Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Part

← Previous Next →

Even in this, therefore, as we have before observed¹, the superiority of HOMER's genius is apparent, that he did not attempt to bring the whole war, though an entire action with beginning and end, into his Poem. It would have been too vast an object, and not easily comprehended in one view²: or had he forced it into a moderate compass, it would have been perplexed by its variety³. Instead of this, selecting one part only of the war, he has, from the rest, introduced many Episodes-such as the catalogue of the ships, and others-by which he has diversified his Poem.

[1]

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

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.) — 23 focus

Περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς, ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις συνιστάναι δραματικούς, καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην καὶ τελείαν, ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσον καὶ τέλος, ἵν᾿ ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον ποιῇ τὴν οἰκείαν ἡδονήν, δῆλον,

καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις εἶναι, ἐν αἷς ἀνάγκη οὐχὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ποιεῖσθαι δήλωσιν ἀλλ᾿ ἑνὸς χρόνου, ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα ἢ πλείους, ὧν ἕκαστον ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα.

Ὥσπερ γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἥ τ᾿ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐγένετο ναυμαχία καὶ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Καρχηδονίων μάχη, οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συντείνουσαι τέλος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θατέρου, ἐξ ὧν ἓν οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος.

Σχεδὸν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τοῦτο δρῶσιν.

Διό, ὥσπερ εἴπομεν ἤδη, καὶ ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν φανείη Ὅμηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον, καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος, ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον· λίαν γὰρ ἂν μέγας καὶ οὐκ εὐσύνοπτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι· ἢ τῷ μεγέθει μετριάζοντα καταπεπλεγμένον τῇ ποικιλίᾳ. Νῦν δ᾿ ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβὼν ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται αὐτῶν πολλοῖς, οἷον νεῶν καταλόγῳ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις, οἷς διαλαμβάνει τὴν ποίησιν.

Οἱ δ᾿ ἄλλοι περὶ ἕνα ποιοῦσι καὶ περὶ ἕνα χρόνον, καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν πολυμερῆ, οἷον ὁ τὰ Κύπρια ποιήσας καὶ τὴν μικρὰν Ἰλιάδα.

Τοιγαροῦν ἐκ μὲν Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας μία τραγῳδία ποιεῖται ἑκατέρας ἢ δύο μόναι, ἐκ δὲ Κυπρίων πολλαί, καὶ ἐκ τῆς μικρᾶς Ἰλιάδος πλέον ὀκτώ, οἷον ὅπλων κρίσις, Φιλοκτήτης, Νεοπτόλεμος, Εὐρύπυλος, πτωχεία, Λάκαιναι, Ἰλίου πέρσις καὶ ἀπόπλους καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 23 focus

περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς, ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις συνιστάναι δραματικοὺς καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην καὶ τελείαν 20 ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσα καὶ τέλος, ἵν’ ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον ποιῇ τὴν οἰκείαν ἡδονήν, δῆλον,

καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις τὰς συνθέσεις εἶναι, ἐν αἷς ἀνάγκη οὐχὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ποιεῖσθαι δήλωσιν ἀλλ’ ἑνὸς χρόνου, ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα ἢ πλείους, ὧν ἕκαστον ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα.

ὥσπερ 25 γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἥ τ’ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐγένετο ναυμαχία καὶ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Καρχηδονίων μάχη οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συντείνουσαι τέλος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θάτερον, ἐξ ὧν ἓν οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος.

σχεδὸν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τοῦτο 30 δρῶσι.

διὸ ὥσπερ εἴπομεν ἤδη καὶ ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν φανείη Ὅμηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον· λίαν γὰρ ἂν μέγας καὶ οὐκ εὐσύνοπτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι ὁ μῦθος, ἢ τῷ μεγέθει μετριάζοντα καταπεπλεγμένον τῇ ποικιλίᾳ. 35 νῦν δ’ ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβὼν ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται αὐτῶν πολλοῖς, οἷον νεῶν καταλόγῳ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις δὶς διαλαμβάνει τὴν ποίησιν.

οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι περὶ ἕνα ποιοῦσι καὶ 1459b 1 περὶ ἕνα χρόνον καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν πολυμερῆ, οἷον ὁ τὰ Κύπρια ποιήσας καὶ τὴν μικρὰν Ἰλιάδα.

τοιγαροῦν ἐκ μὲν Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας μία τραγῳδία ποιεῖται ἑκατέρας ἢ δύο μόναι, ἐκ δὲ Κυπρίων πολλαὶ καὶ τῆς μικρᾶς 5 Ἰλιάδος πλέον ὀκτώ, οἷον ὅπλων κρίσις, Φιλοκτήτης, Νεοπτόλεμος, Εὐρύπυλος, πτωχεία, Λάκαιναι, Ἰλίου πέρσις καὶ ἀπόπλους καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 23 focus

Περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς,
ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις συνιστάναι
δραματικοὺς καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην καὶ τελείαν ἔχουσαν
ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσα καὶ τέλος, ἵν᾽ ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον
ποιῇ τὴν οἰκείαν ἡδονήν, δῆλον,

καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις τὰς
συνήθεις θεῖναι, ἐν αἷς ἀνάγκη οὐχὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ποιεῖσθαι
δήλωσιν ἀλλ᾽ ἑνὸς χρόνου, ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα
ἢ πλείους, ὧν ἕκαστον ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα.

ὥσπερ
γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἥ τ᾽ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐγένετο
ναυμαχία καὶ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Καρχηδονίων μάχη οὐδὲν
πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συντείνουσαι τέλος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς
χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θάτερον, ἐξ ὧν ἓν
οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος.

σχεδὸν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τοῦτο
δρῶσι.

διὸ ὥσπερ εἴπομεν ἤδη καὶ ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν
φανείη Ὅμηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον
καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον·
λίαν γὰρ ἂν μέγας καὶ οὐκ εὐσύνοπτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι,
ἢ τῷ μεγέθει μετριάζοντα καταπεπλεγμένον τῇ ποικιλίᾳ.
νῦν δ᾽ ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβὼν ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται αὐτῶν
πολλοῖς, οἷον νεῶν καταλόγῳ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις διαλαμβάνει
τὴν ποίησιν.

οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι περὶ ἕνα ποιοῦσι
καὶ περὶ ἕνα χρόνον καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν πολυμερή, οἷον ὁ τὰ
Κύπρια ποιήσας καὶ τὴν μικρὰν Ἰλιάδα.

τοιγαροῦν ἐκ μὲν
Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας μία τραγῳδία ποιεῖται ἑκατέρας
ἢ δύο μόναι, ἐκ δὲ Κυπρίων πολλαὶ καὶ τῆς μικρᾶς
Ἰλιάδος πλέον ὀκτώ, οἷον ὅπλων κρίσις, Φιλοκτήτης,
Νεοπτόλεμος, Εὐρύπυλος, πτωχεία, Λάκαιναι, Ἰλίου πέρσις
καὶ ἀπόπλους, καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες.

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.) — 23 focus

καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις εἶναι, ἐν αἷς ἀνάγκη οὐχὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ποιεῖσθαι δήλωσιν ἀλλ᾽ ἑνὸς χρόνου, ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα ἢ πλείους, ὧν ἕκαστον ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα.

ὥσπερ γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἥ τ᾽ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐγένετο ναυμαχία καὶ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Καρχηδονίων μάχη, οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συντείνουσαι τέλος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θατέρου, ἐξ ὧν ἓν οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος.

σχεδὸν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τοῦτο δρῶσιν.

διό, ὥσπερ¹ εἴπομεν ἤδη, καὶ ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν φανείη Ὅμηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον, καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος, ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον, λίαν γὰρ ἂν μέγας καὶ οὐκ εὐσύνοπτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι, ἢ τῷ μεγέθει μετριάζοντα καταπεπλεγμένον τῇ ποικιλίᾳ. νῦν δ᾽ ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβών ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται [αὐτῶν] πολλοῖς, οἷον νεῶν καταλόγῳ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις, οἷς διαλαμβάνει τὴν ποίησιν.

οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι περὶ ἕνα ποιοῦσι καὶ περὶ ἕνα χρόνον, καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν πο λυμερῆ, οἷον ὁ τὰ Κύπρια ποιήσας καὶ τὴν μικρὰν Ιλιάδα. [

τοιγαροῦν ἐκ μὲν Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας μία τραγῳδία ποιεῖται ἑκατέρας ἢ δύο μόναι, ἐκ δὲ Κυπρίων πολλαὶ καὶ τῆς μικρᾶς Ιλιάδος πλέον ὀκτώ, οἷον ὅπλων κρίσις, Φιλοκτήτης, Νεοπτόλεμος, Εὐρύπυλος, πτωχεία, Λάκαιναι, Ἰλίου πέρσις καὶ ἀπόπλους καὶ Σίνων καὶ Τρῳάδες.]

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 23 focus

We come now to the art of representation which is narrative and in metre.¹ Clearly the story must be constructed as in tragedy, dramatically, round a single piece of action, whole and complete in itself, 20 with a beginning, middle and end, so that like a single living organism it may produce its own peculiar form of pleasure.

It must not be such as we normally find in history, where what is required is an exposition not of a single piece of action but of a single period of time, showing all that within the period befell one or more persons, events that have a merely casual relation to each other.

For just as the battle of Salamis occurred at the same time as the Carthaginian battle in Sicily , but they do not converge to the same result²; so, too, in any sequence of time one event may follow another and yet they may not issue in any one result.

Yet most of the poets do this.

So in this respect, too, compared with all other poets Homer may seem, as we have already said, divinely inspired, in that even with the Trojan war, which has a beginning and an end, he did not endeavor to dramatize it as a whole, since it would have been either too long to be taken in all at once or, if he had moderated the length, he would have complicated it by the variety of incident. As it is, he takes one part of the story only and uses many incidents from other parts, such as the Catalogue of Ships and other incidents with which he diversifies his poetry.

The others, on the contrary, all write about a single hero or about a single period or about a single action with a great many parts, the authors, 1459b 1 for example, of the Cypria and the Little Iliad.³

The result is that out of an Iliad or an Odyssey only one tragedy can be made, or two at most, whereas several have been made out of the Cypria, and out of the Little Iliad more than eight, e.g. The Award of Arms, Philoctetes, Neoptolemus, Eurypylus, The Begging, The Laconian Women, The Sack of Troy , and Sailing of the Fleet, and Sinon, too, and The Trojan Women.

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 23 focus

〈وحدة الفعل: فى الملحمة، وعند هوميروس〉

وأما الاقتصاصى والوزن المحاكى فقد 〈ينبغى〉 أن نخبرعنها بالخرافات وحكاية الحديث على ما فى المديحات وأن يقوم المتقينين والقينات نحو العمل الواحد متكامل بأسره، وهو الذى له أول ووسط وآخر، وهو الذى كما الحيوان العـ〈ـامـ〉ـل للذة خاصية؛ ومن حيث لا يدخل فى هذه التركيبات اقتصاصات تشبه، وهى التى قد ينظر فيها أن الاستدلال ليس إنما هو لعمل واحد، لكن لزمان واحد، بمبلغ ما يعرض فى هذا وعمل واحد أو كثير، وكيف كل واحد واحد منها، على مالها انضافت إلى قرينها كما كانت 〈الأزمـ〉ـنة أنفسها، أما فى سالامانا فحروب المراكب، وفى سيقيليا حرب القركدونيا، فان كلا هذين ليس شيئاً آخر غير أنها تنتهى إلى انقضاء واحد واحد. وكذلك فى الأزمنة التى 〈تكون〉 بعد فى وقت بعد وقت يكون واحد منها الذى لا يكون له شىء آخر هو آخر وانقضاء؛ وكثير من الشعراء قد يفعلون هذا قريباً.

ولذلك كما قلنا وفرغنا من القول 〈فى ذلك〉 فليـر أوميروس فى هذا ذو سنة وناموس هاد؛ ومن هذا الوجه أيضاً يرى أوميروس أنه متبع للناموس، وأنه لازم للصواب والاستقامة أكثر من هؤلاء الأخر، 〈و〉هو الذى عمل الحرب وقد كان له أول وآخر من حيث يرى أن يأتى به بأسره، هذا على أنه قد كان عظيما جداً ولم تكن تسهل رؤيته، ولا أيضاً كان مزمعاً أن ينتهى فى خرافته بهذه الحال، من قبل أنها قد كانت عندما كانت تتركب وتقترن قد كانت تصغر فى عظمها، والآن فى هذه المداخل التى تقتضب جزءً ما، وهو ما الذى يفعل الإنسان.

وأما هؤلاء الأخر فيقتضبوا بحسب واحد واحد فى واحد واحد من الزمان خرافات كثيرة الأجزاء، بمنزلة ذاك الذى عمل هذه التى هى معروفة «بقوفوانيا» وجعل «الإلياذا صغيرة». ولذلك عمل «إلياذا» و«أودوسيا» كلتيهما مديحاً واحداً أو بعد كراثنتين، وأما فى المعروفة «بقوفوانيا» فكثيرة، وإلى الإلياذا الصغيرة فثمانية، وأكثر التى تقال بالسلاح منها المعروفة بنا أوفطلامس وفيلوقطيطس 〈و〉المعروف بأفطوخيا و〈لاقـ〉ـينس، إلياس، ورجوع المراكب، واينن وطرواس.

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.) — 23 focus

As to that poetic imitation which is narrative in
form and employs a single metre, the plot manifestly
ought, as in a tragedy, to be constructed on dramatic
principles. It should have for its subject a single
action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle,
and an end. It will thus resemble a living organism
in all its unity, and produce the pleasure proper to
it.

It will differ in structure from historical composi-
tions, which of necessity present not a single action,
but a single period, and all that happened within
that period to one person or to many, little connected
together as the events may be.

For as the sea-fight at 2
Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily
took place at the same time, but did not tend to any one
result, so in the sequence of events, one thing sometimes
follows another, and yet no single result is thereby
produced.

Such is the practice, we may say, of
most poets.

Here again, then, as has been already 3
observed, the transcendent excellence of Homer is
manifest. He never attempts to make the whole war of
Troy the subject of his poem, though that war had a
beginning and an end. It would have been too vast a
theme, and not easily embraced in a single view. If,
again, he had kept it within moderate limits, it must
have been over-complicated by the variety of the in-
cidents. As it is, he detaches a single portion, and
admits as episodes many events from the general story
of the war—such as the Catalogue of the ships and
others—thus diversifying the poem.

All other poets take a single hero, a single
period, or an action single indeed, but with a multiplicity
of parts. Thus did the
author of the Cypria and of the Little Iliad.

For this 4
reason the Iliad and the Odyssey each furnish the
subject of one tragedy, or, at most, of two; while the
Cypria supplies materials for many, and the Little Iliad
for eight—the Award of the Arms, the Philoctetes, the
Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, the Mendicant Odysseus,
the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, the Departure
of the Fleet.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 23 focus

As for the poetry which merely narrates, or imitates by
means of versified language (without action), it is evident
that it has several points in common with Tragedy. I. The
construction of its stories should clearly be like that in
a drama; they should be based on a single action,
one that is a complete whole in itself, with a beginning,
middle, and end, so as to enable the work to produce its
own proper pleasure with all the organic unity of a living
creature.

Nor should one suppose that there is anything
like them in our usual histories.
A history has to deal not
with one action, but with one period and all that happened
in that to one or more persons, however disconnected the
several events may have been.

Just as two events may
take place at the same time, e.g. the sea-fight off Salamis
and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily, without
converging to the same end, so too of two consecutive
events one may sometimes come after the other with no
one end as their common issue.

Nevertheless most of our
epic poets, one may say, ignore the distinction.

Herein, then, to repeat what we have said before, we have
a further proof of Homer's marvellous superiority to the
rest. He did not attempt to deal even with the Trojan war
in its entirety, though it was a whole with a definite beginning
and end—through a feeling apparently that it was too long
a story to be taken in in one view, or if not that, too
complicated from the variety of incident in it. As it is,
he has singled out one section of the whole; many of the
other incidents, however, he brings in as episodes, using
the Catalogue of the Ships, for instance, and other episodes
to relieve the uniformity of his narrative.

As for the other
epic poets, they treat of one man, or one period; or else
of an action which, although one, has a multiplicity of
parts in it.

This last is what the authors of the
Cypria and Little Iliad have done. And the result is that,
whereas the Iliad or Odyssey supplies materials for only
one, or at most two tragedies, the Cypria does that for
several, and the Little Iliad for more than eight: for an
Adjudgment of Arms, a Philoctetes, a Neoptolemus, a
Eurypylus, a Ulysses as Beggar, a Laconian Women, a Fall
of Ilium, and a Departure of the Fleet; as also a Sinon, and
a Women of Troy.

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.) — 23.5 focus

He did not even attempt to include the whole Trojan war, though it had a beginning and an end. For it either would have been so large as not to be easily comprehended in one view; or, if it had been reduced to a moderate size, it would have been confused from the number of incidents. Taking, therefore, only one part for his subject, he introduces abundance of episodes from the other parts. Such as the catalogue of the ships and the other episodes, with which he has adorned his poem. While other poets, like the authors of the Cypriacs (F)

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.) — 23.5 focus

and one time,

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.) — 23 focus

Quod attinet ad artem narrativam metrisque imitativam, opus esse ut fabulas sicut in tragoediis componas dramaticas, ac circa unam actionem totam et absolutam, quae habeat principium et medium et finem, ut tamquam animal unum ac totum propriam suam faciat voluptatem, perspicuum est,

neque vulgares historias ei similes esse licere, in quibus necesse non est unius actionis proponere explicationem sed unius temporis, quaecumque intra hoc acciderunt circa unum aut plures, quorum singula ut casus fert sese contingunt.

nam quemadmodum isdem temporibus ad Salaminem pugna navalis facta est et Carthaginiensium in Sicilia praelium, nihil ad eundem finem contendentia, sic etiam in temporibus succedentibus interdum accidit unum cum altero, ex quibus unus non fit finis.

fere autem plerique poetarum hoc committunt.

quare, ut iam diximus, etiam in hoc genere divinus videatur Homerus prae ceteris, propterea quod neque bellum illud, quamvis praeditum principio et fine, adgressus est pangere totum, quippe nimis magnum nec facile contuendum futurum erat, neque in brevius contractum varietate implicatum. nunc vero una parte delecta, episodiis usus est [ipsarum] multis, ut navium indice et aliis episodiis, quibus distinguit poesin.

ceteri autem circa unum canunt et circa unum tempus, et unam actionem pluribus partibus constantem, ut qui Cypria fecit et parvam Iliadem.

[itaque ex Hiade et Odyssea una tragoedia conficitur ex utravis vel duae solae, ex Cypriis autem multae et parva Iliade plus quam octo, veluti armorum iudicium, Philoctetes, Neoptolemus, Eurypylus, mendicitas, Lacaenae, Ilii excidium et discessio et Sinon et Troades.]

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 23.5 focus

& c'eſt auſſi en cela, comme je l'ay déja dit, qu'Homere me paroît divin au prix d'eux, car ayant devant luy une guerre qui avoit un commencement & une fin, il n'a pas entrepris de la traiter toute entiere, jugeant bien qu'elle étoit trop grande, & qu'elle ne pourroit être veüe, comme d'un coup d'œil. Il voyoit d'ailleurs que, quand même il auroit trouvé le ſecret de la reduire dans une juſte étendue, il n'auroit pû éviter le deſordre & l'embarras qu'une ſi grande varieté d'incidens y auroit jetté. C'eſt pourquoy il n'en a pris qu'une ſeule partie, & il tire du reſte quantité d'Epiſodes, comme le Catalogue des Vaiſſeaux, & pluſieurs autres, dont il enrichit & diverſifie ſon Poëme.

3.

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 23 focus

Tquanto alla imitatione narratiua, & che fi fa col verſo, che quiui ſi debba, aſſettare le Fauole da poterſi rappreſentare fi come nelle Tragedie; & che elle debbino effere intorno à vna attione intera, & perfetta, che habbia & principio, & mezo, & fine :¹

acciochè ella non altrimenti che vno animale intero, par toriſca il piacere, che ſia propio di lei, è manifeſtiſsimo; & che elle non debbino eſſer' fimili alle Hiſtorie conſuete, le quali è di neceſsità, che dieno notitia non pure d'una fola attione, ma di tutte quelle, che in vn tempo medefimo accaddono;

non tanto circa ad vn' folo, quanto circa à piu:inquel modo cioè, che ciascuna d'ef fe cofe (come dette la ſorte) interuene, Perchè coſi come circa à vn' medefimo tempo fu fatta la guerra di mare appreſſo di Salamina, & quella de' Cartagineſi in - Sicilia, le quali non tendono adun' medefimo fine;medefimamente ne tempi ſuſſequenti accade alcuna volta, ch'un fatto vi fuccede doppo l'altro, delquale non ne rieſce vn' medefimo fine.

Et queſto vſan'di fare la piu parte de' Poeti.

Onde & per queſte cagioni ancora (ſi come io hò detto innanzi) Homero appariſce diuino ſopra di tutti gli altri Poeti, perchè e non tenta di fingere tutta la guerra (benchè ella haueſſe & principio,& fine) come ſe ella fuſſe ſtata per riuſcir' troppo grande;& perciò difficile à potere eſſer' confiderata: VV vero perchè gli ſtimò che ſe e' l'haueſſe riſtretta à vna moderata grandezza, che'l Poema non haueſſe à parer ripieno di troppe varietà. Ma hauendone egli preſa à raccontar vna parte, v'interpone dentro molti Epiſodii, come è il Catalago delle naui, & altri, Onde egli fa il ſuo Poema ricchiſsimo; doue gli altri Poeti ſtanno intorno ad vn' ſolo huomo, & intorno ad vn' fol tem po, & conſtituiſcono vna attione, che habbia molte parti, come fe quegli, che finſe nel ſuo Poemale coſe fatte da' Cipriani; & come quegli, che fece il Poema detto La piccola Iliade.

Ma l'Iliade, & l'Odiſſea ciaſcuna d'eſſe da vna fola Tragedia, ò da due al più poſſono effere racchiuſe; & il Poema de Cipriani non può efle re racchiuſo, ſenon da molte, & quello della piccola Iliade e racchiuſo da piu, che da otto, come è il giudicio dell'arme, il Filottete, Neoptolemo, Euripilo, LaPo uera, la Lacena, l'Eccidio di Troia, La Ritornata del le naui, Sinone, Et le Troiade.

E'anchora di neceſsità, che il Poema Heroico ſi diuida in tante ſpetie, in quan te fi diuide eſſo Poema Tragico; Conciofia che e' debba eſſere,ò ſcempio, ò intrecciato,ò morale, ò affettuo fo. Le parti anchora,ò dell'uno,ò dell'altro Poema(eccetto l'Apparato & la Muſica) ſono le medeſime; douendo eſſere in luile Peripetie, le Recognitioni, gli Affetti,i Difcorfi, & la buona Locutione. Lequali tut te parti Homero prima di tutti hà vſato tanto che baſta, perchè l'uno de' ſuoi due Poemi, l'Iliade cioè e' com poſto ſcempio, & è affettuoſo; & l'Odiſſea è intrecciato, eſſendoui per tutto la recognitione, & il costume. Oltradiqueſto ha egli tutti gli altri auanzato con la Locutione, & col Diſcorſo.

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.) — 23 focus

De narrativa autem et in metro imitatione oportet fabnlas constituere, quemadmodum dramaticus in tragoediis, et circa unam actionem totam et perfectam, habentem principium et medium et finem,

ut quemadmodum animal unum totum efficiat propriam voluptatem, nec similes esse historias consuetas, in quibus necesse est non unius actionis efficere expositionem sed unius temporis,

quaecunque in eo evenerunt circa unum vel plures, quorum unumquodque, ut sors tulit, alterum respicit. quemadmodum enim secundum eadem tempora et in Salamine facta est navalis pugna et in Sicilia Carthaginiensium pugna,

nequaquam ad eundem tendentes finem,

sic et in temporibus consequentibus aliquando fit alterum cum altero, ex quibus non est unus finis. ac ferme id faciunt poëtarum multi. quamobrem, ut iam dicebamus, et in hac parte divinns apparere Homerus praeter ceteros potest, et quia neque bellum, quamvis habens principium et finem, aggressus est versibus totum describere (valde enim magnum, et quod non facile conspici poterat, evasurum erat) vel magnitudine se modice habens intertextum varietate. nunc autem cum abstulisset unam partem, episodiis usus est ipsorum multis, ut navium catalogo et aliis episodiis, quibus distinguit poësim.

alii vero circa unum canunt et circa unum tempus et unam actionem multarum partium, ut qui Cyprica fecit et parvam Iliadem.

igitur ex Iliade et Odyssea una tragoedia fit ex utraque, vel duae solae; at ex Cypriis multae, et ex parva Iliade plus quam octo, ut armorum iudicium, Philoctetes, Neoptolemus, Eurypylus, mendicatio, Lacaenae, Hii direptio et reditus classis et Sinon et Troades.

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.) — 23 focus

De narrativa autem et in metro imitativa, quod oportet fabulas sicut in tragodiis consistere actitivas et circa unam actionem totam et perfectam, habentem principium et media et finem, que sicut animal unum totum facit propriam delectationem, palam ;

et non similes hystorias consuetas esse, in quibus necesse non unius actionis fieri manifestationem, sed unius temporis, quecumque in hoc accidunt circa unum aut plures, quorum unumquodque ut contingit habet ad invicem.

Sicut enim secundum eadem tempora et in Salamina factum fuit navale bellum, et in Sicilia Carthaginensium bellum nichil ad eundem contendentia finem, sic et in hiis que deinceps temporibus aliquando fit alterum cum altero, ex quibus unus nullus fit finis.

Fere autem multi poetarum hoc actitant. Propter

quod, sicut diximus iam, et sic admirandus utique apparebit Homerus preter alios, eo quod neque bellum quamvis habens principium et finem conatus est poetizare totum ; valde enim utique magnum et non facile conspicabile debebat fore magnitudine moderantem complexum varietate. Nunc autem unam partem absumens usus est superadventitiis ipsi multis, puta katalogo et aliis superinductitiis bis bis intercipit poesim.

Alii autem circa unum faciunt et circa unum tempus et unam actionem multarum partium, velut qui Cyprica poetizavit et Parvam Nileidem.

Namque ex Iliade quidem et Odysseia unam tragodiam efficit utriusque aut duas solas, ex Cypriis autem multas et ex Parva Iliade plus quam octo, puta Oplon Krisis, Filoctetes, Neoptolemus, Eurypylus, Ptocheia, Lakena, Iliu Persis, et Apoplus, et Sinon et Proiades. —

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.) — 23 focus

‏ومن حيث لا يدخل فى هذه التركيبات اقتصاصات تشبه وهى التى قد ٮٮطر***ـا ان الاستدلال ليس انما هو لعمل واحد لكن لزمان واحد بمبلغ ما يعرض فى هذا وعمل واحد او كثير وكيف كل واحد واحد منها على ما لها انضافت الى قرينها كما كانت ا**رمنه انفسها

‏اما فى سالامانا فحروب المراكب وفى سيقيليا حرب الڡركوٮٮا ڡـ*ں كلى هذين ليسا شى احر غير انها تنتهى الى انقضا واحد واحد وكذلك فى الازمنة التى **ٮ بعد فى وقت بعد وقت يكون واحد منها الذى لا يكون له شى اخر هو اخر واىقصـ*

‏*كثير من الشعرا قد يفعلون هذا قريبا

‏ولذلك كما قلنا وفرغنا من القول ڡـ*ل فليرا اوميروس فى هذا ذو سبه وناموس هدو من هذا الوجه ايضا يرى اوميروس انه متبع للناموس وانه لازم للصواب والاستقامة اكثر من هولا الاخر *هو الذى عمل الحرر وقد كان له اول واحد من حيث يرى ان ياتى به باسره هذا على انه قد كان عظيم جد ولم يكن يسهل رويته ولا ايضا كان مزمع ان يبين فى خرافته بهذه الحال من قبل انها قد كانت عند ما كانت تتركب وتقترن قد كانت تصغر فى عظمها والان فى هذه المداخل التى ٮقبصت جزو ما وهو ما الذى يفعل الانسان

‏واما هولا الاخر فيقتضبوا بحسب واحد واحد فى واحد واحد من الزمان خرافات كثيرة الاجزا بمنزلة ذلك الذى عمل هذه التى هى معروفة ٮقوٯواٮٮا وجعل الاليادا صغيرة

‏ولذلك عمل اليادا واودوسيا كلتيهما مديحا واحدا او بعد كر اثنتين واما *** المعروفة ٮٯوٯواٮٮا فكثيرة والى الاليادا الصغيرة فثمانية واكثر التى تقال السلاح منها المعروفة ٮٮااوفطلامس وفيلوقطيطس المعروف بافطوخيلا وكبس الياس ورجوع المراكب واسين وطرواس

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 23 focus

‏واما الاقتصاصى والوزن المحاكى فقد بين ان نخبر عنها الخرافات وحكاية الحديث على ما فى المديحات وان تقوم المتقينين والقينات نحو العمل الواحد متكامل باسره وهو الذى له اول ووسط واخر وهو الذى كما الحيوان العـ**ل للذة حاصية ومن حيث لا يدخل فى هذه التركيبات اقتصاصات تشبه وهى التى قد ٮٮطر***ـا ان الاستدلال ليس انما هو لعمل واحد لكن لزمان واحد بمبلغ ما يعرض فى هذا وعمل واحد او كثير وكيف كل واحد واحد منها على ما لها انضافت الى قرينها كما كانت ا**رمنه انفسها

‏يفعلون هذا قريبا

‏ولا ايضا كان مزمع ان يبين فى خرافته بهذه الحال من قبل انها قد كانت عند ما كانت تتركب وتقترن قد كانت تصغر فى عظمها والان فى هذه المداخل التى ٮقبصت جزو ما وهو ما الذى يفعل الانسان

Notes on the current edition

Poetics

1. Part II. Sect. 5.

2. See Part II. Sect. 4.

3. Because "the length of the whole would" then "not admit of a proper magnitude in the parts;" and, thus, an Epic Poem constructed upon an historical plan, would be exactly in the same case with a Tragedy "constructed on an Epic plan." See Part II. Sect. 20. and NOTE 153.

Commentary

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-867

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-868

17 περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ κτέ. The natural division in the matter of this and the next chapter would be at 24, 1459 b 17 , so as to make διαφέρει δὲ the beginning of the second half of the discussion. Throughout these two chapters Aristotle has Homer constantly in view; if he mentions other epic writings, it is only to show their artistic inferiority to the Iliad and Odyssey. The general intention of the present statement is to bring the Epic under the rules of construction laid down for Tragedy. Though the enumeration of the points of agreement and difference between the two is so much longer than that in 5, 1449b 9-20 , it ignores one characteristic of the Epic, its being a μίμησις σπουδαίων—on which no little stress was laid in the earlier chapters (3, 1448 a 26; 4, 1448 b38 sqq.) . Taking this for granted, it would seem, Aristotle proceeds to insist (1) that a good epic must conform to the tragic rule of Unity of story (1459 a 18-b 7) ; (2) that epic poetry divides into the same species as Tragedy (1459 b 8-10) ; and (3) that it involves the same literary elements (1459b10-17) . After this he passes on to its points of difference, its length (b 17-31) , its metre (b 31-1460 a 4) , its form (a 5-11) , and its greater tolerance of ἄλογα (a 11-b 5) . A valuable discussion on Aristotle's theory of the Epic will be found in Schoemann's Opuscula(3 p. 30) . For traces of Aristotelian ideas in later Greek writers see Adam, Die Aristotelische Theorie vom Epos (Wiesbaden 1889).

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-869

περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς. περί = 'as for', or 'as regards' (comp. Metaph. H 6, 1045 a 7 ).

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-870

διηγηματικῆς, scil. μιμήσεως, understood from 15 (comp. 24, 1459 b 33 , and the note on 1, 1447 a 27

αἱ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν

). The καί that follows is the appositional καί (= i.e.), which is so common in Aristotle. ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς may be compared with 6, 1449 a 21

τῆς ἐν ἑξαμέτροις μιμητικῆς

. ἐν μέτρῳ, 'in verse' (= ἐν λόγῳ ἐμμέτρῳ), is the opposite of ἐν τῷ πράττειν, just as in the definition of Tragedy in 6, 1449 a 26

δι' ἀπαγγελίας

( scil. μιμουμένων) is the opposite of δρώντων.

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-871

18 συνιστάναι δραματικούς. A predicative adjective after συνιστάναι is found also in 24, 1459 b 14 , 1460 a 34 , and in Plato Phaedr. 268 E

τὴν τούτων σύστασιν πρέπουσαν ἀλλήλοις τε καὶ τῷ ὅλῳ συνισταμένην

. For the construction συνιστάναι περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν comp. 8, 1451 a 28

περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν οἷαν λέγομεν τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν

. δραματικούς, which means properly 'such as is required for a drama' (comp. 4, 1448 b 35 ), is explained by what follows ( καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν κτέ.) as referring more especially to the Unity of the dramatic story. Aristotle now definitely applies to the Epic the rule of Unity laid down for Tragedy in chaps. 7-8; its applicability, however, has already been assumed in the digression on the Epic in 8, 1451 a 19-29 .

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-872

20 ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον. If it is permissible to restore ὅλον (ὄν) here, the expression will be equivalent to οὖσα ἓν ὅλον ὥσπερ ζῷον (see Bernhardy, Syntax p. 337, and Riddell, Digest of Idioms § 202 b). For the meaning of ζῷον see on 7, 1450 b 34 .

καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις θεῖναι is another instance of parallelismus antitheticus; it is the negative complement of the precept in 18 δεῖ τοὺς μύθους συνιστάναι δραματικούς, the construction being δῆλον ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους ... συνιστάναι δραματικοὺς ... καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας [scil. αὐτοῖς] ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις θεῖναι. For the position of δῆλον comp. De sensu 3, 440b 14

ὅτι ἀνάγκη μιγνυμένων καὶ τὰς χρόας μίγνυσθαι, δῆλον, καὶ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν εἶναι κυρίαν τοῦ πολλὰς εἶναι χρόας

. ὁμοίας θεῖναι may very well mean 'to regard as like them' (comp. Bon. Ind. 761 a 27). According to this view of the text, the general sense of the passage is shortly this: Epic stories should be in structure like those of Tragedy ( δραματικούς), and not, as is so often supposed (see 8, 1451 a 21 and 9, 1451b 4 ), like the records of ordinary history. This latter point, however, Aristotle puts in a somewhat different form, 'One must not assume our ordinary histories to be like them'; he inverts the order of the terms, in fact, as he sometimes does in comparisons introduced by ὅμοιος (see Vahlen ad loc., and my Textual Criticism of the Nic. Ethics p. 63). The reading εἶναι, which I have altered into θεῖναι¹ (on the assumption that EINAI represents OINAI), makes him say that our ordinary histories should not be like tragedies or epics, as though there were something in the practice of the historians that he wished to set right. The absurdity of such a notion was felt by one of the Renaissance correctors and by Dacier; but the correction they proposed, καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις τὰς συνθέσεις εἶναι, is to my mind too artificial, and too great a departure from the reading of the MS., to deserve a place in the text. In saying ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις Aristotle seems to be aware of there being exceptions to the rule. We have been told in 9, 1451 b 30 that a poetical subject may sometimes be found in history.

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-873

23 ἑνὸς χρόνου: comp. a 25 περὶ ἕνα χρόνον. Aristotle's conception of a history is that it is a sort of chronicle (see on 9, 1451 a 36 ) recording all the various occurrences within a certain period of time, however loose and separate they may have been in themselves. As an instance of such a disconnected event he cites Gelo's defeat of the Carthaginians in 480; it happened about the same time— Herodotus 7, 166 says on the same day—as the Battle of Salamis, but it obviously had no connexion with that battle, or with the issue of the Persian War. And the same would have to be said, if it had taken place just before or after Salamis ( ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις a 27). In this way Aristotle reasserts the point on which he has insisted in the earlier chapters (8, 1451 a 27; 10, 1452 a 20) , that two events may come in succession without forming part of one single action.

25 ἐν Σαλαμίνι: Rhet. 2. 22, 1396 a 12

τὴν ἐν Σαλαμίνι ναυμαχίαν

. Comp. Thuc. 1. 57 , Isocr. 112 A , Aeschines in Ctes. 222 for this use of the preposition.

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-532

23.1 1. Pour ce qui est de l'imitation qui conſiſte dans la narration, & qui est faite en vers hexametres, il est évident qu'il en faut dreſſer la fable, de manière qu'elle soit Dramatique, comme celle de la Tragedie.)¹

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-533

23.1 2. Et qu'elle doit renfermer une seule action qui ſoit entiere, parfaite, & achevée, & qui ait par confequent, un commencement, un milieu, & une fin.]²

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-534

23.1 3. Car il faut neceſſairement, que, comme un feul corps vivant est animé, elle donne le plaisir qui luy est propre.]³

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-535

23.2 4. Pour cet effet elle doit s'éloigner des regles de l'Histoire, où l'on est aſſujetti à raconter, non pas une seule action, mais tous les évenemens arrivez dans un certain temps.]⁴

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-536

23.2 5. Et qui n'ont qu'une liaiſon telle quelle, les uns avec les autres.]⁵

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-537

23.3 6. Car fi le combat naval de Salamine, & la bataille des Carthaginois en Sicile, quoyqu'arrivez environ dans le méme temps, ne se raportent pas tous deux à la mème fin, à plus forte raison voit-on tres fouvent, que les chofes qui font faites en differens temps, & les unes après les autres, ne vont pas toutes au mème but.]⁶

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

23.1. mvp-aristotle-comment-96 23.1

EVEN IN THE EPOPEE THE FABLES SHOULD HAVE A DRAMATIC FORM, AND RELATE TO ONE ENTIRE AND COMPLEAT ACTION, WHICH HAS A BEGINNING, A MIDDLE, AND AN END.

It has been already observed that in every fictitious tale, independently of technical rules, it is impossible to keep up the attention and interest of the piece without confining the time of the fable within a certain boundary. This rule of nature is confirmed by the practice of all our good novel writers. I will not only instance the novels of Fielding, who as being a scholar, and rather fond of shewing he was, may be supposed to display his acquaintance with the precepts of the Stagirite, or rather the models from whence they are drawn: but those of Richardfon, of Mrs. Smith, and of Miss Burney, who cannot be supposed to be influenced by any pedantry of this kind. Even in those novels which are written on what Dr. Beattie calls the historical plan, such as Peregrine Pickle and Roderick Random, though they begin with the infancy of the hero, they by no means compleat his life. The first events are rather preparatory to, than part of the main object of the story, the body of which, or to speak dramatically, the plot, is the love of the principal characters, as the solution of it, or catastrophe, is their marriage [A].. The [A] This is exactly true with regard to Tom Jones. The action properly begins with the banishment of Jones from Allworthy's house; and from that time to the conclufion, according

The mode used by the orientals to give a species of unity to their complicated fables is very fingular. Of this the Arabian Nights exhibit a curious specimen. A general story, or ground-work for the whole, is first formed. This is the bloody vow of the sultan in consequence of the sultana's infidelity, the generous resolution of the vizir's daughter, and her final triumph. Into this the other stories are woven, but the introductory tale is continually brought to our recollection by the conversation that precedes the narrative of every night. Every story is befides branched out into a number of others, to each of which it ferves as a common bond of union, as the original one is to the whole. By this strange contrivance an appearance of general unity is kept up though without the least of that effect which is proposed as the consequence of unity; as the mind is disagreeably perplexed by the broken chain of the narrative, expectation is suspended till all interest in the fable is lost, and instead of perfpicuity confusion is produced. This arrangement is preserved in the first half of Mr. Galland's tranflation. In the latter part he has given such separate stories as struck him, without dividing the nights, or preserving any connexion between them, except the catastrophe of the leading fable. Mr. Andrews in his Anecdotes [B], gives a humorous reason for M. Galland's change of conduct. But I believe the principal cause of it was the length of the original work, which he has greatly abridged, as will be apparent on comparing the number of nights in that part of his tranflation where they are according to the author's own calculation, just forty-two days intervene, and yet this is five days more than the compleat action of the Iliad occupies. [B] Appendix. Article AUTHOR. noticed,

POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. noticed [c], which is a full half of the work, with the compleat number of a thousand and one. Dr. Beattie [D] seems to question the authenticity of this work. I think the reason he urges; (the French features given it by M. Galland,) can have no weight with a person who has ever read a French translation from any language. Whoever will compare this work even through the medium of a French tranflation with the many WESTERN oriental tales, to which it has given birth, will fee strong marks of original and real character. But I believe the authenticity of this work is capable of stronger proof. I have been informed that Profeffor White has a compleat copy in Arabic. Mr. Richardson also, in his Arabic Grammar, has printed one of the fables at length in the original language, and quoted verses from another [E] which are not tranflated by M. Galland, though the tale from which they are taken is. This mode of narration was adopted by Ariosto, and was copied from him by our countryman Spenfer. As for Ariosto, his imagination is so brilliant, his subject so wonderfully varied • From grave to gay, from lively to severe :' there is such a mingled vein of fublimity, pathos, and humour, running [c] The last night noticed is the two hundred and thirty-second. Therefore half the translation is not a quarter of the original work. [D] Essay on Fable and Romance, page 509. [E] Page 181. through

A COMMENTARY ON THE CHAP. XXIII. through the whole work, that notwithstanding the many absurdities it contains, and fuch a total want of connexion in the incidents, that to enable the reader at all to follow the thread of the scattered tales, the commentators have been obliged to have recourse to inartificial assistance of marginal references; yet we can hardly with it to have been in any refpect different from what it is. But as the work of Spenser is entirely of a serious cast, our taste is more faftidious, and indeed the attempt at uniformity, which is avowed by the author [F], causes us to be more disgusted both with the want of it in the Cantos that are preserved, and the apparent inadequacy of the whole plan proposed, had it been compleatly carried into execution. The unity produced by the introduction of a general kind of secondary hero pervading the whole, must have been very awkward and very uninteresting. Prince Arthur engaged as an afsistant to the several allegorical heroes in their respective adventures, would have exactly resembled the pentathléte, as described by [G] Plato, who, however skilful he might be in the contest with those who like himself were trained to the practice of various exercises, was always inferior to those athletes who applied themselves to one only, in that peculiar exercise. [F] Letter from the author to Sir Walter Raleigh. [G] In his Εραςαι, NOTE

23.2. mvp-aristotle-comment-97 23.2

AND NOT FOLLOW THE CUSTOM OF HISTORY, WHERE IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO CONFINE THE SUBJECT TO ONE ACTION, BUT TO ONE PERIOD OF TIME, AND WHERE EVERY THING MAY BE INTRODUCED THAT HAPPENED IN THAT TΙΜΕ.

THIS conduct of history is exactly exemplified in the work of that most entertaining of all writers Herodotus. Like Ariosto he hurries his reader from event to event, and from scene to scene, as his own lively fancy suggests, without giving him time to recollect himself, and fafcinates him at the same time so agreeably with beauty of style, and variety of matter, that he has no wish to awaken from his delirium. [H] Later historians however have found unity, of subject at least, necessary to make their works agreeable; and this circumstance is the striking distinction between the historian and the annalist. History generally confines itself to the affairs of one country, and cotemporary events of other countries are never interwoven into the thread of the story, except such as may be connected with the principal subject. Writers of general history have a great difficulty to arrange their matter so as to produce any unity of design. The only method by which this is at all attainable is breaking their history into parts, each concluding with some memorable era or striking revolution, which all the preceding events may be conceived, in some degree, as instrumental in producing. A history of Greece, from the number of independent states, is subject to [H] See Note 1. Chap. VIII. 3 L the

the fame disadvantage. In producing unity here, Col. Mitford has fucceeded wonderfully, as I augur he will when he comes to the increasing difficulties attending the divided interests of the successors of Alexander, where he will have no points of union like the superior states of Athens and Sparta to afsist him. The Roman historian from Romulus to Conftantine, has the double advantage of unity of story and concluding eras, arifing, if I may use the poetical expreffion, both from action and manners. But the task Mr. Gibbon has executed is the most difficult one that ever employed the pen of an historian, and nothing but the voice of hypercriticism can cenfure him for not giving a unity to events of which they were utterly incapable. The history of Greece, however diversified in its course, has a great and striking catastrophe in becoming a Roman province; and the preceding events have a strong bond of union in treating of a people, however divided, still resembling each other in origin, in country, and in manners. But from the time of Constantine, the Roman history diverges from its common channel. The Grecian name appears again, mixes with, and almost overpowers it, till mingling with a thoufand various and unconnected streams, it gradually loses itself in the vaft ocean of modern history, in which that event, (the taking of Conftantinople,) which is generally confidered as the final period of the Roman empire, fo far from being a decisive boundary, is a mere point that hardly attracts our obfervation. Dr. Robertson saw the neceffity of this historical unity so strongly, that he did not chuse to interweave the affairs of America with his History of Charles the Fifth, but reserved them for a feparate work; a work, for the completion of which the public impatience is strongly excited, as the obstacle mentioned is entirely removed; and the history of British

POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. British America may conclude with one of the greatest and most compleat political revolutions to be found in the annals of mankind.

23.3. mvp-aristotle-comment-98 23.3

FOR AS THE SEA FIGHT AT SALAMIS, AND THE BATTLE WITH THE CARTHAGENIANS IN SICILY, THOUGH THEY HAPPENED AT THE SAME TIME, BY NO MEANS CONDUCED TO THE SAME END; SO ALSO EVEN IN PROGRESSIVE TIME, EVENTS MAY

" “ " SOMETIMES BE CONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER, AND YET NO PARTICULAR COMMON CONSEQUENCES MAY ARISE FROM " THEM." THIS passage is passed over by all the tranflators and commentators that I have had an opportunity of consulting, as if it were not attended with any difficulty, but it appears to me totally irreconcileable both with itself and with the preceding sentence without allowing some latitude of conjecture. Aristotle observes that history differs from poetry in confidering unity of time only without at all regarding unity of action: and that if two events happen at the same period of time, however unconnected they or the objects to which they relate may be, they have sufficient unity for the purpose of the historian: and this is well illustrated by the battles of Salamis and Sicily, both which, according to Herodotus, happened on the fame day, and are mentioned by that historian in the fame book, though they had not the most distant relation to each other. Here all would be perfectly clear, if the part between the inverted commas in the quotation that is at the head of this note, and which in the original commences with ὕτω και, and concludes with τέλος, were omitted, as Mr. Winstanley says it is in a Ms. in the Medician 3 L2

Medicean library. But admitting this part as genuine, (which I think we ought from the authority of fo many Mss. and editions, against this single one,) the example so exactly in point with the observation seems introduced merely for the purpose of bringing in a sentence which is diametrically in opposition to it, and which it appears to me can be only reconciled with the context by supposing something prior to the quotation intervening in the original between ἄλληλα and ὥσπερ, perhaps to this effect. That even successive and connected events may not always be sufficient for the purpose of the poet. And then all that follows is perfectly natural and explains the reason, which is afterwards compleatly illustrated by the examples from the lesser Iliad at the conclusion of the chapter, which though happening in successive time and connected with each other, had not yet that degree of unity which was requisite for an epic poem. Mr. Twining has not translated this passage with his usual accuracy. • So also in successive events we fometimes fee one thing follow another * without being CONNECTED TO IT BY SUCH RELATION.' However we may differ in opinion as to the reading of θάτερον μεθὰ θαζέρα, whether we conceive the preposition μεθὰ as governing the genitive or [1] the accufative, still ἐξ ὧν ἓν ἐδὲν γίνεθαι τέλος can never fignify any relation between the successive events, but must mean some common consequence to arife from both. The sentence seems to imply, that if the events should be even so connected as to be proper for the beginning and middle of a poetic fable, they may yet be incapable of producing a proper end, a catastrophe conducive to the [K] purpose of epic or tragic imitation. [1] See note on the tranflation. [K] See Chapter VII. It is observable that Aristotle, at the beginning of this chapter, uses τέλος exactly in the same sense he does τελευτή in that. 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-169

Ritter, cap. 23 § 1

Quae sit unitas epici carminis et qua in re ab historia differre illud debeat significatur. unitatem epopoeiae ab uno Homero rite servatam esse. , Quod in principio huius capitis dicitur manifestum ( δῆλον) esse fabulas epicae poesi subiectas aeque ac tragicas pangendas esse activas ( δραματικάς), ac circa unam actionem totam et absolutam, id sane nondum ostensum est. nam c. 4, 9. nonnisi obscure significatum est ab Homero imitationes nonsolum bene sed etiam δραματικάς exhiberi. sed hoc ipsum, tam fabulas epicas quam tragicas δραματικάς conformandas esse, falso pronuntiari videtur aut temere, nisi si ante dictum est quid sit τοὺς μύθους δραματικούς συνιστάναι, ubi hoc de epico carmine dicitur. agendi scilicet rationem non eandem obtinere in epopoeia quam in tragoedia, id et sponte patet et ab Aristotele obscure sub initium huius libri (c. 3, 1) indicatum est, unde igitur clarum illud est, quod huius operis lectoribus, si non aliunde didicerunt, etiamnum obscurum esse debet? sed ad hanc dubitationem respondere in Praefatione operam dedimus. περί δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς: cum narrativa poesi non solum epopoeia quae vulgo dicitur sed mimi etiam prosa oratione conscripti et dialogi Socratici contineantur, id quod c. 1, 7. propositum est, vocibus ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς adiectis aperire voluit se iam disputaturum esse de poesi narrativa quam vulgo intelligant, sufficiebat autem generalis nota ἐν μέτρῳ, neque opus erat ἐν ἑξαμέτρῳ, ut nonnulli crediderunt, propterea quod imitatio narrativa versibus adstricta nonnisi metro heroo usque ad aevum Aristotelis inclusa ferebatur. conf. c. 1, 6. et Comment. pag. 82 seq. καὶ καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην καὶ τελείαν: quantum attinet ad fabulam sive argumentum tragoediae, hoc explanatum est c. 7 et praecipue c. 8, 4. quod c. 8, 3. etiam Homeri mentio facta est, id quomodo cohaereat in Commentario ad

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-170

Ritter, cap. 23 § 2

illius capitis exposui. quapropter de hoc argumento epicae poesis ratione habita nihil adhuc explicatum est. ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον: hoc exsecutus est c. 7,5-7., sed tragoediam respiciens, non epopoeiam. - καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίας τὰς συνήθεις εἶναι; variandae orationis gratia subiectum mutatur. in vulgari rerum gestarum enarratione non ea unitas inest, quae dominari debet in epico carmine, sed eodem tempore saepe accidunt quae nullo vinculo continentur; quae si ab annalium scriptore narrantur, unitatis legem turbari necesse est. ὡς ἔτυχεν est ut casus* 245 tulit, ita ut alia arto aut laxo vinculo cohaereant, alia nulla cognatione se contingant. haec in sequentibus exemplo ex historia petito declarantur. §. 2. ὥσπερ γάρ - Καρχηδονίων μάχη: isdem temporibus esse κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους apparet ex oppositis οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις: nimirum inter se componuntur tempora eadem quibus in diversis spatiis varia gesta sunt et tempora sibi succedentia quibus una res continuo post alteram ( θάτερον μετά θατέρου) accidit. fama hoc vulgatum esse Herodotus VII, 155. scribit, devicisse Gelonem eodem die ingentem Hamilcaris Carthaginiensis exercitum, quo classis Persarum ad Salaminem a Graecis fugata est aut submersa : πρὸς δὲ καὶ τάδε λέγουσι, ὡς συνέβη τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρης ἔν τε τῇ Σικελίῃ Γέλωνα καὶ Θήρωνα νικᾶν ᾿Αμίλκαν τὸν Καρχηδόνιον καὶ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι τοὺς Ἕλληνας τὸν Πέρσην. quid Aristoteles de huius famae veritate aut mendacio senserit quaerere nihil attinet. ut inde exemplum peteret ad illustrandum id de quo loquitur, satis erat quod illud fama ferebatur. θάτερον μετά θατέρου: unum cum altero, h. e. alterum continuo post alterum accidit, neque tamen unum quoddam inde consequitur. quae poeta narrat, ea ad unum finem contendunt.

Aristotle Poetics 23.5

Thomas Twining (Translator)