1.
mvp-aristotle-comment-959
1.
mvp-aristotle-comment-960
1460b6
Περὶ δὲ προβλημάτων κτέ.
On the matter in this chapter see
1460 6
M. Carrol, '
Aristotle's Poetics c. xxv. in the light of the
Homeric Scholia (Baltimore 1895). It is added as a sort of Appendix, in recognition of the fact that a poem, when once before the world, may be exposed to criticism. A 'Problem' was originally a question propounded for discussion, whether in schools or in social gatherings such as
Plato supposes in his dialogues. The general logic of such discussions is examined and reduced to formula in the
Topics; but
Aristotle takes no account in the
Topics of the particular kind of Problem with which he is now dealing, the literary or critical Problem. This kind of question turns on some difficulty in a poem, which an adverse critic will censure as a mistake. By an analysis of the postulates and condi- tions of poetry
Aristotle is able to determine and classify not only the various possible grounds of censure (
ἐπιτίμησις), but also the various possible lines of defence, by indicating the solution (
λύσις) or solutions applicable to each kind of objection. In illustrating the methods of defence he takes his instances mainly from the
Homeric poems.
Homer had long been a mark for criticism. Every kind of defect had been discovered in his two poems, offences against morality, absurdities, contradictions and other faults of construc- tion, and even errors of language; the result being that
Aristotle's contemporary
Zoilus, the '
Homeromastix', was able to write a regular treatise (of considerable magnitude, it would seem)
κατὰ τῆς τοῦ Ὁμήρου ποιήσεως, on the manifold faults in
Homer. The position of
Aristotle himself in this controversy is clear: he is on the side of the apologists, and an opponent of the kind of criticism represented by
Zoilus. He is ready to meet the critics on their own ground with an answer of some sort or description for almost every difficulty they can start. The fragments of his
ἀπορήματα Ὁμηρικά, a systematic work on this subject (
fr. 142- 178 Teubn.
), exhibit the same tendency, and reveal him as a master of all the arts of critical casuistry.
1.
mvp-aristotle-comment-961
1460b7
ὧδ᾽ ἂν θεωροῦσιν γένοιτ᾽ ἂν φανερόν.
For other Aristotelian in- stances of this repetition of av see
Bon. Ind. 41a60.
2.
mvp-aristotle-comment-962
1460b8
ἐπεὶ γάρ ἐστι κτέ.
Aristotle prepares us for the various kinds of
λύσεις by laying down a series of postulates, which may supply the defence with arguments to meet the attacks of the critics. In the first place, he tells us, as the poet is an imitator in much the same way as a painter is that, one must remember that his imitation or picture of things may be either of things as they are (or were), or 324 COMMENTARY 14608 of things as they should be, or of things as they are said or supposed to be. Secondly, as an imitator in language, the poet has by custom more liberty in the use of words than is allowed to a prose writer. Thirdly, if the technical correctness of his description of a thing is questioned, it is to be remembered that poetry, as a distinct art, has a correctness of its own, and that the right in poetry is not the same thing as the right in other arts or sciences, in politics for instance. At the same time, as the matter of poetry brings it into relation with other arts and sciences, their standard of correctness cannot be ignored in poetry. An offence, however, against their rule of correctness may often be condoned; and in certain cases it even admits of justification (
b24), if it is seen to conduce to the poetical effect.
2.
mvp-aristotle-comment-963
1460b9
ζωγράφος ἤ τις ἄλλος εἰκονοποιός:
see on
2, I448/8 5.
The term
εἰκονοποιός comprises the sculptor as well as the painter of portraits.
2.
mvp-aristotle-comment-964
1460b10
οἷα ἦν ἢ ἔστιν.
In chap. 2
Aristotle was speaking of persons only. In the present passage he uses the neuter in order to include the poetic descriptions of things and acts. The order of the words
ἦν ἢ ἔστιν is intentional, stories of the past being regarded as the normal subjects of both epic poetry and Tragedy (see on
2, I448°I8
). It may be observed that in
1461 2
Aristotle avails himself of the distinction implied in
οἷα ἦν ἢ ἔστιν, and suggests that a certain incident, which had been criticized in
Homer, may have been probable enough in Homeric times.
2.
mvp-aristotle-comment-965
1460b11
οἷά φασιν καὶ δοκεῖ,
scil.
εἶναι (which covers the ground of both
ἦν and
ἔστιν). The difference between the two things (
οἷά φασιν,
οἷα δοκεῖ), so far as there is one, is like that between
τὰ λεγόμενα and
τὰ δοκοῦντα-'what people usually say', and 'what people usually think, or suppose'.
2.
mvp-aristotle-comment-966
1460b11_2
οἷα εἶναι δεῖ:
comp. b 34.
3.
mvp-aristotle-comment-967
λέξει ἢ καὶ γλώτταις κτέ.
λέξις is properly a generic term, including the metaphor, the strange word, etc. Here, however.,
Aristotle adds
ἢ καὶ γλώτταις κτέ., in order to remind us of the fact that these various unusual forms of expression are a recognized part of the poetic vocabulary. The practical effect of the addition is to modify the sense of
λέξει, and make it stand for
κυρίᾳ λεξεl, just as in
1, 1447 29
(
v. ad loc.) the addition of
ἢ τοῖς μέτροις has a reflex influence on the preceding word
λόγοις, limiting it for the moment to the sense of 'prose'. The generic word
ὄνομα likewise is occasionally used in a context which gives it the more [ 25. 14608-14 325 1460b II specific sense of
κύριον ὄνομα (see on
22, I458°28
). It is hardly necessary, therefore, to restore
(κυρίᾳ) λέξει with
Heinsius, or
λέξει ⟨ἢ kvpiq⟩ with
Twining, or
λέξει (ἢ κυρίοις ὀνόμασιν) with
Vahlen.
3.
mvp-aristotle-comment-968
1460b12
πάθη τῆς λέξεως:
i. e. the modifications seen in the
ἐπεκτετα- μένον. the
ὑφῃρημένον, and the
ἐξηλλαγμένον ὄνομα (
21, 1458 1
), which, though substantially identical with the ordinary words (
22, 1458b4
), are distinguished from them through some deviation of form. The term
πάθος is used in this same sense by
Theophrastus in a fragment of his
Περὶ λέξεως (
Rabe, De Theophrasti libris
περὶ λέξεως p. 6
):
τίς ἡ κυρία λέξις, τίς δ᾽ ἡ μεταφορική;
καὶ τίνα τὰ πάθη αὐτῆς, οἷον τί ἀποκοπή, τί συγκοπή, τί ἀφαίρεσις;
