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Farther-Tragedy, as well as the Epic, is capable of producing its effect, even without action; we can judge of it perfectly by reading¹. If, then, in other respects, Tragedy be superior, it is sufficient that the fault here objected is not essential to it.

III.

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.) — 26.8 focus

Tragedy, also, as well as the epopee, may attain its end without representation, for we can judge of its merit by reading only: therefore, if it is better in other respects, no objection can be raised from the representation, since that is not absolutely necessary.

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.) — 26.8 focus

Further still, tragedy, in the same manner as the epopee, may fulfil its purpose without gesture ; for by reading, it is manifest what kind of thing it is. If, therefore, it is in other respects better, it is not necessary that it should be accompanied [by motion and gesture]. ¹

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 26.8 focus

De plus la Tragedie fait ſon effet ſeule & ſans tous ces mouvemens, auſſi bien que l'Epopée; car la ſimple lecture fait connoître ce qu'elle eſt. Si elle a donc les autres avantages ſur le Poëme Epique, il faut convenir qu'elle luy eſt préferable en tout, puiſque ce qu'on luy reproche n'eſt pas un défaut qui luy ſoit propre & naturel.

6.

Notes on the current edition

Poetics

1. So above, p. 78, "the power of Tragedy is felt without representation and actors"

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.

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-1086

1461b34 Μυννίσκος. On Mynniscus of Chalcis (the protagonist in some of the later plays of Aeschylus) and his younger contemporary, Callipides, see Völker, Diss. Halens. 4 pp. 153, 177. In calling Callipides an 'ape' Mynniscus may have meant no more than this, that his acting was so exaggerated as to be ridiculous and a mere caricature, the ape being a sort of caricature of humanity ( comp. Top. 3. 2, 117 b 17

σκοπεῖν δὲ καὶ εἰ ἐπὶ τὸ γελοιότερον εἴη ὅμοιον, καθάπερ ὁ πίθηκος τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-1087

1461b35 Πινδάρου. Nothing further is known of this actor ( Völker l.c. p. 155 ).

1461b35_2

5. mvp-aristotle-comment-1088

σχημάτων: the attitudes or postures assumed by the dancer. In the dance, which, it is to be remembered, was a species of acting (see on 1, 1447 a27 ), σχῆμα had the technical sense explained by Plutarch, Qu. conv. 9. 15, 747 C-E

ἡ γὰρ ὄρχησις ἔκ τε κινήσεων καὶ σχέσεων συνέστηκεν, ὡς τὸ μέλος τῶν φθόγγων καὶ τῶν διαστημάτων· ἐνταῦθα δ᾽ αἱ μοναὶ πέρατα τῶν κινήσεών εἰσι. φοράς μὲν οὖν τὰς κινήσεις ὀνομάζουσι, σχήματα δὲ σχέσεις καὶ διαθέσεις, εἰς ἃς φερομέναι τελευτῶσιν αἱ κινήσεις, ὅταν Ἀπόλλωνος ἢ Πανὸς τινος Βάκχης σχῆμα διαθέντες ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος γραφικῶς τοῖς εἴδεσιν

ἐπιμένωσι . 26. 1461 30-1462 12 355

εν ὀρχήσει τὸ μὲν σχῆμα μιμητικόν ἐστι μορφῆς καὶ ἰδέας, καὶ πάλιν ἡ φορὰ πάθους τινὸς ἐμφαντικὸν ἢ πράξεως ἢ δυνάμεως

( comp. Sommerbrodt, Scaenica p. 216 ).

1462a1

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

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-657

26.4 6. C'est le reproche que les anciens Comediens faisoient aux plus jeunes.]³

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-658

26.4 7. Car ſur ce que Callippide étoit exceſſif dans ſes geftes, Muniscus l'appelloit le ſinge.]⁴

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-659

26.4 8. De forte qu'à ce compte la Tragedie feroit auprés de l'Epopée, ce que ces derniers Acteurs font auprés des premiers.]⁵

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-660

26.5 9. On foûtient donc que l'Epopée étant faite pour les plus honnètes gens.]⁶

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. ²³

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.

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-205

Ritter, cap. 26 § 2

ἡ μὲν οὖν τραγῳδία τοιαύτη ἐστίν: tragoedia talis est quae omnia imitando peragat ideoque molestae imitationis crimen subeat. τοιαύτη ad praegressa pertinere, non ad subsequentia, ex καὶ particulae ὡς addita liquet: quemadmodum etiam priores de posterioribus actoribus sentiebant, h. e. tragoedia omnia imitando exsequitur ; idem recentiores tragicos actores committere seniores credebant. ὡς λίαν - Καλλιππίδην ἐκάλει : Callippides nobilis tragoediarum actor Socratis aequalis erat. vid. Xenoph. Conviv. c. 3, 11. imperia remigibus dabat, cum Alcibiades triumphans Athenas rediret civibus suis reconciliatus. Athen. XII. p. 535 D. ea agendi arte excelluit, ut quamvis eodem in loco permaneret tamen currere videretur, unde proverbio locum dedit, vid. Sueton. in Tiberio c. 38. quem cursitare ac ne cubiti quidem mensuram progredi proverbio Graeco notatum est. conf. Cic. ad Attic. XIII, 12. Plutarch. Ages. c. 21. Apophthegm Lacon. p. 212 F (I. 2. p. 848 apud Wyttenb.), idem ubi quaerit bellone an pace clariores fuerint Athenienses p. 348 E et F (II. 1. p. 429). τραγικοὶ δὲ αὐτοῖς ὑποκριταί, καὶ Νικόστρατοι καὶ Καλλιππίδαι καὶ Μηνίσκοι καὶ Θεόδωροι· καὶ Πῶλοι, συνίτωσαν. Myniscum sive Meniscum Chalcidensem Callippide natu maiorem fuisse, id et hic locus docet et vita Aeschyli a Robortello aucta, unde hunc Aeschyli histrionem fuisse accepimus. τοιαύτη δὲ δόξα καὶ περὶ Πινδάρου ἦν: qui hic memoratur, fuisse eum histrionem tragicum nimia actione insignem verba ipsa produnt: nomen autem a librariis corruptum videtur. fortasse fuit περὶ Θεοδώρου, sed vide quam putide diligens in re sane minuta fuerit et quam sinistre haec verba prioribus addiderit. Theodori mentionem facit Plutarchus loco ante transcripto et in Praecept. gerend. reipubl. p. 816 F (IV. I. 274), Aristoteles in Rhetor. III, 2 sub init. ὡς δὲ οὗτοι ἔχουσι πρὸς αὐτούς: οὗτοι designat Callippiden et omnes in agendo nimios, αὐτούς pertinet ad eos qui modice agebant, ut Myniscus faciebat. ἡ ὅλη τέχνη πρὸς τὴν ἐποποιίαν ἔχει: ἡ ὅλη τέχνη poesis tragica appellatur, cum proxime ante singuli quidam tragici histriones enumerati essent. οὐδὲν δέον ται τῶν σχημάτων: quasi praeteriens causam memorat, quam fautores epopoeiae in suae sententiae subsidium afferant: figuris nihil egent. editores Aldo auctore legunt δι' ὃ οὐδὲν δέονται τῶν σχημάτων, vel διὸ cet. vel οἱ οὐδὲν cet., sed neque o ἳ neque διὸ in ullo codice adhuc repertum est.

Aristotle Poetics 26.8

Thomas Twining (Translator)