Aristotle Poetics 4.20

Thomas Twining (Translator)

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Episodes were, also, multiplied, and every other part of the drama successively improved and polished.

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 (5)
Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) (Aristotle, Poetics. Immanuel Bekker, editor, Aristotelis Opera, volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1837.) — 4 focus
Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 4 focus
Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 4 focus
Poetics, Greek text (S. H. Butcher, 1911) (OCR draft) Experimental (S. H. Butcher's Greek text from Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art, fourth edition, 1911.) — 4 focus
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.) — 4 focus
Translations (13)
Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 4 focus
Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 4 focus
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.) — 4 focus
Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 4 focus
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.) — 4.20 focus
After this the number of the acts [H] was encreased and other ornaments added. And this is sufficient concerning these things in general.
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.) — 4.20 focus
Again, tragedy is said to have been further adorned, with a multitude of episodes, and 1 other particulars. Let, therefore, thus much said suffice concerning these things;
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.) — 4 focus
La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 4.20 focus
Le nombre des Epiſodes s'augmenta auſſi avec le temps, & on vit naître peu à peu & ſucceſſivement, toutes les autres beautez de la Tragedie.
Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 4 focus
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.) — 4 focus
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.) — 4 focus
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.) — 4 focus
Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 4 focus

Commentary

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

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-104

κατὰ φύσιν δὲ ὄντος ἡμῖν τοῦ μιμεῖσθαι What Aristotle is now considering is the evolution of the poet ; and he tells us that the imitative aptitude of the poet is only a higher and more developed form of that natural aptitude for imitation which is common to all mankind.

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-105

καὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας καὶ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ seem to be added as an afterthought, in recognition of the historical connexion between music and poetry. Except in its lyric forms, however, poetry was now no longer combined with music ; in Aristotle's view, also, even metre is at the most only one of its accidents ( 1, 1447 b 11 ).

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-106

1448b22 ἐξ ἀρχῆς is much the same thing as ἐν ἀρχῇ. The antithesis between ἐξ ἀρχῆς πεφυκότες and προάγοντες will be not unlike that in Metaph. A 2, 982 b 13
ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν τὰ πρόχειρα τῶν ἀπόρων θαυμάσαντες, εἶτα κατὰ μικρὸν οὕτω προϊόντες
.

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-107

αὐτά : loosely used for 'their work' or 'performances'; it anticipates what is termed in the next line 'their improvisations'. προάγειν is here (and again in 4, 1449 a 13 ) a transitive verb. The meaning of the word in the present context is to 'advance', or 'carry a stage further', as may be seen from the parallel in Soph. el. 33, 183 b
οἱ μὲν γὰρ τὰς ἀρχὰς εὑρόντες παντελῶς ἐπὶ μικρόν τι προήγαγον· οἱ δὲ νῦν εὐδοκιμοῦντες ... οὕτως ηὐξήκασιν
.

7. mvp-aristotle-comment-108

1448b23 αὐτοσχεδιασμάτων On the verb αὐτοσχεδιάζειν = 'to speak off-hand, without premeditation or previous study'. The fact is described in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes 54
θεὸς δ᾿ ὑπὸ καλὸν ἄειδεν, ἐξ αὐτοσχεδίης πειρώμενος
. The phallic-song, in which Aristotle finds the germ of Comedy, was sometimes described as an ᾠδὴ αὐτοσχέδιος.
1448b24

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

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-78

4.7 Si l'imitation nous eſt naturelle, le nombre & l'harmonie ne le font pas moins.] 1

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-79

4.7 Sous le mot de nombre, je comprens auſſi les vers qui évidemment en font partie.] 2

10. mvp-aristotle-comment-80

4.7 Car ceux qui ſe trouverent le plus de talent pour l'une & pour l'autre.] 3

11. mvp-aristotle-comment-81

4.7 Luy donnerent peu à peu la naiſſance par des eſſais faits ſur le champ.] 4

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

25. mvp-aristotle-comment-25

NOTE 25.

4.7 P. 70. METRE—A SPECIES OF RHYTHM.
Μορια
—parts. The following passage will ascertain the sense of the word in this place, and justify my version. Explaining the different senses in which the word
Mep
was used, Aristotle says,
ἔτι, εις το διαιρεθειη ἀν, ἄνευ τε Ποσε, και ταυτα ΜΟΡΙΑ λεγεται τετε διο τα ΕΙΔΗ, το ΓΕΝΟΥΣ φασιν είναι ΜΟΡΙΑ
.— Metaphys. lib. v. cap. 25. So, in this treatise, cap. 5. —
τε Αισχρε ἐστι το Γελοιον ΜΟΡΙΟΝ
—
"a part, or species, of the ridiculous."

26. mvp-aristotle-comment-26

NOTE 26.

4.7 P. 70. THOSE PERSONS, IN WHOM, ORIGINALLY, THESE PROPENSITIES WERE THE STRONGEST, &c.
It is obvious to remark here, that Aristotle, in this deduction of the art from the mimetic and musical instincts, includes verse in his idea of Poetry, which he, at least, considered as imperfect without it. All that he drops, elsewhere, to the disparagement of metre, must be understood only comparatively... An eminent writer has adjusted this matter... in his Dissertation On the idea of Universal Poetry . 1 What is there said, of
"the origin and first application of Poetry among all nations,"
will furnish the best comment I can give, upon the passage which is the subject of this note.
"Poetry is every where of the most early growth, preceding every other sort of composition; and being destined for the ear, that is, to be either sung, or at least recited, it adapts itself, even in its first rude essays, to that sense of measure, and proportion in sounds, which is so natural to us. The hearer's attention is the sooner gained by this means, his entertainment quickened, and his admiration of the performer's art excited. Men are ambi-
tious of pleasing, and ingenious in refining upon what they observe will please. So that musical cadences and harmonious sounds, which nature dictated, are farther softened and improved by art, till Poetry become as ravishing to the ear, as the images, it presents, are to the imagination. In process of time, what was at first the extemporaneous production of genius or passion, under the conduct of a natural ear, becomes the labour of the closet, and is conducted by artificial rules; yet still, with a secret reference to the sense of hearing, and to that acceptation which melodious sounds meet with in the recital of expressive words."

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

6. mvp-aristotle-comment-22

Ritter, cap. 4 § 6

κατὰ φύσιν δὲ ὄντος: quod modo σύμφυτον dixit, id iam κατὰ φύσιν ὂν designavit. quod enim natura insitum nobis, idem naturae nostrae consentaneum est. καὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας καὶ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ: concentum numerumque hominibus natura insitum esse nondum quidem demonstravit, sed id tum a legentibus ultro sibi concedi sperare potuit, tum alius esse disputationis vidit. τὰ γὰρ μέτρα ὅτι μόρια τῶν ῥυθμῶν ἐστί, φανερόν: metra materiam numero suggerunt, quam dum ille moderatur certaeque legi subiungit, eius materiae partes (metra) numeri partes videntur, eaedemque procreari quasi a numero videntur, unde illud πατήρ μέτρου ῥυθμός. lege quae docte disputavit Boeckhius de Metris Pindari I, p. 5. 18 sqq. conf. Aristot. Rhetor. III, 8. p. 1408 b 28. ὁ δὲ τοῦ σχήματος τῆς λέξεως ἀριθμὸς ῥυθμός ἐστιν, ο ὗ καὶ τὰ μέτρα τμητά. ἐξ ἀρχῆς πεφυκότες - ἐκ τῶν αὐτοσχεδιασμά των: a principio aevum agentes et illa (imitandi studium et numerum atque concentum) potissimum promoventes pое- sin procreaverunt ex subitis conaminibus, h. e. imitandi illam facultatem numeroque et concentui obsequendi studium hominibus insitum cum nonnulli ex primis mortalibus prae ceteris sensim sensimque promoverent, poesis exorta et subitis conaminibus excitata est. ἐξ ἀρχῆς πεφυκότες sunt homines quidam qui inter primos mortales fuere, οἱ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πεφυκότες vel ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἱ πεφ. sunt primi mortales. articulus igitur recte abest a libris AcNa et M 14 XIV 21 et GLQ, neque nominatim ex ullo codice affertur. sed vide quo eventu recentior interpolator (Italus quidam) in hoc loco concinnando grassatus sit, ut editores tantum non omnes ¹) illum 1) Libenter memoramus et laudamus quod Graefenhanius unus ex novis editoribus ab interpolatore sibi h. 1. cavit.sequerentur, nonnulli alias emendandi vias circumspicerent. nam primum pro καὶ αὐτὰ (quod inest AcBcNa et M omnibus et GLPQ) edunt Aldinum exemplar secuti πρὸς αὐτὰ. hoc πρὸς cum illatum esset, πεφυκότες consistere per sese non potuit, cum iam non de incertis quibusdam hominibus, sed de certo hominum genere sermo esset; articulo igitur opus erat, ut tandem prodiret quod apud Aldum et plerosque editores legitur, οἱ πεφυκότες πρὸς αὐτὰ μάλιστα, h. e. qui ad illa instructi potissimum erant.