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And if that propensity is bad, the manners will be bad, if good, they will be good and that in every condition of life. A woman or even a slave may be drawn with this excellence of character, though it is probable that a woman should be worse than a man and that a slave should be absolutely bad.

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 (4)

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) (Aristotle, Poetics. Immanuel Bekker, editor, Aristotelis Opera, volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1837.) — 15 focus

Περὶ δὲ τὰ ἤθη τέτταρά ἐστιν ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι, ἓν μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὅπως χρηστὰ ᾖ.

Ἕξει δὲ ἦθος μέν, ἐὰν ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη ποιῇ φανερὰν ὁ λόγος ἢ ἡ πρᾶξις προαίρεσίν. τινα, φαῦλον μὲν ἐὰν φαύλην, χρηστὸν δ᾿ ἐὰν χρηστήν.

Ἔστι δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῳ γένει· καὶ γὰρ γυνή ἐστι χρηστὴ καὶ δοῦλος· καίτοι γε ἴσως τούτων τὸ μὲν χεῖρον, τὸ δὲ ὅλως φαῦλόν ἐστιν.

Δεύτερον δὲ τὰ ἁρμόττοντα· ἔστι γὰρ ἀνδρεῖον μὲν τὸ ἦθος, ἀλλ᾿ οὐχ ἁρμόττον γυναικὶ τὸ ἀνδρείαν ἢ δεινὴν εἶναι.

Τρίτον δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον· τοῦτο γὰρ ἕτερον τοῦ χρηστὸν τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁρμόττον ποιῆσαι, ὥσπερ εἴρηται.

Τέταρτον δὲ τὸ ὁμαλόν· κἂν γὰρ ἀνώμαλός τις ᾖ ὁ τὴν μίμησιν παρέχων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἦθος ὑποτιθείς, ὅμως ὁμαλῶς ἀνώμαλον δεῖ εἶναι.

Ἔστι δὲ παράδειγμα πονηρίας μὲν ἤθους μὴ ἀναγκαῖον οἷον ὁ Μενέλαος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ὀρέστῃ,

τοῦ δὲ ἀπρεποῦς καὶ μὴ ἁρμόττοντος ὅ τε θρῆνος Ὀδυσσέως ἐν τῇ Σκύλλῃ καὶ ἡ τῆς Μελανίππης ῥῆσις,

τοῦ δὲ ἀνωμάλου ἡ ἐν Αὐλίδι Ἰφιγένεια· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔοικεν ἡ ἱκετεύουσα τῇ ὑστέρᾳ.

Χρὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων συστάσει, ἀεὶ ζητεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ τὸ εἰκός, ὥστε τὸν τοιοῦτον τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν ἢ πράττειν ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός,

καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός. Φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι καὶ τὰς λύσεις τῶν μύθων ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεῖ τοῦ μύθου συμβαίνειν, καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Μηδείᾳ ἀπὸ μηχανῆς καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰλιάδι τὰ περὶ τὸν ἀπόπλουν·

ἀλλὰ μηχανῇ χρηστέον ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω τοῦ δράματος ἢ ὅσα πρὸ τοῦ γέγονεν, ἃ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄνθρωπον εἰδέναι, ἢ ὅσα ὕστερον, ἃ δεῖται προαγορεύσεως καὶ ἀγγελίας· ἅπαντα γὰρ ἀποδίδομεν τοῖς θεοῖς ὁρᾶν.

Ἄλογον δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν, εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τῆς τραγῳδίας, οἷον τὰ ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι τῷ Σοφοκλέους.

Ἐπεὶ δὲ μίμησίς ἐστιν ἡ τραγῳδία βελτιόνων, ἡμᾶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς εἰκονογράφους· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀποδιδόντες τὴν ἰδίαν μορφήν, ὁμοίους ποιοῦντες, καλλίους γράφουσιν. Οὕτω καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν μιμούμενον καὶ ὀργίλους καὶ ῥᾳθύμους καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχοντας ἐπὶ τῶν ἠθῶν, ἐπιεικείας ποιεῖν παράδειγμα ἢ σκληρότητος δεῖ, οἷον τὸν Ἀχιλλέα Ἀγάθων καὶ Ὅμηρος.

Ταῦτα δὴ δεῖ διατηρεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τὰ παρὰ τὰς ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκολουθούσας αἰσθήσεις τῇ ποιητικῇ· καὶ γὰρ κατ᾿ αὐτὰς ἔστιν ἁμαρτάνειν πολλάκις. Εἴρηται δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐκδεδομένοις λόγοις ἱκανῶς.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 15 focus

περὶ δὲ τὰ ἤθη τέτταρά ἐστιν ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι, ἓν μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὅπως χρηστὰ ᾖ.

ἕξει δὲ ἦθος μὲν ἐὰν ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη ποιῇ φανερὸν ὁ λόγος ἢ ἡ πρᾶξις προαίρεσίν τινα ἥ τις ἂν ᾖ, χρηστὸν δὲ ἐὰν 20 χρηστήν.

ἔστιν δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῳ γένει· καὶ γὰρ γυνή ἐστιν χρηστὴ καὶ δοῦλος, καίτοι γε ἴσως τούτων τὸ μὲν χεῖρον, τὸ δὲ ὅλως φαῦλόν ἐστιν.

δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ἁρμόττοντα· ἔστιν γὰρ ἀνδρείαν μὲν τὸ ἦθος, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἁρμόττον γυναικὶ οὕτως ἀνδρείαν ἢ δεινὴν εἶναι.

τρίτον δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον. τοῦτο γὰρ ἕτερον 25 τοῦ χρηστὸν τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁρμόττον ποιῆσαι ὡς προείρηται.

τέταρτον δὲ τὸ ὁμαλόν. κἂν γὰρ ἀνώμαλός τις ᾖ ὁ τὴν μίμησιν παρέχων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἦθος ὑποτεθῇ, ὅμως ὁμαλῶς ἀνώμαλον δεῖ εἶναι.

ἔστιν δὲ παράδειγμα πονηρίας μὲν ἤθους μὴ ἀναγκαίας οἷον ὁ Μενέλαος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ὀρέστῃ,

τοῦ 30 δὲ ἀπρεποῦς καὶ μὴ ἁρμόττοντος ὅ τε θρῆνος Ὀδυσσέως ἐν τῇ Σκύλλῃ καὶ ἡ τῆς Μελανίππης ῥῆσις,

τοῦ δὲ ἀνωμάλου ἡ ἐν Αὐλίδι Ἰφιγένεια· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔοικεν ἡ ἱκετεύουσα τῇ ὑστέρᾳ.

χρὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν ὁμοίως ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων συστάσει ἀεὶ ζητεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ τὸ εἰκός, 35 ὥστε τὸν τοιοῦτον τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν ἢ πράττειν ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκὸς καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός.

φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι καὶ τὰς λύσεις τῶν μύθων ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεῖ τοῦ 1454b 1 μύθου συμβαίνειν, καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Μηδείᾳ ἀπὸ μηχανῆς καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰλιάδι τὰ περὶ τὸν ἀπόπλουν.

ἀλλὰ μηχανῇ χρηστέον ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω τοῦ δράματος, ἢ ὅσα πρὸ τοῦ γέγονεν ἃ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄνθρωπον εἰδέναι, ἢ ὅσα ὕστερον, ἃ 5 δεῖται προαγορεύσεως καὶ ἀγγελίας· ἅπαντα γὰρ ἀποδίδομεν τοῖς θεοῖς ὁρᾶν.

ἄλογον δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν, εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τῆς τραγῳδίας, οἷον τὸ ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι τῷ Σοφοκλέους.

ἐπεὶ δὲ μίμησίς ἐστιν ἡ τραγῳδία βελτιόνων ἢ ἡμεῖς, δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς 10 εἰκονογράφους· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀποδιδόντες τὴν ἰδίαν μορφὴν ὁμοίους ποιοῦντες καλλίους γράφουσιν· οὕτω καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν μιμούμενον καὶ ὀργίλους καὶ ῥᾳθύμους καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχοντας ἐπὶ τῶν ἠθῶν τοιούτους ὄντας ἐπιεικεῖς ποιεῖν † παράδειγμα σκληρότητος οἷον τὸν Ἀχιλλέα ἀγαθὸν καὶ Ὅμηρος † .

15 ταῦτα δὴ διατηρεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τὰ παρὰ τὰς ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκολουθούσας αἰσθήσεις τῇ ποιητικῇ· καὶ γὰρ κατ’ αὐτὰς ἔστιν ἁμαρτάνειν πολλάκις· εἴρηται δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐκδεδομένοις λόγοις ἱκανῶς.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 15 focus

Περὶ δὲ τὰ ἤθη τέτταρά ἐστιν ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι, ἓν
μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὅπως χρηστὰ ᾖ.

ἕξει δὲ ἦθος μὲν ἐὰν
ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη ποιῇ φανερὸν ὁ λόγος ἢ ἡ πρᾶξις προαίρεσίν
τινα ᾖ, χρηστὸν δὲ ἐὰν χρηστήν.

ἔστιν δὲ ἐν
ἑκάστῳ γένει· καὶ γὰρ γυνή ἐστιν χρηστὴ καὶ δοῦλος,
καίτοι γε ἴσως τούτων τὸ μὲν χεῖρον, τὸ δὲ ὅλως φαῦλόν
ἐστιν.

δεύτερον δὲ τὸ ἁρμόττοντα· ἔστιν γὰρ ἀνδρεῖον
μὲν τὸ ἦθος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ἁρμόττον γυναικείῳ τὸ ἀνδρείαν ἢ
δεινὴν εἶναι.

τρίτον δὲ τὸ ὅμοιον. τοῦτο γὰρ ἕτερον τοῦ
χρηστὸν τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁρμόττον ποιῆσαι ὥσπερ εἴρηται.

τέταρτον δὲ τὸ ὁμαλόν. κἂν γὰρ ἀνώμαλός τις ᾖ ὁ τὴν
μίμησιν παρέχων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἦθος ὑποτιθείς, ὅμως ὁμαλῶς
ἀνώμαλον δεῖ εἶναι.

ἔστω δὲ παράδειγμα πονηρίας μὲν
ἤθους μὴ ἀναγκαίου οἷον ὁ Μενέλαος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ὀρέστῃ,

τοῦ
δὲ ἀπρεποῦς καὶ μὴ ἁρμόττοντος ὅ τε θρῆνος ὁ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως
ἐν τῇ Σκύλλῃ καὶ ἡ τῆς Μελανίππης ῥῆσις,

τοῦ δὲ ἀνωμάλου
ἡ ἐν Αὐλίδι Ἰφιγένεια· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔοικεν ἡ ἱκετεύουσα τῇ
ὑστέρᾳ.

χρὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν
πραγμάτων συστάσει ἀεὶ ζητεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ τὸ εἰκός,
ὥστε τὸν τοιοῦτον τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν ἢ πράττειν ἢ ἀναγκαῖον
ἢ εἰκὸς καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός.

φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι καὶ τὰς λύσεις τῶν μύθων ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεῖ τοῦ
μύθου συμβαίνειν, καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Μηδείᾳ ἀπὸ μηχανῆς
καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἰλιάδι τὰ περὶ τὸν ἀπόπλουν.

ἀλλὰ μηχανῇ
χρηστέον ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω τοῦ δράματος, ἢ ὅσα πρὸ τοῦ
γέγονεν ἃ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄνθρωπον εἰδέναι, ἢ ὅσα ὕστερον ἃ
δεῖται προαγορεύσεως καὶ ἀγγελίας· ἅπαντα γὰρ ἀποδίδομεν
τοῖς θεοῖς ὁρᾶν.

ἄλογον δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν,
εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τῆς τραγῳδίας, οἷον τὸ ἐν τῷ
Οἰδίποδι τῷ Σοφοκλέους.

ἐπεὶ δὲ μίμησίς ἐστιν ἡ τραγῳδία
βελτιόνων, ἡμᾶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς εἰκονογράφους·
καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀποδιδόντες τὴν ἰδίαν μορφὴν ὁμοίους
ποιοῦντες καλλίους γράφουσιν· οὕτω καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν μιμούμενον
καὶ ὀργίλους καὶ ῥᾳθύμους καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα
ἔχοντας ἐπὶ τῶν ἠθῶν τοιούτους ὄντας ἐπιεικεῖς ποιεῖν
παράδειγμα σκληρότητος, οἷον τὸν Ἀχιλλέα Ἀγάθων καὶ
Ὅμηρος,

ταῦτα δὴ διατηρεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τὰ παρὰ
τὰς ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκολουθούσας αἰσθήσεις τῇ ποιητικῇ·
καὶ γὰρ κατ᾽ αὐτὰς ἔστιν ἁμαρτάνειν πολλάκις· εἴρηται
δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐκδεδομένοις λόγοις ἱκανῶς.

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.) — 15 focus

Περὶ δὲ τὰ ἤθη τέτταρά ἐστιν ὧν δεῖ στοχάζεσθαι, ἓν μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὅπως χρηστὰ ᾖ.

ἕξει δὲ ἦθος μέν, ἐὰν ο ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη ποιῇ φανερὰν ὁ λόγος ἢ ἡ πρᾶξις προαίρεσίν τινα, χρηστὸν δ᾽ ἐὰν χρηστήν.

ἔστι δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῳ γένει· καὶ γὰρ γυνή ἐστι χρηστὴ καὶ δοῦλος· καίτοι γε ἴσως τούτων τὸ μὲν χεῖρον, τὸ δὲ ὅλως φαῦλόν ἐστιν.

δεύτερον δὲ τὰ ἁρμόττοντα· ἔστι γὰρ ἀνδρεῖον μὲν τὸ ἦθος, ἀλλ᾿ οὐχ ὡρμόττον γυναικὶ τὸ ἀνδρείαν ἢ δεινὴν εἶναι.

τρίτον δὲ τὸ¹ ὅμοιον· τοῦτο γὰρ ἕτερον τοῦ χρηστὸν τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁρμόττον ποιῆσαι, ὥσπερ εἴρηται.

τέταρτον δὲ τὸ ὁμαλόν· κἂν γὰρ ἀνώμαλός τις ᾖ ὁ τὴν μίμησιν παρέχων καὶ τοιοῦτον ἦθος ὑποτιθείς, ὅμως ὁμαλῶς ἀνώμαλον δεῖ εἶναι.

ἔστι δὲ παράδειγμα πονηρίας μὲν ἤθους μὴ ἀναγκαῖον οἷον ὁ Μενέλαος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ορέστῃ,

τοῦ δὲ ἀπρεποῦς καὶ μὴ ἁρμόττοντος ὅ τε θρῆνος Ὀδυσσέως ἐν τῇ Σκύλλῃ καὶ ἡ τῆς Μελανίππης ῥῆσις,

τοῦ δὲ ἀνωμάλου ἡ ἐν Αυλίδι Ιφιγένεια· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔοικεν ἡ ἱκετεύουσα τῇ ὑστέρᾳ.

χρὴ δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἤθεσιν, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων συστάσει, ἀεὶ ζητεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ τὸ εἰκός, ὥστε τὸν τοιοῦτον τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγειν ἢ πράττειν ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός, καὶ τοῦτο μετὰ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι ἢ ἀναγκαῖον ἢ εἰκός.

φανερὸν οὖν ὅτι καὶ τὰς λύσεις η τῶν μύθων ἐξ αὐτοῦ δεῖ τοῦ μύθου συμβαίνειν, καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ Μηδείᾳ ἀπὸ μηχανῆς καὶ ἐν τῇ Ιλιάδι τὰ περὶ τὸν ἀπόπλουν·

ἀλλὰ μηχανῇ χρηστέον ἐπὶ τὰ ἔξω τοῦ δράμ²ατος ἢ ὅσα πρὸ τοῦ γέγονεν, ἃ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἄνθρωπον εἰδέ ναι, ἢ ὅσα ὕστερον, ἃ δεῖται προαγορεύσεως καὶ ἀγγελίας· ἅπαντα γὰρ ἀποδίδομεν τοῖς θεοῖς ὁρᾶν.

ἄλογον δὲ μηδὲν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν, εἰ δὲ μή, ἔξω τῆς τραγῳδίας, οἷον τὰ ἐν τῷ Οἰδίποδι τῷ Σοφοκλέους.

ἐπεὶ δὲ μίμησίς ἐστιν ἡ τραγῳδία βελτιόνων, ἡμᾶς δεῖ μιμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς εἰκονογράφους· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ἀποδιδόντες τὴν ἰδίαν μορφήν, ὁμοίους ποιοῦντες, καλλίους γράφουσιν· οὕτω καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν μιμούμενον καὶ ὀργίλους καὶ ῥᾳθύμους καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοιαῦτα ἔχοντας ἐπὶ τῶν ἠθῶν [τοιούτους ὄντας] ἐπιεικεῖς ποιεῖν [παράδειγμα σκληρότητος], οἷον τὸν Ἀχιλλέα Ἀγάθων καὶ Ὅμηρος.

ταῦτα δὴ δεῖ διατηρεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τούτοις τὰς παρὰ τὰς ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἀκολουθούσας αἰσθήσεις τῇ ποιητικῇ· καὶ γὰρ κατ᾿ αὐτὰς ἔστιν ἁμαρτάνειν πολλάκις. εἴρηται δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς ἐκδεδομένοις λόγοις ἱκανῶς.

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 15 focus

Concerning character there are four points to aim at. The first and most important is that the character should be good.

The play will show character if, as we said above,¹ either the dialogue or the actions reveal some choice; and the character will be good, if the choice is good.

20 But this is relative to each class of people. Even a woman is good and so is a slave, although it may be said that a woman is an inferior thing and a slave beneath consideration.

The second point is that the characters should be appropriate. A character may be manly, but it is not appropriate for a woman to be manly or clever.

Thirdly, it should be like.² This is different from making the character good and from making it appropriate in the sense of the word as used above.

Fourthly, it should be consistent. Even if the original be inconsistent and offers such a character to the poet for representation, still he must be consistently inconsistent.

An example of unnecessary badness of character is Menelaos in the Orestes³;

of character that is unfitting and inappropriate the lament of Odysseus in the Scylla⁴ and Melanippe’s speech⁵;

of inconsistent character Iphigeneia in Aulis , for the suppliant Iphigeneia is not at all like her later character.

In character-drawing just as much as in the arrangement of the incidents one should always seek what is inevitable or probable, so as to make it inevitable or probable that such and such a person should say or do such and such; and inevitable or probable that one thing should follow another.

Clearly therefore the denouement⁶ of each play should also be the result of the plot itself and not produced mechanically as in the Medea and the incident of the embarkation in the Iliad. 1454b 1 ⁷

The god in the car⁸ should only be used to explain what lies outside the play, either what happened earlier and is therefore beyond human knowledge, or what happens later and needs to be foretold in a proclamation. For we ascribe to the gods the power of seeing everything.

There must, however, be nothing inexplicable in the incidents, or, if there is, it must lie outside the tragedy. There is an example in Sophocles’ Oedipus.⁹

Since tragedy is a representation of men better than ourselves we must copy the good portrait-painters who, while rendering the distinctive form and making a likeness, yet paint people better than they are. It is the same with the poet. When representing people who are hot-tempered or lazy, or have other such traits of character, he should make them such, yet men of worth [an example of hardness]¹⁰; take the way in which Agathon and Homer portray Achilles.

Keep, then, a careful eye on these rules and also on the appeal to the eye¹¹ which is necessarily bound up with the poet’s business; for that offers many opportunities of going wrong. But this subject has been adequately discussed in the published treatises.¹²

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 15 focus

〈الأخلاق؛ الاحتمال والضرورة؛ «الإله بالآلة»〉

فأما فى العادات فلنتكلم الآن فنقول: إن العادات التى منها نتعرف الحق ونستدل عليه — أربع: الأول منها هو أن تكون العادات جياداً، ويكون كل واحد منها — إن كان قول الأمر الذى هو أعرف قد يؤثر بالفعل الإرادى فى الاعتقاد شيئاً — أن تكون حال كل واحدة من العادات هذه الحال. والخير والجيد إن كان موجوداً فهو موجود خيراً فى كل جنس. وذاك أنه قد توجد مرأة جيدة وفعل جيد. هذا على أنه لعله يكون هذا منهم رذل وهذا مزيف.

والثانى ذلك الذى يصلح. وذلك أن العادة التى هى للرجال قد توجد، إلا أنها لا تصلح للمرأة، ولا أيضاً أن ترى فيها ألبتة.

والثالثة الشبيه بذلك: أن الذى له هذه العادة غير ذلك الذى له عادة جيدة إن كان قد يصلح أن يفعل أيضاً، كما تقدم فقيل.

وأما الرابعة فذاك المتساوى. وذلك أنه إن كان إنسان مما يأتى بالتشبيه والمحاكاة مساوياً، ووضع مثل هذا الخلق كذلك على جهة التساوى، فقد يجب أن يكون غير مساو.

وأيضاً أما مثال رذيلة العادة فليس هو ضرورى، وذلك كما كانت الرحمة لأورسطس والحزن عليه. وما كان غير لائق هو أنه لما كان يصلح ويطابق مثل نوح أوديسوس على المعروفة بـ«ـأسقلى» البحرانية، ولا أيضاً النصنصة ونلحبس (!) المعروفة بميلانافى؛ فأما الذى للامتساوى فكحال ايفيغانيا فى دير المعروف [ببنات] بأولى، وذلك أنه ما تشبهت تلك التى كانت تتضرع بتلك الأخيرة.

وقد يجب أن يطلب دائماً مجرى التشابه كما نطلب ذلك فى قوام الأمور أيضاً: إما ما هو على الحقيقة، وإما ما هو ضرورى، وإما الشبيه. وعند هذه تكون العادة ضرورية أو شبيهاً.

ومن البين أن أواخر الخرافات إما ينبغى أن تعرض لها وتنوبها من العادة نفسها، وليس كالحال فيما كان من الحيلة عند «ميديا» وكما كان إلى «الياذس» من انقلاب المراكب، لا للغرق، لكن إنما ينبغى أن نستعمل نحو خارج القينة، وآخرها الحيلة إما بمقدار ما احتملوا هؤلاء المذكورين، وإما بمبلغ ما لا يمكن الإنسان أن يقف ويعرف أو بمبلغ ما يحتاجون أخيراً فى المقولة أو القول. وذلك أن كل شىء يسلم إلى الآلهة يرى ويبصر؛ فأما ما هو خارج عن النطق فلا ينبغى أن يكون فى الأمور، وإلا كان هذا المعنى خارجاً عن المدائح، بمنزلة ما كان ما أتى به أوديفس من محاكاة سوفقلس حريصاً.

والتشبيه والمحاكاة هى مدائح الأشياء التى هى فى غاية الفضيلة، أو كما يجب أن يشبهوا المصورون الحذاق الجياد؛ وذلك أن هؤلاء بأجمعهم عندما يأتون بصورهم وخلقهم من حيث يشبهون يأتون بالرسوم جياداً، كذلك الشاعر أيضاً عندما يشبه الغضابى والكسالى يأتى هذه الأشياء الأخر التى توجد لهم فى عاداتهم، فعلى هذا ينبغى للحذاق أن يأتوا بمثال الصعوبة، بمنزلة ما أبان أوميروس من خبر أخيلوس.

وهذه ينبغى أن تحفظ؛ ومع هذه أيضاً الاحساسات التى تلزمهم فى صناعة الشعر من الاضطرار، وذلك أن كثيراً ما قد يكون فى هذه زلل وخطأ. وقد تكلم فيها كلاماً كافياً فى الأقاويل التى أتى بها.

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.) — 15 focus

In respect of Character there are four things to be
aimed at. First, and most important, it must be good.

Now any speech or action that manifests moral purpose
of any kind will be expressive of character: the character
will be good if the purpose is good.

This rule is relative
to each class. Even a woman may be good, and also a
slave;
though the woman may be said to be an inferior
being, and the slave quite worthless.

The second thing
to aim at is propriety. There is a type of manly valour;
but valour in a woman, or unscrupulous cleverness, is in-
appropriate.

Thirdly, character must be true to life: for
this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, as here
described.

The fourth point is consistency: for though
the subject of the imitation, who suggested the type,
be inconsistent, still he must be consistently inconsistent.

As an example of motiveless degradation of character, we
have Menelaus in the Orestes;

of
character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament of Odysseus in
the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe:

of inconsistency, the
Iphigenia at Aulis, — for Iphigenia the suppliant in no
way resembles her later self.

In the portraiture of character, as in the structure of the
plot, the poet should always aim either at the necessary
or the probable.
Thus a person of a given character should speak or act in
a given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability;
just as this event should follow that by necessary or probable
sequence.

It is therefore evident that the unravelling
of the plot, no less than the complication, must arise out
of the plot itself,

it must not be brought about by the
Deus ex Machina as in the Medea, or in the Return of
the Greeks in the Iliad.
The Deus ex Machina should
be employed only for events external to the drama, —
for antecedent or subsequent events, which lie beyond
the range of human knowledge, and which require to be
reported or foretold; for to the gods we ascribe the power
of seeing all things.

Within the action there must be
nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded,
it should be outside the scope of the tragedy.
Such is
the irrational element in the Oedipus of Sophocles.

Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who
are above the common level, the example of good portrait-
painters should be followed.
They, while reproducing
the distinctive form of the original, make a likeness
which is true to life and yet more beautiful.
So too
the poet, in representing men who are irascible or
indolent, or have other defects of character, should
preserve the type and yet ennoble it.
In this way
Achilles is portrayed by Agathon and Homer.

These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor
should he neglect those appeals to the senses, which,
though not among the essentials, are the concomitants of
poetry;
for here too there is much room for error. But
of this enough has been said in our published treatises.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 15 focus

In the Characters there are four points to aim at. First
and foremost, that they shall be good.

There will be an
element of character in the play, if (as has been observed)
what a personage says or does reveals a certain moral
purpose;
and a good element of character, if the purpose
so revealed is good.

Such goodness is possible in every
type of personage, even in a woman or a slave, though the
one is perhaps an inferior, and the other a wholly worthless
being.

The second point is to make them appropriate. The
Character before us may be, say, manly;
but it is not appro-
priate in a female Character to be manly, or clever.

The
third is to make them like the reality, which is not the same
as their being good and appropriate, in our sense of the
term.

The fourth is to make them consistent and the same
throughout;
even if inconsistency be part of the man before
one for imitation as presenting that form of character, he
should still be consistently inconsistent.

We have an in-
stance of baseness of character, not required for the story,
in the Menelaus in Orestes;

of the incongruous and un-
befitting in the lamentation of Ulysses in Scylla, and in
the (clever) speech of Melanippe;

and of inconsistency in
Iphigenia at Aulis, where Iphigenia the suppliant is utterly
unlike the later Iphigenia.

The right thing, however, is
in the Characters just as in the incidents of the play to
endeavour always after the necessary or the probable;
so that
whenever such-and-such a personage says or does such-
and-such a thing, it shall be the probable or necessary
outcome of his character;
and whenever this incident
follows on that, it shall be either the necessary or the
probable consequence of it.

From this one sees (to digress
for a moment) that the Dénouement also should arise out
of the plot itself, and not depend on a stage-artifice, as in
Medea, or in the story of the (arrested) departure of the
Greeks in the Iliad.

The artifice must be reserved for
matters outside the play for past events beyond human
knowledge, or events yet to come, which require to be
foretold or announced; since it is the privilege of the Gods
to know everything.

There should be nothing improbable
among the actual incidents. If it be unavoidable, however,
it should be outside the tragedy, like the improbability in
the Oedipus of Sophocles.

But to return to the Characters.
as Tragedy is an imitation of personages better than the
ordinary man, we in our way should follow the example of
good portrait-painters, who reproduce the distinctive features
of a man, and at the same time, without losing the likeness,
make him handsomer than he is.
The poet in like manner,
in portraying men quick or slow to anger, or with similar
infirmities of character, must know how to represent them
as such, and at the same time as good men, as Agathon
and Homer have represented Achilles.

All these rules one must keep in mind throughout, and
further, those also for such points of stage-effect as directly
depend on the art of the poet, since in these too one may
often make mistakes.
Enough, however, has been said on
the subject in one of our published writings.

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.) — 15.3 focus

This goodness of manners may be found in persons of every description: the manners of a woman, or of a slave, may be good; though, in general, women are, perhaps, rather bad, than good, and slaves, altogether bad¹.

[15]

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.) — 15.3 focus

But manners are to be found in each genus; for both a woman and a slave may be good; though perhaps of these, the one is ¹²³ less good2, and the other is wholly bad3. ⁴

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.) — 15 focus

In moribus autem quattuor sunt quae oportet sectari, unum ac primum, ut boni sint.

habebit autem mores, si, ut dictum est, manifestum faciat oratio vel actio studium quoddam, et bonos quidem, si bonum.

inest autem hoc in quovis genere: nam et mulier est bona et servus; quamquam fortasse alterum genus deterius, alterum omnino vile est.

secundum vero ut apti sint: sunt enim viriles quidam mores, sed non aptum mulieri esse virilem vel terribilem, tertium ut similes: hoc enim aliud atque bonos mores et aptos facere, ut dictum est.

quartum vero ut sibi constent: etenim quamvis inconstans sit qui imitationem praebet et eiusmodi mores suppeditat, tamen constanter inconstantem esse oportet.

est

autem exemplar pravitatis morum haud necessarium qualis Menelaus in Oreste,

eorum qui absurdi et non apti lamentatio Ulixis in Scylla et Melanippae oratio, eorum qui sibi non constant Iphigenia Aulidensis:

nam quae supplicat nihil similis videtur ei quae postea est.

decet autem etiam in moribus, ut in factorum compositione, semper sectari sive quod necessarium sive quod verisimile, ut talem talia dicere vel facere sive necessarium sive verisimile sit, utque hoc post illud fieri sive necessarium sive verisimile sit.

itaque manifestum est etiam solutiones fabularum ex ipsa fabula debere contingere, et non sicuti in Medea ex machina et in Iliade quae pertinent ad discessum:

sed machina utendum in iis 3 quae extra fabulam sunt, sive quae ante acciderunt, quae homo scire non potest, sive quae postea, quae indigent praedictione et expositione: omnia enim cernere dis tribuimus.

quod ratione careat nihil inesse in factis decet, sin minus, extra tragoediam, ut quae sunt in Oedipo Sophoclis.

sed quoniam imitatio est tragoedia meliorum, imitari nos decet bonos pictores: etenim illi propriam cuiusque speciem dum praebent, similes exhibentes, meliores pingunt; sic quoque pocta dum imitatur iracundos et inertes et qui cetera huiusmodi in moribus habent [eos qui tales sunt] bonos facere debet [exemplar asperitatis], sicut Achillem Agatho et Homerus.

haec igitur decet observare, et insuper eas perceptiones quae praeter necessarias poesin comitantur: nam in his quoque peccari saepe solet. dictum autem de iis in libris editis quantum est satis.

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 15.3 focus

Et cette bonté de mœurs ſe trouve dans toute ſorte de conditions, car une femme peut être bonne & un valet même peut être bon, quoique communément les femmes ſoient plûtôt mauvaiſes que bonnes, & que les valets ſoient abſolument méchans.

2.

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 15 focus

Vanto a' coſtumi ſon quattro coſe, che biſogna hauere in confideratione Vna, & la principale è, in che modo i coſtumi ui fieno buoni.¹

Ha rà costume il parlare, & laattione, ſe ella (ſi come s'è detto) e detto) vi farà qualche elettione manifeſta. Fia il coſtu me cattiuo, ſe l'elettione fia cattiua. Et buono, ſe l'elet. tione fia buona.

Et queſto ſi può vedere in ciaſchedun genere, conciofia che la Donna, & il ſeruo poſſa eſſer buono, anchor che forse l'un de due ſia men buo no, & l'altro fia in tutto cattiuo Nel ſecondo luogo è quando i coſtumi ſono contienienti, concioſſa che e ſi poffa efprimere vn coſtume forte;

ma e non è già conueniente à vna Donna l'apparire o forte, ò terribile. Nel terzo luogo è, che e' fia fimile.

Et ciò non è il medefimo col fare il costume, è buono, ò conueniente; ficome 10'ho detto Nel quarto & vltimo è, che e fia uguale;

et auuenga che l'Iftrione, che fa l'imitatione, & che tal coftume ci mette dauanti appariſca inequale: nondimeno detta inequalità debbe eſſere retta ugual mente.

In effempio di coſtume cattiuo, & non neceffa rio fiaci Menelao nello Oreſte.

Et di coſtume indecoto,& non conueniente il pianto dVliffe nella Scilla:& il parlare che fa Menalippe.

Et di coſtume inuguale, fiaci Ifigenia nella Aulide; doue ella, fupplicheuole da prima, non appariſce la medefima in vltimo.

Debbefi nel formare coſtumi, coſi come nel formare il fuggetto, ricercaruiſi ſempre il neceffario,ò il verifimile; & fa re, che l'un caſo ſucceda doppo l'altro nell'uno de' due modı. Et diqui è manifeſto, che gli ſcioglimenti d'eſſe Fauole da eſſe Fauole debbono dependere;

& non fi come è nella Medea, per via di Macchine, ò come è quella nella Iliade, quando i Greci voleuon con l'arma ta ritornarfene à cafa.

Ma la Macchina ſi debbe vſare nelle coſe, che fon fuori della Tragedia, ò in tutte quel le, che ſeguite imprima, era impoſsibile, che vno le fapeſſe; o intutte quelle, che, douendo ſeguire dappoi, hanna biſogno d'eſſere indouinate, o racconte:concio RR ΙΑΤΡΟΙΕΤICA ſia che agli Dei s'attribuiſca la preſcienza di tutte le co ſe.

Che egli è nel vero coſa diſconueneuole à crederfi, che nelle attioni ſteſſe non ſia coſa alcuna da ſcior la Fauola;& ſe pure ella non v'è, ella ſarà fuori della Tragedia:ficome ella è tolta nello Edippo di Sofocle.

Ma conciofia che ella ſia imitatione d'huomini, & di coſe eccellenti; perciò imitiſi in queſto il modo tenuto da buon dipintori, 1 quali nel formar le propie figure per renderle ſimili le dipıngono ſempre più belle. Che il Poeta medefimamente nello imitare vno adirato, vno da poco,ò vnaltro di ſimili coſtumi, debbe ſempre fingerlo per eſſempio dell'una, ò dell'altra qualità di coſtu meiſicome fa Homero d'Acchille, che lo finge vno ef ſempio di Fortezza, Et queſte ſono le cofe, che auuere tir' fi debbono;

& oltradiqueſto quei ſentimenti, che conſeguitano alla Poetica neceſſariamente: conciofia: che mediante queſti noi cinganniamo molteuoltex Della qual materia n'ho 10 ragionato à bastanza negli ſcritti ſopra di ciò dati fuori gilansiodo

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.) — 15 focus

Ceterum de moribus quattuor sunt quae spectare oportet. unum quidem et primum, quomodo boni sint.

habebit autem mores, si, ut dictum est, oratio aut actio manifestam efficiat praeelectionem aliquam; malos quidem, si malam, bonos vero, si bonam,

est vero hoc in unoquoque genere: etenim mulier est bona et servus, etiamsi fortasse ex his illud quidem peius, hoc omnino malum est. secundum est, quando sint convenientes: est enim virorum mos,

sed non conveniens mulieri, fortem vel terribilem esse. tertium quando sint similes:

hoc enim aliud est ab eo quod est bonos et convenientes mores facere, ut dictum est. quartum,

quomodo aequales: tametsi enim inaequalis quidam sit qui praebet imitationem, et talibus moribus suppositus sit,

tamen aequaliter inaequalem oportet esse. est autem exemplum improborum morum non ex necessitate, ut Menelaus in Oreste,

eius vero quod non deceat et non conveniat, tum lamentatio Ulyssis in Scylla, tum Menalippae dictio.

at inaequalium in Aulide Iphigenia: nullam enim in partem similis est, dum orat, ei quae apparet posterius.

oportet autem et in moribus, ut etiam in rerum constitutione, semper quaerere vel necessarium vel verisimile; et hoc post hoc fieri vel ex necessitate vel ex verisimilitudine.

apparet igitur et solutiones fa¿ bularum ex ipsa oportere fabula contingere, et non ut in Medea a machina, et in Iliade ea quae sunt circa renavigationem.

sed machina uti opus est ad ea quae sunt extra actionem, aut quaecunque ante facta sunt, quae fieri non potest ut homo sciat, aut quaecunque postea, quae egent praedicatione et nuntiatione: omnia enim videre tribuimus diis.

at sine ratione in rebus nihil esse oportet: sin minus, id extra tragoediam sit, ut quae sunt in Oedipode Sophoclis.

quoniam autem tragoedia est meliorum imitatio, oportet nos imitari bonos formarum fictores. etenim illi cum tribuant propriam formam, faciendo similes pulchriores fingunt. sic etiam oportet poetam imitantem et iracundos et socordes et alia talia habentes in moribus, cum tales sint, probitatis facere exemplum ac duritiae, at Achillem bonum etiam Homerus.

iam vero haec oportet servare, et ad haec ea quae sub sensum cadunt consequentia poëticae, praeter illa quae sunt ex necessitate: etenim secundum ipsa saepenumero contingit peccare. dictum autem est satis de ipsis in editis libris.

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.) — 15 focus

Circa mores autem quatuor sunt que oportet coniecturare '

unum quidem et primum, quatinus boni sint ; habebit autem morem quidem si, sicut dictum est, faciat manifestum sermo aut actio electionem que sit, bonum autem si bona.

Est autem in unoquoque genere; et enim mulier est bona et servus, et quidem forte horum hoc quidem peius, hoc autem totaliter pravum est. —

Secundum autem congruentia; est enim virilis quidem mos, sed non congruens mulieri aut virilem aut diram esse. —

Tertium autem quod simile ; hoc enim alterum a bonum morem et congruum facere, sicut dictum est. —

Quartum autem quod regulare. Et si enim irregularis aliquis sit qui imitationem exhibet et talem morem supponens, tamen regulariter irregularem autem esse. —

Est autem exemplum malignitatis quidem moris non necessarium, puta Menelaus qui in Horeste,

indecentis autem et non congruentis lamentatio Odysei in Skyla et que Melaniptis series;

irregularis autem que in Aulide Ifigenia; nichil enim visa est ministrans posteriori. —

Oportet autem et in moribus sicut et in rerum consistentia semper querere aut quod necessarium aut quod verisimile, ut talem talia dicere aut agere sit necessarium aut verisimile, et hoc post hoc fieri aut necessarium aut verisimile. —

Manifestum igitur quod et solutiones fabularum oportet ex ipsa fabula accidere et non sicut in Medea ab ingenio et in Iliade que circa simplicem ;

sed ingenio utendum deinde extra opus, aut quecumque ante hoc fuerunt que non possibile hominem nosse, aut quecumque posterius que indigent preappellatione et nuntiatione ; omnia enim attribuimus diis videre.

Irrationabile autem nichil esse in rebus, si autem non, extra tragodiam, puta quod in Oidipode Sophocleis. —

Quoniam autem imitatio est tragodia meliorum, nos oportet imitari bonos ymaginum pictores; et enim illi assignantes propriam formam similes facientes meliores pingunt ; sic et poetam imitantem et iracundos et desides et alia talia habentes in moribus tales entes epieikees facere ; exemplar duriciei velut Achillem Agathon et Homerus.

Hec itaque observare eas que preter eas que ex necessitate assequentes sensus poetice ; et enim secundum ipsas est peccare multotiens ; dictum est autem de ipsis in traditis sermonibus sufficienter.

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.) — 15 focus

‏فاما فى العادات فلنتكلم الان فنقول ان العادات التى منها يتعرف الحق ويستدل عليه اربع الاول منها هو ان يكون العادات جيادا

‏ويكون كل واحد منها ان كان قول الامر الذى هو اعرف قد يوثر بالفعل الارادى فى الاعتقاد شيا ما ان يكون حال كل واحد من العادات هذه الحال

‏والخير والجيد ان كان موجودا فهو موجود [خيرا] فى كل جنس وذاك انه قد يوجد مرة جيدة وفعل جيد هذا على انه لعله يكون هذا منهم ردل وهذا مزيف

‏والثانى ذلك الذى يصلح وذلك ان العادة التى هى للرجال قد توجد الا انها لا تصلح للمرة ولا ايضا ان ترى فيها الثيه

‏والثالثة الشبيه بذلك ان الذى له هذه العادة غير ذلك الذى له عادة جيدة اذ كان قد يصلح ان يفعل ايضا كما تقدم فقيل⸫

‏واما الرابعة فذاك المتساوى وذلك انه ان كان انسان مما ياتى بالتشبه والمحاكاة مساو ووضع مثل هذا الخلق كذلك على جهة التساوى فقد يجب ان يكون غير مساو

‏وايضا اما مثال رذيلة العادة فليس هو ضرورى وذلك كما كانت الرحمة لاورسطس

‏والحزن عليه وما كان غير لايق هو انه لما كان يصلح ويطابق مثل نوح اودسيوس على المعرفة باسقلى البحرانية ولا ايضا الٮصٮصه وٮلجس المعروفة بميلانافى

‏فاما الذى للا متساو فكحال ايفيغانيا فى دير [المعروف ببنات اوى] وذلك انه ما تشبهت تلك التى كانت تتضرع بتلك الاخيرة

‏وقد يجب ان يطلب دايما مجرى التشابه كما نطلب ذلك فى قوام الامور ايضا اما ما هو على الحقيقة واما ما هو ضرورى واما الشبيه وعند هذه تكون العادة ضرورية او شبيه

‏ومن البين ان اواخر الخرافات انما ينبغى ان تعرض لها وتنوبها من العادة نفسها وليس كحال فيما كان من الحيلة عند ميديا وكما كان مما كان الى اٮٮلس من انقلاب المراكب [لا للغرق]

‏لكن انما ينبغى ان يستعمل نحو خارج القينة واخرها الحيلة اما بمقدار ما احٮملوا هولا المذكورين واما بمبلغ ما لا يمكن الانسان ان يقف ويعرف او بمبلغ ما يحتاجون اخيرا ڡى المقولة او القول وذلك ان كل شى نسلم الى الالهة يرى ويبصر

‏فاما ما هو خارج عن النطق فلا ينبغى ان يكون فى الامور والا كان هذا المعنى خارجا عن المدايح بمنزلة ما كان ما اتا به اوديقس من محاكاة سوفقلس حرٮصا

‏والتشبيه والماحكاة هى مدايح الاشيا التى هى فى غاية الفضيلة او كما يجب ان سٮهوا المصورون الحذاق الجياد وذلك ان هولا باجمعهم عند ما ياتون بصورهم وخلقهم من حيث يشبهون ياتون بالرسوم جيادا كذلك الشاعر ايضا عند ما يشبه الغضابى والكسالى ياتى هذه الاشيا الاخر التى توجد لهم فى عاداتهم فعلى هذا ينبغى للحذاق ان ياتوا بمثال الصعوبة بمنزلة ما اجاں اوميرس من خبر اخيلوس

‏وهذه ينبغى ان تحفظ ومع هذه ايضا الاحساسات التى تلزمهم فى صناعة الشعر من الاضطرار وذلك انه كثيرا ما قد يكون فى هذه زلل وخطا وقد تكلم فيها كلاما كافيا فى الاقاويل التى اتى بها

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 15 focus

‏ويكون كل واحد منها ان كان قول الامر الذى هو اعرف قد يوثر بالفعل الارادى فى الاعتقاد شيا ما

‏ان يكون حال كل واحد من العادات هذه الحال

‏والثانى ذلك الذى يصلح وذلك ان العادة التى هى للرجال قد توجد الا انها لا تصلح للمرة ولا ايضا ان ترى فيها الثيه

‏وايضا اما مثال رذيلة العادة فليس هو ضرورى وذلك كما كانت الرحمة لاورسطس والحزن عليه وما كان غير لايق هو انه لما كان يصلح ويطابق مثل نوح اودسيوس على المعرفة باسقلى البحرانية ولا ايضا الٮصٮصه وٮلجس المعروفة بميلانافى فاما الذى للا متساو فكحال ايفيغانيا فى دير [المعروف ببنات اوى] وذلك انه ما تشبهت تلك التى كانت تتضرع بتلك الاخيرة

‏ومن البين ان اواخر الخرافات انما ينبغى ان تعرض لها وتنوبها من العادة نفسها وليس كحال فيما كان من الحيلة عند ميديا وكما كان مما كان الى اٮٮلس من انقلاب المراكب [لا للغرق] لكن انما ينبغى ان يستعمل نحو خارج القينة واخرها الحيلة اما بمقدار ما احٮملوا هولا المذكورين واما بمبلغ ما لا يمكن الانسان ان يقف ويعرف او بمبلغ ما يحتاجون اخيرا ڡى المقولة او القول وذلك ان كل شى نسلم الى الالهة يرى ويبصر

‏كذلك الشاعر ايضا عند ما يشبه الغضابى والكسالى ياتى هذه الاشيا الاخر التى توجد لهم فى عاداتهم فعلى هذا ينبغى للحذاق ان ياتوا بمثال الصعوبة بمنزلة ما اجاں اوميرس من خبر اخيلوس

‏وهذه ينبغى ان تحفظ ومع هذه ايضا الاحساسات التى تلزمهم فى صناعة الشعر من الاضطرار وذلك انه كثيرا ما قد يكون فى هذه زلل وخطا

—

Commentary

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

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-524

τὸ μὲν χεῖρον: Pol. 1. 5, 1254 b 13

τὸ ἄρρεν πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ φύσει τὸ μὲν κρεῖττον τὸ δὲ χεῖρον

. — H. A. 9. 1, 608 b 8

διόπερ γυνὴ ἀνδρὸς ἐλεημονέστερον καὶ ἀρίδακρυ μᾶλλον, ἔτι δὲ φθονερώτερον καὶ μεμψιμοιρότερον καὶ φιλολοίδορον μᾶλλον καὶ πληκτικώτερον· ἔστι δὲ καὶ δύσθυμον μᾶλλον τὸ θῆλυ τοῦ ἄρρενος καὶ δύσελπι καὶ ἀναιδέστερον καὶ ψευδέστερον κτέ.

In the Politics we are told that owing to the weakness of the rational faculty in them, the virtue of which women are capable is not so high as that of a man ( Pol. 1. 13, 1260 a 20 ). Rhet. 1. 5, 1361 b 26 summarizes the Greek idea on this point: θηλειῶν ἀρετὴ σώματος μὲν κάλλος καὶ μέγεθος, ψυχῆς δὲ σωφροσύνη καὶ φιλεργία ἄνευ ἀνελευθερίας.

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-525

ὅλως φαῦλον. In the Politics, where the slave is viewed as a being of the very lowest intellectual and moral capacity, Aristotle allows him only the bare modicum of virtue required to enable him to do his work : ἀρετῆς δεῖται μικρᾶς καὶ τοσαύτης ὅπως μήτε δι' ἀκολασίαν μήτε διὰ δειλίαν ἐλλείψῃ τῶν ἔργων ( Pol. 1. 13, 1260 b 35 ).

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

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-362

15.3 Qucyque communément les femmes ſoient plutôt mauvai-ſes que bonnes.]¹

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-363

15.3 Et que les valets ſoient abſolument méchans.]²

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

109. mvp-aristotle-comment-109

NOTE 109. P. 92.

15.3 IN GENERAL, WOMEN ARE, PERHAPS, RATHER BAD THAN GOOD. —

"Aristote,"

says M. Batteux,

"ne parle pas içi des femmes en général, mais seulement de celles que les Poetes ont mises sur le Théâtre, telles que Medée, Clytemneitre," &c.

This is polite; but it will not make Aristotle polite. He speaks plainly; and what he says is, I fear, but too conformable to the manner in which the antients usually speak of the sex in general. At least, he is certainly consistent with himself: witness the following very curious character of women in his History of Animals , which I give the reader, by no means for his assent, but for his wonder, or his diversion.

Γυνη, ανδρος ελεημονεστερον και αριδακρυ μαλλον· ετι δε φθονερωτερον τε και μεμψιμοιροτερον, και ΦΙΛΟΛΟΙΔΟΡΟΝ μαλλον, και ΠΛΗΚΤΙΚΩΤΕΡΟΝ. ετι δε και δυσθυμον μαλλον και δυσελπι, και ΑΝΑΙΔΕΣΤΕΡΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΨΕΥΔΕΣΤΕΡΟΝ, ευαπατητοτερον τε, και μνημονικωτερον· ετι δε, ΑΓΡΥΠΝΟΤΕΡΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΟΚΝΗΡΟΤΕΡΟΝ και ολως ακινητοτερον κ. τ. αλ.

To make the reader amends for the pain which this cool and serious invective of the philosopher and the naturalist may have given him, I cannot resist the temptation of presenting him with a specimen of more sportive satire on this subject, in a very pleasant fragment, preserved by Athenæus, from a Comedy of Eubulus.

Ω Ζευ πολυτιμητ᾿, ει κακως εγω ποτε
Ερω γυναικας, νη $\Delta$ι᾿ απολοιμην αρα.
Παντων αριστον κτηματων. ειδ᾿ εγενετο
Κακη γυνη Μηδεια, Πηνελοπεια δε
Μεγα πραγμα. —ερει τις ως Κλυταιμνηστρα κακη;
Αλκηστιν αντεθηκα χρηστην. —αλλ᾿ ισως
Φαιδραν ερει κακως τις· αλλα, νη $\Delta$ια,
Χρηστη τις ην μεντοι ----τις; —οιμοι, δειλαιος·
Ταχεως γε μ᾿ αι ΧΡΗΣΤΑΙ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΕΣ επελιπον.
Τωνδ᾿ αυ ΠΟΝΗΡΩΝ ετι λεγειν πολλας εχω.

Athen. p. 559, or the Excerpta ex Trag. &c. of Grotius, p. 657.

If ever against woman-kind I rail,
Great Jupiter confound me!—for of all
The good things of this world, they are the best.
Medea, you will say, was bad:—agreed;
But, what a jewel was Penelope!
Urge you the wicked Clytemnestra?—I,
Oppose the good Alcestis. If you tell me
Of Phædra, I remind you of the good,
—Stay, let me see the good—Alas! how soon
My memory fails me there; while, of the bad,
Examples in abundance still occur.—

See Athen. p. 559, or the Excerpta ex Trag. &c. of Grotius, p. 657.

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

15.3. mvp-aristotle-comment-52 15.3

THE NEXT REQUISITE IS THEIR BEING CHARACTERISTIC.

BY characteristic is meant confonant with the profession, rank, fex, and age of the perfon. This is clearly defined as to the last condition by Horace in his Epistle to the Pifos [c]. The celebrated speech of Jaques in As You Like It, describing the seven ages of man's life, seems an imitation of this passage in Horace. But with all the veneration I have for Shakespear, I cannot agree with Mr. Colman in thinking his alteration in making two of his examples characteristic of station, instead of age, an improvement; fince comparatively confidered, so few men are ever either soldiers or justices. I say two examples, though Mr. Colman makes them three, enumerating the lover in them. But here I think Shakespear has adhered more to general nature than Horace. Love is certainly more naturally characteristic of youth than hunting. An objection has been made to Iago as a deviation from this rule, as the character of an artful revengeful villain is very opposite to that of a soldier: and had Iago been the only foldier in the play the objection would have been just, as in that case he must have been confidered as representing the general manners of the profession. But as in Othello all the principal persons of the drama are soldiers, the manners are characteristic of the individual not of the profeffion. From national prejution. [c] See v. 156 to v. 178 in the original, and v. 230 to v. 265 in Mr. Colman's tranfladice

POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. dice we are apt to be rather unfavorable in our representation of French characters; and had Parolles been the only Frenchman in ' All's Well ' that Ends Well, we should not scruple to confider him as an example of fuch prejudice; but as the scene lies in France chiefly, no such idea is ever entertained [D]. As to the propriety of character, the ghosts, witches, and fairies of Shakespear, are deservedly allowed superior excellence, as they certainly act in conformity with the manners, we impute to such imaginary beings did they really exist. Yet Shakespear had here some archetype to follow; for popular opinion had already marked the outline of their habits, which was as advantageous to him in giving them characteristic manners as it was difadvantageous to (E) Milton in giving Satan poetical excellence of manners. But how Shakespear (F) has contrived in such characters as Caliban, the pure creation of his own imagination, to give to what never did, and never was supposed to exist, such manners as we are irresistibly impelled by our feelings to pronounce truly characteristic, is a power of art that criticism is as inadequate to investigate, as genius to imitate. [D] See Bishop Warburton's Defence of Shakespear in this instance against the hypercriticism of Rhymer. [E] See Note I. on this chapter. [F] See Effay on the Dramatic Character of Falstaff, page 75, note. NOTE

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-101

Ritter, cap. 15 § 1

Quae in exprimendis moribus personarum agentium tragico poetae observanda sint, quae fugienda docetur. Mores hominum in tragoedia agentium proximo post fabulam loco cum supra (c. 6, 14) collocati essent, nemo quidem mirabitur post absolutam fabulae explicationem auctorem adgredi ad morum pertractationem, sed id mirum videbitur unicuique attento animo totum librum perlegenti, ab hoc loco nimium languescere argumenti propositi expositionem, adeo ut modo nonnisi disiecta membra summi philosophi et prudentissimi hominis agnoscere videamur, modo virum ineptum et sola doctrina superbientem intueamur. prius illud cadit in disputationem quae c. 15. continetur. de moribus enim tragoediae pauca quaedam et ieiuna digitis enumerantur adiectis quibusdam non contemnendis observationibus. sed tam arida et tenuis est haec expositio, ut qui eam antecedenticomparaverit, vix Aristotele dignam iudicare possit. num, igitur pro suppositicia habenda est? non puto: nam quae interpolator ille a nobis saepe per hunc librum deprehensus inseruit, ea tot indiciis coarguuntur, ut haec de moribus dicta isti tribuere non possim. itaque sic statuo, Ari! stotelis de moribus disputationem ab isto interpolatore in epitomam redactam et nonnullis in locis mutatam ad nos per venisse. : ὅπως χρηστά ᾖ: hoc praeceptum consequitur ex illis quae с. 13, 1-4. exposita leguntur. conf. c. 2 extr ceterum is cuius probi mores sunt minoribus nihilo minus vін! tiis obnoxius esse et magnis erroribus constrictus teneri potr est. – ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη: epitomator idemque interpolator ad sua ipsius (c. 6, 17) bona ante exprompta provocat. χρηστὸν δ' ἐὰν χρηστήν: quod ante χρηστὸν plerique codices ἢ vel ἢ addunt, id ex proximo versu ( χρηστὰ ᾖ) huc delatum est. in editionibus praeterea legimus φαῦλον μὲν ἐὰν φαύλην, sed hoc additamentum abest ab AcBcNa et. M omnibus et LPQ, neque adesse oportet, cum dicenti nihil propositum sit, nisi ut quos intelligat bonos mores indicet. me: lius adeo et facilius sequentia sic succedunt. nam cum scribit ἔστι δὲ ἐν ἑκάστῳ γένει, ad ἔστι intelligendum est χρηστὸν ἦθος, idque fieri commode potest, si sola illa χρηστὸν δ᾽ ἐὰν χρηστήν praecesserunt. καίτοι γε ἴσως-φαῦλόν ἐστιν: genus muliebre virili comparatum sequius est et deterius, et servorum genus. cum liberis et ingenuis collatum omnino vile est, sed in suo genere unusquisque bene moratus esse ac studere rebus honestis potest. mira haec nobis videri solent, sed Aristotelis non minus severum de feminis iudicium legimus in eius Hi storia animalium IX, 1. p. 608 b 8-15.

Aristotle Poetics 15.3

ed. Henry James Pye