Poetics. Aristotle. Theodore Alois Buckley (Translator). London. 1857.
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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.) — 21 focus
Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 21 focus
Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 21 focus
Ὀνόματος δὲ εἴδη τὸ μὲν ἁπλοῦν, ἁπλοῦν δὲ λέγω
μὴ ἐκ σημαινόντων σύγκειται, οἷον γῆ, τὸ δὲ διπλοῦν·
δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐκ σημαίνοντος καὶ ἀσήμου, πλὴν οὐκ ἐν τῷ
ὀνόματι σημαίνοντος καὶ ἀσήμου, τὸ δὲ ἐκ σημαινόντων
σύγκειται.
εἴη δ᾽ ἂν καὶ τριπλοῦν καὶ τετραπλοῦν ὄνομα καὶ
πολλαπλοῦν, οἷον τὰ πολλὰ τῶν μεγαλειωτῶν, Ἑρμοκαϊκόξανθος
* *.
μεταφορὰ ἢ κόσμος ἢ πεποιημένον ἢ ἐπεκτεταμένον ἢ ὑφῃρημένον
ἐξηλλαγμένον.
ἕκαστοι,
καὶ κύριον εἶναι δυνατὸν τὸ αὐτό, μὴ τοῖς αὐτοῖς δέ·
τὸ γὰρ σίγυνον Κυπρίοις μὲν κύριον, ἡμῖν δὲ γλῶττα.
δέ ἐστιν ὀνόματος ἀλλοτρίου ἐπιφορὰ ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ
γένους ἐπὶ εἶδος ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εἴδους ἐπὶ τὸ γένος ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ εἴδους
ἐπὶ εἶδος ἢ κατὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον.
ἐπὶ εἶδος οἷον
ἑστάναι τι.
ἐσθλὰ ἔοργεν·”
τοῦ πολλοῦ κέχρηται.
ἀπὸ ψυχὴν ἀρύσας”
γὰρ τὸ μὲν ἀρύσαι ταμεῖν, τὸ δὲ ταμεῖν ἀρύσαι εἴρηκεν·
ἄμφω γὰρ ἀφελεῖν τί ἐστιν.
ὁμοίως ἔχῃ τὸ δεύτερον πρὸς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ τὸ τέταρτον
πρὸς τὸ τρίτον· ἐρεῖ γὰρ ἀντὶ τοῦ δευτέρου τὸ τέταρτον ἢ
ἀντὶ τοῦ τετάρτου τὸ δεύτερον.
οὗ λέγει πρὸς ὅ ἐστι. λέγω δὲ οἷον ὁμοίως ἔχει φιάλη πρὸς
Διόνυσον καὶ ἀσπὶς πρὸς Ἄρη· ἐρεῖ τοίνυν τὴν φιάλην ἀσπίδα
Διονύσου καὶ τὴν ἀσπίδα φιάλην Ἄρεως.
βίον, καὶ ἑσπέρα πρὸς ἡμέραν· ἐρεῖ τοίνυν τὴν ἑσπέραν γῆρας
ἡμέρας ἢ ὥσπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, καὶ τὸ γῆρας ἑσπέραν βίου
ἢ δυσμὰς βίου.
ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἧττον ὁμοίως λεχθήσεται· οἷον τὸ τὸν
καρπὸν μὲν ἀφιέναι σπείρειν, τὸ δὲ τὴν φλόγα ἐπὶ τοῦ
ἡλίου ἀνώνυμον· ἀλλ᾽ ὁμοίως ἔχει τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον καὶ
τὸ σπείρειν πρὸς τὸν καρπόν, διὸ εἴρηται
ἔστι δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ τούτῳ τῆς μεταφορᾶς χρῆσθαι
καὶ ἄλλως, προσαγορεύσαντα τὸ ἀλλότριον ἀποφῆσαι τῶν
οἰκείων τι,
ἄοινον. * *
τινῶν αὐτὸς τίθεται ὁ ποιητής, (δοκεῖ γὰρ ἔνια εἶναι τοιαῦτα)
οἷον τὰ κέρατα ἐρνύγας καὶ τὸν ἱερέα ἀρητῆρα.
ἐπεκτεταμένον
δέ ἐστιν ἢ ἀφηρημένον τὸ μὲν ἐὰν φωνήεντι μακροτέρῳ
κεχρημένον τοῦ οἰκείου ἢ συλλαβῇ ἐμβεβλημένῃ, τὸ δὲ ἂν
ἀφῃρημένον τι αὐτοῦ,
πόληος καὶ τὸ Πηλείδου Πηληιάδεω, ἀφῃρημένον δὲ οἷον τὸ
κρῖ καὶ τὸ δῶ καὶ
δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὅταν τοῦ ὀνομαζομένου τὸ μὲν καταλείπῃ
τὸ δὲ ποιῇ, οἷον τὸ
αὐτῶν δὲ τῶν ὀνομάτων τὰ μὲν ἄρρενα τὰ δὲ θήλεα τὰ
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,
καὶ Ω, καὶ τῶν ἐπεκτεινομένων εἰς Α·
πλήθη εἰς ὅσα τὰ ἄρρενα καὶ τὰ θήλεα· τὸ γὰρ Ψ καὶ τὸ Ξ
τῷ Σ ταὐτά ἐστιν.
οὐδὲ εἰς φωνῆεν βραχύ.
πέπερι. εἰς δὲ τὸ Υ πέντε. τὰ δὲ μεταξὺ εἰς ταῦτα καὶ
Ν καὶ Ρ καὶ Σ.
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.) — 21 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.) — 21 focus
Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 21 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.) — 21 focus
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
so many Massilian expressions, e.g. 'Hermo-caico-xanthus
Every word is either current, or strange, or meta-
phorical, or ornamental, or newly-coined, or lengthened,
or contracted, or altered.
By a current or proper word I mean one which is
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
transference either from genus to species, or from species
to genus, or from species to species, or by analogy, that is,
proportion.
Thus from genus to species, as: 'There lies
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
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
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
this kind of metaphor may be employed.
We may apply
an alien term, and then deny of that term one of its
proper attributes;
as if we were to call the shield, not
'the cup of Ares,' but 'the wineless cup.'
A newly-coined word is one which has never been
even in local use, but is adopted by the poet himself.
Some such words there appear to be: as ἐρνύγες,
'sprouters,' for κέρατα, 'horns,' and ἀρητήρ, 'supplicator,'
for ἱερεύς, 'priest.'
A word is lengthened when its own vowel is exchanged
for a longer one, or when a syllable is inserted.
A
word is contracted when some part of it is removed.
Instances of lengthening 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
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,
or neuter.
Masculine are such as end in ν, ρ, ς, or in
some letter compounded with ς, — these being two,
ψ and ξ.
Feminine, such as end in vowels that are always
long, namely η and ω, and of vowels that admit of
lengthening—those in α.
Thus the number of letters in
which nouns masculine and feminine end is the same;
for ψ and ξ are equivalent to endings in ς.
No noun ends
in a mute or a vowel short by nature.
Three only end in
ι, μέλι, κόμμι, πέπερι: five end in υ. Neuter nouns
end in these two latter vowels;
also in ν and ς.]
Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 21 focus
Nouns are of two kinds, either (1) simple, i. e.
made up of non-significant parts, like the word γῆ
or (2) double; in the
latter case the word may be made up either of a significant
and a non-significant part (a distinction which disappears in
the compound), or of two significant parts.
It is possible also
to have triple, quadruple or higher compounds, like most of
our amplified names; e.g. 'Hermocaïcoxanthus' and the like.
Whatever its structure, a Noun must always be either
(1) the ordinary word for the thing, or (2) a strange word,
or (3) a metaphor, or (4) an ornamental word, or (5) a coined
word, or (6) a word lengthened out, or (7) curtailed, or (8)
altered in form.
By the ordinary word I mean that in
general use in a country;
and by a strange word, one in
use elsewhere. So that the same word may obviously be
at once strange and ordinary, though not in reference to the
same people; σίγυνος, for instance, is an ordinary word in
Cyprus, and a strange word with us.
Metaphor consists
in giving the thing a name that belongs to something else;
the transference being either from genus to species, or from
species to genus, or from species to species, or on grounds
of analogy.
That from genus to species is exemplified
in 'Here stands my ship'; for lying at anchor is the
'standing' of a particular kind of thing.
That from
species to genus in 'Truly ten thousand good deeds has
Ulysses wrought,' where 'ten thousand,' which is a par-
ticular large number, is put in place of the generic 'a large
number.'
That from species to species in 'Drawing the
life with the bronze,' and in 'Severing with the enduring
bronze'; where the poet uses 'draw' in the sense of 'sever'
and 'sever' in that of 'draw,' both words meaning to 'take
away' something.
That from analogy is possible whenever
there are four terms so related that the second (B) is to the
first (A), as the fourth (D) to the third (C); for one may
then metaphorically put B in lieu of D, and D in lieu of B.
Now and then, too, they qualify the metaphor by adding
on to it that to which the word it supplants is relative.
Thus a cup (B) is in relation to Dionysus (A) what a shield
(D) is to Ares (C). The cup accordingly will be metaphorically
described as the 'shield of Dionysus' (D + A), and the shield
as the 'cup of Ares' (B + C).
Or to take another instance:
As old age (D) is to life (C), so is evening (B) to day (A).
One will accordingly describe evening (B) as the 'old age
of the day' (D + A) - or by the Empedoclean equivalent;
and old age (D) as the 'evening' or 'sunset of life' (B + C).
It
may be that some of the terms thus related have no special
name of their own, but for all that they will be metaphorically
described in just the same way. Thus to cast forth seed-
corn is called 'sowing'; but to cast forth its flame, as said
of the sun, has no special name. This nameless act (B),
however, stands in just the same relation to its object,
sunlight (A), as sowing (D) to the seed-corn (C). Hence
the expression in the poet, 'sowing around a god-created
flame' (D + A).
There is also another form of qualified
metaphor. Having given the thing the alien name, one
may by a negative addition deny of it one of the attributes
naturally associated with its new name.
An instance of
this would be to call the shield not the 'cup of Ares,' as
in the former case, but a 'cup that holds no wine.'
A
coined word is a name which, being quite unknown among
a people, is given by the poet himself; e.g. (for there are some
words that seem to be of this origin) ἐρνύγες for horns, and
ἀρητήρ for priest.
A word is said to be lengthened out,
when it has a short vowel made long, or an extra syllable
inserted;
e.g. πόληος for πόλεως, Πηληιάδεω for Πηλείδου. It
is said to be curtailed, when it has lost a part; e.g. κρῖ, δῶ,
and ὄψ in
It is an altered word,
when part is left as it was and part is of the poet's making;
e. g. δεξιτερόν for δεξιόν, in
The Nouns themselves (to whatever class they may belong)
are either masculines, feminines, or intermediates (neuter).
All ending in N, P, Σ, or in the two compounds of this last,
Ψ and Ξ, are masculines.
All ending in the invariably long
vowels, Η and Ω, and in Α among the vowels that may be
long, are feminines.
So that there is an equal number of
masculine and feminine terminations, as Ψ and Ξ are the
same as Σ, and need not be counted.
There is no Noun,
however, ending in a mute or in either of the two short
vowels, Ε and Ο.
Only three ( μέλι, κόμμι, πέπερι) end in
Ι, and five in Υ. The intermediates, or neuters, end in the
variable vowels or in N, P, Σ.
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.) — 21.23 focus
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.) — 21.23 focus
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.) — 21 focus
La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 21.23 focus
Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 21 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.) — 21 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.) — 21 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.) — 21 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.) — 21 focus
Commentary
Commentary on the Poetics (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) (Ingram Bywater's English commentary on Aristotle's Poetics.) focus
23.
mvp-aristotle-comment-790
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
12.
mvp-aristotle-comment-158
Ritter, cap. 21 § 12