Aristotle Poetics 26.3

Thomas Twining (Translator)

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for there, the imitators have recourse to every kind of motion and gesticulation, as if the audience, without the aid of action, were incapable of understanding them: like bad flute-players, who whirl themselves round, when they would imitate the motion of the Discus, and pull the Coryphaeus, when Scylla is the subject.

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.

Translations (3)
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.) — 26.3 focus
as not being intelligible without the addition of much movement and [D] action. As bad players on the flute turn round, if they would imitate the motion of a discus. Or, when they perform the part of Scylla, are obliged to pull [E] the leader of the chorus.
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.) — 26.3 focus
just as bad players on the flute turn themselves round, when it is requisite to imitate the action of the discus; or when they sing of Scylla, draw to themselves the coryphaeus, or leader of the band. 1 Such, then, is tragedy,
La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 26.3 focus
comme ſi les ſpectateurs ne pouvoient y rien comprendre ſi elle n'expoſoit tout à leurs yeux, ceux qui la repreſentent font beaucoup de geſtes & de mouvemens pour la rendre plus ſenſible, de même à peu prés que font les méchans joüeurs de flute, qui ſe roulent pour imiter le mouvement d'un palet, ou qui tiraillent le Chef de la bande, quand ils joüent la ſcylla; ce qu'ils ne peuvent exprimer par leurs ſons, ils tâchent de le faire comprendre par leurs geſtes.

Commentary

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

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-1081

οὐκ αἰσθανομένων, scil. τῶν θεατῶν, understood from πρὸς ἅπαντα (see on 6, 1449 b 26 ).

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-1082

1461b30 προσθῇ: used absolutely in the sense of 'adds something' ( comp. 24, 1460 a18 ).

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-1083

1461b31 κινοῦνται: for the change of number see on λέγει in 21, 1457 b 19 .

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-1084

1461b31_2 οἱ φαῦλοι αὐληταὶ: i.e. indifferent flute-players, in their anxiety to make the music intelligible, accompany it by a sort of pantomimic movement of the body. According to Theophrastus ( fr. 92 Wimmer ) this combination of music and pantomime originated in Sicily :
Θεόφραστος πρῶτόν φησιν Ἄνδρωνα τὸν Καταναῖον αὐλητὴν κινήσεις καὶ ῥυθμοὺς ποιῆσαι τῷ σώματι αὐλοῦντα (ὅθεν σικελίζειν τὸ ὀρχεῖσθαι παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς), μεθ᾽ ὃν Κλεόλαν τὸν Θηβαῖον.
Other references to it will be found in Sittl, Die Gebärden der Gr. u. Röm. p. 244. δίσκον μιμεῖσθαι seems to mean 'to imitate the act of throwing a quoit'.

3. mvp-aristotle-comment-1085

1461b32 Σκύλλαν αὐλῶσιν, 'play music descriptive of Scylla'. Aristotle may be referring to the dithyramb mentioned in 15, 1454 a31 ; but the probability is that he is thinking rather of a purely instrumental piece of music (see on 1, 1447 a15 ) on the same subject. In the Greek αὐλεῖν τινα = δι᾽ αὐλήσεως μιμεῖσθαί τινα, in the same way as ὀρχεῖσθαί τινα = δι᾽ ὀρχήσεως μιμεῖσθαί τινα.

Remarques sur la poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) (André Dacier's French commentary on Aristotle's Poetics.) focus

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-655

26.3 4. Car comme ſi les ſpectateurs ne pouvoient y rien comprendre, ſi elle n'expoſoit tout à leurs yeux, ceux qui la reprefentent font beaucoup de geſtes & de mouvemens pour la rendre plus ſenſible.] 1

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-656

26.3 5. De même à peu prés que font les méchans joüeurs de flute qui se roulent pour imiter le mouvement d'un Palet, ou qui tiraillent le Chef de la bande, quand ils joüent la Scylla.] 2

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

264. mvp-aristotle-comment-264

NOTE 264. P. 132.

26.3 AS IF THE AUDIENCE, WITHOUT THE AID OF ACTION, &c.—
Ὡς γαρ ἐκ αισθανομένων, ἀν μη ΑΥΤΟΣ ΠΡΟΣΘΗΙ, πολλην κίνησιν κινενται
. This wound has been sufficiently probed. When I found, that the
"medica manus"
of Mr. Toup had been tried upon it, I looked, at least, for the
"salubres Ambrosiae succos, et odoriferam panaceam,"
if not for the precious Dictamnus, that would entirely heal it. 1 He proposed to read—
ὠν μη ΑΥΛΟΣ ΠΡΟΣΗ
. I should be very sorry to do any injustice to the emendation of so masterly a Greek scholar; but I am obliged to confess, that I do not understand it. "The imitators have recourse to every kind of motion, just as if the audience were not able to understand (or, to hear) them, without the addition or accompaniment of a flute." How any sense can be made of this, or of any other fair version of the passage, so corrected, I cannot discover. The emendation, surely, requires to be explained, at least; and if Mr. Toup gave any explanation in his letter to Mr. Winstanley, it is to be wished, that the learned editor had communicated it to the public in his note.
As far as I can judge, from a comparison of the different senses of the word with its etymology, the common idea, which runs through and connects them all, is that of excess, or, perhaps, more exactly, of offensive, disgusting, or burdensome, by excess, of some kind or other. 2 3
It is some comfort, however, that the general meaning of the passage seems liable to little or no difficulty; and, accordingly, in that, all the commentators, I think, are agreed, however widely they may differ as to the reading.

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-204

Ritter, cap. 26 § 1

Epica poesis et tragica ita secum conferuntur ut, refutatis quae epopoeiae palmam deferre videantur argumentis, explicetur quibus rebus tragoedia antecellat epopoeiam. SA nam Quae hoc capite dicta legimus, ad auctorem quod attinet, cum illis quas modo ex aureo Aristotelis libro secrevimus sordibus, etiam haec aut stabunt aut concident. quemadmodum in praecedentibus tota quasi quaestionum solutionumque doctrina pertractatur, sic nunc singulare quoddam et nobile πρόβλημα, utrum genus poesis praestantius sit, epicumne an tragicum, solvitur. sed quamquam ex iis quae de νοθείᾳ capitis praegressi dicta sunt, sponte consequitur hoc quoque caput vicesimum sextum Aristoteli tribui non posse, sed idem cum vicesimo quinto ad eundem incertumque auctorem referendum esse, illud tamen sic se habere ex his praeterea indiciis colligitur. 1. disputandi genus per totam hanc explicationem arte caret et magno philosopho indignum est. 2. quae docentur magnam partem hausta sunt ex prioribus et male repetita. 3. nonnulla prioribus a vero Aristotele expositis repugnant. 4. enuntiatorum structura grammatica aliquotiens laborat. 5. voces aliquot insunt a dictione Aristotelis alienae. haec vitia interim sub unum conspectum collecta statim, ubi ad singula accesserimus enodanda, detegere conabimur. πότερον δὲ βελτίων - διαπορήσειεν ἄν τις: iustum vinculum deesse, quo haec antecedentibus adnectantur, manifestum est. nimirum interpolator alieno operi sua bis imperite et sinistre intexuit, primum (c. 25, 1) sic: περὶ δὲ προβλημάτων καὶ λύσεων ὧδ' ἂν θεωροῦσι γένοιτ' ἂν φανερόν, secundum (c. 26, 1) sic: πότερον δὲ βελτίων ἡ ἐποποιικὴ μίμησις ἢ ἡ τραγική, διαπορήσειεν ἄν τις. • .. εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἧττον φορτική βελτίων-ἡ ἅπαντα μιμουμένη φορτική: condicionalis enuntiatio, nam si minus molesta (imitatio) melior, talis autem (melior) est quae melioribus convenit spectatoribus, non eo consilio praemittitur, ut haec altera, in aperto est eam quae omnia imitatur molestam esse, illi obnoxia inde colligatur, sed post condicionalem sequitur novum pronuntiatum quod per se non minus certum quam praegressum interim proponitur. Germanice convertas: denn wenn (einer Seits) die minder überladene (Darstellungsweise) besser ist .., so ist (andrer Seits) klar, dass die alles darstellende überladen ist, difficile et obscurum eloquendi genus agnoscas. φορτική μίμησις est quae multa molitur ad finem suum consequendum, quam etiam περιεργαζομένην appellaveris. vid. §. 3. alterum quod notamus pertinet ad verba μίμησις μιμουμένη, ubi μίμησις universe pro poesi dicitur, μιμουμένη autem de ea imitatione in qua persona alterius ab imitante suscipitur. ὡς γὰρ οὐκ αἰσθανομένων κτλ. iam ostendere conatur primum φορτικὴν esse quae omnia imitando peragat, tum talem esse artem tragicam, postremo τὴν φορτικὴν sive molestam simul esse peiorem ( χείρονα). in proximis ter subiecta obscure et vitiose pro malo huius hominis more significantur: nam ad αἰσθανομένων cogitatione supplendum est τῶν θεατῶν, ad αὐτὸς is qui opus quoddam imitativum exhibet, ad κινοῦνται ii qui id opus agunt. prae ceteris nomen αὐτὸς vitiose positum est, non minus quam c.6,8. οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν, ubi interpolatorem agnovimus. - οἷον οἱ φαῦλοι αὐληταί κυλίομενοι, ἂν δίσκον δέῃ μιμεῖσθαι: tibicines disci motum non sonis tibiarum sed corpore volvendo sive iactando imitaturi alienam operam interponunt. κυλιόμενοι dictum est ὑπερβολικῶς de iis tibicinibus qui corpus suum inter canendum iactant et torquent, non de volutantibus et in rotae modum se vertentibus: id enim fieri non posse manifestum est. ipsa verbi κυλίεσθαι forma pro κυλίνδεσθαι apud poetas Alexandro Magno aetate minores, ut apud Theocritum Idyll. 24, 18. Callimachum in Apollin. Del. v. 33. et plures epigrammatum scriptores, non raro invenitur. conf. Iacobsii Notae crit. in Antholog. p. 139. 590. 787. sed in prosa oratione illa forma nunquam invaluit, quamquam nonnulla eius vestigia etiam in hac reperiuntur, ut apud Porphyr. de Abstin. II, 52. οἷς μέντοι ὁ βίος ἔξω κυλίεται. καὶ ἕλκοντες τὸν κορυφαῖον, ἂν Σκύλλαν αὐλῶσιν: tibicines, qua tibicines sunt, solo tibiarum concentu Scyllam imitari par est, mali autem sonis non satis confidentes corporis motus adhibent, ita ut coryphaeum Scyllam effugere nitentem trahant. Scyllam hanc esse fabulam Euripideam c. 15, 5. memoratam non est cur dubitemus affirmare.