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C'eſt pourquoy il me ſemble que tous les Poëtes, qui ont fait l'Heracleide, ou la Theſeide, ou pluſieurs autres Poëmes ſemblables, ſe ſont fort trompez, car ils ont crû mal à propos que parce que Theſée eſt un, & qu'Hercule eſt un, toute leur vie ne devoit faire qu'un ſeul ſujet, une ſeule fable, & que l'unité du Héros faiſoit l'unité d'action.

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.) — 8 focus

Μῦθος δ᾿ ἐστὶν εἷς, οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται, ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ γένει συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

Διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν ἁμαρτάνειν, ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληΐδα καὶ θησηΐδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γὰρ ἐπεὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

Ὁ δ᾿ Ὅμηρος, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει, καὶ τοῦτ᾿ ἔοικε καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἶον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν, οἵαν λέγομεν, τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιάδα.

Χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲ μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 8 focus

μῦθος δ’ ἐστὶν εἷς οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν· οὕτως δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν 20 ἁμαρτάνειν ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληίδα Θησηίδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γάρ, ἐπεὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

ὁ δ’ Ὅμηρος ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔοικεν καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν 25 γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν οἵαν λέγομεν τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιάδα.

30 χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν 35 ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲν μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 8 focus

Μῦθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται ἐὰν
περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν
ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν· οὕτως δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν,
ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν
ἁμαρτάνειν ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληίδα Θησηίδα καὶ
τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γάρ, ἐπεὶ εἷς
ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

ὁ δ᾽
Ὅμηρος ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔοικεν
καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν
γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον
πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι
ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲ θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον
ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν οἵαν
λέγομεν τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιά-
δα.

χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία
μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς
ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι ταύτης καὶ ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι
τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ
ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν
ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲν μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

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.) — 8 focus

Μῦθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς, οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται, ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα· τῷ γένει συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν ἁμαρτ¹άνειν, ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληΐδα καὶ Θησηΐδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γὰρ ἐπεὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

ὁ δ᾽ Ὅμηρος, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει, καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔοικε καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν, οἵαν λέγομεν, τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιάδα,

χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ 4 καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲ μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 8 focus

A plot does not have unity, as some people think, simply because it deals with a single hero. Many and indeed innumerable things happen to an individual, some of which do not go to make up any unity, and similarly an individual is concerned in many actions which do not combine into a single piece of action.

20 It seems therefore that all those poets are wrong who have written a Heracleid or Theseid or other such poems.¹ They think that because Heracles was a single individual the plot must for that reason have unity.

But Homer, supreme also in all other respects, was apparently well aware of this truth either by instinct or from knowledge of his art. For in writing an Odyssey he did not put in all that ever happened to Odysseus, his being wounded on Parnassus , for instance, or his feigned madness when the host was gathered(these being events neither of which necessarily or probably led to the other), but he constructed his Odyssey round a single action in our sense of the phrase. And the Iliad the same.

As then in the other arts of representation a single representation means a representation of a single object, so too the plot being a representation of a piece of action must represent a single piece of action and the whole of it; and the component incidents must be so arranged that if one of them be transposed or removed, the unity of the whole is dislocated and destroyed. For if the presence or absence of a thing makes no visible difference, then it is not an integral part of the whole.

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 8 focus

〈وحدة الفعل؛ مثل هوميروس〉

والخرافة وحكاية الحديث فليست كما ظن قوم أنها إن كانت إلى الواحد 〈فهى واحدة〉 وذلك أن أشياء كثيرة بلا نهاية تعرض لواحد، وهذه للبعض والأفراد، وليس شىء واحد، و〈كذلك قد〉 تكون أعمال كثيرة هى لواحد، وهذه لا يكون ولا واحد منها عمل واحد. ولذلك قد يشبه أن يكون أن جميع الشعراء 〈الذين ألفوا قصائد مثل〉 الايرقليدا والمعروفين بـ〈ـانشاء أمثال قصائد〉 ثيسيدا والذين عملوا مثل هذه الأشعار، وذلك أنهم يظنون أنه كان ايرقليس قد كان واحداً، أو تكون الخرافة 〈و〉حكاية الحديث قد كانت واحدة.

وأما أوميروس فانه كما أنه بينه وبينهم فرق فى أشياء أخر، وهذا يشبه أن يكون فى نظره نظراً جيداً إما بسبب الصناعة، وإما من أجل الطبيعة. وذلك أنه لما دون أمر «أودوسيا» لم يثبت كل ما عرض لأودوسوس بمنزلة الضربة وهذه [و]الشرور والغير التى كانت فى فارناوسوس، والسخط الذى سخطوا عليه فى الحرب الذى كان عند أغارومس، ولا أيضاً كل واحد واحد من الأشياء عرضت مما كانت الضرورة تدعو إلى أن يثبت فى المثال؛ لكن ما دونه بأن قصد به نحو عمل واحد، وهو المسمى «أودسيا» المنسوب إلى أودوسوس، وكذلك فعل فيما دونه من أمر «ايليادا».

فقد يجب إذاً أن التشبيهات والمحاكيات الأخر أن يكون التشبيه والمحاكاة الواحدة لواحد، وكذلك الخرافة فى العمل هى تشبيه ومحاكاة واحدة لواحد، وهذا كله الأجزاء أيضاً تقوم الأمور هكذا، حتى إذا نقل الانسان جزءاً ما أو رفع، يفسد ويتشوش ويضطرب كله بأسره؛ وذلك أن ما هو قريب إن لم يقرب لم يفعل شيئاً ويبلغ أن يكون كله كولا شىء هو جزء للكل نفسه.

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.) — 8 focus

Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist
in the unity of the hero. For infinitely various are the
incidents in one man's life which cannot be reduced to
unity; and so, too, there are many actions of one man
out of which we cannot make one action.

Hence the
error, as it appears, of all poets who have composed a
Heracleid, a Theseid, or other poems of the kind. They
imagine that as Heracles was one man, the story of
Heracles must also be a unity.

But Homer, as in all
else he is of surpassing merit, here too — whether from
art or natural genius — seems to have happily discerned
the truth. In composing the Odyssey he did not include
all the adventures of Odysseus such as his wound on
Parnassus, or his feigned madness at the mustering of
the host incidents between which there was no necessary
or probable connexion: but he made the Odyssey, and
likewise the Iliad, to centre round an action that in our
sense of the word is one.

As therefore, in the other
imitative arts, the imitation is one when the object imitated
is one, so the plot, being an imitation of an action, must
imitate one action and that a whole, the structural union
of the parts being such that, if any one of them is
displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and
disturbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes
no visible difference, is not an organic part of the
whole.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 8 focus

The Unity of a Plot does not consist, as some suppose,
in its having one man as its subject. An infinity of things
befall that one man, some of which it is impossible to reduce
to unity; and in like manner there are many actions of one
man which cannot be made to form one action.

One sees,
therefore, the mistake of all the poets who have written
a Heracleid, a Theseid, or similar poems; they suppose that,
because Heracles was one man, the story also of Heracles
must be one story.

Homer, however, evidently understood
this point quite well, whether by art or instinct, just in the
same way as he excels the rest in every other respect. In
writing an Odyssey, he did not make the poem cover all that
ever befell his hero-it befell him, for instance, to get wounded
on Parnassus and also to feign madness at the time of the call
to arms, but the two incidents had no probable or necessary
connexion with one another-instead of doing that, he took
an action with a Unity of the kind we are describing as the
subject of the Odyssey, as also of the Iliad.

The truth is
that, just as in the other imitative arts one imitation is always
of one thing, so in poetry the story, as an imitation of action,
must represent one action, a complete whole, with its several
incidents so closely connected that the transposal or with-
drawal of any one of them will disjoin and dislocate the
whole. For that which makes no perceptible difference by
its presence or absence is no real part of the whole.

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.) — 8.2 focus

Hence appears the mistake of all those Poets who have composed HERCULEIDS, THESEIDS, and other Poems of that kind. They conclude that because Hercules was one, so also must be the fable of which he is the subject.

[5]

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.) — 8.2 focus

From mistaking this, the error of those poets who wrote the Heracleid, the Theseid and other poems of that sort, seems to have proceeded: for they imagined as Hercules was one person, a fable that related only to him must consequently possess the proper unity. Homer as he was superior in every thing else, appears, either from art or natural genius, to have had the most excellent idea of this; for in composing the Odyssey he did not comprehend all that happened to Ulysses as his being wounded [B] on Parnassus or feigning¹²

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.) — 8.2 focus

and such like poems. For they suppose that because Hercules was one person, it was fit that the fable should be one. ¹ Homer, however, as he excelled in other things, appears likewise to have seen this clearly, whether from art, or from nature. For in composing the Odyssey, he has not related every thing which happened to Ulysses; such as the being wounded in Parnassus 1, and pretending to be insane at .-the muster of the Greeks; one of which taking place, it was not necessary or probable that the other should happen;

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.) — 8 focus

Fabula autem est una, non ut nonnulli opinantur, si circa unum aliquem yersatur: multa enim et infinita genere contingunt, ex quorum nonnullis nihil est unum. sic etiam actiones unius cuiusdam multae sunt, ex quibus una nulla fit actio.

quapropter omnes videntur crrare, quicumque poetarum Herculeidem et Theseidem et eiusmodi pocmata fecerunt: opinantur enim quoniam unus erat Hercules, unam etiam fabulam esse convenire.

Homerus autem, sicut etiam in aliis eminet, hoc quoque videtur bene perspexisse, sive propter artem sive propter ingenium: Odysseam enim dum pangit, non omnia panxit quae illi acciderunt, veluti hinc morsu ictum esse in Parnasso, insaniam inde simulasse in delectu, quorum neutrum, si alterum factum esset, neces sarium erat vel probabile fieri alterum, sed circa unam actionem, qualem dicimus, Odysscam panxit, itemque Iliadem.

oportet igitur, quemadmodum etiam in aliis artibus una imitatio unius rei est, sic etiam fabulam, quoniam actionis imitatio est, et unius esse et huius totius, partesque factorum ita coniunctas esse, ut translata aliqua parte vel sublata totum quoque differatur moveaturque: nam quod additum aut non additum nihil reddit notabile, ne pars quidem totius est.

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 8 focus

A Rahola fi dice eſſere vna, non in quel modo che certiaffermano, cioè ſe ella tratta d'un ſolo, perche e' fi dan molte coſe, & differenti di ſpetie: di certè delle quali non maine rifulta vna fola coſa. Et parimen te fi dan molte attioni d'un ſolo huomo, delle quali nó mai ne riſulta attione, che ſi poſſa dire vnica.¹

Diqui' nafce, che tutti pare che habbino errato quei Poeti, che P'Hercoleide, & la Thefeide, & altri Poemi fimili han no finto; penſando, che cofi come e fu vno ſolo Her cole:medefimamente ch'una fola Fauola di lui ſtia ben farfi.

Ma Homero coſi come egli è in tutte l'altre coſe eccellente, in queſto anchora pare, ch'egli habbia conofciuto l'ottimo, ò per arte,ò per natura che ciò accaduto gli ſia; perchè egli nell'Odiſſea non finge tutte le coſe, che à Vliſſe incontrarono : come è l'eſſere ſtato fe rito nel monte Parnaſo; & l'hauer' finto la pazzia nella ragtınanza de' Capitani. Delle quali due coſe l'una che fufſe ſtatay non era verifimile, nè neceſſario che e fuffe l'altra; ma meſſeui tutte quelle, che poteſsin' conſtituire vna ſola attione : quale noi chiamiamo l'Odif ſea.

Et il ſimile fe nell' Iliade. Debbe adunche, ficome nelle altre artı imitatrici interuiene, doue vna ſola imi tatione ui fi fa per vna fola coſa, parimente dico La Fa D'ARISTO TILE. uola, douendo imitare vna attione, debbe imitarne vna fola & intera; & debbono le parti d'effe faccéde, che vi fi contengono, di tal maniera ſtare inſieme accozzate, che qual ft voglia d'eſſe tramutata dal ſuo luogo, ò tole ta via, faccia variare, & rouinare quel tutto. Perchè quella cofa, che aggiuntagli, ò toltagli nó lo fa diuerfo, non ſi può di lui chiamar parte.

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.) — 8 focus

Fabula autem est una non ut aliqui putant, si circa unum sit: multa enim et infinita genere contingunt, ex quibus nonnullis nihil est unum. sed et actiones unius multae sunt, ex quibus nulla actio est una.

quare omnes videntur peccare, quicunque ex poetis Herculeidem Theseidem et talia poemata fecerunt: putant enim, quoniam unus erat Hercules, unam etiam fabulam convenire.

at Homerus ut et in aliis excellit, sic etiam hoc videtur pulchre vidisse, sive propter artem sive propter naturam. Odysseam enim faciens non descripsit omnia quaecunque ipsi contigerunt, ut eum accepisse vulnus in Parnasso, et simulasse insaniam in coitione exercitus, ex quibus non erat necessarium, altero facto, alterum factum esse; sed circa unam actionem, qualem dicimus esse Odysseam, invasit.

similiter et Iliadem. oportet igitur, ut in aliis imitatricibus una imitatio unius est, sic et fabulam, quoniam actionis imitatio est, et unius esse et huius totius, et partes constare rerum sić ut transposita aliqua aut ablata diversum reddatur et moveatur totum: quod enim cum adest aut non adest, nihil facit quod appareat, id ne pars quidem est.

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.) — 8 focus

Fabula autem est una non, sicut quidam putant, si circa unum sit; multa enim et infinita genere accidunt, ex quibus aliquibus nullum est unum.

Sic autem et actiones unius multe sunt, ex quibus una nulla fit actio. Propter quod omnes videntur peccare quicumque poetarum Eracleidem, Theseidem et talia poemata poetizaverunt; putant enim, quoniam unus erat Eraclees, unam et fabulam esse convenire.

Homerus autem, sicut et secundum alia differt, et hoc videtur bene nosse aut propter artem aut propter naturam ; Odysseiam enim faciens non poetizavit omnia quecumque ipsi acciderunt, puta vulneratum quidem fuisse in Parnaso, finxisse autem insanum esse in agermo, quorum nullum, altero facto, necessarium aut verisimile alterum fieri, sed circa unam actionem qualem dicimus Odysseiam constitit ; similiter autem et Iliadem. —

Oportet igitur, sicut et in aliis imitativis una imitatio unius est, sic et fabulam, quoniam actionis imitatio est, uniusque esse et huius totius et partes consistere rerum sic, ut transposita aliqua parte aut delata differre et moveri totum ; quod enim adiunctum aut non adiunctum nichil facit notabile, nulla pars totius est. —

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.) — 8 focus

‏والحرافة وحكاية الحديث فليست كما ظن قوم انها ان كانت الى الواحد وذلك ان اشيا كثيرة بلا نهاية تعرض لواحد وهذه للبعض والافراد وليس شى واحد وكذلك قد تكن اعمال كثيرة هى لواحد وهذه لا يكون ولا واحد منها عمل واحد

‏ولذلك قد يشبه ان يكون ان جميع الشعرا الايرقليدا والمعروفين بثسيدا والذين عملوا مثل هذه الاشعار وذلك انهم يظنون انه كان ايرقلس قد كان واحدا ان يكون الخرافة حكاية الحديث قد كانت واحدة

‏واما اوميروس فانه كما انه بينه وبينهم فرق فى اشيا اخر وهذا يشبه ان يكون فى نظره نظرا جيدا اما بسبب الصناعة واما من اجل الطبيعة وذلك انه لما دون امر اودوسيا لم يثبت كل ما عرض لاودوسوس بمنزلة الضربة وهذه [و]الشرور والغير التى كانت فى فارناوسوس والسخط الذى سخطوا عليه فى الحرب الذى كان عند اغارومس ولا ايضا كل واحد واحد من الاشيا عرضت مما كانت الضرورة تدعوا الى ان يثبت فى المٮال لكن ما دونه بان قصد به نحو عمل واحد وهو المسمى اودوسيا المنسوب الى اودوسوس وكذلك فعل فى ما دونه من امر ايليادا

‏فقد يجب اذا ان التشبهات والمحاكات الاخر ان يكون التشبيه والحماكاة الواحدة لواحد وكذلك الخرافة فى العمل هى تشبيه ومحاكاة واحدة لواحد وهذا كله الاجزا ايضا تقوم الامور هكذى حتى اذا نقل الانسان جزو ما او دفع يفسد ويتشوش ويضطرب كله باسره وذلك ان ما هو قريب ان لم يقرب لم يفعل شيا ويبلغ ان يكون كله نحو لا شى هو جزو للكل نفسه

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 8 focus

‏والحرافة وحكاية الحديث فليست كما ظن قوم انها ان كانت الى الواحد وذلك ان اشيا كثيرة بلا نهاية تعرض لواحد وهذه للبعض والافراد وليس شى واحد

‏وكذلك قد تكن اعمال كثيرة هى لواحد وهذه لا يكون ولا واحد منها عمل واحد

Commentary

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

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-335

οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη i. e. his poem was not made to cover the whole ground of the life of Ulysses, but only a selected section of it, a limited group of incidents sufficiently coherent and connected to form a single action of the requisite kind ( μίαν πρᾶξιν οἷαν λέγομεν a 28 ). The unity in the story of the Odyssey, as Aristotle conceives it, may be seen from his survey of the poem in 17, 1455 b 17 . The sense of the οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα in the text may be illustrated by the very similar expressions in 18, 1456 a 13

τὸν τῆς Ἰλιάδος ὅλον ποιεῖν μῦθον

, 16

πέρσιν Ἰλίου ὅλην ποιεῖν

, and 23, 1459 a 32

τὸν πόλεμον ποιεῖν ὅλον

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-336

1451a27 ὧν οὐδὲ θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι οἷον πληγῆναι μὲν, scil. αὐτῷ συνέβη. This and the second incident, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, are given as examples of two disconnected events in the life of Ulysses ( ὧν οὐδὲ θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, a 27 ). The antithetic particles ( μέν, δέ) imply a difference between them; the one ( πληγῆναι) is a πάθος, and the other ( μανῆναι προσποιήσασθαι) a πρᾶξις — a distinction which the preceding context (see on a 17 ) shows to have been already present in Aristotle's mind. I have ventured to restore οὐδέ in place of οὐδέν for two reasons, partly because with οὐδέν the verb ( γενέσθαι) seems to have two subjects ( οὐδέν and θάτερον), and partly because the ὧν being followed by θατέρου and θάτερον naturally refers to the two incidents just mentioned. It has been urged, as one of the difficulties in this statement, that the wounding of Ulysses is actually part of the Odyssey, being described at considerable length in the story of the Discovery in Od. 19, 392-466 . The Discovery is certainly part of the action of the Odyssey (v. 17, 1455 b 21 ), but the incident on Parnassus is in a very different position; it comes in as an episode (v. 17, 1455 b 23 ), not as one of the series of incidents which form the action of the poem. The action in the Odyssey (summarized in 17, 1455 b 17 sqq. ) extends over a space of some six weeks; but the encounter of the boy Ulysses with the boar belonged to a period of his life not covered by the Odyssey. The second incident, his feigned madness, is said to have been part of the story in the Cypria ( Kinkel, EGF. p. 18 ). Bergk (Gr. Litt. I p. 711) thinks there may have been some epic in which both incidents were included. The superior unity of the Homeric Epic is emphatically reasserted in 23, 1459 a 30 .

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-337

ὧν = ἀλλὰ τούτων.

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-338

1451a28 μίαν πρᾶξιν οἵαν λέγομεν 'a single action of the kind we are describing', i. e. one that forms a coherent and closely connected whole. The opposite of this is the μία πρᾶξις πολυμερής of the inferior epics ( 23, 1459 b 1 ). The reading of Ac, οἷαν λέγοιμεν, may have arisen through OIAN being misread, and taken to stand for οἷ᾽ἄν.

1451a34

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-339

διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι has been rendered in various ways— by

'diversum reddatur vel moveatur'

(Victorius) , by

'dissolvatur et luxetur'

(Heinsius) , and by

'differatur et moveatur'

(Tyrwhitt) . The general sense is clear: when a part in a whole is removed, by being transferred to another place or withdrawn altogether, the continuity of the whole is broken at that point. Both διαφέρεσθαι and κινεῖσθαι seem to be (as Heinsius must have seen) metaphors from surgery. διαφέρεσθαι may be regarded as a synonym for διίστασθαι, the term in use in medical Greek for the diastasis of a limb as distinct from a complete luxation ( ἐξίστασθαι or ὀλισθάνειν); comp. Hippocrates 3 p. 132 K.

ὁκόσα διίσταται καὶ ὁκόσα ὀλισθάνει

. If this view is correct, the κινεῖσθαι which follows will mean to be 'dislocated'. Hippocrates often has κινεῖσθαι and κίνημα in the sense of 'displacement' as an equivalent for diastasis (comp. 3 p. 81 K.

ἢν δέ τι κινηθῇ ἐκ τῆς χώρης

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-340

προσὸν ἢ μὴ προσόν comp. Metaph. M 10, 1076 a 2

οὐθὲν γὰρ ἡ ἑτέρα [scil. οὐσία] τῇ ἑτέρᾳ συμβάλλεται οὖσα ἢ μὴ οὖσα

, and Plato Rep. 449 D

μέγα γάρ τι οἰόμεθα φέρειν καὶ ὅλον εἰς πολιτείαν ὀρθῶς ἢ μὴ ὀρθῶς γιγνόμενον

. For this use of the participle see Goodwin, Syntax of Gk. moods and tenses § 829 (6) .

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-341

1451a35 οὐδὲν μόριον it is not a part of the whole, but an accident or addition to it; comp. De gen. an. 1. 4, 717 b 34

οὐθὲν γάρ εἰσι μόριον τῶν πόρων οἱ ὄρχεις, ἀλλὰ πρόσκεινται καθάπερ τὰς λαίας προσάπτουσιν αἱ ὑφαίνουσαι τοῖς ἱστοῖς

. In Metaph. Γ 5, 1010 a 30

οὗτος [scil. ὁ περὶ ἡμᾶς τόπος] οὐθὲν ὡς εἰπεῖν μόριον τοῦ παντός ἐστιν

, the phrase means practically 'is as nothing compared with', just like οὐδὲν μέρος in Isocrates 90 E

εἴ τις ἀθρήσειε καὶ σκέψαιτο τὰς τῶν Ἑλλήνων συμφοράς, οὐδὲν ἂν μέρος οὖσαι φανεῖεν τῶν ... ἡμῖν γεγενημένων

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

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-224

8.3 4. Homere, qui a excellé en tout ſur les autres Poëtes, me paroit avoir parfaitement connû ce défaut, ou par les lumières naturelles d'un heureux génie, ou par les regles de l'art.]¹

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-225

8.3 5. Par exemple, il n'a pas mêlé la bleſſure qu'il receut ſur le Parnaſſe, avec la folie qu'il feignit, lorſque les Grecs aſſembloient leur Armée.]²

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-226

8.3 6. Avec la folie qu'il feignit, lorſque les Grecs aſſembloient leur Armée.]³

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-227

8.3 7. Car de ce que l'une eſt arrivée, il ne s'enfuit, ny neceſſairement ny vray-ſemblablement, que l'autre doive arriver.]⁴

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-228

8.3 8. Mais il a employé tout ce qui pouvoit avoir raport à une ſeule & mème action, comme eſt celle de ſon Odyſſée. Il en a uſé de mème dans ſon Iliade.]⁵

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-229

8.4 9. Comme donc dans toutes les autres imitations, ce que l'on imite eſt un, il faut de mème que dans la Tragedie.]⁶

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-230

8.4 10. Et que ſes parties ſoient tellement liées les unes avec les autres, que ſi l'on en tranſpose, ou que l'on en ôte une ſeule, le tout ſoit entierement, ou changé, ou détruit.]⁷

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-231

8.4 11. Car tout ce qui peut être mis ou omis, ſans faire un changement ſenſible, ne peut être partie d'une action.]⁸

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

66. mvp-aristotle-comment-66

NOTE 66. P. 80.

8.3 EITHER FROM ART, OR GENIUS.

Ἢτοι δια τέχνην, Ἢ ΔΙΑ ΦΥΣΙΝ

. It appears from this, as well as from other passages of Aristotle's treatise, that in the midst of all the coldness of philosophical investigation and analysis, he never lost sight of the difference between that spontaneous operation of genius and feeling in the Poet, which produces poetic beauty, and the slow and cautious process of calm examination and inquiry in the Critic, whose business it is to discover its principles. It is not every philosophical critic that avoids this error. Nothing is more common, than to suppose that to have been produced by art and reflection, about which, when produced, art and reflection have been employed. Thus languages, we are told, must have been originally formed by art, because they cannot be analysed without art: Grammarians and Philosophers must have formed language, because language has formed Grammarians and Philosophers.¹

67. mvp-aristotle-comment-67

NOTE 67. P. 81.

8.3 BUT HE COMPREHENDED THOSE ONLY WHICH HAVE RELATION TO ONE ACTION, &C.

Οδυσσειαν γαρ ποιων, ἐκ ἐποιησεν ἅπαντα όσα αυτῳ συνεβη—ΑΛΛΑ περι μιαν πραξιν, οἱαν λεγομεν την Οδυσσειαν, ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΣΑΝ.

So the text stands.

"Non cecinit omnia----sed quæ circa unam solam actionem, qualem Odysseam dicimus, constituerunt."

[Goulston.] Victorius reads,

ΑΛΛ' Ἃ

, and

ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΣΕΝ

; but does injustice, I think, to his own reading, by his construction and his version:

πέρι μιαν πραξιν συνεστησεν

"circa unam actionem-MANSIT."

This is, surely, very harsh. I should punctuate, and translate, thus:—

ἀλλα περι μιαν πραξιν, οἱαν λεγομεν, την Οδυσσειαν συνεστησεν· ὁμοἰως δε και την Ιλιαδα.

[fc.

συνεστησεν

"Sed circa unam actionem, qualem dicimus, Odysseam constituit; pariterque Iliadem."

—"But he planned his Odyssey, as he also did his Iliad, upon an action, that is one, in the sense here explained." And that this is the true reading, and the true sense, of the passage, I was once thoroughly persuaded. The construction of the whole is, thus, clear and natural. The circumstance of the plural verb

συνεστησαν

with the plural neuter,

ἅ

, is avoided; and the word

συνεστησεν

retains its proper and usual sense, as applied, throughout, by Aristotle, to the composition, or construction, of the Fable. So, cap. ix.

συστησαντες τον μύθον

. cap. xvii. and xxiii.

τους μύθους συνισταναι

et passim. I will not, however, dissemble what is against me. The reading

ἀλλ' ἅ

, besides its support from MSS. answers better to the

ἅπαντα όσα

, which precedes:

οὐκ ἐποιησεν ΑΠΑΝΤΑ όσα αυτῳ συνεβη—ΑΛΛ' Ἃ περι μ. π. &c.

But, if

ἀλλ' ἅ

be retained, the passage, I think, should stand thus:—

ἀλλ' ἅ περι μιαν πραξιν, [sc. ἐστι,] οἱαν λεγομεν την Οδυσσειαν, ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΣΕΝ.

According to the construction of Piccolomini:—

"quelle cose accolfe, ch'al corpo d'una attione, la qual chiamiamo Odissea, servissero:"

—and the Abbé Batteux—

"Il a rapproché tout ce qui tenoit à une seule action."

—

συνεστησεν περι μιαν πραξιν

: i. e. composed his fable of those circumstances only, which relate to one action. Thus, immediately after—

τα ΜΕΡΗ ΣΥΝΙΣΤΑΝΑΙ των πραγματων

. Unwilling to make alterations that do not appear absolutely necessary, I have followed this last reading though with some remaining partiality to my first conjecture. That the sense would be clearer, and the construction less elliptical and embarrassed, is certain. But I am afraid this is but a questionable proof of corruption in the writings of Aristotle.²

68. mvp-aristotle-comment-68

NOTE 68. P. 81.

8.4 THE WHOLE WILL BE DESTROYED, OR CHANGED.

Destroyed, if any part be taken away, (

ἀφαιρεμενου

) — disturbed or changed, if it be transposed (

μετατιθεμενου

). In the first case it will be no longer a whole; in the last, not the same whole. This seems the meaning, as it is well rendered by M. Batteux:

"Que les parties en soient tellement liées entre elles, qu'une seule transposée, ou retranchée, ce ne soit plus un tout, ou le même tout."

—But I cannot think

διαφερεσθαι

right. It is rendered by Goulston,

"diversum reddatur, et moveatur, totum."

So Piccolomini,

"diverso----e mutato,"

&c. But, besides the manifest tautology, I doubt whether there be any good authority for this sense of the verb

διαφερεσθαι

—i. e. to be made different, or changed. At least I have not found any instance of it in Aristotle's writings. If we retain

διαφερεσθαι

, it must, I think, be taken in the sense of discerpi, distrahi, &c. But I am almost persuaded, that Aristotle wrote

ΔΙΑΦΘΕΙΡΕΣΘΑΙ

, spoiled, or destroyed. So in his Topics,

ΦΘΕΙΡΕΣΘΑΙ το ΟΛΟΝ

. vol. i. p. 258. B. 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

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-61

Ritter, cap. 8 § 3

Ὀδύσσειαν γὰρ ποιῶν: nomen Ὀδύσσειαν h. 1. posuit pro Ὀδυσσέως ποίημα, ein Odysseus-Gedicht. hoc tenendum est, primum ut cur articulus absit intelligamus, qui paulo post non deest ante Ὀδύσσειαν et Ἰλιάδα, tum ut mirum ne videatur post Ὀδύσσειαν ποιῶν sequi αὐτῷ, ad quod Ulixis nomen subintelligendum est. conf. Comment. ad c. 4,10. - οἷον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνάσσῳ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ: quemadmodum Homerus a violanda unitatis lege sibi caverit ut exemplo monstraretur, duo quae ex Ulixis vita memorari poterant selecta, sed ea et tempore discreta et nullo causae effectusque vinculo connexa, Aristoteles composuit, quorum prius ab Homero episodii loco narratur (Od. T. 430 sqq.), alterum silentio ab eodem transmittitur. nimirum talia qui coniuncta refert, is in rebus succedentibus neque probabilitatem neque necessitatem consectatur. nam post vulnus in Parnasso acceptum consequi fictam Ulixis insaniam, dum Graecorum exercitus repetendae a Troianis Helenae causa colligitur ( ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ), id neque probabile videtur neque necessario postulatur. qui haec iungit, τὰ γενόμενα narrat, non οἷα ἂν γένοιτο. nihil quidem refert, quod earum rerum 2) Theseis Diphili, unde duos versiculos metro Hipponacteo scriptos servavit Pindari scholiasta, huius hominis errori deberi videtur. nimirum Diphilus novae comoediae scriptor comoediam Θησέα, non epopoeiam Θησηΐδα, fecit. vid. Athen. VI. p. 262 A. X. p. 451 B et C. antiquam Θησηΐδα Pindari scholiasta sine nomine auctoris designavit ad Ol. ΙΙΙ, 52. ὁ γὰρ Θησηΐδα γράψας τοιαύτην ( χρυσόκερων) αὐτὴν (h. e. τὴν θήλειαν ἔλαφον) λέγει καὶ Πείσανδρος ὁ Καμειρεὺς καὶ Φερεκύδης.quae h. 1. commemorantur, una ab Homero proposita altera praetermissa est, sed tamen prudenter hoc fecisse Aristoteles videtur, ut magis illarum rerum discrepantia intelligeretur, cum idem poeta qui unam occasione data exposuit, alteram ne in episodio quidem admittendam putaret. copiose acuteque de hoc loco disputavit Gr. Guil. Nitzsch de Historia Homeri Meletem. fasc. II. pag. 4-6. περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν, οἵαν λέγομεν: ne perperam acciperentur quae de una actione dicuntur, additum est οἷαν λέγομεν, qualem dicimus (was wir darunter verstehen). quippe intelligit πρᾶξιν ex pluribus quidem πράγμασιν constantem sed in unum collectam, eo quod singulae actionis partes secundum legem necessitatis vel probabilitatis sese excipientes totum quoddam conficiunt. hoc unum in Odyssea est reditus Ulixis, in Iliade ira Achillis.

Aristote Poetics 8.2

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NOTE 66. P. 80.

NOTE 67. P. 81.

NOTE 68. P. 81.

Ritter, cap. 8 § 3

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