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Et le milieu, c'eſt ce qui ſuppoſe quelque choſe qui doit préceder, & qui exige quelqu'autre choſe qui doit ſuivre.

Poetics. Aristote. Paris. 1692.

Current edition Experimental

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) (fra) (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.)

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.) — 7 focus

Διωρισμένων δὲ τούτων, λέγωμεν μετὰ ταῦτα ποίαν τινὰ δεῖ τὴν σύστασιν εἶναι τῶν πραγμάτων, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο καὶ πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον τῆς τραγῳδίας ἐστίν.

Κεῖται δ᾿ ἡμῖν τὴν τραγῳδίαν τελείας καὶ ὅλης πράξεως εἶναι μίμησιν, ἐχούσης τι μέγεθος· ἔστι γὰρ ὅλον καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον μέγεθος.

Ὅλον δ᾿ ἐστὶ τὸ ἔχον ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον καὶ τελευτήν.

Ἀρχὴ δ᾿ ἐστὶν ὃ αὐτὸ μὲν μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης μετ᾿ ἄλλο ἐστί, μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνο δ᾿ ἕτερον πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ γίνεσθαι·

τελευτὴ δὲ τοὐναντίον ὃ αὐτὸ μετ᾿ ἄλλο πέφυκεν εἶναι, ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἄλλο οὐδέν·

μέσον δὲ ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ μετ᾿ ἄλλο καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνο ἕτερον.

Δεῖ ἄρα τοὺς συνεστῶτας εὖ μύθους μήθ᾿ ὁπόθεν ἔτυχεν ἄρχεσθαι μήθ᾿ ὅπου ἔτυχε τελευτᾶν, ἀλλὰ κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς εἰρημέναις ἰδέαις.

Ἔτι δ᾿ ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἅπαν πρᾶγμα ὃ συνέστηκεν ἔκ τινων, οὐ μόνον ταῦτα τεταγμένα δεῖ ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγεθος ὑπάρχειν μὴ τὸ τυχόν· τὸ γὰρ καλὸν ἐν μεγέθει καὶ τάξει ἐστί,

διὸ οὔτε πάμμικρον ἄν τι γένοιτο καλὸν ζῷον (συγχεῖται γὰρ ἡ θεωρία ἐγγὺς τοῦ ἀναισθήτου χρόνου γινομένη) οὔτε παμμέγεθες· οὐ γὰρ 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 ζῴων ἔχειν μὲν μέγεθος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐσύνοπτον εἶναι, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων ἔχειν μὲν μῆκος, τοῦτο δ᾿ εὐμνημόνευτον εἶναι.

Τοῦ δὲ μήκους ὅρος πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ τὴν αἴσθησιν οὐ τῆς τέχνης ἐστίν· εἰ γὰρ ἔδει ἑκατὸν τραγῳδίας ἀγωνίζεσθαι, πρὸς κλεψύδραν ἂν ἠγωνίζοντο, ὥσπερ ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε φασίν.

Ὁ δὲ κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν τοῦ πράγματος ὅρος, ἀεὶ μὲν ὁ μείζων μέχρι τοῦ σύνδηλος εἶναι καλλίων ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος, ὡς δὲ ἁπλῶς διορίσαντας εἰπεῖν, ἐν ὅσῳ μεγέθει κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἐφεξῆς γιγνομένων συμβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἐκ δυστυχίας ἢ ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταβάλλειν, ἱκανὸς ὅρος ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγέθους.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 7 focus

διωρισμένων δὲ τούτων, λέγωμεν μετὰ ταῦτα ποίαν τινὰ δεῖ τὴν σύστασιν εἶναι τῶν πραγμάτων, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο καὶ πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον τῆς τραγῳδίας ἐστίν.

κεῖται δὴ ἡμῖν τὴν τραγῳδίαν τελείας καὶ ὅλης πράξεως εἶναι 25 μίμησιν ἐχούσης τι μέγεθος· ἔστιν γὰρ ὅλον καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον μέγεθος.

ὅλον δέ ἐστιν τὸ ἔχον ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον καὶ τελευτήν.

ἀρχὴ δέ ἐστιν ὃ αὐτὸ μὲν μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης μετ’ ἄλλο ἐστίν, μετ’ ἐκεῖνο δ’ ἕτερον πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ γίνεσθαι·

τελευτὴ δὲ τοὐναντίον ὃ αὐτὸ μὲν μετ’ ἄλλο πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ 30 ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἄλλο οὐδέν·

μέσον δὲ ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ μετ’ ἄλλο καὶ μετ’ ἐκεῖνο ἕτερον.

δεῖ ἄρα τοὺς συνεστῶτας εὖ μύθους μήθ’ ὁπόθεν ἔτυχεν ἄρχεσθαι μήθ’ ὅπου ἔτυχε τελευτᾶν, ἀλλὰ κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς εἰρημέναις ἰδέαις.

ἔτι δ’ ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἅπαν 35 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 τοῦ ἀναισθήτου χρόνου γινομένη) οὔτε παμμέγεθες (οὐ γὰρ 1451a 1 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 ζῴων ἔχειν μὲν μέγεθος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐσύνοπτον εἶναι, οὕτω 5 καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων ἔχειν μὲν μῆκος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐμνημόνευτον εἶναι.

τοῦ δὲ μήκους ὅρος ὁ μὲν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ 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 10 τοῦ πράγματος ὅρος, ἀεὶ μὲν ὁ μείζων μέχρι τοῦ σύνδηλος εἶναι καλλίων ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος· ὡς δὲ ἁπλῶς διορίσαντας εἰπεῖν, ἐν ὅσῳ μεγέθει κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἐφεξῆς γιγνομένων συμβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἐκ δυστυχίας ἢ ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταβάλλειν, ἱκανὸς 15 ὅρος ἐστὶν τοῦ μεγέθους.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 7 focus

Διωρισμένων δὲ τούτων, λέγωμεν μετὰ ταῦτα ποίαν
τινὰ δεῖ τὴν σύστασιν εἶναι τῶν πραγμάτων, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο
καὶ πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον τῆς τραγῳδίας ἐστίν.

κεῖται δὴ
ἡμῖν τὴν τραγῳδίαν τελείας καὶ ὅλης πράξεως εἶναι μίμησιν
ἐχούσης τι μέγεθος· ἔστιν γὰρ ὅλον καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον
μέγεθος.

ὅλον δὲ ἐστὶν τὸ ἔχον ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον καὶ τελευτήν.

ἀρχὴ δὲ ἐστιν ὃ αὐτὸ μὲν μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης μετ᾽
ἄλλο ἐστίν, μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνο δ᾽ ἕτερον πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ γίνεσθαι·

τελευτὴ δὲ τοὐναντίον ὃ αὐτὸ μετ᾽ ἄλλο πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ
ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἄλλο οὐδέν·

μέσον δὲ ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ μετ᾽ ἄλλο καὶ μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνο ἕτερον.

δεῖ ἄρα τοὺς συνεστῶτας εὖ μύθους μήθ᾽ ὁπόθεν ἔτυχεν
ἄρχεσθαι μήθ᾽ ὅπου ἔτυχε τελευτᾶν, ἀλλὰ κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς
εἰρημέναις ἰδέαις.

ἔτι δ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἅπαν
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
τοῦ ἀναισθήτου χρόνου γινομένη) οὔτε παμμέγεθες (οὐ γὰρ
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 συστημάτων καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν
ζῴων ἔχειν μὲν μέγεθος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐσύνοπτον εἶναι, οὕτω
καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων ἔχειν μὲν μῆκος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐμνημόνευτον
εἶναι.

τοῦ μήκους ὅρος ὁ μὲν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ
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 τοῦ πράγματος ὅρος, ἀεὶ μὲν ὁ μείζων μέχρι τοῦ σύνδηλος
εἶναι καλλίων ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος· ὡς δὲ ἁπλῶς
διορίσαντας εἰπεῖν, ἐν ὅσῳ μεγέθει κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ
ἀναγκαῖον ἐφεξῆς γιγνομένων συμβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἐκ δυστυχίας
ἢ ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταβάλλειν, ἱκανὸς
ὅρος ἐστὶν τοῦ μεγέθους.

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.) — 7 focus

κεῖται δ᾽ ἡμῖν τὴν τραγῳδίαν τελείας καὶ ὅλης πράξεως εἶναι μίμησιν, ἐχούσης τι μέγεθος· ἔστι γὰρ ὅλον καὶ μηδὲν ἔχον μέγεθος.

ὅλον δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὸ ἔχον ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον καὶ τελευτήν.

ἀρχὴ δ' ἐστίν ὃ αὐτὸ μὲν μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης μετ᾿ ἄλλο ἐστί, μετ᾽ ἐκεῖνο δ᾽ ἕτερον πέφυκεν εἶναι ἢ γίνεσθαι·

μέσον δὲ ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ μετ' ἄλλο καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνο ἕτερον.

δεῖ ἄρα τοὺς συνεστῶτας εὖ μύθους μήθ᾽ ὁπόθεν ἔτυχεν ἄρχεσθαι μήθ᾽ ὅπου ἔτυχε τελευτῶν, ἀλλὰ κεχρῆσθαι ταῖς εἰρημέναις ἰδέαις.

ἔτι δ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἅπαν πρᾶγμα ὃ συνέστηκεν ἔκ τινων, οὐ μόνον ταῦτα τεταγμένα δεῖ ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγεθος ὑπάρχειν μὴ τὸ τυχόν· - τὸ γὰρ καλὸν ἐν μεγέθει καὶ τάξει ἐστί,

διὸ οὔτε πάμμικρον ἄν τι γένοιτο καλὸν ζῷον (συγχεῖται γὰρ ἡ θεωρία ἐγγὺς τοῦ ἀναισθήτου χρόνου γινομένη) οὔτε παμμέγεθες· οὐ γὰρ ἅμα ἡ θεωρία γίνεται, ἀλλ' οἴχεται τοῖς θεωὑροῦσι τὸ ἓν καὶ τὸ ὅλον ἐκ τῆς θεωρίας, οἷον εἰ μυρίων σταδίων εἴη ζῷον.

ὥστε δεῖ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων καὶ ἐπὶ¹ τῶν ζῴων ἔχειν μὲν μέγεθος, τοῦτο δὲ εὐσύνοπτον εἶναι, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων ἔχειν μὲν μῆκος, τοῦτο δ᾽ εὐμνημόνευτον εἶναι.

τοῦ δὲ μήκους ὅρος πρὸς μὲν τοὺς ἀγῶνας καὶ τὴν αἴσθησιν οὐ τῆς τέχνης ἐστίν· εἰ γὰρ ἔδει ἑκατὸν τραγῳδίας ἀγωνίζεσθαι, πρὸς κλεψύδραν ἂν ἠγωνίζοντο [, ὥσπερ η ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε φασίν].

ὁ δὲ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν τοῦ πράγματος ὅρος, ἀεὶ μὲν ὁ μείζων μέχρι τοῦ σύνδηλος εἶναι καλλίων ἐστὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος, ὡς δὲ ἁπλῶς διορίσαντας εἰπεῖν, ἐν ὅσῳ μεγέθει κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἐφεξῆς γιγνομένων συμβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἐκ δυστυχίας ἢ ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταβάλλειν, ἱκανὸς ὕρος ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγέθους.

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 7 focus

After these definitions we must next discuss the proper arrangement of the incidents since this is the first and most important thing in tragedy.

We have laid it down that tragedy is a representation of an action that is whole and complete and of a certain magnitude, since a thing may be a whole and yet have no magnitude.

A whole is what has a beginning and middle and end.

A beginning is that which is not a necessary consequent of anything else but after which something else exists or happens as a natural result.

An end on the contrary is that which is inevitably or, as a rule, the natural result of something else but from which nothing else follows;

a middle follows something else and something follows from it.

Well constructed plots must not therefore begin and end at random, but must embody the formulae we have stated.

Moreover, in everything that is beautiful, whether it be a living creature or any organism composed of parts, these parts must not only be orderly arranged but must also have a certain magnitude of their own;

for beauty consists in magnitude and ordered arrangement. From which it follows that neither would a very small creature be beautiful—for our view of it is almost instantaneous and therefore confused¹—nor a very large one, 1451a 1 since being unable to view it all at once, we lose the effect of a single whole; for instance, suppose a creature a thousand miles long.

As then creatures and other organic structures must have a certain magnitude and yet be easily taken in by the eye, so too with plots: they must have length but must be easily taken in by the memory.

The limit of length considered in relation to competitions and production² before an audience does not concern this treatise. Had it been the rule to produce a hundred tragedies, the performance would have been regulated by the water clock, as it is said they did once in other days.

But as for the natural limit of the action, the longer the better as far as magnitude goes, provided it can all be grasped at once. To give a simple definition: the magnitude which admits of a change from bad fortune to good or from good fortune to bad, in a sequence of events which follow one another either inevitably or according to probability, that is the proper limit.

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 7 focus

〈مدى الفعل〉

فاذ قد 〈حددت〉 هذه الأشياء، فلنتكلم بعدها مثل أى شىء هو قوام الأمور، من قبل أن هذا مقدم وهو أعظم من صناعة المديح.

وقد وصفنا صناعة المديح أنها استتمام وغاية جميع العمل والتشبيه والمحاكاة، وأن لها عظماً ما وهى كلها وأن ليس لها شىء من العظم. والكل هو [إ] ما له ابتداء ووسط وآخر؛ والمبدأ هو ما كان إما هو فليس من الضرورة مع الآخر. وأما مع الآخر فمن شأنه أن يكون ليكون مع هذا. وأما الآخر فبالعكس، أعنى أما هو فمن شأنه أن يكون مع آخر من الاضطرار أو على أكثر الأمر؛ وأما بعده فليس شىء آخر. وأما الوسط فهو مع آخر، ويتبعها آخر أيضاً.

ومن الآن الذين هم يقومون هم إيجاد من حيث يبتدئ به توجد، ولا أين يجعل آخر الأمر يجد، بل إنهم يستعملون الصور والخلق التى قيلت.

وأيضاً على الحيوان الخير وكل أمر لا يتركب شىء. وليس إنما ينبغى أن تكون هذه فقط منتظمة مرتبة، لكن قد ينبغى أن يكون العظم لا أى عظم اتفق، من قبل أن معنى لا وجود إنما يكون بالعظم والترتيب. ولذلك ليس حيوان ما صغير هو جيد (وذلك أن النظر هو مركب لقرب الزمان الغير محسوس) من حيث يكون ليس فى الكل عظيم (وذلك أن النظر ليس يكون معاً، لكن حالها حال تجعل الناظرين واحداً وكلا؛ وذلك من النظر مثلا، مثل أن يكون الحيوان على بعد عشرة آلاف ميدان) حتى يكون كما يجب على الأجسام وعلى الحيوان أن يكون عظم ما. وهذا نفسه يكون سهل البيان. وبهذا نفسه يكون فى الخرافة أيضاً طول ويكون محفوظاً فى الذكر.

وأما الطول نفسه فحده نحو الجهاد والاحساس الذى للصناعة، وذلك أنه إن كان كل واحد من الناس قد كان يجب أن يعمل بالمديح الجهاد نحو ثلاث ساعات الماء، لقد كان يستعمل الجهاد قلا فسودرا كما من عادتنا أن نقول فى زمان ما ومتى. ولما كان لطبيعة الأمور قد يظن أنه يوجد إلى أن يظهر، كان هذا من الأفضل فى العظم. وكما حدوا على الاطلاق وقالوا فى كم من العظم على الحقيقة أو تلك تدعو الضرورة عندما تكون فى هذه التى تكون على الاضطرار واحداً فى إثر الآخر تنوب عند النجاح الكائن بعد رداءة البخت أو تغير رداءة البخت إلى الصلاح يكون للعظم حد كاف.

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.) — 7 focus

These principles being established, let us now discuss
the proper structure of the Plot, since this is the first
and most important thing in Tragedy.

Now, according to our definition, Tragedy is an
imitation of an action that is complete, and whole, and
of a certain magnitude; for there may be a whole that
is wanting in magnitude.

A whole is that which has
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 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 a very small animal
organism 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
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 one a thousand miles
long.

As, therefore, in the case of animate bodies and
organisms a certain magnitude is necessary, and a magni-
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
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
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.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 7 focus

Having thus distinguished the parts, let us now consider
the proper construction of the Fable or Plot, as that is at
once the first and the most important thing in Tragedy.

We have laid it down that a tragedy is an imitation of an
action that is complete in itself, as a whole of some magni-
tude;
for a whole may be of no magnitude to speak of.

Now a whole is that which has beginning, middle, and end.

A beginning is that which is not itself necessarily after
anything else, and which has naturally something else after
it;

an end is that which is naturally after something itself,
either as its necessary or usual consequent, and with nothing
else after it;

and a middle, that which is by nature after
one thing and has also another after it.

A well-constructed
Plot, therefore, cannot either begin or end at any point one
likes; beginning and end in it must be of the forms just
described.

Again: to be beautiful, a living creature, and
every whole made up of parts, must not only present a
certain order in its arrangement of parts, but also be of
a certain definite magnitude.

Beauty is a matter of size
and order, and therefore impossible either (1) in a very
minute creature, since our perception becomes indistinct as
it approaches instantaneity; or (2) in a creature of vast
size-one, say, 1000 miles long-as in that case, instead of
the object being seen all at once, the unity and wholeness
of it is lost to the beholder.

Just in the same way, then,
as a beautiful whole made up of parts, or a beautiful living
creature, must be of some size, a size to be taken in by the
eye, so a story or Plot must be of some length, but of
a length to be taken in by the memory.

As for the limit
of its length, so far as that is relative to public performances
and spectators, it does not fall within the theory of poetry.
If they had to perform a hundred tragedies, they would
be timed by water-clocks, as they are said to have been
at one period.

The limit, however, set by the actual nature
of the thing is this: the longer the story, consistently with
its being comprehensible as a whole, the finer it is by
reason of its magnitude. As a rough general formula, 'a
length which allows of the hero passing by a series of
probable or necessary stages from misfortune to happiness,
or from happiness to misfortune,' may suffice as a limit for
the magnitude of the story.

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.) — 7.6 focus

A middle, is that which both supposes something to precede, and requires something to follow.

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.) — 7.6 focus

but requires nothing after it. A middle requires other circumstances both to precede and follow it.

The Poetic of Aristotle (Theodore Alois Buckley) (OCR draft) Experimental (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.) — 7.6 focus

Further still,

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.) — 7 focus

Quibus expositis, dicamus iam qualem esse oporteat compositionem factorum, quandoquidem hoc et primum et maximum in tragoedia est.

certum autem nobis est tragoediam esse imitationem absolutae et totius actionis quae aliquam magnitudinem habeat: est enim totum etiam quod nullam magnitudinem habeat.

totum autem est quod habet principium et medium et finem.

principium est quod ipsum quidem haud necessario post aliud est, post illud' autem aliud oportet esse aut fieri;

finis autem contrarium, quod ipsum post aliud oportet esse, sive necessario sive ut plurimum, post hoc autem aliud nihil;

medium autem quod et ipsum post aliud et post illud aliud.

oportet igitur fabulas bene compositas neque unde fors tulerit incipere neque ubicumque desinere, sed ex formis ante dictis constitutas esse.

porro quoniam quod pulchrum sive animal sive quaecumque res quae ex quibusdam partibus constat, non solum has dispositas habeat necesse est, sed etiam magnitudinem non quamcumque:

- pulchrum enim in magnitudine et ordine est, ita ut neque perexiguum animal pulchrum fieri possit (confunditur enim contemplatio cum prope ad insensibile tempus accedit) neque permagnum: non enim simul contemplatio fit, sed elabitur contemplantibus unum et totum ex contemplatione,

veluti si sexcentorum stadiorum esset animal, itaque quemadmodum oportet in corporibus et animalibus esse quidem magnitudinem, hanc vero facile conspiciendam esse, sic etiam in fabulis adesse quidem longitudinem, sed quae facile memoria comprehendatur.

sed longitudinis terminus ratione habita ad certamina et perceptionem, artis non est: si enim centum tragoedias certare oporteret, ad clepsydram sane certarent [, quomodo aliquando et alias dicunt].

sed qui ex ipsa natura facti consequitur terminus, semper quidem amplior, dummodo perspicuus sit, pulchrior est sccundum magnitudinem, sed ut simpliciter definiendo dicamus, quo spatio temporis, secundum probabilitatem vel necessitatem rebus succedentibus, accidit in felicitatem ex infelicitate aut ex felicitate in infelicitatem mutationem fieri, sufficiens terminus est magnitudinis.

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 7 focus

Stato preſuppoſto da noi, che la Tragedia imiti vna attione intera, et perfetta; et che habbia qualche grandezza. Io dico queſto, perchè e ſi dà vn'intero, & vn' tutto, che nó ha grandezza alcuna.¹

Tutto è quello, che ha principio, mezo, & fine. Principio frdice effer quello, che per neceſsità non è doppo vnaltra coſa; ma à cui benne conſeguita doppo vnaltra, che fia, ò che ſi faccia.. Il fine allincontro è quello, che per natura è atto à effere doppo vnaltra coſa, ò neceffariamen te, ò il più delle volte; & à cui neſſun altra coſa confe guita doppo.

Mezo è quello, che ſta doppo vnaltra cofa; & à cui doppo ne conſeguita vnaltra.

Dico adunche con tai coſe preſuppoſte, che le Fauole ben' teſſute nó debbon' cominciare onde vno ſi voglias nè allincontro finire ouunche vn' fi voglia: ma debbono vſare in ciò i fopradetti termini.

Oltradiqueſto, perchè ogni coſa bel la,ò animale, o altro che egli ſi ſia di piu parti compofto, non pur' debba hauere eſſe parti bene ordinate; ma anchora debba hauere la grandezza, ma non già qual fi voglia:

perchè la bellezza confute nella grandezza,& nell'ordine.

Però non mai potrà eſſer bello animale quello, che ſia troppo piccolo; perchè la viſta vi ſi confonde, effendoui fatta quafi, che in vn' tempo inſenſibile.

Ne anchora potrà eſſer bello allincotro quello, che fia troppo grande; perchè la viſta di lui non vi fi fa tut ta inſieme: ma quel tutto, & quell'uno piutoſto sfugge la con D'ARISTOTI la confideratione, che di lui fi fa:com'è dire quando vn animale fuſſe lungo vn' miglio.

Onde fi conchiude che cofi come auuiene nei corpi, & negli animali, che e' deb bino cioè hauer grandezza, che ſia attaåben poterſi vedere,parimete che le Fauole debbino hauer lunghez za atta à ben poterſene ricordare il cui termino per quanto ſe n'aſpetta allo ſpettacolo, & al ſenſo, non è vf fitio dell'arte.

Imperchè quando e bifognafle recitar cento Tragedie, elle ſi potrebbon' recitare tutte infra quello ſpatio di tempo, che miſura l'horihuolo d'acqua; come fi dicey che gia altroue è ſtato v ſato di farfi.

Mail termino della lunghezza, che di fua natura ha la Fauo la; fempre il maggiore è piu bello che ſi produce in lun ghezza: infino à tanto che in tal lunghezza el fia manifeſto.

Et per dir queſta materia aſſolutamente, quanto cioè debba effere il termino della lunghezza conue niente alla Fauola; dico che egli è quello, doue ſeguite le coſe per via del verifimile & del neceffario, fuccefsiuamente v'accade fare il trapaflamento dimiferia in fe licità, ò di felicità in miferiadaniolum

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.) — 7 focus

Explicatis autem his, dicamus deinceps qualem esse oporteat rerum compositionem, quoniam iam hoc et primum et maximum tragoediae est. positum autem est a nobis perfectae atque totius actionis esse imitationem, habentis aliquam magnitudinem.

totum autem est habens principium et medium et finem. ac principium est, quod ipsum ex necessitate post aliud non est, post illud vero aliud naturaliter est aut fit.

finis contrarium, quod ipsum post so aliud naturaliter est, aut ex necessitate aut plerunque, post hoc autem aliud nihil.

medium, quod et ipsum post aliud est et post illud aliud. oportet igitur bene compositas fabulas neque unde libet incipere, neque ubi libet finire, sed uti dictis formis.

praeterea vero, quoniam pulchrum et animal et omnem rem, quae ex quibusdam composita est, non solum haec ordinata habere oportet, verum etiam esse magnam, sed non quomodo libet:

nam pulchrum in magnitudine et ordine consistit;

unde neque omnino parvum animal esse potest pulchrum (confunditur enim spectatio, quae prope insensibili tem pore fiat) neque omnino magnum (non enim simul spectatio fit,

sed perit spectantibus unum et totum ex spectatione, ut si decem milium stadiorum sit animal), propterea oportet, quemadmodum in corporibus et in animalibus inesse quidem magnitudinem, sed eam quae facile conspici possit,

sic et in fabulis inveniri quidem longitudinem, sed eam quae facile retineri memoria possit. longitudinis autem terminus ad contentiones et sensum non artis est:

si enim termino opus esset causa tragoedias recitandi, ad clepsydras contenderent, quemadmodum quondam et aliis temporibus factum esse affirmant.

terminus autem rei secundum ipsam naturam semper quidem, qui maior est, quatenus simul patet, pulchrior est secundum magnitudinem.

verum ut simpliciter re definita dicam, in quanta magnitudine secundum verisimile et necessarium deinceps nascentibus rebus contingit in prosperam fortunam ex adversa aut ex prospera in adversam mutari, sufficiens terminus est magnitudinis.

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.) — 7 focus

Determinatis autem hiis, dicamus post hec qualem quandam oportet consistentiam esse rerum, quoniam hoc et primum et maximum est tragodie.

Supponitur autem nobis tragodiam perfecte et totalis actionis esse imitationem habentis aliquam magnitudinem ;

est enim totum et nullam habens magnitudinem. Totum autem est habens principium medium et finem.

Principium autem est quod ipsum quidem non ex necessitate post aliud est, post illud autem alterum natum est esse aut fieri.

Finis autem contrarium quod et ipsum post aliud natum est esse aut ex necessitate aut ut in pluribus, post hoc autem aliud nullum;

medium autem quod et ipsum post aliud et post illud alterum.

Oportet igitur constituentes bene fabulas neque undecumque contingit incipere, neque ubicumque contingit terminare, sed uti dictis speciebus. —

Adhuc autem quoniam quod pulchrum, et animal et omnem rem que constat ex aliquibus, non solum hec ordinata oportet habere, sed et magnitudinem existere non quamcumque ; nam quod pulerum in magnitudine et ordine est; propter quod

neque omnino parvum utique aliquid fiet pulcrum animal (adiacet enim speculatio prope insensibile tempus facta), neque omnino magnum ; non enim simul speculatio fit, sed cedit speculantibus unum et totum ex speculatione, velut si decem milium stadiorum sit animal.

Quare oportet, sicut in corporibus et in animalibus habere quidem magnitudinem, hanc autem facile conspicabilem esse, sic et in fabulis habere quidem longitudinem, hanc autem facile memorabilem esse.

Longitudinis terminus quidem ad agones et ad sensum, non artis est; si enim oportebat centum tragodias agonizari, ad klepsydras utique agonizarent, sicut aliquando et alias aiunt. —

Qui autem secundum ipsam naturam rei terminus, semper quidem qui maior usquequo commanifestus sit melior est secundum magnitudinem, ut autem simpliciter determinantes dicere est, in quanta magnitudine secundum verisimile aut necessa- rium consequenter factis accidit 1n eufortunium ex iniortunio aut ex eufortunio in infortunium transmutari, sufficiens terminus est magnitudinis. —

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.) — 7 focus

‏فاذ قد حددت هذه الاشيا فلنتكلم بعدها مثل اى شى هو قوام الامور من قبل ان هذا مقدم وهو اعظم من صناعة المديح

‏وقد وصفنا صناعة المديح انها استتمام وغاية جميع العمل والتشبيه والمحاكاة وان لها عظم ما وهى كلها وان ليس لها شى [شيا] من العظم

‏والكل هو اما له ابتدا ووسط واخر

‏والمبدا هو ما كان اما هو فليس من الضرورة مع الاخر واما مع الاخر فمن شانه ان يكون ليكون مع هذا

‏واما الاخر فبالعكس اعنى انما هو فمن شانه ان يكون مع اخر من الاضطرار او على اكثر الامر واما بعده فليس شى اخر

‏واما الوسط فهو مع اخر ويتبعها اخر ايضا

‏ومن الان الذين هم يقومون هم ايجاد من حيث يبتدى به يوجد ولا اين يجعل الامر يجد بل انهم يستعملون الصور والخلق التى قيلت

‏وايضا على الحيون الخير وكل امر لا يتركب شى وليس انما ينبغى ان تكون هذه فقط منتظمة مرتبة لكن قد ينبغى ان يكون العظم لا اى عظم اتفق من قبل ان معنى لا وجود انما يكون بالعظم والترتيب

‏ولذلك ليس حيوان ما صغير هو جبد وذلك ان النظر هو مركب لقرب الزمان لغير محسوس من حيث يكون ليس فى الكل عظيم وذلك ان النظر ليس يكون معا لكن حالها حال يجعل الناظرين واحد وكل وذلك من النظر مثلا مثل ان يكون الحيوان على بعد عشرة الف ميدان

‏حتى يكون كما يجٮ على الاجسام وعلى الحيوان ان يكون عظم ما وهذا نفسه يكون سهل البيان وبهذا نفسه يكون فى الخرافة ايضا طول ويكون محفوظ فى الذكر

‏واما لطول نفسه فحده نحو الجهاد والاحساس الذى للصناعة وذلك انه ان كان كل واحد من الناس قد كان يجب ان يعمل بالمديح الجهاد نحو ثلاث ساعات الما لقد كان يستعمل الجهاد قلافسودرا كما من عادتنا ان نقول فى زمان ما

‏ومتى ولما كان الطبيعة الامور قد يظن انه يوجد الى ان يظهر كان هذا من الافضل فى العظم وكما حدوا على الاطلاق وقالوا فى كم من العظم على الحقيقة او تلك تدعوا الضرورة عند ما تكون فى هذه التى تكون على الاضطرار واحد فى اثر الاخر تنوب عند النجاح الكاين بعد رداوة البخت او تغير رداوة البخت الى الصلاح يكون العظم حد كافى

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 7 focus

‏فاذ قد حددت هذه الاشيا فلنتكلم بعدها مثل اى شى هو قوام الامور من قبل ان هذا مقدم وهو اعظم من صناعة المديح

‏والكل هو اما له ابتدا ووسط واخر

‏والمبدا هو ما كان اما هو فليس من الضرورة مع الاخر واما مع الاخر فمن شانه ان يكون ليكون مع هذا واما الاخر فبالعكس اعنى انما هو فمن شانه ان يكون مع اخر من الاضطرار او على اكثر الامر واما بعده فليس شى اخر واما الوسط فهو مع اخر ويتبعها اخر ايضا

‏وايضا على الحيون الخير وكل امر لا يتركب شى وليس انما ينبغى ان تكون هذه فقط منتظمة مرتبة لكن قد ينبغى ان يكون العظم لا اى عظم اتفق من قبل ان معنى لا وجود انما يكون بالعظم والترتيب ولذلك ليس حيوان ما صغير هو جبد وذلك ان النظر هو مركب لقرب الزمان لغير محسوس من حيث يكون ليس فى الكل عظيم وذلك ان النظر ليس يكون معا لكن حالها حال يجعل الناظرين واحد وكل وذلك من النظر مثلا مثل ان يكون الحيوان على بعد عشرة الف ميدان

Commentary

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

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-297

μὴ ἐξ ἀνάγκης By a 'beginning' Aristotle does not mean something without antecedents, but only something that may be detached as it were from its antecedents, and viewed apart from them as the first term in a new series of events.

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-298

1450b28 μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνο δ᾿ comp. 6, 1450 a 30

μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο

. — b 31

καὶ μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνο

. An. pr. 1. 4, 25 b 35

καλῶ δὲ μέσον μὲν καὶ αὐτὸ ἐν ἄλλῳ καὶ ἄλλο ἐν τούτῳ ἐστίν

1450b34

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-299

ἰδέαις ἰδέα, 'form,' 'sort,' or 'kind,' is frequently used, just like εἶδος, which has much the same sense, without any genitive to explain it. Instances of this allusive, or rather evasive, use will be found in 5, 1449 b 8 , in 19, 1456 b 3 , and in 22, 1458 b 18 . It is a favourite term with Isocrates also: 24 c

ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς ἰδέαις ταύταις κατεχρήσαντο

. — 36 A

χρὴ δὲ δοκιμάζειν τὰς ἀρετὰς οὐκ ἐν ταῖς αὐταῖς ἰδέαις ἁπάσας, ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν δικαιοσύνην ἐν ταῖς ἀπορίαις, τὴν δὲ σωφροσύνην ἐν ταῖς δυναστείαις κτέ.

— 319 D

ταῖς ἄλλαις ἰδέαις ἐπιφανεστέραις καὶ πλείοσιν ὅλον τὸν λόγον διοικοῦσιν

. — De perm. § 183

τὰς ἰδέας ἁπάσας, αἷς ὁ λόγος τυγχάνει χρώμενος, διεξέρχονται τοῖς μαθηταῖς

. For instances from other authors see Campbell's Essay on Plato's use of language, Rep. of Plato 2. p. 301 .

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-300

τὸ καλὸν κτέ. Having just laid it down that the μῦθος must be a complete whole, Aristotle assumes that it must also be a beautiful whole, and proceeds to show that, if it is to be that, it must be of a certain magnitude, neither too long nor too short. Beauty, he says, depends on two conditions: the beautiful object must be (1) large enough to allow of our seeing the orderly arrangement of its parts, and (2) not so large as to be incapable of being taken in as a whole in one coup d'œil. With this we may compare Metaph. M 3, 1078 a 36

τοῦ δὲ καλοῦ μέγιστα εἴδη τάξις καὶ συμμετρία καὶ τὸ ὡρισμένον

—where τάξις corresponds with the first, and τὸ ὡρισμένον with the second of the two conditions in the present passage. For the form of the opening statement comp. De long. vitae 5, 466 a 26

τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ζῷα καὶ φυτά

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-301

ζῷον : 23, 1459 a 20

ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον ποιῇ τὴν οἰκείαν ἡδονήν

. The analogy between a literary whole and a living organism is postulated in Plato Phaedr. 264 c

ἀλλὰ τόδε γε οἶμαί σε φάναι ἄν, δεῖν πάντα λόγον ὥσπερ ζῷον συνεστάναι σῶμά τι ἔχοντα αὐτὸν αὐτοῦ, ὥστε μήτε ἀκέφαλον εἶναι μήτε ἄπουν, ἀλλὰ μέσα τε ἔχειν καὶ ἄκρα, πρέποντ᾿ ἀλλήλοις καὶ τῷ ὅλῳ γεγραμμένα

. It seems to mean here a living, as distinct from an artificial, whole, as it clearly does in Top. 1. 15, 106 a 20

τῷ καλῷ τῷ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ ζῴου τὸ αἰσχρόν, τῷ δ᾿ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας τὸ μοχθηρόν

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-303

1450b35 πρᾶγμα a 'thing': Top. 1. 5, 102 a 18

ἴδιον δ᾿ ἐστὶν μὴ δηλοῖ μὲν τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι, μόνῳ δ᾿ ὑπάρχει καὶ ἀντικατηγορεῖται τοῦ πράγματος

. — De anima 3. 8, 432 a 3

πρᾶγμα οὐθέν ἐστι παρὰ τὰ μεγέθη, ὡς δοκεῖ, τὰ αἰσθητὰ κεχωρισμένον

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-304

1450b36 μέγεθος ὑπάρχειν μὴ τὸ τυχόν : De gen. an. 2. 6, 745 a 5

ἔστι γάρ τι πᾶσι τοῖς ζώοις πέρας τοῦ μεγέθους

. — Pol. 7. 4, 1326 a 35

ἔστι τι καὶ πόλεσι μεγέθους μέτρον, ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων, ζῴων φυτῶν ὀργάνων

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-305

1450b37 μεγέθει : Eth. N. 4. 7, 1123 b 6

ἐν μεγέθει γὰρ ἡ μεγαλοψυχία, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ κάλλος ἐν μεγάλῳ σώματι, οἱ μικροὶ δ᾿ ἀστεῖοι καὶ σύμμετροι, καλοὶ δ᾿ οὐ

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-306

τάξει According to Top. 3. 1, 116 b 21 , beauty is thought to consist in συμμετρία (

τὸ δὲ κάλλος τῶν μελῶν τις συμμετρία δοκεῖ εἶναι

); and according to Metaph. M 3, 1078 a 36 in τάξις καὶ συμμετρία καὶ τὸ ὡρισμένον. In the beauty of a μῦθος, however, there is no room for the idea of συμμετρία.

1450b38

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-307

συγχεῖται The reason for our not seeing any beauty in a very minute creature is that we perceive it as a whole too quickly to discern the parts and the order and symmetry there may be in them. συγχεῖται = 'becomes blurred, or indistinct', as in H. A. 7. 5, 585 a 34

συγκεχυμένον μέλαν

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-308

1450b39 θεωρία 'sight' or 'view' (comp. Bon. Ind. 329 a 31 ).

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-309

ἀναισθήτου χρόνου There is no necessity to bracket χρόνου (with Bonitz). The time a thing takes to be seen may be of perceptible or of imperceptible duration; and in the latter case it may very well be described as an ἀναίσθητος χρόνος, a time too short for one to be conscious of its duration. This expression appears in the definition of the 'sudden' in Phys. 4. 13, 222 a 15

τὸ δ᾿ ἐξαίφνης τὸ ἐν ἀναισθήτῳ χρόνῳ διὰ μικρότητα ἐκστάν

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-310

1451a1 οὔτε παμμέγεθες comp. the rule for the size of the πόλις in Pol. 5. 2, 1302 b 35 and 7. 4, 1326 a 35 .

1451a3

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-311

ὥστε marks the apodosis (comp. 9, 1452 a 10 and Bon. Ind. 873 a 31 ).

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-312

καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν συστημάτων The argument proceeds on the assumption of an analogy between a beautiful whole that addresses the eye, and one that addresses the mind; and the conclusion is that as the one is εὐσύνοπτον, so the other must be εὐμνημόνευτον. At this point Aristotle changes his construction, repeating his original statement ( 1450 b 34 ) in the form required for an argument from analogy, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν συστημάτων καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ζῴων . . . οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων, with συστημάτων as a short equivalent for the foregoing ἅπαν πρᾶγμα ὃ συνέστηκεν ἐκ τινῶν. A σύστημα is a product of combination, something that comes into being through a union, natural or artificial, of parts into a whole; a state, for instance, is a σύστημα ( Eth. N. 9. 8, 1168 b 32 ) as being due to a combination of classes or individuals, and a ζῷον is a σύστημα ( De gen. an. 2. 4, 740 a 20 ), as being an organized whole of parts. The present passage, however, implies a more restricted sense of σύστημα, as though the term were properly applicable only to a whole that is made, as distinct from an organic whole, which grows to be what it is. This or some similar sense is suggested by the passage also in Eth. N. 9. 8, 1168 b 32

ὥσπερ δὲ καὶ πόλις τὸ κυριώτατον μάλιστ᾽ εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ πᾶν ἄλλο σύστημα, οὕτω καὶ ἄνθρωπος

—where the implication is that a man is not a σύστημα proper, though his composite nature gives him a certain resemblance to one. The difficulty in the manuscript reading σωμάτων is that the word would have to be understood in one of two senses, either in that of ‘material substances’, or in that of ‘living bodies’. The first interpretation is out of the question, since beauty is in the τάξις or συμμετρία τῶν μερῶν, and, therefore, in the form, not in the matter, of things. The second, which makes ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων and ἐπὶ τῶν ζῴων mere synonyms, leaves us without any equivalent for the ἅπαν πρᾶγμα ὃ συνέστηκεν ἐκ τινῶν of his original statement ( 1450 b 34 ), which was, if I am not mistaken, far too important for Aristotle's argument to be ignored in any résumé of it (comp. J. of Phil. 5 p. 120 ).

1451a4 ἐπὶ τῶν ζῴων see on 1450 b 36 .

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-313

εὐσύνοπτον 'easily taken in as a whole by the eye', as opposed το εὐμνημόνευτον (a 5), 'easily taken in as a whole by the memory'. The word, however, is metaphorically used as equivalent to εὐμνημόνευτος in 23, 1459 a 33 , as also in Rhet. 3. 9, 1409 b 35

λέγω δὲ περίοδον λέξιν ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ τελευτὴν αὐτὴν καθ᾿ αὑτὴν καὶ μέγεθος εὐσύνοπτον

ἡδεῖα δ᾿ ἡ τοιαύτη καὶ εὐμαθής .. εὐμαθὴς δὲ ὅτι εὐμνημόνευτος

1451a6

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-314

ὅρος ὁ μὲν πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας the limit in practice, in contradistinction to the theoretic limit of length, ὁ κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν φύσιν τοῦ πράγματος ὅρος (a 9) . In actual practice the length of the play is determined by the conditions of the public performances ( ἀγῶνες) in which it will be presented on the stage; the time it is to occupy there is fixed by custom and convention rather than theory.

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-315

1451a7 τὴν αἴσθησιν scil. ">τῶν θεατῶν (see on 15, 1454 b 15 ); comp. 4, 1449 a 8

πρὸς τὰ θέατρα

. The language here, though quite general, seems to refer more especially to the power of attention in the audiences.

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-316

1451a8 ἑκατὸν τραγῳδίας ἀγωνίζεσθαι an extreme instance like the μυρίων σταδίων ζῷον in a 2. The subject of ἀγωνίζεσθαι, if expressed, would be 'the performers', ἀγωνίζεσθαί τι in stage matters being synonymous with ὑποκρίνεσθαί τι; comp. Demosth. 19, 246

τοῦτο δὲ τὸ δρᾶμα Μόλων ἠγωνίζετο

. — 250

ἃ ἡγωνίσω καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐξηπίστασο

. — 337

τὰ Θυέστου... ἠγωνίζετο

(see on 6, 1450 b 18 ). In the sense of 'contend', as said of the dramatic poet, it would require an instrumental dative ( τραγῳδίαις) after it. The personification implied in Tyrwhitt's rendering, 'si centum tragoedias in theatro certare oporteret', is (I think) questionable in Aristotle. Goulston takes ἀγωνίζεσθαι as a passive (= agi) as it certainly sometimes is.

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-317

πρὸς κλεψύδρας For the preposition comp. fr. 468 Teubn.

μέτρον τί ἐστιν ὕδατος πρὸς μεμετρημένον ἡμέρας διάστημα ῥέον ... πρὸς δὴ τοῦτο ἠγωνίζοντο οἱ μέγιστοι καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ἀγῶνες

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-318

1451a8-9 ὥσπερ ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτέ †φασιν† The idea of tragedies having been at some date or other timed by the clepsydra is to my mind highly improbable, and there is no hint of such a thing elsewhere. The language also here is not free from difficulties. Tyrwhitt translates it by 'quemadmodum aliquando alias etiam factum esse perhibent'; and Vahlen (Berlin Academy, Sitzungsberichte 1897 p. 639) by 'wie man sagt, dass sie auch sonst gespielt haben'. To get this out of the words, and make them relate to Tragedy, or rather the past history of Tragedy, it becomes necessary to supply (with Vahlen) an aorist infinitive, ἀγωνίσασθαι, from the preceding imperfect ἠγωνίζοντο, and also to make ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε mean simply 'once' or 'formerly', though its natural meaning would be 'at a certain other time'. Two instances have been pointed out of ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε: Xenophon Anab. 6. 4. 12

ὑμᾶς δεῖ παρασκευάζεσθαι ὡς μαχουμένους εἴ ποτε καὶ ἄλλοτε

[= 'si unquam alias']; Lucian Hermot. 24

ἤδη γάρ ποτε καὶ ἄλλοτε

[= 'alias quondam']

πρεσβύτου ἀνδρὸς ἤκουσα διεξιόντος

. These, however, are not enough to show that ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε can only refer to an indefinite past or future; with a verb in the present it may very well refer to the indefinite present also, and have the sense of 'at certain other times', just in the same way as ποτέ, with a present, means 'at certain times' in Soph. el. 16, 175 a 27

συμβαίνει δέ ποτε καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς διαγράμμασιν

, and in the familiar antithesis of ποτέ and ἀεί. M. Schmidt's correction, εἰώθασιν (for φασιν), though perhaps too bold, yields an unimpeachable sense, 'as is regularly done at certain other times', i. e. by another class of ἀγωνισταί, the pleaders in the law-courts. As a variation on it, to make the sense clearer, I would suggest ὥσπερ ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοι εἰώθασιν.

1451a10

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-319

ὁ δὲ ... ὅρος is appositional to what follows.

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-320

ὁ μείζων scil. μῦθος; comp. Tyrwhitt's rendering 'quo maior est fabula'.

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-321

σύνδηλος is explained in the reference to this passage in 24, 1459 b 18

τοῦ μὲν οὖν μήκους ὅρος ἱκανὸς ὁ εἰρημένος· δύνασθαι γὰρ δεῖ συνορᾶσθαι τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὸ τέλος

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-322

1451a12 ἐν ὅσῳ μεγέθει κτέ. A reminiscence apparently of the language of Plato Rep. 423 B

Οὐκοῦν, ἦν δ᾿ ἐγώ, οὗτος ἂν εἴη καὶ κάλλιστος ὅρος τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἄρχουσιν, ὅσην δεῖ τὸ μέγεθος τὴν πόλιν ποιεῖσθαι... Τίς, ἔφη, ὅρος; Οἶμαι μέν, ἦν δ᾿ ἐγώ, τόνδε· μέχρι οὗ ἂν ἐθέλῃ αὐξανομένη εἶναι μία, μέχρι τούτου αὔξειν, πέρα δὲ μή.

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-323

κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἐφεξῆς γιγνομένων scil. τῶν πραγμάτων (see on 6, 1449 b 26 ). The consequents must be always the natural or necessary effect of the antecedents. A well-constructed μῦθος is a consecutive whole, not a mere series of incidents which happen to follow one after the other in actual order of time (comp. 10, 1452 a 19 ); and it is this that differentiates it from a history or a biography (comp. 9, 1451 a 36 ), which records everything that may have befallen a community or an individual, however loose and separate the various incidents were in themselves (comp. 23, 1459 a 23 ). The poetic story in fact must satisfy our sense of logic, incident following after incident as its necessary and inevitable, or as its probable and natural consequence. The technical meaning of the terms εἰκός and ἀναγκαῖον in Aristotle may be seen from An. post. 2. 27, 70 a 4

τὸ μὲν εἰκός ἐστι πρότασις ἔνδοξος· ὃ γὰρ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ ἴσασιν οὕτω γινόμενον ἢ μὴ γινόμενον, ἢ ὂν ἢ μὴ ὄν, τοῦτ᾿ ἐστὶν εἰκός, οἷον τὸ μισεῖν τοὺς φθονοῦντας ἢ τὸ φιλεῖν τοὺς ἐρωμένους

. — Rhet. 1. 2, 1357 a 34

τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰκός ἐστιν [τὸ] ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ γινόμενον ... τὸ περὶ τὰ ἐνδεχόμενα ἄλλως ἔχειν

. — Metaph. Γ 5, 1010 b 28

τὸ ἀναγκαῖον οὐκ ἐνδέχεται ἄλλως καὶ ἄλλως ἔχειν

. — Δ 5, 1015 a 34

τὸ μὴ ἐνδεχόμενον ἄλλως ἔχειν ἀναγκαῖόν φαμεν οὕτως ἔχειν

. The distinction between the two terms had been already recognized by Plato: Theaet. 149 C

εἰκός τε καὶ ἀναγκαῖον

. — Tim. 40 E

ἄνευ τε εἰκότων καὶ ἀναγκαίων ἀποδείξεων λέγουσιν

. They were, it would seem, already established in the rhetorical terminology of the sophists (Stallbaum on Tim. 40 E).

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-324

1451a13 εἰς εὐτυχίαν κτἑ. This is obviously meant to apply only to the tragic hero, not to the secondary personages in the play, about whom Aristotle has very little to say. Though he acknowledges the legitimacy of a transition from misery to happiness as a dramatic motive — it will be remembered that it is the motive in the Iphigenia in Tauris (comp. 17, 1455 a 12

καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἡ σωτηρία

) — he does not think it so distinctively tragic or so effective in Tragedy as the opposite kind of transition, that from happiness to misery ( 13, 1453 a 14 sqq. ).

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-325

1451a14 μεταβάλλειν The synonym for this in 13, 1453 a 2 is μεταπίπτειν. The implied subject of μεταβάλλειν is 'the tragic hero'; comp. 13, 1452 b 34

οὔτε τοὺς ἐπιεικεῖς ἄνδρας δεῖ μεταβάλλοντας φαίνεσθαι ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν

, and 14, 1453 a 1

οὐδ᾿ αὖ τὸν σφόδρα πονηρὸν ἐξ εὐτυχίας εἰς δυστυχίαν μεταπίπτειν

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

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-205

7.4 3. Le commencement, c'eſt ce qui ne ſuppoſe rien neceſſairement avant ſoy.]¹

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-206

7.4 4. Et qui exige aprés ſoy quelque choſe qui eſt, ou qui doit être.]²

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-207

7.5 5. La fin eſt tout le contraire.]³

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-208

7.6 6. Et le milieu, c'eſt ce qui ſuppoſe quelque choſe qui doit préceder, & qui exige quelque choſe qui doit ſuivre.]⁴

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-209

7.7 7. Ceux donc qui veulent bien dreſſer un ſujet, ne peuvent ny commencer ny finir par tout où il leur plaît.]⁵

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-210

7.8 8. Ajoûtez à cela que tout ce qu'il y a de beau parmy les animaux, & parmy les autres Êtres, ſi il eſt compoſé de parties, doit avoir non ſeulement un ordre, mais encore une grandeur juſte & raiſonnable.]⁶

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-211

7.8 9. S'il eſt compoſé de parties.]⁷

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-212

7.9 10. C'eſt pourquoy rien de fort petit ne peut être beau.]⁸

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-213

7.9 11. Parce que la veuë ſe confond dans un objet qu'on voit en un moment preſque inſenſible.]⁹

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-214

7.10 12. Rien de trop grand ne peut être beau non plus.]¹⁰

13. mvp-aristotle-comment-215

7.10 13. De même il faut que les ſujets dramatiques, ayent une étenduë que la memoire puiſſe retenir ſans peine.]¹¹

14. mvp-aristotle-comment-216

7.11 14. Or la meſure préciſe de cette grandeur, pour ce qui regarde la durée de la repreſentation, & de l'attention du ſpectateur, ne peut être decidée par des regles certaines & fixes.]¹²

15. mvp-aristotle-comment-217

7.11 15. Car s'il falloit joüer, par exemple, cent Tragedies dans un jour, il faudroit meſurer le temps de chacune à la Clepſydre.]¹³

16. mvp-aristotle-comment-218

7.11 16. Comme on dit que cela ſe pratiquoit autrefois.]¹⁴

17. mvp-aristotle-comment-219

7.12 17. Et aſſeurer que plus une piece aura d'étenduë, plus elle ſera belle dans ſa grandeur; pourvu qu'elle ne croiſſe que juſqu'à ce que le ſujet puiſſe être vû tout enſemble, ſans que la veuë s'égare ny ſe confonde.]¹⁵

18. mvp-aristotle-comment-220

7.12 18. C'eſt-à-dire, qu'une piece pour avoir ſa juſte étenduë, doit occuper autant de temps qu'il en faut neceſſairement, ou vray-ſemblablement, pour bien amener tous les incidens.]¹⁶

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

59. mvp-aristotle-comment-59

NOTE 59. P. 78

7.4 A BEGINNING, IS THAT, &C.

See Harris, Philol. Inq. Part II. ch. v. These definitions must be understood wholly to refer to the wants, and expectations, of the spectator. He must want nothing before the beginning, nor expect any thing after the end. Nothing, however, is more common than both these defects; than perplexed beginnings, and unsatisfactory conclusions. Henry Fielding, we are told, used

"to execrate the man who invented fifth acts."

The inventor of first acts has not given dramatic Poets much less trouble. Most modern plays have, I think, more or less of this intricacy in their beginnings; but it is especially the case with Comedy. It seems, indeed, by no means easy for a modern comic writer, of whom invention, novelty, variety of incidents, and ingenuity of contrivance, are required,

δουναι

, as Aristotle well expresses it,

ὥσπερ ἐις την χειρα, την ἀρχην

—"to put the beginning fairly into the spectator's hand." The spectator, and even the reader, of a new Comedy, is generally employed, during the first scenes, in guessing an ænigma; and when, at length, he comprehends what is going forward, his attention, interest, and sympathy, are disturbed and distracted, by looking back, to understand what he should have understood at first. Hence the advantage which the Tragic Poet, from the notoriety of his subjects, generally possesses over the Comic; and which is so pleasantly described in the fragment preserved by Athenæus from Antiphanes or Aristophanes:—

Μακαριον ἐστιν ἡ Τραγῳδια
Ποιημα κατα παντ· ἐιγε πρωτον οι λογοι
Υπο των θεατων εισιν ἐγνωρισμενοι
Πριν και τιν ἐιπειν, ὡς ὑπομνησαι μονον
Δει τον ποιητην. Οιδιπουν γαρ ἀν γε φω,
Τα δ άλλα παντ᾿ ἰσασιν· ὁ πατηρ Λαϊος,
Μητηρ Ιοκαστη· θυγατερες, παιδες, τινες –
Τι πεισεθ' ἐτω, τι πεποιηκεν—ἂν παλιν
Ειπη τις Αλκμαιωνα, και τα παιδια
Παντ᾽ ἐυθυς ἐιρηκεν ὅτι μανεις ἀπεκτονε
Την μητερα. —
Ἡμιν δε ταυτ᾿ ἐκ ἐστιν· άλλα παντα δει
Ευρειν, ὀνοματα καινα, τα διῳκημενα
Προτερον, τα νυν παροντα, την καταστροφην,
Την ἐσβολην· ἂν ἐν τι τετων παραλιπη
Χρεμης τις, ή Φειδων τις, ἐκσυριττεται,
ΠΗΛΕΙ δε ταυτ᾿ ἐξεστι και ΤΕΥΚΡΩΙ ποιον.

Athen. lib. vi. See Casaubon, in locum. Thus rendered by Grotius—

Scilicet Tragedia
Felix poema est: nam principio cognitum
Argumentum omne spectatori est, antequam
Verbum hiscat aliquis: nomen tantum dicere
Poetræ satis est. Oedipum præscripsero,
Jam reliqua per se norunt; pater est Laïus,
Jocasta mater; tum qui nati et filiæ,
Quid fecit, quid patietur. Si promiserit
Alemæona alius, ipsi dicent pueruli,
"Hic ille est qui interfecit matrem insaniens."—
At nobis ista non licent, sed omnia
Sunt invenienda, nomina imprimis nova,
Res antegestæ, res præsentes, exitus,
Initia. Ex illis siqua pars defecerit,
Exsibilatur Phido, sive ille est Chremes;
Illa alia facere Peleo et Teucro licet.

Excerpta ex Trag. et Com. Græcis, p. 622.

When the middle of a drama is not sufficiently connected with what precedes, that is, in Aristotle's language, when it is not,

ἀυτο μετ᾿ άλλο

, a new plot seems to begin: a fault not uncommon in double and complicated fables. If, on the other hand, it wants the

μετ' ἐκεινο ἑτερον

, the piece seems finished before its time. The Sampson Agonistes of Milton, according to Dr. Johnson, is deficient in both requisites of a true, Aristotelic middle. Its

"intermediate parts have neither cause nor consequence, neither hasten nor retard the catastrophe."

Life of Milton. The criticism appears to be just. It is seldom, however, that a beginning, a middle, or an end, is defective in both the conditions required. A beginning, which, strictly speaking, did not naturally require any thing to follow it, (

μετ' ἐκεινο ἑτερον πεφυκεν ἐιναι

,) would put even the most attentive spectator into the situation of Shakspeare's drowsy tinker:

Sly. A goodly matter, surely. Comes there any more of it?
Page. My Lord, 'tis but begun.

Taming of the Shrew. The most usual defects, and which, I suppose, Aristotle had principally in view, are those of beginnings which do not properly, in his sense, begin, and of endings which do not end. The first perplex us, by supposing something to have preceded, without clearly telling us what; the other leave us dissatisfied, by disappointing our natural expectations of something more to follow. Of this last fault, instances may be found in abundance; particularly in the conclusions of Shakspeare¹. In Plautus, and even in Terence, we find this imperfection supplied by a very simple and clumsy contrivance, that, of informing the audience that the play was over, and telling them in what manner they were to suppose the catastrophe completed.

Spectatores, Fabula hæc est acta: vos plausum date.

Plaut. Mostel.

Spectatores, quod futurum est intus, hic memorabimus.
Hæc Casina hujus reperietur filia esse è proxumo;
Eaque nubet Euthynico nostro herili filio.

Id. in fine Casinæ.

Ne expectetis dum exeant huc: intus despondebitur;
Intus transigetur, si quid est quod restat.

Ter. And.

The fault opposite to this—that, of prolonging the piece beyond the point of satisfactory conclusion—has been attributed to the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles. The criticism is tasteless, on every account. The reader may see it well confuted by Brumoy. But one of his answers is alone sufficient, on the principles of Aristotle:

"Le spectateur en effet seroit-il content s'il ignoroit le sort de Jocaste, d'Oedipe, et de sa famille?"

Theatre des Grecs, i. 376. &c.

"Oedipus,"

Voltaire says,

"is fully acquainted with his fate at the end of the fourth act. Voila donc la piece finie."

Critique sur l'Oedipe de Sophocle. —He might have learned better criticism from a writer of far inferior abilities.

"Il faut aussi prendre garde que la catastrophe achéve pleinement le Poeme dramatique; c'est à dire, qu'il ne reste rien aprés, ou de ce que les spectateurs doivent sçavoir, ou qu'ils vueillent entendre; car s'ils ont raison de demander, Qu'est devenu quelque personnage interessé dans les grandes intrigues du Theatre, ou s'ils ont juste sujet de sçavoir, Quels font les sentimens de quelq'un des principaux acteurs aprés le dernier evenement qui fait cette catastrophe, la piece n'est pas finie, il y manque encore un dernier trait'."

D'Aubignac, Pratique du Theatre, tom. i. p. 126. That is to say, in Aristotle's language, a drama so concluded, (as the Oedipus Tyrannus would be, if it ended with the fourth act,) would want the true

τελευτη

, or end—that, after which,

άλλο οὐδεν ΠΕΦΥΚΕΝ ἐιναι

60. mvp-aristotle-comment-60

NOTE 60. P. 79.

7.8 WHETHER IT BE AN ANIMAL, &C.

Αλλα τοδε γε οιμαι σε φαναι ἀν δειν, παντα λογον ΩΣΠΕΡ ΖΩΟΝ συνεσταναι, σωμα τι ἐχοντα αυτον αὑτου ὡστε μητε ΑΚΕΦΑΛΟΝ ειναι μητε ΑΠΟΥΝ, άλλα ΜΕΣΑ τε εχειν, και ΑΚΡΑ, πρεποντα άλληλοις και τω ὍΛΩ.

Plato, in Phædro, p. 264, ed. Ser.

61. mvp-aristotle-comment-61

NOTE 61. P. 79.

7.8 BEAUTY CONSISTS IN MAGNITUDE AND ORDER.

There is something singular, something, at least, not quite consonant to modern ideas, in the great stress which the antients appear to have laid upon size, as a necessary constituent of beauty in the human form. They seem, indeed, to have despised every thing that was not large; and to have estimated beauty, not by measure only, but by weight also.

"Magnanimity,"

the Philosopher in his Ethics says,

"consists in greatness of soul, as beauty also consists in greatness of body. Little men may be called

άστειοι

, and

συμμετροι

, pretty, and well-shaped, but not

ΚΑΛΟΙ

, handsome, or beautiful."

Ethic. Nicom. lib. iv. cap. 3.

That magnitude should have entered, as essential, into their idea of a handsome man, is not surprising. The utility of strength, and the connection between strength and size, is sufficient to account for this. But what appears most singular is, that they insist no less upon the importance of magnitude to female beauty.

—ΘΗΛΕΙΩΝ δε ἀρετη, σωματος μεν, καλλος και ΜΕΓΕΘΟΣ.

Rhet. i. cap. v. Homer seldom omits size in his descriptions of this kind.

Ἔσκε δε πατρος ἐμοιο γυνη Φοινίσσ᾽ ἐνι οικῳ,
Καλη τε ΜΕΓΑΛΗ τε, και ἀγλαα ἔργ᾽ ειδυῖα.

Od. O. 416. Nor let it be objected, that this praise comes from a swine-herd; for Eurymachus, a suitor, and a courtier, compliments Penelope, by telling her, that she was more accomplished in mind, handsomer, and LARGER, than other women:

ἐπει περιεσσι γυναικων
Ειδός τε, ΜΕΓΕΘΟΣ τε, ἰδε φρενας ἔνδον ἐἴσας.

Od. Σ. 248. And, indeed, when Minerva, that Penelope might fascinate the suitors, anointed her with the cosmetic wash of Venus, and gave a supernatural heightening to all her charms, at the same time that she made her skin "whiter than ivory," she made her also "taller and stouter."

Αμβροτα δωρα δίδου, ἱνα μιν θησαιατ᾿ Αχαιοἰ
Καλλει μεν οι πρωτα προσωπα τε καλα καθηρεν
Αμβροσιῳ, οἱῳ περ ἐϋστεφανος Κυθέρεια
Χριεται, ἐυτ᾿ ἂν ἴῃ Χαριτων χορον ἱμεροεντα·
Και μιν ΜΑΚΡΟΤΕΡΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΑΣΣΟΝΑ θηκεν ιδεσθαι.

Ibid. 190. Thus, too, of the daughters of Pandarus:

Ἡρη δ αυτῃσιν περι πασεων δωκε γυναικων
Ειδος και πινυτην, ΜΗΚΟΣ δ᾽ ἐπορ᾿ Αρτεμις άγνη.

When Penelope, in the beginning of the twenty-first book, goes to fetch the key of the repository, where the bow of Ulysses was kept, Homer describes her as taking hold of the key with her "stout hand:"

Ἑιλετο δε κληιδ᾽ ἐυκαμπεα ΧΕΙΡΙ ΠΑΧΕΙΗ.

Od. Φ. 6. —which Ernestus, who allows, that,

"manu crassâ, non benè convenit feminæ pulchræ et reginæ,"

would fain soften down into the

main potelée

of the French. Quintilian observes of Zeuxis, who drew the heads and limbs of his figures very large, that, in this, he followed HOMER,

"cui validissima quæque forma, etiam in fæminis, placet;"

lib. xii. cap. 10. and, that he did this,

"id amplius atque augustius ratus:"

and, indeed, these ideas of the antients relative to beauty, both male and female, seem to have been owing, in part, at least, to their ideas of that majesty and dignity, which they considered as essential attributes of their divinities, and which imply superior size and strength. To tell a lady that she was taller and stouter than most of her sex, was a great compliment: it was comparing her to a goddess. It seems, then, that Shakspeare, in the quarrel between Helena and Hermia in his Midsummer Night's Dream, has, without knowing it, made Hermia perfectly classical in her resentment, and Lysander, in his reproaches:

Her. Puppet! Why so?—Ay, that way goes the game.
Now I perceive that she hath made compare
Between our statures; she hath urged her height,
And with her personage, her tall personage,
Her height, forsooth, she hath prevail'd with him.
Her. Little again?—nothing but low and little?
Why will you suffer her to flout me thus?
Let me come to her.
Lys. Get you gone, you dwarf,
You minimus of hind'ring knot-grass made,
You bead, you acorn!

Act iii. Scene 8.

62. mvp-aristotle-comment-62

NOTE 62. P. 79.

7.9 NO VERY MINUTE ANIMAL CAN BE BEAUTIFUL— NOR ONE OF A PRODIGIOUS SIZE.

I am by no means perfectly satisfied of the integrity of this passage; but no better comment can, I think, be given upon it, as it stands, than that of Beni.

"Non priora [i. e. quæ valdè pusilla,] quia eorum spectatio [

θεωρια

] momento penè temporis fiat, ac propterea spectatio ipsa confundatur; quod est, tantâ celeritate comprehendantur ac veluti absorbeantur partes omnes, ut non liceat partem à parte, ut caput à thorace, internoscere, atque adeo partes conferre mutuò, symmetriamque et proportionem agnoscere et æstimare. Non posteriora, [i. e. valdè magna,] quia, è contrario, in tam ingenti mole ac magnitudine, partium multitudo cognitionem impediat, quæ non possit simul [

ἅμα

] haberi: dum enim spectatur una, propter distantiam deperit et evanescit [

οἴχεται

] cognitio alterius; ita ut unum et totum non appareat animal."

Benii Comm. in Aristot. Poet. p. 205.

The reader may, after this, be amused with seeing what strange work Lord Shaftesbury has made with this passage in his explanatory translation of it.

63. mvp-aristotle-comment-63

NOTE 63. P. 80.

7.9 EASILY COMPREHENDED BY THE EYE, &C.

ΕΥΣΥΝΟΠΤΟΝ

—No words furnish a more striking proof of the richness, compression, force, and convenience, of the Greek language, than those which Aristotle here uses;

ευσυνοπτον, ἐυμνημονευτον, συνδηλον

. The reader needs only see to what a feeble length of periphrastic wire-drawing a translator is reduced, if he would give their full value:

"Easily comprehended by the eye."

"Que l'œil puisse comprendre et mesurer aisement et tout d'un coup."

[Dacier.]

"Qui puisse être saisi d'un même coup d'œil."

[Batteux; the most compressed of all Aristotle's translators.]

"Un tout ensemble où la vue ne s'égare point."

[Marmontel, Poetique Fr. Pref.]

Of the same kind are the words,

ἐυεπακολουθητον

—"such as the understanding can easily follow and keep up with"²:

εὐανάπνευστος

, of a period, "that does not put one out of breath"³.

64. mvp-aristotle-comment-64

NOTE 64. P. 80.

7.11 IF A HUNDRED TRAGEDIES &C.

The supposition of a hundred Tragedies performed in concurrence seems merely to be a sort of hyperbolical fling at the known intemperance of the Athenian people with respect to theatrical exhibitions; and Dacier has rightly, I think, accounted for this

exuberantia orationis

, as Victorius calls it⁴. But Dacier, and the Abbé Batteux after him, make Aristotle's expression too hyperbolical for hyperbole itself, when they translate,

"S'il falloit jouer cent Tragedies en un jour."

For if the Tragedies were only half an hour long, and played without intermission, they would have required a day of fifty hours. We must understand, surely, with Beni,

"Si centum Tragœdiæ, verbi gratiâ, totis illis spectaculorum diebus recitandæ proponerentur;"

Comment. p. 211. which will still leave hyperbole enough.

Dacier is also mistaken, I believe, in concluding, from what Aristotle says, that it was once an established custom with the Greeks to regulate the length of Tragedies by the clepsydra, or hour-glass. His expression seems to imply at least, that it had been rarely practised, if it does not, as M. Batteux thinks, imply some doubt, whether it had been done at all:—

ὥσπερ ποτε και άλλοτε ΦΑΣΙ

. Thus much, however, as to the limited length of these performances, we may easily conceive; that when, to gratify the immoderate fondness of the Athenians for the drama, an uncommon number of Tragedies were exhibited in concurrence, and the contending Poets were apt to encroach upon the patience of the audience, by lengthening out their pieces in order to shew off themselves, or their actors⁵, the Lord Chamberlain of these exhibitions might be obliged, in compliance with the clamours of the people, to confine the representation of each drama to some limited time.

Commentary on the Poetics (Henry James Pye, 1792) (OCR draft) (Henry James Pye's 1792 English commentary, aligned to the Kassel reference edition.) focus

7.2. mvp-aristotle-comment-20 7.7

BEAUTY DEPENDS ON SIZE AS WELL AS SYMMETRY.

ARISTOTLE having, in his definition of tragedy, mentioned [M] the possessing a certain degree of magnitude as one of its essential requifites, now proceeds to explain what he means by magnitude. He first [K] See Andrews's anecdotes. I must acknowledge an error in this point, in my first edition of the Poetic, and my obligation to the Critical Review for remarking it. [L] Those works of Mr. Pope, which, in the earlier editions, were styled ethic epistles, have had their titles fince changed to moral epistles, though they certainly have more relation to manners than morals. [Μ] Μεγέθος ἐχούσης. Aa informs

informs us, that not only a just proportion of parts, but fize also, sufficient to give the eye a power of readily observing that proportion, is essential to beauty: and, as an illustration of this, he mentions a very small animal, (such, I suppose, as an infect,) where the parts are too minute to be observed. After this, left the hypothefis should be carried too far, and beauty should be fuppofsed to encrease always according to fize, he shews, that the fame defect will also arife from extreme magnitude, and the proportion of the parts will equally escape our observation. He then proceeds to apply this to dramatic action, which, he says, will encrease in beauty, according to its magnitude, provided it is not so large, but that the whole may easily be comprehended by the memory; that is, I conceive, that the connexion of the beginning, the middle, and the end, with each other, may be readily perceived and retained. And, left he should be misunderstood, and supposed to be speaking of the actual bulk of the tragedy, he says, in direct terms, that it is nothing to the purpose; for if from the practice of the theatre, the time of reprefentation, and, consequently, the bulk of the piece, should be exactly limited, it has nothing to do with the length of the dramatic fable, whose excellence encreases in proportion to its magnitude, provided it is not too large to be perfpicuous. After this explicit distinction between the time of representation, and the extent of the fable, and which seems to have been made, from a notion that they might be confounded, shall we still be told that Ariftotle directs they ought to be exactly regulated by each other? The general fondness of the Greeks for magnitude in their objects of beauty, is very striking in the examples here brought by Aristotle to illustrate his position. He can find in nature objects too small, but none too large; and he is obliged to have recourse

POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. to an imaginary animal, several miles in length. As for the Greeks esteeming size, and even strength, as requisites to female beauty, the cause is not of very difficult investigation. In the ancient commonwealths, where there was no distinction between the foldier and the citizen; where civil authority could not be enjoyed without military service, nor military service performed without strength of body, the having a strong and vigorous offspring was the first, and, indeed, almost the only object in marriage; for wealth and rank were feldom attainable by matrimonial connections. Among modern nations, in general, these last are the only objects confidered in marriage [N]; and even in this country, where matches of inclination are more frequent, from our great intercourse with women, and their fuperior information and accomplishments, we are attached by a thousand means, which were perfectly unknown to the secluded beauties of Greece. A very elegant critic, it is true [o], says, that beautiful objects are • small.' But though under the word beauty here, (τὸ καλὸν) Ariftotle, undoubtedly, comprehends fublimity as well as beauty, I can by no means entirely agree with the hypothefis of Mr. Burke. Surely a woman of the largest size, justly and elegantly proportioned, with softness and delicacy of countenance, mildness of manner, and eyes ' expressive,' (to use Mr. Burke's own words) ‘of fuch gentle and amiable qualities, as correspond with the softness, smoothness, and delicacy of the outward [N] Anxious to match the generous steed, ، Where strength and swiftness mark the breed, • Regardless of his heir.' Marriage an Ode, anon. [o] Mr. Burke's Enquiry into the Origin of the Sublime and Beautiful, Part 111. fect. 111. Aa 2 ' form,'

' form,' may be more strictly called beautiful, even in the sense of Mr. Burke, than a little piquante brunette, whose lively eyes partake fomething of the δεινὸν, which he confiders as a cause of the fublime [P]. I do not mean that the fize should be extraordinary, any thing unnatural, whether large or small; any tendency to the dwarf, or the giant, can have no pretenfions to the merit (Q) of female beauty. Mr. Burke, indeed, makes the exception as to the dwarf. He says, ' should a per- • fon be found not above two or three feet high, supposing such a person to have all the parts of his (her) body of a delicacy suitable to fuch a size, and otherwife endued with the common qualities of other beau- • tiful bodies, I am pretty well convinced that a person of such a stature might be confidered as beautiful, MIGHT BE THE OBJECT OF LOVE.' It is to be remarked, that the example is a male; if it had been a female, or, being a male, if Mr. Burke had confulted the ladies, perhaps his conviction might not have been quite so strong, especially as to the last position. He adds, however; 'the only thing which could inter- ، pose to check our pleasure is, that such creatures, however formed, are unusual, and are often confidered as fomething monstrous.' ESSAY ON THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL, Part IV. SECT. XXIV. [P] In this cafe, however, it would not partake of the fublime; for though beauty may be compatible with large objects, fublimity is perfectly incompatible with small ones. [Q] See Note v. Chap. xxvI. CHAP.

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

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-56

Ritter, cap. 7 § 3

ὅλον δ' ἐστὶ - τελευτήν: totum esse cuius sit principium et finis et medium cum definitur, haec definitio tum erit manifesta, si quid sit principium et finis et medium non ignoraveris. tres igitur definitionis notiones statim explanantur. ἀρχὴ δ' ἐστὶν κτλ. quot modis ἀρχὴ diceretur, in Metaphysicis 1. 1. explicatur, huc pertinet quarta illa ratio: ἡ δὲ ὅθεν πρῶτον ἡ κίνησις πέφυκεν ἄρχεσθαι καὶ μεταβολή. ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ: aut necessario aut probabiliter. ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ idem est atque κατὰ τὸ εἰκός. vid. infra §. 7. κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον. c. 10, 3. ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκός. nimirum quod plerumque fit, id probabiliter fieri dicimus, quod semper, necessario id fieri colligimus. finis ex principio et medio ita procedere potest, ut aut praeter hunc alius esse non possit, aut talis consequatur qualis plerumque ex illo principio et medio nascitur. μήθ' ὁπόθεν ἔτυχεν ἄρχεσθαι μήθ' ὅπου ἔτυχε τελευτᾶν: tragoediae fabula ita constituenda est, ut actionis principium non desit, h. e. ut actio tragica ex aliaextra tragoediam sita non necessario consequatur. non negligendum est quod in definitione τῆς ἀρχῆς additur μετ' ἀνάγκης. nam quo minus quidquam praecesserit quo actio in tragoedia magnopere afficiatur, nihil est quod impediat, dummodo ne tale quid praegressum sit, unde nihil nisi actio illa tragica posset oriri: ita enim fabula principio suo orbata erit. idem dici de fine potest. ea enim fabula vere finita est, cuius actio ita exit, ut nova actio inde necessario consequi non videatur. mirum sane est, quod h. 1. nihil de trilogiis tragoediarum expositum invenimus. sane hic locus erat, si de illa compositione tragoediarum quidquam dicere voluisset.

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-57

Ritter, cap. 7 § 4

τὸ γὰρ καλόν ἐν μεγέθει καὶ τάξει ἐστί: pulchrum ( τὸ καλόν) oritur, ubi varium quoddam forma vel idea comprehenditur et in unum collectum a nobis percipitur. conf. Polit. VII, 4. p. 1326 a 32. θείας γὰρ δὴ τοῦτο δυνάμεως ἔργον, ἥτις καὶ τόδε συνέχει τὸ πᾶν, ἐπεὶ τό γε καλὸν ἐν πλήθει καὶ μεγέθει εἴωθε γίνεσθαι. de pulchri definitione ab Aristotele passim significata potius quam explicata disputavit Eduardus Müller in Historia doctrinae artis apud veteres vol. II. p. 95 sqq. ceterum structura verborum, coepta ab illis (§. 4 init.) ἔτι δ᾽ ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν cet., interiecta hac sententia τὸ γὰρ καλὸν ἐν μεγέθει cet. abrumpitur et demum §. 5. iterum inchoatur. quae secum comparantur haec sunt: ἔτι δ' ἐπεὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ ζῷον καὶ ἅπαν πρᾶγμα ὃ συνέστηκεν ἔκ τίνων, οὐ μόνον ταῦτα τεταγμένα δεῖ ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέγεθος ὑπάρχειν μὴ τὸ τυχόν ..., οὕτω (§. 5) καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μύθων ἔχειν μὲν μῆκος, τοῦτο δ᾽ εὐμνημόνευτον εἶναι. conf. Comment. ad c. 2, 1. ... διὸ οὔτε πάμμικρον ἄν τι γένοιτο καλόκ ζῷον .. οὔτε παμμέγεθες: hisce similia exposita legimus in Politicis VII, 4. – συγχεῖται γὰρ ἡ θεωρία κτλ. ubi contemplatio confunditur, unum illud ac varium simul percipere ideoque ipsum pulchrum agnoscere non pot- οἷον εἰ μυρίων σταδίων εἴη ζῷον: similiter sed minus ὑπερβολικῶς loquitur in Politicis VII, 4. p. 1326 a est.40. οἷον πλοῖον σπιθαμιαῖον μὲν οὐκ ἔσται πλοῖον ὅλως, οὐδὲ δυοῖν σταδίοιν. ::

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-58

Ritter, cap. 7 § 6

ὥσπερ ποτὲ καὶ ἄλλοτε φασίν: quid sibi velit hoc inane additamentum, nemo demonstrare potuit. si explicamus quomodo olim et alias factum esse dicunt, primum additur quod non inest in Graecis (factum esse), tum ἄλλοτε inepte post ποτέ et frigide adiungitur. nam si ποτέ et ἄλλοτε sibi respondent, varia tempora indicantur ¹). quapropter eae voces per xa ὶ connecti non possunt, non magis quam Latinis modo et modo dicere licet pro modo - modo. :

Aristote Poetics 7.6