Poetics. Aristotle. ed. Henry James Pye. London. 1792.
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.
6.
mvp-aristotle-comment-213
λέγω δὲ λέξιν μὲν ταύτην
is to be compared with
λέγω γὰρ μῦθον τοῦτον in
6, 1450 a 4
(v. ad loc.).
A definition is given because
λέξις is a term with several meanings (v. on
21, 1459 a 12
). The present definition describes the
λέξις in a play in reference to the poet, as the 'composition of the verses'; that which comes later on, in
6, 1450 b 13
, views it rather from the side of the dramatic personages, as the 'expression of their thought in words'.
6.
mvp-aristotle-comment-214
1449b35
μέτρων
has the concrete sense of 'verses', like
τοῖς μέτροις in
1, 1447 b 29
(comp. on
b 30
).
6.
mvp-aristotle-comment-215
1449b36
πᾶσαν
πᾶσιν, the emendation of Madius, may perhaps seem to be supported by the fragment of Democritus (
fr. 165 Diels
),
ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν ὃ πάντες ἴσμεν. But no change is really wanted; instead of defining
μελοποιία Aristotle thinks it enough to say that its whole nature is too obvious to require explanation.
12.
mvp-aristotle-comment-152
6.6
12.
Comme la mélodie & le diſcours avec quoy on fait cette imitation. F'appelle diſcours, la compoſition même des vers, & mélodie la muſique, dont toute la force eſt connue.]
1
47.
mvp-aristotle-comment-47
NOTE 47. P. 76.
6.6
THE MEANING OF MELOPOEIA IS OBVIOUS.
I have ventured to depart from the common interpretation, by understanding the word
δυναμις, here, to mean, not the power, and effect, of the Melopæia itself, but the power, i. e. the meaning, of the term. Aristotle is here, as usual, explaining the terms he had made use of. It was directly to his purpose to say, as a reason for omitting a definition in this instance, that the meaning of the word was well known; but not at all to his purpose, to say—"I need not explain the word, because the power and effect of the thing signified by it, (that is, of Music,) is well known."
Dacier is amusing here. He wonders what could induce the Greeks to make Music a part of their drama; and at last,
"après bien des recherches," he discovers one principal cause to have been this—that they had very musical ears; but he does not dis- cover the cause of his own wonder, which, in all probability, was, that he had not.
4.
mvp-aristotle-comment-39
Ritter, cap. 6 § 4
ὁ τῆς ὄψεως κόσμος: quia personae agentes ipsae producuntur, et quidem homines gravitate conspicui ac fere claris natalibus orti, non solum scena opus est, sed co etiam apparatu quo viri graves et illustres instructi solent itaque non solum
ὄψις sed
ὄψεως κόσμος requiritur. etiam illud notandum est, ipsi Aristoteli
ὄψιν vel
ὄψεως κόσμον esse.videri necessariam tragoediae partem (
ἐξ ἀνάγκης τι μόριον τραγωδίας). aliter iudicavit huius operis interpolator infra §. 19 et c. 26, 3. vide quae ad illos locos monentur et ad c. 14, 1.
εἶτα μελοποιία καὶ λέξις: postquam agentes in conspectum spectatorum venerunt, eos aut loqui aut canere oportet: eo enim imitationem peragunt.
λέγω δὲ λέξιν μὲν αὐτὴν τὴν τῶν μέτρων σύνθεσιν:
λέξις vulgo quamcumque dictionem denotat, sed hoc loco Aristoteles orationem modis musicis cantuque carentem sed numeris tamen adstrictam
λέξιν nove vocavit. discrepat quod infra (§. 18) scripsit auctor personatus
λέγω δέ,
ὥσπερ πρότερον εἴρηται,
λέξιν εἶναι τὴν διὰ τῆς ὀνομασίας ἑρμηνείαν. –
μελοποιίαν δὲ ὃ τὴν δύναμιν φανερὰν ἔχει πᾶσαν: vocis
μελοποιίας in aperto esse omnem potestatem sive significationem dicit:
λέξιν enim modo posuit discedens a vulgari loquendi usu,
μελοποιίαν autem intelligit eam quam vulgo dicere solent.
πᾶσιν, non
πᾶσαν, legendum esse Madius putavit.