Aristotle Poetics 4.9

Thomas Twining (Translator)

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Of the lighter kind, we have no Poem anterior to the time of HOMER, though many such, in all probability, there were;

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.) — 4.9 focus
and the praises of virtuous men. We can ascribe no poem of this inferior sort to any person earlier than Homer, though it is probable there were many. We must begin, therefore, from Homer, in whose Margites [c] and other compositions of the same nature, that kind of verse was introduced which is now called Iambic
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.) — 4.9 focus
Of the authors, therefore, before Homer, we cannot mention any poem of this kind; though it is probable that there were many such writers. But if we begin from Homer, there are such for instance as his Margites3, and some others, in which,
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.) — 4.9 focus
Il ne nous reſte aucun Poëme de cette forte avant Homere, quoy qu'il y ait bien de l'apparence qu'il y en avoit pluſieurs, mais nous en avons du temps d'Homere.
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

9. mvp-aristotle-comment-113

εἰκὸς δὲ εἶναι πολλούς , scil. τοιούτους; comp. Goulston's version, 'verisimile autem est, qui talia condiderint, extitisse multos'. Aristotle says this because he thinks that even in those days the baser sort ( οἱ εὐτελέστεροι b26) were probably in a majority ; he has no romantic illusions as to the superiority of the men of an earlier age ( Pol. 2. 8, 1269 a 5 ). On the pre-Homeric poets, to whom Aristotle refers, comp. Sextus Emp. Adv. math. 1. 204
οὐχ ὑπὸ πάντων ὁμολογεῖται ποιητὴς ἀρχαιότατος εἶναι Ὅμηρος· ἔνιοι γὰρ Ησίοδον προήκειν τοῖς χρόνοις λέγουσιν, Λίνον τε καὶ Ὀρφέα καὶ Μουσαῖον καὶ ἄλλους παμπληθεῖς
: see also Bernhardy Gr. Litt. 1 p. 308. Aristotle, however, was quite aware that the writings which bore the names of these legendary poets were not really by them ( H. A. 6. 6, 563 a 18 ; see Bernays, Dialoge d. Aristot. p. 95).
1448b30

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

13. mvp-aristotle-comment-83

4.9 Il ne nous reſte aucun Poëme de cette ſorte.] 1

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

4.2. mvp-aristotle-comment-8 4.9

MARGITES.

FROM the account given of this fictitious personage by Suidas, and Eustathius, he must have been an absolute ideot, and therefore an improper object of ridicule even in the grossest and lowest kind of farce. But the fragments of the poem itself, which are quoted by Aristotle, Eth. L. vI. ch. viii. and by Plato, Alcibiad. 11. especially the last, give the outline of a character that would not be unfit for modern comedy. [B] • Nor skill to dig or plow, the gods impart; • Unwife in all, he fail'd in every art.'- • Much had he learn'd but all had learn'd amiss.' The character of Mrs. Baynard, in Smollet's novel Humphrey Clinker, is fomething like the hint in the last line, 'She could read, and write, and with the ancient Greek tragedy. In the passage here referred to, it is probable that Ariftotle means to compare the tragedy when read, with the epopee, and not with the fame tragedy acted. [A] Encyclopedie, Art. Illufion. [Β] Τόνδ᾽ ἔτ᾿ ἀρ σκαπλῆρα θεοὶ θέσαν ἔτ᾿ ἀροθῆρα Ουτ᾿ ἄλλως τι σοφόν, πάσης δ᾽ ἡμάρτανε τέχνης- Πολλ᾽ ἠπίςαλο ἔργα κακῶς δὲ ἠπίςαλο πάνια. fing,
POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. 。 ، fing, and play on the harpsichord, and smatter French, and take a hand ' at whift, or ombre, but even these accomplishments she knew by halves, ' and excelled in nothing.* It must be remarked, that though Aristotle says the Margites was in iambics, all the fragments we have are hexameters. But Hephæstion and M. Victorinus, quoted by Mr. Winstanley in a note, both observe that the iambics were mixed with hexameters.

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

8. mvp-aristotle-comment-24

Ritter, cap. 4 § 8

οἷον ἐκείνου ὁ Μαργίτης, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐν οἷς καὶ τὸ ἁρμόττον ἰαμβεῖον ἦλθε μέ τρον: haec postrema ἐν οἷς – μέτρον non ad Homeri Margitam sed ad similia poemata illud subsequentia et vituperationes fundentia pertinent, quod ut facilius in oculos incurrat, comma post Μαργίτης positum est. nam etiamsi in eo Margita, de cuius versibus grammatici inde a saeculo post Christum altero (primus est Hephaestio) loquuntur, aliquot iambos hexametris immixtos fuisse certum videatur, hos ta men Aristoteles aut nondum vidit aut raro dispersos non curavit hoc loco, cum scripsit ἐν οἷς καὶ τὸ ἁρμόττον ἰαμβεῖον ἦλθε μέτρον, h. e. in quibus etiam metrum iambicum apte prodiit: nam haec non de versibus nonnullis interpositis sed de versuum genere in illis carminibus constanter admisso intelligenda sunt. ipsa verba ἐν οἷς καὶ τὸ ἁρμόττον ἦλθε östendunt novum illud versuum genus (iambos) post Homerum esse inventum: haec enim scripsit respiciens versus heroos Homeri proprios. dabo aliud quo idem adprobabitur. dicit Aristoteles iambicum metrum inde duxisse nomen, quod eo utentes maledictis sese in vicem proscinderent ( ὅτι ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ τούτῳ ἰάμβίζον ἀλλήλους): sed cum in Margita nulla inessent maledicta ( οὐ ψόγον ἀλλὰ τὸ γελοῖον δραματοποιήσας), ad hoc carmen non possunt pertinere illa ἐν οἷς καὶ τὸ ἁρμόττον ἰαμβεῖον ἦλθε μέτρον. itaque post Homerum versus iambicos prodisse Aristoteles existimavit. inde consequitur iambos illos, qui herois versibus immixti erant, ab Aristotele in suo Margitae exemplari aut non inventos aut pro interpolatis habitos esse. de versibus iambicis Margitae admixtis veterum testimonia haec ad nos pervenerunt. Hephaestio de Metris p. 112 ed. Gaisford. μετρικὰ δὲ ἄτακτα ὅσα ἐκ μέτρων μὲν ὁμολογουμένων συνέστηκε τάξιν δὲ καὶ ἀνακύκλησιν οὐκ ἔχει, οὔτε κατὰ στίχον οὔτε κατὰ συστήματα, οἷός ἐστιν ὁ Μαργίτης ὁ εἰς Ὅμηρον ἀναφερόμενος, ἐν ᾧ παρἐσπαρται τοῖς ἔπεσιν (hexametris) ἰαμβικά, καὶ ταῦτα οὐ κατ᾽ ἴσον σύστημα. idem p. 120. τοιοῦτός ἐστι ( ἐκ μέτρων ἀτάκτων) καὶ ὁ Μαργίτης Ὁμήρου· οὐ γὰρ τεταγμένῳ ἀριθ- μῷ ἐπῶν τὸ ἰαμβικὸν ἐπιφέρεται. ad haec scholiasta scripsit μετὰ γὰρ δέκα στίχους ἐπιφέρει ἴαμβον, καὶ πάλιν μετὰ πέντε καὶ ὀκτώ. Marius Victorinus p. 2572. ed. Putsch. hoc (iambico) genere versuum, ut supra (p. 2512) diximus, primus usus est Homerus in Margite suo, nec tamen totum carmen ita digestum perfecit: nam duobus pluribusve hexametris ante positis istum subiiciens copulavit. conf. idem p. 2524. et Atilius Fortunatianus p. 2692. exemplum eiusmodi copulationis ex Margita protulit Lindemannus in Lyra I. p. 82. sumptum ex grammatico quodam Latino bibliothecae Berolinensis ἦλθέ τις εἰς Κολοφῶνα γέρων καὶ θεῖος ἀοιδός, Μουσάων θεράπων καὶ ἑκηβόλου ᾿Απόλλωνος, φίλῃς ἔχων ἐν χερσὶν εὔφθογγον λύρην. cetera quae ex Margita afferuntur fragmenta versibus herois inclusa leguntur. Aristot. Ethic. Nicom. VI, 7. p. 1141 a 14. εἶναι δέ τινας σοφοὺς οἰόμεθα οὐ κατὰ μέρος οὐδ᾽ ἄλλο᾿ τι σοφούς, ὥσπερ Ὅμηρός φησιν ἐν τῷ Μαργίτῃ τὸν δ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἂρ σκαπτῆρα θεοὶ θέσαν οὔτ᾽ ἀροτῆρα οὔτ᾽ ἄλλως τε σοφόν, πάσης δ᾽ ἡμάρτανε τέχνης. secundi versus alterum hemistichium ab Aristotele non transcriptum cum ceteris servavit Clemens Alexandrinus Strom. I. pag. 281 A. ed. Sylb. (I. p. 329. ed. Potter). falsus Plato in Alcibiade altero p. 147 Β. οὐ γὰρ δήπου Ὅμηρον ἀγνοεῖν δοκεῖς ὅτι οὐχ οἷόντε ἦν ἐπίστασθαι κακῶς. ἐκεῖνος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ λέγων τὸν Μαργίτην πολλὰ μὲν ἐπίστασθαι, κακῶς δέ, φησι, πάντα ἠπίστατο. inde Buttmannus hunc versum elicuit πόλλ' ἠπίστατο ἔργα, κακῶς δ' ἠπίστατο πάντα. Iam pauca de recta loci scriptura dicenda restant. κατὰ τὸ ἁρμόττον inest AcBcNa et GLPQ, idemque inesse Mediceis, quamvis tacente Winstanleio et zai pro κατά exhibente, non est quod dubitemus. καὶ τὸ ἁρμόττον ab Aldo profectum recte dextreque correctum videtur. nam cum in lectione librorum scriptorum articulus ante ἰαμβεῖον μέτρον desideretur, aut καὶ τὸ ἁρμόττον aut κατὰ τὸ ἁρμόττον τὸpro κατὰ τὸ ἁρμόττον scribi potest. nitate praestat. prior ratio remedii le- ὅτι ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ τούτῳ ἰάμβιζον ἀλλήλους: a verbo ἰάπ - τειν (iac - ere) factum est nomen ἴαμβος, id quod iacitur, h. e. maledictum; inde rursus descendit verbum ἰαμβίζειν, maledictis incessere. cf. Marius Victorinus p. 2525. appellatur autem iambicum ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰαμβίζειν, quod Graece significat maledicere et carpere..