Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Chapter

← Previous Next →

for example, which are set to the flute or the lyre or any other instrument of the same powers as the pipe, imitate by rhythm and harmony alone; while the dance imitates by rhythm only, independant of harmony; for there are some dancers who, regu-¹²

Poetics. Aristotle. ed. Henry James Pye. London. 1792.

Current edition Experimental

The Poetic of Aristotle (Henry James Pye, revised 1792) (OCR draft) (English) (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.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (5)

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) (Aristotle, Poetics. Immanuel Bekker, editor, Aristotelis Opera, volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1837.) — 1 focus

Περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς, ἥν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους, εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστὶ μεθόδου, λέγωμεν, ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων.

Ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ καὶ τῆς αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς, πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον.

Διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν· ἢ γὰρ τῷ γένει ἑτέροις μιμεῖσθαι, ἢ τῷ ἕτερα, ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.

Ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες, οἱ μὲν διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας, ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς, οὕτω κἀν ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις, ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ᾿ ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις,

οἷον ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν καὶ ῥυθμῷ χρώμεναι μόνον ἥ τε αὐλητικὴ καὶ ἡ κιθαριστική, κἂν εἴ τινες ἕτεραι τυγχάνωσιν οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν δύναμιν, οἷον ἡ τῶν συρίγγων.

Αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ μιμοῦνται χωρὶς ἁρμονίας οἱ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων ῥυθμῶν μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις.

Ἡ δὲ ἐποποιία μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς ἢ τοῖς μέτροις, καὶ τούτοις εἴτε μιγνῦσα μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων, εἴθ᾿ ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη τῶν μέτρων τυγχάνουσα μέχρι τοῦ νῦν.

Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικοὺς λόγους,

οὐδὲ εἴ τις διὰ τριμέτρων ἢ ἐλεγείων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν τοιούτων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν·

πλὴν οἱ ἄνθρωποί γε συνάπτοντες τῷ μέτρῳ τὸ ποιεῖν ἐλεγειοποιοὺς τοὺς δὲ ἐποποιοὺς ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐχ ὡς τοὺς κατὰ μίμησιν ποιητὰς ἀλλὰ κοινῇ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον προσαγορεύοντες.

Καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ μουσικόν τι διὰ τῶν μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω καλεῖν εἰώθασιν. Οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον· διὸ τὸν μὲν ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγου μᾶλλον ἢ ποιητήν.

Ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν εἴ τις ἅπαντα τὰ μέτρα μιγνύων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν, καθάπερ Χαιρήμων ἐποίησε Κένταυρον μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν μέτρων, οὐκ ἤδη καὶ ποιητὴν προσαγορευτέον. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διωρίσθω τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.

Εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἳ πάσι χρῶνται τοῖς εἰρημένοις, λέγω δὲ οἷον ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει καὶ μέτρῳ, ὥσπερ ἥ τε τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν νόμων καὶ ἥ τε τραγῳδία καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία· διαφέρουσι δέ, ὅτι αἱ μὲν ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ μέρος.

Ταύτας μὲν οὖν λέγω τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν τεχνῶν, ἐν οἷς ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 1 focus

1447a 8 περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς, ἥν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους 10 εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστι μεθόδου, λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων.

ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ καὶ τῆς 15 αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον·

διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν, ἢ γὰρ τῷ ἐν ἑτέροις μιμεῖσθαι ἢ τῷ ἕτερα ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.

ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες (οἱ μὲν 20 διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας), ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς, οὕτω κἀν ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ’ ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις·

οἷον ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν καὶ ῥυθμῷ χρώμεναι μόνον ἥ τε αὐλητικὴ καὶ ἡ κιθαριστικὴ κἂν εἴ τινες 25 ἕτεραι τυγχάνωσιν οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν δύναμιν, οἷον ἡ τῶν συρίγγων,

αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ μιμοῦνται χωρὶς ἁρμονίας ἡ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν (καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων ῥυθμῶν μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις)·

ἡ δὲ ἐποποιία μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς καὶ ἡ τοῖς μέτροις καὶ τούτοις 1447b 8 εἴτε μιγνῦσα μετ’ ἀλλήλων εἴθ’ ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη τῶν μέτρων ἀνώνυμοι τυγχάνουσι μέχρι τοῦ νῦν·

οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν 10 ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικοὺς λόγους

οὐδὲ εἴ τις διὰ τριμέτρων ἢ ἐλεγείων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν τοιούτων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν.

πλὴν οἱ ἄνθρωποί γε συνάπτοντες τῷ μέτρῳ τὸ ποιεῖν ἐλεγειοποιοὺς τοὺς δὲ ἐποποιοὺς ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐχ ὡς 15 κατὰ τὴν μίμησιν ποιητὰς ἀλλὰ κοινῇ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον προσαγορεύοντες·

καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ φυσικόν τι διὰ τῶν μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω καλεῖν εἰώθασιν· οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον, διὸ τὸν μὲν ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγον μᾶλλον ἢ 20 ποιητήν·

ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν εἴ τις ἅπαντα τὰ μέτρα μιγνύων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν καθάπερ Χαιρήμων ἐποίησε Κένταυρον μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν μέτρων, καὶ ποιητὴν προσαγορευτέον. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διωρίσθω τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.

εἰσὶ δέ τινες αἳ πᾶσι χρῶνται τοῖς 25 εἰρημένοις, λέγω δὲ οἷον ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει καὶ μέτρῳ, ὥσπερ ἥ τε τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν νόμων καὶ ἥ τε τραγῳδία καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία· διαφέρουσι δὲ ὅτι αἱ μὲν ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ μέρος.

ταύτας μὲν οὖν λέγω τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν τεχνῶν ἐν οἷς ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 1 focus

Περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς, ἥν τινα
δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους
εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ
ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς
αὐτῆς ἐστι μεθόδου, λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον
ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων.

ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας
ποίησις ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ καὶ τῆς
αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν
οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον·

διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν,
ἢ γὰρ τῷ γένει ἑτέροις μιμεῖσθαι ἢ τῷ ἕτερα ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως
καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.

ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι
καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες (οἱ μὲν
διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας), ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς,
οὕτω κἂν ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται
τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ᾽
ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις·

οἷον ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν καὶ ῥυθμῷ χρώμεναι
μόνον ἥ τε αὐλητικὴ καὶ ἡ κιθαριστικὴ κἂν εἴ τινες
ἕτεραι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν δύναμιν, οἷον ἡ τῶν
συρίγγων·

αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ μιμοῦνται χωρὶς ἁρμονίας αἱ
τῶν ὀρχηστῶν, καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων ῥυθμῶν
μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις.

ἡ δὲ ἐποποιία
μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς ἢ τοῖς μέτροις καὶ τούτοις εἴτε
μιγνῦσα μετ᾿ ἀλλήλων εἴθ᾽ ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη τῶν μέτρων
ἀνώνυμος τυγχάνει οὖσα μέχρι τοῦ νῦν.

οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν
ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους
καὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικοὺς λόγους

οὐδὲ εἴ τις διὰ τριμέτρων
ἢ ἐλεγείων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν τοιούτων ποιοῖτο τὴν
μίμησιν—

πλὴν οἱ ἄνθρωποί γε συνάπτοντες τῷ μέτρῳ τὸ
ποιεῖν ἐλεγειοποιοὺς τοὺς δὲ ἐποποιοὺς ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐχ ὡς
κατὰ τὴν μίμησιν ποιητὰς ἀλλὰ κοινῇ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον προσαγορεύοντες·

καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ φυσικόν τι διὰ τῶν
μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω καλεῖν εἰώθασιν· οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν
ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον, διὸ τὸν μὲν
ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγον
μᾶλλον ἢ ποιητήν.

ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν εἴ τις ἅπαντα τὰ μέτρα μιγνύων
ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν καθάπερ Χαιρήμων ἐποίησε Κένταυρον
μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν μέτρων, καὶ ποιητὴν
προσαγορευτέον. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διωρίσθω
τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.

εἰσὶ δέ τινες αἳ πᾶσι χρῶνται τοῖς εἰρημένοις,
λέγω δὲ οἷον ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει καὶ μέτρῳ, ὥσπερ
ἥ τε τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν νόμων καὶ ἥ
τε τραγῳδία καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία· διαφέρουσι δὲ ὅτι αἱ μὲν
ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ μέρος.

ταύτας μὲν οὖν λέγω τὰς
διαφορὰς τῶν τεχνῶν ἐν οἷς ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν.

Poetics, Greek text (S. H. Butcher, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (S. H. Butcher's Greek text from Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art, fourth edition, 1911.) — 1 focus

[1] 1447a 8 Περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς, ἥν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστι μεθόδου, λέγωμεν λέγωμεν λέγομεν¹ ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων.

[2] ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ καὶ τῆς 15 αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς πᾶαι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον,

[3] διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν, ἢ γὰρ τῷ ἐν ἑτέροις ἐν ἑτέροις γένει² μιμεῖσθαι ἢ τῷ ἕτερα ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.

[4] ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες (οἱ μὲν διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας), ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς τῆς φωνῆς τῆς φύσεως αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως³, οὕτω κἀν κὰν καὶ ἐν καὶ ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις· ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ᾽ ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις· οἷον ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν καὶ ῥυθμῷ χρώμεναι μόνον ἥ τε αὐλητικὴ καὶ ἡ κιθαριστικὴ κἂν εἴ τινες ἕτεραι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν δύναμιν, οἷον ἡ τῶν συρίγγων.

[5] αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ τῷ αὐτῷ δὲ⁴ [μιμοῦνται]⁵ χωρὶς ἁρμονίας ἡ⁶ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν, καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων ῥυθμῶν μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις.

[6] ἡ δὲ [ἐποποιία]⁷ μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς ἢ τοῖς μέτροις καὶ τούτοις 1447b 8 εἴτε μιγνῦσα μετ’ ἀλλήλων εἴθ’ ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη τῶν μέτρων, ἀνώνυμος⁸ τυγχάνει οὖσα τυγχάνουσα μέχρι τοῦ νῦν.

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.) — 1 focus

Περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς, ἣν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους, εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστὶ μεθόδου, λέγωμεν, ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων. ἡ

ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητική, καὶ τῆς αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς, πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον.

διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν· ἢ γὰρ τῷ γένει ἑτέροις μιμεῖσθαι, ἢ τῷ ἕτερα, ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.

ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες, οἱ μὲν διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας [, ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς], οὕτω κἀν ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις, ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ' ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις,

αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ μιμοῦνται χωρὶς ἁρμονίας· οἱ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων ῥυθμῶν μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις.

ἡ δὲ ἐποποιία μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς ἢ τοῖς μέτροις, καὶ τούτοις εἴτε μιγνῦσα μετ' ἀλλήλων, εἴθ' ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη τῶν μέτρων τυγχάνουσα μέχρι τοῦ νῦν.

οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικοὺς λόγους,

οὐδὲ εἴ τις διὰ τριμέτρων ἢ ἐλεγείων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν τοιούτων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν·

καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ μουσικόν τι διὰ τῶν μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω¹ καλεῖν εἰώθασιν. οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον· διὸ τὸν μὲν ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγον μᾶλλον ἢ ποιητήν.

ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν εἴ τις ἅπαντα τὰ μέτρα μιγνύων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν, καθάπερ Χαιρήμων ἐποίησε Κένταυρον μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν μέτρων, καὶ ποιητὴν προσαγορευτέον. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διωρίσθω τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.

εἰσὶ δέ τινες αἳ πᾶσι χρῶνται τοῖς εἰρημένοις, λέγω δὲ οἷον ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει καὶ μέτρῳ, ὥσπερ ἥ τε τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν νόμων καὶ ἥ τε τραγῳδία καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία· διαφέρουσι δέ, ὅτι αἱ μὲν ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ μέρος.

ταύτας μὲν οὖν λέγω τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν τεχνῶν, ἐν οἷς ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν.

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 1 focus

1447a 8 Let¹ us here deal with Poetry, its essence and its several species, with the characteristic function of each species and the way in which plots must be constructed if the poem is to be a success; and also with the number and character of the constituent parts of a poem, and similarly with all other matters proper to this same inquiry; and let us, as nature directs, begin first with first principles.

Epic poetry, then, and the poetry of tragic drama, and, moreover, comedy and dithyrambic poetry, and most flute-playing and harp-playing, these, speaking generally, may all be said to be representations of life.²

But they differ one from another in three ways: either in using means generically different³ or in representing different objects or in representing objects not in the same way but in a different manner.

For just as by the use both of color and form people represent many objects, making likenesses of them— 20 some having a knowledge of art and some working empirically—and just as others use the human voice; so is it also in the arts which we have mentioned, they all make their representations in rhythm and language and tune, using these means either separately or in combination.

For tune and rhythm alone are employed in flute-playing and harp-playing and in any other arts which have a similar function, as, for example, pipe-playing.

Rhythm alone without tune is employed by dancers in their representations, for by means of rhythmical gestures they represent both character and experiences and actions.⁴

But the art which employs words either in bare prose or in metres, 1447b 1 either in one kind of metre or combining several, happens up to the present day to have no name.

For we can find no common term to apply to the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus⁵ and to the Socratic dialogues:

nor again supposing a poet were to make his representation in iambics or elegiacs or any other such metre—

except that people attach the word poet(maker)to the name of the metre and speak of elegiac poets and of others as epic poets. Thus they do not call them poets in virtue of their representation but apply the name indiscriminately in virtue of the metre.

For if people publish medical or scientific treatises in metre the custom is to call them poets. But Homer and Empedocles⁶ have nothing in common except the metre, so that it would be proper to call the one a poet and the other not a poet but a scientist.

20 Similarly if a man makes his representation by combining all the metres, as Chaeremon did when he wrote his rhapsody The Centaur, a medley of all the metres, he too should be given the name of poet.⁷ On this point the distinctions thus made may suffice.

There are certain arts which employ all the means which I have mentioned, such as rhythm and tune and metre—dithyrambic and nomic poetry,⁸ for example, and tragedy too and comedy. The difference here is that some use all these at once, others use now one now another.

These differences then in the various arts I call the means of representation.

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 1 focus

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

كتاب أرسطوطالس فى الشعراء نقل أبى بشر متى بن يونس القنائى من السريانى إلى العربى

قال أرسطوطالس:

〈موضوع صناعة الشعر؛ الشعر والمحاكاة ووسائل المحاكاة〉

إنا متكلمون الآن فى صناعة الشعراء وأنواعها، ومخبرون أى قوة لكل واحد منها، وعلى أى سبيل ينبغى أن تتقوم الأسمار والأشعار، إن كانت الفواسيس مزمعة بأن يجرى أمرها مجرى الجودة؛ وأيضاً من كم جزء هى، وأيما هى أجزاؤها؛ وكذلك نتكلم من أجل كم التى هى موجودة التى هى لها بعينها. و[نتكلم و]نحن متكلمون فى هذا كله من حيث نبتدئ أولا من الأشياء الأوائل.

فكل شعر، وكل نشيد شعرى ينحى به: إما مديحاً، وإما هجاء، 〈و〉إما ديثرمبو الشعرى، ونحو أكثر أوليطيقس، وكل ما كان داخلا فى التشبيه ومحاكاة صناعة الملاهى من الزمر والعود وغيره. وأصنافها ثلاثة: وذلك إما أن يكون يشبه بأشياء أخر والحكاية بها، وإما أن تكون على عكس هذا: وهو أن تكون أشياء أخر تشبه وتحاكى، وإما أن تجرى على أحوال مختلفة لا على جهة واحدة بعينها.

وكما أن الناس قد يشبهون بألوان وأشكال كثير〈ة〉 أو يحاكون ذلك من حيث أن بعضهم يشبه بالصناعات ويحاكيها، وبعضهم بالعادات، وقوم أخر منهم بالأصوات: كذلك الصناعات التى وضعنا [و]: جميعها تأتى بالتشبيه والحكاية باللحن والقول والنظم، وذلك يكون: إما على الانفراد، وإما على جهة الاختلاط. مثال ذلك: أوليطيقى وصناعة العيدان فانهما يستعملان اللحن و〈الـ〉ـتأليف فقط، وإن كان توجد صناعات أخر هى فى قوتها مثل هاتين: مثال ذلك صناعة الصفر تستعمل اللحن الواحد بعينه من غير تأليف، وصناعة أداة الرقص أيضاً، وذلك أن هاتين باللحون المتشكلة تشبه بالعادات وبالانفعالات أيضاً وبالأعمال أيضاً وتحاكيها.

أما بعضها فبالكلام المنثور الساذج أكثر، أو بالأوزان: وتحاكى هى هذه: إما وهى مخلطة، وإما بأن تستعمل جنساً واحداً، وبالأوزان التى هى بلا تسمية 〈إلى الآن〉. وذلك أنه ليس لنا أن نسمى بماذا تشارك حكايات وتشبهات شاعر〈مثل سـ〉ـوفرن وكسانرخس والأقاويل المنسوبة إلى سقراط. ولا أيضاً إن جعل الانسان تشبيهه وحكايته بالأوزان الثلاثية، أو هو هذه التى تقال لها ألغاز، أو شىء من هذه الأخر التى تجعل تشبيهه وحكايته لها على هذا النحو. غير أن الناس عندما يوصلون وزن صناعة الشعر يعملون الأوزان ويسمون بعضها: فن الغايا، وبعضها فن الأفى والتى لها أول وآخر؛ وليس كالتى يعملون الشعر التى هى بالحكاية والتشبيه، لكن التى يلقبونها المشتركة فى أوزانها.

وذلك إن عملوا شيئاً من أمور الطب أو أمور الطبيعة بالأوزان فهكذا قد جرت عادتهم بالتلقيب: وذلك أنه لا شىء يشتر كان فيه: أوميروس وأنفادقلس ما خلا الوزن. ولذلك أما ذاك فينبغى أن نلقبه شاعراً، وأما هذا فالمتكلم فى الطبيعيات أكثر من الشاعر. وكذلك إن كان الانسان يعمل الحكاية والتشبيه عندما يخلط جميع الأوزان، كما كان يعمل خاريمن، فانه كان يشبه قانطورس برقص الدستبند من جميع الأوزان: فقد يجب أن نلقبه شاعراً.

فمن قبل هذه كان حدد هذا الضرب. وقد يوجد قوم يستعملون جميع التى وصفت: مثال ذلك فى اللحن والصوت الحلو أو الأوزان، كصناعة الشعر الديثوردمبى والتى للناموس، والمديح أيضاً والهجاء. وتختلف بأن بعضها مع الكل معاً، وبعضها بالجزء.

فهذه أقول إنها أصناف الصنائع التى بها يعملون الحكاية والتشبيه.

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.) — 1 focus

I propose to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various
kinds, noting the essential quality of each; to inquire into
the structure of the plot as requisite to a good poem;
into the number and nature of the parts of which a
poem is composed; and similarly into whatever else falls
within the same inquiry. Following, then, the order of
nature, let us begin with the principles which come
first.

Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic
poetry, and the music of the flute and of the lyre in
most of their forms, are all in their general conception
modes of imitation.

They differ, however, from one another in three respects,—the
medium, the objects, the manner or mode of imitation,
being in each case distinct.

For as there are persons who, by conscious art or mere
habit, imitate and represent various objects through the
medium of colour and form, or again by the voice; so in the
arts above mentioned, taken as a whole, the imitation is
produced by rhythm, language, or 'harmony,' either singly
or combined.

Thus in the music of the flute and of the lyre, 'harmony'
and rhythm alone are employed; also in other arts, such
as that of the shepherd's pipe, which are essentially
similar to these.

In dancing, rhythm alone is used without 'harmony';
for even dancing imitates character, emotion, and action,
by rhythmical movement.

There is another art which imitates by means of language
alone, and that either in prose or verse—which verse, again,
may either combine different metres or consist of but one
kind—but this has hitherto been without a name.

For there is no common term we could apply to the
mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic
dialogues on the one hand;

and, on the other, to poetic imitations in iambic, elegiac,
or any similar metre.

People do, indeed, add the word 'maker' or 'poet' to the
name of the metre, and speak of elegiac poets, or epic
(that is, hexameter) poets, as if it were not the imitation
that makes the poet, but the verse that entitles them all
indiscriminately to the name.

Even when a treatise on medicine or natural science is
brought out in verse, the name of poet is by custom given
to the author; and yet Homer and Empedocles have
nothing in common but the metre, so that it would be
right to call the one poet, the other physicist rather than
poet.

On the same principle, even if a writer in his poetic
imitation were to combine all metres, as Chaeremon did in
his Centaur, which is a medley composed of metres of all
kinds, we should bring him too under the general term
poet. So much then for these distinctions.

There are, again, some arts which employ all the means
above mentioned, namely, rhythm, tune, and metre. Such
are Dithyrambic and Nomic poetry, and also Tragedy and
Comedy; διαφέρουσι δὲ ὅτι αἱ μὲν ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ
μέρος.

Such, then, are the differences of the arts with respect
to the medium of imitation.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 1 focus

Our subject being Poetry, I propose to speak not only of the
art in general but also of its species and their respective
capacities; of the structure of plot required for a good poem;
of the number and nature of the constituent parts of a poem;
and likewise of any other matters in the same line of inquiry.
Let us follow the natural order and begin with the primary
facts.

Epic poetry and Tragedy, as also Comedy,
Dithyrambic poetry, and most flute-playing and lyre-playing,
are all, viewed as a whole, modes of imitation.

But at the same time they differ from one another in three ways,
either by a difference of kind in their means, or by differences
in the objects, or in the manner of their imitations.

Just as form and colour are used as means by some,
who (whether by art or constant practice) imitate and portray
many things by their aid, and the voice is used by others;
so also in the above-mentioned group of arts, the means
with them as a whole are rhythm, language, and harmony
-used, however, either singly or in certain combinations.

A combination of rhythm and harmony alone is the means in
flute-playing and lyre-playing, and any other arts there may
be of the same description, e.g. imitative piping.

Rhythm
alone, without harmony, is the means in the dancer's imitations;
for even he, by the rhythms of his attitudes, may represent
men's characters, as well as what they do and suffer.

There is further an art which imitates by language
alone, without harmony, in prose or in verse, and if in verse,
either in some one or in a plurality of metres.
This form of imitation is to this day without a name.

We have no
common name for a mime of Sophron or Xenarchus and
a Socratic Conversation;

and we should still be without one
even if the imitation in the two instances were in trimeters
or elegiacs or some other kind of verse

-though it is the way
with people to tack on 'poet' to the name of a metre, and
talk of elegiac-poets and epic-poets, thinking that they call
them poets not by reason of the imitative nature of their
work, but indiscriminately by reason of the metre they write
in.

Even if a theory of medicine or physical philosophy be
put forth in a metrical form, it is usual to describe the writer
in this way; Homer and Empedocles, however, have really
nothing in common apart from their metre; so that, if the
one is to be called a poet, the other should be termed a
physicist rather than a poet.

We should be in the same
position also, if the imitation in these instances were in all
the metres, like the Centaur (a rhapsody in a medley of all
metres) of Chaeremon; and Chaeremon one has to recognize
as a poet. So much, then, as to these arts.

There are,
lastly, certain other arts, which combine all the means
enumerated, rhythm, melody, and verse, e.g. Dithyrambic
and Nomic poetry, Tragedy and Comedy; with this difference,
however, that the three kinds of means are in some of them
all employed together, and in others brought in separately,
one after the other.

These elements of difference in the
above arts I term the means of their imitation.

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.) — 1.5 focus

For example: in the imitations of the flute, and the lyre, and of any other instruments capable of producing a similar effect—as the syrinx, or pipe—melody and rhythm only are employed.

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.) — 1.5 focus

as, for instance, the arts of the flute and the lyre alone employ harmony and rhythm5; and this will also be the case with any other arts which possess a power of this kind, such as the art of playing on reed-pipes. ¹ But the arts pertaining to dancing imitate by rhythm, without harmony ;

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.) — 1 focus

De poetica et ipsa et formis ipsius, quam quaeque vim habeat, et quomodo deceat componi fabulas, si recte se habitura sit poesis, praeterea ex quot et quibus partibus constet, pariterque de ceteris quae eiusdem disciplinae sunt, dicamus, initio facto secundum naturam ab iis quae prima sunt.

epopoeia igitur et tragoediae poesis, praeterea comoedia et dithyrambopoetica, et auleticae maxima pars citharisticaeque, omnes sunt imitationes in universum.

differunt autem inter sese tribus: aut quod genere diversis imitantur, aut quod diversa, aut quod diverse neque eodem modo.

ut enim et coloribus et lineamentis sunt qui multa imitantur assimulando, alii per artem alii per consuetudinem [, alii autem per vocem], sic etiam in iis quas dixi artibus, cunctae faciunt imitationem numero et sermone et concentu, iisque aut singulis aut mixtis,

quemadmodum uno concentu numeroque utuntur et auletica et citharistica, et si quae sunt aliae eiusdem potestatis, ut quae fistulis canit.

solo autem numero imitantur sine concentu motus saltatorum: etenim hi quoque per figuratos numeros imitantur et mores et perturbationes et actiones.

epopoeia vero unis sermonibus nudis aut metris, atque his dum ea sive miscet inter sese, sive uno aliquo genere metrorum utitur usque ad hoc tempus.

non enim communi nomine comprehendere possemus Sophronis et Xenarchi mimos et Socraticos sermones,

neque si quis trimetris vel elegis vel aliis quibusdam eiusmodi faceret imitationem;

nisi quod homines copulantes cum metro facere alios elegifices alios epifices nominant, non tam qui secundum imitationem sunt poetas quam communiter secundum metrum appellantes.

etenim si medicum quoddam vel musicum per metra efferant, sic vocare consueverunt. nihil autem commune est Homero et Empedocli praeter metrum; quamobrem illum iustum est poetam vocare, hunc autem physiologum potius quam poetam.

similiter vero etiam si quis omnia metra miscens faceret imitationem, quemadmodum Chaeremo fecit Centaurum mixtam rhapsodiam ex omnibus metris, et is poeta dicendus erit.

atque de his hunc in modum expositum esto. sunt etiam artes quae omnibus utuntur iis quae dicta sunt, dico numero et concentu et metro, sicut dithyrambicorum poesis et nomorum et tragoedia comoediaque differunt autem, quod hae simul omnibus, illae per partes.

has igitur dico differentias artium, in quibus faciunt imitationem.

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 1.5 focus

Le jeu de la flute, celuy de la lyre, & s'il y en a encore quelque autre de meſme nature comme celuy du chalumeau, employent tous le nombre & l'harmonie.

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 1 focus

ELLA Poetica, & di lei, & delle fue fpetie, qual fia dı ciaſcuna d'eſſe la forza; & qualmente debbino effe re conteffute le fauole da chi vuole, che la poeſia vi ſtia rettamente. Oltradiqueſto di quanti, & di qua li parti ella ſia compoſta; & ſimilmete di tutte l'altre coſe, che à queſta inſtitutione s'appartengono, dirò io conſeguentemente: incominciatomi ſecondo l'ordine naturale primieramente da quelle cose che ſono imprima dell'altre.¹

Il poema Heroico adunche detto Epopeia, & il Tragico; & inoltre quello della Commedia, & quello de' Ditirambi: & an chora la piu parte di quell'arti, che ſono intorno al fuono de' Flauti, & delle Citare. Tutte, dico, conuengono in queſto generale, ch'elle ſono imitationi.

Ma fon bene differenti infra di loro per tre conti, ò perche elle imitano con coſe diuerſe di ſpetie;ò perch'elle imitano coſe diuerſe : ò perch'elle imitano in modo diuerfo, & non in vn'medeſimo.

Perchè coſi come certi fono, che vanno imitando con li colori, et con le figure molte co ſe per renderle famiglianti; certi, dico, ſono che fanno queſto per via dell'arte : & certi per via della conſuetu dine. Et altri ſono, che imitano con la uoce. Parimente interuiene nell'arti raccontate diſopra, che tutte, cioè, fanno l'imitatione & col numero, & col parlare, & con l'armonia. Et con queſte coſe la fanno,ò diſpersè,ò infieme;

come auuiene nell' arte de' ſuoni de' Flauti, & delle Citare, ò s'alcune altre ſe ne ritrouano, che habbinola medefima forza: ſicome è nell' arte del fonare le Zampogne. Queſte, dico, tutte nel fare la loro imitatione vſano l'armonia, & il numero.

Et il numero diſpersè ſenza l'armonia vſa nell'imitatione tutta l'arte, che è intorno a' balli, ò a' falti. Concioſia che quiui per via di quei numeri meſsi in atto co' geſti vi ſi vada imi tando & i coſtumi, & le attioni, & gli affetti.

Ma l'Epo peia fa l'imitatione ſolamente con la proſa,ò col verſo; & col verſo, ò meſcolato di piu forti: ò con quello, che ſia d'una fola ſpetie. Et ciò è offeruato infino al prefente tempo.

Imperoche ſtando altrimenti neſſuna altra coſa ſarebbe, che noi poteſsimo dire effer comune infra i Mimi di Sofrone, & di Xenarco; & infra i ragionaméti di Socrate.

Nè anchora s'alcuno faceſſe l'imitatione co' verſi lambi,o con gli Elegi:ò con altri ſimili.

Eccetto che gli huomini, congiugnendo inſieme il poetare, & il verſo, hanno chiamato queſti Poeti di Elegie; & quegli Poeti di Eflametri; non hauendo in ciò riſpetto all'imitatione: ma dando generalmente il nome di Poeta ſecondo il riſpetto del verſo.

Conciofia che ſe talı Poeti hanno detto in verſi alcuna coſa appar tenente ò alla medicina, ò alla muſica; eſsi hanno vſato nondimanco con la ragion'detta di chiamargli Poeti. Mae'non è comune alcun'altra coſa infra Homero, & Empedocle eccetto il verſo. Onde l'uno ſi debbe ragio neuolmente chiamar Poeta; & l'altro piutoſto Filofofo naturale, che Poeta.

Et queſto ſimileauuiene doue anchora vno, meſcolate tutte le ſorti de' verſi, nondimanco non vi faceſſe l'imitatione: ficome fe Chieremone nel ſuo Caual centauro, che di tutte le forti de verſi vi fe vn' meſcuglio. Et non per ciò debbe effer chiamato Poeta. Di queſte coſe adunche baſti la deter mination'detta.

Sono anchora certe fpetie di poefie, che vſano nella loro imitatione tutte le coſe dette, cioè, il numero,l'harmonia, & il verſo; come è la poeſia de' Ditirambi,& quella delle leggi : & come è la Tragedia,& la Commedia.

Ma fono differenti in queſto, che certe di loro vſano inſieme tutte le coſe dette;et certe l'uſano diſpersè.

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.) — 1 focus

De poetica et ipsa et formis ipsius, quam vim habeat unaquaeque, et quomodo oporteat componi fabulas, si habitura sit se recte poesis, praeterea vero ex quot et qualibus constet partibus, similiter autem et de aliis quae eiusdem methodi sunt, dicamus incipientes secundum naturain naturam primum a primis.

iam vero epopoeia et tragoediae poësis, praeterea comoedia et dithyrambopoëtica, et auleticae maxima pars et citharisticae, omnes sunt imitatio in universum.

differunt autem inter se tribus: aut enim quod genere diversis imitantur, aut quod diversa, aut quod diverso et non eodem modo.

ut enim et coloribus et figuris multa imitantur aliqui effigiem exprimentes, partim quidem per artem partim vero per consuetudinem, alii autem utrisque, sic in dictis artibus omnes faciunt imitationem in numero et oratione et harmonia, atque his separatim aut mixtis.

ut harmonia quidem et numero utuntur solum et auletica et citharistica, et si quae aliae sunt tales potestate, ut fistularum. ipso autem numero imitantur sine harmonia,

qui sunt inter saltatores: etenim isti per figuratos numeros imitantur et mores et perturbationes et actiones. epopoeia vero solum sermonibus nudis vel metris,

et his sive mixtis inter se sive uno aliquo genere utens metrorum, qualis fuit usque adhuc.

non enim rem communem possemus nominare Sophronis et Xenarchi mimos et Socratis sermones,

neque si quis per trimetra vel elegos vel alia quaedam talia conficeret imitationem;

nisi quod homines coniungentes cum metro ipsum fingere, alios quidem elegorum fictores alios vero epicorum fictores nominant, non secundum imitationem sed communiter secundum metrum appellantes poëtas.

etenim si medicinae aut musicae aliquid per metra proferunt, sic appellare consueverunt: nihil autem commune est Homero et Empedocli praeter metrum; quare illum quidem poëtam iustum est appellare, hunc vero physiologum magis quam poëtam.

similiter vero etiam si quis omnia metra miscens non faciat imitationem, quemadmodum Chaeremon fecit Centaurum, mixtam rhapsodiam ex omnibus metris, iam poëta non est appellandus. atque haec quidem hunc in modum explicata sint.

sunt autem aliquae quae omnibus utuntur iis quae dicta sunt, nempe numero et concentu et metro, sicut dithyrambicorum poësis et nomorum. praeterea tragoedia et comoedia. differunt vero, quod illae quidem simul omnibus, hae vero secundum partem.

atque has quidem dico differentias artium, in quibus faciunt imitationem.

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.) — 1 focus

De poetica ipsaque et speciebus ipsius, quam virtutem habet, et quomodo oportet constituere fabulas si debeat bene habere poesis, adhuc autem ex quot et qualibus est partibus, similiter autem et de aliis quecumque sunt eiusdem methodi, dicamus incipientes secundum naturam primo a primis. —

Epopoiia itaque et que tragodie poesis, adhuc autem komodia et que dithyrambopoetica et fystulative plurima et cytharistice, omnes existunt entes imitationes secundum totum;

differunt autem ab invicem tribus: aut enim per genere alteris imitari, aut per altera, aut per aliter et non eodem modo.

Sicut enim et coloribus et figuris multa imitantur quosdam assimilantes hii quidem per artem, hii autem per consuetudinem, alteri autem per vocem, sic et dictis artibus. Omnibus quidem faciunt imitationem in rythmo et sermone et armonia, hiis autem aut separatim aut mixtis:

puta armonia quidem et rythmo utentes solo fystulativaque et cytharistica et si que alie sint habentes talem potentiam, puta que tubarum;

ipso autem rythmo imitantur sine armonia qui saltatricum ; et enim isti per figuratos rythmos imitantur et mores et passiones et actiones.

Epopoiia autem solum sermonibus nudis aut metris, et hiis aut miscens cum invicem aut uno aliquo genere utens metrorum existens usque nunc.

Nichil enim habemus nominare commune Sofronis et Xenarchi mymos et Socraticos sermones

neque si quis per trimetra aut elegeia aut per alia aliqua talia faciat imitationem ;

nisi quod homines, copulantes metro le facere, elegeioficos, hos autem versificos nominant; non tamquam secundum imitationem poetas, sed communiter secundum metrum appellantes.

Et enim si medicinale aut musicum aliquid per metra efferant, sic vocare consueverunt; nichil autem commune est Homero et Empedocli preter metrum, propter quod hunc quidem poetam iustum vocare, hunc autem fysiologum magis quam poetam.

Similiter autem et si quis omnia metra miscens faciat imitationem, sicut Kherimon fecit Centaurum mixtam rapsodiam ex omnibus metris, et poetam appellandum. De hiis quidem igitur determinatum sit hoc modo. —

Sunt autem aliqui qui omnibus dictis utuntur, dico autem puta rythmo et melodia et metro, sicut que dithyrambicorum poesis et que nomorum (idest legum) et tragodiaque et komodia ; differunt autem quia hee quidem simul omnibus, hee autem secundum partem.

Has quidem igitur dico differentias artium in quibus faciunt imitationem.

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.) — 1 focus

‏انا متكلمون الان فى صناعة الشعرا وانواعها ومخبرون اى قوة لكل واحد واحد منها وعلى اى سبيل ينبغى ان تتقوم الاسمار والاشعار ان كانت الفواسس مزمعة بان يجرى امرها مجرى الجودة وايضا من كم جزو هى وايما هى اجزاوها وكذلك نتكلم من اجل كم التى هى موجودة التى هى لها بعينها ونتكلم ونحن متكلمون فى هذا كله من حيث نبتدى اولا من الاشيا الاوايل

‏فكل شعر وكل نشيد شعرى ننحا به اما مديحا واما هجاا اما دثيرمبو الشعرى ونحو اكثر اوليطيقس وكل ما كان داخلا فى التشبه ومحاكاة صناعة الملاهى من الزمر والعود وغيره

‏واصنافها ثلثة وذلك اما ان تكون تشبه باشيا اخر والحكاية بها واما ان تكون على عكس هذا وهو ان تكون اشيا اخر تشبه وتحاكى واما ان تجرى على احوال مختلفة لا على جهة واحدة بعينها

‏وكما ان الناس قد يشبهون بالوان واشكال كثيرا ويحاكون ذلك من حيث ان بعضهم يشبه بالصناعات ويحاكيها وبعضهم بالعادات وقوم اخر منهم بالاصوات كذلك الصناعات التى وصفنا وجميعها ياتى بالتشبه والحكاية باللحن والقول والنظم وذلك يكون اما على الانفراد واما على جهة الاختلاط

‏مثال ذلك اوليطيقى وصناعة العيدان فانهما تستعملان اللحن وتاليف فقط وان كان توجد صناعات اخر هى فى قوتها مثل هاتين مثل ذلك صناعة الصفر تستعمل اللحن الواحد بعينه من غير تاليف

‏وصناعة اداة الرقص ايضا وذلك ان هاتين باللحون المتشكلة تشبه بالعادات وبالانفعالات ايضا وبالاعمال ايضا وتحاكيها

‏اما بعضها فبالكلام المنثور السارح اكثر او بالاوزان وتحاكى هى هذه اما وهى مخلطة واما بان تستعمل جنسا واحدا وبالاوزان التى هى بلا تسمية الا الازمه

‏وذلك انه ليس لنا ان نسمى بماذا يشارك حكايات وتشبيهات شاعر وقرن وكسانرخس والاقاويل المنسوبة الى سقراط

‏ولا ايضا ان جعل الانسان تشبيهه وحكايته بالاوزان الثلاثيه او هى هذه التى يقال لها الغاز او شى من هذه الاخر التى يجعل تشبيهه وحكايته لها على هذا النحو

‏غير ان الناس عند ما يوصلون وزن صناعة الشعر [يعملون الاوزان و]يسمون بعضها فمن الغايا وبعضها فى الاخر [والتى لها اول واخر] وليس كالتى يعملون الشعر التى هى بالحكاية والتشبيه لكن التى يلقبونها المشتركة فى اوزانها

‏وذلك ان عملوا شى من امور الطب او امور الطبيعة بالاوزان فهكذى قد جرت عادتهم بالتقليب وذلك انه لا شى يشتركان فيه اوميروس وانفادقلس ما خلا الوزن ولذلك اما ذاك فينبغى ان نلقبه شاعرا واما هذا فالمتكلم فى الطبيعيات اكثر من الشاعر

‏وكذلك ان كان الانسان يعمل الحكاية والتشبيه عند ما يخلط جميع الاوزان كما كان يعمل خاريمن فانه كن يشبه قانطورس برقص الدستبند من جميع الاوزان فقد يجب ان نلقبه شاعرا فمن قبل هذه كان حدد هذا الضرب

‏وقد يوجد قوم يستعملون جميع التى وصفت مثال ذلك فى اللحن والصوت الحلوا والاوزان كصناعة الشعر التى ٮٮورمٮى والتى للناصوس والمديح ايضا والهجا ويختلف بان بعضها مع الكل معا وبعضها بالجزو

‏فهذه اقول انها اصناف الصنايع التى بها يعملون

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 1 focus

‏وذلك انه ليس لنا ان نسمى بماذا يشارك حكايات وتشبيهات شاعر وقرن وكسانرخس والاقاويل المنسوبة الى سقراط

‏وذلك ان عملوا شى من امور الطب او امور الطبيعة بالاوزان فهكذى قد جرت عادتهم بالتقليب

‏وذلك انه لا شى يشتركان فيه اوميروس وانفادقلس ما خلا الوزن ولذلك اما ذاك فينبغى ان نلقبه شاعرا واما هذا فالمتكلم فى الطبيعيات اكثر من الشاعر

‏وكذلك ان كان الانسان يعمل الحكاية والتشبيه عند ما يخلط جميع الاوزان كما كان يعمل خاريمن فانه كن يشبه قانطورس برقص الدستبند من جميع الاوزان فقد يجب ان نلقبه شاعرا

‏فمن قبل هذه كان حدد هذا الضرب

‏وقد يوجد قوم يستعملون جميع التى وصفت مثال ذلك فى اللحن والصوت الحلوا والاوزان كصناعة الشعر التى ٮٮورمٮى والتى للناصوس والمديح ايضا والهجا

‏ويختلف بان بعضها مع الكل معا وبعضها بالجزو فهذه اقول انها اصناف الصنايع التى بها يعملون

Notes on the current edition

Poetics

1. I see no reason for substituting δι' ἀμφοῖν, for διὰ τῆς φωνῆς, in this place, as is proposed by Heinfius, Dacier, and Batteux : χρώμασι, σχήμασι, and φωνῆς, are the words opposed to ῥυθμῷ, λόγῳ, and ἁρμονίᾳ, and not διὰ τέχνης, and διὰ συνηθείας, as Batteux has supposed. « Les uns exécutent par certains pratiques de l'art, les autres par l'habitude " seul, quelquefuns par l'un et l'autre ensemble; de même l'imitation se fait ou par un seul " de ces moyens, (i. e. le rhythm, la parole, et le chant,) ou par plusieurs ensemble." I do not fee what oppofition there can be between the manner by which a perfon acquires excellence in one art, and the means he uses to effect an imitation in another. The imitation διὰ τῆς φωνῆς does not mean by words, but by founds, like the imitation of the birds, or that effected by vocal music, when the artist tries to make the found " "the fenfe." But finging of an echo to

2. By rhythm, is to be understood, cadence, time, or movement. Ρυθμός, τάξις ἔμμελος ἀκολέθε ἁρμονίας. SUIDAS.

Commentary

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-1

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-2

1447a8 τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς The εἴδη meant are epic poetry, Tragedy, and Comedy, as is clear from 6, 1449 b 21 , where the main subjects for consideration in the Poetics are enumerated. Lyric poetry, apart from an occasional reference to the Dithyramb and Nome, or the chorica in Tragedy, is ignored in the existing Poetics; and there is little or no reason to suppose it to have been discussed in the lost portion of the book. The probability is that, from the importance of its musical element, it belonged in Aristotle's classification of the arts to the theory of μελοποία rather than to that of poetry proper. The work of the two lyric poets Phrynis and Timotheus is put under the head of μελοποιία in Metaph. a 1, 993 b 15 ; and in the Problems, where Phrynichus is said to have been a μελοποιός rather than a tragedian ( Probl. 18. 31, 920 II

Διὰ τί οἱ περὶ Φρύνιχον ἦσαν μᾶλλον μελοποιοί; διὰ τὸ πολλαπλάσια εἶναι τότε τὰ μέλη ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις τῶν μέτρων ;

), the same view is implied of the lyric parts of Tragedy. It is to be remembered too that Aristophanes in Ran. 1250 makes Euripides begin his criticism of the chorica in Aeschylus by calling him a κακὸς μελοποιός. For the antithesis in the text comp. 26, 1462 b 16

καὶ αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν

. — Top. 1. 15, 106b 37

ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων [scil. ὀνομάτων], ὅταν αὐτὸ πλεοναχῶς λέγηται, καὶ ἡ πτῶσις ἡ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ πλεοναχῶς ῥηθήσεται, καὶ εἰ ἡ πτῶσις, καὶ αὐτό

. — Eth. E. 7. 15, 1248 b 22

δικαιοσύνη καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ αἱ πράξεις

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-3

ἥν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει = ὅ τι δύναται ἕκαστον: comp. Pol. 5. 2, 1302 b 5

τούτων δὲ ὕβρις μὲν καὶ κέρδος τίνα ἔχουσι δύναμιν καὶ πῶς αἴτια, σχεδόν ἐστι φανερόν ... δῆλον δὲ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ τί δύναται καὶ πῶς αἰτία στάσεως

. Each species of poetry has its special capacities, which enable it to do what the rest either cannot do at all or cannot do so well and effectively. Other Aristotelian instances of δύναμις with a sense approximating to our 'function' or 'effect' will be found in Bon. Ind. 206 b 29 .

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-4

1447a9 συνίστασθαι συνίστασθαι is a passive in 26, 1462 b 16 , and probably also in 24, 1460 a 28 . That it is a passive in the present passage is shown by the parallels,

τοὺς συνεστῶτας εὖ μύθους

in 7, 1450 b 32 , and

οὕτω συνεστάναι τὸν μῦθον

in 14, 1453 b 4 .

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-5

1447a10 καλῶς ἕξειν : 13, 1453 a 12

τὸν καλῶς ἔχοντα μῦθον

. — 24, 1459 b 12

τὰς διανοίας καὶ τὴν λέξιν ἔχειν καλῶς

. As anything good of its kind may be said to be καλόν, so anything that is in the condition in which it ought to be is said to καλῶς ἔχειν (comp. Bon. Ind. 360 b 38 ).

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-6

1447a10 ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων scil. ἡ ποίησις. Many of the translators, however, suppose the subject to be ἕκαστον εἶδος ('ex quot et cujusmodi partibus constent singulae species,' Goulston). The question is considered in chap. 6 in reference to Tragedy, and in 24, 1450 b 10 in reference to epic poetry.

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-7

1447a12 περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστι μεθόδου : Soph. el. 33, 183 b 12

δεδήλωται δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς μεθόδου τῶν λόγων ἐστίν

. The meaning of μέθοδος, a favourite word with Aristotle, has been discussed by Waitz, Org. 2 p. 297 (comp. Bon. Ind. 449 b 43).

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-8

λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι κτέ. The language here is very like that in Soph. el. 1, 164 a 20

περὶ δὲ τῶν σοφιστικῶν ἐλέγχων . . . λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων

(comp. De sensu 1, 436 b; De part. an. 1. 5, 646 a 3; 2. 10, 655 b 28; Eth. E. 1. 7, 1217 a 18; Rhet. 1. 13, 1373 b 1). In order to determine the definition of poetry, or rather of Tragedy as the highest form of the art, Aristotle starts with the assumption that Tragedy, together with certain other allied arts, comes under the general head of μίμησις, 'imitation,' and then proceeds by successive divisions of this genus to note one by one the various points which differentiate it from the rest. (1) Tragedy has language, metre, and music as its means of imitation; the music in it, however, comes in only from time to time, in the choral parts—which distinguishes it from the Nome and the Dithyramb. (2) It represents noble personages—which distinguishes it from Comedy. (3) It has a dramatic form—which distinguishes it from the Epic. The logical order here exemplified is what Aristotle regards as the natural order of procedure: Phys. 1. 7, 189 a 31

ἔστι γὰρ κατὰ φύσιν τὰ κοινὰ πρῶτον εἰπόντας οὕτω τὰ περὶ ἕκαστον ἴδια θεωρεῖν

1447a13

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-9

ἐποποιία κτέ. This enumeration of imitative arts comprises the four great species of poetry distinguished by Plato in Rep. 394 c , together with two purely musical arts, αὐλητική and κιθαριστική. These last may be supposed to be added partly on account of the manifest analogy between them and poetry, both being imitative arts appealing to the ear, and partly also on account of the historical connexion of poetry with music (comp. Cicero De Orat. 3, 174

musici, qui erant quondam idem poetae

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-10

ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις : 6, 1449 b 26

ἡ τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις

. — Plato Gorg. 501 e

ἡ τῶν διθυράμβων ποίησις

; 502 b

ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-11

1447a14 διθυραμβοποιητική Plato cites the Dithyramb as an instance of the non-imitative type of poetry: Rep. 394 c

τῆς ποιήσεως . . . ἡ μὲν διὰ μιμήσεως ὅλη ἐστίν, ὥσπερ σὺ λέγεις, τραγῳδία τε καὶ κωμῳδία, ἡ δὲ δι᾽ ἀπαγγελίας αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιητοῦ εὕροις δ᾽ ἂν αὐτὴν μάλιστά που ἐν διθυράμβοις

. By Aristotle's time, however, the Dithyramb (as also the Nome) had lost its original form, and become 'imitative' or semi-dramatic. This change is noted in Probl. 19. 15, 918 b 18

οἱ διθύραμβοι, ἐπειδὴ μιμητικοὶ ἐγένοντο, οὐκέτι ἔχουσιν ἀντιστρόφους, πρότερον δὲ εἶχον

. Aristotle cites it as representing an imitative or dramatic form of lyric—a lyrical μίμησις.

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-12

1447a15 τῆς αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη : De Caelo 3. 1, 298 b 2

τὴν πλείστην τῆς περὶ φύσεως ἱστορίας

. The αὐλός was the accompaniment of the Dithyramb and the κιθάρα of the Nome. Aristotle is thinking rather of music without words, i.e. ψιλὴ αὔλησις and ψιλὴ κιθάρισις. Plato in the Laws (669 d) sets his face against this purely instrumental music on the ground that it ends in a mere display of technical execution ( θαυματουργία) and a 'brutish noise' ( φωνῆς θηριώδους σφόδρα φίλον). Aristotle's qualified form of expression show he is not unaware of exceptions.

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-13

1447a16 μιμήσεις The general meaning of μιμεῖσθαι is either 'to do what another has done', or 'to make something like something else'. The primitive sense must have been 'to play the μίμος,' to reproduce language, tones, gestures, etc.. In actual use the word includes counterfeiting movement (dancer), voice (musician), and forms (painter/sculptor). Plato in the Republic opposes μίμησις to narrative, restricting it to the dramatic mode ( Rep. 393 b , 394 b ). In the Poetics, Aristotle is inconsistent, including narrative in one place ( 3, 1448 a 21 ) and excluding it in another ( 24, 1460 a 9 ).

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-14

τὸ σύνολον qualifies πᾶσαι, what is said of the class as a whole being opposed to the specific differences; comp. Plato Soph. 220 b .

1447a17

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-15

τῷ γένει ἑτέροις Forchhammer's correction τῷ ἐν ἑτέροις is supposed to be confirmed by 22 and b 29. The sense, however, is just as well expressed by the simple dative. As the means under consideration— λόγος, ἁρμονία, and ῥυθμός—differ in kind, they are rightly described as γένει ἕτερα. Aristotle often omits the article in such formulas: Top. 1. 7, 103 a 13

γένει ταὐτά

; H. A. 2. 1, 497 b 9 ; Metaph. I 10, 1059 a 14

γένει ἕτερα

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-16

1447a18 ἢ τῷ ἕτερα ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως The distinction is already in Plato, Rep. 398 b

ἅ τε γὰρ λεκτέον καὶ ὡς λεκτέον εἴρηται

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-17

καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον Other instances of parallelismus antitheticus will be found in 3, 1448 a 22; 6, 1449 b 26; 15, 1454 a 30; 24, 1460 a 16.

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-1

1.1 1. AYant deſſein de traiter de la Poësie en general.]¹

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-2

1.1 2. De la Poësie en general.]²

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-3

1.1 3. Et des effets de chacune d'elles.]³

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-4

1.1 4. D'expliquer le nombre & la qualité de toutes ſes parties.]⁴

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-5

1.1 5. De montrer de quelle maniere il faut conſtituer un ſujet pour faire un bon Poëme.]⁵

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-6

1.1 6. De ce qui concerne cet Art.]⁶

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-7

1.1 7. F'imiteray la nature, & commenceray par les premiers traits.]⁷

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-8

1.1 8. L'Epopée & la Tragedie.]⁸

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-9

1.2 9. Les Dithyrambes.]⁹

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-10

1.2 La plupart des airs de flute & des pieces de lyre.¹⁰

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-11

1.2 Ne ſont que de pures imitations.¹¹

12. mvp-aristotle-comment-12

1.3 La premiere regarde le moyen¹²

13. mvp-aristotle-comment-13

1.3 La seconde le ſujet¹³

14. mvp-aristotle-comment-14

1.3 Et la troiſième la maniere¹⁴

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-1

NOTE 1. P. 1.

1.1 DITHYRAMBICS—IMITATION.

If the senses, in which the term imitation is applied by Aristotle to Poetry, have been rightly determined in the first Dissertation, there can be no difficulty with respect to the imitative nature of the Epic and Dramatic species. That of the Dithyrambic is not quite so obvious, and has accordingly been variously explained. The little, however, that remains of what Aristotle had said upon this subject, seems sufficient to release any commentator, who is willing to be released, from the trouble of conjectural ingenuity.

In Sect. 3. Part I. where the different objects of imitation are considered, he expressly makes Dithyrambic Poetry imitative of actions, characters, and manners, as well as the Epic and Dramatic; and he, particularly, mentions the Persians and the Cyclops as imitated in the Dithyrambic and Nomic Poetry of Timotheus and Philoxenus. ¹ We may conclude, then, that he regarded this kind of Poetry as imitative because, though the mythological tales, which furnished the subject of these hymns, were, indeed, articles of Pagan faith, and depended not on the Poet's imagination, yet, in the detail of these stories, in describing the actions, and delineating the characters, of the deities themselves, and, still more, of other fabulous and heroic personages occasionally introduced, his fancy and invention must necessarily be, more or less, employed.

This, as we have seen, was, in Aristotle's view, imitation, whether the form of that imitation was partly dramatic and personative, or mere recital in the person of the Poet ². That the Poetry of these Dithyrambic compositions was chiefly of the latter kind, seems to be implied in the expression of Plato, who, where he explains his division of Poetry into three sorts—the purely imitative, or dramatic, the purely narrative, and the mixed—refers, for an example of the purely narrative, to Dithyrambic Poetry. ³ Yet he says only, that it is to be found chiefly there—

ἐυροις δ᾽ ἂν αυτην ΜΑΛΙΣΤΑ ΠΟΥ ἐν Διθυραμβοις

. The expression is remarkable, and leaves room for more than a conjecture, that the Dithyrambic was sometimes imitative even in the strict sense of Plato; that is, that the dramatic mixture of the Epic was occasionally admitted.

Instances of this occur in the Odes of Pindar; and many of the Odes of Horace are dramatic ⁴. The embarrassment of the commentators seems to have arisen, principally, from the difficulty they found in conceiving, that fiction could be admitted into a species of Poetry addressed to the Gods, and founded on the established Theology of the age. The hymns of Callimachus, and those attributed to Homer, might have been sufficient to remove this difficulty. These are not, like the Orphic hymns, mere invocations, and indigitamenta, consisting in a short and solemn accumulation of epithets and attributes: they are Epic, narrative hymns; in which the birth, the actions, and even the characters and manners of the deities are described at length, and the fictions of the Poet's imagination are every where engrafted upon the popular creed. The mixture of dramatic imitation, in the Dithyrambic Poetry, is also rendered more probable by the frequent examples of it in these hymns; and especially in those of Homer. From the enthusiastic, wild, audacious character ⁵ peculiarly attributed to the Bacchic hymns, we have, surely, no reason to suppose in them a degree of scruple and reserve, with respect to all this, which we do not find in other antient religious compositions of a more sober and regular cast.

After what has been said, the reader will hardly think it necessary to have recourse to so distant and conjectural an interpretation as that of the Abbé Batteux, who says—

"Le Dithyrambe est imitation, parceque le Poete, en le composant, exprime d'apres le vraisemblable, les sentimens, les transports, l'ivresse, qui doit regner dans le Dithyrambe."

⁶ This ingenious writer seems to have been forced into this solution of the matter by his desire of extending the principle of Poetic imitation beyond the limits, not only of Aristotle's meaning, but of all reasonable analogy. All Lyric Poetry he holds to be essentially imitative; ⁷ and defining it to be that Poetry,

"qui exprime le sentiment,"

he is reduced to the necessity of making out these sentiments, or feelings, to be, in some sort, imitations; for no other reason, than, that they are assumed and feigned—the temporary produce of that voluntary enthusiasm, which the Poet, by the force of his imagination, excites in himself during the moments of composition. But this belongs rather to the style and manner, than to the matter, of Poetry: if imitation at all, it is the imitation, not, properly, of the Poet, but of the man, in order to become the Poet.—The general character of Lyric Poetry is enthusiasm; and enthusiasm, says M. Batteux,

"n'est autre chose qu'un sentiment quel qu'il soit—amour, colere, joie, admiration, tristesse, &c.—produit par une idee."

⁸ But if all illusive feelings of this kind, raised in us by imagination, are imitations, then, not only every artist of genius is an imitator, when he conceives and plans his work, but even every man of sensibility, whenever he is led, by the voluntary excursions of his fancy, into warm and passionate feelings, that are not prompted by real circumstances. It is certain, indeed, that not only Dithyrambic and Lyric Poetry, but Epic also, and perhaps every other species worth regarding, has its appropriated style and tone, which every Poet adopts and imitates, when he composes in the kind to which it belongs. But the same may be said of a history, a sermon, and even of a letter: for in these also, though we may not imitate any particular writer, we naturally conform to the general style and manner that characterize the particular species of composition.

All this however has, manifestly, nothing to do with the imitation that we are considering.

The Lyric Poet is not always, and essentially, an imitator, any more than the Epic. While he is merely expressing his own sentiments, in his own person, we consider him not as imitating;—we inquire not whether they are the assumed sentiments of the Poetic character, or the real sentiments of the writer himself; we do not even think of any such distinction. He is understood to imitate, in the most general view, no otherwise than by fiction, by personation, by description, or by sound; ⁹ in the view of Aristotle, only by the two first of these.

I will only add, that the Dithyrambic Poetry was, it seems, not originally imitative, but became so by degrees. This fact, and the causes of it, we learn from a curious passage, in the Harmonic Problems of Aristotle, which I shall have occasion to mention in another place.

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

1.1. mvp-aristotle-comment-1 1.1

THE EPOPEE AND TRAGEDY, AS ALSO COMEDY AND DITHY- RAMBICS, AND THE GREATER PART OF THOSE COMPOSITIONS WHICH ARE SET TO THE FLUTE AND THE LYRE, ALL AGREE IN THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF BEING IMITATIONS.

By imitation, Aristotle does not mean merely description, but a lively representation of human actions, paffions, and manners. It would be fuperfluous to say much on a subject which has been so amply and clearly treated by Mr. Twining, in his ' Differtation on Poetry confidered as ، an imitative art,' and to which I refer such of my readers as defire full and fatisfactory information on this subject. Aristotle, undoubtedly, places that species of imitation in the first class, which is performed by persons acting, as in the drama, and, for the most part, in the epopees of Homer. This appears from what he says of the epopee, in the twenty-fourth chapter. • The poet (he observes) should appear • himself as little as poffible, for whenever he speaks in his own person N 2 ' he

⚫ he ceases to be an imitator;' seeming even to contradict what he had before allowed in the third chapter, ' that the poet might imitate, either like Homer, fometimes by fimple narration, and sometimes by affuming a different character; or entirely by narration, without affuming any ' character.' It may perhaps be impoffible strictly to reconcile this difference of opinion, but it obviously shews the great preference he gave personal imitation to any other, from which arose his strong predilection for tragedy; and I think we may fairly deduce from it, that even the poet whose imitation is folely narrative, must paint in strong colours the effects of action, paffions and manners, and not merely relate a fable though fictitious, like an hiftorian, for the purpose of drawing moral reflections from it. Those passages, nevertheless, of an epic poem, where the poet speaks in his own person, have great beauty from their contrast with the impaffioned parts, and the relief they give the mind, provided they are neither too frequent nor too long, and the rule laid down by Ariftotle, in his twenty-fourth chapter, concerning the elegance of the versification be carefully observed. Mr. Twining quotes a beautiful example from the first Æneid. ، ، • Urbs antiqua fuit, (Tyrii tenuêre coloni,) Carthago, Italiam contra Tiberinaque longe Oftia-.' Innumerable instances may be produced from Milton; as the description of evening and of paradise, in the fourth book of Paradise Loft; in this he is superior to any poet ancient or modern, though there are many striking passages of the fame kind in the Odyssey. The

POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. The modern invention of reciting a tale, by means of an epistolary correspondence between the perfons concerned, is a very happy mode of imitation, uniting in some measure the different advantages of the epopee and the drama. Perhaps a work of this nature, where the character and style of all the persons corresponding, is nicely difcriminated and rigidly observed, is yet a defideratum in imitative compofition [A].

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-1

Ritter, cap. 1 § 1

Operis consilio et instituti ratione paucis verbis exposita, statim singula poesis genera artesque cognatas eo conspirare ut imitentur, sed easdem tribus rebus differre, quod diversa materia imitationem peragant aut quod diversa imitando exprimant aut quod diverse, monetur; quo facto prima illa artium differentia, quae nascitur ex diversa imitandi materia, paulo accuratius explicatur. περὶ ποιητικῆς – εἰδῶν αὐτῆς: de arte poetica et ipsa et formis ipsius quod Aristoteles in hoc libro se dicturum, h. e. eius artis rationem tam universe explicaturum quam de singulis eiusdem formis separatim absoluturum profitetur, priorem propositi argumenti locum breviter quidem sed plene pertractavit (c. 1-5), alterum in relicuo opere ita exsecutus est ut primum de tragoedia, tum de epopocia, deinde de comoedia ceterisque poesis generibus quae meditatus esset cum lectoribus communicaret. nobis vero nonnisi tragoediae explicatio, neque ea quidem integra ut videtur, et pauca quaedam de epopoeia conservata sunt: cetera temporum iniuria interciderunt omnia. sed de hac re explicatius in Praefatione diximus. ἣν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει : δύναμις cuique poesis generi inhaerescens vis est et effectus qui declaratur in hominum animis et afficiendis et percolendis. - καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους: partim ut natura et vis singulorum poesis generum accuratius explicaretur, partim ut praeceptis instruerentur poetae futuri, Aristoteles in unoquoque genere docuit quomodo fabulas, h. e. materiam poemati subiectam ac fere ex fabulosa historia petendam, tractari oporteat, si quis poesis fini iuste respondere velit. illi μύθοι pro variis artis poeticae generibus sive formis variam speciem induunt; in tragoedia v. c. μῦθος est ἡ σύνθεσις τῶν πραγμάτων, h. e. facta compluria argumento conserta. vid. c. 6,6. ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων : ex quot et quibus constet partibus unaquaeque artis poeticae species post generalem huius artis explicationem persecuturus est. subiectum enuntiati est ἕκαστον ( εἶδος), non ποίησις: poesis enim in species sive formas ( είδη, Arten), formae rursus in partes ( μόρια, μέρη) dividuntur. tragoediae partes enumerantur c. 6, 4-7., epopoeiae breviter significantur c. 24, 1. - κατὰ φύσιν : ut natura argumenti ad pertractandum propositi requirit. ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων: ab iis quae prima sunt, h. e. unde ars poetica nascitur. conf. Rhetor. III, 1. pag. 1403 b 18. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἐζητήθη κατὰ φύσιν, ὅπερ πέφυκε πρῶτον, αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα ἐκ τίνων ἔχει τὸ πιθανόν.

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-2

Ritter, cap. 1 § 2

ἐποποιία δή: particula δὴ lectorem admonet, iam eam disputandi normam secuturum esse Aristotelem quam modo praescripsit verbis illis αρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων. – ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητική: poesin dithyrambicam hoc loco commemoravit, ut etiam ex lyrico genere una saltem species poneretur, cum ante per nomen ἐποποιίας totum genus epicae poesis ac continuo dramatici generis duas illas species praecipuas ad partes vocasset. infra c. 2, 4. duas lyrici generis species memoravit: ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τοὺς διθυράμβους καὶ περὶ τοὺς νόμους μιμήσαιτο ἄν τις. id non opus erat, ut omnes artis poeticae species collectas poneret, sed praecipuas appellasse sufficiebat, ubi quid sit commune artis poeticae formis indicare volebat. ceterum poesis divisio his duobus locis subiecta Ciceroni ob oculos versata est scribenti de Optimo gen. or. c. 1. poematis enim tragici, comici, epici, melici etiam ac dithyrambici, suum quodvis est diversum a reliquis, cet. καὶ τῆς αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς: duas hasce artes ad poeticam non pertinentes memoravit, ut quid huic cum aliis artibus commune esset appareret, statim dicturus quibus illa differret. quod cum ita sit, post διθυραμβοποιητική commatis signum posui, ut diversae quae sequuntur artes a prioribus quodammodo discernerentur. qui citharam pulsat quique tibiis canit tum imitatur, cum hominum affectus animi perturbationesque concentu sonorum exprimit. at vero cum non quivis pulsandae citharae tibiisque canendi modus in tali imitatione necessario versetur, sed citharista vel tibicen nonnisi gratum sonorum concentum et varietatem sectari possit, accurate scripsit Aristoteles τῆς αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς : neque huic sententiae repugnat quod ille aliis locis (Polit. VIII, 5. p. 1340 a 18 et 38. Problem. XIX, 27 et 28) pronuntiavit, mores scilicet et affectus potissimum arte musica exhiberi, cum quod aptum est ad imitationem peragendam, idem ut semper imitetur nihil sit quod cogat. conferantur quae paulo post ad §. 4 extr. et ad §. 5. dicta sunt. πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύ νολον: per μίμησιν et μιμεῖσθαι et hic et paulo post significatur quidquid sive verbis sive sonis musicis sive motibus sive coloribus aliave materia expressum ad veritatis similitudinem accedit (Nachbildung durch Worte oder Töne oder Bewegungen oder Stoffe). eatenus igitur omnis poetica μίμησις est et omnia eius genera μιμητικά sunt. sed aliis locis id poeticae genus quod dramaticum appellare solemus ab Aristotele κατ' ἐξοχὴν vocatur μιμητικόν, quatenus res a poeta expressae ab hominibus aliam personam in se suscipientibus repetuntur oculisque spectantium aut mentilegentium subiiciuntur. hoc intellectu poesis epica non est imitativa ( μιμητική) sed narrativa ( διηγηματική). conf. Hermanni ad h. 1. Commentarii p. 84-90. Formam μιμήσεις ex codicibus Bekkerianis praebent ABC, μίμησις Να: libri ab aliis collati in utramque partem discedunt. si μίμησις scripsit Aristoteles, omnes artes modo allatas imitationem esse, h. e. in imitando convenire, sin μιμήσεις, easdem esse varios imitandi modos dixit, utrumque recte. sed quoniam structura verborum recepto numero multitudinis expeditior est, et quia is facilius in singularis formam a librariis syllabam i tamquam ī pronuntiantibus commutari potuit, pluralem praeferendum existimavi.

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-3

Ritter, cap. 1 § 3

διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν: dum artes modo enumeratae in imitando conveniunt, eaedem tribus differunt: imitantur enim aut iis quae genere (h. e. natura sua) diversa sunt, aut diversa, aut diverse. de primo illo artium discrimine ex imitationis materia ducto statim dis putatur, alterum in capite secundo, tertium deinceps explicatur. illa καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον explicationis causa adverbio ἑτέρως adiunguntur, idque factum videtur, ne quis ἑτέρως opponeret iis quae proxime antecedunt, sed illud per se constare intelligeret. rhetores Graeci appellant ισοδυναμοῦν κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον. conf. Victorii ad h. 1. annotatio. subsimile est illud ex c. 6, 2. δρώντων καὶ οὐ δι' ἀπαγγελίας.

Aristotle Poetics 1.5

ed. Henry James Pye

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Experimental

Notes on the current edition

Commentary

NOTE 1. P. 1.

THE EPOPEE AND TRAGEDY, AS ALSO COMEDY AND DITHY- RAMBICS, AND THE GREATER PART OF THOSE COMPOSITIONS WHICH ARE SET TO THE FLUTE AND THE LYRE, ALL AGREE IN THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF BEING IMITATIONS.

Ritter, cap. 1 § 1

Ritter, cap. 1 § 2

Ritter, cap. 1 § 3

Stable identifiers