Aristotle Poetics 16.8

Theodore Alois Buckley (Translator)

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for on seeing the picture a certain person weeps. And in the " Tale of Alcinous;" for Ulysses, on hearing the lyrist, and recollecting the story, weeps ; whence also [all these] were recognised. 1 The fourth mode of discovery is derived from syllogism 8,

Poetics. Aristotle. Theodore Alois Buckley (Translator). London. 1857.

Current edition Experimental

The Poetic of Aristotle (Theodore Alois Buckley) (OCR draft) (English) (Theodore Alois Buckley's English translation, first published in 1850 and represented from the Henry G. Bohn 1857 printing; corrected against a second OCR and aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (4)
Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) (Aristotle, Poetics. Immanuel Bekker, editor, Aristotelis Opera, volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1837.) — 16 focus
Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 16 focus
Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 16 focus
Poetics, Greek text (Franz Ritter, 1839) (OCR draft) Experimental (Franz Ritter's 1839 Greek edition, corrected against OCR of the represented copy and aligned to the conventional Perseus chapter-and-subchapter sequence.) — 16 focus
Translations (13)
Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 16 focus
Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 16 focus
Poetics (S. H. Butcher, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (S. H. Butcher's English translation from Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art, fourth edition, 1911.) — 16 focus
Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 16 focus
Poetics (Thomas Twining, 1789) (OCR draft) Experimental (Thomas Twining's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1789 and aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 16.8 focus
Thirdly-The Discovery occasioned by memory; as, when some recollection is excited by the view of a particular object. Thus, in the Cyprians of Dicaeogenes, a discovery is produced by tears shed at the sight of a picture: and thus, in the Tale of Alcinous, Ulysses, listening to the bard, recollects, weeps, and is discovered 1 .
The Poetic of Aristotle (Henry James Pye, revised 1792) (OCR draft) Experimental (Henry James Pye's revised 1792 English translation, corrected against the 1788 first edition, aligned to the Kassel reference edition, and supplied with a selective apparatus of substantive 1788 readings.) — 16.8 focus
They * do so, he knows it and for some time the death of Ulysses is credited; though this was * too light a foundation for believing the deceit as an impostor might learn the particular * shape of Ulysses's bow from others.
Poetica Latine conversa (Franciscus Ritter, 1839) (OCR draft) Experimental (Franz Ritter's Latin translation, corrected against OCR of the represented copy and aligned to the conventional Perseus chapter-and-subchapter sequence.) — 16 focus
La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 16.8 focus
La troiſiéme eſpece de reconnoiſſance eſt celle qui ſe fait par la memoire, lorſqu'un objet reveille en nous quelque ſouvenir qui produit la reconnoiſſance, comme dans les Cypriaques de Dicajogene, où celuy qui voit un tableau ſe met à pleurer, & ſes pleurs le font reconnoître; ou comme chez Alcinous, Ulyſſe entendant un joueur de Harpe, & ſe ſouvenant de ſes travaux paſſez, ne pût retenir ſes larmes & fut reconnu.
Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 16 focus
De poetica (Antonio Riccobono, 1587) (OCR draft) Experimental (Antonio Riccobono's Latin translation, first published in 1587; text represented from Immanuel Bekker's 1831 edition.) — 16 focus
De arte poetica liber (William of Moerbeke, ca. 1277) (OCR draft) Experimental (William of Moerbeke's medieval Latin translation, represented by the 1953 Aristoteles Latinus edition.) — 16 focus
Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition) (OCR draft) Experimental (The Arabic translation attributed to Abū Bishr Mattā, edited by Jaroslaus Tkatsch in 1928 and aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 16 focus
Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 16 focus

Notes on the current edition

Poetics

1. 6. By reasoning.

Commentary

Commentary on the Poetics (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) (Ingram Bywater's English commentary on Aristotle's Poetics.) focus

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-583

διὰ μνήμης, τῷ αἰσθέσθαι τι ἰδόντα. Vahlen (omitting the comma) supposes this to be the same as τῷ διὰ μνήμης αἰσθέσθαι τι ἰδόντα, and explains it thus :
'τῷ αἰσθέσθαι non tam percipiendo significat quam offerendo obiiciendo quod sensibus percipi possit, ut quae in exemplis dicuntur κλαῦσαι, δακρύσαι.'
τῷ αἰσθέσθαι τι ἰδόντα accordingly has been taken to mean 'when the sight of some object awakens a feeling' ( Butcher), or 'indem ein Anblick schmerzliche Empfindungen wachruft' ( Gomperz). It is more natural, however, to take τῷ αἰσθέσθαι in the sense of 'by becoming conscious of' (comp. Bon. Ind. 754 a 43 for the aorist), and as an equivalent for τῷ μνησθῆναι. The connexion between the two terms may be seen from De mem. 1, 450 b 18
ὁ γὰρ ἐνεργῶν τῇ μνήμῃ θεωρεῖ τὸ πάθος τοῦτο [i. e. the impression left by experience] καὶ αἰσθάνεται τούτου
. In default of a word corresponding to our 'consciousness', Aristotle has to use αἴσθησις and αἰσθάνεσθαι in lieu of it ( Bon. Ind. 211 ; comp. my Textual Criticism of the Nic. Ethics p. 65). In the illustrations which follow the emphasis is on the participles ἰδών and ἀκούων ... καὶ μνησθείς, not on ἔκλαυσεν and ἐδάκρυσεν; the actual manifestations of the awakened memories ( ἔκλαυσεν, ἐδάκρυσεν) are only the accidents, which happen to be found in the instances under consideration. ἰδόντα is a circumstantial participle (comp. μεταβαλοῦσα in 4, 1449 a 14 ). It is loosely put for 'seeing or hearing' (comp. Kühner, Gr. Gr. 2. 2. p. 570 ).

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-584

1 ἐν Κυπρίοις: Nauck, TGF. p. 775 . Nothing more is known of the play.

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-585

ἐν Ἀλκίνου ἀπολόγῳ: Od. 8. 521 sqq. (comp. 8. 83 sqq. ). In Rhet. 3. 16, 1417 a 13 the designation covers the ground of Od. 9-12 . See on 1454 b 30 for this mode of citing Homer.
4

Remarques sur la poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) (André Dacier's French commentary on Aristotle's Poetics.) focus

14. mvp-aristotle-comment-402

16.8 La troiſième eſpece eſt celle qui ſe fait par la memoire, lorſqu'un objet renouvelle en nous quelque ſouvenir qui produit la reconnoiſſance, comme dans les Cypriaques de Dicæogene, où celuy qui voit un Tableau ſe met à pleurer, & ſes pleurs le font reconnoître.] 1

15. mvp-aristotle-comment-403

16.8 Ou comme chez Alcinous, Ulyſſe entendant un joüeur de harpe, & ſe ſouvenant de ſes travaux paſſez, ne pût retenir ſes larmes, & fut reconnu.] 2

Commentary on the Poetics (Thomas Twining, 1789) (OCR draft) (Thomas Twining's notes on Aristotle's Poetics, aligned to the Kassel reference edition.) focus

128. mvp-aristotle-comment-128

NOTE 128. P. 96.

16.8 THUS IN THE CYPRIANS OF DICÆOGENES
That this was a distinct Poem from the
Κυπρια
mentioned afterwards in cap. xxiii. seems clear from this single circumstance, observed by Victorius, that the Epic Poem called The Cypriacs, —
τα Κυπρια ἐπη
, — is mentioned there by Aristotle, as it is, generally, by other antient writers, in terms that imply a doubt of its author: 1 whereas here the author is named, without any expression of uncertainty. Whether the Poem was Epic, or Tragic, cannot be determined; nor, from the ambiguity of the case,
τοις Κυπριοις
, whether the title of it was Τα Κυπρια, or Κυπριοι — The Cypriacs, or, The Cyprians. The latter is, certainly, the most probable title for a Tragedy, and therefore, as Dicæogenes is recorded only as a Tragic and Dithyrambic Poet, I have ventured to adopt it.

129. mvp-aristotle-comment-129

NOTE 129. P. 96.

16.8 IN THE TALE OF ALCINOUS.
See Od. VIII. 521 . There is another discovery of the same kind in the 4th book , where Menelaus recognizes Telemachus by the tears he sheds at the mention of his father. There is not, I think, either in Homer, or in any other Poet, a more natural and affecting picture of friendly regret on the one hand, and filial affection on the other. "Of all the friends I have lost," says Menelaus, addressing himself to Telemachus without knowing who he was — "one there is, whom I lament more than all the rest:" Od. Δ. 105.
ὅστε μοι ὑπνον ἀπεχθαιρει και ἐδωδην Μνωσμενῳ· ἐπει οὔτις Αχαιων τοσσ᾿ ἐμογησεν Ὁσσ᾽ Ὀδυσευς ἐμογησε και ήρατο — τῳ δ᾽ ἀρ ἔμελλε Αυτῳ κηδε᾽ ἐσεσθαι, ἐμοι δ᾽ ἀχος ἀιεν ἀλαστον Κεινου, ὅπως δη δηρον ἀποιχεται· οὐδε τι ίδμεν, Ζωει ὅγ᾽, η τεθνηκεν. . . . . . . . Οδυρονται νυ που αυτον Λαέρτης θ' ὁ γερων, και ἐχέφρων Πηνελοπεια, Τηλεμαχος θ᾽, ὃν ἐλειπε νεον γεγαωτ᾽ ἐνι οἴκῳ. Ὡς φατο — τῳ δ' ἀρα πατρος ὑφ' ἵμερον ὦρσε γοοιο. Δακρυ δ᾽ ἀπο βλεφαρων χαμάδις βαλε, πατρος ἀκουσας, Χλαιναν πορφυρεην ἀντ᾽ ὀφθαλμοῖν ἀνασχων Αμφοτέρησι χερσι· νοησε δε μιν Μενελαος.
2
That the title,
Αλκινοου
, or
Αλκινου ἀπολογος
, was understood to refer chiefly to the long narration of Ulysses, which occupies four books of the Odyssey, seems clear, even from the proverbial application of the expression.
Απολογος Αλκίνου· ἐπι των φλυαρούντων, και μακρον ἀποτεινοντων λογον
. — Suidas. And so Jul. Pollux: —
ἐπι μακρων ῥησεων
. 3 But a passage in Aristotle's Rhetoric leaves no doubt. He there expressly mentions Homer's account of the speech of Ulysses to Penelope, Od. xxiii. 310, &c. as being the
Αλκινου ἀπολογος
compressed into an abridgment of thirty verses.
Παραδειγμα ὁ Αλκινου ἀπολογος, ὅτι προς την Πηνελοπην ἐν τριακοντα ἐπεσι πεποἰηται
. 4 Now those verses are, in fact, a mere table of contents to the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th books, which contain the narrative of Ulysses at the court of Alcinous. This title, therefore, (
Αλκινου Απολογος
) must at least have extended to those four books. But the passage which is the subject of this note, seems to prove that it extended still farther; for here we are referred to the eighth book under that title; though the speech, the
μακρα ῥησις
of Ulysses, does not commence till the ninth. The editions prefix the title,
Αλκινου ἀπολογΟΙ
, only to the eighth book. The fact seems to be, that the titles, by which the different parts of Homer's Poems were first distinguished, were applied to parts of very unequal lengths; so that afterwards, when the equal, or nearly equal, division into books took place, it would not always coincide exactly with the other division, formed by the different distinct subjects or episodes of the Poem; but one title would sometimes comprehend several books, and different parts of the same book, would sometimes be distinguished by different titles. Thus, for example, the fifth book of the Odyssey had two titles,
Καλυψους Αντρον
, and
Σχεδια
, or
Τα περι την σχεδιαν
: and the last book three,
Νέκυιαν
—
Τα ἐν Λαερτου
— and,
Σπονδαι
. 5 And thus, on the other hand, the title,
Αλκινου Απολογος
, is not, I apprehend, to be considered as appropriated to any one book, but, probably, comprehended five books — from the eighth to the twelfth, inclusively; perhaps, was understood to refer, generally, to the whole Episode of Alcinous; as indeed the expression
ΑΛΚΙΝΟΥ ἀπολογ.
— the "story OF ALCINOUS" — seems rather to imply. And the different parts of this long Episode were, again, subdistinguished by other titles; such as,
Κυκλωπια, Νέκυια, Τα Κιρκης
, &c. Indeed, the title,
Αλκινου Απολογοι
, though prefixed only to the eighth book, seems evidently extended beyond that book by the title subjoined as its equivalent,
η, τα του Οδυσσεως παρα Αλκινῳ
. But how the word
ἀπολογος
got into the plural number here, I do not well understand. This circumstance, however, together with the idea of its being confined to this single book, has, I think, led Perizonius and other learned men into mistakes concerning the reason of the appellation. Perizonius (ubi sup.) thinks the eighth book was so called, "because there are several speeches of Alcinous in it;" and others suppose, that the title alludes to the songs of Demodocus. 6

Commentarius in Aristotelis Poeticam (Franciscus Ritter, 1839) (OCR draft) (Ritter's Latin commentary, extracted from the 1839 volume, divided by Ritter's chapters and sections, and linked to the corresponding Perseus reference subsections.) focus

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-114

Ritter, cap. 16 § 5

τρίτη δὲ ἡ διὰ μνήμης, τῷ αἰσθέσθαι τι ἰδόντα: tertia est agnitio quae fit per recordationem, cum quis adspiciens vel audiens aliquid animo commovetur, eoque quis sit ab aliis agnoscitur. hoc postremum a nobis ex subiectis exemplis sumptum scriptor addere oblitus est: quippe homo succinctus statim ad exempla discurrit. ὥσπερ ἡ ἐν Κυπρίοις τοῖς Δικαιογένους: Cypria Dicaeogenis tragoediam fuisse et Dicaeogenem tragicum aliunde non cognitum existimant, sed quis tragoediam eo nomine consignaverit, quo notissimum apud Graecos carmen epicum cyclo illo comprehensum, et insigni rerum ambitu, vocatum fuisse constat? hoc minus etiam probabile nobis videbitur, ubi viderimus continuo item ex epico poemate alterum exemplum proferri. interpolator igitur alterum quoddam carmen Cyprium nobis haud cognitum videtur respexisse. sic post Thebaida τὴν κυκλικήν novam fecit Antimachus Platonis aevo, sic Telesis Methymnaeus post antiquam illam sive Titanoта- chiam sive Gigantomachiam novam edidit, si tabulae Borgianae vestigia recte secutus et interpretatus est Welckerus in Cyclo epico p. 32-37. ἰδὼν γὰρ τὴν γραφὴν ἔκλαυσεν: in Cypris Dicaeogenis aliquis (Menelaus ut videtur) tabulam pictam adspiciens collacrimavit et sic ceteris quis esset prodidit. sed rursus vide grammaticum negligenter et obscure loquentem. quis sit ille ἰδὼν reticet, item silentio premit et ubi lacrimas ille fuderit et qui cum agnoverint. καὶ ἡ ἐν ᾿Αλκίνου ἀπολόγῳ: ᾿Αλκίνου ἀπόλογον Gracci Odysseae libros 9-12 vocarunt, quia Ulixis narrationem ( ἀπόλογον) Alcinoi gratia susceptam continent. conf. Platonis Civit. X. p. 614 B. Aristotel. Rhetor. III, 16. p. 1417 a 14. sed quem interpolator significavit locum, Odyss. Θ. 521 sqq., is non inest in illa narratione, sed ea sequente libro demum inchoatur. ὅθεν ἀνεγνωρίσθησαν: Ulixes dum canentem Demodocum audiens lacrimas fundit, id Alcinoum impellit, ut Ulixem quis sit percontetur, cui morem gerens libro sequente patriam et nomen professus casus suos narrat. ἀναγνώρισις quam vulgo intelligimus haec dici vix potest, sed haec saltem difficultas evanescit, si ἀνεγνωρίσθησαν intellectu illo huic homini proprio dictum accipiamus, noti facti sunt, non agniti sunt. verus Aristoteles certe scripturus fuisset ἐν τῷ ᾿Αλκίνου απολόγῳ. cf. Rhetor. 1. c. non minus negligenter personatus homo statim scribit ἐν Χοηφόροις, non ἐν ταῖς Χοηφόροις. vid. Commentar. in C. 23, 4.