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An action, (having the continuity and unity prescribed,) I call simple, when its catastrophe is produced without either revolution, or discovery:

Poetics. Aristotle. Thomas Twining (Translator). London, UK. 1789.

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Current edition Experimental

Poetics (Thomas Twining, 1789) (OCR draft) (English) (Thomas Twining's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1789 and aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.)

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.) — 10 focus

Εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν μύθων οἱ μὲν ἁπλοῖ οἱ δὲ πεπλεγμένοι· καὶ γὰρ αἱ πράξεις, ὧν μιμήσεις οἱ μῦθοί εἰσιν, ὑπάρχουσιν εὐθὺς οὖσαι τοιαῦται.

Λέγω δὲ ἁπλῆν μὲν πρᾶξιν, ἧς γινομένης, ὥσπερ ὥρισται, συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς ἄνευ περιπετείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἡ μετάβασις γίνεται,

πεπλεγμένην δέ, ἐξ ἧς μετ᾿ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἢ περιπετείας ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἡ μετάβασίς ἐστιν.

Ταῦτα δὲ δεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ μύθου, ὥστε ἐκ τῶν προγεγενημένων συμβαίνειν ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίνεσθαι ταῦτα· διαφέρει γὰρ πολὺ τὸ γίνεσθαι τάδε διὰ τάδε ἢ μετὰ τάδε.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 10 focus

εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν μύθων οἱ μὲν ἁπλοῖ οἱ δὲ πεπλεγμένοι· καὶ γὰρ αἱ πράξεις ὧν μιμήσεις οἱ μῦθοί εἰσιν ὑπάρχουσιν εὐθὺς οὖσαι τοιαῦται.

λέγω δὲ ἁπλῆν μὲν πρᾶξιν ἧς 15 γινομένης ὥσπερ ὥρισται συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς ἄνευ περιπετείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἡ μετάβασις γίνεται,

πεπλεγμένην δὲ ἐξ ἧς μετὰ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἢ περιπετείας ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἡ μετάβασίς ἐστιν.

ταῦτα δὲ δεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ μύθου, ὥστε ἐκ τῶν προγεγενημένων συμβαίνειν 20 ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίγνεσθαι ταῦτα· διαφέρει γὰρ πολὺ τὸ γίγνεσθαι τάδε διὰ τάδε ἢ μετὰ τάδε.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 10 focus

Εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν μύθων οἱ μὲν ἁπλοῖ οἱ δὲ πεπλεγμένοι·
καὶ γὰρ αἱ πράξεις ὧν μιμήσεις οἱ μῦθοί εἰσιν ὑπάρχουσιν
εὐθὺς οὖσαι τοιαῦται.

λέγω δὲ ἁπλῆν μὲν πρᾶξιν ἧς
γινομένης ὥσπερ ὥρισται συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς ἄνευ περιπετείας
ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἡ μετάβασις γίνεται,

πεπλεγμένη
δὲ †λέξις† μετὰ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἢ περιπετείας ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἡ
μετάβασίς ἐστιν.

ταῦτα δὲ δεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συστάσεως
τοῦ μύθου, ὥστε ἐκ τῶν προγεγενημένων συμβαίνειν
ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίγνεσθαι ταῦτα· διαφέρει
γὰρ πολὺ τὸ γίγνεσθαι τάδε διὰ τάδε ἢ μετὰ τάδε.

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.) — 10 focus

λέγω δὲ ἁπλῆν μὲν πρᾶξιν, ἧς γινομένης, ὥσπερ ὥρισται, συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς ἄνευ περιπετείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἡ μετάβασις γίνεται,

πεπλεγμένην δέ, ἐξ ἧς μετ’ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἢ περιπετείας ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἡ μετάβασίς ἐστιν.

ταῦτα δὲ δεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ μύθου, ὥστε ἐκ τῶν προγεγενημένων συμβαίνειν ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίνεσθαι ταῦτα· διαφέρει γὰρ πολὺ τὸ γινεσθαι τάδε διὰ τάδε ἢ μετὰ τάδε.

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 10 focus

Some plots are simple and some complex, as indeed the actions represented by the plots are obviously such.

By a simple action I mean one that is single and continuous in the sense of our definition above,¹ wherein the change of fortune occurs without reversal or discovery;

by a complex action I mean one wherein the change coincides with a discovery or reversal or both.

These should result from the actual structure of the plot in such a way that what has already happened makes the result inevitable or probable; 20 for there is indeed a vast difference between what happens propter hoc and post hoc.

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 10 focus

〈الفعل البسيط والفعل المركب〉

وقد توجد مركبة. وذلك أن الأعمال هى تشبيه ومحاكاة للأعمال بتوسط الخرافات؛ وأعنى بالعمل البسيط لذاك الذى عندما تكون هى كما حدث هى واحدة متصلة يكون الا〈نتقال〉 بلا التزوير أو الاستدلال؛ والمركبات تعد تلك التى يكون الانتقال فيها مع الاستدلال أو الإدارة أو مع كليهما.

ونقول إن هذه تكون من قوام الخرافة نفسها، حتى إنها من الأشياء التى تقدم كونها: وذلك إما من الضرورة، وإما على طريق الحقيقة؛ وبين أن تكون هذه من أجل هذه، وبين أن تكون بعد هذه — فرق كبير.

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.) — 10 focus

Plots are either Simple or Complex, for the actions
in real life, of which the plots are an imitation, obviously
show a similar distinction.

An action which is one and
continuous in the sense above defined, I call Simple, when
the change of fortune takes place without Reversal of
the Situation and without Recognition.

A Complex
action is one in which the change is accompanied by such
Reversal, or by Recognition, or by both.

These last should arise from the internal
structure of the plot, so that what follows should be the
necessary or probable result of the preceding action. It
makes all the difference whether any given event is a
case of propter hoc or post hoc.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 10 focus

Plots are either simple or complex, since the actions they
represent are naturally of this twofold description.

The
action, proceeding in the way defined, as one continuous
whole, I call simple, when the change in the hero's fortunes
takes place without Peripety or Discovery;

and complex,
when it involves one or the other, or both.

These should
each of them arise out of the structure of the Plot itself,
so as to be the consequence, necessary or probable, of the
antecedents. There is a great difference between a thing
happening propter hoc and post hoc.

The Poetic of Aristotle (Henry James Pye, revised 1792) (OCR draft) Experimental (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.) — 10.2 focus

I call that a simple action, which, being (as has been defined,) connected [A] and uniform, has the transition of fortune without peripetía, [B] or discovery: and that a complicated action, where the transition is effected by the means of peripetía

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.) — 10.2 focus

But I call the action simple, ¹²³⁴ from which taking place, as it has been defined, with continuity and unity, there is a transition without either revolution or discovery; but complex, from which there is a transition, together with discovery,

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.) — 10 focus

Sunt autem fabularum aliae simplices aliae implicatae: nam actiones quoque, quarum imitationes fabulae sunt, utique ita comparatae sunt.

dico autem simplicem actionem, cuius, dum, ut definitum, continua evenit et una, sine peripetia vel agnitione mutatio fit,

implicatam autem, ex qua cum agnitione vel peripetia vel utraque mutatio fit.

haec vero ex ipsa compositione fabulae evenire debent, ut ex anteactis sive necessario sive verisimiliter fieri videantur: differt enim multum, utrum haec fiant ob haec an post haec.

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 10.2 focus

J'appelle ſimples, les actions qui étant continues & unies, finiſſent ſans reconnoiſſance & ſans péripetie:

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 10 focus

Ma delle Fauole, certe ne fono fcempie, & certe ne ſono intrecciate; ſicome anchora interuiene nelle Attioni, che da eſſe Fauole ſono imitate: le quali fi trouano dell'una, & dell'altra forte.

Io chiamo Attione ſcempia quella, che eſſendo vna fola, & fucceduta continuatamente (ſicome è ſtato determi nato) vi ſi fa dentro il tranſito ſenza la Peripetia, & fen za la recognitione.

Et chiamo intrecciata quella, doue ſi fa il tranſito ò con la Recognitione,ò có la Peripetia;

ò con l'unajò con l'altra:doue tai coſe debbono ſeguirui mediante la conſtitutione d'effa Fauola, di tal manie ra, che per le coſe ſeguite innanzi elle vi fuccedin' dappoi ò verifimilmente,ò neceflariamente. Perchè egli è vna gran differenza, che e'ſucceda vn' caſo, ò per via d'una tal coſa; ò doppo vnatal cofa.

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.) — 10 focus

Ac fabularum aliae simplices sunt aliae implexae. etenim actiones quarum imitationes fabulae sunt, ne aliud quaeramus, sunt tales.

appello simplicem actionem, qua facta, ut definitum est, continua et una, transitus fit sine peripetia vel agnitione.

implexa est, ex qua cum agnitione aut peripetia aut ambabus transitus fit haec autem oportet fieri ex ipsa constitutione fabulae,

ut ex anteactis ant aut ex necessitate aut secundum verisimile haec fieri contingat. differt enim multum utrum haec propter haec an post haec fiant.

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.) — 10 focus

Sunt autem fabularum hee quidem simplices, hee autem complexe ; et enim actiones, quarum imitationes sunt fabule, existunt mox entes tales.

Dico autem simplicem quidem actionem qua existente, ut determinatum continua et una sine peripetia et anagnorismo transitio fit,

complexa autem locutio cum anagnorismo aut peripeteia aut ambobus transitio est.

Hec autem oportet fieri ex ipsa consistentia fabule, quare ex pregestis accidit aut ex necessitate aut secundum verisimile fieri hec ; differt enim multum fieri hec propter hec aut post hec. —

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.) — 10 focus

‏وقد يوجد مركبة وذلك ان الاعمال هى ٮسببها ومحاكاة للاعمال بتوسط الخرافات

‏اعنى بالعمل البسيط لذاك الذى عند ما يكون هى كما حدث هى واحدة متصلة يكون الانتقال بلا الٮرويرا والاستدلال

‏والمركبات تعد تلك التى يكون الانتقال فيها مع الاستدلال او الاراده او مع كليهما

‏ونقول ان هذه تكون من قوام الخرافة نفسها حتى انها من الاشيا التى تقدم كونها وذلك اما من الضرورة واما على طريق الحقيقة وبين ان يكون هذه من اجل هذه وبين ان تكون بعد هذه فرق كبير

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 10 focus

‏وقد يوجد مركبة وذلك ان الاعمال هى ٮسببها ومحاكاة للاعمال بتوسط الخرافات

‏اعنى بالعمل البسيط لذاك الذى عند ما يكون هى كما حدث هى واحدة متصلة يكون الانتقال بلا الٮرويرا والاستدلال والمركبات تعد تلك التى يكون الانتقال فيها مع الاستدلال او الاراده او مع كليهما

Commentary

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

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-384

περιπετείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ: see on 6, 1450 a 34 . Both terms are explained in the next chapter.

1452a17

δὲ λέξις. The editors generally acquiesce in the corrected reading δὲ ἐξ ἧς, in lieu of which Vahlen has δέ ἐστιν ἐξ ἧς, and Susemihl δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἧς. I have suggested that Aristotle may possibly have written πεπλεγμένην δὲ λέγω ἧς, on the supposition that λέξις may be taken to represent λεγω ἧς.

ταῦτα, i. e. ἀναγνωρισμὸς and περιπέτεια.

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-263

10.2 Appelle ſimples, les actions, , qui étant, comme on l'a déja dit, continues & unies finiſſent ſans reconnoiſſance & ſans péripetie.]¹

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

82. mvp-aristotle-comment-82

NOTE 82. P. 84.

10.2 WHEN ITS CATASTROPHE IS PRODUCED WITHOUT EITHER REVOLUTION OR DISCOVERY.

Ἀνευ περιπέτειας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμεως ἡ μεταβασις γινεται.

—

Μεταβασις

, is the change of fortune which constitutes the catastrophe of the piece. This, which is common to all Tragedy, must not be confounded with the

Περιπετεια

, which, however important, is not essential. Le Bossu, Dacier, and others, by not attending to this distinction, have introduced much confusion into one of the clearest parts of Aristotle's work. Thus, Dacier says—

"Il appelle fable simple, celle ou il n'y a ni changement d'etat, ni reconnoissance, et dont le denouement n'est qu'un simple passage de l'agitation et du trouble au repos et à la tranquillité."

He adopts the language of Le Bossu¹. Undoubtedly, there are Tragedies without a sudden and unexpected reverse of fortune; but where is the Tragedy, antient or modern, in which there is no "changement d'etat?" This would be no other than a Tragedy without a catastrophe. Thus, these writers take

μεταβασις

to signify the mere passage, progress, or suite, of the piece²: whereas it clearly signifies a change; a transition from prosperous to adverse, or at least from adverse to more adverse, fortune, or the contrary; as Beni has well observed³. The sense of the word is clearly fixed by other passages; and in cap. xviii. he expressly makes the

μεταβασις

, such a change of fortune as is common to every Tragedy.

Ἔστι δε ΠΑΣΗΣ τραγῳδίας, το μεν, δεσις, το δε, λυσις.

λέγω δε δεσιν μεν εἶναι την ἀπ᾿ ἀρχης μεχρι τουτου του μερους ὃ ἔσχατον ἐστιν, ἐξ οὗ ΜΕΤΑΒΑΙΝΕΙ εις ευτυχίαν· λυσιν δε, την ἀπο της ἀρχης ΤΗΣ ΜΕΤΑΒΑΣΕΩΣ μέχρι τέλους.

Mr. Harris, in his Philol. Inquiries, p. 145, &c. seems to have deserted Aristotle for Le Bossu, who, with little reason, in my opinion, passed with him, as well as with Lord Shaftesbury, for "Aristotle's best interpreter⁴." Throughout his chapter on this subject, above referred to, he appears to me to confound the

μεταβασις

, or change, which Aristotle makes essential to all Tragedy, with that particular kind of change which he denominates

περιπετεια

: for he uses, repeatedly, the word revolution, (his translation of

περιπετεια

,) to express what Aristotle means by

μετάβασις, μεταβαινειν, μεταβαλλειν

. He speaks of Othello, and Lear, as complicated fables, and having revolutions. And so, indeed, they have, if we take the word in Aristotle's sense of

μεταβασις

; I do not see that they have, in his sense of

περιπετεια

. In neither of those Tragedies can it, I think, be said, that the catastrophe is produced by a sudden change, to the reverse of what is expected, by the spectator, from the circumstances of the action. At least, with respect to Othello, this seems to admit of no dispute. [See the next NOTE.]

The Abbé Batteux gives, I think very properly, the Polieucte of Corneille, as an example of the simple fable.

"La fable simple, qui n' a ni revolution subite, ni reconnoissance; qui commence, continue, s'acheve, sans secousses, ni retours inattendus. Ainsi Polieucte reçoit le baptême, son zele lui fait renverser les autels des payens, il est arrêté, jugé, mis à mort: c'est une fable simple."

Principes de la Lit. tome iii. p. 84. Victorius, Beni, Piccolomini, and Goulston, agree with me in my idea of this passage, where the words,

συνεχης και μιας

, are not put to characterize the simple fable, as Victorius well observes, but refer merely to that unity and continuity of action, which had been established as necessary to Tragedy in general.

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

10.1. mvp-aristotle-comment-29 10.2

I CALL THAT A SIMPLE ACTION WHICH HAS THE TRANSITION OF FORTUNE, WITHOUT PERIPETIA OR DISCOVERY.

ARISTOTLE here plainly diftinguishes between the peripetía, (περιπέτεια), the fudden and unexpected revolution of fortune, which is peculiar to the complicated action, and the μετάβασις, or change from misery to happiness, or vice-versa, which is not only common to every species of tragedy, but to every affecting tale, whether dramatic or narrative, serious or comic. The first of these, the peripetía, as Mr. Twining justly observes, is not to be found in Othello; nor, I think, in Lear, as written by Shakespear, whose misfortunes go on in regular fucceffion from their first cause, his obstinacy and self-opinion. The change of fortune arifes from the alteration of the conduct of his daughters; but this cannot be called fudden or unexpected, since it is foreseen by all the perfons of the drama, except the old king. I believe modern dramas have oftener the fimple than the complicated action, as our tragic distresses arise more from manners and paffion, than incident. See Note III. CC 2 CHAP.

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

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-76

Ritter, cap. 10 § 2

ἧς γινομένης, ὥσπερ ὥρισται, συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς: verba ὥσπερ ὥρισται referenda sunt ad ea quae capite 7 et 8 et 9. de fabulae natura explicata sunt. quae adduntur συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς, haec lectorem breviter admonent eorum quae illis locis uberius disputata sunt, actio fit συνεχής, si eius partes ex causa quadam ac principio deinceps prodeunt; eadem μία fit, si ex partibus ipsius arte coniunctis totum ( ὅλον) quoddam efficitur. πεπλεγμένην δέ, ἐξ ἧς μετ': quamquam de scripturae vulgatae integritate dubitatio vix admitti potest, tamen operae pretium videtur insignem codicum discrepantiam recognoscere et intelligere, quemadmodum ea ex uno fonte nata sit.nimirum ἐξ ἧς cum litteris coniunctis εξης scriberetur et pro mediae aetatis consuetudine εξις pronuntiaretur, ex eo nomen λέξις fecerunt. iam consequens erat ut πεπλεγμένην in nominativum mutarent, cum vulgares isti correctores magis studeant structurae sustentandae quam sententiae rite conservandae. itaque AcBcNa offerunt πεπλεγμένη δὲ λέξις μετὰ, idemque in M 14 16 21 haud dubie inest, quamquam Winstanleius nonnisi λέξις pro ἐξ ἧς attulit. M XIV exhibet πε πλεγμένη δὲ πρᾶξις eique consentiunt GP. Aldus prope ad verum accedens dedit πεπλεγμένη δὲ ἐξ ἧς cet. ἄνευ περιπετείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ: quid sit περιπέτεια et ἀναγνωρισμός sequente capite illustratur. forma ἀναγνωρισμὸς ab altera ἀναγνώρισις quae paulo post adhibetur ita differt, ut ἀναγνώρισις actum agnoscendi, ἀναγνωρισμὸς potius agnitionem a poeta propositam designet.

Aristotle Poetics 10.2

Thomas Twining (Translator)

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Commentary

NOTE 82. P. 84.

I CALL THAT A SIMPLE ACTION WHICH HAS THE TRANSITION OF FORTUNE, WITHOUT PERIPETIA OR DISCOVERY.

Ritter, cap. 10 § 2

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