3.
mvp-aristotle-comment-347
σπουδαιότερον
is the opposite of
φαυλότερον.
In Plato also
σπουδαῖος (v. Ast, Lex. s.v.) is applied to things in the sense of
axius spoudēs, 'of serious value or interest', as the opposite of either 'trivial' (
φαῦλος) or 'ludicrous' (
γελοῖος: see on
4, 1448 b 34
).
Poetry, as Aristotle conceives it, is 'more philosophic', because of the large and generalized view of human nature which it implies; it tells us in effect what all men of a certain character may or must do in a certain set of circumstances, whereas historic truth is limited to particular times and persons.
A great master of rhetoric, Diderot, has enlarged on this text in a well-known passage in his
Éloge de Richardson (
Œuvres t. 3 p. 18 ed. 1821
):
'O Richardson! j'oserai dire que l'histoire la plus vraie est pleine de mensonges, et que ton roman est plein de vérités. L'histoire peint quelques individus; tu peins l'espèce humaine: l'histoire attribue à quelques individus ce qu'ils n'ont ni dit, ni fait; tout ce que tu attribues à l'homme, il l'a dit et fait l'histoire n'embrasse qu'une portion de la durée, qu'un point de la surface du globe; tu as embrassé tous les lieux et tous les temps. Le cœur humain, qui a été, est et sera toujours le même, est le modèle d'après lequel tu copies. Si l'on appliquait au meilleur historien une critique sévère, y en a-t-il aucun qui la soutînt comme toi? Sous ce point de vue, j'oserai dire que souvent l'histoire est un mauvais roman; et que le roman, comme tu l'as fait, est une bonne histoire. O peintre de la nature c'est toi qui ne mens jamais.'
.
3.
mvp-aristotle-comment-348
μᾶλλον τὰ καθόλου
μᾶλλον implies a qualification, which reappears in another form in b 9
οὗ στοχάζεται ἡ ποίησις ὀνόματα ἐπιτιθεμένη.
Poetry deals with 'characters' rather than actual individuals, and with universal rather than particular truth.
Its universality, however, is somewhat disguised by the proper names it attaches to its characters, which acquire in this way a certain resemblance to the real personages of history.
A reason for the retention in Tragedy of traditional names is given further on, in b 15.
3.
mvp-aristotle-comment-349
1451b7
τὰ καθόλου... τὰ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον
The present explanation of the terms may be compared with that in
De interpr. 7, 17 a 39
λέγω δὲ καθόλου μὲν ὃ ἐπὶ πλειόνων πέφυκε κατηγορεῖσθαι, καθ᾿ ἕκαστον δὲ μὴ, οἷον ἄνθρωπος μὲν τῶν καθόλου, Καλλίας δὲ τῶν καθ᾿ ἕκαστον
; comp. also
Rhet. 1. 2, 1356 b 28
οὐδεμία δὲ τέχνη σκοπεῖ τὸ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον, οἷον ἡ ἰατρικὴ (οὐ) τί Σωκράτει τὸ ὑγιεινόν ἐστιν ἢ Καλλίᾳ, ἀλλὰ τί τῷ τοιῷδε ἢ τοῖς τοιοῖσδε
. —
2. 4, 1382 a 4
ἡ μὲν ὁργὴ ἀεὶ περὶ τὰ καθ᾿ ἕκαστα, οἷον Καλλίᾳ ἢ Σωκράτει, τὸ δὲ μίσος καὶ πρὸς τὰ γένη
.
For a similar use of
καθόλου see
17, 1455 b 1
.
The element of 'universality' in Greek Tragedy, as Aristotle understands it, means no more than is indicated in his present distinction between a poem and a history; and it is in no wise peculiar to Tragedy.
Aristotle tells us it was to be seen in the Comedy of his time (b 11); and it is found in just the same way in the modern novel—even in the historical and in the so-called realistic novel.
In all these forms of imaginative literature the personages are, as we say, 'characters', in other words, ideal personalities, made to act and speak in accordance with the law of character which the author has assumed for each.
The novel, however (owing in some degree to its length), admits of characters of a subtlety and complexity which would have been simply impossible in the ancient Drama.
The Greek dramatist was practically restricted to the larger and more obvious types of character, which did not require much explanation to make them intelligible to his public in the brief space of time allotted to his work.
