Aristotle Poetics 6.12

Theodore Alois Buckley (Translator)

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But the greatest of these is the combination of the incidents. 1 For tragedy is an imitation not of men, but of actions, [of life, and of felicity. For infelicity consists in action, and the end is a certain action, and not a quality7.] 2 Men, however, are persons of a certain character, according to their manners ; but according to their actions, they are happy, or the contrary. The end of tragedy, therefore, does not consist in imitating manners,

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.) — 6 focus
Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 6 focus
Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 6 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.) — 6 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.) — 6 focus
Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 6 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.) — 6 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.) — 6 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.) — 6.12 focus
But of all these parts the most important is the combination of incidents, or, the FABLE. Because Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of actions—of life, of happiness and unhappiness: for happiness consists in action, and the supreme good itself, the very end of life, is action of a certain kind 1 —not quality. Now the manners of men constitute only their quality or characters 2 ; but it is by their actions that they are happy, or the contrary.
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.) — 6.12 focus
But the principal of these parts is the combination of the incidents. For tragedy is not an imitation of particular persons but of actions in general, of human life, of good and ill fortune for happiness depends upon action. The main purpose or end of human life consists in a certain mode of action [E) and not in a quality; and though the manners of men are derived from their qualities, their happiness and misery depend on their actions.
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.) — 6 focus
La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 6.12 focus
Mais la plus importante, c'eſt la fable, ou la compoſition des choſes. Car la Tragedie eſt une imitation, non pas des hommes, mais de leurs actions, de leur vie, & de leur bonheur, ou de leur malheur, qui conſiſtent dans l'action. La fin même que les hommes ſe propoſent, eſt toûjours une action, & non pas une qualité. On a telles ou telles qualitez par les mœurs, & l'on eſt heureux ou malheureux par les actions.
Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 6 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.) — 6 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.) — 6 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.) — 6 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.) — 6 focus

Notes on the current edition

Poetics

1. 9. Tragedy an imitation of actions.
2. 10. What constitutes character. Manner not the end of tragedy;

Commentary

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

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-232

μέγιστον κτέ. Aristotle proceeds at this point to arrange the six elements in the order of their relative importances; and he begins by asserting, with an abundance of reasons which seems to imply that it was a subject of controversy at the time, the supreme importance of the μῦθος. As it is the first duty of a tragedy to represent an action, the μῦθος or story of action in it must be the first and most essential element in its construction. The characters, i.e. the personal agents, are mainly required in order to work out the story, and as means to that end; so that this element is to be deemed of secondary and subordinate significance as compared with the μῦθος. The paramount importance of plot in Drama has been re-asserted with equal emphasis in our own time by an eminent living dramatist: 'The idea, the plot, always comes first. The plot, in a sense, is nine-tenths of a play' ( H. A. Jones, Strand Magazine 34 p. 379 ).

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-233

ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων σύστασις = ὁ μῦθος. As the action in a tragedy is a whole of some magnitude (comp. 4, 1449 a 19 ; 6, 1449 b 25 ), it must have a plurality of incidents ( πράγματα) embodied in it. What Aristotle means by a combination of incidents may be seen from his synopses of the Iphigenia and Odyssey in 17, 1455 b 2 sqq. .

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-234

1450a17 βίου : Plato Laws 817 B
ἡμεῖς ἐσμὲν τραγῳδίας αὐτοὶ ποιηταὶ κατὰ δύναμιν ὅτι καλλίστης ἅμα καὶ ἀρίστης· πᾶσα οὖν [? γοῦν] ἡμῖν ἡ πολιτεία ξυνέστηκε μίμησις τοῦ καλλίστου καὶ ἀρίστου βίου, ὃ δή φαμεν ἡμεῖς γε ὄντως εἶναι τραγῳδίαν τὴν ἀληθεστάτην
. — Lycurgus in Leocr. 102
οἱ ποιηταὶ μιμούμενοι τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον
. Alcidamas described the Odyssey as a
καλὸν ἀνθρωπίνου βίου κάτοπτρον
( Aristot. Rhet. 3. 3, 1406 b 12 ). Of Menander also it was said:
Μένανδρε καὶ βίε, πότερος ἄρ᾿ ὑμῶν πότερον ἀπεμιμήσατο;
( Nauck, Aristophanis Byz. Fragm. p. 249 ).

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-235

καὶ εὐδαιμονίας : Plato Rep. 603 C
πράττοντας, φαμέν, ἀνθρώπους μιμεῖται ἡ μιμητικὴ βιαίους ἢ ἑκουσίας πράξεις καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πράττειν ἢ εὖ οἰομένους ἢ κακῶς πεπραγέναι
.

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-236

1450a18 ἐν πράξει According to the definition in Eth. N. 1. 6, 1098 a 16 happiness is a certain kind of activity, a
ψυχῆς ἐνέργεια κατ᾿ ἀρετήν
. Comp. Phys. 2. 6, 197 b 4
ἡ δὲ εὐδαιμονία πρᾶξίς τις· εὐπραξία γάρ
. — Pol. 7. 3, 1325 a 32
ἡ γὰρ εὐδαιμονία πρᾶξίς ἐστιν
 (also Eth. N. 1. 8, 1098 b 21 ; Rhet. 1. 5, 1360 b 14 ).

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-237

τὸ τέλος : Eth. N. 1. 8, 1098 b 18
πράξεις τινὲς λέγονται καὶ ἐνέργειαι τὸ τέλος
.

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-238

οὐ ποιότης : Eth. N. 10. 2, 1173 a 14
οὐδὲ γὰρ αἱ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐνέργειαι ποιότητές εἰσιν, οὐδ᾿ ἡ εὐδαιμονία
.
1450a21

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

25. mvp-aristotle-comment-165

6.12 25. Mais la plus conſiderable, c'eſt la fable ou la compoſition des choſes.] 1

26. mvp-aristotle-comment-166

6.12 26. Car la Tragedie eſt une imitation, non pas des hommes, mais de leurs actions.] 2

27. mvp-aristotle-comment-167

6.12 27. De leur vie & de leur bonheur ou de leur malheur.] 3

28. mvp-aristotle-comment-168

6.12 28. Qui conſiſtent dans l'action.] 4

29. mvp-aristotle-comment-169

6.12 29. La fin même que les hommes ſe propoſent eſt toûjours une action, & non pas une qualité.] 5

30. mvp-aristotle-comment-170

6.12 30. On a telles ou telles qualitez par les mœurs.] 6

31. mvp-aristotle-comment-171

6.12 31. Et l'on eſt heureux ou malheureux par les actions.] 7

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

50. mvp-aristotle-comment-50

NOTE 50. P. 77.

6.12 THE SUPREME GOOD ITSELF----IS ACTION, NOT QUALITY.
See Ethic. Nicom. I. 5, 7, 8. ed. Wilk. & Mag. Moral. I. 4, p. 149, 150, ed. Duval.

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

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-43

Ritter, cap. 6 § 8

τούτοις μὲν οὖν - ὡσαύτως: vide possisne vel minimum ingenii Aristotelii vestigium in his agnoscere: ego non potui. cuivis tragoediae inesse sex illas partes dicit auctor personatus: verus autem (§. 11) pronuntiat non solum fieri posse tragoediam moribus carentem sed etiam a novis poetis fere ` ἀήθεις τραγῳδίας fieri. porro ne sibimet ipsa quidem haec consentiunt. nam si οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν νίχ aliter atque de poetis tragicis accipi potest, primo non paucos eorum illis partibus (iste εἶδεσι, non μορίοις, posuit) usos esse et statim omnes isdem usos esse audimus. vel sic οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν mire et obscure dictum est. tertium interpolationis signum est quod eadem sex nomina frigide et inepte, h. e. sine ullo consilio, recurrunt. accedunt tria indicia secundaria quibus idem probatur. corum primum est mira illa tragicorum poetarum vel generatim poetarum designatio, οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν. alterum est πᾶν nude positum, quod quo referatur non habet: interpolator πᾶν δρᾶμα dicere videtur voluisse. tertium est additum ὡς εἰπεῖν, quod homo iste dormitans sine ratione et consilio chartae illevit. quartum adeo accedit. codices enim a Bekkero et Burgesio et aliis collati aut ὄψεις aut ὄψις exhibent, ubi ὄψις a librariis leviter a vero detortum est. quod Victorius in uno vetustissimo exemplari ὄψιν invenit, id correctori vitium ὄψις emendare temere festinanti tribuendum est, eo magis quod Madius ὄψιν in margine trium librorum ab alia manu scriptum repperit. itaque ὄψεις haud dubie vera scriptura est. sed Aristoteles ubi ὄψιν pro parte tragoediae ponit, ibi constanter et recte singularem admisit, non pluralem. vid. c. 6, 4 et 7. c. 24, 1. interpolator igitur nomen ὄψιν a se modo lectum ne repetere quidem recte potuit. conf. Comment. ad c. 6, 19.

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-44

Ritter, cap. 6 § 9

ἡ γὰρ τραγῳδία μίμησίς ἐστιν οὐκ ἀνθρώπων: tragoedia non ipsos homines, h. e. totam eorum qualitatem exprimit, sed singula quaedam eorum facinora imitatur. qualitatem ita tantum pingit, quatenus ea ex actis intelligitur. ἀλλὰ πράξεως [ καὶ βίου- οὐ ποιότης]: sic exhibemus hunc locum restitutum ex librorum scriptorum fide et purgatum additamentis, quae sive Aldus sive alii correctores Itali intulerunt. tragoediam esse imitationem vitae cuiusdam ( βίου) et felicitatis ( εὐδαιμονίας) pronuntiari utique nequit, ne de illis quidem tragoediis quae laeto eventu concluduntur. quid igitur fecerunt Itali ad hoc incommodum sublevandum vel tollendum? post εὐδαιμονίας continuo inseruerunt καὶ κακοδαιμονίας, ut iam tragoedia dicatur esse imitatio felicitatis et infelicitatis. restant alia. statim enim codices praebent καὶ ἡ κακοδαιμονία ἐν πράξει ἐστι. haec cum vel correctis illis καὶ εὐδαιμονίας καὶ κακοδαιμονίας male convenirent, iidem Itali scripserunt καὶ γὰρ ἡ εὐδαιμονία ἐν πράξει ἐστι. antiqua igitur scriptura ex scriptis libris restituta, videamus quid ea faciendum sit. interpolator aliquis antiquus apud Aristotelem paulo post cum legeret εἰσὶ.. κατὰ δὲ τὰς πράξεις εὐδαίμονες ἢ τουναντίον, inde sumpsit primum illud suum καὶ βίου καὶ εὐδαιμονίας, et hoc post πράξεως inseruit; tum propter illud τούναντίον adiecit explicationis gratia καὶ ἡ κακοδαιμονία ἐν πράξει ἐστί. porro cum legeret εἰσὶ δὲ κατὰ μὲν τὰ ἤθη ποιοί τινες, et paulo post ὥστε τὰ πράγματα καὶ ὁ μῦθος τέλος τῆς τραγωδίας, iste iam hic posuit καὶ τὸ τέλος πρᾶξίς τις ἐστίν, οὐ ποιότης. sed finem esse actionem, non qualitatem, monere h. 1. nihil attinebat. finis enim ( τὸ τέλος) per sese est quod homines omnibus factis suis consequi student (v. Ethica Nicom. 1, 5. Magna Mor. I, 4. Eudem. II, 1), tragoediae autem finis singulari quadam actione continetur. de fine igitur generatim dici quidquam h. 1. non aptum erat. quid, quod tragoediae finem esse τὸν μῦθον (h. e. πρᾶξιν sive πράγματα) non multo post ex praecedentibus demum colligitur? sic: ὥστε τὰ πράγματα καὶ ὁ μῦθος τέλος τῆς τραγῳδίας. itaque falsus scriptor verum praecurrens fini generatim vindicat 4) quae ille de tragoediae fine praedicat. insiticiis eiectis, Aristotelis ratiocinatio bene procedit, id quod manifestissimum est interpolationis indicium. propositio maior est ἡ γὰρ τραγῳδία μίμησίς ἐστιν οὐκ ἀνθρώπων (h. e. ποιότητος ἀνθρώπων) ἀλλὰ πράξεως. sequitur minor εἰσὶ δὲ (h. e. atqui sunt cet.) κατὰ μὲν τὰ ἤθη ποιοί τινες, κατὰ δὲ τὰς πράξεις εὐδαίμονες ἢ τουναντίον. inde hoc consectatarium est, οὔκουν (non igitur) ὅπως τὰ ἤθη (sive τὴν ποιότητα) μιμήσωνται πράττουσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἤθη συμπεριλαμβάνουσι διὰ τὰς πράξεις. ex his tribus pronuntiatis consequitur iam altera et primaria conclusio ὥστε τὰ πράγματα καὶ ὁ μῦθος τέλος τῆς τραγῳδίας, cui cum successisset τὸ δὲ τέλος μέγιστον ἁπάντων, nunc ostensum est quod demon- 4) Quae interpolator de fine ( τῷ τέλει) profert, ea Aristotelis doctrinae alibi expositae non quidem repugnant, sed Aristoteles ipse placita sua neque loco non apto neque nisi aliis libris allegatis afferre solet.13) strandum ante proposuerat (§.9 init.), dico μέγιστον δὲ τούτων ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων σύστασις. ex illo enim additamento τὸ δὲ τέλος μέγιστον ἁπάντων apparet fabulam non solum potiorem esse moribus sed potiorem etiam ceteris tragoediae partibus.