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A fable is not one, as some conceive it to be, merely because the hero of it is one. For numberless events happen to one man, many of which are such as cannot be connected into one event: and so, likewise, there are many actions of one man which cannot be connected into any one action.

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 (4)

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) (Aristotle, Poetics. Immanuel Bekker, editor, Aristotelis Opera, volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1837.) — 8 focus

Μῦθος δ᾿ ἐστὶν εἷς, οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται, ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ γένει συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

Διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν ἁμαρτάνειν, ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληΐδα καὶ θησηΐδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γὰρ ἐπεὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

Ὁ δ᾿ Ὅμηρος, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει, καὶ τοῦτ᾿ ἔοικε καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἶον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν, οἵαν λέγομεν, τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιάδα.

Χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲ μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

Περὶ ποιητικῆς (OCR draft) Perseus (Aristotle, De arte poetica liber. Rudolf Kassel, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965. Reference edition for passage alignment.) — 8 focus

μῦθος δ’ ἐστὶν εἷς οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν· οὕτως δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν 20 ἁμαρτάνειν ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληίδα Θησηίδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γάρ, ἐπεὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

ὁ δ’ Ὅμηρος ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔοικεν καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν 25 γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν οἵαν λέγομεν τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιάδα.

30 χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν 35 ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲν μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

Poetics, Greek text (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's Greek text of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 8 focus

Μῦθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται ἐὰν
περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν
ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν· οὕτως δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν,
ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν
ἁμαρτάνειν ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληίδα Θησηίδα καὶ
τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γάρ, ἐπεὶ εἷς
ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

ὁ δ᾽
Ὅμηρος ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔοικεν
καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν
γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον
πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι
ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲ θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον
ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν οἵαν
λέγομεν τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιά-
δα.

χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία
μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς
ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι ταύτης καὶ ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι
τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ
ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν
ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲν μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

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.) — 8 focus

Μῦθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς, οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται, ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα· τῷ γένει συμβαίνει, ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων οὐδέν ἐστιν ἕν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν, ἐξ ὧν μία οὐδεμία γίνεται πρᾶξις.

διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν ἁμαρτ¹άνειν, ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληΐδα καὶ Θησηΐδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γὰρ ἐπεὶ εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἡρακλῆς, ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν.

ὁ δ᾽ Ὅμηρος, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα διαφέρει, καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔοικε καλῶς ἰδεῖν, ἤτοι διὰ τέχνην ἢ διὰ φύσιν· Ὀδύσσειαν γὰρ ποιῶν οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἅπαντα ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη, οἷον πληγῆναι μὲν ἐν τῷ Παρνασσῷ, μανῆναι δὲ προσποιήσασθαι ἐν τῷ ἀγερμῷ, ὧν οὐδὲν θατέρου γενομένου ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἢ εἰκὸς θάτερον γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν, οἵαν λέγομεν, τὴν Ὀδύσσειαν συνέστησεν, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἰλιάδα,

χρὴ οὖν, καθάπερ 4 καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις μιμητικαῖς ἡ μία μίμησις ἑνός ἐστιν, οὕτω καὶ τὸν μῦθον, ἐπεὶ πράξεως μίμησίς ἐστι, μιᾶς τε εἶναι καὶ ταύτης ὅλης, καὶ τὰ μέρη συνεστάναι τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτως ὥστε μετατιθεμένου τινὸς μέρους ἢ ἀφαιρουμένου διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον· ὃ γὰρ προσὸν ἢ μὴ προσὸν μηδὲν ποιεῖ ἐπίδηλον, οὐδὲ μόριον τοῦ ὅλου ἐστίν.

Translations (13)

Poetics (W. H. Fyfe) (OCR draft) Perseus (William Hamilton Fyfe's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, Loeb Classical Library, 1939 printing.) — 8 focus

A plot does not have unity, as some people think, simply because it deals with a single hero. Many and indeed innumerable things happen to an individual, some of which do not go to make up any unity, and similarly an individual is concerned in many actions which do not combine into a single piece of action.

20 It seems therefore that all those poets are wrong who have written a Heracleid or Theseid or other such poems.¹ They think that because Heracles was a single individual the plot must for that reason have unity.

But Homer, supreme also in all other respects, was apparently well aware of this truth either by instinct or from knowledge of his art. For in writing an Odyssey he did not put in all that ever happened to Odysseus, his being wounded on Parnassus , for instance, or his feigned madness when the host was gathered(these being events neither of which necessarily or probably led to the other), but he constructed his Odyssey round a single action in our sense of the phrase. And the Iliad the same.

As then in the other arts of representation a single representation means a representation of a single object, so too the plot being a representation of a piece of action must represent a single piece of action and the whole of it; and the component incidents must be so arranged that if one of them be transposed or removed, the unity of the whole is dislocated and destroyed. For if the presence or absence of a thing makes no visible difference, then it is not an integral part of the whole.

Arabic Poetics (Badawī edition, 1953) (OCR draft) (The ancient Arabic translation of Aristotle's Poetics in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Badawī's 1953 edition.) — 8 focus

〈وحدة الفعل؛ مثل هوميروس〉

والخرافة وحكاية الحديث فليست كما ظن قوم أنها إن كانت إلى الواحد 〈فهى واحدة〉 وذلك أن أشياء كثيرة بلا نهاية تعرض لواحد، وهذه للبعض والأفراد، وليس شىء واحد، و〈كذلك قد〉 تكون أعمال كثيرة هى لواحد، وهذه لا يكون ولا واحد منها عمل واحد. ولذلك قد يشبه أن يكون أن جميع الشعراء 〈الذين ألفوا قصائد مثل〉 الايرقليدا والمعروفين بـ〈ـانشاء أمثال قصائد〉 ثيسيدا والذين عملوا مثل هذه الأشعار، وذلك أنهم يظنون أنه كان ايرقليس قد كان واحداً، أو تكون الخرافة 〈و〉حكاية الحديث قد كانت واحدة.

وأما أوميروس فانه كما أنه بينه وبينهم فرق فى أشياء أخر، وهذا يشبه أن يكون فى نظره نظراً جيداً إما بسبب الصناعة، وإما من أجل الطبيعة. وذلك أنه لما دون أمر «أودوسيا» لم يثبت كل ما عرض لأودوسوس بمنزلة الضربة وهذه [و]الشرور والغير التى كانت فى فارناوسوس، والسخط الذى سخطوا عليه فى الحرب الذى كان عند أغارومس، ولا أيضاً كل واحد واحد من الأشياء عرضت مما كانت الضرورة تدعو إلى أن يثبت فى المثال؛ لكن ما دونه بأن قصد به نحو عمل واحد، وهو المسمى «أودسيا» المنسوب إلى أودوسوس، وكذلك فعل فيما دونه من أمر «ايليادا».

فقد يجب إذاً أن التشبيهات والمحاكيات الأخر أن يكون التشبيه والمحاكاة الواحدة لواحد، وكذلك الخرافة فى العمل هى تشبيه ومحاكاة واحدة لواحد، وهذا كله الأجزاء أيضاً تقوم الأمور هكذا، حتى إذا نقل الانسان جزءاً ما أو رفع، يفسد ويتشوش ويضطرب كله بأسره؛ وذلك أن ما هو قريب إن لم يقرب لم يفعل شيئاً ويبلغ أن يكون كله كولا شىء هو جزء للكل نفسه.

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.) — 8 focus

Unity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist
in the unity of the hero. For infinitely various are the
incidents in one man's life which cannot be reduced to
unity; and so, too, there are many actions of one man
out of which we cannot make one action.

Hence the
error, as it appears, of all poets who have composed a
Heracleid, a Theseid, or other poems of the kind. They
imagine that as Heracles was one man, the story of
Heracles must also be a unity.

But Homer, as in all
else he is of surpassing merit, here too — whether from
art or natural genius — seems to have happily discerned
the truth. In composing the Odyssey he did not include
all the adventures of Odysseus such as his wound on
Parnassus, or his feigned madness at the mustering of
the host incidents between which there was no necessary
or probable connexion: but he made the Odyssey, and
likewise the Iliad, to centre round an action that in our
sense of the word is one.

As therefore, in the other
imitative arts, the imitation is one when the object imitated
is one, so the plot, being an imitation of an action, must
imitate one action and that a whole, the structural union
of the parts being such that, if any one of them is
displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed and
disturbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes
no visible difference, is not an organic part of the
whole.

Aristotle on the Art of Poetry (Ingram Bywater, 1909) (OCR draft) Experimental (Ingram Bywater's English translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1909.) — 8 focus

The Unity of a Plot does not consist, as some suppose,
in its having one man as its subject. An infinity of things
befall that one man, some of which it is impossible to reduce
to unity; and in like manner there are many actions of one
man which cannot be made to form one action.

One sees,
therefore, the mistake of all the poets who have written
a Heracleid, a Theseid, or similar poems; they suppose that,
because Heracles was one man, the story also of Heracles
must be one story.

Homer, however, evidently understood
this point quite well, whether by art or instinct, just in the
same way as he excels the rest in every other respect. In
writing an Odyssey, he did not make the poem cover all that
ever befell his hero-it befell him, for instance, to get wounded
on Parnassus and also to feign madness at the time of the call
to arms, but the two incidents had no probable or necessary
connexion with one another-instead of doing that, he took
an action with a Unity of the kind we are describing as the
subject of the Odyssey, as also of the Iliad.

The truth is
that, just as in the other imitative arts one imitation is always
of one thing, so in poetry the story, as an imitation of action,
must represent one action, a complete whole, with its several
incidents so closely connected that the transposal or with-
drawal of any one of them will disjoin and dislocate the
whole. For that which makes no perceptible difference by
its presence or absence is no real part of the whole.

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.) — 8.1 focus

For as out of the variety of accidents that may happen to one object, [A] some may have no connexion with each other; so there may be many actions of one man from which no single uniform action can be deduced.

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.) — 8.1 focus

for many things which are infinite in kind happen [to one man], from a certain number of which no one event arises. Thus, also, there are many actions of one man, from which no one action is produced. ¹ Hence all those poets appear to have erred who have written the Heracleid, and Theseid,

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.) — 8 focus

Fabula autem est una, non ut nonnulli opinantur, si circa unum aliquem yersatur: multa enim et infinita genere contingunt, ex quorum nonnullis nihil est unum. sic etiam actiones unius cuiusdam multae sunt, ex quibus una nulla fit actio.

quapropter omnes videntur crrare, quicumque poetarum Herculeidem et Theseidem et eiusmodi pocmata fecerunt: opinantur enim quoniam unus erat Hercules, unam etiam fabulam esse convenire.

Homerus autem, sicut etiam in aliis eminet, hoc quoque videtur bene perspexisse, sive propter artem sive propter ingenium: Odysseam enim dum pangit, non omnia panxit quae illi acciderunt, veluti hinc morsu ictum esse in Parnasso, insaniam inde simulasse in delectu, quorum neutrum, si alterum factum esset, neces sarium erat vel probabile fieri alterum, sed circa unam actionem, qualem dicimus, Odysscam panxit, itemque Iliadem.

oportet igitur, quemadmodum etiam in aliis artibus una imitatio unius rei est, sic etiam fabulam, quoniam actionis imitatio est, et unius esse et huius totius, partesque factorum ita coniunctas esse, ut translata aliqua parte vel sublata totum quoque differatur moveaturque: nam quod additum aut non additum nihil reddit notabile, ne pars quidem totius est.

La poëtique d'Aristote (André Dacier, 1692) (OCR draft) Experimental (André Dacier's French translation of Aristotle's Poetics, published in 1692.) — 8.1 focus

LE ſujet doit être un, & non pas, comme pluſieurs penſent, tiré d'une ſeule perſonne. Car, comme on voit tous les jours une infinité d'accidens de la plupart deſquels on ne peut rien faire qui ſoit un, il arrive de même que les actions d'un même homme, ſont en ſi grand nombre & ſi differentes entre elles, qu'on ne ſçauroit jamais les reduire à cette Unité, & en faire une ſeule & même action.

Poetica d'Aristotile (Bernardo Segni, 1549) (OCR draft) Experimental (Bernardo Segni's 1549 Florentine Italian translation, aligned to the Kassel reference passage sequence.) — 8 focus

A Rahola fi dice eſſere vna, non in quel modo che certiaffermano, cioè ſe ella tratta d'un ſolo, perche e' fi dan molte coſe, & differenti di ſpetie: di certè delle quali non maine rifulta vna fola coſa. Et parimen te fi dan molte attioni d'un ſolo huomo, delle quali nó mai ne riſulta attione, che ſi poſſa dire vnica.¹

Diqui' nafce, che tutti pare che habbino errato quei Poeti, che P'Hercoleide, & la Thefeide, & altri Poemi fimili han no finto; penſando, che cofi come e fu vno ſolo Her cole:medefimamente ch'una fola Fauola di lui ſtia ben farfi.

Ma Homero coſi come egli è in tutte l'altre coſe eccellente, in queſto anchora pare, ch'egli habbia conofciuto l'ottimo, ò per arte,ò per natura che ciò accaduto gli ſia; perchè egli nell'Odiſſea non finge tutte le coſe, che à Vliſſe incontrarono : come è l'eſſere ſtato fe rito nel monte Parnaſo; & l'hauer' finto la pazzia nella ragtınanza de' Capitani. Delle quali due coſe l'una che fufſe ſtatay non era verifimile, nè neceſſario che e fuffe l'altra; ma meſſeui tutte quelle, che poteſsin' conſtituire vna ſola attione : quale noi chiamiamo l'Odif ſea.

Et il ſimile fe nell' Iliade. Debbe adunche, ficome nelle altre artı imitatrici interuiene, doue vna ſola imi tatione ui fi fa per vna fola coſa, parimente dico La Fa D'ARISTO TILE. uola, douendo imitare vna attione, debbe imitarne vna fola & intera; & debbono le parti d'effe faccéde, che vi fi contengono, di tal maniera ſtare inſieme accozzate, che qual ft voglia d'eſſe tramutata dal ſuo luogo, ò tole ta via, faccia variare, & rouinare quel tutto. Perchè quella cofa, che aggiuntagli, ò toltagli nó lo fa diuerfo, non ſi può di lui chiamar parte.

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.) — 8 focus

Fabula autem est una non ut aliqui putant, si circa unum sit: multa enim et infinita genere contingunt, ex quibus nonnullis nihil est unum. sed et actiones unius multae sunt, ex quibus nulla actio est una.

quare omnes videntur peccare, quicunque ex poetis Herculeidem Theseidem et talia poemata fecerunt: putant enim, quoniam unus erat Hercules, unam etiam fabulam convenire.

at Homerus ut et in aliis excellit, sic etiam hoc videtur pulchre vidisse, sive propter artem sive propter naturam. Odysseam enim faciens non descripsit omnia quaecunque ipsi contigerunt, ut eum accepisse vulnus in Parnasso, et simulasse insaniam in coitione exercitus, ex quibus non erat necessarium, altero facto, alterum factum esse; sed circa unam actionem, qualem dicimus esse Odysseam, invasit.

similiter et Iliadem. oportet igitur, ut in aliis imitatricibus una imitatio unius est, sic et fabulam, quoniam actionis imitatio est, et unius esse et huius totius, et partes constare rerum sić ut transposita aliqua aut ablata diversum reddatur et moveatur totum: quod enim cum adest aut non adest, nihil facit quod appareat, id ne pars quidem est.

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.) — 8 focus

Fabula autem est una non, sicut quidam putant, si circa unum sit; multa enim et infinita genere accidunt, ex quibus aliquibus nullum est unum.

Sic autem et actiones unius multe sunt, ex quibus una nulla fit actio. Propter quod omnes videntur peccare quicumque poetarum Eracleidem, Theseidem et talia poemata poetizaverunt; putant enim, quoniam unus erat Eraclees, unam et fabulam esse convenire.

Homerus autem, sicut et secundum alia differt, et hoc videtur bene nosse aut propter artem aut propter naturam ; Odysseiam enim faciens non poetizavit omnia quecumque ipsi acciderunt, puta vulneratum quidem fuisse in Parnaso, finxisse autem insanum esse in agermo, quorum nullum, altero facto, necessarium aut verisimile alterum fieri, sed circa unam actionem qualem dicimus Odysseiam constitit ; similiter autem et Iliadem. —

Oportet igitur, sicut et in aliis imitativis una imitatio unius est, sic et fabulam, quoniam actionis imitatio est, uniusque esse et huius totius et partes consistere rerum sic, ut transposita aliqua parte aut delata differre et moveri totum ; quod enim adiunctum aut non adiunctum nichil facit notabile, nulla pars totius est. —

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.) — 8 focus

‏والحرافة وحكاية الحديث فليست كما ظن قوم انها ان كانت الى الواحد وذلك ان اشيا كثيرة بلا نهاية تعرض لواحد وهذه للبعض والافراد وليس شى واحد وكذلك قد تكن اعمال كثيرة هى لواحد وهذه لا يكون ولا واحد منها عمل واحد

‏ولذلك قد يشبه ان يكون ان جميع الشعرا الايرقليدا والمعروفين بثسيدا والذين عملوا مثل هذه الاشعار وذلك انهم يظنون انه كان ايرقلس قد كان واحدا ان يكون الخرافة حكاية الحديث قد كانت واحدة

‏واما اوميروس فانه كما انه بينه وبينهم فرق فى اشيا اخر وهذا يشبه ان يكون فى نظره نظرا جيدا اما بسبب الصناعة واما من اجل الطبيعة وذلك انه لما دون امر اودوسيا لم يثبت كل ما عرض لاودوسوس بمنزلة الضربة وهذه [و]الشرور والغير التى كانت فى فارناوسوس والسخط الذى سخطوا عليه فى الحرب الذى كان عند اغارومس ولا ايضا كل واحد واحد من الاشيا عرضت مما كانت الضرورة تدعوا الى ان يثبت فى المٮال لكن ما دونه بان قصد به نحو عمل واحد وهو المسمى اودوسيا المنسوب الى اودوسوس وكذلك فعل فى ما دونه من امر ايليادا

‏فقد يجب اذا ان التشبهات والمحاكات الاخر ان يكون التشبيه والحماكاة الواحدة لواحد وكذلك الخرافة فى العمل هى تشبيه ومحاكاة واحدة لواحد وهذا كله الاجزا ايضا تقوم الامور هكذى حتى اذا نقل الانسان جزو ما او دفع يفسد ويتشوش ويضطرب كله باسره وذلك ان ما هو قريب ان لم يقرب لم يفعل شيا ويبلغ ان يكون كله نحو لا شى هو جزو للكل نفسه

Arabic Poetics (Abū Bishr Mattā; Tkatsch edition, unaligned) (OCR draft) Experimental (Tkatsch's edition of the medieval Arabic translation in its original, unaligned segmentation.) — 8 focus

‏والحرافة وحكاية الحديث فليست كما ظن قوم انها ان كانت الى الواحد وذلك ان اشيا كثيرة بلا نهاية تعرض لواحد وهذه للبعض والافراد وليس شى واحد

‏وكذلك قد تكن اعمال كثيرة هى لواحد وهذه لا يكون ولا واحد منها عمل واحد

Commentary

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-326

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-327

1451a16 μύθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς κτἑ. See Schoemann, Opusc. Acad. 3 p. 31 . ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται: i. e. certain post-Homeric poets, whose theory apparently is inferred from their practice (comp. a 21).

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-328

1451a17 πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα De caelo 1. 9, 278 a 19

ὁρῶμεν ... πλείω καὶ ἄπειρα ὄντα τὰ ὁμοιοειδῆ

. Vahlen (Rh. Mus. 28 p. 184) quotes also Plato Theaet. 159 B

ἐλέγομεν ὡς πολλὰ μὲν εἴη τὰ ποιοῦντα καὶ ἄπειρα

. — Tim. 31 A

πότερον οὖν ὀρθῶς ἕνα οὐρανὸν προσειρήκαμεν, ἢ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀπείρους λέγειν ἦν ὀρθότερον;

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-329

τῷ ἑνὶ Phys. 2. 5, 196 b 28

τὸ δὲ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς ἀόριστον· ἄπειρα γὰρ ἂν τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίη

. On the strength of this parallel τῷ ἐνί in the present passage is taken as a neuter by Vahlen, who translates the clause accordingly by 'in unam rem innumera cadunt'. This interpretation, it seems to me, misses the point — the distinction Aristotle assumes between the many things that befall the individual ( πολλὰ τῷ ἑνὶ συμβαίνει), i. e. that he suffers or has done to him, and the many things that he does ( πράξεις ἑνὸς πολλαί εἰσιν a 18). That τῷ ἑνί is masculine here is shown not only by περὶ ἕνα (a 17), πράξεις ἑνός (a 18), and ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη (25) in the context, but also by the parallel in 23, 1459 a 23

ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα ἢ πλείους

. The version in the Paraphrase of Averroes, 'uni rei multa accidunt', implies the same interpretation.

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-330

1451a18 ἐνίων which has been questioned by Spengel and others, is an understatement of a kind not so uncommon in Aristotle (see on 6, 1450 a 12 ). The sense is: In the infinite variety of things that befall the individual in the course of his life there are some [i. e. many] which it is impossible to bring into relation with the rest, as parts of one connected whole. The qualifying ἐνίων is like ἐνίοτε in 23, 1459 a 27

οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θάτερον, ἐξ ὧν ἐν οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος

. ἐξ ὧν ἐνίων has been rendered by 'ex quorum aliquibus' (Tyrwhitt), or 'quorum ex quibusdam' (Hermann). In the parallel, however, in Dem. 18. 12

περὶ ὧν ἐνίων

both Weil and Goodwin regard ἐνίων as appositional; and the same view has been taken of the word in Dem. 19. 260 (

τὰς ἀκροπόλεις αὐτῶν ἐνίων

), and in Xen. Anab. 6. 6. 34 (

περὶ ὑμῶν ἐνίων

). Another instance of this same ambiguity is in Meteor. 1. 3, 339 b 9

πολὺ καὶ τῶν ἄστρων ἐνίων ἐλάττων ἐστίν

(comp. L. Dindorf in HSt. s. v. ἔνιος). There is a clear instance of the appositional use of ἔνιοι, in a different case, in Poet. 9, 1451 b 19

ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις ἐνíαις μὲν κτέ.

1451a19

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

1. mvp-aristotle-comment-221

8.1 1. E ſujet doit être an, & non pas, comme pluſieurs penſent, qu'il ſuffiſe qu'il ſoit d'un ſeul homme, car il luy arrive une infinité de choſes, &c.¹

2. mvp-aristotle-comment-222

8.1 2. Car, comme on voit tous les jours une infinité d'accidens, de la plupart desquels, on ne peut rien faire qui ſoit un, il arrive de mème, que les actions d'un mème homme, ſont en ſi grand nombre & ſi differentes, &c.]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

65. mvp-aristotle-comment-65

NOTE 65. P. 80.

8.1 A FABLE IS NOT ONE—MERELY BECAUSE THE HERO OF IT IS ONE.

Mr. Hume, in his Essay on the association of ideas, represents this passage of Aristotle as contrary to the doctrine he there lays down, and which is unquestionably true—that

"in all productions, as well as in the Epic and Tragic, a certain unity is required,"

&c.—and,

"that the unity of action which is to be found in biography or history, differs from that of Epic Poetry, not in kind, but in degree."

I see here no contrariety at all. Aristotle certainly did not mean to say, that a biographical Poem, if I may so term it, (a Poem

περι ἐνα

,) has no unity, no relation of cause and effect, &c. to connect the incidents; but only, that it has not that degree of unity, which is requisite for the purpose of Tragic, or even Epic, Poetry. Mr. Hume himself allows, that Poetry

"requires a stricter and closer unity in the fable;"

and this is all that Aristotle appears to mean. The persons censured by him for concluding, that,

"because Hercules was one, so also must be the fable, of which he was the subject,"

were right enough, as philosophers, but as poets, certainly wrong.

This chapter, in which Aristotle considers so particularly the unity of fable, as distinct from its totality, led me once to think it probable, that the word

μιας

was originally in the definition of Tragedy, cap. vi. as we find it afterwards in cap. xxiii.

περι ΜΙΑΝ πραξιν όλην και τελειαν

. But perhaps the supposition is unnecessary, and unity may be sufficiently implied in the words

τελειας και όλης

ΟΛΟΤΗΤΟΣ

, as he elsewhere says,

ΕΝΟΤΗΤΟΣ ΤΙΝΟΣ ΟΥΣΗΣ

.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

8.1. mvp-aristotle-comment-21 8.1

THE UNITY OF A FABLE DOES NOT DEPEND UPON ITS RELATING TO ONE PERSON ONLY.

THIS by no means implies, that there is [A] no kind of unity in a tale which relates the actions of one perfon only; or, that there is not more uniformity in the works of a biographer than a general historian : though a certain degree of unity of action is necessary even in hiftory to render it perfect [B]. But that a greater degree of unity is necessary in a dramatic action, of which he is now treating, and even in the similar though more extended composition of the epopee. It therefore follows, that all works of fiction that assume an historic, rather than an epic form, are deficient in poetical arrangement. The instances he produces are loft. However, there is no deficiency of examples, both ancient and [A] See Hume's Essay on the Association of Ideas. [B] See Note 11. Chap. xxIIн. The following judicious observation of Mr. Gilpin, will elucidate the difference between the unity of poetry and history. It is, perhaps, ' one of the great errors in painting, (as, indeed, it is in all literary as well as picturesque ' compofition,) to be more attentive to the finishing of parts, than the production of a whole. • Whereas the master's great care should be, first to contrive a whole, and then to adapt the ، parts as artificially as he can. I speak of imaginary landscape: when he paints a real ' view, his management must be just the reverse. He has the parts given him; and he muft • form them into a whole as he can.' REMARKS ON FOREST SCENERY. modern,

modern, fuch as the (c) Cyropædia of Xenophon, the Achilleid of Statius, and Gil Blas [D]. Metastasio is of opinion, that Aristotle has carried the unity of poetic fable too far, when he says nothing can be esteemed a part of it, which cannot be taken away without deranging the whole. But he is obvioufly speaking here of the fimple tragic, and epic action, divested of all their epifodic and ornamental parts; just like the specimen he gives of the Iphigenia in Tauris, and the Odyssey, in the seventeenth chapter. One of the incidents of the Life of Ulyffes, which he mentions as omitted by Homer, ([E] except the reading proposed by Harles is adopted,) is introduced in detail, in the ninth book of the Odyssey; but it is only introduced, to use the words of Mr. Twining, digressively and incidentally, it makes ، no essential part of his general plan.' Aristotle, in another instance, has not [F] been accurate in marking the distinction between the plain fable, and the fable adorned with episodes. If this rule is applied to the inimitable comic epopees of Fielding, and especially to Tom Jones, how many of the essential parts will be found fo wonderfully connected, that even circumftances, apparently the most trifling, have consequences so interwoven with the plot, and fo conducive to the solution of it, that they cannot be taken away, or [c] The principal part, even of this work, is confined to the transactions of one campaign; and it is a doubt if it is fictitious. The facts are certainly altered and embellished; but this is too often the cafe with the ancient hiftorians. [D] See Beattie on Fable and Romance. [E] See Note [B] Chap. VIII. on the tranflation. [F] See Note [1] Chap. xxvI. on the tranflation. altered,

POETIC OF ARISTOTLE. altered, without changing and injuring the whole composition. And yet there are many episodic parts, which, though highly ornamental, may be removed without at all interfering with the general effect of the action. (I [G] do not call the History of the Man of the Hill an episode; it is a separate tale.) That in all fictitious narrative, whose aim is to affect the paffions, the poetical arrangement is naturally and obviously preferable to the historical, may be fairly inferred, from the universal adoption of it by all the novel-writers, good and bad : a description of authors not very likely to be influenced in their choice by the rules of Aristotle. Indeed, the historic form, though it may succeed in humorous compofitions, is almost incompatible with a pathetic tale; fince to be interesting, the circumstances must be particularly related, which would either swell the work to an enormous size, or [H] break it so into parts, as must be difagreeable to every reader. For this reason the extent of the dramatic action is naturally more confined than the epic, both from the interest being stronger [1], and, consequently, its going more into detail, and the division of the fable into parts being more obvious, and on that account more disgusting to the spectator, and hence the unity of time, though not carried to the excess prescribed by the French critics, is a necessary confideration in the drama. Shakespear, it is true, reconciles us to the breach of it; but what modern poet would prefume to follow his example? [G] See Note 1. Chap. xxIII. [H] See Note 11. Chap. xxiv. [1] Note III. Chap. xxvi. CHAP.

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-59

Ritter, cap. 8 § 1

Fabulam tragoediae unam esse oportet. unitas fabulae quomodo concilietur, una est, si unius actionis eiusque totius imitatio est. : μύθος δ᾽ ἐστὶν εἷς, οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴ ονται, ἐὰν περὶ ἕνα ᾖ : primum refellit falsam aliorum opinionem de fabulae unitate conceptam, sed respi. cere haec reprehensio videtur non tam eos qui ante se de arte poetica disputaverant, quam illos poetas qui editis carminibus prodiderant se de unitate fabulae falsam imbibisse sententiam. scribit enim οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς οἴονται, non οὐχ ὥσπερ τινὲς λέγουσιν, ac continuo addit διὸ πάντες ἐοίκασιν ἁμαρτάνειν, ὅσοι τῶν ποιητῶν Ἡρακληΐδα καὶ Θησηΐδα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιήματα πεποιήκασιν· οἴονται γὰρ ἕνα καὶ τὸν μῦθον εἶναι προσήκειν. ... πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἄπειρα τῷ γένει συμβαίνει κτλ. multa et infinita genere contingunt, quorum nonnulla unitate carent. ἄπειρα τῷ γένει dictum est ut τῷ γένει ἕτερα 1) Conf. Sophoclis Antig. 367. sive editionis Herm. 364. ποτὲ μὲν κακόν, ἄλλοτ᾽ ἐπ᾿ ἐσθλὸν ἕρπει.c. 1, 3. genitivus ἐνίων pendet a praepositione, sed pronominis relativi ( ὧν) casus ab ἐνίων aptus est. multa et ges nere diversa inter homines contingunt, sive ab ipsis hominibus sive alia vi efficiuntur, quorum nonnulla ita comparata sunt ut unum in illis non reperiatur. Victorius γ' ἑνὶ pro γένει a se inventum commendavit et pluribus editoribus adprobavit. tum oritur inanis oppositio inter ea quae accidunt ( ἃ συμβαίνει) uni alicui et inter actiones ( τὰς πράξεις) unius, sed utrumque nomen non contraria significatione sed eadem h. 1. positum esse apparet ex §. 3., ubi simulata Ulixis insania in iis refertur, ὅσα αὐτῷ συνέβη. itaque nonnisi variationis gratia statim scribit οὕτω δὲ καὶ πράξεις ἑνὸς πολ λαί εἰσιν pro οὕτω δὲ καὶ συμβαίνει ἑνὶ πολλά, ex una igitur parte quae contingunt vel fiunt generatim ponuntur, ex altera casus et facta ( αἱ πράξεις utraque denotant) unius memorantur. in lectione a Victorio excogitata particula illa πανακής ( γ') tolerari nequit.

4. mvp-aristotle-comment-62

Ritter, cap. 8 § 4

χρὴ οὖν - ταύτης ὅλης: exemplis rectae factorum compositionis ac vitiosae propositis, norma iam et lex unitatis constituitur. quemadmodum in aliis imitandi generibus una imitatio unum quoddam exprimit imitando, sic fabula, cui actio ad imitandum destinata est, hoc suum obiectum unum totumque exprimere debet. – διαφέρεσθαι καὶ κινεῖσθαι τὸ ὅλον: si singulae actionis partes per sese constant, una vel altera moveri potest ex toto, et hoc nihilo minus remanet: sin omnes artissimo vinculo cohaerent, sublata una totum dissipatur ( διαφέρεται), ceteraeque loco suo moventur ( κινοῦνται).

Aristotle Poetics 8.1

Thomas Twining (Translator)