διαλέκτῳ , 'talk', 'converse', as in Plato Symp. 203 A

διὰ τούτου πᾶσά ἐστιν ἡ ὁμιλία καὶ ἡ διάλεκτος θεοῖς πρὸς ἀνθρώπους

: comp. Rhet. 3. 8, 1408 b 34

μάλιστα πάντων τῶν μέτρων ἰαμβεῖα φθέγγονται λέγοντες

, and 3. 2, 1404 b 34

πάντες γὰρ μεταφοραῖς διαλέγονται

. For the general meaning of διάλεκτος see on 22, 1458 b 32 . Horace's alternis aptus sermonibus (A. P. 81) is a distant echo of this statement of Aristotle's. Cicero also observes that ordinary speech constantly falls into iambics: Orator 189

senarios vero et Hipponacteos effugere vix possumus; magnam enim partem ex iambis nostra constat oratio

.

1449a27 λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας ἁρμονία here seems to mean 'pitch' ( τόνος) as in Rhet. 3. 1, 1403 b 31 . Aristoxenus recognizes a similar distinction between the musical and the conversational μέλος:

λέγεται γὰρ δὴ καὶ λογῶδές τι μέλος, τὸ συγκείμενον ἐκ τῶν προσῳδιῶν τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀνόμασιν· φυσικὸν γὰρ τὸ ἐπιτείνειν καὶ ἀνιέναι ἐν τῷ διαλέγεσθαι

.

4.19 Mais aprés que la diction qui luy étoit propre fut établie.] ¹

4.19 Car l'iambe eſt de tous les vers le plus propre pour la converſation.] ²

4.19 Et tres rarement des hexametres, qui ne nous échapent jamais, que lorſque nous franchiſſons les bornes du diſcours ordinaire, & que nous changeons d'harmonie & de ton.] ³

4.19 P. 73. THE IAMBIC IS, OF ALL METRES, THE MOST COLLOQUIAL, &c.

Compare Rhet. lib. iii. cap. i. and cap. viii. Ed. Duval. And Demet. Περι Ἑρμ. Sect. 43.

4.19 P. 73. ----SELDOM INTO HEXAMETER, AND ONLY WHEN WE DEPART FROM THE USUAL MELODY OF SPEECH.

It has been thought strange, that Aristotle should introduce here the mention of hexameters, when he has been speaking only of Trochaic and Iambic verse, and is accounting for the adoption of the latter, in preference, not to the hexameter, but to the Trochaic tetrameter: and it has, therefore, been doubted, whether we should not read ¹ . But the established reading, I believe, is right. The Trochaic tetrameter, Aristotle has, both here, and in his Rhetoric, characterized as and even ² . He did not, I apprehend, consider it as being, in any degree, . It was therefore entirely out of the question, when a metre proper for the general dialogue of Tragedy was to be sought for: but the bexameter was not so; and it might, without absurdity, be asked by an objector, as Castelvetro and Piccolomini have observed, why that species of verse was not adopted; especially as the Tragic Poets were the successors of the Epic, or Heroic, and Homer, according to Plato, was "the first of Tragic Poets" ³ . As its character was grave and stately, it might seem, on that account, well adapted to Tragedy, where, indeed, we actually find it occasionally introduced. But Aristotle objects to it as less proper, because, though , it was at the same time, least . He allows, however, that it was not so remote from the rhythm of common speech, but that it might be casually produced, like the Iambic, though it rarely happened. He even goes so far, as to allow, in his concluding chapter, that Tragedy "might adopt the Epic metre." ⁴ —All this seems to afford sufficient support to the common reading. The Heroic and Iambic feet are, in the same manner, considered together, Rhet. iii. 8.

By , Aristotle means what Aristoxenus calls ⁵ . We must not suppose him to use the word here, in that lax and general sense, in which we commonly apply it to the rhythm of speech, when we talk of the harmony of a verse or a period. He speaks with his usual accuracy. Speech, as well as Music, has its melody and its rhythm; and these, in speech animated by passion, are so modified, as to approach, more or less perceptibly, to musical melody and rhythm. ⁶ And what Aristotle here asserts, I think, is, that the Greeks seldom, or never, departed so far from the usual rhythm of speech, as to run into hexameter verse, except when they were led, by the same cause, to depart equally from its usual melody or tones.

ἔτι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος ἐκ μικρῶν μύθων καὶ λέξεως γελοίας - ὀψὲ ἀπεσεμνύνθη: ἀποσεμνύνειν est ea magnificentiae specie circumdare, ut quidquid contrarium est amoveatur. sero id factum vere dicit Aristoteles, cum etiam in fabulis Aeschyli et Sophoclis nonnulla ridiculae dictionis vestigia compareant. plura haud dubie apud Thespin (eum enim potissimum hic videtur respicere) supererant, sed illud noli colligere ex his verbis, totam Thespidis dictionem ridiculam sive γελοίαν fuisse et omnes eius tragoedias ex fabulis perexiguis compositas esse. componitur enim h. 1. tragoedia plane exculta ( ἡ ἀποσεμνυνθεῖσα) et perfecta cum ea quae ex satyrorum ludicris mutaverat 8), et parvae fabulae ( μικροὶ μῦθοι) prae complexionibus rerum, quales in perfectis exhibentur tragoediis, dicuntur. haec igitur si de Thespide eiusque aequalibus intelligenda sunt, quod negari vix poterit, verba illa interiecta διὰ τὸ ἐκ σατυρικοῦ μεταβαλεῖν magni momenti sunt ad artis tragicae apud Athenienses primordia et incrementa accuratius definienda. inde enim cum appareat Thespidis fabulam ex satyrico genere ( ἐκ τοῦ σατυρικοῦ) iam mutasse ( μεταβαλεῖν), indidem censequitur ab eodem poeta satyrorum chorum ex tragoedia amandatum aliumque novo tragoediae generi magis convenientem substitutum esse, id quod aliis indiciis egregie confirmatur. conf. quae docte disputata sunt a Welckero in Appendice ad trilog. Aeschyl. p. 257-273. τό τε μέτρον ἐκ τετραμέτρου ἰαμβεῖον ἐγένετο: pergit tragoediam dramaticam inventore Thespide recens natam componere cum ea quam Aeschylus et Sophocles a se mire cultam praestiterunt. nimirum cum Thespis et qui 8) Id ipsum Thespide auctore factum esse ex aliis veterum locis colligitur. mutare οὐδετέρως positum esse neminem fugiet.aetate suppares plerumque in partibus cantu carentibus tetrametro trochaico uterentur, inde ab Aeschyli invento in eius locum senarius plerumque successit. si quis ex his verbis concludere vellet Thespidis aequaliumque tragoediis senarium omnino defuisse, is non minus erraret quam si quis hoc loco fretus diceret Aeschylum et Sophoclem tetrametrum e dialogo omnino removisse. neque vero id dicere vult philosophus, antiquissimam illam τραγικὴν ἀοιδὴν actore carentem tetrametris inclusam fuisse, a Thespidis autem aetate senarium successisse : nam si prisca τραγικὴ ἀοιδὴ tetrametris constaret et pro iis senarii succederent, ecce aderat tragoedia meris senariis composita, qualem nunquam exstitisse certum est. inde manifestum est non componi h. 1. tragoediam istam dithyrambicam et eam quam Thespis invenit, sed eam quae iam non tota canendo et saltando sed colloquiis etiam peragebatur (Thespidis), cum ea quae ad summum culturae gradum pervenerat. hoc ita se habere certius etiam collato ex Rhetoricis loco III, 1. pag. 1404 a 29. intelligitur: οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ τὰς τραγῳδίας 9) ποιοῦντες ἔτι χρῶνται τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ καὶ ἐκ τῶν τετραμέτρων εἰς τὸ ἰαμβεῖον μετέβησαν διὰ τὸ τῷ λόγῳ τοῦτο τῶν μέτρων ὁμοιότατον εἶναι, οὕτω καὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀφείκασιν ὅσα παρὰ τὴν διάλεκτόν ἐστιν. quae igitur ab uno Thespidis actore in narrationibus et in colloquiis cum choro habitis plerumque tetrametris adstricta pronuntiabantur, ea ab Aeschyli aetate duo illi actores versibus iambicis inclusa loquebantur, 9) Οἱ τὰς τραγῳδίας ποιοῦντες sunt earum tragoediarum scriptores quae vulgo vocantur, ut et tota sententia et ipsum verbum ποιεῖν monstrat. non recte me iudice Welckerus in Appendice ad trilog. Aeschyl. p. 239. statuit dithyrambum et iustam tragoediam uno τραγῳδίας nomine ab Aristotele comprehensam esse. locum ex Rhetoricis allatum cum ego aliter ac Welckerus intelligendum et pro certo duce habendum existimem, iis quoque quae idem vir ingeniosus in libro laudato p. 262 et 263. de hoc Poeticae loco exposuit, omni ex parte assentiri non possum.ita tamen ut hoc paulatim in consuetudinem converteretur : nam et in Aeschyli Persis (ea omnium quas etiamnum legimus tragoediarum antiquissima est) tetrametri sat multi in colloquiis admissi leguntur (vid. 155-245.703-758), neque a ceteris principum tragoediae scriptorum fabulis prorsus relegati sunt. verba igitur το τε μέτρον ἐκ τετραμέτρου ἰαμβεῖον ἐγένετο, item quae subsequuntur λέξεως δὲ γενομένης αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον εὗρεν, non de mutatione subito facta accipere licet, sed de ea quae sensim sensimque et longo temporis intervallo invaluit. nam τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον τετραμέτρῳ ἐχρῶντο - τὴν ποίησιν: haec usque ad λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας per parenthesin inseruntur, quod cum non vidissent priores editores, illi in subsequentibus ἔτι δὲ ἐπεισοδίων πλήθη verbum unde haec pendeant frustra circumspexerunt. dum scribit Aristoteles τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον - ποίησιν, non respicit priscam illam τραγικὴν ἀοιδὴν ex tempore fusam, cuius numerum fortasse ne ipse quidem satis cognitum habuit, sed eam dramaticae tragoediae formam quae non multo ante Aeschylum fuit. si totius loci habitum diligenter consideramus, hoc intelligimus, inde a §. 13. nonnisi de tragoedia dramatica (non etiam de lyrica ἀοιδῇ τραγικῇ quae fuit ante Thespin) loqui Aristotelem apparet, ita ut eam formam quae erat ante Aeschylum componat cum ea quae Aeschylo auctore et Sophocle effloruit. sed rursus cavendum ne illis διὰ τὸ σατυρικὴν εἶναι τὴν ποίησιν tantum tribuamus ut, aliis locis indiciisque quamvis repugnantibus, Thespidi et Choerilo Phrynichoque satyrorum chorum tribuamus: nam σατυρικὴν (motoriam levemque) quomodo intelligi velit adiecto καὶ ὀρχηστικωτέραν satis declaravit. de numero trochaico levioribus argumentis et saltatoriae poesi apto Aristoteles in Rhetoricis III, 8. p. 1408 b 36. haec exponit: ὁ δὲ τροχαῖος κορδακικώτερος· δηλοῖ δὲ τὰ τετράμετρα· ἔστι γὰρ τροχερός ῥυθμὸς τὰ τετράμετρα. λέξεως δὲ γενομένης: quamquam Thespidis tragoediae aliqua λέξις denegari nequit, unus tamen eius actor quasipro supplemento chori canentis saltantisque accipi potuit. id Aristoteles videtur fecisse, cum λέξιν eo nomine dignam Aeschyliae demum tragoediae duos actores inter sese colloquentes producenti concesserit. sed si quis λέξεως δὲ γενομένης de ipso Thespide dictum existimet, ego quidem non vehementer refragabor, sed vel sic non sequetur Thespidem illum esse qui tetrametris senarios substituerit: nam illa αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον εὗρεν non ita intelligi necesse est, ut statim post λέξιν inductam numerus iambicus successerit, sed de hoc numero sensim sensimque in prisci locum recepto accipi possunt. - μάλιστα γὰρ λεκτικὸν -τὸ ἰαμβεῖόν ἐστιν: conf. Rhetor. III, 8. p. 1408 b 33. ὁ δὲ ἴαμβος αὐτὴ ἐστιν ἡ λέξις τῶν πολλῶν· διὸ μάλιστα πάντων τῶν μέτρων ἰαμβεῖα φθέγγονται λέγοντες. – καὶ ἐκβαίνοντες τῆς λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας: nove sed apte communis sermonis habitum λεκτικὴν ἁρμονίαν appellavit. his repugnantia tradere videtur in Rhetoricis III, 8. p. 1408 b 32. ὁ μὲν ἠρῷος ( ῥυθμός) σεμνὸς καὶ λεκτικὸς καὶ ἁρμονίας δεόμενος, sed videtur tantum. nam eo loco ἁρμovía concentus est instrumentorum musicorum, quo carere hexameter ideoque nudo sermoni convenire ( λεκτικός) recte dicitur. itaque coniectura a Tyrwhitto ad Poeticam p. 136. proposita ( καὶ λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας δεόμενος) et sane solerter excogitata carere poterimus. ἔτι δὲ ἐπεισοδίων πλήθη καὶ τὰ ἄλλα: verbum ἐγένετο ex initio §. 14. vel aliud cognatae significationis assumptum intelligendum est.