by Mr. T. M'Vey, well deserves mention. It
involves the simpler change of ὁμοίας τo οἵας. The
sense then is, ' and must not be like the ordinary
histories ' ; the demonstr. τοιούτους being sunk in
οΐας, so that oἷαι ἱστορίαι αἱ συνήθεις becomes by
attraction, οἵας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις.
I subjoin a few other notes derived from corre-
spondence with Professor Margoliouth :-
(a) Passages where the Arabic confirms the
reading of the MSS. as against proposed emenda-
tion :-
iv. 14. 1449 a 27, ἐκβαίνοντες τῆς λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας :
Arabic, ' when we depart from dialectic com-
position.' (The meaning, however, is obviously
misunderstood. )
vi. 18. 1450 b 13, τῶν μὲν λόγων : Arabic, ' of the
speech.' The μέν is not represented, but, owing
to the Syriac form of that particle being identical
with the Syriac for the preposition ' of,' it was
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION xiii

likely to be omitted here by the translator or

copyist.
xviii. 1. 1455 b 25. The Arabic agrees with the
MSS. as to the position of πολλάκις, ' as for
things which are from without and certain things
from within sometimes.'
xviii. 5. 1456 a 19, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἁπλοῖς πράγμασι : Arabic,
' and in the simple matters.'
xix. 2. 1456 a 38, τὰ πάθη παρασκευάζειν : Arabic,
' to prepare the sufferings.'
More doubtful is xvii. 2. 1455 a 30 , ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς
φύσεως : Arabic, ' in one and the same nature.'
The Arabic mode of translation is not decisive as
between the MSS. reading and the conjecture ἀπ᾿
αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως, but rather favours the former.
(b) Passages where the conjectural omission of
words is apparently supported by the Arabic :-
ix. 9. 1451 b 31, οἷα ἂν εἰκὸς γενέσθαι καὶ δυνατὰ γενέ-
σθαι : Arabic, ' there is nothing to prevent the
condition of some things being therein like those
which are supposed to be. But we can hardly
say with certainty which of the two phrases the
Arabic represents.
xvi. 4. 1454 b 31, οἷον Ορέστης ἐν τῇ Ἰφιγενείᾳ
ἀνεγνώρισεν ὅτι Ορέστης : Arabic, ' as in that
which is called Iphigenia, and that is whereby
Iphigenia argued that it was Orestes.' This
seems to point to the omission of the first
Ορέστης.1
1 Vahlen (Hermeneutische Bemerkungen zu Aristoteles' Poetik ii.
1898, pp. 3-4) maintains that the inference drawn from the Arabic
is doubtful, and he adds strong objections on other grounds to Diels'
excision of the first Ορέστης.
xiv THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

In neither of these passages, however, have I

altered the MSS. reading.
(c) Passages on which the Arabic throws no
light :-
i. 9. 1447 b 22. The only point of interest that
emerges is that in the Arabic rendering (' of all
the metres we ought to call him poet ') there is
no trace of καί, which is found alike in Aº and
the ' apographa.'
x. 3. 1452 a 20. The words γίγνεσθαι ταῦτα are
simply omitted in the Arabic.
xxv. 18. 1461 b 18, ὥστε καὶ αὐτὸν MSS. The line
containing these words is not represented in the
Arabic.

xxv. 19. 1461 b 19, ὅταν μὴ ἀνάγκης οὔσης μηδὲν . . .

...

The words in the Arabic are partly obliterated,

partly corrupt.

In conclusion, I desire to acknowledge my

obligations to friends, such as Mr. B. Bosanquet
(whose History ofAesthetic ought to be in the hands
of all students of the subject), Dr. A. W. Verrall,
Mr. W. J. Courthope, Mr. A. O. Prickard, and Rev.
Dr. Lock, who have written me notes on particular
points, and to many reviewers by whose criticism I
have profited. In a special sense I am indebted to
Professor Susemihl for his review of my first edition
in the Berl. Phil. Wochenschr., 28th September
1895, as well as for the instruction derived from his
numerous articles on the Poetics, extending over
many years in Bursian's Jahresbericht and else
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION XV

where. Among other reviewers to whom I feel

grateful, I would mention Mr. Herbert Richards
in the Classical Review, May 1895 ; Mr. R. P.
Hardie in Mind, vol. iv. No. 15 ; and the authors
of the unsigned articles in the Saturday Review,
2nd March 1895, and the Oxford Magazine, 12th
June 1895 .
To Messrs. R. & R. Clark's Reader I would once
again express no merely formal thanks.

EDINBURGH, November 1897 .

62
 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

In the revision of the Text and the Critical Notes

I have had the advantage of consulting two new
editions, based on very different principles, those of
Professor Bywater and Professor Tucker, from both
of which I have derived assistance. In Professor
Bywater's edition I have noted the following passages
in which manuscript authority (Parisinus 2038) is
cited for readings which hitherto have been given
as conjectural :-i. 4. 1447 a 21 ; xi. 5. 1452 b 3
and 4 ; xv. 1. 1454 a 19 ; xviii. 1. 1455 b 32 ;
xxii. 7. 1458 b 20 and 29 ; xxiv. 8. 1460 a 13 ;
xxv. 4. 1460 b 19 ; xxv. 16. 1461 b 3 and 17,
1461 b 13 ; xxvi. 3. 1462 a 5 ; xxvi. 6. 1462 b 6.
I am also indebted to Professor Bywater's text
for several improvements in punctuation. Most
of his important emendations had appeared before
the publication of my earlier editions, and had
already found a place in the text or in the
notes .

I now append the chief passages in which the

xvii
xviii THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

text of this edition differs from that of the

last :-

vii. 6. 1451 a 9. Here I keep the reading of the

MSS., ὥσπερ ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτέ φασιν. Schmidt's
correction εἰώθασιν for φασίν seemed at first
sight to be confirmed by the Arabic, but, as
Vahlen argues (Hermeneutische Bemerkungen zu
Aristoteles' Poetik, 1897), this is doubtful, and
-a more fundamental objection-the question
arises whether the correction can, after all, con-
vey the sense intended. Can the words as
emended refer to a known practice in present
time, ' as is the custom on certain other occasions
also,' i.e. in certain other contests, the ἀγῶνες of
the law-courts being thus suggested ? As to
this I have always had misgivings. Further
observation has convinced me that ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε
can only mean ' at some other time also,'
in an indefinite past or future. With φασίν
(sc. ἀγωνίσασθαι) the reference must be to the
past. This lands us in a serious difficulty, for
the use of the κλεψύδρα in regulating dramatic
representations is otherwise unheard of. Still
it is conceivable that a report of some such
old local custom had reached the ears of Aristotle,
and that he introduces it in a parenthesis with
the φασίν of mere hearsay.
ix. 7. 1451 b 21. I accept Welcker's 'Ανθεῖ for
ἄνθει. Professor Bywater is, I think, the first
editor who has admitted this conjecture into
the text.

xvii. 5. 1455 b 22. I restore the MSS. reading

ἀναγνωρίσας τινάς, which has been given up by
almost all editors, even the most conservative.
Hitherto a parallel was wanting for the required
 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION xix

meaning, ' havingmade certain persons acquainted

with him,' ' having caused them to recognise
him.' But Vahlen (Herm. Bemerk. 1898) has,
if I am not mistaken, established beyond question
this rare and idiomatic use of the verb by a
reference to Diodorus Siculus iv. 59. 6, and by
the corresponding use of γνωρίζω in Plut. Vit.
Thes. ch. xii.

xix. 3. 1456 b 8. For ἡδέα of the MSS. I now read

ἡ διάνοια. (Previously I had accepted Tyrwhitt's
correction ἤδη ἃ δεῖ.) This conjecture was first
made by Spengel, and strong arguments in its
favour have recently been urged by V. Wróbel
in a pamphlet in which this passage is discussed
(Leopoli 1900).
xxv. 6. 1458 b 12. For μέτρον I now read μέτριον
with Spengel. (So also Bywater.) Is it possible
that in xxvi. 6. 1462 b 7 we should similarly
read τῷ τοῦ μετρίου (μέτρου codd.) μήκει, ' a fair
standard of length ' ?

In xiv. 8-9. 1454 a 2-4 a much vexed question

is, I am disposed to think, cleared up by a simple
alteration proposed by Neidhardt, who in a 2 reads
κράτιστον for δεύτερον, and in a 4 δεύτερον for
κράτιστον. This change, however, I have not intro-
duced into the text.
The Arabic version once more throws interesting
light on a disputed reading. In xvii. 2. ἐκστατικοί
instead of ἐξεταστικοί is a conjecture supported by
one manuscript. In confirmation of this reading,
which has always seemed to me correct, I extract
the following note by Professor Margoliouth (Class.
XX THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

Rev. 1901, vol. xv. 54) :-' Professor Butcher ..

informed me that a continental scholar had asserted

that the Arabic read ἐκστατικοί for ἐξεταστικοί in
this passage. I had been unable to satisfy myself
about the Arabic word intended by the writer of
the Paris MS., and therefore could not confirm
this ; but I must regret my want of perspicacity,
for I have now no doubt that the word intended is
'ajabiyyīna, which is vulgar Arabic for " buffoons,"
literally " men of wonder." The Syriac translated
by this word will almost certainly have been
mathh'rānē, a literal translation of ἐκστατικοί,
which the Syriac translator probably thought
meant " men who produce ecstasies." The verb
ἐξίστασθαι is not unfrequently rendered by the
Syriac verb whence this word is derived.'
In a few other passages the Critical Notes or
Translation contain new matter ; e.g. ix. 8. 1451
b 23 ; xvi. 7. 1455 a 14 ; xxiv. 10. 1460 b 1 ;
xxvi. 6. 1462 b 7.
I cannot in concluding omit a word of cordial
thanks to Messrs. R. & R. Clark's accomplished
Reader.

EDINBURGH, October 1902.

 CONTENTS
PAGE

EDITIONS, TRANSLATIONS, ETC. xxiii

ANALYSIS OF ARISTOTLE'S Poetics 1

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 4

TEXT AND TRANSLATION OF THE Poetics 6

xxi
 EDITIONS, TRANSLATIONS, ETC.
THE following is a list of the chief editions and translations of the Poetics,
and of other writings relating to this treatise, arranged in chronological
order :-

Valla (G. ), Latin translation. Venice, 1498.

Aldine text, in Rhetores Graeci. Venice, Aldus, 1508.
Latin translation, with the summary of Averroes (ob. 1198). Venice,
Arrivabene, 1515.
Pazzi ( A. ) [Paccius], Aristotelis Poetica, per Alexandrum Paccium, patri-
tium Florentinum, in Latinum conversa. Venice, Aldus, 1536.
Trincaveli, Greek text. Venice, 1536.
Robortelli (Fr. ), In librum Aristotelis de Arte Poetica explicationes.
Florence, 1548.
Segni (B. ) , Rettorica e Poetica d' Aristotele tradotte di Greco in lingua
vulgare. Florence, 1549.
Maggi (V. ) [Madius], In Aristotelis librum de Poetica explanationes.
Venice, 1550.
Vettori (P. ) [ Victorius], Commentationes in primum librum Aristotelis de
Arte Poetarum. Florence, 1560.
Castelvetro (L. ), Poetica d' Aristotele vulgarizzata. Vienna, 1570 ; Basle,
1576.

Piccolomini ( A. ), Annotationi nel libro della Poetica d' Aristotele, con la

traduttione del medesimo libro in lingua volgare. Venice, 1575.
Casaubon (I. ), edition of Aristotle. Leyden, 1590.
Heinsius (D. ) recensuit. Leyden, 1610.
Goulston (T. ), Latin translation. London, 1623, and Cambridge, 1696.
Dacier, La Poétique traduite en Français, avec des remarques critiques.
Paris, 1692.
Batteux, Les quatres Poétiques d'Aristote, d'Horace, de Vida, de Des-
préaux, avec les traductions et des remarques par l'Abbé Batteux.
Paris, 1771 .
xxiii
xxiv THE POETICS OF ARISTOTLE

Winstanley (T.), commentary on Poetics. Oxford, 1780.

Reiz, De Poetica Liber. Leipzig, 1786.
Metastasio (P.), Estratto dell' Arte Poetica d' Aristotele e considerazioni su
la medesima. Paris, 1782.
Twining (T. ), Aristotle's Treatise on Poetry, Translated : with notes on the
Translation, and on the original ; and two Dissertations on Poetical
and Musical Imitation. London, 1789.
Pye (H. J. ), A Commentary illustrating the Poetic of Aristotle by examples
taken chiefly from the modern poets. To which is prefixed a new and
corrected edition of the translation of the Poetic. London, 1792.
Tyrwhitt (T. ), De Poetica Liber. Textum recensuit, versionem refinxit, et
animadversionibus illustravit Thomas Tyrwhitt. Oxford, 1794.
Buhle (J. T. ), De Poetica Liber. Göttingen, 1794.
Hermann (Godfrey), Ars Poetica cum commentariis. Leipzig, 1802.
Gräfenham (E. A. W. ), De Arte Poetica librum denuo recensuit, commen-
tariis illustravit, etc. Leipzig, 1821.
Raumer (Fr. v.), Ueber die Poetik des Aristotles und sein Verhältniss zu
den neuern Dramatikern. Berlin, 1829.
Spengel (L.), Ueber Aristoteles' Poetik in Abhandlungen der Münchener
Akad. philos. -philol. Cl. II. Munich, 1837.
Ritter (Fr. ), Ad codices antiquos recognitam, latine conversam, com-
mentario illustratam edidit Franciscus Ritter. Cologne, 1839.
Egger (M. E. ), Essai sur l'histoire de la Critique chez les Grecs, suivi de
la Poétique d'Aristote et d'extraits de ses Problèmes, avec traduction
française et commentaire. Paris, 1849 .
Bernays (Jacob), Grundzüge der verlorenen Abhandlung des Aristoteles
über Wirkung der Tragödie. Breslau, 1857 .
Saint-Hilaire (J. B. ), Poétique traduite en français et accompagnée de notes
perpétuelles. Paris, 1858.
Stahr (Adolf), Aristoteles und die Wirkung der Tragödie. Berlin, 1859.
Stahr (Adolf), German translation, with Introduction and notes. Stutt-
gart, 1860.
Liepert (J. ), Aristoteles über den Zweck der Kunst. Passau, 1862.
Susemihl (F. ), Aristoteles Ueber die Dichtkunst, Griechisch und Deutsch
und mit sacherklärenden Anmerkungen. Leipzig, 1865 and 1874.
Vahlen (J. ), Beiträge zu Aristoteles' Poetik. Vienna, 1865.
Spengel ( L. ), Aristotelische Studien IV. Munich, 1866.
Vahlen (J. ) recensuit. Berlin, 1867.
Teichmüller (G. ), Aristotelische Forschungen. I. Beiträge zur Erklärung
der Poetik des Aristoteles. II. Aristoteles' Philosophie der Kunst.
Halle, 1869.
Ueberweg (F. ), German translation and notes. Berlin, 1869.
 XXV
EDITIONS, TRANSLATIONS, ETC.

Reinkens (J. H.) , Aristoteles über Kunst, besonders über Tragödie.

Vienna, 1870.
Döring (A. ) , Die Kunstlehre des Aristoteles. Jena, 1870.
Ueberweg (F. ), Aristotelis Ars Poetica ad fidem potissimum codicis anti-
quissimi A ( Parisiensis 1741). Berlin, 1870.
Bywater ( I. ), Aristotelia in Journal of Philology, v. 117 ff. and xiv. 40 ff.
London and Cambridge, 1873 and 1885.
Vahlen (J.) iterum recensuit et adnotatione critica auxit. Berlin, 1874 .
Moore (E. ), Vahlen's text with notes. Oxford, 1875.
Christ (W. ) recensuit. Leipzig, 1878 and 1893.
Bernays (Jacob), Zwei Abhandlungen über die Aristotelische Theorie des
Drama. Berlin, 1880.
Brandscheid (F.), Text, German translation, critical notes and com-
mentary. Wiesbaden, 1882.
Wharton (E. R. ), Vahlen's text with English translation. Oxford, 1883.
Margoliouth (D. ), Analecta Orientalia ad Poeticam Aristoteleam. Lon-
don, 1887.
Bénard (C. ), L'Esthétique d'Aristote. Paris, 1887.
Gomperz (T.), Zu Aristoteles' Poetik, I. (c. i.-vi. ). Vienna, 1888.
Heidenhain (F.), Averrois Paraphrasis in librum Poeticae Aristotelis Jacob
Mantino interprete. Leipzig, 1889.
Prickard (A. O. ), Aristotle on the Art of Poetry. A Lecture with two
Appendices. London, 1891.
La Poétique d'Aristote, Manuscrit 1741 Fonds Grec de la Bibliothèque
Nationale. Préface de M. Henri Omont. Photolithographie de
MM. Lumière. Paris, 1891.
Carroll ( M.), Aristotle's Poetics in the Light of the Homeric Scholia.
Baltimore, 1895.
Gomperz (T. ), Aristoteles' Poetik. Uebersetzt und eingeleitet. Leipzig,
1895.

Gomperz (T. ), Zu Aristoteles Poetik, II., III . Vienna, 1896.

Bywater ( I. ) , Aristotelis de Arte Poetica Liber. Oxford, 1897.
Vahlen (J. ), Hermeneutische Bemerkungen zu Aristoteles' Poetik : Sitzungs-
berichte der K. preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu
Berlin, 1897 xxix, 1898 xxi.
Spingarn (J. E. ), A History of Literary Criticism in the Renaissance.
New York, 1899.
Tucker (T. G.), Aristotelis Poetica. London, 1899.
Saintsbury (G. ), A History of Criticism, Vol. I. Edinburgh and London,
1900.

Finsler (G.), Platon und die Aristotelische Poetik. Leipzig, 1900 .

Courthope (W. J.), Life in Poetry : Law in Taste. London, 1901.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS

ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS

I. ' Imitation ' (μίμησις) the common principle of the Arts of Poetry,
Music, Dancing, Painting, and Sculpture. These Arts dis-
tinguished according to the Medium or material Vehicle, the
Objects, and the Manner of Imitation. The Medium of
Imitation is Rhythm, Language, and ' Harmony ' (or Melody),
taken singly or combined.
II. The Objects of Imitation.
Higher or lower types are represented in all the Imitative
Arts. In Poetry this is the basis of the distinction between
Tragedy and Comedy.
III . The Manner of Imitation.
Poetry may be in form either dramatic narrative, pure
narrative (including lyric poetry), or pure drama. A
digression follows on the name and original home of the
Drama.
IV. The Origin and Development of Poetry.
Psychologically, Poetry may be traced to two causes, the
instinct of Imitation, and the instinct of ' Harmony ' and
Rhythm.
Historically viewed, Poetry diverged early in two directions :
traces of this twofold tendency are found in the Homeric poems :
Tragedy and Comedy exhibit the distinction in a developed
form.
The successive steps in the history of Tragedy are enumer-
ated.

V. Definition of the Ludicrous ( τὸ γελοῖον), and a brief sketch of the

rise of Comedy. Points of comparison between Epic Poetry
and Tragedy. (The chapter is fragmentary. )
B
 2 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS

>
VI . Definition of Tragedy. Six elements in Tragedy : three external,
Ly --namely, Spectacular Presentment (ὁ τῆς ὄψεως κόσμος or ὄψις),
:
Lyrical Song (μελοποιία), Diction (λέξις) ; three internal, —
namely, Plot (μύθος), Character (ἦθος), and Thought (διάνοια) .
Plot, or the representation of the action, is of primary import-
ance ; Character and Thought come next in order.
VII. The Plot must be a Whole, complete in itself, and of adequate
magnitude.
VIII. The Plot must be a Unity. Unity of Plot consists not in Unity
of Hero, but in Unity of Action.
The parts must be organically connected.
IX. (Plot continued.) Dramatic Unity can be attained only by the
observance of Poetic as distinct from Historic Truth ; for
Poetry is an expression of the Universal, History of the Par-
ticular. The rule of probable or necessary sequence as applied
to the incidents. Certain plots condemned for want of Unity.
The best Tragic effects depend on the combination of the
Inevitable and the Unexpected.
X. (Plot continued.) Definitions of Simple (ἁπλοῖ) and Complex
(πεπλεγμένοι) Plots.
XI. (Plot continued.) Reversal of Intention (περιπέτεια), Recognition
( ἀναγνώρισις), and Tragic or disastrous Incident (πάθος) defined
and explained.
XII. The ' quantitative parts ' (μέρη κατὰ τὸ ποσόν) of Tragedy de-
fined :--Prologue, Episode, etc. (Probably an interpolation. )
XIII. (Plot continued. ) What constitutes Tragic Action. The
change of fortune and the character of the hero as requisite
to an ideal Tragedy. The unhappy ending more truly tragic
than the ' poetic justice ' which is in favour with a popular
audience, and belongs rather to Comedy.
XIV. (Plot continued.) The tragic emotions of pity and fear should
spring out of the Plot itself. To produce them by Scenery or
Spectacular effect is entirely against the spirit of Tragedy.
Examples of Tragic Incidents designed to heighten the
emotional effect.

53 XV. The element of Character (as the manifestation of moral purpose)

in Tragedy. Requisites of ethical portraiture. The rule of
necessity or probability applicable to Character as to Plot.
The ' Deus ex Machina ' (a passage out of place here). How
Character is idealised.

57 XVI. (Plot continued.) Recognition : its various kinds, with examples.

XVII . Practical rules for the Tragic Poet :
(1) To place the scene before his eyes, and to act the
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS 3

parts himself in order to enter into vivid sympathy with the

dramatis personae.
(2) To sketch the bare outline of the action before proceed-
ing to fill in the episodes.
The Episodes of Tragedy are here incidentally contrasted
with those of Epic Poetry.
XVIII. Further rules for the Tragic Poet :
(1) To be careful about the Complication (δέσις) and Dé-
nouement (λύσις) of the Plot, especially the Dénouement.
(2) To unite, if possible, varied forms of poetic excellence.
(3) Not to overcharge a Tragedy with details appropriate
to Epic Poetry.
(4) To make the Choral Odes-like the Dialogue-an organic
part of the whole.
XIX. Thought ( διάνοια), or the Intellectual element, and Diction in
Tragedy.
Thought is revealed in the dramatic speeches composed
according to the rules of Rhetoric.
Diction falls largely within the domain of the Art of
Delivery, rather than of Poetry.
XX. Diction, or Language in general. An analysis of the parts of S
speech, and other grammatical details. (Probably interpolated.)
XXI. Poetic Diction. The words and modes of speech admissible
inPoetry : including Metaphor, in particular.
Apassage-probably interpolated-on the Gender of Nouns.
XXII. (Poetic Diction continued. ) How Poetry combines elevation of
language with perspicuity.
XXIII. Epic Poetry. It agrees with Tragedy in Unity of Action : herein
contrasted with History.
XXIV. ( Epic Poetry continued.) Further points of agreement with
Tragedy. The points of difference are enumerated and illus-
trated,-namely, (1) the length of the poem ; (2) the metre ;
(3) the art of imparting a plausible air to incredible fiction.
XXV. Critical Objections brought against Poetry, and the principles on
which they are to be answered. In particular, an elucidation
of the meaning of Poetic Truth, and its difference from common
reality.
XXVI. A general estimate of the comparative worth of Epic Poetry and
Tragedy. The alleged defects of Tragedy are not essential to it.
Its positive merits entitle it to the higher rank of the two.
 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE CRITICAL NOTES

A= the Parisian manuscript (1741) of the 11th

century : generally, but perhaps too con-
fidently, supposed to be the archetype from
which all other extant MSS. directly or in-
directly are derived.
apogr. = one or more of the MSS. other than A.

Arabs= the Arabic version of the Poetics (Paris 882 A),

of the middle of the 10th century, a version
independent of our extant MSS. It is not
directly taken from the Greek, but is a trans-
lation of a Syriac version of the Poetics by an
unknown author, now lost. (The quotations
in the critical notes are from the literal Latin
translation of the Arabic, as given in Mar-
goliouth's Analecta Orientalia.)
Σ= the Greek manuscript, far older than Ac and no
longer extant, which was used by the Syriac
translator. (This symbol already employed
by Susemihl I have taken for the sake of
brevity.) It must be remembered, therefore,
that the readings ascribed to ∑ are those which
we infer to have existed in the Greek exemplar,
from which the Syriac translation was made.
Ald.= the Aldine edition of Rhetores Graeci, published
in 1508 .

Vahlen= Vahlen's text of the Poetics Ed. 3.

Vahlen coni. = a conjecture of Vahlen, not admitted by him into

the text.

[ ]= words with manuscript authority (including Aº),

which should be deleted from the text.
< > =
a conjectural supplement to the text.
** =
a lacuna in the text.

† =
words which are corrupt and have not been satis
factorily restored.
4
ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΟΥΣ

ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΙΗΤΙΚΗΣ

5
 ΑΡΙΣΤΟΤΕΛΟΥΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΙΗΤΙΚΗΣ

I Περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς ἦν τινα

1447 a
δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους
το εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ
ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς
αὐτῆς ἐστι μεθόδου, λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶ-
τον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων. ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας 2
ποίησις ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ καὶ τῆς
15 αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν
οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον, διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν, 3
ἢ γὰρ τῷ ἐν ἑτέροις μιμεῖσθαι ἢ τῷ ἕτερα ἢ τῷ ἑτέ-
ρως καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον. ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι 4
καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες (οἱ μὲν
20 διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας), ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς,
οὕτω κὰν ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις· ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται
τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ᾽
ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις · οἷον ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν καὶ ῥυθμῷ χρώ-

12. λέγωμεν apogr.: λέγομεν Ac : (habuit iam ∑ var. lect., ' et dicamus et
dicimus ' Arabs) 17. ἐν Forchhammer (' imitatur rebus diversis '
Arabs) : γένει Ας 20. τῆς φωνῆς codd. (' per sonos ' Arabs) : τῆς φύσεως
Maggi : αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως Spengel 21. κάν Ρarisinus 2038 : καὶ ἐν
apogr. alia : καὶ Ας
6
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS

I Ipropose to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various

1447 a
kinds, noting the essential quality of each ; to inquire
into the structure of the plot as requisite to a good poem ;
into the number and nature of the parts of which a
poem is composed; and similarly into whatever else falls
within the same inquiry. Following, then, the order of
nature, let us begin with the principles which come
first.
‫تے‬

Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic 2

4
poetry, and the music of the flute and of the lyre in 5

most of their forms, are all in their general conception

modes of imitation. They differ, however, from one 3
another in three respects, the medium, the objects, the 3.

manner or mode of imitation, being in each case

distinct.)
For as there are persons who, by conscious art or 4
mere habit, imitate and represent various objects through
the medium of colour and form, or again by the voice ;
so in the arts above mentioned, taken as a whole, the
imitation is produced by rhythm, language, or ' harmony,'
either singly or combined.
7
 8 I. 4-9. 1447 a 24-1447 b 22

μεναι μόνον ἥ τε αὐλητικὴ καὶ ἡ κιθαριστικὴ κἂν εἴ τινες

25 ἕτεραι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν δύναμιν, οἷον ἡ τῶν
συρίγγων · αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ [μιμοῦνται] χωρὶς ἁρμονίας 5
ἡ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν, καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων
ῥυθμῶν μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις· ἡ δὲ 6
[ἐποποιία] μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς ἢ τοῖς μέτροις καὶ τού-
1447 ο τοις εἴτε μιγνῦσα μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων εἴθ᾽ ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη
τῶν μέτρων, < ἀνώνυμος > τυγχάνει οὖσα μέχρι τοῦ νῦν· οὐδὲν 7
10 γὰρ ἂν ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου
μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικοὺς λόγους, οὐδὲ εἴ τις διὰ τριμέ-
τρων ἢ ἐλεγείων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν τοιούτων ποιοῖτο τὴν
μίμησιν · πλὴν οἱ ἄνθρωποί γε συνάπτοντες τῷ μέτρῳ τὸ
ποιεῖν ἐλεγειοποιούς, τοὺς δὲ ἐποποιοὺς ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐχ ὡς
15 κατὰ τὴν μίμησιν ποιητὰς ἀλλὰ κοινῇ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον προσ-
αγορεύοντες. καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ φυσικόν τι διὰ τῶν 8
μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω καλεῖν εἰώθασιν· οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν
ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον · διὸ τὸν μὲν
ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγον μᾶλλον ἢ ποιη-
20 τήν. ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν εἴ τις ἅπαντα τὰ μέτρα μιγνύων 9
ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν καθάπερ Χαιρήμων ἐποίησε Κένταυ-
ρον μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν μέτρων, καὶ τοῦτον
25. τυγχάνουσιν apogr. : τυγχάνωσιν Αε τοιαῦται add. apogr. (' aliae
artes similes vi' Arabs) : om. Ac 26. τῷ αὐτῷ δὲ Σ male (Margoliouth)
μιμοῦνται del. Spengel (confirm. Arabs) 27. ἡ apogr. ( ' ars instrumenti
saltationis ' Arabs) : οἱ Ac : οἱ <χαριέστεροι > Gomperz : οἱ <χαριέντες>
Zeller ὀρχηστρῶν Σ male (Margoliouth) 29. ἐποποιία secl. Ueber-
weg : om. Σ ψιλοῖς ἢ τοῖς] ἢ τοῖς ψιλοῖς sive ἢ ψιλοῖς τοῖς coni. Vahlen
1447 b 9. ἀνώνυμος add. Bernays (confirmante Arabe ' quae sine nomine
est adhuc') τυγχάνει οὖσα Suckow : τυγχάνουσα Α 15. κατὰ
τὴν Guelferbytanus : τὴν κατὰ Αθ κοινὴ Ας 16. φυσικόν Heinsius
(' re physica ' Arabs : confirm . Averroes) : μουσικόν codd. 22. μικτὴν
om. Σ μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν del. Tyrwhitt καὶ τοῦτον apogr.: καὶ
Ας (om. Σ) : καίτοι Rassow : οὐκ ἤδη καὶ Ald. verba 20-22 ὁμοίως δὲ
...
τῶν μέτρων post 12 τοιούτων transtulit Susemihl, commate post τοιούτων
posito, deletis 12 ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν et 22 καὶ ποιητήν : sic efficitur ut
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS I. 4-9 9

Thus in the music of the flute and of the lyre,

' harmony ' and rhythm alone are employed ; also in
other arts, such as that of the shepherd's pipe, which
are essentially similar to these. In dancing, rhythm 5
alone is used without ' harmony' ; for even dancing
imitates character, emotion, and action, by rhythmical
movement.

There is another art which imitates by means of 6

language alone, and_that either in prose or verse-which
1447 b verse, again, may either combine different metres or con-
sist of but one kind-but this has hitherto been without
a name. For there is no common term we could apply to 7
the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic
dialogues on the one hand; and, on the other, to
poetic imitations in iambic, elegiac, or any similar
metre. People do, indeed, add the word ' maker ' or
' poet ' to the name of the metre, and speak of elegiac
poets, or epic (that is, hexameter) poets, as if it were not
the imitation that makes the poet, but the verse that
entitles them all indiscriminately to the name. Even 8
when a treatise on medicine or natural science is brought
out in verse, the name of poet is by custom given to the
author ; and yet Homer and Empedocles have nothing in
common but the metre, so that it would be right to
call the one poet, the other physicist rather than poet.
On the same principle, even if a writer in his poetic 9
imitation were to combine all metres, as Chaeremon did
in his Centaur, which is a medley composed of metres
 10 I. 9-II. 4. 1447 b 23-1448 a 15

ποιητὴν προσαγορευτέον. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διωρίσθω

τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον· εἰσὶ δέ τινες αἳ πᾶσι χρῶνται τοῖς εἰρη- 10
25 μένοις, λέγω δὲ οἷον ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει καὶ μέτρῳ, ὥσπερ
ἥ τε τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν νόμων καὶ ἥ
τε τραγῳδία καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία· διαφέρουσι δὲ ὅτι αἱ μὲν
ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ μέρος. ταύτας μὲν οὖν λέγω τὰς
διαφορὰς τῶν τεχνῶν, ἐν οἷς ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν.
II
1448 a
Ἐπεὶ δὲ μιμοῦνται οἱ μιμούμενοι πράττοντας, ἀνάγκη δὲ
τούτους ἢ σπουδαίους ἢ φαύλους εἶναι (τὰ γὰρ ἤθη σχεδὸν
ἀεὶ τούτοις ἀκολουθεῖ μόνοις, κακίᾳ γὰρ καὶ ἀρετῇ τὰ ἤθη
διαφέρουσι πάντες), ἤτοι βελτίονας ἢ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἢ χείρονας
5 ἢ καὶ τοιούτους, ὥσπερ οἱ γραφεῖς · Πολύγνωτος μὲν γὰρ
κρείττους, Παύσων δὲ χείρους, Διονύσιος δὲ ὁμοίους εἴκαζεν ·
δῆλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ τῶν λεχθεισῶν ἑκάστη μιμήσεων ἕξει 2
ταύτας τὰς διαφορὰς καὶ ἔσται ἑτέρα τῷ ἕτερα μιμεῖσθαι
τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον. καὶ γὰρ ἐν ὀρχήσει καὶ αὐλήσει καὶ 3
10 κιθαρίσει ἔστι γενέσθαι ταύτας τὰς ἀνομοιότητας · καὶ [τὸ]
περὶ τοὺς λόγους δὲ καὶ τὴν ψιλομετρίαν, οἷον Ὅμηρος
μὲν βελτίους, Κλεοφῶν δὲ ὁμοίους, Ἡγήμων δὲ ὁ Θάσιος ὁ
τὰς παρῳδίας ποιήσας πρῶτος καὶ Νικοχάρης ὁ τὴν Δειλι-
άδα χείρους · ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τοὺς διθυράμβους καὶ περὶ 4
15 τοὺς νόμους, ὥσπερ †γᾶς† Κύκλωπας Τιμόθεος καὶ Φιλό-

verbis φυσιολόγον μᾶλλον ἢ ποιητὴν προσαγορευτέον concludatur locus Σ

24. at Ald. 1536 : αἱ Riccardianus 16 : or Ac 26. διθυράμβων apogr.
28. πᾶσαι apogr. οὖν apogr.: οὐ Ας 29. οἷς Vettori : als codd.
1448 2 3. κακίᾳ . ἀρετῇ apogr. Σ : κακία ἀρετὴ Ασ
...
7. δὴ Morel
8. τῷ apogr.: τὸ Ας 10. τὸ om. Ald.: secl. Susemihl : τῷ Bywater
12. ὁ ante τὰς add. apogr. 13. τραγῳδίας ut videtur ∑ ( ' qui primus
faciebat tragoediam ' Arabs) Δειλιάδα Ac pr. m. (recte, ut in Iliadis
parodia, Tyrrell : cf. Castelvetro) : Δηλιάδα apogr. Ac corr. (η supr. et m. rec.)
15. ὥσπερ γᾶς codd. : ὥσπερ < ᾿Αργᾶς > Castelvetro : ὡς Πέρσας < καὶ >
F. Medici : ὥσπερ γὰρ coni. Vahlen : ὥσπερ οὕτως fort. Σ (' sicut imitatur
quis, sic Cyclopas etc.' Arabs) : ὥσπερ οἱ τοὺς coni. Margoliouth
Κύκλωπας] κυκλωπᾶς Ac
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS I. 9-II. 4 11

of all kinds, we should bring him too under the general

term poet. So much then for these distinctions.
(There are, again, some arts which employ all the 10
means above mentioned,-namely, rhythm, tune and
metre. Such are Dithyrambic and Nomic poetry, and -
also Tragedy and Comedy ; but between them the
difference is, that in the first two cases these means
are all employed in combination, in the latter, now one
means is employed, now another.
Such, then, are the differences of the arts with respect
to the medium of imitation. METIUM/IM
II
1448
Since the objects of imitation are men in action, and 1 MIA

these men must be either of a higher or a lower type

(for moral character mainly answers to these divisions,
goodness and badness being the distinguishing marks
of moral differences), it follows that we must represent
men either as better than in real life, or as worse, or
as they are. It is the same in painting. Polygnotus
depicted men as nobler than they are, Pauson as less (
noble, Dionysius drew them true to life. 7

Now it is evident that each of the modes of imitation 2

above mentioned will exhibit these differences, and be-
come a distinct kind in imitating objects that are thus
distinct. Such diversities may be found even in dancing, 3
flute-playing, and lyre-playing. So again in language,
whether prose or verse unaccompanied by music. Homer,
for example, makes men better than they are ; Cleophon
as they are ; Hegemon the Thasian, the inventor of
parodies, and Nicochares, the author of the Deiliad, worse
than they are. The same thing holds good of Dithyrambs 4
and Nomes ; here too one may portray different types, as
 12 II. 4-III. 3. 1448 a 16-37

ξενος· [μιμήσαιτο ἄν τις·] ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ δὲ διαφορᾷ καὶ ἡ

τραγῳδία πρὸς τὴν κωμῳδίαν διέστηκεν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ χεί-
ρους ἡ δὲ βελτίους μιμεῖσθαι βούλεται τῶν νῦν.
III Ἔτι δὲ τούτων τρίτη διαφορὰ τὸ ὡς ἕκαστα τούτων μιμή-
20 σαιτο ἄν τις. καὶ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ μι-
μεῖσθαι ἔστιν ὁτὲ μὲν ἀπαγγέλλοντα (ἢ ἕτερόν τι γιγνό-
μενον, ὥσπερ Ὅμηρος ποιεῖ, ἢ ὡς τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ μὴ μετα-
βάλλοντα), ἢ πάντας ὡς πράττοντας καὶ ἐνεργοῦντας [τοὺς
μιμουμένους] . ἐν τρισὶ δὴ ταύταις διαφοραῖς ἡ μίμησίς ἐστιν, 2
25 ὡς εἴπομεν κατ᾿ ἀρχάς, ἐν οἷς τε καὶ ἃ καὶ ὡς. ὥστε τῇ
μὲν ὁ αὐτὸς ἂν εἴη μιμητὴς Ὁμήρῳ Σοφοκλῆς, μιμοῦνται
γὰρ ἄμφω σπουδαίους, τῇ δὲ ᾿Αριστοφάνει, πράττοντας γὰρ
μιμοῦνται καὶ δρῶντας ἄμφω. ὅθεν καὶ δράματα καλεῖ- 3
σθαί τινες αὐτά φασιν, ὅτι μιμοῦνται δρῶντας. διὸ καὶ
30 ἀντιποιοῦνται τῆς τε τραγῳδίας καὶ τῆς κωμῳδίας οἱ Δω-
ριεῖς (τῆς μὲν γὰρ κωμῳδίας οἱ Μεγαρεῖς οἵ τε ἐνταῦθα
ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς δημοκρατίας γενομένης, καὶ οἱ ἐκ
Σικελίας, ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἦν Ἐπίχαρμος ὁ ποιητὴς πολλῷ
πρότερος ὢν Χιωνίδου καὶ Μάγνητος· καὶ τῆς τραγῳδίας
35 ἔνιοι τῶν ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ) ποιούμενοι τὰ ὀνόματα σημεῖον ·
αὐτοὶ μὲν γὰρ κώμας τὰς περιοικίδας καλεῖν φασιν, ᾿Αθη-
ναίους δὲ δήμους, ὡς κωμῳδοὺς οὐκ ἀπὸ τοῦ κωμάζειν λε-

16. [μιμήσαιτο ἄν τις] secludendum coni. Vahlen τῇ αὐτῇ δὲ Vettori

(' in eadem discrepantia ' Arabs) : ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ Μ. Casaubon : αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ codd.
18. τῶν νῦν om. ut videtur Σ 21. ὁτὲ μὲν γιγνόμενον] < ἢ > ὁτὲ
μὲν ἀπαγγέλλοντα < ὁτὲ δ᾽ > ἕτερόν τι γιγνόμενον Zeller, recte, ut opinor :
eodem fere pervenit Arabem secutus Margoliouth τι secl. Zeller, Spengel
22. τὸν secl. Bywater 23. πάντας] πάντα I. Casaubon τοὺς μιμου-
μένους seclusi (olim secl. Vahlen) : tuetur Σ : [τοὺς] μιμούμενον Friedrichs,
Schmidt 25. καὶ ἃ καὶ ὥς] ἀναγκαίως ut videtur Σ καὶ & om. Ac :
add. apogr. (confirm. Arabs) 32. δημοκρατείας Ασ 34. Χιωνίδου
Robortello (confirm. Arabs) : χωνίδου Αε 35. fort. < δ' > ἔνιοι Bywater
36. αὐτοὶ Spengel : οὗτοι codd. ᾿Αθηναίους edit. Oxon. 1760 et Spengel :
ἀθηναῖοι codd. (cf. 1460 b 35), tuetur Wilamowitz
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS II . 4-III. 3 13

Timotheus and Philoxenus differed in representing their

Cyclopes. The same distinction marks off Tragedy from
Comedy; for Comedy aims at representing men as worse,
Tragedy as better than in actual life.
III There is still a third difference the manner in which 3

each of these objects may be imitated. For the medium

being the same, and the objects the same, the poet may
imitate by narration--in which case he can either take NARRAT
another personality as Homer does, or speak in his own
person, unchanged-or he may present all his characters
as living and moving before us.
(These, then, as we said at the beginning, are the 2
three differences which distinguish artistic imitation,----
3
the medium, the objects,and the manner So that from
one point of view, Sophocles is an imitator of the same
kind as Homer-for both imitate higher types of
character ; from another point of view, of the same kind
as Aristophanes for both imitate persons acting and
doing. Hence, some say, the name of ' drama ' is given 3
٢٠١٧
to such poems, as representing action. For the same
reason the Dorians claim the invention both of Tragedy (
and Comedy. The claim to Comedy is put forward by
the Megarians, not only by those of Greece proper, who
allege that it originated under their democracy, but also by
the Megarians of Sicily, for the poet Epicharmus, who is
much earlier than Chionides and Magnes, belonged to that
country. Tragedy too is claimed by certain Dorians of
the Peloponnese. In each case they appeal to the
evidence of language. Villages, they say, are by them
called κῶμαι, by the Athenians δήμοι : and they assume
that Comedians were so named not from κωμάζειν, ' to
 14 III. 3-IV. 6. 1448 a 38-1448 b 23

χθέντας ἀλλὰ τῇ κατὰ κώμας πλάνῃ ἀτιμαζομένους ἐκ τοῦ

1448b ἄστεως. καὶ τὸ ποιεῖν αὐτοὶ μὲν δρᾶν , ᾿Αθηναίους δὲ
πράττειν προσαγορεύειν. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν διαφορῶν 4
καὶ πόσαι καὶ τίνες τῆς μιμήσεως εἰρήσθω ταῦτα.
IV Ἐοίκασι δὲ γεννῆσαι μὲν ὅλως τὴν ποιητικὴν αἰτίαι δύο
5 τινὲς καὶ αὗται φυσικαί. τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον 2
τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστί, καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρουσι
τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὅτι μιμητικώτατόν ἐστι καὶ τὰς μαθή-
σεις ποιεῖται διὰ μιμήσεως τὰς πρώτας, καὶ τὸ χαίρειν
τοῖς μιμήμασι πάντας. σημεῖον δὲ τούτου τὸ συμβαῖνον 3
0 10 ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων · ἃ γὰρ αὐτὰ λυπηρῶς ὁρῶμεν, τούτων τὰς
εἰκόνας τὰς μάλιστα ἠκριβωμένας χαίρομεν θεωροῦντες, οἷον
θηρίων τε μορφὰς τῶν ἀτιμοτάτων καὶ νεκρῶν. αἴτιον δὲ 4
καὶ τούτου, ὅτι μανθάνειν οὐ μόνον τοῖς φιλοσόφοις ἥδιστον
ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ βραχὺ κοινωνοῦ-
15 σιν αὐτοῦ. διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο χαίρουσι τὰς εἰκόνας ὁρῶντες, ὅτι 5
συμβαίνει θεωροῦντας μανθάνειν καὶ συλλογίζεσθαι τί ἕκα-
Anch as that this one that
στον, οἷον ὅτι οὗτος ἐκεῖνος· ἐπεὶ ἐὰν μὴ τύχῃ προεωρακώς,
οὐχ ἡ μίμημα ποιήσει τὴν ἡδονὴν ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀπερ-
γασίαν ἢ τὴν χροιὰν ἢ διὰ τοιαύτην τινὰ ἄλλην αἰτίαν.
20 κατὰ φύσιν δὴ ὄντος ἡμῖν τοῦ μιμεῖσθαι καὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας 6
καὶ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ (τὰ γὰρ μέτρα ὅτι μόρια τῶν ῥυθμῶν ἐστι
φανερόν) ἐξ ἀρχῆς πεφυκότες καὶ αὐτὰ μάλιστα κατὰ
μικρὸν προάγοντες ἐγέννησαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐκ τῶν αὐτοσχε-

1448 b 1. καὶ τὸ ποιεῖν προσαγορεύειν om. Arabs 4. ὅλως om.

Arabs 5. αὗται Ald.: αὐταὶ Ac 13. καὶ τούτου apogr. (confirm.
Arabs) : καὶ τοῦτο Αc : [καὶ τούτου] Zeller : καὶ [τούτου] Spengel : καὶ < λόγος >
τούτου Bonitz 18. οὐχ ἡ Hermann, et 2, ut videtur : οὐχὶ codd.
τὴν ἡδονὴν om. Arabs 20. δὴ coni. Vahlen : dè codd. 22. καὶ αὐτὰ]
πρὸς αὐτὰ Ald. : < εἰς > αὐτὰ καὶ Gomperz : καὶ αὐτὰ post μάλιστα traiciendum
esse coni. Susemihl
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS III . 3-IV. 6 15
CONKSU
revel,' but because they wandered from village to village
-

(κατὰ κώμας), being excluded contemptuously from the

1448 b city. They add also that the Dorian word for ' doing '
is δρᾶν, and the Athenian, πράττειν.
This may suffice as to the number and nature of the 4
various modes of imitation.

IV Poetry in general seems to have sprung from two 2

causes, each of them lying deep in our nature. First, the 2
instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood,
one difference between him and other animals being that
he is the most imitative of living creatures ; and through
imitation he learns his earliest lessons ; and no less
universal is the pleasure felt in things imitated. We 3
have evidence of this in the facts of experience.
fainwould
Objects which in themselves weview with pain, we PAINI
A

delight to contemplate when reproduced with minute

fidelity : such as the forms of the most ignoble animals
and of dead bodies. The cause of this again is, that to 4
learn gives the liveliest pleasure, not only to philosophers
but to men in general ; whose capacity, however, of
learning is more limited. Thus the reason why men 5
enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating it they
find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps,
'Ah, that is he.' For if you happen not to have seen
the original, the pleasure will be due not to the imitation
as such, but to the execution, the colouring, or some such
other cause.
Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, 6-
there is the instinct for ' harmony ' and rhythm, metres
being manifestly sections of rhythm. Persons, therefore,
starting with this natural gift developed by degrees their
 16 IV. 7-11. 1448 b 24-1449 a 7

διασμάτων. διεσπάσθη δὲ κατὰ τὰ οἰκεῖα ἤθη ἡ ποίησις· 7

25 οἱ μὲν γὰρ σεμνότεροι τὰς καλὰς ἐμιμοῦντο πράξεις καὶ
τὰς τῶν τοιούτων, οἱ δὲ εὐτελέστεροι τὰς τῶν φαύλων,
πρῶτον ψόγους ποιοῦντες, ὥσπερ ἅτεροι ὕμνους καὶ ἐγκώμια.
τῶν μὲν οὖν πρὸ Ὁμήρου οὐδενὸς ἔχομεν εἰπεῖν τοιοῦτον 8
ποίημα, εἰκὸς δὲ εἶναι πολλούς, ἀπὸ δὲ Ὁμήρου ἀρξαμένοις
30 ἔστιν, οἷον ἐκείνου ὁ Μαργίτης καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἐν οἷς καὶ
τὸ ἁρμόττον [ἰαμβεῖον] ἦλθε μέτρον, διὸ καὶ ἰαμβεῖον κα-
λεῖται νῦν, ὅτι ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ τούτῳ ἰάμβιζον ἀλλήλους. καὶ 9
ἐγένοντο τῶν παλαιῶν οἱ μὲν ἡρωικῶν οἱ δὲ ἰάμβων ποιη-
ταί. ὥσπερ δὲ καὶ τὰ σπουδαῖα μάλιστα ποιητὴς Ὅμηρος
35 ἦν (μόνος γὰρ οὐχ ὅτι εὖ ἀλλ< ὰ> [ὅτι] καὶ μιμήσεις δραμα-
τικὰς ἐποίησεν), οὕτως καὶ τὰ τῆς κωμῳδίας σχήματα
πρῶτος ὑπέδειξεν, οὐ ψόγον ἀλλὰ τὸ γελοῖον δραματο-
ποιήσας · ὁ γὰρ Μαργίτης ἀνάλογον ἔχει, ὥσπερ Ἰλιὰς
1449 a καὶ ἡ Ὀδύσσεια πρὸς τὰς τραγῳδίας, οὕτω καὶ οὗτος πρὸς
τὰς κωμῳδίας. παραφανείσης δὲ τῆς τραγῳδίας καὶ κω- 10
μῳδίας οἱ ἐφ᾽ ἑκατέραν τὴν ποίησιν ὁρμῶντες κατὰ τὴν
οἰκείαν φύσιν οἱ μὲν ἀντὶ τῶν ἰάμβων κωμῳδοποιοὶ ἐγέ-
5 νοντο, οἱ δὲ ἀντὶ τῶν ἐπῶν τραγῳδοδιδάσκαλοι, διὰ τὸ
μείζονα καὶ ἐντιμότερα τὰ σχήματα εἶναι ταῦτα ἐκείνων.
τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐπισκοπεῖν εἰ ἄρ᾽ ἔχει ἤδη ἡ τραγῳδία τοῖς 11

27. ἅτεροι Spengel : ετεροι codd. 30. καὶ (post ois) Ald.: κατὰ Ac
31. ἰαμβίον (bis) Ac ἰαμβεῖον ante ἦλθε secl. Stahr 35. ἀλλὰ Βonitz
(confirm. Arabs) : ἀλλ' ὅτι codd.: ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι Tucker δραματικὰς Acet 2 :
δραματικῶς apogr. 38. ὁ apogr.: τὸ Ac 1449 a 6. μείζονα apogr. :
μεῖζον Ac 7. εἰ ἄρα ἔχει apogr. : παρέχει Ας : ἆρ᾿ ἔχει Vahlen
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS IV. 6—11 17

special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave birth

to Poetry.
Poetry now diverged in two directions, according to 7
the individual character of the writers. The graver 1

spirits imitated noble actions, and the actions of - ACTOR

good men. The more trivial sort imitated the actions
2
of meaner persons, at first composing satires, as
the former did hymns to the gods and the praises of
famous men. A poem of the satirical kind cannot 8
indeed be put down to any author earlier than Homer ;
though many such writers probably there were. But
from Homer onward, instances can be cited, his own
Margites, for example, and other similar compositions.
The appropriate metre was also here introduced ; hence
the measure is still called the iambic or lampooning
measure, being that in which people lampooned one
another. Thus the older poets were distinguished as 9
writers of heroic or of lampooning verse.
As, in the serious style, Homer is pre-eminent among
poets, for he alone combined dramatic form with
excellence of imitation, so he too first laid down the
main lines of Comedy, by dramatising the ludicrous
instead of writing personal satire. His Margites bears
1449 a the same relation to Comedy that the Iliad and Odyssey
do to Tragedy. But when Tragedy and Comedy came 10
to light, the two classes of poets still followed their
natural bent : the lampooners became writers of Comedy,
and the Epic poets were succeeded by Tragedians,
since the drama was a larger and higher form of
art .

Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper 11

C
 18 IV. 11-15. 1449 a 8-28

εἴδεσιν ἱκανῶς ἢ οὔ, αὐτό τε καθ᾽ αὑτὸ †κρίνεται ἢ ναὶ†

καὶ πρὸςτὰ θέατρα, ἄλλος λόγος. γενομένη < δ᾽ > οὖν ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς 12
1ο αὐτοσχεδιαστική, καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία, καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀπὸ
τῶν ἐξαρχόντων τὸν διθύραμβον, ἡ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν τὰ φαλ-
λικὰ ἃ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐν πολλαῖς τῶν πόλεων διαμένει νο-
μιζόμενα, κατὰ μικρὸν ηὐξήθη προαγόντων ὅσον ἐγίγνετο
φανερὸν αὐτῆς, καὶ πολλὰς μεταβολὰς μεταβαλοῦσα ἡ
15 τραγῳδία ἐπαύσατο, ἐπεὶ ἔσχε τὴν αὑτῆς φύσιν. καὶ τό 13
τε τῶν ὑποκριτῶν πλῆθος ἐξ ἑνὸς εἰς δύο πρῶτος Αἰσχύ-
λος ἤγαγε καὶ τὰ τοῦ χοροῦ ἠλάττωσε καὶ τὸν λόγον
πρωταγωνιστὴν παρεσκεύασεν, τρεῖς δὲ καὶ σκηνογραφίαν
Σοφοκλῆς. ἔτι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος ἐκ μικρῶν μύθων καὶ λέ- 14
20 ξεως γελοίας διὰ τὸ ἐκ σατυρικοῦ μεταβαλεῖν ὀψὲ ἀπε-
σεμνύνθη. τό τε μέτρον ἐκ τετραμέτρου ἰαμβεῖον ἐγένετο ·
τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον τετραμέτρῳ ἐχρῶντο διὰ τὸ σατυρικὴν
καὶ ὀρχηστικωτέραν εἶναι τὴν ποίησιν, λέξεως δὲ γενομένης
αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον εὗρε· μάλιστα γὰρ λεκτι-
25 κὸν τῶν μέτρων τὸ ἰαμβεῖόν ἐστιν · σημεῖον δὲ τούτου ·
πλεῖστα γὰρ ἰαμβεῖα λέγομεν ἐν τῇ διαλέκτῳ τῇ πρὸς
ἀλλήλους, ἑξάμετρα δὲ ὀλιγάκις καὶ ἐκβαίνοντες τῆς λε-
κτικῆς ἁρμονίας. ἔτι δὲ ἐπεισοδίων πλήθη καὶ τὰ ἄλλ᾿ 15
8. κρίνεται ἢ ναί · καὶ Ας : ναί secl. Bursian : κρίνεται εἶναι καὶ apogr. : κρῖναι
καὶ Forchhammer : fort. κρίνεται εἶναι ἢ καὶ : αὐτώ τε κατ᾿ αὐτὸ εἶναι
κρεῖττον ἢ πρὸς θάτερα Σ ut videtur (Margoliouth) 9. γενομένη δ᾽ οὖν
Bekker : γενομένη οὖν apogr.: γενομένης οὖν Ac 10. αὐτοσχεδιαστικὴ
apogr. : αὐτοσχεδιαστικῆς Αε 11. φαλλικά apogr. : φαϋλλικὰ Ας : φαυλικὰ
vel φαῦλα Σ 12. διαμένει apogr.: διαμένειν Ασ 15. αὐτῆς Βekker :
ἑαυτῆς apogr.: αὐτῆς Ac 19. λέξεως] λέξεις Σ (' orationes ' Arabs) : < ἡ
λέξις ἐκ> λέξεως Christ. Omissum vocabulum collato Arabe id esse Mar-
goliouth suspicatur cuius vice Graeculi ὑψηγορία usurpant 20. σατυριακοῦ
Ac 21 et 25. ἰαμβίον Ac 27. ἑξάμετρα] τετράμετρα Winstanley
εἰς λεκτικὴν ἁρμονίαν Wecklein (cf. Rhet. iii. 8. 1408 b 32) : codicum
lect. tutatur Arabs verba 25 σημεῖον-28 ἁρμονίας suadente Usener
secl. Susemihl 28. post πλήθη punctum del. Gomperz ἄλλα ὡς
apogr. : ἄλλως Ac : ἄλλα οἷς Herinann
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS IV. 11-14 19

types or not ; and whether it is to be judged in itself, or

in relation also to the audience, this raises another
question. Be that as it may, Tragedy-as also Comedy 12
-was at first mere improvisation. The one originated
with the leaders of the Dithyramb, the other with those
( K)
of the phallic songs, which are still in use in many of
our cities. Tragedy advanced by slow degrees ; each
new element that showed itself was in turn developed.
Having passed through many changes, it found its natural
form, and there it stopped.
Aeschylus first introduced a second actor ; he dimin- 13
Histerey
ished the importance of the Chorus, and assigned the
leading part to the dialogue. Sophocles raised the number ↓
of actors to three, and added scene-painting. Moreover, 14
it was not till late that the short plot was discarded for
ARION ~ 590,
one of greater compass, and the grotesque diction of the CORINTU

earlier satyric form for the stately manner of Tragedy. ( , PIL

FeS
ORIFTU)
The iambic measure then replaced the trochaic tetrameter,
which was originally employed when the poetry was of
the satyric order, and had greater affinities with dancing.
Once dialogue had come in,Nature herself discovered the
appropriate measure. For the iambic is, of all measures,
the most colloquial : we see it in the fact that con-
versational speech runs into iambic form more frequently
than into any other kind of verse ; rarely into hexa-
meters, and only when we drop the colloquial in-
tonation. The additions to the number of ' episodes ' or
acts, and the other improvements of which tradition
tells, must be taken as already described ; for to discuss
 20 IV. 15-V. 4. 1449 a 29-1449 b 11

ὡς ἕκαστα κοσμηθῆναι λέγεται ἔστω ἡμῖν εἰρημένα· πο-

30 λὺ γὰρ ἂν ἴσως ἔργον εἴη διεξιέναι καθ᾽ ἕκαστον.
V Ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία ἐστὶν ὥσπερ εἴπομεν μίμησις φαυλοτέρων
μέν, οὐ μέντοι κατὰ πᾶσαν κακίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ
ἐστι τὸ γελοῖον μόριον. τὸ γὰρ γελοῖόν ἐστιν ἁμάρτη-
μά τι καὶ αἰσχος ἀνώδυνον καὶ οὐ φθαρτικόν, οἷον εὐ-
35 θὺς τὸ γελοῖον πρόσωπον αἰσχρόν τι καὶ διεστραμμένον
ἄνευ ὀδύνης. αἱ μὲν οὖν τῆς τραγῳδίας μεταβάσεις καὶ 2
δι᾽ ὧν ἐγένοντο οὐ λελήθασιν, ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία διὰ τὸ μὴ
σπουδάζεσθαι ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔλαθεν · καὶ γὰρ χορὸν κωμῳδῶν
1449 b ὀψέ ποτε ὁ ἄρχων ἔδωκεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐθελονταὶ ἦσαν. ἤδη δὲ
σχήματά τινα αὐτῆς ἐχούσης οἱ λεγόμενοι αὐτῆς ποιηταὶ
μνημονεύονται. τίς δὲ πρόσωπα ἀπέδωκεν ἢ προλόγους ἢ 3
πλήθη ὑποκριτῶν καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἠγνόηται. τὸ δὲ μύ-
5 θους ποιεῖν [ Ἐπίχαρμος καὶ Φόρμις] τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς
ἐκ Σικελίας ἦλθε, τῶν δὲ ᾿Αθήνησιν Κράτης πρῶτος ἦρξεν
ἀφέμενος τῆς ἰαμβικῆς ἰδέας καθόλου ποιεῖν λόγους καὶ
μύθους. ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐποποιία τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ μέχρι μὲν τοῦ μετὰ 4
μέτρου [μεγάλου] μίμησις εἶναι σπουδαίων ἠκολούθησεν · τῷ
το δὲ τὸ μέτρον ἁπλοῦν ἔχειν καὶ ἀπαγγελίαν εἶναι, ταύτῃ
29. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων τοσαῦτα add. Ald. ante ἔστω 32. ἀλλ᾽ ἡ τοῦ
αἰσχροῦ Friedreich : ἀλλὰ < κατὰ τὸ γελοῖον, > τοῦ < δ᾽ > αἰσχροῦ Christ : ' sed
tantum res ridicula est de genere foedi quae est portio et ridicula ' Arabs, i. e.
ἀλλὰ μόνον τὸ γελοῖόν ἐστι τοῦ αἰσχροῦ ὁ μόριόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ γελοῖον Σ, quod ex
duabus lectionibus conflatum esse censet Susemihl (1) ἀλλὰ μόριον μόνον τὸ
γελοῖόν ἐστι τοῦ αἰσχροῦ, (2) ἀλλὰ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ μόριόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ γελοῖον
33. γέλοιον (bis) Ac 1449 b 3. οἱ λεγόμενοι] ὀλίγοι μὲν οἱ Castelvetro :
ὀλίγοι μὲν [οἱ] Usener 4. προλόγους Ας : πρόλογον Christ : λόγους Her-
mann 6. Ἐπίχαρμος καὶ Φόρμις secl. Susemihl : < ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἤστην >
Ἐπίχαρμος καὶ Φόρμις post ἦλθε Bywater, collato Themistio, Or. xxvii. p. 337 A,
recte, ut opinor 8. εἰδέαςΑC 9-10. μέχρι μὲν τοῦ μετὰ μέτρου Thurot
(cf. Arab. ) : μέχρι μόνου μέτρου μεγάλου codd. : μέχρι μὲν τοῦ μέτρῳ < ἐν μήκει>
μεγάλῳ coni. Susemihl : μέχρι μὲν τοῦ μέτρῳ Tyrwhitt : μέχρι μόνου < τοῦ διὰ
λόγου ἐμ > μέτρου μεγάλου Ueberweg 10. μεγάλου codd.: secl. Bursian :
μετὰ λόγου Ald. et, ut videtur, Σ τῷ Ald.: τὸ Ac 11. ταύτη Α
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS IV. 15-V. 4 21

them in detail would, doubtless, be a large under- 15

taking.

{
V CONES
Comedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters
of a lower type, not, however, in the full sense of the
word bad, the Ludicrous being merely a subdivision of
the ugly. It consists in some defect or ugliness which
is not painful or destructive. To take an obvious
example, the comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does
not imply pain.
The successive changes through which Tragedy passed, 2
and the authors of these changes, are well known, whereas
Comedyhas had no history, because it was not at first
1449 b treated seriously. It was late before the Archon granted
a comic chorus to a poet; the performers were till then
voluntary. Comedy had already taken definite shape
when comic poets, distinctively so called, are heard of.
Who introduced masks, or prologues, or increased the з
number of actors,-these and other similar details re-
main unknown. As for the plot, it came originally from PLE
Sicily ; but of Athenian writers Crates was the first who,
abandoning the ' iambic ' or lampooning form, generalised
his themes and plots.
-

Epic poetry agrees with Tragedy in so far as it is an 4

imitation in verse of characters of a higher type. They
differ, in that Epic poetry admits but one kind of
metre, and is narrative in form. They differ, again,
 22 V. 4-VI. 4. 1449 b 12-34

διαφέρουσιν · ἔτι δὲ τῷ μήκει, < ἐπεὶ> ἡ μὲν ὅτι μάλιστα

πειρᾶται ὑπὸ μίαν περίοδον ἡλίου εἶναι ἢ μικρὸν ἐξαλλάττειν,
ἡ δὲ ἐποποιία ἀόριστος τῷ χρόνῳ, καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρει· καίτοι
15 τὸ πρῶτον ὁμοίως ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις τοῦτο ἐποίουν καὶ ἐν
τοῖς ἔπεσιν. μέρη δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὰ μὲν ταὐτά, τὰ δὲ ἴδια τῆς 5
τραγῳδίας · διόπερ ὅστις περὶ τραγῳδίας οἶδε σπουδαίας
καὶ φαύλης, οἶδε καὶ περὶ ἐπῶν · ἃ μὲν γὰρ ἐποποιία
ἔχει, ὑπάρχει τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ, ἃ δὲ αὐτῇ, οὐ πάντα ἐν τῇ
20 ἐποποιίᾳ.
VI Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἐν ἑξαμέτροις μιμητικῆς καὶ περὶ κω-
CE μῳδίας ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν, περὶ δὲ τραγῳδίας λέγωμεν ἀνα-
ALI -10~ λαβόντες αὐτῆς ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τὸν γινόμενον ὅρον τῆς
4
οὐσίας. ἔστιν οὖν τραγῳδία μίμησις πράξεως σπουδαίας 2
25 καὶ τελείας μέγεθος ἐχούσης, ἡδυσμένῳ λόγῳ χωρὶς ἑκά-
εφ στῳ τῶν εἰδῶν ἐν τοῖς μορίοις, δρώντων καὶ οὐ δι᾽ ἀπαγ-
γελίας, δι᾽ ἐλέου καὶ φόβου περαίνουσα τὴν τῶν τοιούτων
s παθημάτων κάθαρσιν. λέγω δὲ ἡδυσμένον μὲν λόγον τὸν 3
Dor 1 ONE
0
7OL
1C
ἔχοντα ῥυθμὸν καὶ ἁρμονίαν καὶ μέλος, τὸ δὲ χωρὶς τοῖς
30 εἴδεσι τὸ διὰ μέτρων ἔνια μόνον περαίνεσθαι καὶ πάλιν ἕτερα
διὰ μέλους. ἐπεὶ δὲ πράττοντες ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν, 4
πρῶτον μὲν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἂν εἴη τι μόριον τραγῳδίας ὁ
τῆς ὄψεως κόσμος, εἶτα μελοποιία καὶ λέξις · ἐν τούτοις γὰρ
ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν. λέγω δὲ λέξιν μὲν αὐτὴν τὴν τῶν

12. διαφέρει Hermann (confirm. Arabs) < ἐπεὶ > ἡ μὲν Gomperz : < ᾗ >
ἡ μὲν coni. Vahlen : < εἰ > ἡ μὲν Tucker : ἡ μὲν γὰρ apogr. 14. τούτω
(? τοῦτο pr. m. ) Ac διαφέρουσιν Christ 16. ἔπεσιν et ἅπασι var. lect.
Σ (Diels), ' in omnibus epesi ' Arabs ταὐτὰ apogr.: ταῦτα Ας 19.
αὐτῆι Ας : αὐτὴ apogr. : αὕτη Reiz : ἐν αὐτῇ Richards 21. μὲν add. apogr.:
om. Ac 22. ἀναλαβόντες Bernays : ἀπολαβόντες codd. 25. ἑκάστῳ
Tyrwhitt : ἑκάστου codd. 28. παθημάτων corr. apogr. , Σ : μαθημάτων i
Ac 29. καὶ μέλος] καὶ μέτρον Vettori : secl. Tyrwhitt 30. μόνον]
μόρια Σ ( ‘ partes ' Arabs) 34. αὐτὴν] ταύτην Bywater
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS V. 4–VI . 4 23

in their length: for Tragedy endeavours, as far as

possible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the -TIME
sun, or but slightly to exceed this limit ; whereas the
Epic action has no limits of time. This, then, is a
second point of difference ; though at first the same
freedom was admitted in Tragedy as in Epic poetry.
Of their constituent parts some are common to both, 5
some peculiar to Tragedy. Whoever, therefore, knows
what is good or bad Tragedy, knows also about Epic
poetry:(for all the elements of an Epic poem are found
in Tragedy, but the elements of a Tragedy are not all
found in the Epic poem.)
VI Of the poetry which imitates in hexameter verse, and
of Comedy, we will speak hereafter. Let us now discuss
7 V
Tragedy, resuming its formal definition, as resulting from
what has been already said.
X Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is 2
serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude ; in language
embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the
several kinds being found in separate parts of the play ;
in the form of action, not of narrative ; through pity and
fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions./ By 3
6
!
language embellished,' I mean language into which
rhythm, 'harmony,' and song enter. By ' the several kinds
in separate parts,' I mean, that some parts are rendered
through the medium of verse alone, others again with
the aid of song.
Now as tragic imitation implies persons acting, it neces- 4
sarily follows, in the first place, that Spectacular equip-
ment will be a part of Tragedy. Next, Song and Diction,
for these are the medium of imitation. By ' Diction '
 24
VI. 4-9. 1449 b 35-1450 a 15

35 μέτρων σύνθεσιν, μελοποιίαν δὲ ὁ τὴν δύναμιν φανερὰν

* ἔχει πᾶσιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ πράξεώς ἐστι μίμησις, πράττεται δὲ 5
ὑπὸ τινῶν πραττόντων , οὓς ἀνάγκη ποιούς τινας εἶναι κατά
τε τὸ ἦθος καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ( διὰ γὰρ τούτων καὶ τὰς
1450 a πράξεις εἶναί φαμεν ποιάς τινας, πέφυκεν δὲ αἴτια δύο τῶν
πράξεων εἶναι, διάνοιαν καὶ ἦθος, καὶ κατὰ ταύτας καὶ
τυγχάνουσι καὶ ἀποτυγχάνουσι πάντες), ἔστιν δὴ τῆς μὲν 6
πράξεως ὁ μῦθος ἡ μίμησις · λέγω γὰρ μῦθον τοῦτον, τὴν
5 θεσιν τῶν πραγμάτων, τὰ δὲ ἤθη, καθ᾽ ὁ ποιούς τινας
σύν
εἶναί φαμεν τοὺς πράττοντας, διάνοιαν δέ, ἐν ὅσοις λέγον-
τες ἀποδεικνύασίν τι ἢ καὶ ἀποφαίνονται γνώμην . ἀνάγκη τ
οὖν πάσης τραγῳδίας μέρη εἶναι ἕξ, καθ᾽ ἃ ποιά τις ἐστὶν
ἡ τραγῳδία · ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐστὶ μῦθος καὶ ἤθη καὶ λέξις καὶ
το διάνοια καὶ ὄψις καὶ μελοποιία. οἷς μὲν γὰρ μιμοῦνται ,
δύο μέρη ἐστίν, ὡς δὲ μιμοῦνται , ἕν , ἃ δὲ μιμοῦνται, τρία,
καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα οὐδέν . τούτοις μὲν οὖν < πάντες > [οὐκ ὀλίγοι 8
αὐτῶν] ὡς εἰπεῖν κέχρηνται τοῖς εἴδεσιν · καὶ γὰρὄψεις ἔχει πᾶν
καὶ ἦθος καὶ μῦθον καὶ λέξιν καὶ μέλος καὶ διάνοιαν ὡσαύ-
15 τως . μέγιστον δὲ τούτων ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων σύστασις · 9
35. μέτρων ] ὀνομάτων Hermann, collato 1450 b 15
πᾶσαν codd.
38. διὰ δὲ Zeller 36. πᾶσιν Maggi :
parenthesi Thurot διὰ γὰρ τούτων
codd.: αἰτίας Christ πέφken
1453.0 aδὴ1. Euc υκεν δὲδὲapo gr.: πέφυκεν Ac πάντες in
: cod d. αἴτια
Maggi : secl . Christ (cf. Arab.) 4. τοῦτον] τοῦτο
καθ' & ποιά apogr.: καθοποία Ac 5. καθὸ Αε : καθ ' & apo gr. 8.
ὀλίγου αὐτῶν < ἅπαντες > ὡς εἰπεῖν coni. ὀλίγ
οὐκate
12.Byw αὐτὀλίγ
r :οιοὐκ ῶν οι εἰπεῶν
ὡς αὐτ cod
ῖν < d.ὰ:
ἀλλ
πάντες> ὡς εἰπεῖν Bursian : οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν om . 2, sed πάντως ( ?= πάντες)
add. (vid. Margoliouth). Secluso igitur tanquam glossemate οὐκ ὀλίγοι
αὐτῶν, scripsi < πάντες> ὡς εἰπεῖν : cf. Rhet. i. 1, 1354 a 12, ὀλίγον codd. :
οὐδὲν ὡς εἰπεῖν Ac marg., ubi ὀλίγον glossema esse suspicor, veram lect. οὐδὲν
ὡς εἰπεῖν : Dem. or. xxxviii. 6 πάντων τῶν πλείστων ὡς εἰπεῖν, ubi τῶν
πλείστων secluserim. Viam monstravit Diels, qui tamen πάντες quoque
omisso, τούτοις μὲν οὖν ὡς εἰπεῖν scripsit : οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν < ἀλλ᾽ ἐν πᾶσι
πάντες > Gomperz : οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν < ἀλλὰ πάντες πᾶσι > Zeller : < πάντες
ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτῆς > Susemihl
iure suspexeris 13. ὄψεις vel ὄψιν apogr. : ὄψις Ας πᾶν
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VI. 4-9 25
Diction
I mean the mere metrical arrangement of the words :
as for ' Song,' it is a term whose sense every one under-
stands.

Again, Tragedy is the imitation of an action and an 5

action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess
certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought;
1450a for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves,
and these thought and character-are the two natural
causes from which actions spring, and on actions again
all success or failure depends. Hence, the Plot is the 6
imitation of the action :-for by plot I here mean the
arrangement of the incidents. By Character I mean
that in virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to
the agents. Thought is required wherever a statement
is proved, or, it may be, a general truth enunciated.
Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which 7
parts determine its quality-namely, Plot, Character, 6

Diction, Thought, Spectacle, Song. Two of the parts con-

stitute the medium of imitation, one the manner, and three
the objects of imitation. And these complete the list.
These elements have been employed, we may say, by the 8
poets to a man; in fact, every play contains Spectacular
elements as well as 'Character, Plot, Diction, Song, and
Thought.
But most important of all is the structure of the 9
 26
VI. 9-14. 1450 a 16-37

ἡ γὰρ τραγῳδία μίμησίς ἐστιν οὐκ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ πρά-

ξεως καὶ βίου· < ὁ δὲ βίος> ἐν πράξει ἐστὶν καὶ τὸ τέλος
πρᾶξίς τις ἐστίν, οὐ ποιότης · εἰσὶν δὲ κατὰ μὲν τὰ ἤθη ποιοί 10
τινες, κατὰ δὲ τὰς πράξεις εὐδαίμονες ἢ τουναντίον. οὔκουν
20 ὅπως τὰ ἤθη μιμήσωνται πράττουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἤθη συμ-
παραλαμβάνουσιν διὰ τὰς πράξεις· ὥστε τὰ πράγματα καὶ
ὁ μῦθος τέλος τῆς τραγῳδίας, τὸ δὲ τέλος μέγιστον ἁπάντων.
ἔτι ἄνευ μὲν πράξεως οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο τραγῳδία, ἄνευ δὲ 11
ἠθῶν γένοιτ᾽ ἄν. αἱ γὰρ τῶν νέων τῶν πλείστων ἀήθεις
25 τραγῳδίαι εἰσὶν καὶ ὅλως ποιηταὶ πολλοὶ τοιοῦτοι, οἷον καὶ
τῶν γραφέων Ζεύξις πρὸς Πολύγνωτον πέπονθεν · ὁ μὲν γὰρ
Πολύγνωτος ἀγαθὸς ἠθογράφος, ἡ δὲ Ζεύξιδος γραφὴ οὐδὲν
ἔχει ἦθος. ἔτι ἐάν τις ἐφεξῆς θῇ ῥήσεις ἠθικὰς καὶ λέξει 12
καὶ διανοίᾳ εὖ πεποιημένας, οὐ ποιήσει ὃ ἣν τῆς τραγῳ-
30 δίας ἔργον, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἡ καταδεεστέροις τούτοις
κεχρημένη τραγῳδία, ἔχουσα δὲ μῦθον καὶ σύστασιν πρα-
γμάτων. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὰ μέγιστα οἷς ψυχαγωγεῖ ἡ 13
τραγῳδία, τοῦ μύθου μέρη ἐστίν, αἵ τε περιπέτειαι καὶ ἀνα-
γνωρίσεις. ἔτι σημεῖον ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἐγχειροῦντες ποιεῖν πρό- 14
35 τερον δύνανται τῇ λέξει καὶ τοῖς ἤθεσιν ἀκριβοῦν ἢ τὰ
πράγματα συνίστασθαι, οἷον καὶ οἱ πρῶτοι ποιηταὶ σχεδὸν
ἅπαντες. ἀρχὴ μὲν οὖν καὶ οἷον ψυχὴ ὁ μῦθος τῆς τρα-

16. ἀλλὰ πράξεως καὶ βίου καὶ εὐδαιμονίας καὶ ἡ κακοδαιμονία ἐν πράξει codd. ,
sed alio spectat Arabs (' sed in operibus et vita. Et < vita > est in opere ' ) ;
unde Margoliouth ἀλλὰ πράξεως καὶ βίου, < ὁ δὲ βίος > ἐν πράξει, quod pro-
bant Diels, Zeller, Susemihl. Codicum lectionem ita supplet Vahlen, καὶ
εὐδαιμονίας < καὶ κακοδαιμονίας, ἡ δὲ εὐδαιμονία > καὶ ἡ κακοδαιμονία
20. πράττουσιν] πράττοντας ποιοῦσιν coni. Vahlen συμπαραλαμβάνουσι
Guelferbytanus pr. m. , Spengel : συμπεριλαμβάνουσιν Αε 26 et 27.
Πολύγνωστον et Πολύγνωστος Ac 28. λέξει καὶ διανοίᾳ Vahlen (confirm.
Arabs) : λέξεις καὶ διανοίας codd. 29. οὐ add. apogr. (' nequaquam '
Arabs) : om. Ac : fort. οὐδαμῶς Margoliouth 30. ἡ apogr.: ἢ Ac 36.
συνίστασθαι codd. : συνιστάναι Thurot
 but

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VI . 9-14 27

incidents. For Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but

of an action and of life, and life consists in action, and
its end is a mode of action, not a quality. Now 10
character determines men's qualities, but it is by their
actions that they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic
action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation
of character : character comes in as subsidiary to the
actions. Hence the incidents and the plot are the end of
a tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. Again, 11
without action there cannot be a tragedy ; there may be
without character. The tragedies of most of our modern
poets fail in the rendering of character ; and of poets in
general this is often true. It is the same in painting ;
and here lies the difference between Zeuxis and Polygnotus.
Polygnotus delineates character well : the style of Zeuxis
is devoid of ethical quality. Again, if you string 12
together a set of speeches expressive of character, and / :

well finished in point of diction and thought, you will

not produce the essential tragic effect nearly so well as
with a play which, however deficient in these respects,
yet has a plot and artistically constructed incidents.
(Besides which, the most powerful elements of emotional 13
interest in Tragedy-Peripeteia or Reversal of Intention
Intention,
and Recognition scenes-are parts of the plot. Afurther 14
proof is, that novices in the art attain to finish of diction
and precision of portraiture before they can construct
the plot. It is the same with almost all the early
poets.
The Plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were,
 28 VI. 15-19. 1450 a 38-1450 b 19
1
γῳδίας, δεύτερον δὲ τὰ ἤθη· παραπλήσιον γάρ ἐστιν καὶ 15
1450 b ἐπὶ τῆς γραφικῆς· εἰ γάρ τις ἐναλείψειε τοῖς καλλίστοις
να (φαρμάκοις χύδην, οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως εὐφράνειεν καὶ λευκο-
Γαζ γραφήσας εἰκόνα· ἔστιν τε μίμησις πράξεως καὶ διὰ ταύτην
μάλιστα τῶν πραττόντων. τρίτον δὲ ἡ διάνοια · τοῦτο δέ 16
5 ἐστιν τὸ λέγειν δύνασθαι τὰ ἐνόντα καὶ τὰ ἁρμόττοντα,
ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων τῆς πολιτικῆς καὶ ῥητορικῆς ἔργον
ἐστίν · οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι πολιτικῶς ἐποίουν λέγοντας, οἱ
δὲ νῦν ῥητορικῶς. ἔστιν δὲ ἦθος μὲν τὸ τοιοῦτον ὃ δηλοῖ τὴν 17
προαίρεσιν ὁποῖά τις [προ]αιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει · διόπερ οὐκ
το ἔχουσιν ἦθος τῶν λόγων ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι δῆλον ἢ ἐν
οἷς μηδ᾽ ὅλως ἔστιν ὅ τι [προ]αιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει ὁ λέγων ·
διάνοια δέ, ἐν οἷς ἀποδεικνύουσί τι ὡς ἔστιν ἢ ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν
ἢ καθόλου τι ἀποφαίνονται. τέταρτον δὲ τῶν λεγομένων ἡ 18
λέξις · λέγω δέ, ὥσπερ πρότερον εἴρηται, λέξιν εἶναι τὴν
15 διὰ τῆς ὀνομασίας ἑρμηνείαν, ὃ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμμέτρων καὶ
ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων ἔχει τὴν αὐτὴν δύναμιν. τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν 19
[πέντε] ἡ μελοποιία μέγιστον τῶν ἡδυσμάτων, ἡ δὲ ὄψις
ψυχαγωγικὸν μέν, ἀτεχνότατον δὲ καὶἥκιστα οἰκεῖον τῆς ποιη-
τικῆς · < ἴσ> ως γὰρ τῆς τραγῳδίας δύναμις καὶ ἄνευ ἀγῶνος

38. παραπλήσιον εἰκόνα supra post πραγμάτων ν. 31 collocavit Castel-

vetro. 1450 b 1. ἕνα λείψειε Ας 3. τε codd.: γὰρ Hermann 6.
ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων secl. M. Schmidt 9-11 . ὁποῖά τις φεύγει ὁ λέγων
...

Gomperz, alios secutus : ὁποῖά τις (ὁ ποῖα τίς) ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι δῆλον ἢ
προαιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει· διόπερ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἦθος τῶν λόγων ἐν οἷς μηδ᾽ ὅλως ἔστιν
ὅ τις (ὅ τι apogr.) προαιρεῖται ἡ φεύγει ὁ λέγων Αε : ὁποία τις· διόπερ οὐκ
ἔχουσιν ...
φεύγει ὁ λέγων (verbis ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι δῆλον ἢ προαιρεῖται ἢ
φεύγει omissis cum Arabe) Margoliouth. Suspicatur Susemihl ἐν οἷς οὐκ
ἔστι ἢ φεύγει et ἐν οἷς μηδ᾽ ὅλως ἔστιν ἢ φεύγει duplicem lectionem
fuisse 11. τι apogr.: τις Ac 13. λεγομένων Gomperz : μὲν λόγων
codd. : ἐν λόγῳ Bywater 17. πέντε Ac : secl. Spengel (confirm. Arabs) :
πέμπτον apogr. 18. ἀπεχνώτατον Ασ 19. ἴσως Meiser : ὡς AC : ἡ
apogr. : ὅλως Gomperz
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VI. 14-19 29
1
மு
the soul of a tragedy : Character holds the second place. 2
1450b A similar fact is seen in painting. The most beautiful 15
colours, laid on confusedly, will not give as much pleasure
as the chalk outline of a portrait. Thus Tragedy is the
imitation of an action, and of the agents, mainly with a
view to the action.
διάνοια
Thought
3 Third in order is Thought, that is, the faculty of 16
saying what is possible and pertinent in given circum-
stances. In the case of oratory, this is the function of
the political art and of the art of rhetoric : and so indeed
the older poets make their characters speak the language
of civic life ; the poets of our time, the language of the
rhetoricians. Character is that which reveals moral17
purpose, showing what kind of things a man chooses or
avoids. Speeches, therefore, which do not make this
manifest, or in which the speaker does not choose or
avoid anything whatever, are not expressive of character.
Thought, on the other hand, is found where something is
proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is
enunciated.
4) Fourth among the elements enumerated comes 18-
Diction ; by which I mean, as has been already said, the
expression of the meaning in words ; and its essence is
the same both in verse and prose. 9
Of the remaining elements song holds the chief place 19
among the embellishments.
The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of
its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and
connected least with the art of poetry. For the power
ン
of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from
representation and actors. Besides, the production of
 28 VI. 15-19. 1450 a 38-1450 b 19

γῳδίας, δεύτερον δὲ τὰ ἤθη· παραπλήσιον γάρ ἐστιν καὶ 15

1450b ἐπὶ τῆς γραφικῆς· εἰ γάρ τις ἐναλείψειε τοῖς καλλίστοις
(φαρμάκοις χύδην, οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως εὐφράνειεν καὶ λευκο-
Fry γραφήσας εἰκόνα· ἔστιν ΤΕ
μίμησις πράξεως καὶ διὰ ταύτην
μάλιστα τῶν πραττόντων. τρίτον δὲ ἡ διάνοια· τοῦτο δέ 16
5 ἐστιν τὸ λέγειν δύνασθαι τὰ ἐνόντα καὶ τὰ ἁρμόττοντα,
ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων τῆς πολιτικῆς καὶ ῥητορικῆς ἔργον
ἐστίν · οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχαῖοι πολιτικῶς ἐποίουν λέγοντας, οἱ
δὲ νῦν ῥητορικῶς. ἔστιν δὲ ἦθος μὲν τὸ τοιοῦτον ὃ δηλοῖ τὴν 17
προαίρεσιν ὁποῖά τις [προ]αιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει· διόπερ οὐκ
1ο ἔχουσιν ἦθος τῶν λόγων ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι δῆλον ἢ ἐν
οἷς μηδ᾽ ὅλως ἔστιν ὅ τι [προ]αιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει ὁ λέγων ·
διάνοια δέ, ἐν οἷς ἀποδεικνύουσί τι ὡς ἔστιν ἢ ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν
ἢ καθόλου τι ἀποφαίνονται. τέταρτον δὲ τῶν λεγομένων ἡ 18
λέξις· λέγω δέ, ὥσπερ πρότερον εἴρηται, λέξιν εἶναι τὴν
15 διὰ τῆς ὀνομασίας ἑρμηνείαν, ὃ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμμέτρων καὶ
ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων ἔχει τὴν αὐτὴν δύναμιν. τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν 19
[πέντε] ἡ μελοποιία μέγιστον τῶν ἡδυσμάτων, ἡ δὲ ὄψις
ψυχαγωγικὸν μέν, ἀτεχνότατον δὲ καὶ ἥκιστα οἰκεῖον τῆς ποιη-
τικῆς· < ἴσ > ως γὰρ τῆς τραγῳδίας δύναμις καὶ ἄνευ ἀγῶνος

38. παραπλήσιον εἰκόνα supra post πραγμάτων ν. 31 collocavit Castel-

vetro. 1450 b 1. ἕνα λείψειε Ας 3. τε codd.: γὰρ Hermann 6.
ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων secl. M. Schmidt 9-11 . ὁποῖά τις φεύγει ὁ λέγων
..

Gomperz, alios secutus : ὁποῖά τις (ὁ ποῖα τίς) ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι δῆλον ἢ
προαιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει · διόπερ οὐκ ἔχουσιν ἦθος τῶν λόγων ἐν οἷς μηδ᾽ ὅλως ἔστιν
ὅ τις (ὅ τι apogr.) προαιρεῖται ἢ φεύγει ὁ λέγων Ας : ὁποία τις· διόπερ οὐκ
ἔχουσιν ..
φεύγει ὁ λέγων (verbis ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστι δῆλον ἢ προαιρεῖται ἢ
φεύγει omissis cum Arabe) Margoliouth. Suspicatur Susemihl ἐν οἷς οὐκ
ἔστι ἢ φεύγει et ἐν οἷς μηδ᾽ ὅλως ἔστιν ἢ φεύγει duplicem lectionem
fuisse 11. τι apogr.: τις Ac 13. λεγομένων Gomperz : μὲν λόγων
codd. : ἐν λόγῳ Bywater 17. πέντε Ac : secl. Spengel (confirm. Arabs) :
πέμπτον apogr. 18. ἀπεχνώτατον Ασ 19. ἴσως Meiser: ὡς Ας : ἡ
apogr. : ὅλως Gomperz
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VI. 14-19 29
(
)
9 1
-

the soul of a tragedy : Character holds the second place. 2

1450b A similar fact is seen in painting. The most beautiful 15
colours, laid on confusedly, will not give as much pleasure
as the chalk outline of a portrait. Thus Tragedy is the
imitation of an action, and of the agents, mainly with a
διάνοια
view to the action.
3 Third in order is Thought, that is, the faculty of 16
saying what is possible and pertinent in given circum-
stances. In the case of oratory, this is the function of
the political art and of the art of rhetoric : and so indeed
the older poets make their characters speak the language
of civic life ; the poets of our time, the language of the
rhetoricians. Character is that which reveals moral17
purpose, showing what kind of things a man chooses or
avoids. Speeches, therefore, which do not make this
manifest, or in which the speaker does not choose or
avoid anything whatever, are not expressive of character.
Thought, on the other hand, is found where something is then she

proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is

enunciated.
)
4 Fourth among the elements enumerated comes 18-
٠٢٢٠٦١
Diction ; by which I mean, as has been already said, the
expression of the meaning in words ; and its essence is
the same both in verse and prose. ?
Of the remaining elements song holds thechiefplace 19
among the embellishments.
The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of :

its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and
connected least with the art of poetry. For the power
of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from
representation and actors. Besides, the production of
 30
VI. 19-VII. 5. 1450 b 20-1451 a 5
.

20 καὶ ὑποκριτῶν ἔστιν, ἔτι δὲ κυριωτέρα περὶ τὴν ἀπεργασίαν

Y ὄψεων ἡ τοῦ σκευοποιοῦ τέχνη τῆς τῶν ποιητῶν ἐστιν.
KI RST TA τῶν
S T O
MO IMP
VII Διωρισμένων δὲ τούτων, λέγωμεν μετὰ ταῦτα ποίαν
-κλιτο τινὰ δεῖ τὴν σύστασιν εἶναι τῶν πραγμάτων, ἐπειδη τούτο
καὶ πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον τῆς τραγῳδίας ἐστίν. κεῖται δὴ 2
25 ἡμῖν τὴν τραγῳδίαν τελείας καὶ ὅλης πράξεως εἶναι μί-
μησιν ἐχούσης τι μέγεθος· ἔστιν γὰρ ὅλον καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον
μέγεθος. ὅλον δέ ἐστιν τὸ ἔχον ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον καὶ τε- 3
λευτήν. ἀρχὴ δέ ἐστιν ὁ αὐτὸ μὲν μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης μετ᾿
ἄλλο ἐστίν, μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνο δ᾽ ἕτερον πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ γίνεσθαι ·
30 τελευτὴ δὲ τοὐναντίον ὁ αὐτὸ μετ᾿ ἄλλο πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ

Εμέσον δὲ ὁ καὶ αὐτὸ μετ᾿ ἄλλο καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνο ἕτερον.

ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἄλλο οὐδέν ·

δεῖ ἄρα τοὺς συνεστῶτας εὐ μύθους μήθ᾽ ὁπόθεν ἔτυχεν

ἄρχεσθαι μήθ᾽ ὅπου ἔτυχε τελευτᾶν, ἀλλὰ κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς
35 εἰρημέναις ἰδέαις. ἔτι δ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἅπαν 4
πρᾶγμα ὃ συνέστηκεν ἐκ τινῶν οὐ μόνον ταῦτα τεταγμένα
δεῖ ἔχειν ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγεθος ὑπάρχειν μὴ τὸ τυχόν· τὸ
γὰρ καλὸν ἐν μεγέθει καὶ τάξει ἐστίν, διὸ οὔτε πάμμικρον
ἄν τι γένοιτο καλὸν ζῷον (συγχεῖται γὰρ ἡ θεωρία ἐγγὺς
40 τοῦ ἀναισθήτου χρόνου γινομένη), οὔτε παμμέγεθες (οὐ γὰρ
1451 2 ἅμα ἡ θεωρία γίνεται ἀλλ᾽ οἴχεται τοῖς θεωροῦσι τὸ ἓν
καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἐκ τῆς θεωρίας), οἷον εἰ μυρίων σταδίων εἴη
ζῷον· ὥστε δεῖ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν 5
ζῴων ἔχειν μὲν μέγεθος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐσύνοπτον εἶναι, οὕτω

24. δὴ Bywater : d'Ac 28. μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης codd.: ἐξ ἀνάγκης μὴ Pazzi

35. ἰδέαις apogr.: εἰδέαις Ac 38. πάμμικρον Riccardianus 16 : πᾶν μικρὸν
Ας : πάνυ μικρὸν Laurentianus lx. 16 40. χρόνου secl. Bonitz : tutatur
Arabs παμμέγεθες Riccardianus 16 : πᾶν μέγεθος Ας : πάνυ μέγα Lauren-
tianus lx. 16 1451 a 3. σωμάτων] συστημάτων Bywater
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VI. 19-VII. 5 31

spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage

machinist than on that of the poet.
VII
These principles being established, let us now discuss (u )
TWD
the proper structure of the Plot, since this is the first πραγματου
and most important part of Tragedy.
Now, according to our definition, Tragedy is an 2
imitation of an action that is complete, and whole, and CA
C
of a certain magnitude ; for there may be a whole that
is wanting in magnitude. A whole is that which has 3
a beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that
which does not itself follow anything by causal necessity
,
but after which something naturally is or comes to be
An end, on the contrary, is that which itself naturally
follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a rule,
but has nothing following it. A middle is that which
follows something as some other thing follows it. A well
constructed plot, therefore, must neither begin nor end
at haphazard, but conform to these principles.
Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a picture of 4
a living organism or any whole composed of parts, must
not only have an orderly arrangement of parts, but must
also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on
magnitude and order. Hence an exceedingly small
picture cannot be beautiful ; for the view of it is con-
fused, the object being seen in an almost imperceptible
moment of time. Nor, again, can one of vast size be
1451 a beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all in at once,
the unity and sense of the whole is lost for the spectator ;
as for instance if there were a picture a thousand miles
long. As, therefore, in the case of animate bodies and 5
pictures a certain magnitude is necessary, and a magni-
 32 VII. 5-VIII . 3. 1451 a 5-26

5 καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων ἔχειν μὲν μῆκος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐμνημόνευ-

τον εἶναι. τοῦ μήκους ὅρος < ὁ > μὲν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ 6
τὴν αἴσθησιν οὐ τῆς τέχνης ἐστίν · εἰ γὰρ ἔδει ἑκατὸν
τραγῳδίας ἀγωνίζεσθαι, πρὸς κλεψύδρας ἂν ἠγωνίζοντο,
ὥσπερ ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτέ φασιν. ὁ δὲ κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν 7
?
το τοῦ πράγματος ὅρος, ἀεὶ μὲν ὁ μείζων μέχρι τοῦ σύν-
δηλος εἶναι καλλίων ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος· ὡς δὲ ἁ-
πλῶς διορίσαντας εἰπεῖν, ἐν ὅσῳ μεγέθει κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ
τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἐφεξῆς γιγνομένων συμβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν
14 ἐκ δυστυχίας ἢ ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταβάλλειν,
VIII ἱκανὸς ὅρος ἐστὶν τοῦ μεγέθους. Μῦθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς
οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ
καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν [ἐνίων] οὐδέν ἐστιν
ἕν· οὕτως δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν
μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις. διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν ἁμαρ- 2
20 τάνειν ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληίδα Θησηίδα καὶ τὰ
τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν · οἴονται γάρ, ἐπεὶ εἰς ἦν
ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν. ὁ δ᾽ Ὅ- 3
μηρος ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔοικεν κα-
λῶς ἰδεῖν ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν γὰρ
25 ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον πλη-
γῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν

6. ὁ add. Bursian μὲν πρὸς AC : πρὸς μὲν apogr. 8. κλεψύδραν

apogr. 9. ἄλλοτε φασίν codd. : ἄλλοτ᾽ εἰώθασιν M. Schmidt ; quod olim
recepi, sed ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε vix aliud significare potest quam ' olim
aliquando.' Quae in Arabe leguntur (' sicut solemus dicere etiam aliquo
tempore et aliquando '), alterutri lectioni subsidio esse possunt 17.
ἑνὶ Guelferbytanus : γένει Ac (cf. 1447 a 17) : τῷ γ᾽ ἑνὶ Vettori ἐνίων
secl. Spengel 18. αἱ ante πολλαί add. apogr.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VII. 5-VIII. 3 33

tude which may be easily embraced in one view ; so in

the plot, a certain length is necessary, and a length
which can be easily embraced by the memory. The 6
limit of length in relation to dramatic competition and
sensuous presentment, is no part of artistic theory. For
had it been the rule for a hundred tragedies to compete
together, the performance would have been regulated by
the water-clock,-as indeed we are told was formerly
done. But the limit as fixed by the nature of the 7
drama itself is this : - the greater the length, the
more beautiful will the piece be by reason of its
size, provided that the whole be perspicuous. And
to define the matter roughly, we may say that the
proper magnitude is comprised within such limits, that
the sequence of events, according to the law of probability
or necessity, will admit of a change from bad fortune to
good, or from good fortune to bad.
VIII Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist
in the unity of the hero. For infinitely various are the
incidents in one man's life, which cannot be reduced to
unity ; and so, too, there are many actions of one man
out of which we cannot make one action. Hence the

error, as it appears, of all poets who have composed a

Heracleid, a Theseid, or other poems of the kind. They
imagine that as Heracles was one man, the story of
Heracles must also be a unity. But Homer, as in all 3
else he is of surpassing merit, here too-whether from
art or natural genius seems to have happily discerned
the truth. In composing the Odyssey he did not include
:
all the adventures of Odysseus-such as his wound on
Parnassus, or his feigned madness at the mustering of
D

1
 34 VIII . 3-IX. 5. 1451 a 27-1451 b 12

>
τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν τ
εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν οἷαι
λέγομεν τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν
30 Ἰλιάδα. χρὴ οὖν καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία
μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς
ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστά-
ναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους
ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον · ὁ γὰρ
35 προσὸν ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲν μόριον τοῦ
ὅλου ἐστίν .
IX Φανερὸν δὲ ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ ὅτι οὐ τὸ τὰ
γενόμενα λέγειν, τοῦτο ποιητοῦ ἔργον ἐστίν, ἀλλ᾽ οἷα ἂν
γένοιτο καὶ τὰ δυνατὰ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον . ὁ γὰρ 2
1451 b ἱστορικὸς καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς οὐ τῷ ἢ ἔμμετρα λέγειν ἢ ἄμετρα
διαφέρουσιν (εἴη γὰρ ἂν τὰ ῾Ἡροδότου εἰς μέτρα τεθῆναι,
καὶ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἂν εἴη ἱστορία τις μετὰ μέτρου ἢ ἄνευ μέτρων) ·
ἀλλὰ τούτῳ διαφέρει, τῷ τὸν μὲν τὰ γενόμενα λέγειν,
5 τὸν δὲ οἷα ἂν γένοιτο. διὸ καὶ φιλοσοφώτερον καὶ 3
σπουδαιότερον ποίησις ἱστορίας ἐστίν · ἡ μὲν γὰρ ποίησις
μᾶλλον τὰ καθόλου, ἡ δ᾽ ἱστορία τὰ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον λέγει.
ἔστιν δὲ καθόλου μέν, τῷ ποίῳ τὰ ποῖα ἄττα συμβαίνει 4
λέγειν ἢ πράττειν κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον, οὗ στο-
το χάζεται ἡ ποίησις ὀνόματα ἐπιτιθεμένη · τὸ δὲ καθ᾽ ἕκα-
στον, τί ᾿Αλκιβιάδης ἔπραξεν ἢ τί ἔπαθεν. ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς 5
κωμῳδίας ἤδη τοῦτο δῆλον γέγονεν · συστήσαντες γὰρ τὸν
27. ἢ add. apogr. 29. λέγομεν apogr. : λέγοιμεν Αc : ἂν λέγοιμεν Vahlen
32. καὶ ταύτης] ταύτης καὶ Susemihl 34. διαφέρεσθαι] διαφθείρεσθαι
Twining (' corrumpatur et confundatur ' Arabs) : habuit fort. utramque
lect. Σ (Margoliouth) : fort. διαφορεῖσθαι (cf. de Div. 2. 464 b 13) 35.
ποιεῖ, ἐπίδηλον ὡς apogr. 37. οὐ τὸ apogr. (confirm . Arabs) : οὕτω Α
38. γενόμενα Riccardianus 16 : γινόμενα cett. 39. καὶ τὰ δυνατὰ secl .
Maggi 1451 b 4. τούτῳ . . . τῷ apogr.: τοῦτο ... τῶ Ας : τοῦτο ... τὸ
Spengel 10. τὸ apogr.: τὸν Ασ
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS VIII . 3-IX. 5 35

the host incidents between which there was no necessary

or probable connexion : but he made the Odyssey, and -

likewise the Iliad, to centre round an action that in our

sense of the word is one. As therefore, in the other 4
imitative arts, the imitation is one when the object imitated
is one, so the plot, being an imitation of an action, must
imitate one action and that a whole, the structural union
of the parts being such that, if any one of them is
displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and
disturbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes
no visible difference, is not an organic part of the
whole.
IX It is, moreover, evident from what has been said,
that it is not the function of the poet to relate what
has happened, but what may happen,-what is possible
according to the law of probability or necessity. The 2
1451 b poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or
in prose. The work of Herodotus might be put into
verse, and it would still be a species of history, with
metre no less than without it. The true difference is

that one relates what has happened, the other what may
happen. Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and 3
a higher thing than history : for poetry tends to express
the universal, history the particular. By the universal 4
ve
I mean how a person of a certain type will on occasion
speak or act, according to the law of probability or
necessity ; and it is this universality at which poetry
aims in the names she attaches to the personages. The
particular is-for example-what Alcibiades did or
suffered. In Comedy this is already apparent : for here 5
the poet first constructs the plot on the lines of prob-

desen hu > mustral chorockrithas

-
 36 IX 5-10. 1451 b 13-33

μῦθον διὰ τῶν εἰκότων οὐ τὰ τυχόντα ὀνόματα ὑποτι-

θέασιν, καὶ οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ ἰαμβοποιοὶ περὶ τὸν καθ᾽ ἕκαστον
15 ποιοῦσιν. ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς τραγῳδίας τῶν γενομένων ὀνομάτων 6
ἀντέχονται. αἴτιον δ᾽ ὅτι πιθανόν ἐστι τὸ δυνατόν. τὰ μὲν
οὖν μὴ γενόμενα οὔπω πιστεύομεν εἶναι δυνατά, τὰ δὲ γε-
νόμενα φανερὸν ὅτι δυνατά, οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐγένετο, εἰ ἦν ἀδύ-
νατα. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις ἐνίαις μὲν ἓν 7
20 ἢ δύο τῶν γνωρίμων ἐστὶν ὀνομάτων, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πεποιη-
μένα, ἐν ἐνίαις δὲ οὐδ᾽ ἕν, οἷον ἐν τῷ ᾿Αγάθωνος ᾿Ανθεῖ · ὁμοίως
γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ τά τε πράγματα καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα πεποίηται, καὶ
οὐδὲν ἧττον εὐφραίνει. ὥστ᾽ οὐ πάντως εἶναι ζητητέον τῶν 8
παραδεδομένων μύθων, περὶ οὓς αἱ τραγῳδίαι εἰσίν, ἀντ-
25 έχεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ γελοῖον τοῦτο ζητεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ γνώ-
ριμα ὀλίγοις γνώριμά ἐστιν ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως εὐφραίνει πάντας.
δῆλον οὖν ἐκ τούτων ὅτι τὸν ποιητὴν μᾶλλον τῶν μύθων 9
εἶναι δεῖ ποιητὴν ἢ τῶν μέτρων, ὅσῳ ποιητὴς κατὰ τὴν μί-
μησίν ἐστιν, μιμεῖται δὲ τὰς πράξεις. κἂν ἄρα συμβῇ γενό-
30 μενα ποιεῖν, οὐθὲν ἧττον ποιητής ἐστι · τῶν γὰρ γενομένων
ἔνια οὐδὲν κωλύει τοιαῦτα εἶναι οἷα ἂν εἰκὸς γενέσθαι καὶ
δυνατὰ γενέσθαι, καθ᾽ ὁ ἐκεῖνος αὐτῶν ποιητής ἐστιν .
τῶν δὲ ἄλλων μύθων καὶ πράξεων αἱ ἐπεισοδιώδεις 10
ἐπι-
13. οὐ scripsi (' nequaquam ' Arabs) : οὕτω codd. (cf. 1451 a 37)
τιθέασι apogr. 14. τὸν Ας : τῶν apogr. 16. πειθανόν Αc 19. ἐν
ante évíais add. apogr. (ceterum cf. Dem. or. iii. 11, xviii. 12) 21. οὐδ᾽ ἕν]
οὐθ᾽ ἕν Αε : οὐθέν apogr. οἷον ... ᾿Ανθεῖ] ' quemadmodum si quis unum esse
bonum statuit ' Arabs ; male Syrus legisse videtur ἓν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ὃς ἂν θῇ
(Margoliouth) ᾿Ανθεῖ Welcker : ἄνθει codd. 23. ὥστ᾽ οὐ] ὡσ τοῦ
Ac οὐ πάντως εἶναι, si sana sunt, arcte cohaerent (cf. οὐχ ἑκὼν εἶναι,
κατὰ δύναμιν εἶναι, κατὰ τοῦτο εἶναι, similia) : εἶναι secl. Spengel 24. αἱ
<εὐδοκιμοῦσαι > τραγῳδίαι coni. Vahlen 31. καὶ δυνατὰ γενέσθαι secl .
Vorländer : om. Arabs 33. τῶν δὲ ἄλλων Tyrwhitt : τῶν δὲ ἁπλῶν codd. :
ἁπλῶς δὲ τῶν Castelvetro
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS IX. 5-10 37

ability, and then inserts characteristic names ;-unlike

the lampooners who write about particular individuals
But tragedians still keep to real names, the reason being
that what is possible is credible : what has not happened
we do not at once feel sure to be possible; but what has
happened is manifestly possible : otherwise it would not
-

have happened. Still there are some tragedies in which 7

there are only one or two well known names, the rest
being fictitious. In others, none are well known,-as
in Agathon's Antheus, where incidents and names alike
are fictitious, and yet they give none the less pleasure.
We must not, therefore, at all costs keep to the received 8
legends, which are the usual subjects of Tragedy. Indeed,
it would be absurd to attempt it ; for even subjects that
are known are known only to a few, and yet give pleasure
to all. It clearly follows that the poet or ' maker ' 9
should be the maker of plots rather than of verses ;
since he is a poet because he imitates, and what he
imitates are actions. And even if he chances to take

an historical subject, he is none the less a poet ; for

there is no reason why some events that have actually
happened should not conform to the law of the probable
and possible, and in virtue of that quality in them he is
their poet or maker.
Of all plots and actions the epeisodic are the worst. 10
 38 IX. 10-X. 3. 1451 b 34-1452 a 19

εἰσὶν χείρισται · λέγω δ᾽ ἐπεισοδιώδη μῦθον ἐν ᾧ τὰ ἐπεισ-

35 όδια μετ᾿ ἄλληλα οὔτ᾽ εἰκὸς οὔτ᾽ ἀνάγκη εἶναι. τοιαῦται
δὲ ποιοῦνται ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν φαύλων ποιητῶν δι᾽ αὐτούς, ὑπὸ
δὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν διὰ τοὺς ὑποκριτάς· ἀγωνίσματα γὰρ
ποιοῦντες καὶ παρὰ τὴν δύναμιν παρατείνοντες μῦθον πολ-
1452 α λάκις διαστρέφειν ἀναγκάζονται τὸ ἐφεξῆς. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐ 11
μόνον τελείας ἐστὶ πράξεως ἡ μίμησις ἀλλὰ καὶ φοβερῶν
καὶ ἐλεεινῶν, ταῦτα δὲ γίνεται [καὶ] μάλιστα ὅταν γένηται
παρὰ τὴν δόξαν, καὶ μᾶλλον < ὅταν > δι᾽ ἄλληλα · τὸ γὰρ θαυ- 12
5 μαστὸν οὕτως ἕξει μᾶλλον ἢ εἰ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου καὶ
τῆς τύχης, ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τύχης ταῦτα θαυμασιώτατα
δοκεῖ ὅσα ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες φαίνεται γεγονέναι, οἷον ὡς ὁ
ἀνδριὰς ὁ τοῦ Μίτυος ἐν "Αργει ἀπέκτεινεν τὸν αἴτιον τοῦ
θανάτου τῷ Μίτυι, θεωροῦντι ἐμπεσών · ἔοικε γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτα
το οὐκ εἰκῇ γενέσθαι· ὥστε ἀνάγκη τοὺς τοιούτους εἶναι καλ-
λίους μύθους.
X Εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν μύθων οἱ μὲν ἁπλοῖ οἱ δὲ πεπλεγμένοι,
καὶ γὰρ αἱ πράξεις ὧν μιμήσεις οἱ μῦθοί εἰσιν ὑπάρχου-
σιν εὐθὺς οὖσαι τοιαῦται. λέγω δὲ ἁπλῆν μὲν πρᾶξιν ἧς 2
15 γινομένης ὥσπερ ὥρισται συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς ἄνευ περιπε-
τείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἡ μετάβασις γίνεται, πεπλεγμένη
δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡς μετὰ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἢ περιπετείας ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἡ
μετάβασίς ἐστιν. ταῦτα δὲ δεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συ- 3
στάσεως τοῦ μύθου, ὥστε ἐκ τῶν προγεγενημένων συμβαίνειν

37. ὑποκριτὰς Ac (cf. Rhet. iii. 11. 1403 b 33) : κριτὰς apogr. 38. παρατεί-
νοντες apogr.: παρατείναντες Ac 1452 a 2. ἡ secl. Gomperz 3.
καὶ secl. Susemihl 4. καὶ μᾶλλον post καὶ μάλιστα codd. : post δόξαν
Reiz (cf. Rhet. iii. 9. 1410 a 21 ) : καὶ κάλλιον Tucker : καὶ μᾶλλον sive καὶ
μάλιστα secl. Spengel : καὶ μᾶλλον ante καὶ μάλιστα Richards ὅταν
add. Reiz 9. μήτυϊ Αc 17. δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἧς Susemihl : δὲ λέξις Ας : δὲ ἐξ
ἧς Riccardianus 16 : δὲ πρᾶξις apogr. : δέ ἐστιν ἐξ ἧς (h. e . δέ ῾Λ ' εξης) Vahlen
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS IX. 10-Χ. 3 39

I call a plot ' epeisodic ' in which the episodes or acts sue- -XRE .
ceed one another without probable or necessary sequence.
Bad poets compose such pieces by their own fault, good
poets, to please the players ; for, as they write show
pieces for competition, they stretch the plot beyond its
1452 a capacity, and are often forced to break the natural con-
tinuity.
But again, Tragedy is an imitation not only of a
complete action, but of events terrible and pitiful. Such
Couhan effect is best produced when the events come on us
by surprise ; and the effect is heightened when, at the
same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic 12
wonder will then be greater than if they happened of
themselves or by accident ; for even coincidences are most
striking when they have an air of design. We may
instance the statue of Mitys at Argos, which fell upon his
murderer while he was a spectator at a festival, and killed
0 him. Such events seem not to be due to mere chance.
Plots, therefore, constructed on these principles are
necessarily the best.
X Plots are either Simple or Complex, for the actions
in real life, of which the plots are an imitation, obviously
show a similar distinction. An action which is one and 2
continuous in the sense above defined, I call Simple, when
the change of fortune takes place without Reversal of
Intention and without Recognition.
A Complex action is one in which the change is
accompanied by such Reversal, or by Recognition, or
by both. These last should arise from the internal 3
structure of the plot, so that what follows should be the
 40 Χ. 3-ΧΙ. 4. 1452 a 20-1452 b 2

20 ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίγνεσθαι ταῦτα· διαφέρει

γὰρ πολὺ τὸ γίγνεσθαι τάδε διὰ τάδε ἢ μετὰ τάδε.
XI
Ἔστι δὲ περιπέτεια μὲν ἡ εἰς τὸ ἐναντίον τῶν πραττο-
μένων μεταβολή, [καθάπερ εἴρηται,] καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ὥσπερ
λέγομεν κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ ἀναγκαῖον · ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι
25 ἐλθὼν ὡς εὐφρανῶν τὸν Οἰδίπουν καὶ ἀπαλλάξων τοῦ πρὸς
τὴν μητέρα φόβου, δηλώσας ὃς ἦν, τοὐναντίον ἐποίησεν ·
καὶ ἐν τῷ Λυγκεῖ ὁ μὲν ἀγόμενος ὡς ἀποθανούμενος, ὁ δὲ
Δαναὸς ἀκολουθῶν ὡς ἀποκτενῶν, τὸν μὲν συνέβη ἐκ τῶν
πεπραγμένων ἀποθανεῖν, τὸν δὲ σωθῆναι. ἀναγνώρισις 2
30 δέ, ὥσπερ καὶ τοὔνομα σημαίνει, ἐξ ἀγνοίας εἰς γνῶσιν
μεταβολὴ ἢ εἰς φιλίαν ἢ εἰς ἔχθραν τῶν πρὸς εὐτυχίαν ἢ
δυστυχίαν ὡρισμένων · καλλίστη δὲ ἀναγνώρισις, ὅταν ἅμα
περιπέτειαι γίνωνται, οἷον ἔχει ἡ ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι. εἰσὶν μὲν 3
οὖν καὶ ἄλλαι ἀναγνωρίσεις · καὶ γὰρ πρὸς ἄψυχα καὶ τὰ
35 τυχόντα ἔστιν ὡς < ὅ> περ εἴρηται συμβαίνει, καὶ εἰ πέ-
πραγέ τις ἢ μὴ πέπραγεν ἔστιν ἀναγνωρίσαι. ἀλλ᾽ ἡ μά-
λιστα τοῦ μύθου καὶ ἡ μάλιστα τῆς πράξεως ἡ εἰρημένη
ἐστίν · ἡ γὰρ τοιαύτη ἀναγνώρισις καὶ περιπέτεια ἢ ἔλεον 4
1452 b ἕξει ἢ φόβον, οἵων πράξεων ἡ τραγῳδία μίμησις ὑπόκειται ·
ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀτυχεῖν καὶ τὸ εὐτυχεῖν ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων

20. ταῦτα] τἀναντία Bonitz : τὰ ὕστερα Gomperz 23. καθάπερ εἴρηται secl.
Zeller : < > καθ' ἃ προήρηται (deleto commate post μεταβολή) Essen
31. Post ἔχθραν add. ἢ ἄλλο τι Gomperz 32. ἅμα περιπετείᾳ Gomperz
33. γίνονται Ас οἵαν Bywater 35. ὡς ὅπερ Spengel : ὥσπερ Ac :
ὅθ' < 8 > περ Gomperz συμβαίνει Ας : συμβαίνειν apogr. 36. ή
apogr.: el Ac 38. καὶ περιπέτεια secl. Susemihl καὶ < μάλιστ᾽ ἐὰν
καὶ > περιπέτεια ᾗ ἔλεον coni. Vahlen 1452 b 1. οἵων apogr.: οἷον Αc
2. ἔτι δὲ] ἐπειδὴ Susemihl (commate post ὑπόκειται posito)
2

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS X. 3-ΧΙ. 4 41

necessary or probable result of the preceding action. It

makes all the difference whether any given event is a
>
N case of propter hoc or post hoc.
XI Reversal of Intention is a change by which the
action veers round to its opposite, subject always
to our rule of probability or necessity. Thus in the
Oedipus, the messenger comes to cheer Oedipus and OR
free him from his alarms about his mother, but by
revealing who he is, he produces the opposite effect.
Again in the Lynceus, Lynceus is being led away to P
his death, and Danaus goes with him, meaning to slay
him; but the outcome of the action is, that Danaus is
killed and Lynceus saved.
Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from 2
ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between
the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune.
The best form of recognition is coincident with a Reversal
of Intention, as in the Oedipus. There are indeed other 3
forms. Even inanimate things of the most trivial kind
may sometimes be objects of recognition. Again, we may
recognise or discover whether a person has done a thing
or not. But the recognition which is most intimately
connected with the plot and action is, as we have said,
the recognition of persons. This recognition, combined 4
1452 b with Reversal, will produce either pity or fear; and actions
producing these effects are those which, by our definition,
価
格

Tragedy represents. Moreover, it is upon such situations

that the issues of good or bad fortune will depend.
 42 XI. 5-XII. 3. 1452 b 3-25

συμβήσεται. ἐπεὶ δὴ ἡ ἀναγνώρισις τινῶν ἐστιν ἀναγνώρισις, 5

αἱ μὲν θατέρου πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον μόνον, ὅταν ᾖ δῆλος ἅτερος
5 τίς ἐστιν, ὁτὲ δὲ ἀμφοτέρους δεῖ ἀναγνωρίσαι, οἷον ἡ
μὲν Ἰφιγένεια τῷ Ὀρέστῃ ἀνεγνωρίσθη ἐκ τῆς πέμψεως
τῆς ἐπιστολῆς, ἐκείνου δὲ πρὸς τὴν Ἰφιγένειαν ἄλλης ἔδει
ἀναγνωρίσεως. TRAC
Δύο μὲν οὖν τοῦ μύθου μέρη περὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐστί, περιπέτεια 6
το καὶ ἀναγνώρισις, τρίτον δὲ πάθος. [τούτων δὲ περιπέτεια μὲν
καὶ ἀναγνώρισις εἴρηται,] πάθος δέ ἐστι πρᾶξις φθαρτικὴ ἢ
ὀδυνηρά, οἷον οἵ τε ἐν τῷ φανερῷ θάνατοι καὶ αἱ περι-
ωδυνίαι καὶ τρώσεις καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα.
XII [Μέρη δὲ τραγῳδίας οἷς μὲν ὡς εἴδεσι δεῖ χρῆσθαι
15 πρότερον εἴπομεν, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ποσὸν καὶ εἰς ἃ διαιρεῖται
κεχωρισμένα τάδε ἐστίν, πρόλογος ἐπεισόδιον ἔξοδος χο-
ρικόν, καὶ τούτου τὸ μὲν πάροδος τὸ δὲ στάσιμον · κοινὰ μὲν
ἁπάντων ταῦτα, ἴδια δὲ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ κόμμοι.
ἔστιν δὲ πρόλογος μὲν μέρος ὅλον τραγῳδίας τὸ πρὸ χοροῦ 2
20 παρόδου, ἐπεισόδιον δὲ μέρος ὅλον τραγῳδίας τὸ μεταξὺ
ὅλων χορικῶν μελῶν, ἔξοδος δὲ μέρος ὅλον τραγῳδίας
μεθ᾽ ὃ οὐκ ἔστι χοροῦ μέλος· χορικοῦ δὲ πάροδος μὲν ἡ
πρώτη λέξις ὅλη χοροῦ, στάσιμον δὲ μέλος χοροῦ τὸ ἄνευ
ἀναπαίστου καὶ τροχαίου, κόμμος δὲ θρῆνος κοινὸς χοροῦ καὶ
25 < τῶν> ἀπὸ σκηνῆς. μέρη δὲ τραγῳδίας οἷς μὲν ὡς εἴδεσι δεῖ 3

3. ἐπεὶ δὴ Parisinus 2038 : ἐπειδὴ codd. cett. 4. ἕτερον] ἑταῖρον Σ, ut

videtur ἅτερος Parisinus 2038 : ἕτερος codd. cett. 7. ἐκείνου
Bywater : ἐκείνω Ας : ἐκείνῳ apogr. 9. περὶ secl. Maggi : om., ut videtur,
Σ ταῦτ᾽] ταὐτὰ Twining 10. τούτων δὲ . εἴρηται secl. Susemihl :
om. Arabs 12. οἵ τε apogr. : ὅτε Ac 14. totum hoc cap. secl.
Ritter, recte, ut opinor 17. κοινὰ μὲν κόμμοι del. Susemihl
19. προχωροῦ Ας 23. ὅλη Westphal : ὅλου Αθ 25. τῶν add. Christ
praeeunte Ritter ὡς εἴδεσι add. apogr.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XI . 5-XII. 3 43

Recognition, then, being between persons, it may happen 5

that one person only is recognised by the other-when
the latter is already known-or it may be necessary that
the recognition should be onbothsides. Thus Iphigenia
is revealed to Orestes by the sending of the letter; but
another act of recognition is required to make Orestes
T
known to Iphigenia.
5
Two parts, then, of the Plot-Reversal of Intention 6 -

ing
and Recognition-turn upon surprises. A third part is i n
the Tragic Incident. The Tragic Incident is a destructive kl i
or painful action, such as death on the stage, bodily agony,
wounds and the like.
XII [The parts of Tragedy which must be treated as
elements of the whole, have been already mentioned.

We now come to the quantitative parts the separate PARTS/

_parts into which Tragedy is divided-namely, Prologue,
CA ..
Episode, Exodos, Choric song; this last being divided
into Parodos and Stasimon. These are common to all
plays : peculiar to some are the songs of actors from the
stage and the Commoi.
The Prologos is that entire part of a tragedy which 2
precedes the Parodos of the Chorus. The Episode is
that entire part of a tragedy which is between complete
choric songs. The Exodos is that entire part of a tragedy
which has no choric song after it. Of the Choric part
the Parodos is the first undivided utterance of the
Chorus : the Stasimon is a Choric ode without anapaests
or trochaic tetrameters : the Commos is a joint lamenta-
tion of Chorus and actors. The parts of Tragedy which 3
must be treated as elements of the whole have been
 44 XII. 3-XIII. 3. 1452 b 26-1453 a 10

χρῆσθαι πρότερον εἴπαμεν, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ποσὸν καὶ εἰς ἃ

διαιρεῖται κεχωρισμένα ταῦτ᾽ ἐστίν.]

XIII Ὧν δὲ δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι καὶ ἃ δεῖ εὐλαβεῖσθαι συν-

ιστάντας τοὺς μύθους καὶ πόθεν ἔσται τὸ τῆς τραγῳδίας ἔρ-
30 γον, ἐφεξῆς ἂν εἴη λεκτέον τοῖς νῦν εἰρημένοις. ἐπειδὴ οὖν 2
δεῖ τὴν σύνθεσιν εἶναι τῆς καλλίστης τραγῳδίας μὴ ἁπλῆν
ἀλλὰ πεπλεγμένην καὶ ταύτην φοβερῶν καὶ ἐλεεινῶν εἶναι
μιμητικήν (τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιον τῆς τοιαύτης μιμήσεως ἐστίν),
πρῶτον μὲν δῆλον ὅτι οὔτε τοὺς ἐπιεικεῖς ἄνδρας δεῖ μετα-
35 βάλλοντας φαίνεσθαι ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν, οὐ γὰρ
φοβερὸν οὐδὲ ἐλεεινὸν τοῦτο ἀλλὰ μιαρόν ἐστιν · οὔτε τοὺς
μοχθηροὺς ἐξ ἀτυχίας εἰς εὐτυχίαν, ἀτραγῳδότατον γὰρ
τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ πάντων, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔχει ὧν δεῖ, οὔτε γὰρ φιλάνθρω-
1453 a πον οὔτε ἐλεεινὸν οὔτε φοβερόν ἐστιν · οὐδ᾽ αὖ τὸν σφόδρα
πονηρὸν ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταπίπτειν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ
φιλάνθρωπον ἔχοι ἂν ἡ τοιαύτη σύστασις ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε ἔλεον
οὔτε φόβον, ὁ μὲν γὰρ περὶ τὸν ἀνάξιόν ἐστιν δυστυχοῦντα,
5 ὁ δὲ περὶ τὸν ὅμοιον, ἔλεος μὲν περὶ τὸν ἀνάξιον, φόβος δὲ
περὶ τὸν ὅμοιον, ὥστε οὔτε ἐλεεινὸν οὔτε φοβερὸν ἔσται τὸ
συμβαῖνον. ὁ μεταξὺ ἄρα τούτων λοιπός. ἔστι δὲ τοιοῦτος 3
シュン
ὁ μήτε ἀρετῇ διαφέρων καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ, μήτε διὰ κακίαν
καὶ μοχθηρίαν μεταβάλλων εἰς τὴν δυστυχίαν ἀλλὰ δι᾽
το ἁμαρτίαν τινά, τῶν ἐν μεγάλῃ δόξῃ ὄντων καὶ εὐτυχίᾳ,

28. ὧν apogr. : ὡς Ac 1453 a 1. αὐ τὸν apogr. : αὐτὸ Αν 5. ἔλεος

μὲν τὸν ὅμοιον secl. Ritter (non confirm. Arabs).
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XII . 3-XIII. 3 45

already mentioned. The quantitative parts-the separate

parts into which it is divided are here enumerated.]

XIII As the sequel to what has already been said, we must

proceed to consider what the poet should aim at, and
what he should avoid, in constructing his plots ; and by
what means the specific effect of Tragedy will be produced.
Aperfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged 2
not on the simple but on the complex plan. It should,
moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this ‫ع‬
being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation. It follows
plainly, in the first place, that the change of fortune
presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man
brought from prosperity to adversity: for this moves
neither pity nor fear ; it merely shocks us. Nor, again,
that of a bad man passing from adversity to prosperity :
for nothing can be more alien to the spirit of Tragedy; it'
1453 a possesses no single tragic quality ; it neither satisfies
the moral sense, nor calls forth pity or fear. Nor,
again, should the downfall of the utter villain be ex-
hibited. A plot of this kind would, doubtless, satisfy
fear;moral
the for pity
sense, aroused
is but by unmerited
it would misfortune,
inspire neither pity fearance
nor

by the misfortune of a man like ourselves. Such an

event, therefore, will be neither pitiful nor terrible.
There remains, then, the character between these two 3
extremes, that of a man who is not eminently good and
just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice
or depravity,'but by some error or frailty. He must
be one who is highly renowned and prosperous,-a
 46 XIII. 3-8. 1453 a 11-35

οἷον Οἰδίπους καὶ Θυέστης καὶ οἱ ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων γενῶν

ἐπιφανεῖς ἄνδρες. ἀνάγκη ἄρα τὸν καλῶς ἔχοντα μῦθον 4
ἁπλοῦν εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ διπλοῦν, ὥσπερ τινές φασι, καὶ μετα-
βάλλειν οὐκ εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἐκ δυστυχίας ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον
15 ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν, μὴ διὰ μοχθηρίαν ἀλλὰ δι᾽
ἁμαρτίαν μεγάλην ἢ οἵου εἴρηται ἢ βελτίονος μᾶλλον ἢ
χείρονος. σημεῖον δὲ καὶ τὸ γιγνόμενον · πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ 5
οἱ ποιηταὶ τοὺς τυχόντας μύθους ἀπηρίθμουν, νῦν δὲ περὶ
ὀλίγας οἰκίας αἱ κάλλισται τραγῳδίαι συντίθενται, οἷον
20 περὶ ᾿Αλκμέωνα καὶ Οἰδίπουν καὶ Ὀρέστην καὶ Μελέαγρον
καὶ Θυέστην καὶ Τήλεφον καὶ ὅσοις ἄλλοις συμβέβηκεν
ἢ παθεῖν δεινὰ ἢ ποιῆσαι. ἡ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν τέχνην
καλλίστη τραγῳδία ἐκ ταύτης τῆς συστάσεώς ἐστι. διὸ καὶ 6
οἱ Εὐριπίδῃ ἐγκαλοῦντες τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ ἁμαρτάνουσιν, ὅτι τοῦτο
25 δρᾷ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις καὶ πολλαὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς δυστυχίαν
τελευτῶσιν. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὥσπερ εἴρηται ὀρθόν · σημεῖον
δὲ μέγιστον · ἐπὶ γὰρ τῶν σκηνῶν καὶ τῶν ἀγώνων τραγι-
κώταται αἱ τοιαῦται φαίνονται, ἂν κατορθωθῶσιν, καὶ ὁ
Εὐριπίδης εἰ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μὴ εὐ οἰκονομεῖ ἀλλὰ τρα-
30 γικώτατός γε τῶν ποιητῶν φαίνεται. δευτέρα δ᾽ ἡ πρώτη τ
λεγομένη ὑπὸ τινῶν ἐστιν [σύστασις] ἡ διπλῆν τε τὴν σύστα-
σιν ἔχουσα, καθάπερ ἡ Ὀδύσσεια, καὶ τελευτῶσα ἐξ ἐναν-
τίας τοῖς βελτίοσι καὶ χείροσιν. δοκεῖ δὲ εἶναι πρώτη διὰ
τὴν τῶν θεάτρων ἀσθένειαν · ἀκολουθοῦσι γὰρ οἱ ποιηταὶ
35 κατ᾿ εὐχὴν ποιοῦντες τοῖς θεαταῖς. ἔστιν δὲ οὐχ αὕτη 8
11. Οἰδίπους apogr.: δίπους Ac 16. ἡ βελτίονος Ac 19. κάλλισται
secl. Christ : om. Arabs 20. ᾿Αλκμέωνα Bywater (cf. Meisterhans Gramm.
Att. Inschr. p. 35) : ᾿Αλκμαίωνα codd. 24. τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ Thurot : τὸ αὐτὸ
codd. : αὐτὸ Bywater : αὐτοὶ Reiz : secl. Margoliouth collato Arabe 25.
< αἱ > πολλαὶ Knebel : fort. πολλαὶ < αΐ > Tyrrell 31. σύστασις secl.
Twining ή] ή Ac 33. βελτίωσι Α 34. θεάτρων Ac et 2, ut
videtur (cf. 1449 a 9, Herod. vi. 21 ἐς δάκρυα ἔπεσε τὸ θέητρον, Aristoph.
Εq. 233 τὸ γὰρ θέατρον δεξιόν) : θεατῶν Riccardianus 16,
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XIII. 3-8 47

personage like Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious - F

men of such families.

A well constructed plot should, therefore, be single 4

in its issue, rather than double as some maintain. The
change of fortune should be not from bad to good,but,
reversely, from good to bad. It should come about as
the result not of vice, but of some great error or frailty,
in a character either such as we have described, or better
rather than worse. The practice of the stage bears out 5
our view. At first the poets recounted any legend that Bes
came in their way. Now, the best tragedies are founded
on the story of a few houses, on the fortunes of Alcmaeon,
Oedipus, Orestes, Meleager, Thyestes, Telephus, and those
others who have done or suffered something terrible. A
tragedy, then, to be perfect according to the rules of art
should be of this construction. Hence they are in error 6
who censure Euripides just because he follows this
principle in his plays, many of which end unhappily.
It is, as we have said, the right ending. The best proof
is that on the stage and in dramatic competition, such
plays, if well worked out, are the most tragic in effect ;
and Euripides, faulty though he may be in the general
FLC .
management of his subject, yet is felt to be the most
tragic of the poets.
In the second rank comes the kind of tragedy which 7
some place first. Like the Odyssey, it has a double
thread of plot, and also an opposite catastrophe for the
good and for the bad. It is accounted the best because
of the weakness of the spectators ; for the poet is guided
in what he writes by the wishes of his audience. The 8
pleasure, however, thence derived is not the true tragic
 48 XIII. 8-XIV. 4. 1453 a 36-1453 b 19

<ἡ> ἀπὸ τραγῳδίας ἡδονὴ ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τῆς κωμῳδίας οἰκεία ·

ἐκεῖ γὰρ οἳ ἂν ἔχθιστοι ὦσιν ἐν τῷ μύθῳ, οἷον Ορέστης
καὶ Αἴγισθος, φίλοι γενόμενοι ἐπὶ τελευτῆς ἐξέρχονται
καὶ ἀποθνήσκει οὐδεὶς ὑπ᾽ οὐδενός .
XIV Ἔστιν μὲν οὖν τὸ φοβερὸν καὶ ἐλεεινὸν ἐκ τῆς ὄψεως γί-
1453 b
γνεσθαι, ἔστιν δὲ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συστάσεως τῶν πραγμάτων,
ὅπερ ἐστὶ πρότερον καὶ ποιητοῦ ἀμείνονος. δεῖ γὰρ καὶ ἄνευ
τοῦ ὁρᾶν οὕτω συνεστάναι τὸν μῦθον, ὥστε τὸν ἀκούοντα τὰ
5 πράγματα γινόμενα καὶ φρίττειν καὶ ἐλεεῖν ἐκ τῶν συμβαινόν-
των · ἅπερ ἂν πάθοι τις ἀκούων τὸν τοῦ Οἰδίπου μῦθον.
τὸ δὲ διὰ τῆς ὄψεως τοῦτο παρασκευάζειν ἀτεχνό- 2
τερον καὶ χορηγίας δεόμενόν ἐστιν. οἱ δὲ μὴ τὸ φοβε-
ρὸν διὰ τῆς ὄψεως ἀλλὰ τὸ τερατῶδες μόνον παρασκευά-
το ζοντες οὐδὲν τραγῳδίᾳ κοινωνοῦσιν · οὐ γὰρ πᾶσαν δεῖ
ζητεῖν ἡδονὴν ἀπὸ τραγῳδίας ἀλλὰ τὴν οἰκείαν. ἐπεὶ δὲ 3
C
τὴν ἀπὸ ἐλέου καὶ φόβου διὰ μιμήσεως δεῖ ἡδονὴν παρα-
σκευάζειν τὸν ποιητήν, φανερὸν ὡς τοῦτο ἐν τοῖς πράγμα-
0
σιν ἐμποιητέον. ποῖα οὖν δεινὰ ἢ ποῖα οἰκτρὰ φαίνεται
15 τῶν συμπιπτόντων, λάβωμεν. ἀνάγκη δὴ ἢ φίλων εἶναι 4
πρὸς ἀλλήλους τὰς τοιαύτας πράξεις ἢ ἐχθρῶν ἢ μηδε-
τέρων. ἂν μὲν οὖν ἐχθρὸς ἐχθρόν, οὐδὲν ἐλεεινὸν οὔτε
? ποιῶν οὔτε μέλλων, πλὴν κατ᾿ αὐτὸ τὸ πάθος · οὐδ᾽ ἂν
μηδετέρως ἔχοντες · ὅταν δ᾽ ἐν ταῖς φιλίαις ἐγγένηται τὰ

36. < ἡ > coni. Vahlen 37. οἳ ἂν Bonitz : av oi codd.: κἂν οἱ Spengel
1453 b 4. συνεστᾶναι AC 7. ἀτεχνότερον apogr. : ἀτεχνώτερον Ac 15.
δὴ Spengel : δὲ codd. 17. post ἐχθρὸν add. ἀποκτείνῃ Pazzi <φοβερὸν>
οὐδ᾽ ἐλεεινὸν Ueberweg
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XIII. 8-XIV. 4 49

pleasure. It is proper rather to Comedy, where those

who, in the piece, are the deadliest enemies-like Orestes
and Aegisthus-quit the stage as friends at the close,
and no one slays or is slain.
XIV Fear and pity may be aroused by spectacular means ;
1453 b
but they may also result from the inner structure of the
piece, which is the better way, and indicates a superior
poet. For the plot ought to be so constructed that, even
without the aid of the eye, he who hears the tale told
φε
will thrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes
place. This is the impression we should receive from
hearing the story of the Oedipus. But to produce this 2
effect by the mere spectacle is a less artistic method,
and dependent on extraneous aids. Those who employ
spectacular means to create a sense not of the terrible
but only of the monstrous, are strangers to the purpose
of Tragedy; for we must not demand of Tragedy any and
every kind of pleasure, but only that which is proper L
to it. And since the pleasure which the poet should 3
afford is that which comes from pity and fear through
imitation, it is evident that this quality must be impressed
upon the incidents.
Let us then determine what are the circumstances

which strike us as terrible or pitiful.

Actions capable of this effect must happen between 4
persons who are either friends or enemies or indifferent
to one another. If an enemy kills an enemy, there is
nothing to excite pity either in the act or the intention,
-except so far as the suffering in itself is pitiful. So
again with indifferent persons. But when the tragic
incident occurs between those who are near or dear to
E

7
 50 XIV. 4-8. 1453 b 20-1454 a 2

20 πάθη, οἷον εἰ ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφὸν ἢ υἱὸς πατέρα ἢ μήτηρ

υἱὸν ἢ υἱὸς μητέρα ἀποκτείνει ἢ μέλλει ἤ τι ἄλλο τοιοῦτον
δρᾷ, ταῦτα ζητητέον. τοὺς μὲν οὖν παρειλημμένους μύθους 5
λύειν οὐκ ἔστιν, λέγω δὲ οἷον τὴν Κλυταιμήστραν ἀποθα-
νοῦσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὀρέστου καὶ τὴν Ἐριφύλην ὑπὸ τοῦ ᾿Αλκμέ-
25 ωνος, αὐτὸν δὲ εὑρίσκειν δεῖ καὶ τοῖς παραδεδομένοις χρῆ-
σθαι καλῶς. τὸ δὲ καλῶς τί λέγομεν, εἴπωμεν σαφέστερον.
ἔστι μὲν γὰρ οὕτω γίνεσθαι τὴν πρᾶξιν, ὥσπερ οἱ παλαιοὶ 6
ἐποίουν εἰδότας καὶ γιγνώσκοντας, καθάπερ καὶ Εὐριπίδης
ἐποίησεν ἀποκτείνουσαν τοὺς παῖδας τὴν Μήδειαν · ἔστιν δὲ
30 πρᾶξαι μέν, ἀγνοοῦντας δὲ πρᾶξαι τὸ δεινόν, εἶθ᾽ ὕστερον
ἀναγνωρίσαι τὴν φιλίαν, ὥσπερ ὁ Σοφοκλέους Οἰδίπους· τοῦ-
το μὲν οὖν ἔξω τοῦ δράματος, ἐν δ᾽ αὐτῇ τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ οἷον
ὁ ᾿Αλκμέων ὁ ᾿Αστυδάμαντος ἢ ὁ Τηλέγονος ὁ ἐν τῷ τραυ-
ματίᾳ Ὀδυσσεῖ. ἔτι δὲ τρίτον παρὰ ταῦτα * * τὸ μέλλον- 7
35 τα ποιεῖν τι τῶν ἀνηκέστων δι᾽ ἄγνοιαν ἀναγνωρίσαι πρὶν
ποιῆσαι. καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως. ἢ γὰρ πρᾶξαι
ἀνάγκη ἢ μὴ καὶ εἰδότας ἢ μὴ εἰδότας. τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν
γινώσκοντα μελλῆσαι καὶ μὴ πρᾶξαι χείριστον· τό τε γὰρ
μιαρὸν ἔχει, καὶ οὐ τραγικόν· ἀπαθὲς γάρ. διόπερ οὐδεὶς
1454 α ποιεῖ ὁμοίως, εἰ μὴ ὀλιγάκις, οἷον ἐν ᾿Αντιγόνῃ τὸν Κρέοντα
ὁ Αἵμων. τὸ δὲ πρᾶξαι δεύτερον. βέλτιον δὲ τὸ ἀγνοοῦντα 8

20. οἷον εἰ Sylburg : οἷον ἢ codd. 22. δρᾷ apogr.: δρᾶν Αc 28.
Κλυταιμήστραν Σ : Κλυταιμνήστραν codd. 24. ᾿Αλκμαίωνος codd. 23.

εἴπωμεν apogr. : εἴπομεν Ac 33. ᾿Αλκμαίων ὁ Gryphius : ᾿Αλκμαίωνος codd.

34. παρὰ ταῦτα, < τὸ μελλῆσαι γινώσκοντα καὶ μὴ ποιῆσαι, καὶ τέταρτον> coni.
Vahlen τὸ Bonitz : τὸν codd. 1454 & 2. δεύτερον] κράτιστον Neich-
hardt, recte, ut opinor
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XIV. 4-8 51

0
one another-
if, for example, a brother kills, or intends to
kill, a brother, a son his father, a mother her son, a son
his mother, or any other deed of the kind is done these
are the situations to be looked for by the poet. He may not
indeed destroy the framework of the received legends-the 5
fact, for instance, that Clytemnestra was slain by Orestes
andEriphyle byAlcmaeon--but he ought to showinvention
ofhis own,and skilfullyhandle the traditional material. Let
us explain more clearly what is meant by skilful handling.
The action may be done consciously and with know- 6
ledge of the persons, in the manner of the older poets. ‫ك‬
It is thus too that Euripides makes Medea slay her
children. Or, again, the deed of horror may be done,
but done in ignorance, and the tie of kinship or friend-
ship be discovered afterwards. The Oedipus of Sophocles се .
is an example. Here, indeed, the incident is outside
the drama proper ; but cases occur where it falls within
the action of the play : one may cite the Alcmaeon of
Astydamas, or Telegonus in the Wounded Odysseus. Again, 7 ep
there is a third case,-< to be about to act with knowledge 3
of the persons and then not to act. The fourth case is >
when some one is about to do an irreparable deed through
ignorance, and makes the discovery before it is done. These
are the only possible ways. For the deed must either be
done or not done, and that wittingly or unwittingly.
But of all these ways, to be about to act knowing the
persons, and then not to act, is the worst. It is shocking
without being tragic, for no disaster follows. It is, there-
1454 a fore, never, or very rarely, found in poetry. One instance,
however, is in the Antigone, where Haemon threatens to P
kill Creon. The next and better way is that the deed 8
 52 XIV. 8-XV. 3. 1454 a 3-24

μὲν πρᾶξαι, πράξαντα δὲ ἀναγνωρίσαι · τό τε γὰρ μιαρὸν

οὐ πρόσεστιν καὶ ἡ ἀναγνώρισις ἐκπληκτικόν. κράτιστον δὲ 9
5 τὸ τελευταῖον, λέγω δὲ οἷον ἐν τῷ Κρεσφόντῃ ἡ Μερόπη
μέλλει τὸν υἱὸν ἀποκτείνειν, ἀποκτείνει δὲ οὔ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀν-
εγνώρισε, καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰφιγενείᾳ ἡ ἀδελφὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν, καὶ
ἐν τῇ Ἕλλῃ ὁ υἱὸς τὴν μητέρα ἐκδιδόναι μέλλων ἀνεγνώ-
ρισεν. διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο, ὅπερ πάλαι εἴρηται, οὐ περὶ πολλὰ
το γένη αἱ τραγῳδίαι εἰσίν. ζητοῦντες γὰρ οὐκ ἀπὸ τέχνης
ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τύχης εὗρον τὸ τοιοῦτον παρασκευάζειν ἐν τοῖς
μύθοις · ἀναγκάζονται οὖν ἐπὶ ταύτας τὰς οἰκίας ἀπαντᾶν
ὅσαις τὰ τοιαῦτα συμβέβηκε πάθη. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς
τῶν πραγμάτων συστάσεως καὶ ποίους τινὰς εἶναι δεῖ τοὺς
15 μύθους εἴρηται ἱκανῶς.
XV Περὶ δὲ τὰ ἤθη τέτταρά ἐστιν ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι, ἓν
μὲν καὶ πρῶτον ὅπως χρηστὰ ᾖ. ἕξει δὲ ἦθος μὲν ἐὰν
ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη ποιῇ φανερὸν ὁ λόγος ἢ ἡ πρᾶξις προαίρεσίν
τινα, χρηστὸν δὲ ἐὰν χρηστήν. ἔστιν δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῳ
20 γένει· καὶ γὰρ γυνή ἐστιν χρηστὴ καὶ δοῦλος, καίτοι
γε ἴσως τούτων τὸ μὲν χεῖρον, τὸ δὲ ὅλως φαῦλόν
ἐστιν. δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ἁρμόττοντα · ἔστιν γὰρ ἀνδρεῖον 2
μέν τι ἦθος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ἁρμόττον γυναικὶ τὸ ἀνδρείαν ἢ
δεινὴν εἶναι. τρίτον δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον. τοῦτο γὰρ ἕτερον τοῦ 3

4. κράτιστον] δεύτερον Neidhardt, recte, ut opinor 8. Ἕλλη] ᾿Αντιόπῃ

Valckenaer 18. φανερὰν Ald. , Bekker 19. τινα Ρarisinus 2038 :
τινὰ ᾖ Ας : τινα < ἥ τις ἂν > ᾗ coni. Vahlen (? cf. Arab. ) : < ἥν > τινα < δ > ὴ
Bywater : τινα ἢ < φυγήν > Düntzer : τινα < ἔχοντα, ὁποία τις ἂν > ᾖ
Gomperz : τινα, φαῦλον μὲν ἐὰν φαύλη ᾖ apogr. 22. τὸ Vahlen (ed. 1) :
τὰ codd. 23. τι ἦθος Hermann : τὸ ἦθος codd. τὸ apogr.: * * τῶι
Ας : οὕτως Vahlen collato Pol. iii. 4. 1277 b 20. Desunt in Arabe verba
τῷ ἀνδρείαν • ..
εἶναι, quorum vicem supplet haec clausula, ' ne ut appareat
quidem in ea omnino ' (Margoliouth) ; unde Diels τῷ ἀνδρείαν εἶναι
glossema esse arbitratus quod veram lectionem eiecerit, scribendum esse coni.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XIV. 8-XV. 3 53

should be perpetrated. Still better, that it should be

O perpetrated in ignorance, and the discovery made after-
wards. There is then nothing to shock us, while the
discovery produces a startling effect. The last case is the 9
?
best, aswhen in the Cresphontes Merope is about to slay -P
her son, but, recognising who he is, spares his life. So
in the Iphigenia, the sister recognises the brother just in P
time. Again in the Helle, the son recognises the mother
when on the point of giving her up. This, then, is why
a few families only, as has been already observed, furnish
the subjects of tragedy. It was not art, but happy
chance, that led poets to look for such situations and so
impress the tragic quality upon their plots. They are
compelled, therefore, to have recourse to those houses
whose history contains moving incidents like these.
Enough has now been said concerning the structure
of the incidents, and the proper constitution of the plot.
XV In respect of Character there are four things to be
x

aimed at. First, and most important, it must be good. ۱۰

Now any speech or action that manifests moral purpose

of any kind will be expressive of character : the character
will be good if the purpose is good. This rule is relative
to each class. Even a woman may be good, and also a ?
slave ; though the woman may be said to be an inferior
being, and the slave quite worthless. The second thing 22 .
to aim at is propriety. There is a type of manly valour ;
but valour in a woman, or unscrupulous cleverness, is in-
appropriate. Thirdly, character must be true to life : for 3
 54 XV. 3-7. 1454 a 25-1454 b 5

25 χρηστὸν τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁρμόττον ποιῆσαι ὥσπερ εἴρηται.

τέταρτον δὲ τὸ ὁμαλόν. κἂν γὰρ ἀνώμαλός τις ᾖ ὁ τὴν 4
μίμησιν παρέχων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἦθος ὑποτιθείς, ὅμως ὁμα-
λῶς ἀνώμαλον δεῖ εἶναι. ἔστιν δὲ παράδειγμα πονηρίας μὲν 5
ἤθους μὴ ἀναγκαίου οἷον ὁ Μενέλαος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ὀρέστῃ, τοῦ
30 δὲ ἀπρεποῦς καὶ μὴ ἁρμόττοντος ὅ τε θρήνος Ὀδυσσέως ἐν
τῇ Σκύλλῃ καὶ ἡ τῆς Μελανίππης ῥῆσις, τοῦ δὲ ἀνωμάλου
ἡ ἐν Αὐλίδι Ἰφιγένεια · οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔοικεν ἡ ἱκετεύουσα τῇ
ὑστέρᾳ. χρὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν 6
πραγμάτων συστάσει ἀεὶ ζητεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ τὸ εἰκός,
35 ὥστε τὸν τοιοῦτον τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν ἢ πράττειν ᾗ ἀναγκαῖον
ἢ εἰκός, καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι ᾗ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός.
φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι καὶ τὰς λύσεις τῶν μύθων ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεῖ τοῦ 7
1454 b μύθου συμβαίνειν, καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Μηδείᾳ ἀπὸ μη-
χανῆς καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰλιάδι τὰ περὶ τὸν ἀπόπλουν · ἀλλὰ μη-
χανῇ χρηστέον ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω τοῦ δράματος, ἢ ὅσα πρὸ τοῦ
γέγονεν ἃ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄνθρωπον εἰδέναι, ἢ ὅσα ὕστερον, ἃ
5 δεῖται προαγορεύσεως καὶ ἀγγελίας· ἅπαντα γὰρ ἀποδί-

ὥστε μηδὲ φαίνεσθαι καθόλου : ' The manly character is indeed sometimes
found even in a woman (ἔστιν γὰρ ἀνδρεῖον μὲν τὸ ἦθος), but it is not
appropriate to her, so that it never appears as a general characteristic
of the sex. Sed hoc aliter dicendum fuisse suspicari licet ; itaque Susemihl
huiusmodi aliquid tentavit, ὥστε μηδὲ φαίνεσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς ἐπίπαν, vel ὡς
ἐπίπαν εἰπεῖν : ' There is indeed a character (τι ἦθος) of manly courage, but it
is not appropriate to a woman, and as a rule is not found in her at all '
25. lacunam ante ὥσπερ statuit Spengel ὥσπερ εἴρηται fort. secluden-
dum : ἅπερ εἴρηται Hermann 29. ἀναγκαίου Marcianus 215, Bywater :
ἀναγκαῖον Α΄ : ἀναγκαίας Thurot οἷον secl. E. Müller 30. < 6 >
Ὀδυσσέως Tucker : < τοῦ > ᾿Οδυσσέως Bywater 31. Σκύλλῃ τῇ θαλαττίᾳ
2, ut videtur post ῥῆσις exemplum τοῦ ἀνoμoίoυ intercidisse coni.
Vettori 35 et 36. ή Hermann : ) codd. 36. < ὡς > καὶ τοῦτο
Bywater, fort. recte 37. τῶν μύθων] τῶν ἠθῶν Σ, ut videtur 1454

b 2. ἀπόπλουν Riccardianus 16 : ἀνάπλουν Parisinus 2038, 2, ut videtur :

ἁπλοῦν ΑC 3. ἐπὶ τὰ apogr.: ἔπειτα Ac 4. οἷόν τε apogr.:
οἷόνται Ασ commate post ὕστερον distinguit W. R. Hardie, qui ἀγγελίας
ad ὅσα πρὸ τοῦ refert, προαγορεύσεως ad ὅσα ὕστερον
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XV. 3-7 55

this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, as here

described. The fourth point is consistency : for though 44.
the subject of the imitation, who suggested the type,
be inconsistent, still he must be consistently inconsistent.
As an example of motiveless degradation of character, we 5
have Menelaus in the Orestes : of character indecorous

and inappropriate, the lament of Odysseus in the Scylla,

and the speech of Melanippe: of inconsistency, the p
Iphigenia at Aulis,-for Iphigenia the suppliant in no -e
way resembles her later self.
As in the structure of the plot, so too in the por- 6
traiture of character, the poet should always aim either
at the necessary or the probable. Thus a person of a

givencharacter should speak or act inagivenway, by

the rule either of necessity or of probability ; just as
this event should follow that by necessary or probable
sequence. It is therefore evident that the unravelling 7
of the plot, no less than the complication, must arise out
1454 b of the plot itself, it must not be brought about by the
Deus ex Machina-as in the Medea, or in the Return of P
the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should
be employed only for events external to the drama,-
for antecedent or subsequent events, which lie beyond
the range of human knowledge, and which require to be
 56 XV. 7-XVI . 3. 1454 b6-27

δομεν τοῖς θεοῖς ὁρᾶν. ἄλογον δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πρά-

γμασιν, εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τῆς τραγῳδίας, οἷον τὸ ἐν τῷ
Οἰδίποδι τῷ Σοφοκλέους. ἐπεὶ δὲ μίμησίς ἐστιν ἡ τραγῳ- 8
δία βελτιόνων < ἢ καθ᾽ > ἡμᾶς, δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς
το εἰκονογράφους · καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀποδιδόντες τὴν ἰδίαν μορφὴν
ὁμοίους ποιοῦντες καλλίους γράφουσιν · οὕτω καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν
μιμούμενον καὶ ὀργίλους καὶ ῥᾳθύμους καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα

η ρ ο ς ῦ τ α ῖ α τ η ρ ε ῖ ν
ἔχοντας ἐπὶ τῶν ἠθῶν, τοιούτους ὄντας ἐπιεικεῖς ποιεῖν
21 5 15 "Ομ . τα δὴ <δε > δι καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τὰς 9
[παράδειγμα σκληρότητος], οἷον τὸν ᾿Αχιλλέα ᾿Αγάθων καὶ

παρὰ τὰ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκολουθούσας αἰσθήσεις τῇ ποιητικῇ ·

καὶ γὰρ κατ᾿ αὐτὰς ἔστιν ἁμαρτάνειν πολλάκις · εἴρηται
δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐκδεδομένοις λόγοις ἱκανῶς.

XVI ᾿Αναγνώρισις δὲ τί μέν ἐστιν, εἴρηται πρότερον· εἴδη

20 δὲ ἀναγνωρίσεως, πρώτη μὲν ἡ ἀτεχνοτάτη καὶ ᾗ πλείστῃ
χρῶνται δι᾽ ἀπορίαν, ἡ διὰ τῶν σημείων. τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν 2
σύμφυτα, οἷον “ λόγχην ἣν φοροῦσι Γηγενεῖς ” ἢ ἀστέρας
οἷους ἐν τῷ Θυέστη Καρκίνος, τὰ δὲ ἐπίκτητα, καὶ τούτων
τὰ μὲν ἐν τῷ σώματι, οἷον οὐλαί, τὰ δὲ ἐκτός, τὰ περι-
25 δέραια καὶ οἷον ἐν τῇ Τυροῖ διὰ τῆς σκάφης. ἔστιν δὲ καὶ
τούτοις χρῆσθαι ἢ βέλτιον ἢ χεῖρον, οἷον Ὀδυσσεὺς διὰ 3
τῆς οὐλῆς ἄλλως ἀνεγνωρίσθη ὑπὸ τῆς τροφοῦ καὶ ἄλλως

7. τὸ Ας ( ? τω pr. Ac) : τὸ vel τῶ apogr.: τὰ Ald. 9. ἢ καθ' add. Stahr

(confirm. Arabs) 14. παράδειγμα σκληρότητος secl. Bywater : olov ante
παράδειγμα ponit Tucker ἀγάθων apogr. : ἀγαθῶν Ac 15. δὴ δεῖ Ald. :
δὴ Ας : δεῖ apogr. τὰς παρὰ τὰ vel τὰ παρὰ τὰς apogr. : τὰς παρὰ τὰς
Ac 20. ᾗ πλείστῃ apogr. : ἡ πλείστη Αε 21. ἡ apogr.: ἢ Ac 22.
ἀστέρες Richards 24. περιδέραια apogr. pauca : περιδέρρεα Ac 25. οἷον
apogr.: oi Ac σκάφης] σπάθης Σ, ut videtur, ' ensis ' Arabs : (R. Ellis)
26. < ὁ > Ὀδυσσεὺς Bywater
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XV. 7 -XVI . 3 57

reported or foretold ; for to the gods we ascribe the power

of seeing all things. Within the action there must be
nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded,
it should be outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is
the irrational element in the Oedipus of Sophocles. POR .
Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who 8 -

are above the common level, the example of good portrait-

painters should be followed. They, while reproducing
the distinctive form of the original, make a likeness
which is true to life and yet more beautiful. So too
the poet, in representing men who are irascible or
indolent, or have other defects of character, should
preserve the type and yet ennoble it.//In
In this way
Achilles is portrayed by Agathon and Homer.
These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor 9
should he neglect those appeals to the senses, which,
though not among the essentials, are the concomitants of
poetry; for here too there is much room for error. But
of this enough has been said in the published treatises.
-

What Recognition is has been already explained.

We will now enumerate its kinds.
First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of
wit, is most commonly employed-recognition by signs.
Of these some are congenital, such as ' the spear which 2
the earth-born race bear on their bodies,' or the stars
introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Others are
acquired after birth ; and of these some are bodily marks,
as scars ; some external tokens, as necklaces, or the little
ark in the Tyro by which the discovery is effected. Even 3 P
these admit of more or less skilful treatment. Thus in

the recognition of Odysseus by his scar, the discovery is

 58 XVI. 3-6. 1454 b 28-1455 a 11

ὑπὸ τῶν συβοτῶν· εἰσὶ γὰρ αἱ μὲν πίστεως ἕνεκα ἀτεχνο-

τεραι, καὶ αἱ τοιαῦται πᾶσαι, αἱ δὲ ἐκ περιπετείας, ὥσ-
30 περ ἡ ἐν τοῖς Νίπτροις, βελτίους. δεύτεραι δὲ αἱ πεποιη- 4
μέναι ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ, διὸ ἄτεχνοι. οἷον Ὀρέστης ἐν τῇ
Ιφιγενείᾳ ἀνεγνώρισεν ὅτι Ὀρέστης · ἐκείνη μὲν γὰρ διὰ τῆς
ἐπιστολῆς, ἐκεῖνος δὲ αὐτὸς λέγει ἃ βούλεται ὁ ποιητὴς ἀλλ᾽
35 οὐχ ὁ μῦθος · διὸ ἐγγύς τι τῆς εἰρημένης ἁμαρτίας ἐστίν, ἐξῆν
γὰρ ἂν ἔνια καὶ ἐνεγκεῖν. καὶ ἐν τῷ Σοφοκλέους Τηρεῖ ἡ
τῆς κερκίδος φωνή. ἡ τρίτη διὰ μνήμης, τῷ αἰσθέσθαι 5
1455 α τι ἰδόντα, ὥσπερ ἡ ἐν Κυπρίοις τοῖς Δικαιογένους, ἰδὼν γὰρ
S τὴν γραφὴν ἔκλαυσεν, καὶ ἡ ἐν ᾿Αλκίνου ἀπολόγῳ, ἀκούων
AP
WE γὰρ τοῦ κιθαριστοῦ καὶ μνησθεὶς ἐδάκρυσεν, ὅθεν ἀνεγνω-
ρίσθησαν. τετάρτη δὲ ἡ ἐκ συλλογισμοῦ, οἷον ἐν Χοηφόροις, 6
5 ὅτι ὅμοιός τις ἐλήλυθεν, ὅμοιος δὲ οὐθεὶς ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὁ Ὀρέστης,
οὗτος ἄρα ἐλήλυθεν. καὶ ἡ Πολυίδου τοῦ σοφιστοῦ περὶ τῆς
Ἰφιγενείας · εἰκὸς γὰρ τὸν Ὀρέστην συλλογίσασθαι ὅτι ἡ τ᾽
ἀδελφὴ ἐτύθη καὶ αὐτῷ συμβαίνει θύεσθαι. καὶ ἐν τῷ
Θεοδέκτου Τυδεῖ, ὅτι ἐλθὼν ὡς εὑρήσων υἱὸν αὐτὸς ἀπόλ-
το λυται. καὶ ἡ ἐν τοῖς Φινείδαις. ἰδοῦσαι γὰρ τὸν τόπον συν-
ελογίσαντο τὴν εἱμαρμένην ὅτι ἐν τούτῳ εἵμαρτο ἀποθανεῖν
31. οἷον < ὁ > Bywater Ορέστης prius secl. Diels (confirmante fort.
Arabe) 32. ἀνεγνωρίσθη Spengel 34. διὸ ἐγγύς τι Vahlen : δι' ότι
ἐγγὺς Ας : διό τι ἐγγὺς Bywater 36. alia 2 legisse videtur, ' haec sunt
in eo quod dixit Sophocles se audiisse vocem radii contempti ' (Arabs) ; unde
W. R. Hardie coni. τοιαύτη δ᾽ ἡ ἐν τῷ [Σοφοκλέους ?] Τηρεῖ “ τῆς ἀναύδου, ”
φησί, " κερκίδος φωνὴν κλύω” 37. ἡ τρίτη Spengel : ἤτοι τηι Ας : τρίτη ἡ
apogr. αἴσθεσθαί AC 1455 a 1. τοῖς apogr.: τῆς Ασ 2. ἀπολόγῳ
apogr. : ἀπὸ λόγων Αν 4. Χοηφόροις Vettori : χλοηφόροις Ασ 6.
Πολυίδου Tyrwhitt : πολυείδου apogr. : πολυείδους Ασ 10. Φινείδαις Reiz :
φινίδαις codd.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XVI. 3-6 59

made in one way by the nurse, in another by the herds-

men. The use of tokens for the express purpose of proof
-and, indeed, any formal proof with or without tokens
-is a less artistic mode of recognition. A better kind
-

is that which comes about by a turn of incident, as in

the Bath Scene in the Odyssey. -P
Next come the recognitions invented at will by the 4 2
poet, and on that account wanting in art. For example,
Orestes in the Iphigenia reveals the fact that he is
Orestes. She, indeed, makes herself known by the letter;
but he, by speaking himself, and saying what the poet,
not what the plot requires. This, therefore, is nearly
allied to the fault above mentioned :-for Orestes might
as well have brought tokens with him. Another simila
instance is the ' voice of the shuttle ' in the Tereus of
Sophocles.
1455a The third kind depends on memory when the sight of 5 -3
some object awakens a feeling : as in the Cyprians of ८

P
Dicaeogenes, where the hero breaks into tears on seeing
the picture ; or again in the ' Lay of Alcinous,' where
Odysseus, hearing the minstrel play the lyre, recalls the
past and weeps ; and hence the recognition.
The fourth kind is by process of reasoning. Thus in 6 4
the Choephori :--' Some one resembling me has comet
no one resembles me but Orestes: therefore Orestes hasP
come.' Such too is the discovery made by Iphigenia
in the play of Polyidus the Sophist. It was a natural -२
reflexion for Orestes to make, 'So I too must die at the
altar like my sister.' So, again, in the Tydeus of
Theodectes, the father says, ' I came to find my son, and
I lose my own life.' So too in the Phineidae : the
 60 XVI . 6-XVII. 2. 1455 a 12-30

αὐταῖς, καὶ γὰρ ἐξετέθησαν ἐνταῦθα. ἔστιν δέ τις καὶ συν- 7

θετὴ ἐκ παραλογισμοῦ τοῦ θατέρου, οἷον ἐν τῷ Ὀδυσσεῖ τῷ
ψευδαγγέλῳ · ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὸ τόξον ἔφη * * * γνώσεσθαι ὃ
15 οὐχ ἑωράκει, τὸ δὲ ὡς δὴ ἐκείνου ἀναγνωριοῦντος διὰ τούτου
ποιῆσαι, παραλογισμός. πασῶν δὲ βελτίστη ἀναγνώρισις ἡ ἐξ 8
αὐτῶν τῶν πραγμάτων τῆς ἐκπλήξεως γιγνομένης δι' εἰκό-
των, οἷον [ὁ] ἐν τῷ Σοφοκλέους Οἰδίποδι καὶ τῇ Ἰφιγενείᾳ ·
εἰκὸς γὰρ βούλεσθαι ἐπιθεῖναι γράμματα. αἱ γὰρ τοιαῦται
20 μόναι ἄνευ τῶν πεποιημένων σημείων καὶ δεραίων. δεύ-
τεραι δὲ αἱ ἐκ συλλογισμοῦ .
XVII Δεῖ δὲ τοὺς μύθους συνιστάναι καὶ τῇ λέξει συναπ-
εργάζεσθαι ὅτι μάλιστα πρὸ ὀμμάτων τιθέμενον · οὕτω γὰρ
ἂν ἐναργέστατα [ὁ] ὁρῶν ὥσπερ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς γιγνόμενος τοῖς
25 πραττομένοις εὑρίσκοι τὸ πρέπον καὶ ἥκιστα ἂν λανθάνοι
τὰ ὑπεναντία. σημεῖον δὲ τούτου ὁ ἐπετιμᾶτο Καρκίνῳ ·
ὁ γὰρ ᾿Αμφιάραος ἐξ ἱεροῦ ἀνῄει, ὃ μὴ ὁρῶντα [τὸν
θεατὴν] ἐλάνθανεν, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς σκηνῆς ἐξέπεσεν δυσχερα-
νάντων τοῦτο τῶν θεατῶν. ὅσα δὲ δυνατὸν καὶ τοῖς σχή-
30 μασιν συναπεργαζόμενον. πιθανώτατοι γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς 2
13. θατέρου Bursian, praeeunte Hermann : θεάτρου codd. 14-16. ὁ μὲν
γὰρ παραλογισμός] multo plura hic legisse videtur Arabs (Margoliouth) ;
post ἔφη lacunam indicavi ; vide quae supra in versione addidi, Arabem
quoad potui secutus 14. ὁ μὲν apogr.: τὸ μὲν AC τὸ ante τόξον
om. apogr. 15. δὴ Tyrwhitt : δι' codd. 16. ποιῆσαι codd. : ἐποίησε
Ald. παραλογισμός Vahlen (confirm. Arabs) : παραλογισμόν codd. 17.
ἐκπλήξεως apogr. : πλήξεως Ασ τῆς ἐκπλήξεως .. εἰκότων om. Arabs
εἰκόντων AC 18. ὁ secl. Vahlen : τὸ Bywater : 8 Tucker : ἡ
apogr. pauca 19-20. αἱ γὰρ τοιαῦται περιδεραίων secl. Gomperz
20. δεραίων apogr. corr.: δέρεων Ας : περιδεραίων apogr. pauca σημείων
καὶ δεραίων secl. Tucker, fort. recte 24. ἐναργέστατα apogr. : ἐνεργέστατα Ασ
ὁ om. Ald. 26. τὸ ante τὰ add. Ac : om. apogr. ἐπετιμάτο
marg. Riccardiani 16 : ἐπιτιμᾶ τῶι Ac (cf. 1462 a 10 ) 27. ἀνῄει Guelferby-
tanus : ἂν εἰη Αc ὁρῶντα codd. : ὁρῶντ᾽ ἂν Vahlen 27-28. τὸν θεατὴν
seclusi (simili errore Rhet. i. 2, 1358 a 8 τοὺς ἀκροατὰς in textum irrepsit) :
τὸν ποιητὴν Dacier μὴ ὁρῶντ᾽ αὐτὸν [θεατὴν] Gomperz, emendationis
meae, credo, inscius 30. ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς codd. (confirmare videtur Arabs) :
ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς τῆς Tyrwhitt
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XVI. 6-XVII . 2 61

women, on seeing the place, inferred their fate :- Here

we are doomed to die, for here we were cast forth.'
Again, there is a composite kind of recognition involving 7
false inference on the part of one of the characters, as in
the Odysseus Disguised as a Messenger. A said < that
no one else was able to bend the bow ; hence B

(the disguised Odysseus) imagined that A would>

recognise the bow which, in fact, he had not seen ; and
to bring about a recognition by this means the expecta-
tion that A would recognise the bow-is false inference.
But, of all recognitions, the best is that which arises &
from the incidents themselves, where the startling dis-
covery is made by natural means. Such is that in the
Acovery
Oedipus of Sophocles, and in the Iphigenia ; for it was
natural that Iphigenia should wish to dispatch a letter.
These recognitions alone dispense with the artificial aid
of tokens or amulets. Next come the recognitions by
process of reasoning.
XVII In constructing the plot and working it out with
the proper diction, the poet should place the scene,
as far as possible, before his eyes. In this way, seeing
everything with the utmost vividness, as if he were a
spectator of the action, he will discover what is in keeping
with it, and be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies.
The need of such a rule is shown by the fault found in
Carcinus. Amphiaraus was onhis way from the temple. -
This fact escaped the observation of one who did not see
the situation. On the stage, however, the piece failed,
the audience being offended at the oversight.
Again, the poet should work out his play, to the
best of his power, with appropriate gestures ; for 2
 62
XVII. 2-5. 1455 a 31-1455 b 16

φύσεως οἱ ἐν τοῖς πάθεσίν εἰσιν καὶ χειμαίνει ὁ χειμαζόμενος

καὶ χαλεπαίνει ὁ ὀργιζόμενος ἀληθινώτατα. διὸ εὐφυοῦς ἡ
ποιητική ἐστιν ἢ μανικοῦ· τούτων γὰρ οἱ μὲν εὔπλαστοι οἱ δὲ
ἐκστατικοί εἰσιν. τούς τε λόγους καὶ τοὺς πεποιημένους 3
1455 b δεῖ καὶ αὐτὸν ποιοῦντα ἐκτίθεσθαι καθόλου, εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ἐπεισ-
οδιοῦν καὶ παρατείνειν. λέγω δὲ οὕτως ἂν θεωρεῖσθαι τὸ καθ-
όλου, οἷον τῆς Ἰφιγενείας · τυθείσης τινὸς κόρης καὶ ἀφα-
νισθείσης ἀδήλως τοῖς θύσασιν, ἱδρυνθείσης δὲ εἰς ἄλλην
5 χώραν, ἐν ᾗ νόμος ἦν τοὺς ξένους θύειν τῇ θεῷ ταύτην ἔσχε
τὴν ἱερωσύνην · χρόνῳ δὲ ὕστερον τῷ ἀδελφῷ συνέβη ἐλθεῖν
τῆς ἱερείας (τὸ δὲ ὅτι ἀνεῖλεν ὁ θεὸς διά τινα αἰτίαν, ἔξω τοῦ
καθόλου [ἐλθεῖν ἐκεῖ], καὶ ἐφ᾽ ὅ τι δέ, ἔξω τοῦ μύθου). ἐλθὼν
δὲ καὶ ληφθεὶς θύεσθαι μέλλων ἀνεγνώρισεν, εἴθ᾽ ὡς Εὐρι-
1ο πίδης εἴθ᾽ ὡς Πολύιδος ἐποίησεν, κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς εἰπὼν ὅτι
οὐκ ἄρα μόνον τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸν ἔδει τυθῆναι,
καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἡ σωτηρία. μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἤδη ὑποθέντα τὰ 4
ὀνόματα ἐπεισοδιοῦν · ὅπως δὲ ἔσται οἰκεῖα τὰ ἐπεισόδια,
οἷον ἐν τῷ Ὀρέστῃ ἡ μανία δι' ἧς ἐλήφθη καὶ ἡ σω-
C 15 τηρία διὰ τῆς καθάρσεως. ἐν μὲν οὖν τοῖς δράμασιν τὰ 5
ἐπεισόδια σύντομα, ἡ δ᾽ ἐποποιία τούτοις μηκύνεται. τῆς

33. duplicem lect. εὔπλαστοι et ἄπλαστοι habuisse videtur Σ (Diels) 34.

ἐκστατικοί Ob (confirm. Arabs, vid. Margoliouth, Classical Review xv. 54) :
ἐξεταστικοί codd. cett. τούς τε vel τούτους τε τοὺς apogr.: τούτους τε
Ac, sed ne Graece quidem dicitur παρειλημμένους coni. Vahlen
1455 b 2. ἐπεισοδίου AC παρατείνειν Vettori : περιτείνειν codd. 7-8.
secludendum videtur aut ἐλθεῖν ἐκεῖ ( Bekker ed. 3) aut ἔξω τοῦ καθόλου
(Düntzer) 8. καθόλου] fort. μύθου Vahlen μύθου] fort. καθόλου
Vahlen 9. ἀνεγνωρίσθη M. Schmidt 10. Πολύειδος codd. (cf. 1455 a
6) 15. δράμασι (vel ἄσμασι) apogr. : ἅρμασιν Α΄
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XVII. 2-5 63

παθεσιν?
those who feel emotion are most convincing through
natural sympathy with the characters they represent ;
and one who is agitated storms, one who is angry rages,
with the most life-like reality. Hence poetry implies
either a happy gift of nature or a strain of madness. In
the one case a man can take the mould of any character;
in the other, he is lifted out of his proper self.
As for the story, whether the poet takes it ready 3
1455 b made or constructs it for himself, he should first sketch
its general outline, and then fill in the episodes and
amplify in detail. The general plan may be illustrated by
the Iphigenia. A young girl is sacrificed ; she disappears P
mysteriously from the eyes of those who sacrificed her ;
she is transported to another country, where the custom is
to offer up all strangers to the goddess. To this ministry
she is appointed. Some time later her own brother
chances to arrive. The fact that the oracle for some reason

ordered him to go there, is outside the general plan of

the play. The purpose, again, of his coming is outside the
action proper. However, he comes, he is seized, and, when
on the point of being sacrificed, reveals who he is. The
mode of recognition may be either that of Euripides or of
P
Polyidus, in whose play he exclaims very naturally :-
' So it was not my sister only, but I too, who was doomed
to be sacrificed' ; and by that remark he is saved.
After this, the names being once given, it remains 4
to fill in the episodes. We must see that they are
relevant to the action. In the case of Orestes, for -P
example, there is the madness which led to his capture,
and his deliverance by means of the purificatory rite.
In the drama, the episodes are short, but it is these that 5
 64 XVII. 5 -XVIII. 2. 1455 b 17-34

γὰρ Ὀδυσσείας < οὐ > μακρὸς ὁ λόγος ἐστίν · ἀποδημοῦντός

τινος ἔτη πολλὰ καὶ παραφυλαττομένου ὑπὸ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος
καὶ μόνου ὄντος, ἔτι δὲ τῶν οἴκοι οὕτως ἐχόντων ὥστε τὰ χρή-
20 ματα ὑπὸ μνηστήρων ἀναλίσκεσθαι καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἐπιβου-
λεύεσθαι, αὐτὸς δὲ ἀφικνεῖται χειμασθεὶς καὶ ἀναγνωρίσας
τινὰς αὐτὸς ἐπιθέμενος αὐτὸς μὲν ἐσώθη τοὺς δ᾽ ἐχθροὺς
διέφθειρε. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἴδιον τοῦτο, τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλα ἐπεισόδια.
XVIII Ἔστι δὲ πάσης τραγῳδίας τὸ μὲν δέσις τὸ δὲ λύσις, τὰ
25 μὲν ἔξωθεν καὶ ἔνια τῶν ἔσωθεν πολλάκις ἡ δέσις, τὸ
δὲ λοιπὸν ἡ λύσις. λέγω δὲ δέσιν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ἀπ᾿ ἀρ-
χῆς μέχρι τούτου τοῦ μέρους ὃ ἔσχατόν ἐστιν ἐξ οὐ μεταβαί-
νειν εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἢ εἰς ἀτυχίαν < συμβαίνει > , λύσιν δὲ τὴν
ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς μεταβάσεως μέχρι τέλους · ὥσπερ ἐν
30 τῷ Λυγκεῖ τῷ Θεοδέκτου δέσις μὲν τά τε προπεπραγμένα
καὶ ἡ τοῦ παιδίου λῆψις καὶ πάλιν †ἡ αὐτῶν δὴ * * †
λύσις δ᾽ ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς αἰτιάσεως τοῦ θανάτου μέχρι τοῦ
τέλους. * ** τραγωδίας δὲ εἴδη εἰσὶ τέσσαρα, [τοσαῦτα γὰρ 2
καὶ τὰ μέρη ἐλέχθη,] ἡ μὲν πεπλεγμένη, ἧς τὸ ὅλον ἐστὶν
17. οὐ add. Vulcanius (confirm. Arabs) μακρὸς Ας : μικρὸς apogr. 19.
ἔτι Riccardianus 16, Σ : ἐπεὶ Αc 21. δὲ codd.: δὴ coni. Vahlen 22.

τινὰς αὐτὸς codd.: ὅτι αὐτὸς coni. Bywater : τινὰς αὐτὸς olim seclusi : αὐτὸς
secl. Spengel. Codicum lectionem stabilivit Vahlen (1898) citato Diodoro
Siculo iv. 59. 6 τὸν Αἰγέα διὰ τῶν συμβόλων ἀνεγνώρισεν : simili sensu, ut
videtur, Plutarch. Vit. Thes. ch. xii, τοὺς πολίτας ἐγνώριζεν 25. πολλάκις
post ἔξωθεν collocavit Ueberweg : codd. lect. confirm. Arabs 28. εἰς
εὐτυχίαν ἢ εἰς ἀτυχίαν Οδ : εἰς εὐτυχίαν codd. cett. : εἰς εὐτυχίαν < ἐκ δυστυχίας
συμβαίνει ἢ ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν > coni. Vahlen : < εἰς δυστυχίαν συμβαίνει
ἢ> εἰς εὐτυχίαν Gomperz 30. λυγκεῖ apogr.: λυκεῖ Ασ 31. δὴ Ας :
δὴ < ἀπαγωγή, > coni. Vahlen : δή < λωσις, > Christ (' et ea quae patefecit '
Arabs) 32. λύσις δὲ ἡ Parisinus 2038 : om. cett. (' solutio autem est
quod fiebat ' Arabs) τοῦ θανάτου : fort. τοῦ Δαναοῦ (Vahlen et Spengel)
τοῦ τέλους] huc transferenda quae leguntur 1456 a 7-10 δίκαιον –
τοσαῦτα γὰρ ἐλέχθη secl. Susemihl ed. 1 34.
κρατεῖσθαι (Susemihl)
καὶ τὰ μέρη Ας : κατὰ μέρη Heine : καὶ τὰ μύθων Tyrwhitt : καὶ τὰ μύθου
Susemihl ἡ μὲν < ἁπλῆ ἡ δὲ > Zeller (Vahlen post ἀναγνώρισις 35 < ἡ
δὲ ἁπλῆ > cum definitione deesse suspicatur)
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XVII. 5-XVIII. 2 65

give extension to Epic poetry. Thus the story of the

Odyssey can be stated briefly. A certain man is absent
from home for many years ; he is jealously watched by
Poseidon, and left desolate. Meanwhile his home is in
a wretched plight-suitors are wasting his substance and
plotting against his son. At length, tempest-tost, he him-
self arrives ; he makes certain persons acquainted with
him ; he attacks the suitors with his own hand, and is
himself preserved while he destroys them. This is the
essence of the plot ; the rest is episode. (
XVIII Every tragedy falls into two parts, Complication
2
and Unravelling or Dénouement. Incidents extraneous
to the action are frequently combined with a portion of
the action proper, to form the Complication ; the rest is
the Unravelling. By the Complication I mean all that
extends from the beginning of the action and the part
which marks the turning-point to good or bad fortune.
The Unravelling is that which extends from the
beginning of the change to the end. Thus, in the
Lynceus of Theodectes, the Complication consists of the
incidents presupposed in the drama, the seizure of the
child, and then again * * <The Unravelling > extends
from the accusation of murder to the end.

There are four kinds of Tragedy, the Complex, 2 LI ▼

depending entirely on Reversal and Recognition ; the

F

1
 66 XVIII. 2-5 1455 b 35-1456 a 18

35 περιπέτεια καὶ ἀναγνώρισις, ἡ δὲ παθητική, οἷον οἵ τε Αἴαν-

1456α τες καὶ οἱ Ἰξίονες, ἡ δὲ ἠθική, οἷον αἱ Φθιώτιδες καὶ ὁ
Πηλεύς. τὸ δὲ τέταρτον <ἡ ἁπλῆ> * * † όης † οἷον αἵ τε
Φορκίδες καὶ Προμηθεὺς καὶ ὅσα ἐν ᾅδου. μάλιστα μὲν οὖν 3
ἅπαντα δεῖ πειρᾶσθαι ἔχειν, εἰ δὲ μή, τὰ μέγιστα καὶ πλεῖ-
5 στα, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὡς νῦν συκοφαντοῦσιν τοὺς ποιητάς· γε-
γονότων γὰρ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον μέρος ἀγαθῶν ποιητῶν, ἑκάστου τοῦ
ἰδίου ἀγαθοῦ ἀξιοῦσι τὸν ἕνα ὑπερβάλλειν. δίκαιον δὲ καὶ
τραγῳδίαν ἄλλην καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν λέγειν οὐδεν < ὶ> ἴσως < ὡς >
τῷ μύθῳ· τοῦτο δέ, ὧν ἡ αὐτὴ πλοκὴ καὶ λύσις. πολλοὶ δὲ
το πλέξαντες εὐ λύουσι κακῶς· δεῖ δὲ ἄμφω ἀεὶ κρατεῖσθαι.
χρὴ δὲ ὅπερ εἴρηται πολλάκις μεμνῆσθαι καὶ μὴ ποιεῖν ἐπο- 4
ποιικὸν σύστημα τραγῳδίαν. ἐποποιικὸν δὲ λέγω τὸ πολύ-
μυθον, οἷον εἴ τις τὸν τῆς Ἰλιάδος ὅλον ποιοῖ μῦθον. ἐκεῖ
μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὸ μῆκος λαμβάνει τὰ μέρη τὸ πρέπον μέγεθος,
15 ἐν δὲ τοῖς δράμασι πολὺ παρὰ τὴν ὑπόληψιν ἀποβαίνει. ση- 5
μεῖον δέ, ὅσοι πέρσιν Ἰλίου ὅλην ἐποίησαν καὶ μὴ κατὰ μέρος
ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδης, <ἢ> Νιόβην καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ Αἰσχύλος,
ἢ ἐκπίπτουσιν ἢ κακῶς ἀγωνίζονται, ἐπεὶ καὶ ᾿Αγάθων ἐξ-

1456 a 2. ἡ ἁπλῆ add. Susemihl post ἡ ἁπλῆ nonnulla intercidisse puto

τὸ δὲ τέταρτον ὁης Ας : τὸ δὲ τέταρτον ὄψις (cf. ad 1458 a 6) Bywater, recte,
nisi fallor, quod ad ὄψιs attinet, sed τὰ εἴδη in hoc loco eadem utique esse
debent quae in xxiv. 1 : τὸ δὲ τέταρτον τερατώδες Schrader : τὸ δὲ τερατώδες
< ἀλλότριον > Wecklein 5. ἄλλως τε apogr. : ἀλλ' ὡς γε Ας 6.
ἑκάστου Marcianus 215, Parisinus 2038 : ἕκαστον Ας 7-10 . δίκαιον-
κρατεῖσθαι v. ad 1455 b 32 8. οὐδενὶ ἴσως ὡς Bonitz : οὐδενὶ ὡς Tyrwhitt :
οὐδὲν ἴσως τῷ codd. 9. τοῦτο] ταὐτὸ Teichmüller : τούτῳ Bursian 10.
κρατεῖσθαι (cf. Polit. iv. (vii.) 13, 1331 b 38) Vahlenet 2 ( ' prensarunt
utrumque ' Arabs) : κροτεῖσθαι codd. 12. δὲ ante τὸ add. Ac : om. apogr.
17. add. Vahlen Νιόβην] Εκάβην Valla, unde Ἑκάβην [καὶ .
Αἰσχύλος, ] Reinach
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XVIII. 2-5 67

1456aPathetic (where the motive is passion),-such as the

tragedies on Ajax and Ixion ; the Ethical (where the
motives are ethical), such as the Phthiotides and the
Peleus. The fourth kind is the Simple. <We here SINA
exclude the purely spectacular element >, exemplified by
the Phorcides, the Prometheus, and scenes laid in Hades. -PP
The poet should endeavour, if possible, to combine all 3
poetic merits ; or failing that, the greatest number and
those the most important ; the more so, in face of the
cavilling criticism of the day. For whereas there have
hitherto been good poets, each in his own branch, the
critics now expect one man to surpass all others in their
several lines of excellence.
In speaking of a tragedy as the same or different, the
best test to take is the plot. Identity exists where the
Complication and Unravelling are the same. Many poets
tie the knot well, but unravel it ill. Both arts, how-
ever, should always be mastered.
Again, the poet should remember what has been often 4
said, and not make a Tragedy into an Epic structure.
By an Epic structure I mean one with a multiplicity of
plots: as if, for instance, you were to make a tragedy
out of the entire story of the Iliad. In the Epic poem,
owing to its length, each part assumes its proper
magnitude. In the drama the result is far from
answering to the poet's expectation. The proof is that 5
the poets who have dramatised the whole story of the
Fall of Troy, instead of selecting portions, like Euripides ;
or who have taken the whole tale of Niobe, and not a
part of her story, like Aeschylus, either fail utterly or
meet with poor success on the stage. Even Agathon
 68 XVIII . 5-XIX. 2. 1456 a 19-1456 b 1

έπεσεν ἐν τούτῳ μόνῳ · ἐν δὲ ταῖς περιπετείαις [καὶ ἐν τοῖς

20 ἁπλοῖς πράγμασι] στοχάζεται ὧν βούλονται θαυμαστῶς ·
τραγικὸν γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ φιλάνθρωπον. ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο, ὅταν ὁ
ὁ σοφὸς [μὲν] μετὰ πονηρίας ἐξαπατηθῇ, ὥσπερ Σίσυ-
φος, καὶ ὁ ἀνδρεῖος μὲν ἄδικος δὲ ἡττηθῇ. ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο
εἰκὸς ὥσπερ ᾿Αγάθων λέγει, εἰκὸς γὰρ γίνεσθαι πολλὰ
25 καὶ παρὰ τὸ εἰκός. καὶ τὸν χορὸν δὲ ἕνα δεῖ ὑπολα- 7
βεῖν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, καὶ μόριον εἶναι τοῦ ὅλου καὶ συναγω-
νίζεσθαι μὴ ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδῃ ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ Σοφοκλεῖ. τοῖς
δὲ λοιποῖς τὰ ἀδόμενα < οὐδὲν μᾶλλον τοῦ μύθου ἢ ἄλλης
τραγῳδίας ἐστίν · διὸ ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδουσιν πρώτου ἄρξαντος
30 ᾿Αγάθωνος τοῦ τοιούτου. καίτοι τί διαφέρει ἢ ἐμβόλιμα
ᾄδειν ἢ εἰ ῥῆσιν ἐξ ἄλλου εἰς ἄλλο ἁρμόττοι ἢ ἐπεισόδιον
ὅλον ;
XIX Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἄλλων ἤδη εἴρηται, λοιπὸν δὲ περὶ
λέξεως καὶ διανοίας εἰπεῖν. τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐν
35 τοῖς περὶ ῥητορικῆς κείσθω, τοῦτο γὰρ ἴδιον μᾶλλον ἐκείνης
τῆς μεθόδου. ἔστι δὲ κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν ταῦτα, ὅσα ὑπὸ
τοῦ λόγου δεῖ παρασκευασθῆναι. μέρη δὲ τούτων τό τε ἀπο- 2
と δεικνύναι καὶ τὸ λύειν καὶ τὸ πάθη παρασκευάζειν, οἷον
♡

1456 b ἔλεον ἢ φόβον ἢ ὀργὴν καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, καὶ ἔτι μέγεθος

19-20. καὶ ἐν . . . πράγμασι secl. Susemihl : tueturArabs ἐν τοῖς ἁπλοῖς]

ἐν τοῖς διπλοῖς Twining : ἁπλῶς ἐν τοῖς Gomperz 20. στοχάζεται Heinsius :
στοχάζονται codd. 21. τραγικὸν φιλάνθρωπον infra post ἡττηθῇ collocat
Susemihl 22. aut secludendum μὲν (Margoliouth cum Arabe) aut δὲ
post πονηρίας legendum (add. Riccardianus 16) 23. ἡττήθη Α 24.
καὶ ante εἰκὸς add. Susemihl (confirm. Arabs) 27. ὥσπερ παρ'-ὥσπερ παρὰ
Ald. , ceterum cf. Pol. 1339 b 8 28. λοιποῖς] πολλοῖς Margoliouth cum
Arabe ἀδόμενα Maggi ( ' quae canuntur ' Arabs) : διδόμενα Αε οὐδὲν

add. Vahlen, et 2 (' nihil aliud amplius ' Arabs) : οὐ add. Maggi
30. τοιούτου] ποιητοῦ Σ, ut videtur 33. ἤδη apogr. : ἠδ᾽ Ας : εἰδεῶν Σ,
ut videtur 34. καὶ Hermann : codd. 38. πάθη secl. Bernays,
tuetur Arabs
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XVIII. 5-XIX 2 69

has been known to fail from this one defect. In his

Reversals of Intention, however, he shows a marvellous
skill in the effort to hit the popular taste,-to produce a
tragic effect that satisfies the moral sense. This effect is 6
produced when the clever rogue, like Sisyphus, is out- P
witted, or the brave villain defeated. Such an event is
probable in Agathon's sense of the word : ' it is probable,'
he says, ' that many things should happen contrary to
probability.'
The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the 7
actors; it should be an integral part of the whole, and
share in the action, in the manner not of Euripides but
of Sophocles. As for the later poets, their choral songs
pertain as little to the subject of the piece as to that of
any other tragedy. They are, therefore, sung as mere
interludes,-a practice first begun by Agathon. Yet
what difference is there between introducing such choral
interludes, and transferring a speech, or even a whole act,
from one play to another ?
XIX It remains to speak of Diction and Thought, the
other parts of Tragedy having been already discussed.
Concerning Thought, we may assume what is said in
the Rhetoric, to which inquiry the subject more strictly
belongs. Under Thought is included every effect which
has to be produced by speech, the subdivisions being,- 2
proof and refutation; the excitation of the feelings, such
1456b as pity, fear, anger, and the like ; the suggestion of
 70 ΧΙΧ. 3-ΧΧ. 2. 1456 b 2-21

καὶ μικρότητας. δῆλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ [ἐν] τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀπὸ 3

τῶν αὐτῶν ἰδεῶν δεῖ χρῆσθαι, ὅταν ἢ ἐλεεινὰ ἢ δεινὰ ἢ
μεγάλα ἢ εἰκότα δέῃ παρασκευάζειν · πλὴν τοσοῦτον δια-
5 φέρει, ὅτι τὰ μὲν δεῖ φαίνεσθαι ἄνευ διδασκαλίας, τὰ δὲ
ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ λέγοντος παρασκευάζεσθαι καὶ παρὰ
τὸν λόγον γίγνεσθαι. τί γὰρ ἂν εἴη τοῦ λέγοντος ἔργον, εἰ
φαίνοιτο ἡ διάνοια καὶ μὴ διὰ τὸν λόγον ; τῶν δὲ περὶ τὴν 4
λέξιν ἓν μέν ἐστιν εἶδος θεωρίας τὰ σχήματα τῆς λέξεως,
το ἅ ἐστιν εἰδέναι τῆς ὑποκριτικῆς καὶ τοῦ τὴν τοιαύτην ἔχον-
τος ἀρχιτεκτονικήν, οἷον τί ἐντολὴ καὶ τί εὐχὴ καὶ διή-
γησις καὶ ἀπειλὴ καὶ ἐρώτησις καὶ ἀπόκρισις καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο
τοιοῦτον. παρὰ γὰρ τὴν τούτων γνῶσιν ἢ ἄγνοιαν οὐδὲν 5
εἰς τὴν ποιητικὴν ἐπιτίμημα φέρεται ὅ τι καὶ ἄξιον σπου-
15 δῆς. τί γὰρ ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι ἡμαρτῆσθαι ἃ Πρωταγόρας
ἐπιτιμᾷ, ὅτι εὔχεσθαι οἰόμενος ἐπιτάττει εἰπὼν “ μῆνιν ἄειδε
θεά,” τὸ γὰρ κελεῦσαι φησὶν ποιεῖν τι ἢ μὴ ἐπίταξίς ἐστιν.
διὸ παρείσθω ὡς ἄλλης καὶ οὐ τῆς ποιητικῆς ὂν θεώρημα.
XX
[Τῆς δὲ λέξεως ἁπάσης τάδ᾽ ἐστὶ τὰ μέρη, στοι-
20 χεῖον συλλαβὴ σύνδεσμος ὄνομα ῥῆμα [ἄρθρον] πτῶσις
λόγος. στοιχεῖον μὲν οὖν ἐστιν φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος, οὐ πᾶσα 2

1456b 2. μικρότητας Ας : σμικρότητα apogr. ἐν secl. Ueberweg : <τοῖς >

ἐν Wrobel 3. ἰδεῶν apogr. : εἰδεῶν Ac 4. δέῃ apogr. pauca : δ' ἢ
Ac 8. φαίνοιτο scripsi : φανοῖτο codd. ἡ διάνοια Margoliouth, Wrobel
(praeeunte Spengel) : ἡδέα codd. (' voluptates ' Arabs) : ἤδη Castelvetro : ᾗ δέοι
Vahlen (ed. 2) : ἤδη & δεῖ Tyrwhitt : ἤδη τῇ θέᾳ Gomperz 20. ἄρθρον secl.
Hartung (quem dubitantius secutus sum) : post σύνδεσμος transtulit Spengel
(confirm. Arabs) : σύνδεσμος < ἢ > ἄρθρον Steinthal
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XIX. 3-XX. 2 71

importance or its opposite. / Now, it is evident that 3

the dramatic incidents must be treated from the same

points of view as the dramatic speeches, when the object

steve the sense of pity,fear,importance, or prob. AP-E

ability. The only difference is, that the incidents
should speak for themselves without verbal exposition ;
while the effects aimed at in speech should be pro-
duced by the speaker, and as a result of the speech.
For what were the business of a speaker, if the Thought
were revealed quite apart from what he says ?
Next, as regards Diction. One branch of the inquiry 4
treats of the Modes of Expression. But this province
of knowledge belongs to the art of Delivery, and to
the masters of that science. It includes, for instance,
-what is a command, a prayer, a narrative, a threat,
a question, an answer, and so forth. To know or not 5
to know these things involves no serious censure upon
the poet's art. For who can admit the fault imputed
to Homer by Protagoras,-that in the words, ' Sing,
goddess, of the wrath,' he gives a command under the
idea that he utters a prayer ? For to tell some one to
do a thing or not to do it is, he says, a command. We
may, therefore, pass this over as an inquiry that belongs
to another art, not to poetry.
XX [Language in general includes the following parts:
-

Letter, Syllable, Connecting word, Noun, Verb, Inflexion

or Case, Sentence or Phrase.
A Letter is an indivisible sound, yet not every such 2
sound, but only one which can form part of a group of
 72 ΧΧ
. 2-6. 1456 b 22-1457 a 2

δὲ ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἧς πέφυκε συνθετὴ γίγνεσθαι φωνή· καὶ γὰρ τῶν

θηρίων εἰσὶν ἀδιαίρετοι φωναί, ὧν οὐδεμίαν λέγω στοι-
χεῖον. ταύτης δὲ μέρη τό τε φωνῆεν καὶ τὸ ἡμίφωνον καὶ
25 ἄφωνον. ἔστιν δὲ φωνῆεν μὲν < τὸ > ἄνευ προσβολῆς ἔχον φω- 3
νὴν ἀκουστήν, ἡμίφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ προσβολῆς ἔχον φω-
νὴν ἀκουστήν, οἷον τὸ Σ καὶ τὸ Ρ, ἄφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ
προσβολῆς καθ᾽ αὑτὸ μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἔχον φωνήν, μετὰ δὲ
τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γινόμενον ἀκουστόν, οἷον τὸ Γ καὶ
30 τὸ Δ. ταῦτα δὲ διαφέρει σχήμασίν τε τοῦ στόματος καὶ 4
τόποις καὶ δασύτητι καὶ ψιλότητι καὶ μήκει καὶ βραχύ-
τητι, ἔτι δὲ ὀξύτητι καὶ βαρύτητι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ · περὶ ὧν
καθ᾽ ἕκαστον [ἐν] τοῖς μετρικοῖς προσήκει θεωρεῖν. συλλαβὴ 5
δέ ἐστιν φωνὴ ἄσημος συνθετὴ ἐξ ἀφώνου καὶ φωνὴν ἔχον-
35 τος· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ΓΡ ἄνευ τοῦ Α συλλαβὴ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ
Α, οἷον τὸ ΓΡΑ. ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων θεωρῆσαι τὰς διαφορὰς
τῆς μετρικῆς ἐστιν. σύνδεσμος δέ ἐστιν φωνὴ ἄσημος ἢ οὔ- 6
1457 α τε κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικὴν ἐκ πλειόνων
φωνῶν, πεφυκυῖα [συν]τίθεσθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ

22. συνθετὴ apogr. ( ' compositae voci ' Arabs) : συνετή Α 25. τὸ add.
Christ 33. ἐν secl. Spengel 34. post φωνὴν ἔχοντος coni. Christ
<ἢ πλειόνων ἀφώνων καὶ φωνὴν ἔχοντος > 35-36. καὶ γὰρ τὸ ΓΡ ἄνευ
τοῦ Α συλλαβὴ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ A AC : ' nam I et P sine A non faciunt syllabam,
quoniam tantum fiunt syllaba cum A' Arabs, unde καὶ γὰρ τὸ ΓΡ < οὐκ >
ἄνευ τοῦ Ρ συλλαβή, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τοῦ A Margoliouth (similia Susemihl ed. 1) :
καὶ γὰρ τὸ ΓΑ ἄνευ τοῦ Ρ συλλαβὴ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ Ρ Tyrwhitt : καὶ γὰρ τὸ Α ἄνευ
τοῦ ΓΡ συλλαβὴ καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ΓΡ Μ. Schmidt 1457 a 1-8. ἢ οὔτε κωλύει
-ἤτοι, δέ. Hartung, Susemihl. Codicum fide ita vulgo legitur : ἢ οὔτε
κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικήν, ἐκ πλειόνων φωνῶν πεφυκυίαν συντί-
θεσθαι, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου, ἣν μὴ ἁρμόττει (ἣν μὴ ἁρμόττῃ
apogr.) ἐν ἀρχῇ τιθέναι καθ᾽ αὑτόν (αὑτήν Tyrwhitt), οἷον μέν (μεν. Αc), ἤτοι
(ήτοι. Ας), δέ (δε Α΄) . ἢ φωνὴ ἄσημος ἢ ἐκ πλειόνων μὲν φωνῶν μιᾶς σημαντικῶν
(Robortelli : σημαντικὸν Ας) δὲ ποιεῖν πέφυκεν μίαν σημαντικὴν φωνήν. ἄρθρον
δ᾽ ἐστὶ φωνὴ ἄσημος, ἢ λόγου ἀρχὴν ἢ τέλος ἢ διορισμὸν δηλοῖ, οἷον τὸ ἀμφί
(Hartung : Φ. μ. τ. Ας : φημί Ald., Bekker) καὶ τὸ περὶ (π. δ. β. ῖ. Ας) καὶ τὰ ἄλλα.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XX. 2-6 73

sounds. For even brutes utter indivisible sounds, none

of which I call a letter. The sound I mean may be з
either a vowel, a semi-vowel, or a mute. A vowel is
that which without impact of tongue or lip has an
audible sound. A semi-vowel, that which with such
impact has an audible sound, as S and R. A mute,
that which with such impact has by itself no sound,
but joined to a vowel sound becomes audible, as G and
D. These are distinguished according to the form 4
assumed by the mouth, and the place where they are
produced; according as they are aspirated or smooth,
long or short ; as they are acute, grave, or of an inter-
mediate tone; which inquiry belongs in detail to a
treatise on metre.

A Syllable is a non-significant sound, composed of a 5

mute and a vowel : for GR without A is a syllable, as
also with A, GRA. But the investigation of these
differences belongs also to metrical science.
A Connecting word is a non-significant sound, which 6
1457 a neither causes nor hinders the union of many sounds
into one significant sound ; it may be placed at either

Sed nescio an Döring vero propius accesserit qui locum sic restituit :
σύνδεσμος δέ ἐστιν φωνὴ ἄσημος ἢ ἐκ πλειόνων μὲν φωνῶν, μιᾶς σημαντικῶν
δὲ ποιεῖν πέφυκεν μίαν σημαντικὴν φωνήν, ἣν μὴ ἁρμόττει ἐν ἀρχῇ λόγου
τιθέναι καθ᾽ αὑτήν, οἷον τὸ ἀμφί καὶ τὸ περί καὶ τὰ ἄλλα. ἄρθρον δ᾽ ἐστὶ
φωνὴ ἄσημος, ἢ οὔτε κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικὴν ἐκ πλειόνων
φωνῶν [πεφυκυῖαν] συντίθεσθαι, < ἀλλ᾽ > ἢ λόγου ἀρχὴν ἢ τέλος ἢ διορισμὸν
δηλοῖ, πεφυκυῖα τίθεσθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου, οἷον μέν, ἤτοι,
δέ. Nullam tamen Arabis rationem Döring habuit, et Arabs quidem cum
nostris codicibus parum congruit. Ipse ut in re nondum satis explicata
·ἐπέχειν me fateor 2. πεφυκυῖα τίθεσθαι Winstanley : πεφυκυῖαν συν-
τίθεσθαι codd.
 74 XX. 6-11 . 1457 a 3-26

τοῦ μέσου· ἡ φωνὴ ἄσημος ἢ ἐκ πλειόνων μὲν φω-

νῶν μιᾶς, σημαντικῶν δέ, ποιεῖν πέφυκεν μίαν σημαντικὴν
5 φωνήν, οἷον τὸ ἀμφί καὶ τὸ περί καὶ τὰ ἄλλα· < ἢ> φωνὴ τ
ἄσημος ἢ λόγου ἀρχὴν ἢ τέλος ἢ διορισμὸν δηλοῖ, ἣν μὴ
ἁρμόττει ἐν ἀρχῇ λόγου τιθέναι καθ᾽ αὑτήν, οἷον μέν, ἤτοι,
δέ. [ἢ φωνὴ ἄσημος ἢ οὔτε κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν
μίαν σημαντικὴν ἐκ πλειόνων φωνῶν πεφυκυῖα τίθεσθαι καὶ
το ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου.] ὄνομα δέ ἐστι φωνὴ 8
συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ ἄνευ χρόνου ἧς μέρος οὐδέν ἐστι καθ᾿
αὑτὸ σημαντικόν · ἐν γὰρ τοῖς διπλοῖς οὐ χρώμεθα ὡς καὶ
αὐτὸ καθ᾽ αὑτὸ σημαῖνον, οἷον ἐν τῷ Θεοδώρῳ τὸ δῶρον
οὐ σημαίνει. ῥῆμα δὲ φωνὴ συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ μετὰ χρό- 9
15 νου ἧς οὐδὲν μέρος σημαίνει καθ᾽ αὑτό, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν
ὀνομάτων · τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἢ λευκόν οὐ σημαίνει τὸ
πότε, τὸ δὲ βαδίζει ἢ βεβάδικεν προσσημαίνει τὸ μὲν τὸν
παρόντα χρόνον τὸ δὲ τὸν παρεληλυθότα. πτῶσις δ᾽ ἐστὶν 10
ὀνόματος ἢ ῥήματος ἡ μὲν τὸ κατὰ τὸ τούτου ἢ τούτῳ ση-
20 μαῖνον καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἡ δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἑνὶ ἢ πολλοῖς, οἷον
ἄνθρωποι ἢ ἄνθρωπος, ἡ δὲ κατὰ τὰ ὑποκριτικά, οἷον κατ᾿
ἐρώτησιν, ἐπίταξιν · τὸ γὰρ ἐβάδισεν ; ἢ βάδιζε πτῶσις
ῥήματος κατὰ ταῦτα τὰ εἴδη ἐστίν. λόγος δὲ φωνὴ συνθετὴ 11
σημαντικὴ ἧς ἔνια μέρη καθ᾽ αὑτὰ σημαίνει τι· οὐ γὰρ
25 ἅπας λόγος ἐκ ῥημάτων καὶ ὀνομάτων σύγκειται, οἷον “ ὁ
τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁρισμός ” · ἀλλ᾽ ἐνδέχεται < καὶ> ἄνευ ῥημάτων
7. ἤτοι] δή τοί Bywater 8-10. ή ... μέσου seclus. Reiz 17. ποτέ
Spengel βαδίζει apogr.: βαδίζειν Ασ προσσημαίνει Parisinus 2038 :
προσημαίνει Ac 19. τὸ κατὰ τὸ Riccardianus 16 : τὸ κατὰ Ας : κατὰ τὸ
Reiz 22. ἐβάδισεν ; (nota interrogationis addita) Tyrwhitt : < ập' >
ἐβάδισεν ; Vahlen βαδίζε Riccardianus 16 : ἐβάδιζεν Ασ 26. καὶ
add. Gomperz, quem secutus sum etiam in loci interpunctione
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XX. 6-11 75

end or in the middle of a sentence. Or, a non-significant

sound, which out of several sounds, each of them signi-
ficant, is capable of forming one significant sound,-as
ἀμφί, περί, and the like. Or, a non-significant sound, 7
which marks the beginning, end, or division of a sentence;
such, however, that it cannot correctly stand by itself at
the beginning of a sentence,-as μέν, ἤτοι, δέ.
ANoun is a composite significant sound, not marking 8
time, of which no part is in itself significant : for in
double or compound words we do not employ the
separate parts as if each were in itself significant. Thus
in Theodorus, ' god-given,' the δῶρον or ' gift ' is not in
itself significant.
A Verb is a composite significant sound, marking 9
time, in which, as in the noun, no part is in itself signi-
ficant. For ' man,' or ' white ' does not express the idea
of ' when ' ; but he walks,' or ' he has walked ' does
connote time, present or past.
Inflexion belongs both to the noun and verb, and 10
expresses either the relation ' of,' ' to,' or the like ; or
that of number, whether one or many, as ' man ' or
' men' ; or the modes or tones in actual delivery, e.g. a
question or a command. ' Did he go ? ' and ' go ' are
verbal inflexions of this kind.

A Sentence or Phrase is a composite significant 11-

sound, some at least of whose parts are in themselves
significant ; for not every such group of words consists
of verbs and nouns-' the definition of man,' for example
-but it may dispense even with the verb. Still it will
 76 XX. 11 -XXI. 4. 1457 a 27-1457 b 9

εἶναι λόγον. μέρος μέντοι ἀεί τι σημαῖνον ἕξει, οἷον “ ἐν τῷ

βαδίζειν,” “ Κλέων ὁ Κλέωνος. ” εἷς δέ ἐστι λόγος διχῶς, ἢ γὰρ 12
ὁ ἓν σημαίνων, ἢ ὁ ἐκ πλειόνων συνδέσμῳ, οἷον ἡ Ἰλιὰς μὲν
30 συνδέσμῳ εἷς, ὁ δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τῷ ἓν σημαίνειν.]
XXI Ὀνόματος δὲ εἴδη τὸ μὲν ἁπλοῦν, ἁπλοῦν δὲ λέγω ὃ
μὴ ἐκ σημαινόντων σύγκειται, οἷον γῆ, τὸ δὲ διπλοῦν · τούτου
δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐκ σημαίνοντος καὶ ἀσήμου (πλὴν οὐκ ἐν τῷ
ὀνόματι σημαίνοντος [καὶ ἀσήμου]), τὸ δὲ ἐκ σημαινόντων
35 σύγκειται. εἴη δ᾽ ἂν καὶ τριπλοῦν καὶ τετραπλοῦν ὄνομα καὶ
πολλαπλοῦν, οἷον τὰ πολλὰ τῶν Μασσαλιωτῶν · Ἑρμοκαϊ-
1457 ο κόξανθος < ἐπευξάμενος Διὶ πατρί> . ἅπαν δὲ ὄνομά ἐστιν 2
ἢ κύριον ἢ γλώττα ἢ μεταφορὰ ἢ κόσμος ἢ πεποιημένον
ἢ ἐπεκτεταμένον ἢ ὑφῃρημένον ἢ ἐξηλλαγμένον. λέγω 3
δὲ κύριον μὲν ᾧ χρῶνται ἕκαστοι, γλώτταν δὲ ᾧ
5 ἕτεροι· ὥστε φανερὸν ὅτι καὶ γλῶτταν καὶ κύριον εἶναι
δυνατὸν τὸ αὐτό, μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς δέ· τὸ γὰρ σίγυνον
Κυπρίοις μὲν κύριον, ἡμῖν δὲ γλώττα. μεταφορὰ δέ 4
ἐστιν ὀνόματος ἀλλοτρίου ἐπιφορὰ ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους ἐπὶ
εἶδος ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εἴδους ἐπὶ τὸ γένος ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εἴ-

28. βαδίζειν Ας : βαδίζει apogr. Κλέων ὁ Κλέωνος M. Schmidt (Κλέωνος

habuit 2) : Κλέων ὁ Κλέων codd. ἐν τῷ “ βαδίζει Κλέων ” ὁ (τὸ
Bigg) Κλέων edd. plerique 29. συνδέσμῳ Riccardianus 16 : συνδέσμων
Ac 30. τῷ apogr.: τὸ Ac 33. ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Vahlen, et 2, ut
videtur : ἐν τῷ ὀνόματος codd. : ἐντὸς τοῦ ὀνόματος Tucker 34. καὶ ἀσήμου
om. 2, ut videtur (' non tamen indicans in nomine ' Arabs). Idem effecit
Ussing deleto καὶ ἀσήμου in v. 33 et mutata interpunctione, ἐκ σημαίνοντος,
πλὴν οὐκ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι σημαίνοντος, καὶ ἀσήμου, κτλ. 36. μεγαλιωτῶν
codd.: Μασσαλιωτῶν Diels, qui collato Arabe (' sicut multa de Massiliotis
Hermocaicoxanthus qui supplicabatur dominum caelorum') totum versum
Έρμοκ. – πατρί tanquam epici carminis, comice scripti, ex coniectura
restituit. Ἑρμοκ. ad Phocaeam spectat, Massiliae μητρόπολιν, urbem inter
Hermum et Caïcum sitam. Ceteras emendationes licet iam missas facere,
e.g. μεγαλείων ὡς Winstanley : μεγαλείων οἷον Bekker ed. 3 : μεγαλείων ὧν
Vahlen 1457 b 3. ἀφῃρημένον Spengel (cf. 1458 a 1) 9. τὸ om. apogr.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XX. 11 -XXI . 4 77

always have some significant part, as ' in walking,' or

' Cleon son of Cleon.' A sentence or phrase may form 12
a unity in two ways,-either as signifying one thing, or
as consisting of several parts linked together. Thus the
Iliad is one by the linking together of parts, the definition
of man by the unity of the thing signified.]
XXI Words are of two kinds, simple and double. By
simple I mean those composed of non-significant elements,
such as γῆ. By double or compound, those composed
either of a significant and non-significant element
(though within the whole word no element is significant),
or of elements that are both significant. A word may
likewise be triple, quadruple, or multiple in form, like
1457 b so many Massilian expressions, e.g. ' Hermo-caico-xanthus
<who prayed to Father Zeus. >'
Every word is either current, or strange, or meta- 2
phorical, or ornamental, or newly-coined, or lengthened,
or contracted, or altered.
By a current or proper word I mean one which is 3
in general use among a people ; by a strange word, one
which is in use in another country. Plainly, therefore,
the same word may be at once strange and current, but
not in relation to the same people. The word σίγυνον,
' lance,' is to the Cyprians a current term but to us a
strange one.
Metaphor is the application of an alien name by 4
transference either from genus to species, or from species
to genus, or from species to species, or by analogy, that is,
 78 ΧΧΙ. 4-8. 1457 b 10-32

το δους ἐπὶ εἶδος ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον. λέγω δὲ ἀπὸ γένους μὲν 5

ἐπὶ εἶδος οἷον “ νηῦς δέ μοι ἥδ᾽ ἕστηκεν ·” τὸ γὰρ ὁρμεῖν ἐστιν
ἑστάναι τι. ἀπ᾿ εἴδους δὲ ἐπὶ γένος “ ἢ δὴ μυρί᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς
ἐσθλὰ ἔοργεν ” τὸ γὰρ μυρίον πολύ <τί> ἐστιν, ᾧ νῦν ἀντὶ
τοῦ πολλοῦ κέχρηται. ἀπ᾿ εἴδους δὲ ἐπὶ εἶδος οἷον “ χαλκῷ
15 ἀπὸ ψυχὴν ἀρύσας” καὶ “ ταμὼν ἀτειρέι χαλκῷ·” ἐνταῦθα
γὰρ τὸ μὲν ἀρύσαι ταμεῖν, τὸ δὲ ταμεῖν ἀρύσαι εἴρηκεν ·
ἄμφω γὰρ ἀφελεῖν τί ἐστιν. τὸ δὲ ἀνάλογον λέγω, ὅταν 6
ὁμοίως ἔχῃ τὸ δεύτερον πρὸς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ τὸ τέταρτον
πρὸς τὸ τρίτον · ἐρεῖ γὰρ ἀντὶ τοῦ δευτέρου τὸ τέταρτον ἢ
20 ἀντὶ τοῦ τετάρτου τὸ δεύτερον, καὶ ἐνίοτε προστιθέασιν ἀνθ᾽
οὗ λέγει πρὸς ὅ ἐστι. λέγω δὲ οἷον ὁμοίως ἔχει φιάλη πρὸς
Διόνυσον καὶ ἀσπὶς πρὸς ῎Αρη · ἐρεῖ τοίνυν τὴν φιάλην ἀσπίδα
Διονύσου καὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα φιάλην ῎Αρεως. ἢ ὃ γῆρας πρὸς
βίον, καὶ ἑσπέρα πρὸς ἡμέραν · ἐρεῖ τοίνυν τὴν ἑσπέραν γῆ-
25 ρας ἡμέρας καὶ τὸ γῆρας ἑσπέραν βίου ἤ, ὥσπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς,
δυσμὰς βίου. ἐνίοις δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν ὄνομα κείμενον τῶν ἀνά- 7
λογον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἧττον ὁμοίως λεχθήσεται· οἷον τὸ τὸν
καρπὸν μὲν ἀφιέναι σπείρειν, τὸ δὲ τὴν φλόγα ἀπὸ τοῦ
ἡλίου ἀνώνυμον · ἀλλ᾽ ὁμοίως ἔχει τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον καὶ
30 τὸ σπείρειν πρὸς τὸν καρπόν, διὸ εἴρηται “ σπείρων θεοκτίσταν
φλόγα.” ἔστι δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ τούτῳ τῆς μεταφορᾶς χρῆσθαι 8
καὶ ἄλλως, προσαγορεύσαντα τὸ ἀλλότριον ἀποφῆσαι τῶν

11. ὁρμῖν Αc 12. ἑστᾶναι (â ut videtur ex á) Ac ἢ δὴ apogr. :

ἤδη Ac 13. μύριον Α τί add. Twining 15. ἀρύσας καὶ
Tyrwhitt (ἀρύσας Leidensis, corr. Vaticanus 1400, καὶ Laurentianus lx. 21) :
ἀερύσασκε Ac ταμὼν Bekker (ed. 3): τεμῶν Αν ατηρειΑσ 25-26.
ἡμέρας-δυσμὰς Riccardianus 16, Parisinus 2038 : ἡμέρας ἢ ὥσπερ Ἐμπεδοκλής
καὶ τὸ γῆρας ἑσπέραν βίου ἢ δυσμὰς Ac 28. ἀπὸ] ἐπὶ M. Schmidt 30.
< τὸν ἀφιέντα > τὸν καρπόν Castelvetro
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXI. 4-8 79

proportion. Thus from genus to species, as : ' There lies 5

my ship ' ; for lying at anchor is a species of lying.
From species to genus, as : ' Verily ten thousand noble
deeds hath Odysseus wrought ' ; for ten thousand is a
species of large number, and is here used for a large
number generally. From species to species, as : ' With
blade of bronze drew away the life,' and ' Cleft the water
with the vessel of unyielding bronze.' Here ἀρύσαι, ‘ to
draw away,' is used for ταμεῖν, ' to cleave,' and ταμεῖν
again for ἀρύσαι,--each being a species of taking away.
Analogy or proportion is when the second term is to the 6
first as the fourth to the third. We may then use the
fourth for the second, or the second for the fourth.
Sometimes too we qualify the metaphor by adding the
term to which the proper word is relative. Thus the
cup is to Dionysus as the shield to Ares. The cup may,
therefore, be called ' the shield of Dionysus,' and the
shield ' the cup of Ares.' Or, again, as old age is to life,
so is evening to day. Evening may therefore be called
' the old age of the day, and old age, ' the evening of
life,' or, in the phrase of Empedocles, ' life's setting sun.'
For some of the terms of the proportion there is at times 7
no word in existence ; still the metaphor may be used.
For instance, to scatter seed is called sowing : but the
action of the sun in scattering his rays is nameless. Still
this process bears to the sun the same relation as sowing
to the seed. Hence the expression of the poet ' sowing
the god-created light.' There is another way in which 8
this kind of metaphor may be employed. We may apply
an alien term, and then deny of that term one of its
 80 XXI . 8- XXII . 1 . 1457 b 33-1458 a 20

οἰκείων τι, οἷον εἰ τὴν ἀσπίδα εἴποι φιάλην μὴ ῎Αρεως ἀλλ᾿

ἄοινον. < κόσμος δὲ πεποιημένον δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὁ ὅλως 9
... >.

35 μὴ καλούμενον ὑπὸ τινῶν αὐτὸς τίθεται ὁ ποιητής, (δοκεῖ γὰρ

ἔνια εἶναι τοιαῦτα) οἷον τὰ κέρατα ἐρνύγας καὶ τὸν ἱερέα
1458 α ἀρητῆρα. ἐπεκτεταμένον δέ ἐστιν ἢ ἀφῃρημένον τὸ μὲν ἐὰν 10
φωνήεντι μακροτέρῳ κεχρημένον ᾖ τοῦ οἰκείου ἢ συλλαβῇ
ἐμβεβλημένῃ, τὸ δὲ ἂν ἀφῃρημένον τι ᾖ αὐτοῦ, ἐπεκτεταμένον
μὲν οἷον τὸ πόλεως πόληος καὶ τὸ Πηλείδου Πηληιάδεω,
5 ἀφῃρημένον δὲ οἷον τὸ κρῖ καὶ τὸ δῶ καὶ “ μία γίνεται ἀμ-
φοτέρων ὄψ.” ἐξηλλαγμένον δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὅταν τοῦ ὀνομαζομένου 11
τὸ μὲν καταλείπῃ τὸ δὲ ποιῇ, οἷον τὸ “ δεξιτερὸν κατὰ μαζόν ”
ἀντὶ τοῦ δεξιόν.
[αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὰ μὲν ἄρρενα τὰ δὲ θήλεα τὰ 12
το δὲ μεταξύ, ἄρρενα μὲν ὅσα τελευτᾷ εἰς τὸ Ν καὶ Ρ καὶ Σ
καὶ ὅσα ἐκ τούτου σύγκειται (ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐστὶν δύο, Ψ καὶ Ξ),
θήλεα δὲ ὅσα ἐκ τῶν φωνηέντων εἴς τε τὰ ἀεὶ μακρά, οἷον εἰς Η
καὶ Ω, καὶ τῶν ἐπεκτεινομένων εἰς Α · ὥστε ἴσα συμβαίνει
πλήθη εἰς ὅσα τὰ ἄρρενα καὶ τὰ θήλεα· τὸ γὰρ Ψ καὶ τὸ Ξ
15 < τῷ Σ> ταὐτά ἐστιν. εἰς δὲ ἄφωνον οὐδὲν ὄνομα τελευτᾷ, οὐδὲ
εἰς φωνῆεν βραχύ. εἰς δὲ τὸ Ι τρία μόνον, μέλι κόμμι πέπερι.
εἰς δὲ τὸ Υ πέντε. τὰ δὲ μεταξὺ εἰς ταῦτα καὶ Ν καὶ Σ.]
XXII Λέξεως δὲ ἀρετὴ σαφῆ καὶ μὴ ταπεινὴν εἶναι. σα-

φεστάτη μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ἐκ τῶν κυρίων ὀνομάτων, ἀλλὰ

20 ταπεινή · παράδειγμα δὲ ἡ Κλεοφῶντος ποίησις καὶ ἡ

33. ἀλλ᾽ ἄοινον Vettori : ἄλλα οἴνου (vel ἀλλ' οἴνου) codd. 34. <κόσμος
δὲ .> Maggi 1458 2 2. κεχρημένος Hermann Ac
συλλαβὴ ἐμβεβλημένη Ασ 3. ἀφήρη μὲν ὄντι ἢ Ας 4. πόλεος Ac
πηλείδου Parisinus 2038 : πηλέος Ας : Πηλέος < Πηλῆος καὶ τὸ Πηλείδου> Μ.
Schmidt 6. ὄψ Vettori ; όης Ac ( i.e. ΟΠΣ vel ΟΨΙΣ) 10. καὶ Σ
Riccardianus 16 (confirm. Arabs) : om. AC 14. πλήθη Ας : πλήθει apogr.
15. τῷ Σ add. anon. ap. Tyrwhitt 17. post πέντε add. τὸ πῶν τὸ
νᾶπυ τὸ γόνυ τὸ δόρυ τὸ ἄστυ Riccardianus 16 ταῦτα < καὶ Α > καὶ Ν
< καὶ Ρ > καὶ Σ Morel
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXI . 8-XXII . I 81

proper attributes ; as if we were to call the shield, not

' the cup of Ares,' but ' the wineless cup.'
<An ornamental word .>

A newly-coined word is one which has never been 9

even in local use, but is adopted by the poet himself.
Some such words there appear to be : ας ἐρνύγες,
' sprouters,' for κέρατα, ' horns,' and ἀρητήρ, ' supplicator,'
for ἱερεύς, ' priest.'
1458a A word is lengthened when its own vowel is exchanged 10
for a longer one, or when a syllable is inserted. A
word is contracted when some part of it is removed.
Instances of lengthing are,-πόληος for πόλεως, and
Πηληιάδεω for Πηλείδου : of contraction,-κρῖ, δῶ, and
ὄψ, as in μία γίνεται ἀμφοτέρων ὄψ.
An altered word is one in which part of the ordinary 11
form is left unchanged, and part is re-cast ; as in δεξι-
τερὸν κατὰ μαζόν, δεξιτερόν is for δεξιόν.
[Nouns in themselves are either masculine, feminine, 12
or neuter. Masculine are such as end in v, p, s, or in
some letter compounded with s,-these being two,
and §. Feminine, such as end in vowels that are always
long, namely η and w, and of vowels that admit of
lengthening-those in a. Thus the number of letters in
which nouns masculine and feminine end is the same ;
for and are equivalent to endings in s. No noun ends
in a mute or vowel short by nature. Three only end in
ι, μέλι, κόμμι, πέπερι : five end in v. Neuter nouns
end in these two latter vowels ; also in v and s.]
XXII
The perfection of style is to be clear without being S
mean . The clearest style is that which uses only current
or proper words ; at the same time it is mean :-witness
the poetry of Cleophon and of Sthenelus. That diction,
G
 82 ΧΧΙΙ. 1-5. 1458 a 21-1458 b 9

Σθενέλου. σεμνὴ δὲ καὶ ἐξαλλάττουσα τὸ ἰδιωτικὸν ἡ τοῖς

ξενικοῖς κεχρημένη· ξενικὸν δὲ λέγω γλώτταν καὶ μετα-
φορὰν καὶ ἐπέκτασιν καὶ πᾶν τὸ παρὰ τὸ κύριον. ἀλλ᾽ ἄν 2
τις ἅμα ἅπαντα τοιαῦτα ποιήσῃ, ἢ αἴνιγμα ἔσται ἢ βαρβα-
25 ρισμός · ἂν μὲν οὖν ἐκ μεταφορῶν, αἴνιγμα, ἐὰν δὲ ἐκ
γλωττῶν, βαρβαρισμός· αἰνίγματός τε γὰρ ἰδέα αὕτη ἐστί,
τὸ λέγοντα ὑπάρχοντα ἀδύνατα συνάψαι. κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν
τῶν < ἄλλων > ὀνομάτων σύνθεσιν οὐχ οἷόν τε τοῦτο ποιῆσαι
κατὰ δὲ τὴν μεταφορὰν ἐνδέχεται, οἷον “ ἄνδρ᾽ εἶδον πυρὶ χαλ-
30 κὸν ἐπ᾿ ἀνέρι κολλήσαντα,” καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἐκ τῶν γλωτ-
τῶν βαρβαρισμός. δεῖ ἄρα κεκρᾶσθαί πως τούτοις · τὸ 3
μὲν γὰρ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν ποιήσει μηδὲ ταπεινόν, οἷον ἡ γλῶττα
καὶ ἡ μεταφορὰ καὶ ὁ κόσμος καὶ τἆλλα τὰ εἰρημένα
εἴδη, τὸ δὲ κύριον τὴν σαφήνειαν. οὐκ ἐλάχιστον δὲ μέρος 4
1458 b συμβάλλεται εἰς τὸ σαφὲς τῆς λέξεως καὶ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν
αἱ ἐπεκτάσεις καὶ ἀποκοπαὶ καὶ ἐξαλλαγαὶ τῶν ὀνομά-
των · διὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἄλλως ἔχειν ἢ ὡς τὸ κύριον, παρὰ
τὸ εἰωθὸς γιγνόμενον, τὸ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν ποιήσει, διὰ δὲ τὸ κοι-
5 νωνεῖν τοῦ εἰωθότος τὸ σαφὲς ἔσται. ὥστε οὐκ ὀρθῶς ψέγου- 5
σιν οἱ ἐπιτιμῶντες τῷ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ τῆς διαλέκτου καὶ δια-
κωμῳδοῦντες τὸν ποιητήν, οἷον Εὐκλείδης ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὡς
ῥᾴδιον ποιεῖν, εἴ τις δώσει ἐκτείνειν ἐφ᾽ ὁπόσον βούλεται,
ἰαμβοποιήσας ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ λέξει “ Επιχάρην εἶδον Μαρα-

24. ἅμα ἅπαντα Riccardianus 16, Parisinus 2038 : ἂν ἅπαντα Ας : ἅπαντα al.
ποιήσῃ apogr. : ποιῆσαι Αc 28. ἄλλων add. Margoliouth, collato Arabe
'reliqua nomina ' : κυρίων add. Heinsius σύνθεσιν] συνήθειαν Tucker
οὐχοίονται Αc 29. fort. μεταφορών Bywater ἴδον Ασ πυρὶ
χαλκὸν Vettori : πυρίχαλκον codd. 30-31 . ante vel post ἐκ- βαρ-
βαρισμός lacunam statuit Gomperz 31. κεκρᾶσθαι Maggi e cod. Lam-
pridii ( ' si miscentur haec ' Arabs ) : κεκρίσθαι codd. cett. 1458 b 1 .
συμβάλεται Ας : συμβάλλονται apogr. 9. Ἐπιχάρην Bursian : ἤτει χάριν Ac :
ἐπὶ χάριν 2, ut videtur (' appellatum cum favore' Arabs) εἶδον apogr. :
ἴδον Αε : ἰδὼν Gomperz
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXII . 1-5 83

on the other hand, is lofty and raised above the common-

place which employs unusual words. By unusual, I
mean strange (or rare) words, metaphorical, lengthened,-
anything, in short, that differs from the normal idiom.
Yet a style wholly composed of such words is either a2
riddle or a jargon ; a riddle, if it consists of metaphors ; KDDE.
a jargon, if it consists of strange (or rare) words. For the
essence of a riddle is to express true facts under im- *
possible combinations. Now this cannot be done by any
arrangement of ordinary words, but by the use of meta-
phor it can. Such is the riddle : ' A man I saw who
on another man had glued the bronze by aid of fire,' and
others of the same kind. A diction that is made up of
strange (or rare) terms is a jargon. A certain infusion, 3
therefore, of these elements is necessary to style ; for the
strange (or rare) word, the metaphorical, the ornamental,
and the other kinds above mentioned, will raise it above
the commonplace and mean, while the use of proper
words will make it perspicuous. But nothing contributes 4
1458b more to produce a clearness of diction that is remote
from commonness than the lengthening, contraction, and
alteration of words. For by deviating in exceptional
cases from the normal idiom, the language will gain
distinction ; while, at the same time, the partial con-
forinity with usage will give perspicuity. The critics, 5
therefore, are in error who censure these licenses of
speech, and hold the author up to ridicule. Thus
Eucleides, the elder, declared that it would be an easy
matter to be a poet if you might lengthen syllables at
will. He caricatured the practice in the very form of
his diction, as in the verse :
 84 XXII . 5-7. 1458 b 10-27

το θῶνάδε βαδίζοντα,” καὶ “ οὐκ ἄν γ᾽ ἐράμενος τὸν ἐκείνου ἐλ-

λέβορον.” τὸ μὲν οὖν φαίνεσθαί πως χρώμενον τούτῳ τῷ 6
τρόπῳ γελοῖον· τὸ δὲ μέτριον κοινὸν ἁπάντων ἐστὶ τῶν με-
ρῶν· καὶ γὰρ μεταφοραῖς καὶ γλώτταις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις
εἴδεσι χρώμενος ἀπρεπῶς καὶ ἐπίτηδες ἐπὶ τὰ γελοῖα τὸ
15 αὐτὸ ἂν ἀπεργάσαιτο. τὸ δὲ ἁρμόττον ὅσον διαφέρει ἐπὶ 7
τῶν ἐπῶν θεωρείσθω ἐντιθεμένων τῶν < κυρίων > ὀνομάτων εἰς
τὸ μέτρον. καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γλώττης δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μεταφορῶν
καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἰδεῶν μετατιθεὶς ἄν τις τὰ κύρια ὀνόματα
κατίδοι ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγομεν · οἷον τὸ αὐτὸ ποιήσαντος ἰαμ-
20 βεῖον Αἰσχύλου καὶ Εὐριπίδου, ἓν δὲ μόνον ὄνομα μεταθέν-
τος, ἀντὶ [κυρίου] εἰωθότος γλῶτταν, τὸ μὲν φαίνεται καλὸν
τὸ δ᾽ εὐτελές. Αἰσχύλος μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῷ Φιλοκτήτῃ ἐποίησε
φαγέδαινα < δ᾽ > ἥ μου σάρκας ἐσθίει ποδός,
ὁ δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐσθίει τὸ θοινᾶται μετέθηκεν. καὶ
25 νῦν δὲ μ᾽ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἀεικής,
εἴ τις λέγοι τὰ κύρια μετατιθεὶς
νῦν δέ μ᾽ ἐὼν μικρός τε καὶ ἀσθενικὸς καὶ ἀειδής ·

1 Odyss. ix. 515, νῦν δὲ μ᾽ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἄκικυς.

10. ἄν γ᾽ ἐράμενος apogr. : ἂν γεράμενος Α΄ : ἂν γευσάμενος Tyrwhitt : ἂν

πριάμενος Gomperz 11. πῶς Ας : ἀπρεπῶς Twining : πάντως Hermann
12. μέτριον Spengel : μέτρον codd. 14. ἐπὶ τὰ apogr.: ἔπειτα
Ac ἐπὶ τὰ γελοῖα secl. Gomperz 15. ἁρμόττον apogr.: ἁρμότ-
τοντος Ασ 16. ἐπῶν ] ἐπεκτάσεων Tyrwhitt <κυρίων > coni.
Vahlen 19. ἰάμβιον Α 20. Αἰσχύλῳ Εὐριπίδου Essen : Εὐριπίδου καὶ
Αἰσχύλου Richards μεταθέντος Parisinus 2038 : μετατιθέντος AC
21. aut κυρίου aut εἰωθότος secludendum esse coni. Vahlen <καὶ> εἰωθότος
Heinsius 23. φαγέδαινα δ' ἥ Ritter : φαγέδαινα ἥ apogr. : φαγάδενα ἥ Ας :
φαγέδαιναν ἥ Hermann : φαγέδαιν᾿ ἀεί Nauck 25. δὲ μεὼν Ac ἀεικής
Castelvetro ( ' ut non conveniat' Arabs) : ἀειδής codd. : ἄκικυς (cum var. lect.
ἀεικής) Od. ix. 515 27. δὲ μεὼν Ac μικρὸς δὲ Ας
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXII. 5-7 85

Ἐπιχάρην εἶδον Μαραθῶνάδε βαδίζοντα,

or,

οὐκ ἄν γ᾽ ἐράμενος τὸν ἐκείνου ἐλλέβορον .

To employ such license at all obtrusively is, no doubt, 6
grotesque ; but in any mode of poetic diction there
must be moderation. Even metaphors, strange (or rare)
words, or any similar forms of speech, would produce
the like effect if used without propriety, and with the
express purpose of being ludicrous. How great a differ- 7
ence is made by the appropriate use of lengthening, may
be seen in Epic poetry by the insertion of ordinary forms
in the verse. So, again, if we take a strange (or rare)
word, a metaphor, or any similar mode of expression,
and replace it by the current or proper term, the truth
of our observation will be manifest. For example
Aeschylus and Euripides each composed the same iambic
line. But the alteration of a single word by Euripides,
who employed the rarer term instead of the ordinary
one, makes one verse appear beautiful and the other
trivial. Aeschylus in his Philoctetes says : P
φαγέδαινα < δ᾽ > ἥ μου σάρκας ἐσθίει ποδός ·
Euripides substitutes θοινᾶται ‘ feasts on ' for ἐσθίει
' feeds on.' Again, in the line,
νῦν δὲ μ᾽ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἀεικής,
the difference will be felt if we substitute the common
words,

νῦν δὲ μ᾽ ἐὼν μικρός τε καὶ ἀσθενικὸς καὶ ἀειδής.

 86 XXII. 7-10. 1458 b 28-1459 a 16
καὶ

δίφρον ἀεικέλιον καταθεὶς ὀλίγην τε τράπεζαν,

30 δίφρον μοχθηρὸν καταθεὶς μικράν τε τράπεζαν ·
καὶ τὸ “ ἠιόνες βοόωσιν,” 2 ἠιόνες κράζουσιν. ἔτι δὲ ᾿Αριφρά- 8
δης τοὺς τραγῳδοὺς ἐκωμῴδει, ὅτι ἃ οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴποι ἐν τῇ δια-
λέκτῳ τούτοις χρῶνται, οἷον τὸ δωμάτων ἄπο ἀλλὰ μὴ
ἀπὸ δωμάτων, καὶ τὸ σέθεν καὶ τὸ ἐγὼ δέ νιν καὶ τὸ
1459 a ᾿Αχιλλέως πέρι ἀλλὰ μὴ περὶ ᾿Αχιλλέως, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα
τοιαῦτα. διὰ γὰρ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἐν τοῖς κυρίοις ποιεῖ τὸ μὴ
ἰδιωτικὸν ἐν τῇ λέξει ἅπαντα τὰ τοιαῦτα · ἐκεῖνος δὲ τοῦτο
ἠγνόει. ἔστιν δὲ μέγα μὲν τὸ ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰρημένων πρεπόν- 9
5 τως χρῆσθαι, καὶ διπλοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ γλώτταις, πολὺ δὲ
μέγιστον τὸ μεταφορικὸν εἶναι. μόνον γὰρ τοῦτο οὔτε παρ᾿
ἄλλου ἔστι λαβεῖν εὐφυίας τε σημεῖόν ἐστι· τὸ γὰρ εὖ
μεταφέρειν τὸ τὸ ὅμοιον θεωρεῖν ἐστιν. τῶν δ᾽ ὀνομάτων τὰ 10
μὲν διπλᾶ μάλιστα ἁρμόττει τοῖς διθυράμβοις, αἱ δὲ γλῶτται
1ο τοῖς ἡρωικοῖς, αἱ δὲ μεταφοραὶ τοῖς ἰαμβείοις. καὶ ἐν
μὲν τοῖς ἡρωικοῖς ἅπαντα χρήσιμα τὰ εἰρημένα, ἐν δὲ τοῖς
ἰαμβείοις διὰ τὸ ὅτι μάλιστα λέξιν μιμεῖσθαι ταῦτα ἁρ-
μόττει τῶν ὀνομάτων ὅσοις κἂν ἐν λόγοις τις χρή-
σαιτο · ἔστι δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα τὸ κύριον καὶ μεταφορὰ καὶ κόσμος.
15 περὶ μὲν οὖν τραγῳδίας καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ πράττειν μιμή-
σεως ἔστω ἡμῖν ἱκανὰ τὰ εἰρημένα.

1 Odyss. xx. 259, δίφρον ἀεικέλιον καταθεὶς ὀλίγην τε τράπεζαν .

2 Iliad xvii . 265 .

29. ἀεικέλιον Parisinus 2038 : τ' ἀεικέλιον Ας : τ' αἰκέλιον Vahlen 31.
τὸ ἴωνες βοῶσιν ἢ ἴωνες ΑC 32. εἴποι apogr.: εἴπηι Ac 1459 a 4.
τὸ apogr.: τῶι Ας 10 et 12. ἰαμβίοις Ασ 13. κἂν Harles : καὶ codd.
ὅσοις post ev add. Ac : om. apogr.: τοῖς Gomperz : ὁδοῖς Σ, ut videtur
(Ellis) τις apogr.: τί Ασ
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXII . 7-10 87

Or, if for the line,

δίφρον ἀεικέλιον καταθεὶς ὀλίγην τε τράπεζαν,
we read,
δίφρον μοχθηρὸν καταθεὶς μικράν τε τράπεζαν .
Or, for ἠιόνες βοόωσιν, ἠιόνες κράζουσιν.
Again, Ariphrades ridiculed the tragedians for using 8-
phrases which no one would employ in ordinary speech :
for example, δωμάτων ἄπο instead of ἀπὸ δωμάτων,
1459 α σέθεν, ἐγὼ δέ νιν, ᾿Αχιλλέως πέρι instead of περὶ
᾿Αχιλλέως, and the like. It is precisely because such
phrases are not part of the current idiom that they
give distinction to the style. This, however, he failed
to see.

It is a great matter to observe propriety in these 9

several modes of expression-compound words, strange
(or rare) words, and so forth. But the greatest thing by
far is to have a command of metaphor. This alone
cannot be imparted by another ; it is the mark of genius,
-for to make good metaphors implies an eye for
resemblances.

Of the various kinds of words, the compound are 10

best adapted to dithyrambs, rare words to heroic poetry,
metaphors to iambic. In heroic poetry, indeed, all
these varieties are serviceable. But in iambic verse,
which reproduces, as far as may be, familiar speech, the
most appropriate words are those which are found even
in prose. These are, the current or proper, the meta-
phorical, the ornamental.
Concerning Tragedy and imitation by means of
action this may suffice.
 88 XXIII. 1-3. 1459 a 17-1459 b I
XXIII
Περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς κἀν ἑν < ὶ> μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς,
ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις συνιστάναι
δραματικοὺς καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην καὶ τελείαν, ἔχουσαν
20 ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσα καὶ τέλος, ἵν᾽ ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον ποιῇ τὴν
οἰκείαν ἡδονήν, δῆλον, καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις τὰς συν-
θέσεις εἶναι, ἐν αἷς ἀνάγκη οὐχὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ποιεῖσθαι
δήλωσιν ἀλλ᾽ ἑνὸς χρόνου, ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα
ἢ πλείους, ὧν ἕκαστον ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα. ὥσπερ 2
25 γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἥ τ᾽ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐγένετο
ναυμαχία καὶ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Καρχηδονίων μάχη οὐδὲν
πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συντείνουσαι τέλος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς
χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θάτερον, ἐξ ὧν ἓν
οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος. σχεδὸν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τοῦτο
30 δρῶσι. διό, ὥσπερ εἴπομεν ἤδη, καὶ ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν 3
φανείη Ὅμηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον
καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον ·
λίαν γὰρ ἂν μέγας καὶ οὐκ εὐσύνοπτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι,
ἢ τῷ μεγέθει μετριάζοντα καταπεπλεγμένον τῇ ποικιλίᾳ.
35 νῦν δ᾽ ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβὼν ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται αὐτῶν
πολλοῖς, οἷον νεῶν καταλόγῳ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις, οἷς
διαλαμβάνει τὴν ποίησιν. οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι περὶ ἕνα ποιοῦσι
1459b καὶ περὶ ἕνα χρόνον καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν πολυμερή, οἷον ὁ
17. κἀν ἑνὶ μέτρῳ scripsi (cf. 1449 b 11, 1459 b 32) : καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ codd. : καὶ
ἐν ἑξαμέτρῳ Heinsius 18. συνιστᾶναι Ac (cf. 1453 b 4, 1457 b 12) : συν-
εστάναι coni. Vahlen 20. ποιεῖ AC 21. ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις τὰς συνθέσεις
Dacier (confirmat aliquatenus Arabs) : ὁμοίας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις codd.:
οϊας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις M‘Vey 25. Σαλαμίνη Ασ 26. ναυμαχία apogr.:
ναύμαχος Ασ 28. μετὰ θάτερον Parisinus 2038 : μετὰ θατέρου Αε 31.
τῷ Riccardianus 16 : τὸ Α 33-34. μέγα (rec. corr. μέγας) εὐσύνοπτος
-μετριάζοντα Ας : μέγα-εὐσύνοπτον -μετρίαζον Bursian 35. αὐτῶν secl.
Christ : αὐτοῦ Heinsius 36. ois Riccardianus 16 : dis pr. Ac
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIII . 1-3 89

XXIII As to that poetic imitation which is narrative in -

form and employs a single metre, the plot manifestly
ought, as in a tragedy, to be constructed on dramatic ACTION
principles. It should have for its subject a single
action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle,
and an end. It will thus resemble a single and coherent
picture of a living being, and produce the pleasure
proper to it. It will differ in structure from historical
compositions, which of necessity present not a single
action, but a single period, and all that happened within
that period to one person or to many, little connected
together as the events may be. For as the sea-fight at 2
Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily
took place at the same time, but did not tend to any one
result, so in the sequence of events, one thing sometimes
follows another, and yet no single result is thereby
produced. Such is the practice, we may say, of
most poets. Here again, then, as has been already 3
observed, the transcendant excellence of Homer is 1

manifest. He never attempts to make the whole war of

Troy the subject of his poem, though that war had a
beginning and an end. It would have been too vast a
theme, and not easily embraced in a single view. If,
again, he had kept it within moderate limits, it must
have been over-complicated by the variety of the in-
cidents. As it is, he detaches a single portion, and
admits as episodes many events from the general story
of the war-such as the Catalogue of the ships and
others-thus diversifying the poem. All other poets
1459b take a single hero, a single period, or an action single
indeed, but with a multiplicity of parts. Thus did the
 90 XXIII. 4-XXIV. 4. 1459 b 2-24

τὰ Κύπρια ποιήσας καὶ τὴν μικρὰν Ἰλιάδα. τοιγαροῦν ἐκ 4

μὲν Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας μία τραγῳδία ποιεῖται ἑκα-
τέρας ἢ δύο μόναι, ἐκ δὲ Κυπρίων πολλαὶ καὶ τῆς μι-
5 κρᾶς Ἰλιάδος [πλέον] ὀκτώ, οἷον ὅπλων κρίσις, Φιλοκτή
της, Νεοπτόλεμος, Εὐρύπυλος, πτωχεία, Λάκαιναι, Ἰλίου
πέρσις καὶ ἀπόπλους [καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες] .
XXIV Ἔτι δὲ τὰ εἴδη ταὐτὰ δεῖ ἔχειν τὴν ἐποποιίαν τῇ τραγῳ-
δίᾳ, ἢ γὰρ ἁπλῆν ἢ πεπλεγμένην ἢ ἠθικὴν ἢ παθητικήν ·
10 καὶ τὰ μέρη ἔξω μελοποιίας καὶ ὄψεως ταὐτά· καὶ γὰρ
περιπετειῶν δεῖ καὶ ἀναγνωρίσεων καὶ παθημάτων · ἔτι
τὰς διανοίας καὶ τὴν λέξιν ἔχειν καλῶς. οἷς ἅπασιν 2
Ὅμηρος κέχρηται καὶ πρῶτος καὶ ἱκανῶς. καὶ γὰρ καὶ
τῶν ποιημάτων ἑκάτερον συνέστηκεν ἡ μὲν Ἰλιὰς ἁπλοῦν
15 καὶ παθητικόν, ἡ δὲ Ὀδύσσεια πεπλεγμένον (ἀναγνώρισις
γὰρ διόλου) καὶ ἠθική· πρὸς γὰρ τούτοις λέξει καὶ διανοίᾳ
πάντα ὑπερβέβληκεν. διαφέρει δὲ κατά τε τῆς συστάσεως 3
τὸ μῆκος ἡ ἐποποιία καὶ τὸ μέτρον. τοῦ μὲν οὖν μήκους ὅρος
ἱκανὸς ὁ εἰρημένος · δύνασθαι γὰρ δεῖ συνορᾶσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν
20 καὶ τὸ τέλος. εἴη δ᾽ ἂν τοῦτο, εἰ τῶν μὲν ἀρχαίων ἐλάτ-
τους αἱ συστάσεις εἶεν, πρὸς δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τραγῳδιῶν τῶν
εἰς μίαν ἀκρόασιν τιθεμένων παρήκοιεν. ἔχει δὲ πρὸς τὸ 4
ἐπεκτείνεσθαι τὸ μέγεθος πολύ τι ἡ ἐποποιία ἴδιον διὰ
τὸ ἐν μὲν τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ μὴ ἐνδέχεσθαι ἅμα πραττόμενα
1459 b 2. Κύπρια Reiz : κυπρικὰ Ας 4. μόνας pr. Ac 5 et 7. πλέον
et καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες secl. Hermann 7. πρωϊάδες pr. Ac (r sup. ser.
m. rec.) 8. ἔτι δὲ bis Ac δεῖ apogr.: δὴ Ας 9. ἠθικὴν om.
Σ 11. καὶ ἠθῶν post ἀναγνωρίσεων add. Susemihl 13. ἱκανῶς apogr.:
ἱκανὸς Ασ 14. πονημάτων Ασ 15. ἀναγνωρίσεις Christ 16. ἠθικὸν
corr. rec. m. Ac γὰρ Ας : δὲ apogr. 17. πάντας apogr. 21. πρὸς
δὲ apogr. : πρόσθε Αε τὸ ante τραγῳδιῶν add. Tucker 22. fort.
καθιεμένων Richards
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIII. 4 —XXIV. 4 91

author of the Cypria and of the Little Iliad. For this 4 e

reason the Iliad and the Odyssey each furnish the
subject of one tragedy, or, at most, of two ; while the
Cypria supplies materials for many, and the Little Iliad
for eight-the Award of the Arms, the Philoctetes, the
Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, the Mendicant Odysseus,
the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, the Departure
of the Fleet.
XXIV Again, Epic poetry must have as many kinds as EPIC
Tragedy: it must be simple, or complex, or ' ethical,'
or ' pathetic.' The parts also, with the exception of
song and scenery, are the same ; for it requires
Reversals of Intention, Recognitions, and Tragic Incidents.
Moreover, the thoughts and the diction must be artistic. 2
In all these respects Homer is our earliest and sufficient
model. Indeed each of his poems has a twofold character.
The Iliad is at once simple and ' pathetic,' andthe Odyssey - F
complex (for Recognition scenes run through it), and
at the same time ' ethical.' Moreover, in diction and
thought he is supreme.
Epic poetry differs from Tragedy in the scale on 3
which it is constructed, and in its metre. As regards
scale or length, we have already laid down an adequate
limit :-the beginning and the end must be capable of-
being brought within a single view. This condition
will be satisfied by poems on a smaller scale than the
old epics, and answering in length to the group of
tragedies presented at a single sitting.
Epic poetry has, however, a great a special- 4
capacity for enlarging its dimensions, and we can see the
reason . In Tragedy we cannot imitate several lines of
 92 XXIV. 4-7. 1459 b 25-1460 a 8

25 πολλὰ μέρη μιμεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ τῶν

ὑποκριτῶν μέρος μόνον · ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐποποιίᾳ διὰ τὸ διήγησιν
εἶναι ἔστι πολλὰ μέρη ἅμα ποιεῖν περαινόμενα, ὑφ᾽ ὧν
οἰκείων ὄντων αὔξεται ὁ τοῦ ποιήματος ὄγκος. ὥστε τοῦτ᾽
ἔχει τὸ ἀγαθὸν εἰς μεγαλοπρέπειαν καὶ τὸ μεταβάλλειν τὸν
30 ἀκούοντα καὶ ἐπεισοδιοῦν ἀνομοίοις ἐπεισοδίοις· τὸ γὰρ
ὅμοιον ταχὺ πληροῦν ἐκπίπτειν ποιεῖ τὰς τραγῳδίας. τὸ δὲ 5
μέτρον τὸ ἡρωικὸν ἀπὸ τῆς πείρας ἥρμοκεν. εἰ γάρ τις ἐν
ἄλλῳ τινὶ μέτρῳ διηγηματικὴν μίμησιν ποιοῖτο ἢ ἐν πολλοῖς,
ἀπρεπὲς ἂν φαίνοιτο· τὸ γὰρ ἡρωικὸν στασιμώτατον καὶ
35 ὀγκωδέστατον τῶν μέτρων ἐστίν (διὸ καὶ γλώττας καὶ μετα-
φορὰς δέχεται μάλιστα· περιττὴ γὰρ καὶ <ταύτῃ> ἡ διηγη-
ματικὴ μίμησις τῶν ἄλλων). τὸ δὲ ἰαμβεῖον καὶ τετρά-
1460 α μετρον κινητικά, τὸ μὲν ὀρχηστικὸν τὸ δὲ πρακτικόν. ἔτι δὲ 6
ἀτοπώτερον, εἰ μιγνύοι τις αὐτά, ὥσπερ Χαιρήμων. διὸ
οὐδεὶς μακρὰν σύστασιν ἐν ἄλλῳ πεποίηκεν ἢ τῷ ἡρῴῳ, ἀλλ᾽
ὥσπερ εἴπομεν αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις διδάσκει τὸ ἁρμόττον [αὐτῇ]
5 [δι]αίρεῖσθαι. Ὅμηρος δὲ ἄλλα τε πολλὰ ἄξιος ἐπαινεῖσθαι η
καὶ δὴ καὶ ὅτι μόνος τῶν ποιητῶν οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ ὁ δεῖ ποιεῖν
αὐτόν. αὐτὸν γὰρ δεῖ τὸν ποιητὴν ἐλάχιστα λέγειν · οὐ γάρ
ἐστι κατὰ ταῦτα μιμητής. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι αὐτοὶ μὲν δι᾽ ὅλου
29. fort. [τὸ] ἀγαθὸν Bywater 33. διηγηματικὴν apogr. : διηγητικὴν Ασ
36. post καὶ add. ταύτῃ Twining : τῇδὶ Tucker 37. μίμησις apogr.:
κίνησις Ac ἰαμβίον Ασ 1460 a 1. κινητικά Ald. : κινητικαὶ Ac :
κινητικὰ καὶ Vahlen : κινητικά, εἰ Gomperz 2. μιγνύοι Ald. : μιγνύει
apogr. : μηγνύη Ac (fuit μὴ, et n extremum in litura) : μὴ γνοίη Σ (cf. Arab.
' si quis nesciret ' ) 3. τῷ] τὸ Αε 4. αὐτῇ apogr.: αὐτὴ Ac : secl.
Gomperz 5. αἱρεῖσθαι Bonitz (confirmare videtur Arabs) : διαιρεῖσθαι Αε :
ἀεὶ αἱρεῖσθαι Τucker
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIV. 4-7 93

actions carried on at one and the same time ; we must

confine ourselves to the action on the stage and the part
taken by the players. But in Epic poetry, owing to the
narrative form, many events simultaneously transacted
can be presented; and these, if relevant to the subject,
add mass and dignity to the poem. The Epic has here
an advantage, and one that conduces to grandeur of
effect, to diverting the mind of the hearer, and relieving
the story with varying episodes. For sameness of
incident soon produces satiety, and makes tragedies fail
on the stage.
As for the metre, the heroic measure has proved its 5
fitness by the test of experience. If a narrative poem
in any other metre or in many metres were now com-
posed, it would be found incongruous. For of all
measures the heroic is the stateliest and the most
massive ; and hence it most readily admits rare words
and metaphors, which is another point in which the
narrative form of imitation stands alone. On the other
1460 a hand, the iambic and the trochaic tetrameter are stirring
measures, the latter being akin to dancing, the former
expressive of action. Still more absurd would it be to 6
mix together different metres, as was done by Chaeremon.
Hence no one has ever composed a poem on a great scale
in any other than heroic verse. Nature herself, as we
have said, teaches the choice of the proper measure.
Homer, admirable in all respects, has the special merit 7
of being the only poet who rightly appreciates the part
he should take himself. The poet should speak as little
as possible in his own person, for it is not this that makes
him an imitator. Other poets appear themselves upon
 94 XXIV. 7-10. 1460 a 9-28

ἀγωνίζονται, μιμοῦνται δὲ ὀλίγα καὶ ὀλιγάκις· ὁ δὲ ὀλίγα

το φροιμιασάμενος εὐθὺς εἰσάγει ἄνδρα ἢ γυναῖκα ἢ ἄλλο τι
[ἦθος] καὶ οὐδέν᾿ ἀήθη ἀλλ᾽ ἔχοντα ἤθη. δεῖ μὲν οὖν ἐν ταῖς 8
τραγῳδίαις ποιεῖν τὸ θαυμαστόν, μᾶλλον δ᾽ ἐνδέχεται ἐν
τῇ ἐποποιίᾳ τὸ ἄλογον, δι᾽ ὁ συμβαίνει μάλιστα τὸ θαυ-
μαστόν, διὰ τὸ μὴ ὁρᾶν εἰς τὸν πράττοντα· ἐπεὶ τὰ περὶ
15 τὴν Ἕκτορος δίωξιν ἐπὶ σκηνῆς ὄντα γελοῖα ἂν φανείη, οἱ
μὲν ἑστῶτες καὶ οὐ διώκοντες, ὁ δὲ ἀνανεύων, ἐν δὲ τοῖς
ἔπεσιν λανθάνει. τὸ δὲ θαυμαστὸν ἡδύ · σημεῖον δέ · πάντες
γὰρ προστιθέντες ἀπαγγέλλουσιν ὡς χαριζόμενοι. δεδίδαχεν 9
δὲ μάλιστα Ὅμηρος καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ψευδῆ λέγειν ὡς δεῖ.
20 ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο παραλογισμός. οἴονται γὰρ ἄνθρωποι, ὅταν
τουδὶ ὄντος τοδὶ ᾖ ἢ γινομένου γίνηται, εἰ τὸ ὕστερον ἔστιν,
καὶ τὸ πρότερον εἶναι ἢ γίνεσθαι · τοῦτο δέ ἐστι ψεῦδος. διὸ
δή, ἂν τὸ πρῶτον ψεῦδος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδέ, τούτου ὄντος, ἀνάγκη
< κἀκεῖνο > εἶναι ἢ γενέσθαι [ἢ] προσθεῖναι · διὰ γὰρ τὸ τοῦτο
25 εἰδέναι ἀληθὲς ὄν, παραλογίζεται ἡμῶν ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ τὸ πρῶτον
ὡς ὄν. παράδειγμα δὲ τούτου ἐκ τῶν Νίπτρων. προαιρεῖσθαί 10
τε δεῖ ἀδύναταεἰκότα μᾶλλον ἢ δυνατὰ ἀπίθανα· τούς τε λόγους
μὴ συνίστασθαι ἐκ μερῶν ἀλόγων, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα μὲν μη-

11. ἦθος codd., 2 : secl. Reiz : εἶδος Bursian οὐδέν᾿ ἀήθη Vettori : οὐδεναήθη
Urbinas 47 : οὐδένα ἤθη Α ἤθη] fort. ἦθος Christ κάν ταῖς
Gomperz 13. ἄλογον Vettori : ἀνάλογον codd., Σ δι' δ Parisinus
2038 : διὸ codd. cett. 14. ἐπεὶ apogr. : ἔπειτα Ας, Σ 21. τοῦ διόντος
pr. Ac τοδὶ ἢ ἢ apogr.: τὸ δι᾽ ἣν pr. Ac (τὸ δὶ ἢ corr. rec. m.) 22.
γενέσθαι coni. Christ 23. δή] δεῖ Bonitz ἄλλου δὲ Ας ( ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ
corr. rec. m. ) : ἄλλο δὲ codd. Robortelli : ἄλλο δ' ὁ Vahlen : ἄλλο, & Christ
23-24. cum verbis ἀλλ' οὐδὲ—ἀνάγκη-προσθεῖναι contulerim Rhet. i. 2. 13,
1357 a 17, ἐὰν γὰρ ἢ τι τούτων γνώριμον, οὐδὲ δεῖ λέγειν · αὐτὸς γὰρ τοῦτο
προστίθησιν ὁ ἀκροατής, et 18, τὸ δ᾽ ὅτι στεφανίτης τὰ Ὀλύμπια, οὐδὲ δεῖ προσ-
θεῖναι 24. κἀκεῖνο add. Tucker secl. Bonitz : ᾗ Vahlen : ἦν
Tucker 26. τούτου codex Robortelli : τοῦτο Ας : τούτων apogr. : τοῦτο
< td > Spengel νίπτρω Αε
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIV. 7-10 95

the scene throughout, and imitate but little and rarely.

Homer, after a few prefatory words, at once brings in our
a man, or woman, or other personage ; none of them
wanting in characteristic qualities, but each with a
character of his own.

The element of the wonderful is admitted in Tragedy. 8 Ax?

The irrational, on which the wonderful depends for its
chief effects, has wider scope in Epic poetry, because there
the person acting is not seen. Thus, the pursuit of
Hector would be ludicrous if placed upon the stage-the
Greeks standing still and not joining in the pursuit, and
Achilles waving them back. But in the Epic poem the
absurdity passes unnoticed. Now the wonderful is
pleasing : as may be inferred from the fact that, in
telling a story, every one adds something startling of his
own, knowing that his hearers like it. It is Homer who 9
has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies LFS
skilfully. The secret of it lies in a fallacy. For,
assuming that if one thing is or becomes, a second is
or becomes, men imagine that, if the second is, the first
likewise is or becomes. But this is a false inference.

Hence, where the first thing is untrue, it is quite un-

necessary, provided the second be true, to add that the
first is or has become. For the mind, knowing the
second to be true, falsely infers the truth of the first.
There is an example of this in the Bath Scene of the !
Odyssey.
Accordingly, the poet should prefer probable im- 10
possibilities to improbable possibilities. The tragic plot
must not be composed of irrational parts. Everything
 96 XXIV. 10-XXV. 2. 1460 a 29-1460 b 12

δὲν ἔχειν ἄλογον, εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τοῦ μυθεύματος, ὥσπερ

30 Οἰδίπους τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι πῶς ὁ Λάιος ἀπέθανεν, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἐν
τῷ δράματι, ὥσπερ ἐν Ἠλέκτρᾳ οἱ τὰ Πύθια ἀπαγγέλλον-
τες, ἢ ἐν Μυσοῖς ὁ ἄφωνος ἐκ Τεγέας εἰς τὴν Μυσίαν ἥκων ·
ὥστε τὸ λέγειν ὅτι ἀνήρητο ἂν ὁ μῦθος γελοῖον · ἐξ ἀρχῆς
γὰρ οὐ δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοιούτους. ἂν δὲ θῇ καὶ φαίνηται
35 εὐλογωτέρως, ἐνδέχεσθαι καὶ ἄτοπον <ὄν > · ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ ἐν
Ὀδυσσείᾳ ἄλογα τὰ περὶ τὴν ἔκθεσιν ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἦν ἀνεκτὰ
1460 b δῆλον ἂν γένοιτο, εἰ αὐτὰ φαῦλος ποιητὴς ποιήσειε· νῦν δὲ
τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀγαθοῖς ὁ ποιητὴς ἀφανίζει ἡδύνων τὸ ἄτοπον.
τῇ δὲ λέξει δεῖ διαπονεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἀργοῖς μέρεσιν καὶ μήτε 11
ἠθικοῖς μήτε διανοητικοῖς· ἀποκρύπτει γὰρ πάλιν ἡ λίαν
5 λαμπρὰ λέξις τά τε ἤθη καὶ τὰς διανοίας.
XXV Περὶ δὲ προβλημάτων καὶ λύσεων, ἐκ πόσων τε καὶ
ποίων εἰδῶν ἐστιν, ὧδ᾽ ἂν θεωροῦσιν γένοιτ' ἂν φανερόν.
ἐπεὶ γάρ ἐστι μιμητὴς ὁ ποιητὴς ὡσπερανεὶ ζωγράφος ἤ τις
ἄλλος εἰκονοποιός, ἀνάγκη μιμεῖσθαι τριῶν ὄντων τὸν ἀρι-
το θμὸν ἕν τι ἀεί, ἢ γὰρ οἷα ἦν ἢ ἔστιν, ἢ οἷά φασιν καὶ δοκεῖ,
ἢ οἷα εἶναι δεῖ. ταῦτα δ᾽ ἐξαγγέλλεται λέξει < ἢ κυρίοις 2
ὀνόμασιν > ἢ καὶ γλώτταις καὶ μεταφοραῖς · καὶ πολλὰ πάθη

30. < ὁ > Οἰδίπους Bywater : Οιδίπου Tucker Λάιος Riccardianus 16 :

ϊόλαος Αδ : ἰόλαος cett. 33. ἀνήρειτο Ac 35. ἀποδέχεσθαι apogr.
ἄτοπον < ὂν > scripsi : τὸ ἄτοπον Par. 2038 : ἄτοπον codd. cett. ἄτοπον
quidem pro ἄτοπόν τι nonnunquam usurpari solet, e.g. ἄτοπον ποιεῖν (Dem.
F.L. § 71, 337), ἄτοπον λέγειν (Plat. Symp. 175 A) ; sed in hoc loco vix
ea locutio defendi potest 1460 b 1. ποιήσειε Heinsius : ποιήσει codd.:
ἐποίησεν Spengel 5. τά τε] τὰ δὲ Ας 7. ποίων apogr. : ποίων ἂν Α
9. τὸν ἀριθμὸν (vel τῷ ἀριθμῷ) apogr. : τῶν ἀριθμῶν Αc 11. ἢ οἱα apogr. :
οΐα Ac <ἢ κυρίοις ὀνόμασιν > coni. Vahlen : < ἢ κυρίᾳ > Gomperz
12. καὶ ὅσ᾽ ἄλλα πάθη coni. Vahlen
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIV. 10-XXV. 2 97

irrational should, if possible, be excluded; or, at all

events, it should lie outside the action of the play (as,
in the Oedipus, the hero's ignorance as to the manner
of Laius' death) ; not within the drama,-as in the
Electra, the messenger's account of the Pythian games ; -P
or, as in the Mysians, the man who comes from Tegea to
Mysia without speaking. The plea that otherwise the
plot would have been ruined, is ridiculous ; such a plot
should not in the first instance be constructed. But
once the irrational has been introduced and an air of
likelihood imparted to it, we must accept it in spite of
the absurdity. Take even the irrational incidents in the
Odyssey, where Odysseus is left upon the shore of Ithaca.
How intolerable even these might have been would be
apparent if an inferior poet were to treat the subject.
1460b As it is, the absurdity is veiled by the poetic charm
with which the poet invests it.
The diction should be elaborated in the pauses of 11
the action, where there is no expression of character
or thought. For, conversely, character and thought are
merely obscured by a diction that is over brilliant.
XXV With respect to critical difficulties and their solu-
tions, the number and nature of the sources from which
they may be drawn may be thus exhibited.
The poet being an imitator, like a painter or any
other artist, must of necessity imitate one of three
objects, things as they were or are, things as they are
said or thought to be, or things as they ought to be.
The vehicle of expression is language, either current 2
terms or, it may be, rare words or metaphors. There
are also many modifications of language, which we
H
 98 XXV. 3-6. 1460 b 13-34

τῆς λέξεως ἐστί, δίδομεν γὰρ ταῦτα τοῖς ποιηταῖς. πρὸς δὲ 3

τούτοις οὐχ ἡ αὐτὴ ὀρθότης ἐστὶν τῆς πολιτικῆς καὶ τῆς
15 ποιητικῆς οὐδὲ ἄλλης τέχνης καὶ ποιητικῆς. αὐτῆς δὲ τῆς
ποιητικῆς διττὴ ἁμαρτία, ἡ μὲν γὰρ καθ᾽ αὑτήν, ἡ δὲ κατὰ
συμβεβηκός. εἰ μὲν γάρ <τι> προείλετο μιμήσασθαι, < μὴ 4
ὀρθῶς δὲ ἐμιμήσατο δι' > ἀδυναμίαν, αὐτῆς ἡ ἁμαρτία· εἰ δὲ
τῷ προελέσθαι μὴ ὀρθῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἵππον < ἅμ᾽ > ἄμφω τὰ
2ο δεξιὰ προβεβληκότα ἢ τὸ καθ' ἑκάστην τέχνην ἁμάρτημα
οἷον τὸ κατ᾿ ἰατρικὴν ἢ ἄλλην τέχνην [ἢ ἀδύνατα πεποίηται]
ὁποιανοῦν, οὐ καθ' ἑαυτήν. ὥστε δεῖ τὰ ἐπιτιμήματα ἐν τοῖς
προβλήμασιν ἐκ τούτων ἐπισκοποῦντα λύειν. πρῶτον μὲν τὰ 5
πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν τέχνην · εἰ ἀδύνατα πεποίηται, ἡμάρτηται ·
25 ἀλλ᾽ ὀρθῶς ἔχει, εἰ τυγχάνει τοῦ τέλους τοῦ αὑτῆς (τὸ γὰρ
τέλος εἴρηται), εἰ οὕτως ἐκπληκτικώτερον ἢ αὐτὸ ἢ ἄλλο ποιεῖ
μέρος. παράδειγμα ἡ τοῦ Ἕκτορος δίωξις. εἰ μέντοι τὸ τέλος
ἢ μᾶλλον ἢ < μὴ> ἧττον ἐνεδέχετο ὑπάρχειν καὶ κατὰ τὴν
περὶ τούτων τέχνην, [ἡμαρτῆσθαι] οὐκ ὀρθῶς · δεῖ γὰρ εἰ ἐν-
30 δέχεται ὅλως μηδαμῇ ἡμαρτῆσθαι. ἔτι ποτέρων ἐστὶ τὸ
ἁμάρτημα, τῶν κατὰ τὴν τέχνην ἢ κατ᾿ ἄλλο συμβεβη-
κός ; ἔλαττον γὰρ εἰ μὴ ᾔδει ὅτι ἔλαφος θήλεια κέρατα
οὐκ ἔχει ἢ εἰ ἀμιμήτως ἔγραψεν. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἐὰν 6
ἐπιτιμᾶται ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ, ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως < ὡς» δεῖ οἷον καὶ

17. τι addidi μὴ ὀρθῶς-δι' addidi : < ὀρθῶς, ἥμαρτε δ᾽ ἐν τῷ μιμή-

σασθαι δι' > coni. Vahlen 18. εἰ apogr.: ἡ Ας 19. τῷ corr. Parisinus
2038 (Bywater) : τὸ Ας : < διὰ > τὸ Ueberweg ἅμ' add. Vahlen
21. ἢ ἀδύνατα πεποίηται secl. Düntzer : ἀδύνατα πεποίηται (deleto ἤ) post
ὁποιανοῦν traiecit Christ 22. ὁποίαν ὀῦν Ας : ὁποιανοῦν vulg.: ὁποῖ᾽ ἂν οὖν
Bywater : ὁποιαοῦν Winstanley 23. τὰ ( εἰ sup. scr. m. rec.) Ac 24. εἰ add.
Parisinus 2038 : om.cett. 25. αὑτῆς apogr.: αὐτῆς Ασ 26. εἴρηται] εὕρηται
Heinsius : τηρεῖται M. Schmidt 28. ἢ < μὴ > ήττον Ueberweg : ἧττον
A : ἢ ήττον corr. Ac apogr. 29. ἡμαρτῆσθαι (μαρτῆσθαι pr. Ac) secl.
Bywater, Ussing : ἡμάρτηται Ald. : < μὴ > ἡμαρτῆσθαι, Tucker, interpunctione
mutata 32. εἴδει (ᾖ sup. scr. m. rec. ) Ac 33. ή] η pr. Ac εἰ

ἀμιμήτως] η ἀμιμήτως (corr. κἀμιμήτως ) Ασ 34. < ὡς > coni. Vahlen

 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXV. 3-6 99

concede to the poets. Add to this, that the standard of 3

correctness is not the same in poetry and politics, any
more than in poetry and any other art. Within the art
of poetry itself there are two kinds of faults, those
which touch its essence, and those which are accidental.
If a poet has chosen to imitate something, <but has 4
imitated it incorrectly> through want of capacity, the $

error is inherent in the poetry. But if the failure is

due to a wrong choice if he has represented a horse
as throwing out both his off legs at once, or introduced
technical inaccuracies in medicine, for example, or in
any other art-the error is not essential to the poetry.
These are the points of view from which we should
consider and answer the objections raised by the
critics.
First as to matters which concern the poet's own 5
art. If he describes the impossible, he is guilty of
an error ; but the error may be justified, if the end
:

of the art be thereby attained (the end being that

already mentioned),-if, that is, the effect of this or
any other part of the poem is thus rendered more
striking. A case in point is the pursuit of Hector.
If, however, the end might have been as well, or better,
attained without violating the special rules of the poetic
art, the error is not justified : for every kind of error
should, if possible, be avoided.
Again, does the error touch the essentials of the
poetic art, or some accident of it ? For example,-not
to know that a hind has no horns is a less serious matter

than to paint it inartistically.

Further, if it be objected that the description is not 6
 100 XXV. 6-10. 1460 b 35-1461 a 16

35 Σοφοκλῆς ἔφη αὐτὸς μὲν οἷους δεῖ ποιεῖν, Εὐριπίδην δὲ οἷοι

εἰσίν ταύτῃ λυτέον. εἰ δὲ μηδετέρως, ὅτι οὕτω φασίν· οἷον 7
τὰ περὶ θεῶν · ἴσως γὰρ οὔτε βέλτιον οὕτω λέγειν, οὔτ᾽ ἀληθῆ,
1461 a ἀλλ᾽ < εἰ> ἔτυχεν ὥσπερ Ξενοφάνει · ἀλλ᾽ οὖν φασι. τὰ δὲ
ἴσως οὐ βέλτιον μέν, ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως εἶχεν, οἷον τὰ περὶ τῶν
ὅπλων, “ ἔγχεα δέ σφιν ὄρθ᾽ ἐπὶ σαυρωτῆρος· ” 1 οὕτω γὰρ τότ᾽
ἐνόμιζον, ὥσπερ καὶ νῦν Ἰλλυριοί. περὶ δὲ τοῦ καλῶς ἢ μὴ 8
5 καλῶς ἢ εἴρηταί τινι ἢ πέπρακται, οὐ μόνον σκεπτέον εἰς
αὐτὸ τὸ πεπραγμένον ἢ εἰρημένον βλέποντα εἰ σπουδαῖον ἢ
φαῦλον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὸν πράττοντα ἢ λέγοντα, πρὸς ὃν ἢ
ὅτε ἢ ὅτῳ ἢ οὗ ἕνεκεν, οἷον ἢ μείζονος ἀγαθοῦ, ἵνα γέ-
νηται, ἢ μείζονος κακοῦ, ἵνα ἀπογένηται. τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὴν 9
το λέξιν ὁρῶντα δεῖ διαλύειν, οἷον γλώττῃ “ οὐρῆας μὲν πρῶ-
τον ” 2 ἴσως γὰρ οὐ τοὺς ἡμιόνους λέγει ἀλλὰ τοὺς φύ-
λακας, καὶ τὸν Δόλωνα “ ὅς ῥ᾽ ἡ τοι εἶδος μὲν ἔην κακός,” 3
οὐ τὸ σῶμα ἀσύμμετρον ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσωπον αἰσχρόν, τὸ
γὰρ εὐειδὲς οἱ Κρήτες εὐπρόσωπον καλοῦσι· καὶ τὸ “ ζωρό-
15 τερον δὲ κέραιε ” 4 οὐ τὸ ἄκρατον ὡς οἰνόφλυξιν ἀλλὰ τὸ
θᾶττον. τὰ δὲ κατὰ μεταφορὰν εἴρηται, οἷον “ πάντες μέν 10

1 Iliad x. 152. 2 Ib. i. 50 .

3 Ib. x. 316 . 4 Ib. ix. 203.

35. Εὐριπίδην Heinsius : εὐριπίδης codd. (tuetur Gomperz, cf. 1448 a 36

ἀθηναῖοι codd. ) 37. οὕτω Riccardianus 16, corr. Vaticanus 1400 : οὔτε
A : om. Parisinus 2038 1461 a 1. < el > coni. Vahlen ξενοφάνει vel
ξενοφάνης apogr.: ξενοφάνη Ας : παρὰ Ξενοφάνει Ritter : < οἱ περὶ> Ξενοφάνη
Tucker οὖν Tyrwhitt : οὔ Ας : οὕτω Spengel φασί. τὰ δὲ Spengel :
φασι τάδε. Αc 6. εἰ apogr.: ἢ A 7. commate distinxi post λέγοντα
<ἢ> πρὸς ὃν Carroll 8. οἷον ἢ Ας : οἷον εἰ apogr. 9. ἢ add.
corr. Ac apogr. 12. ὅς ῥ᾽ ἢ τοι Vahlen : ὡς ῥῆτοι (corr. m. rec. ') Ac :
ὅς ῥά τοι apogr. ἔην apogr.: εἰ ἦν Ας 15. κέραι ἑου τὸ pr. Ac
16. τὰ Spengel : τὸ Αc πάντες Gräfeuhan : ἄλλοι Ac et Homerus
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXV. 6-9 101

true to fact, the poet may perhaps reply,-' But the

objects are as they ought to be' : just as Sophocles said
P
that he drew men as they ought to be ; Euripides, as
A

they are. In this way the objection may be met. If, 7 P

however, the representation be of neither kind, the poet
may answer,-' This is how men say the thing is.' This
applies to tales about the gods. It may well be that
these stories are not higher than fact nor yet true to
1461 a fact : they are, very possibly, what Xenophanes says of
them. But anyhow, ' this is what is said.' Again, a
description may be no better than the fact : ' still, it was
the fact' ; as in the passage about the arms : ' Upright
upon their butt-ends stood the spears.' This was the
custom then, as it now is among the Illyrians.
Again, in examining whether what has been said or 8
done by some one is poetically right or not, we must
not look merely to the particular act or saying, and ask
whether it is poetically good or bad. We must also con-
sider by whom it is said or done, to whom, when, in
whose interest, or for what end ; whether, for instance, it
be to secure a greater good, or avert a greater evil.
Other difficulties may be resolved by due regard to the 9
usage of language. We may note a rare word, as in oὐ-
ρῆας μὲν πρώτον, where the poet perhaps employs
οὐρῆας not in the sense of mules, but of sentinels. So,
again, of Dolon : 'ill-favoured indeed he was to look upon.'
It is not meant that his body was ill-shaped, but that his
face was ugly ; for the Cretans use the word εὐειδές,
' well-favoured,' to denote a fair face. Again, ζωρότερον
δὲ κέραιε, ' mix the drink livelier,' does not mean ' mix
it stronger ' as for hard drinkers, but ' mix it quicker.'
 102 XXV. 10-14. 1461 2 17—27

ῥα θεοί τε καὶ ἀνέρες εὐδον παννύχιοι·” 1 ἅμα δέ φησιν “ ἢ

τοι ὅτ᾽ ἐς πεδίον τὸ Τρωικὸν ἀθρήσειεν, αὐλῶν συρίγγων
θ᾽ ὅμαδον. ” 2 τὸ γὰρ πάντες ἀντὶ τοῦ πολλοί κατὰ μετα-
20 φορὰν εἴρηται, τὸ γὰρ πᾶν πολύ τι· καὶ τὸ “ οἴη δ᾽ ἄμμο-
ρος” κατὰ μεταφοράν, τὸ γὰρ γνωριμώτατον μόνον. κατὰ 11
δὲ προσῳδίαν, ὥσπερ Ἱππίας ἔλυεν ὁ Θάσιος τὸ “ δίδομεν
δέ οἱ” 4 καὶ “ τὸ μὲν οὐ καταπύθεται ὄμβρῳ.” 5 τὰ δὲ διαιρέ- 12
σει, οἷον Ἐμπεδοκλῆς “ αἰψα δὲ θνήτ᾽ ἐφύοντο, τὰ πρὶν μά-
25 θον ἀθάνατ᾽ < εἶναι > ζωρά τε πρὶν κέκρητο.” τὰ δὲ ἀμφιβολίᾳ, 13
“ παρῴχηκεν δὲ πλέω νύξ.”· τὸ γὰρ πλείω ἀμφίβολόν ἐστιν.
τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος τῆς λέξεως· τῶν κεκραμένων < οἱονοῦν > οἶνόν 14

1 Iliad ii. 1, ἄλλοι μέν ῥα θεοί τε καὶ ἀνέρες ἱπποκορυσταὶ

εἶδον παννύχιοι .
16. x. 1, ἄλλοι μὲν παρὰ νηυσὶν ἀριστῆες Παναχαιῶν
εἶδον παννύχιοι .
2 Ib. x. 11 , ἢ τοι ὅτ᾽ ἐς πεδίον τὸ Τρωικὸν ἀθρήσειεν,
θαύμαζεν πυρὰ πολλὰ τὰ καίετο Ἰλιόθι πρό,
αὐλῶν συρίγγων τ᾽ ἐνοπὴν ὅμαδόν τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων.
3 Ib. xviii. 489, οἴη δ' ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν ᾿Ὠκεανοῖο.
4 Ib. xxi. 297 , δίδομεν δὲ οἱ εὐχος ἀρέσθαι . Sed in Iliade ii. 15 (de
quo hic agitur) Τρώεσσι δὲ κήδε᾽ ἐφῆπται.
5 Ib. xxiii. 328, τὸ μὲν οὐ καταπύθεται ὄμβρῳ.
6 Ib. x. 251 , μάλα γὰρ νὺξ ἄνεται, ἐγγύθι δ᾽ ἠώς,
ἄστρα δὲ δὴ προβέβηκε, παρῴχηκεν δὲ πλέων νὺξ
τῶν δύο μοιράων, τριτάτη δ᾽ ἔτι μοῖρα λέλειπται .

17. ἱπποκορυσταὶ ( Homerus) post ἀνέρες add. Christ, habuit iam ∑ (cf. Arab.
'ceteri quidem homines et dei qui equis armati insident ') ἅπαντες
post evdov intercidisse suspicatur Bywater 19. θ' ὅμαδον Sylburg : τε
ὁμαδόν ( ὅμαδον apogr. ) Ac τοῦ add. apogr.: om. Ac 23. δέ οἱ
apogr.: δέοι Ac 25. εἶναι add. Vettori ex Athenaeo x. 423 ζωρά
Athenaeus : ζῶα codd. τε < & > πρὶν Gomperz secutus Bergkium κέ-

κρητο (ι sup. scr. m. rec. ) AC : κέκριτο apogr. : ἄκρητα Karsten (ed. Empedocles)
26. πλέω Ας : πλέον apogr.: πλέων Ald. πλείω] πλεῖον vel πλέον
apogr. 27. < ὅσα > τῶν κεκραμένων Vahlen : < ὅσα πο>τῶν κεκρα-
μένων Ueberweg : πᾶν κεκραμένων Bursian < οἱονοῦν > Tucker : < ένια >
olim conieci
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXV. 10-14 103

Sometimes an expression is metaphorical, as ' Now all 10

gods and men were sleeping through the night,'-while at
the same time the poet says : ' Often indeed as he turned

his gaze to the Trojan plain, he marvelled at the sound

of flutes and pipes.' ' All ' is here used metaphorically
for ' many,' all being a species of many. So in the
verse,-' alone she hath no part ,' οἴη, ' alone,' is

metaphorical ; for the best known may be called the

only one.
Again, the solution may depend upon accent or 11
breathing. Thus Hippias of Thasos solved the difficulties
in the lines,-δίδομεν (διδόμεν) δέ οἱ, and τὸ μὲν οὗ (οὐ)
καταπύθεται ὄμβρῳ.
Or again, the question may be solved by punctuation, 12
as in Empedocles,-' Of a sudden things became mortal
that before had learnt to be immortal, and things un-
mixed before mixed.'

Or again, by ambiguity of construction,-as in 13

παρῴχηκεν δὲ πλέω νύξ, where the word πλέω is
ambiguous.
Or by the usage of language. Thus any mixed 14
drink is called oἶvos, ' wine.' Hence Ganymede is said
 104 XXV. 14-17. 1461 a 28-1461 b 10

φασιν εἶναι, [ὅθεν πεποίηται “ κνημὶς νεοτεύκτου κασσιτέ

ροιο ”] ᾿ ὅθεν εἴρηται ὁ Γανυμήδης “ Διὶ οἰνοχοεύει,”” οὐ πινόν-
30 των οἶνον, καὶ χαλκέας τοὺς τὸν σίδηρον ἐργαζομένους. εἴη 15
δ᾽ ἂν τοῦτό γε <καὶ> κατὰμεταφοράν. δεῖ δὲ καὶ ὅταν ὄνομά
τι ὑπεναντίωμά τι δοκῇ σημαίνειν, ἐπισκοπεῖν ποσαχῶς ἂν
σημαίνοι τοῦτο ἐν τῷ εἰρημένῳ, οἷον τὸ “τῇ ῥ᾽ ἔσχετο χάλκεον
ἔγχος, τὸ ταύτῃ κωλυθῆναι ποσαχῶς ἐνδέχεται. ὡδὶ < δὲ> 16
35 [ἢ ὡς] μάλιστ᾽ ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι, κατὰ τὴν καταντικρὺ ἢ ὡς
1461 ο Γλαύκων λέγει, ὅτι ἔνια ἀλόγως προυπολαμβάνουσιν καὶ
αὐτοὶ καταψηφισάμενοι συλλογίζονται καὶ ὡς εἰρηκότος ὅ
τι δοκεῖ ἐπιτιμῶσιν, ἂν ὑπεναντίον ᾖ τῇ αὑτῶν οἰήσει. τοῦ-
το δὲ πέπονθε τὰ περὶ Ἰκάριον. οἴονται γὰρ αὐτὸν Λάκωνα
5 εἶναι · ἄτοπον οὖν τὸ μὴ ἐντυχεῖν τὸν Τηλέμαχον αὐτῷ εἰς
Λακεδαίμονα ἐλθόντα. τὸ δ᾽ ἴσως ἔχει ὥσπερ οἱ Κεφαλῆ-
νές φασι· παρ᾽ αὑτῶν γὰρ γῆμαι λέγουσι τὸν Ὀδυσσέα
καὶ εἶναι Ἰκάδιον ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ Ἰκάριον · δι᾽ ἁμάρτημα δὴ τὸ
πρόβλημα εἰκός ἐστιν. ὅλως δὲ τὸ ἀδύνατον μὲν πρὸς τὴν 17
1ο ποίησιν ἢ πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον ἢ πρὸς τὴν δόξαν δεῖ ἀνάγειν.

1 Iliad xxi. 592. 2 Ib. xx. 234.

* 1b. xx. 272, τῇ ῥ᾽ ἔσχετο μείλινον ἔγχος.

28. ὅθεν - κασσιτέροιο secl. M. Schmidt 29-30. verba ὅθεν εἴρηται -

olvov in codd. post ἐργαζομένουs posita huc revocavit Maggi e cod. Lampridii
29. οἰνοχοεύει Ας : οἰνοχοεύειν apogr. πεινόντων pr. Ac 31. καὶ add.
Heinsius 31-32. ὀνόματι ὑπεναντιώματι Αε δοκῇ apogr.: δοκεῖ Αε 33.
σημαίνοι Vahlen (ed. 1) : σημαίνοιε Ας : σημήνειεν Parisinus 2038 : σημαίνειε
alia apographa 33-35. οἷον τὸ < ἐν τῷ > “ τῇ—τὸ ταύτῃ κωλυθῆναι [ποσα-
χῶς] ἐνδέχεται διπλῶς, ἢ πῶς μάλιστ᾽ ἄν τις κ.τ.λ. Μ. Schmidt 34. δὲ
addidi 35. ἢ ὡς olim secl. Bywater ὡδὶ ἢ < ὡδί> , ὡς coni. Vahlen :
ὡδὶ δὴ ἴσως Tucker 1461 b 1. ἔνιοι Vettori 2. εἰρηκότος ὅ τι Castel-
vetro : εἰρηκότες ὅτι Ασ 3. αὑτῶν Parisinus 2038 : αὐτῶν codd. 7.
αὑτῶν apogr.: αὐτῶν codd. 8. δι᾽ ἁμάρτημα Maggi : διαμάρτημα codd.
δὴ Gomperz : δὲ codd. 9. < εἶναι > εἰκός ἐστιν Hermann (fort. recte) :
εἰκός ἐστι <γενέσθαι > Gomperz < ἢ> πρὸς Ald. fort. recte
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXV. 14-17 105

' to pour the wine to Zeus,' though the gods do not

drink wine. So too workers in iron are called χαλκέας,
or workers in bronze. This, however, may also be taken
as a metaphor.
Again, when a word seems to involve some incon- 15
sistency of meaning, we should consider how many
senses it may bear in the particular passage. For 16
example : ' there was stayed the spear of bronze '
-we
should ask in how many ways we may take ' being
checked there.' The true mode of interpretation is the
1461 b precise opposite of what Glaucon mentions. Critics, he
says, jump at certain groundless conclusions ; they pass
adverse judgment and then proceed to reason on it ; and,
assuming that the poet has said whatever they happen
to think, find fault if a thing is inconsistent with their
own fancy. The question about Icarius has been treated -P
in this fashion. The critics imagine he was a Lacedae-
monian. They think it strange, therefore, that Tele-
machus should not have met him when he went to

Lacedaemon. But the Cephallenian story may perhaps -

be the true one. They allege that Odysseus took a wife
from among themselves, and that her father was Icadius
not Icarius. It is merely a mistake, then, that gives
plausibility to the objection.
In general, the impossible must be justified by 17
reference to artistic requirements, or to the higher
 106 XXV. 17-XXVI . 1. 1461 b 11-28

πρός τε γὰρ τὴν ποίησιν αἱρετώτερον πιθανὸν ἀδύνατον ἢ

ἀπίθανον καὶ δυνατόν. < καὶ ἴσως ἀδύνατον > τοιούτους εἶναι,

οἷους Ζεύξις ἔγραφεν · ἀλλὰ βέλτιον · τὸ γὰρ παράδειγμα δεῖ

ὑπερέχειν. πρὸς < δ᾽ > ἅ φασιν, τἄλογα· οὕτω τε καὶὅτι ποτὲ
15 οὐκ ἄλογόν ἐστιν· εἰκὸς γὰρ καὶπαρὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίνεσθαι. τὰ δ᾽ 18
ὑπεναντίως εἰρημένα οὕτω σκοπεῖν, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις
ἔλεγχοι, εἰ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ὡσαύτως, ὥστε
καὶ λυτέον ἢ πρὸς ἃ αὐτὸς λέγει ἢ ὁ ἂν φρόνιμος ὑποθῆ-
ται .
ὀρθὴ δ᾽ ἐπιτίμησις καὶ ἀλογίᾳ καὶ μοχθηρίᾳ, ὅταν μὴ 19
20 ἀνάγκης οὔσης μηθὲν χρήσηται τῷ ἀλόγῳ, ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδης
τῷ Αἰγεῖ, ἢ τῇ πονηρίᾳ, ὥσπερ ἐν Ὀρέστῃ τοῦ Μενελάου.
τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐπιτιμήματα ἐκ πέντε εἰδῶν φέρουσιν, ἢ γὰρ ὡς 20
ἀδύνατα ἢ ὡς ἄλογα ἢ ὡς βλαβερὰ ἢ ὡς ὑπεναντία ἢ ὡς
παρὰ τὴν ὀρθότητα τὴν κατὰ τέχνην. αἱ δὲ λύσεις ἐκ τῶν
25 εἰρημένων ἀριθμῶν σκεπτέαι, εἰσὶν δὲ δώδεκα.
XXVI Πότερον δὲ βελτίων ἡ ἐποποιικὴ μίμησις ἢ ἡ τραγική,
διαπορήσειεν ἄν τις. εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἧττον φορτικὴ βελτίων, τοιαύ-
τη δ᾽ ἡ πρὸς βελτίους θεατάς ἐστιν ἀεί, λίαν δῆλον ὅτι ἡ

11. πειθανὸν Ασ 12. ἀπείθανον Ασ < καὶ ἴσως ἀδύνατον > Gomperz ,
secutus Margoliouth (' fortasse enim impossibile est' Arabs) : καὶ εἰ ἀδύνατον
coniecerat Vahlen 13. οἴους Parisinus 2038 : olov codd . 14. δ' add.
Ueberweg (auctore Vahleno) 16. ὑπεναντίως Twining (cf. Arab. ' quae
dicta sunt in modum contrarii ') : ὑπεναντία ὡς codd. : ὡς ὑπεναντία Heinsius
18. ὥστε καὶ λυτέον M. Schmidt : ὥστε καὶ αὐτὸν codd. φρόνιμος
apogr. : φρόνημον (corr. m. rec. φρόνιμον) Ac 19. ἀλογίᾳ καὶ μοχθηρίᾳ
Vahlen : ἀλογία καὶ μοχθηρία codd. 20. fort. < πρὸς > μηδὲν Gomperz
21. τῷ Αἰγεῖ ἢ τῇ margo Riccardiani 16 : τῶ αἰγειήτη Ας <τῇ> τοῦ coni.
Vahlen 26. βελτίων apogr.: βέλτιον Ac 28. δ᾽ ἡ apogr. : δὴ Ας
ἀεί, λίαν Vahlen : δειλίαν codd.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXV. 17 - XXVI . 1 107

reality, or to received opinion. With respect to the

requirements of art, a probable impossibility is to be
preferred to a thing improbable and yet possible. Again,
it may be impossible that there should be men such as
Zeuxis painted. ' Yes,' we say, ' but the impossible is
the higher thing ; for the ideal type must surpass the
reality.' To justify the irrational, we appeal to what is
commonly said to be. In addition to which, we urge
that the irrational sometimes does not violate reason ;
just as ' it is probable that a thing may happen contrary
to probability.'
Things that sound contradictory should be examined 18
by the same rules as in dialectical refutation-whether
the same thing is meant, in the same relation, and in the
same sense. We should therefore solve the question by
reference to what the poet says himself, or to what is
tacitly assumed by a person of intelligence.
The element of the irrational, and, similarly, depravity 19
of character, are justly censured when there is no inner
necessity for introducing them. Such is the irrational
element in the Aegeus of Euripides, and the badness of
Menelaus in the Orestes.
Thus, there are five sources from which critical 20
objections are drawn. Things are censured either as
impossible, or irrational, or morally hurtful, or contra-
dictory, or contrary to artistic correctness. The answers 7
6
should be sought under the twelve heads above mentioned.
XXVI The question may be raised whether the Epic or
1
Tragic mode of imitation is the higher. If the more
refined art is the higher, and the more refined in every
case is that which appeals to the better sort of audience,
 108 XXVI. 1-4. 1461 b 29-1462 a 15

ἅπαντα μιμουμένη φορτική· ὡς γὰρ οὐκ αἰσθανομένων ἂν

30 μὴ αὐτὸς προσθῇ, πολλὴν κίνησιν κινοῦνται, οἷον οἱ φαῦλοι
αὐληταὶ κυλιόμενοι ἂν δίσκον δέῃ μιμεῖσθαι, καὶ ἕλκοντες
τὸν κορυφαῖον ἂν Σκύλλαν αὐλῶσιν. ἡ μὲν οὖν τραγῳδία 2
τοιαύτη ἐστίν, ὡς καὶ οἱ πρότερον τοὺς ὑστέρους αὐτῶν ᾤοντο
ὑποκριτάς · ὡς λίαν γὰρ ὑπερβάλλοντα πίθηκον ὁ Μυννίσκος
35 τὸν Καλλιππίδην ἐκάλει, τοιαύτη δὲ δόξα καὶ περὶ Πιν-
1462 α δάρου ἦν · ὡς δ᾽ οὗτοι ἔχουσι πρὸς αὐτούς, ἡ ὅλη τέχνη
πρὸς τὴν ἐποποιίαν ἔχει. τὴν μὲν οὖν πρὸς θεατὰς ἐπιεικεῖς
φασιν εἶναι < οἳ> οὐδὲν δέονται τῶν σχημάτων, τὴν δὲ τραγι-
κὴν πρὸς φαύλους· εἰ οὖν φορτική, χείρων δῆλον ὅτι ἂν εἴη. 3
5 πρῶτον μὲν οὖν οὐ τῆς ποιητικῆς ἡ κατηγορία ἀλλὰ τῆς
ὑποκριτικῆς, ἐπεὶ ἔστι περιεργάζεσθαι τοῖς σημείοις καὶ ῥαψῳ-
δοῦντα, ὅπερ [ἐστὶ] Σωσίστρατος, καὶ διάδοντα, ὅπερ ἐποίει
Μνασίθεος ὁ Ὀπούντιος. εἶτα οὐδὲ κίνησις ἅπασα ἀποδοκι-
μαστέα, εἴπερ μηδ᾽ ὄρχησις, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ φαύλων, ὅπερ καὶ Καλλιπ-
το πίδῃ ἐπετιμᾶτο καὶ νῦν ἄλλοις ὡς οὐκ ἐλευθέρας γυναῖκας
μιμουμένων. ἔτι ἡ τραγῳδία καὶ ἄνευ κινήσεως ποιεῖτὸ αὐτῆς,
ὥσπερ ἡ ἐποποιία· διὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἀναγινώσκειν φανερὰ ὁποία
τίς ἐστιν · εἰ οὖν ἐστι τά γ᾽ ἄλλα κρείττων, τοῦτό γε οὐκ ἀναγ-
καῖον αὐτῇ ὑπάρχειν. ἔστι δ᾽ ἐπεὶτὰ πάντ᾽ ἔχει ὅσαπερ ἡ ἐπο- 4
15 ποιία (καὶ γὰρ τῷ μέτρῳ ἔξεστι χρῆσθαι), καὶ ἔτι οὐ μικρὸν

30. κινοῦνται apogr.: κινοῦντα Ασ 1462 a 1. ἔχουσι apogr.: δ' ἔχουσι

Ac αὐτοὺς Hermann : αὐτοὺς codd. 3. of add. Vettori : ἐπεὶ Christ
σχημάτων τὴν apogr.: σχημά τα αὐτὴν (τα αὐ m. rec. in litura) Ac
4. εἰ apogr.: ἡ Ας 5. οὖν add. Parisinus 2038 : om . cett. 7.
ἐστὶ secl. Spengel διάδοντα Maggi : διάδοντα apogr.: διαδόντα Α
8. ὁ πούντιος Α 10. ἐπιτιμᾶτο pr. Ac 11. αὐτῆς apogr.: αὐτῆς Ac
12. ὁποῖα ΑC 14. αὐτῇ apogr.: αὐτὴ Αc ἔστι δ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὰ Gomperz :
ἔστι δ', ὅτι Usener : ἔπειτα διότι codd.
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXVI . 1-4 109

the art which imitates anything and everything is

manifestly most unrefined. The audience is supposed to
be too dull to comprehend unless something of their own
is thrown in by the performers, who therefore indulge
in restless movements. Bad flute-players twist and twirl,
if they have to represent ' the quoit-throw,' or hustle the
coryphaeus when they perform the ' Scylla.' Tragedy, 2
it is said, has this same defect. We may compare the
opinion that the older actors entertained of their suc-
cessors. Mynniscus used to call Callippides ' ape ' on
account of the extravagance of his action, and the same
1462 a view was held of Pindarus. Tragic art, then, as a whole,
stands to Epic in the same relation as the younger to
the elder actors. So we are told that Epic poetry is
addressed to a cultivated audience, who do not need
gesture ; Tragedy, to an inferior public. Being then 3
unrefined, it is evidently the lower of the two.
Now, in the first place, this censure attaches not to
the poetic but to the histrionic art ; for gesticulation
may be equally overdone in epic recitation, as by Sosi-
stratus, or in lyrical competition, as by Mnasitheus the
Opuntian. Next, all action is not to be condemned--
any more than all dancing-but only that of bad per-
formers. Such was the fault found in Callippides, as
also in others of our own day, who are censured for
representing degraded women. Again, Tragedy like Epic -R
poetry produces its effect even without action ; it reveals
its power by mere reading. If, then, in all other respects
it is superior, this fault, we say, is not inherent in it.
And superior it is, because it has all the epic 4
elements-it may even use the epic metre-with the
 110 XXVI. 4-8. 1462 a 16-1462 b 19

μέρος τὴν μουσικὴν καὶ τὰς ὄψεις, δι᾽ ἂς αἱ ἡδοναὶ συνίσταν-

ται ἐναργέστατα· εἶτα καὶ τὸ ἐναργὲς ἔχει καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀναγνώ-
σει καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων· ἔτι τὸ ἐν ἐλάττονι μήκει τὸ τέλος 5
1462 ο τῆς μιμήσεως εἶναι (τὸ γὰρ ἀθροώτερον ἥδιον ἢ πολλῷ κεκρα-
μένον τῷ χρόνῳ· λέγω δ᾽ οἷον εἴ τις τὸν Οἰδίπουν θείη
τὸν Σοφοκλέους ἐν ἔπεσιν ὅσοις ἡ Ἰλιάς) · ἔτι ἧττον μία ἡ 6
μίμησις ἡ τῶν ἐποποιῶν (σημεῖον δέ· ἐκ γὰρ ὁποιασοῦν
5 [μιμήσεως] πλείους τραγῳδίαι γίνονται), ὥστε ἐὰν μὲν ἕνα
μῦθον ποιῶσιν, ἢ βραχέως δεικνύμενον μύουρον φαίνεσθαι, ἢ
ἀκολουθοῦντα τῷ συμμέτρῳ μήκει ὑδαρῆ. * * λέγω δὲ
οἷον ἐὰν ἐκ πλειόνων πράξεων ᾖ συγκειμένη, ὥσπερ ἡ Ἰλιὰς
ἔχει πολλὰ τοιαῦτα μέρη καὶ ἡ Ὀδύσσεια ἃ καὶ καθ'
το ἑαυτὰ ἔχει μέγεθος· καίτοι ταῦτα τὰ ποιήματα συνέστηκεν
ὡς ἐνδέχεται ἄριστα καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα μιᾶς πράξεως μίμη-
σις. εἰ οὖν τούτοις τε διαφέρει πᾶσιν καὶ ἔτι τῷ τῆς τέχνης 7
ἔργῳ (δεῖ γὰρ οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ἡδονὴν ποιεῖν αὐτὰς ἀλλὰ
* τὴν εἰρημένην), φανερὸν ὅτι κρείττων ἂν εἴη μᾶλλον τοῦ
15 τέλους τυγχάνουσα τῆς ἐποποιίας.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τραγῳδίας καὶ ἐποποιίας, καὶ αὐτῶν 8
καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν καὶ τῶν μερῶν, καὶ πόσα καὶ τί διαφέρει,
καὶ τοῦ εὐ ἢ μὴ τίνες αἰτίαι, καὶ περὶ ἐπιτιμήσεων καὶ
λύσεων, εἰρήσθω τοσαῦτα. ***

16. καὶ τὰς ὄψεις secl. Spengel : post ἐναργέστατα collocavit Gomperz : καὶ τὴν
ὄψιν Ald. δι' ἃς (vel aῖς) coni. Vahlen : δι' ἧς codd. 17. ἀναγνώσει
Maggi : ἀναγνωρίσει Ac 18. ἔτι τὸ Winstanley : ἔτι τῷ codd.
1462 b 1. ἥδιον ἢ Maggi : ἡδεῖον ἢ Riccardianus 16 : ἡδονὴ Ας 2. τὸν
δίπουν pr. Ac θείη bis Ac 3. ἡ ἰλιάς Riccardianus 16 : ἢ ἰλίας (fuit
ἰδίας) Ασ μία ἡ Bywater : ἡ μία Ας : μία ὁποιασοῦν Riccardianus 16
5. μιμήσεως secl. Gomperz 6. μείουρον Parisinus 2038 7. συμμέτρῳ
Bernays : τοῦ μέτρου codd. : fort. τοῦ μετρίου (cf. 1458 b 12) post ὑδαρῆ,
< ἐὰν δὲ πλείους > Ald. : < λέγω δὲ οἷον * * ἂν δὲ μή, οὐ μία ἡ μίμησις >
coni. Vahlen : < ἐὰν δὲ πλείους, οὐ μία ἡ μίμησις > Teichmüller : lacunam
aliter supplevi, vide versionem 9. & add. apogr. 10. καίτοι ταῦτα
τὰ Riccardianus 16 : καὶ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἄττα Ас 18. ἢ apogr. : εἰ Ac
 ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXVI . 4-8 111

music and scenic effects as important accessories ; and

these produce the most vivid of pleasures. Further, it
has vividness of impression in reading as well as in
representation. Moreover, the art attains its end within 5
1462 b narrower limits ; for the concentrated effect is more
pleasurable than one which is spread over a long time
and so diluted. What, for example, would be the effect
of the Oedipus of Sophocles, if it were cast into a form POR.
as long as the Iliad ? Once more, the Epic imitation 6
has less unity ; as is shown by this, that any Epic poem
will furnish subjects for several tragedies. Thus if the
story adopted by the poet has a strict unity, it must
either be concisely told and appear truncated ; or, if it
conform to the Epic canon of length, it must seem weak
and watery. < Such length implies some loss of unity,>
if, I mean, the poem is constructed out of several actions, 2
like the Iliad and the Odyssey, which have many such
parts, each with a certain magnitude of its own. Yet
these poems are as perfect as possible in structure ; each
is, in the highest degree attainable, an imitation of a
single action.
If, then, Tragedy is superior to Epic poetry in all these 7
respects, and, moreover, fulfils its specific function better
as an art-for each art ought to produce, not any chance
pleasure, but the pleasure proper to it, as already stated
-it plainly follows that Tragedy is the higher art, as
attaining its end more perfectly.
Thus much may suffice concerning Tragic and Epic 8
poetry in general ; their several kinds and parts, with
the number of each and their differences ; the causes
that make a poem good or bad ; the objections of the
critics and the answers to these objections. ***
2
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