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diff --git a/old/poetc10.txt b/old/poetc10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ced81e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/poetc10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1833 @@ +****The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Poetics, by Aristotle**** +#1 in our series by Aristotle + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Poetics + +by Aristotle + +Translated by S. H. 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In this transcription, in order to retain the accuracy of this +text, those words are rendered by spelling out each Greek letter +individually, such as {alpha beta gamma delta ...}. The reader can +distinguish these words by the enclosing braces {}. Where multiple words +occur together, they are separated by the "/" symbol for clarity. Readers +who do not speak or read the Greek language will usually neither gain nor +lose understanding by skipping over these passages. Those who understand +Greek, however, may gain a deeper insight to the original meaning and +distinctions expressed by Aristotle.] + + + + +Analysis of Contents + +I 'Imitation' the common principle of the Arts of Poetry. +II The Objects of Imitation. +III The Manner of Imitation. +IV The Origin and Development of Poetry. +V Definition of the Ludicrous, and a brief sketch of the rise of + Comedy. +VI Definition of Tragedy. +VII The Plot must be a Whole. +VIII The Plot must be a Unity. +IX (Plot continued.) Dramatic Unity. +X (Plot continued.) Definitions of Simple and Complex Plots. +XI (Plot continued.) Reversal of the Situation, Recognition, and + Tragic or disastrous Incident defined and explained. +XII The 'quantitative parts' of Tragedy defined. +XIII (Plot continued.) What constitutes Tragic Action. +XIV (Plot continued.) The tragic emotions of pity and fear should + spring out of the Plot itself. +XV The element of Character in Tragedy. +XVI (Plot continued.) Recognition: its various kinds, with examples. +XVII Practical rules for the Tragic Poet. +XVIII Further rules for the Tragic Poet. +XIX Thought, or the Intellectual element, and Diction in Tragedy. +XX Diction, or Language in general. +XXI Poetic Diction. +XXII (Poetic Diction continued.) How Poetry combines elevation of + language with perspicuity. +XXIII Epic Poetry. +XXIV (Epic Poetry continued.) Further points of agreement with Tragedy. +XXV Critical Objections brought against Poetry, and the principles on + which they are to be answered. +XXVI A general estimate of the comparative worth of Epic Poetry and + Tragedy. + + + + +ARISTOTLE'S POETICS + +I + +I propose to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds, noting +the essential quality of each; to inquire into the structure of the plot +as requisite to a good poem; into the number and nature of the parts of +which a poem is composed; and similarly into whatever else falls within +the same inquiry. Following, then, the order of nature, let us begin with +the principles which come first. + +Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic: poetry, and the +music of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all in +their general conception modes of imitation. They differ, however, from +one: another in three respects,--the medium, the objects, the manner or +mode of imitation, being in each case distinct. + +For as there are persons who, by conscious art or mere habit, imitate and +represent various objects through the medium of colour and form, or again +by the voice; so in the arts above mentioned, taken as a whole, the +imitation is produced by rhythm, language, or 'harmony,' either singly or +combined. + +Thus in the music of the flute and of the lyre, 'harmony' and rhythm +alone are employed; also in other arts, such as that of the shepherd's +pipe, which are essentially similar to these. In dancing, rhythm alone is +used without 'harmony'; for even dancing imitates character, emotion, and +action, by rhythmical movement. + +There is another art which imitates by means of language alone, and that +either in prose or verse--which, verse, again, may either combine +different metres or consist of but one kind--but this has hitherto been +without a name. For there is no common term we could apply to the mimes +of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic dialogues on the one hand; and, +on the other, to poetic imitations in iambic, elegiac, or any similar +metre. People do, indeed, add the word 'maker' or 'poet' to the name of +the metre, and speak of elegiac poets, or epic (that is, hexameter) +poets, as if it were not the imitation that makes the poet, but the verse +that entitles them all indiscriminately to the name. Even when a treatise +on medicine or natural science is brought out in verse, the name of poet +is by custom given to the author; and yet Homer and Empedocles have +nothing in common but the metre, so that it would be right to call the +one poet, the other physicist rather than poet. On the same principle, +even if a writer in his poetic imitation were to combine all metres, as +Chaeremon did in his Centaur, which is a medley composed of metres of all +kinds, we should bring him too under the general term poet. So much then +for these distinctions. + +There are, again, some arts which employ all the means above mentioned, +namely, rhythm, tune, and metre. Such are Dithyrambic and Nomic poetry, +and also Tragedy and Comedy; but between them the difference is, that in +the first two cases these means are all employed in combination, in the +latter, now one means is employed, now another. + +Such, then, are the differences of the arts with respect to the medium of +imitation. + + + +II + +Since the objects of imitation are men in action, and these men must be +either of a higher or a lower type (for moral character mainly answers to +these divisions, goodness and badness being the distinguishing marks of +moral differences), it follows that we must represent men either as +better than in real life, or as worse, or as they are. It is the same in +painting. Polygnotus depicted men as nobler than they are, Pauson as less +noble, Dionysius drew them true to life. + +Now it is evident that each of the modes of imitation above mentioned +will exhibit these differences, and become a distinct kind in imitating +objects that are thus distinct. Such diversities may be found even in +dancing,: flute-playing, and lyre-playing. So again in language, whether +prose or verse unaccompanied by music. Homer, for example, makes men +better than they are; Cleophon as they are; Hegemon the Thasian, the +inventor of parodies, and Nicochares, the author of the Deiliad, worse +than they are. The same thing holds good of Dithyrambs and Nomes; here +too one may portray different types, as Timotheus and Philoxenus differed +in representing their Cyclopes. The same distinction marks off Tragedy +from Comedy; for Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as +better than in actual life. + + + +III + +There is still a third difference--the manner in which each of these +objects may be imitated. For the medium being the same, and the objects +the same, the poet may imitate by narration--in which case he can either +take another personality as Homer does, or speak in his own person, +unchanged--or he may present all his characters as living and moving +before us. + +These, then, as we said at the beginning, are the three differences which +distinguish artistic imitation,--the medium, the objects, and the manner. +So that from one point of view, Sophocles is an imitator of the same kind +as Homer--for both imitate higher types of character; from another point +of view, of the same kind as Aristophanes--for both imitate persons +acting and doing. Hence, some say, the name of 'drama' is given to such +poems, as representing action. For the same reason the Dorians claim the +invention both of Tragedy and Comedy. The claim to Comedy is put forward +by the Megarians,--not only by those of Greece proper, who allege that it +originated under their democracy, but also by the Megarians of Sicily, +for the poet Epicharmus, who is much earlier than Chionides and Magnes, +belonged to that country. Tragedy too is claimed by certain Dorians of +the Peloponnese. In each case they appeal to the evidence of language. +The outlying villages, they say, are by them called {kappa omega mu alpha +iota}, by the Athenians {delta eta mu iota}: and they assume that +Comedians were so named not from {kappa omega mu 'alpha zeta epsilon iota +nu}, 'to revel,' but because they wandered from village to village (kappa +alpha tau alpha / kappa omega mu alpha sigma), being excluded +contemptuously from the city. They add also that the Dorian word for +'doing' is {delta rho alpha nu}, and the Athenian, {pi rho alpha tau tau +epsilon iota nu}. + +This may suffice as to the number and nature of the various modes of +imitation. + + + +IV + +Poetry in general seems to have sprung from two causes, each of them +lying deep in our nature. First, the instinct of imitation is implanted +in man from childhood, one difference between him and other animals being +that he is the most imitative of living creatures, and through imitation +learns his earliest lessons; and no less universal is the pleasure felt +in things imitated. We have evidence of this in the facts of experience. +Objects which in themselves we view with pain, we delight to contemplate +when reproduced with minute fidelity: such as the forms of the most +ignoble animals and of dead bodies. The cause of this again is, that to +learn gives the liveliest pleasure, not only to philosophers but to men +in general; whose capacity, however, of learning is more limited. Thus +the reason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating it +they find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps, 'Ah, that +is he.' For if you happen not to have seen the original, the pleasure +will be due not to the imitation as such, but to the execution, the +colouring, or some such other cause. + +Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the +instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, metres being manifestly sections of +rhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural gift developed by +degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave +birth to Poetry. + +Poetry now diverged in two directions, according to the individual +character of the writers. The graver spirits imitated noble actions, and +the actions of good men. The more trivial sort imitated the actions of +meaner persons, at first composing satires, as the former did hymns to +the gods and the praises of famous men. A poem of the satirical kind +cannot indeed be put down to any author earlier than Homer; though many +such writers probably there were. But from Homer onward, instances can be +cited,--his own Margites, for example, and other similar compositions. +The appropriate metre was also here introduced; hence the measure is +still called the iambic or lampooning measure, being that in which people +lampooned one another. Thus the older poets were distinguished as writers +of heroic or of lampooning verse. + +As, in the serious style, Homer is pre-eminent among poets, for he alone +combined dramatic form with excellence of imitation, so he too first laid +down the main lines of Comedy, by dramatising the ludicrous instead of +writing personal satire. His Margites bears the same relation to Comedy +that the Iliad and Odyssey do to Tragedy. But when Tragedy and Comedy +came to light, the two classes of poets still followed their natural +bent: the lampooners became writers of Comedy, and the Epic poets were +succeeded by Tragedians, since the drama was a larger and higher form of +art. + +Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper types or not; and whether +it is to be judged in itself, or in relation also to the audience,--this +raises another question. Be that as it may, Tragedy--as also Comedy --- +was at first mere improvisation. The one originated with the authors of +the Dithyramb, the other with those of the phallic songs, which are still +in use in many of our cities. Tragedy advanced by slow degrees; each new +element that showed itself was in turn developed. Having passed through +many changes, it found its natural form, and there it stopped. + +Aeschylus first introduced a second actor; he diminished the importance +of the Chorus, and assigned the leading part to the dialogue. Sophocles +raised the number of actors to three, and added scene-painting. Moreover, +it was not till late that the short plot was discarded for one of greater +compass, and the grotesque diction of the earlier satyric form for the +stately manner of Tragedy. The iambic measure then replaced the trochaic +tetrameter, which was originally employed when the poetry was of the +Satyric order, and had greater affinities with dancing. Once dialogue had +come in, Nature herself discovered the appropriate measure. For the +iambic is, of all measures, the most colloquial: we see it in the fact +that conversational speech runs into iambic lines more frequently than +into any other kind of verse; rarely into hexameters, and only when we +drop the colloquial intonation. The additions to the number of 'episodes' +or acts, and the other accessories of which tradition; tells, must be +taken as already described; for to discuss them in detail would, +doubtless, be a large undertaking. + + + +V + +Comedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters of a lower type, +not, however, in the full sense of the word bad, the Ludicrous being +merely a subdivision of the ugly. It consists in some defect or ugliness +which is not painful or destructive. To take an obvious example, the +comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does not imply pain. + +The successive changes through which Tragedy passed, and the authors of +these changes, are well known, whereas Comedy has had no history, because +it was not at first treated seriously. It was late before the Archon +granted a comic chorus to a poet; the performers were till then +voluntary. Comedy had already taken definite shape when comic poets, +distinctively so called, are heard of. Who furnished it with masks, or +prologues, or increased the number of actors,--these and other similar +details remain unknown. As for the plot, it came originally from Sicily; +but of Athenian writers Crates was the first who, abandoning the 'iambic' +or lampooning form, generalised his themes and plots. + +Epic poetry agrees with Tragedy in so far as it is an imitation in verse +of characters of a higher type. They differ, in that Epic poetry admits +but one kind of metre, and is narrative in form. They differ, again, in +their length: for Tragedy endeavours, as far as possible, to confine +itself to a single revolution of the sun, or but slightly to exceed this +limit; whereas the Epic action has no limits of time. This, then, is a +second point of difference; though at first the same freedom was admitted +in Tragedy as in Epic poetry. + +Of their constituent parts some are common to both, some peculiar to +Tragedy, whoever, therefore, knows what is good or bad Tragedy, knows +also about Epic poetry. All the elements of an Epic poem are found in +Tragedy, but the elements of a Tragedy are not all found in the Epic +poem. + + + +VI + +Of the poetry which imitates in hexameter verse, and of Comedy, we will +speak hereafter. Let us now discuss Tragedy, resuming its formal +definition, as resulting from what has been already said. + +Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, +and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of +artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the +play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear +effecting the proper purgation of these emotions. By 'language +embellished,' I mean language into which rhythm, 'harmony,' and song +enter. By 'the several kinds in separate parts,' I mean, that some parts +are rendered through the medium of verse alone, others again with the aid +of song. + +Now as tragic imitation implies persons acting, it necessarily follows, +in the first place, that Spectacular equipment will be a part of Tragedy. +Next, Song and Diction, for these are the medium of imitation. By +'Diction' I mean the mere metrical arrangement of the words: as for +'Song,' it is a term whose sense every one understands. + +Again, Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies +personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities +both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions +themselves, and these--thought and character--are the two natural causes +from which actions spring, and on actions again all success or failure +depends. Hence, the Plot is the imitation of the action: for by plot I +here mean the arrangement of the incidents. By Character I mean that in +virtue of which we ascribe certain qualities to the agents. Thought is +required wherever a statement is proved, or, it may be, a general truth +enunciated. Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts +determine its quality--namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, +Spectacle, Song. Two of the parts constitute the medium of imitation, one +the manner, and three the objects of imitation. And these complete the +list. These elements have been employed, we may say, by the poets to a +man; in fact, every play contains Spectacular elements as well as +Character, Plot, Diction, Song, and Thought. + +But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. For Tragedy +is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and life +consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality. Now +character determines men's qualities, but it is by their actions that +they are happy or the reverse. Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a +view to the representation of character: character comes in as subsidiary +to the actions. Hence the incidents and the plot are the end of a +tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. Again, without action +there cannot be a tragedy; there may be without character. The tragedies +of most of our modern poets fail in the rendering of character; and of +poets in general this is often true. It is the same in painting; and here +lies the difference between Zeuxis and Polygnotus. Polygnotus delineates +character well: the style of Zeuxis is devoid of ethical quality. Again, +if you string together a set of speeches expressive of character, and +well finished in point of diction and thought, you will not produce the +essential tragic effect nearly so well as with a play which, however +deficient in these respects, yet has a plot and artistically constructed +incidents. Besides which, the most powerful elements of emotional: +interest in Tragedy Peripeteia or Reversal of the Situation, and +Recognition scenes--are parts of the plot. A further proof is, that +novices in the art attain to finish: of diction and precision of +portraiture before they can construct the plot. It is the same with +almost all the early poets. + +The Plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a +tragedy: Character holds the second place. A similar fact is seen in +painting. The most beautiful colours, laid on confusedly, will not give +as much pleasure as the chalk outline of a portrait. Thus Tragedy is the +imitation of an action, and of the agents mainly with a view to the +action. + +Third in order is Thought,--that is, the faculty of saying what is +possible and pertinent in given circumstances. In the case of oratory, +this is the function of the Political art and of the art of rhetoric: and +so indeed the older poets make their characters speak the language of +civic life; the poets of our time, the language of the rhetoricians. +Character is that which reveals moral purpose, showing what kind of +things a man chooses or avoids. Speeches, therefore, which do not make +this manifest, or in which the speaker does not choose or avoid anything +whatever, are not expressive of character. Thought, on the other hand, is +found where something is proved to be. or not to be, or a general maxim +is enunciated. + +Fourth among the elements enumerated comes Diction; by which I mean, as +has been already said, the expression of the meaning in words; and its +essence is the same both in verse and prose. + +Of the remaining elements Song holds the chief place among the +embellishments. + +The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of +all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art +of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart +from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular +effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of +the poet. + + + +VII + +These principles being established, let us now discuss the proper +structure of the Plot, since this is the first and most important thing +in Tragedy. + +Now, according to our definition, Tragedy is an imitation of an action +that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude; for there may be +a whole that is wanting in magnitude. A whole is that which has a +beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that which does not +itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after which something +naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, is that which +itself naturally follows some other thing, either by necessity, or as a +rule, but has nothing following it. A middle is that which follows +something as some other thing follows it. A well constructed plot, +therefore, must neither begin nor end at haphazard, but conform to these +principles. + +Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a living organism or any whole +composed of parts, must not only have an orderly arrangement of parts, +but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on magnitude +and order. Hence a very small animal organism cannot be beautiful; for +the view of it is confused, the object being seen in an almost +imperceptible moment of time. Nor, again, can one of vast size be +beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all in at once, the unity and +sense of the whole is lost for the spectator; as for instance if there +were one a thousand miles long. As, therefore, in the case of animate +bodies and organisms a certain magnitude is necessary, and a magnitude +which may be easily embraced in one view; so in the plot, a certain +length is necessary, and a length which can be easily embraced by the +memory. The limit of length in relation to dramatic competition and +sensuous presentment, is no part of artistic theory. For had it been the +rule for a hundred tragedies to compete together, the performance would +have been regulated by the water-clock,--as indeed we are told was +formerly done. But the limit as fixed by the nature of the drama itself +is this: the greater the length, the more beautiful will the piece be by +reason of its size, provided that the whole be perspicuous. And to define +the matter roughly, we may say that the proper magnitude is comprised +within such limits, that the sequence of events, according to the law of +probability or necessity, will admit of a change from bad fortune to +good, or from good fortune to bad. + + + +VIII + +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 connection: 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. + + + +IX + +It is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not the +function of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may happen,-- +what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity. The +poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or in prose. The +work of Herodotus might be put into verse, and it would still be a +species of history, with metre no less than without it. The true +difference is that one relates what has happened, the other what may +happen. Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing +than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the +particular. By the universal, I mean how a person of a certain type will +on occasion speak or act, according to the law of probability or +necessity; and it is this universality at which poetry aims in the names +she attaches to the personages. The particular is--for example--what +Alcibiades did or suffered. In Comedy this is already apparent: for here +the poet first constructs the plot on the lines of probability, and then +inserts characteristic names;--unlike the lampooners who write about +particular individuals. But tragedians still keep to real names, the +reason being that what is possible is credible: what has not happened we +do not at once feel sure to be possible: but what has happened is +manifestly possible: otherwise it would not have happened. Still there +are even some tragedies in which there are only one or two well known +names, the rest being fictitious. In others, none are well known, as in +Agathon's Antheus, where incidents and names alike are fictitious, and +yet they give none the less pleasure. We must not, therefore, at all +costs keep to the received legends, which are the usual subjects of +Tragedy. Indeed, it would be absurd to attempt it; for even subjects that +are known are known only to a few, and yet give pleasure to all. It +clearly follows that the poet or 'maker' should be the maker of plots +rather than of verses; since he is a poet because he imitates, and what +he imitates are actions. And even if he chances to take an historical +subject, he is none the less a poet; for there is no reason why some +events that have actually happened should not conform to the law of the +probable and possible, and in virtue of that quality in them he is their +poet or maker. + +Of all plots and actions the epeisodic are the worst. I call a plot +'epeisodic' in which the episodes or acts succeed one another without +probable or necessary sequence. Bad poets compose such pieces by their +own fault, good poets, to please the players; for, as they write show +pieces for competition, they stretch the plot beyond its capacity, and +are often forced to break the natural continuity. + +But again, Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of +events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced when the +events come on us by sunrise; and the effect is heightened when, at the +same time, they follow as cause and effect. The tragic wonder will thee +be greater than if they happened of themselves or by accident; for even +coincidences are most striking when they have an air of design. We may +instance the statue of Mitys at Argos, which fell upon his murderer while +he was a spectator at a festival, and killed him. Such events seem not to +be due to mere chance. Plots, therefore, constructed on these principles +are necessarily the best. + + + +X + +Plots are either Simple or Complex, for the actions in real life, of +which the plots are an imitation, obviously show a similar distinction. +An action which is one and continuous in the sense above defined, I call +Simple, when the change of fortune takes place without Reversal of the +Situation and without Recognition. + +A Complex action is one in which the change is accompanied by such +Reversal, or by Recognition, or by both. These last should arise from the +internal structure of the plot, so that what follows should be the +necessary or probable result of the preceding action. It makes all the +difference whether any given event is a case of propter hoc or post hoc. + + + +XI + +Reversal of the Situation is a change by which the action veers round to +its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability or necessity. +Thus in the Oedipus, the messenger comes to cheer Oedipus and free him +from his alarms about his mother, but by revealing who he is, he produces +the opposite effect. Again in the Lynceus, Lynceus is being led away to +his death, and Danaus goes with him, meaning, to slay him; but the +outcome of the preceding incidents is that Danaus is killed and Lynceus +saved. Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from ignorance to +knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the +poet for good or bad fortune. The best form of recognition is coincident +with a Reversal of the Situation, as in the Oedipus. There are indeed +other forms. Even inanimate things of the most trivial kind may in a +sense be objects of recognition. Again, we may recognise or discover +whether a person has done a thing or not. But the recognition which is +most intimately connected with the plot and action is, as we have said, +the recognition of persons. This recognition, combined, with Reversal, +will produce either pity or fear; and actions producing these effects are +those which, by our definition, Tragedy represents. Moreover, it is upon +such situations that the issues of good or bad fortune will depend. +Recognition, then, being between persons, it may happen that one person +only is recognised by the other-when the latter is already known--or it +may be necessary that the recognition should be on both sides. Thus +Iphigenia is revealed to Orestes by the sending of the letter; but +another act of recognition is required to make Orestes known to +Iphigenia. + +Two parts, then, of the Plot--Reversal of the Situation and Recognition-- +turn upon surprises. A third part is the Scene of Suffering. The Scene of +Suffering is a destructive or painful action, such as death on the stage, +bodily agony, wounds and the like. + + + +XII + +[The parts of Tragedy which must be treated as elements of the whole have +been already mentioned. We now come to the quantitative parts, and the +separate parts into which Tragedy is divided, namely, Prologue, Episode, +Exode, Choric song; this last being divided into Parode and Stasimon. +These are common to all plays: peculiar to some are the songs of actors +from the stage and the Commoi. + +The Prologue is that entire part of a tragedy which precedes the Parode +of the Chorus. The Episode is that entire part of a tragedy which is +between complete choric songs. The Exode is that entire part of a tragedy +which has no choric song after it. Of the Choric part the Parode is the +first undivided utterance of the Chorus: the Stasimon is a Choric ode +without anapaests or trochaic tetrameters: the Commos is a joint +lamentation of Chorus and actors. The parts of Tragedy which must be +treated as elements of the whole have been already mentioned. The +quantitative parts the separate parts into which it is divided--are here +enumerated.] + + + +XIII + +As the sequel to what has already been said, we must proceed to consider +what the poet should aim at, and what he should avoid, in constructing +his plots; and by what means the specific effect of Tragedy will be +produced. + +A perfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged not on the simple +but on the complex plan. It should, moreover, imitate actions which +excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic +imitation. It follows plainly, in the first place, that the change, of +fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought +from prosperity to adversity: for this moves neither pity nor fear; it +merely shocks us. Nor, again, that of a bad man passing from adversity to +prosperity: for nothing can be more alien to the spirit of Tragedy; it +possesses no single tragic quality; it neither satisfies the moral sense +nor calls forth pity or fear. Nor, again, should the downfall of the +utter villain be exhibited. A plot of this kind would, doubtless, satisfy +the moral sense, but it would inspire neither pity nor fear; for pity is +aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like +ourselves. Such an event, therefore, will be neither pitiful nor +terrible. There remains, then, the character between these two extremes,- +-that of a man who is not eminently good and just,-yet whose misfortune +is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. +He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous,--a personage like +Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families. + +A well constructed plot should, therefore, be single in its issue, rather +than double as some maintain. The change of fortune should be not from +bad to good, but, reversely, from good to bad. It should come about as +the result not of vice, but of some great error or frailty, in a +character either such as we have described, or better rather than worse. +The practice of the stage bears out our view. At first the poets +recounted any legend that came in their way. Now, the best tragedies are +founded on the story of a few houses, on the fortunes of Alcmaeon, +Oedipus, Orestes, Meleager, Thyestes, Telephus, and those others who have +done or suffered something terrible. A tragedy, then, to be perfect +according to the rules of art should be of this construction. Hence they +are in error who censure Euripides just because he follows this principle +in his plays, many of which end unhappily. It is, as we have said, the +right ending. The best proof is that on the stage and in dramatic +competition, such plays, if well worked out, are the most tragic in +effect; and Euripides, faulty though he may be in the general management +of his subject, yet is felt to be the most tragic of the poets. + +In the second rank comes the kind of tragedy which some place first. Like +the Odyssey, it has a double thread of plot, and also an opposite +catastrophe for the good and for the bad. It is accounted the best +because of the weakness of the spectators; for the poet is guided in what +he writes by the wishes of his audience. The pleasure, however, thence +derived is not the true tragic pleasure. It is proper rather to Comedy, +where those who, in the piece, are the deadliest enemies---like Orestes +and Aegisthus--quit the stage as friends at the close, and no one slays +or is slain. + + + +XIV + +Fear and pity may be aroused by spectacular means; but they may also +result from the inner structure of the piece, which is the better way, +and indicates a superior poet. For the plot ought to be so constructed +that, even without the aid of the eye, he who hears the tale told will +thrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes place. This is the +impression we should receive from hearing the story of the Oedipus. But +to produce this effect by the mere spectacle is a less artistic method, +and dependent on extraneous aids. Those who employ spectacular means to +create a sense not of the terrible but only of the monstrous, are +strangers to the purpose of Tragedy; for we must not demand of Tragedy +any and every kind of pleasure, but only that which is proper to it. And +since the pleasure which the poet should afford is that which comes from +pity and fear through imitation, it is evident that this quality must be +impressed upon the incidents. + +Let us then determine what are the circumstances which strike us as +terrible or pitiful. + +Actions capable of this effect must happen between persons who are either +friends or enemies or indifferent to one another. If an enemy kills an +enemy, there is nothing to excite pity either in the act or the +intention, --except so far as the suffering in itself is pitiful. So +again with indifferent persons. But when the tragic incident occurs +between those who are near or dear to one another--if, for example, a +brother kills, or intends to kill, a brother, a son his father, a mother +her son, a son his mother, or any other deed of the kind is done---these +are the situations to be looked for by the poet. He may not indeed +destroy the framework of the received legends--the fact, for instance, +that Clytemnestra was slain by Orestes and Eriphyle by Alcmaeon but he +ought to show invention of his own, and skilfully handle the traditional +material. Let us explain more clearly what is meant by skilful handling. + +The action may be done consciously and with knowledge of the persons, in +the manner of the older poets. It is thus too that Euripides makes Medea +slay her children. Or, again, the deed of horror may be done, but done in +ignorance, and the tie of kinship or friendship be discovered afterwards. +The Oedipus of Sophocles is an example. Here, indeed, the incident is +outside the drama proper; but cases occur where it falls within the +action of the play: one may cite the Alcmaeon of Astydamas, or Telegonus +in the Wounded Odysseus. Again, there is a third case,--<to be about to +act with knowledge of the persons and then not to act. The fourth case +is> when some one is about to do an irreparable deed through ignorance, +and makes the discovery before it is done. These are the only possible +ways. For the deed must either be done or not done,--and that wittingly +or unwittingly. But of all these ways, to be about to act knowing the +persons, and then not to act, is the worst. It is shocking without being +tragic, for no disaster follows. It is, therefore, never, or very rarely, +found in poetry. One instance, however, is in the Antigone, where Haemon +threatens to kill Creon. The next and better way is that the deed should +be perpetrated. Still better, that it should be perpetrated in ignorance, +and the discovery made afterwards. There is then nothing to shock us, +while the discovery produces a startling effect. The last case is the +best, as when in the Cresphontes Merope is about to slay her son, but, +recognising who he is, spares his life. So in the Iphigenia, the sister +recognises the brother just in time. Again in the Helle, the son +recognises the mother when on the point of giving her up. This, then, is +why a few families only, as has been already observed, furnish the +subjects of tragedy. It was not art, but happy chance, that led the poets +in search of subjects to impress the tragic quality upon their plots. +They are compelled, therefore, to have recourse to those houses whose +history contains moving incidents like these. + +Enough has now been said concerning the structure of the incidents, and +the right kind of plot. + + + +XV + +In respect of Character there are four things to be aimed at. First, and +most important, it must be good. Now any speech or action that manifests +moral purpose of any kind will be expressive of character: the character +will be good if the purpose is good. This rule is relative to each class. +Even a woman may be good, and also a slave; though the woman may be said +to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless. The second thing +to aim at is propriety. There is a type of manly valour; but valour in a +woman, or unscrupulous cleverness, is inappropriate. Thirdly, character +must be true to life: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and +propriety, as here described. The fourth point is consistency: for though +the subject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent, +still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example of motiveless +degradation of character, we have Menelaus in the Orestes: of character +indecorous and inappropriate, the lament of Odysseus in the Scylla, and +the speech of Melanippe: of inconsistency, the Iphigenia at Aulis,--for +Iphigenia the suppliant in no way resembles her later self. + +As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture of character, +the poet should always aim either at the necessary or the probable. Thus +a person of a given character should speak or act in a given way, by the +rule either of necessity or of probability; just as this event should +follow that by necessary or probable sequence. It is therefore evident +that the unravelling of the plot, no less than the complication, must +arise out of the plot itself, it must not be brought about by the 'Deus +ex Machina'--as in the Medea, or in the Return of the Greeks in the +Iliad. The 'Deus ex Machina' should be employed only for events external +to the drama,--for antecedent or subsequent events, which lie beyond the +range of human knowledge, and which require to be reported or foretold; +for to the gods we ascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the +action there must be nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be +excluded, it should be outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the +irrational element in the Oedipus of Sophocles. + +Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above the +common level, the example of good portrait-painters should be followed. +They, while reproducing the distinctive form of the original, make a +likeness which is true to life and yet more beautiful. So too the poet, +in representing men who are irascible or indolent, or have other defects +of character, should preserve the type and yet ennoble it. In this way +Achilles is portrayed by Agathon and Homer. + +These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should he neglect those +appeals to the senses, which, though not among the essentials, are the +concomitants of poetry; for here too there is much room for error. But of +this enough has been said in our published treatises. + + + +XVI + +What Recognition is has been already explained. We will now enumerate its +kinds. + +First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, is most +commonly employed recognition by signs. Of these some are congenital,-- +such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on their bodies,' or +the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Others are acquired +after birth; and of these some are bodily marks, as scars; some external +tokens, as necklaces, or the little ark in the Tyro by which the +discovery is effected. Even these admit of more or less skilful +treatment. Thus in the recognition of Odysseus by his scar, the discovery +is made in one way by the nurse, in another by the swineherds. The use of +tokens for the express purpose of proof --and, indeed, any formal proof +with or without tokens --is a less artistic mode of recognition. A better +kind is that which comes about by a turn of incident, as in the Bath +Scene in the Odyssey. + +Next come the recognitions invented at will by the poet, and on that +account wanting in art. For example, Orestes in the Iphigenia reveals the +fact that he is Orestes. She, indeed, makes herself known by the letter; +but he, by speaking himself, and saying what the poet, not what the plot +requires. This, therefore, is nearly allied to the fault above +mentioned:--for Orestes might as well have brought tokens with him. +Another similar instance is the 'voice of the shuttle' in the Tereus of +Sophocles. + +The third kind depends on memory when the sight of some object awakens a +feeling: as in the Cyprians of Dicaeogenes, where the hero breaks into +tears on seeing the picture; or again in the 'Lay of Alcinous,' where +Odysseus, hearing the minstrel play the lyre, recalls the past and weeps; +and hence the recognition. + +The fourth kind is by process of reasoning. Thus in the Choephori: 'Some +one resembling me has come: no one resembles me but Orestes: therefore +Orestes has come.' Such too is the discovery made by Iphigenia in the +play of Polyidus the Sophist. It was a natural reflection for Orestes to +make, 'So I too must die at the altar like my sister.' So, again, in the +Tydeus of Theodectes, the father says, 'I came to find my son, and I lose +my own life.' So too in the Phineidae: the women, on seeing the place, +inferred their fate:--'Here we are doomed to die, for here we were cast +forth.' Again, there is a composite kind of recognition involving false +inference on the part of one of the characters, as in the Odysseus +Disguised as a Messenger. A said <that no one else was able to bend the +bow; . . . hence B (the disguised Odysseus) imagined that A would> +recognise the bow which, in fact, he had not seen; and to bring about a +recognition by this means that the expectation A would recognise the bow +is false inference. + +But, of all recognitions, the best is that which arises from the +incidents themselves, where the startling discovery is made by natural +means. Such is that in the Oedipus of Sophocles, and in the Iphigenia; +for it was natural that Iphigenia should wish to dispatch a letter. These +recognitions alone dispense with the artificial aid of tokens or amulets. +Next come the recognitions by process of reasoning. + + + +XVII + +In constructing the plot and working it out with the proper diction, the +poet should place the scene, as far as possible, before his eyes. In this +way, seeing everything with the utmost vividness, as if he were a +spectator of the action, he will discover what is in keeping with it, and +be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies. The need of such a rule is +shown by the fault found in Carcinus. Amphiaraus was on his way from the +temple. This fact escaped the observation of one who did not see the +situation. On the stage, however, the piece failed, the audience being +offended at the oversight. + +Again, the poet should work out his play, to the best of his power, with +appropriate gestures; for those who feel emotion are most convincing +through natural sympathy with the characters they represent; and one who +is agitated storms, one who is angry rages, with the most life-like +reality. Hence poetry implies either a happy gift of nature or a strain +of madness. In the one case a man can take the mould of any character; in +the other, he is lifted out of his proper self. + +As for the story, whether the poet takes it ready made or constructs it +for himself, he should first sketch its general outline, and then fill in +the episodes and amplify in detail. The general plan may be illustrated +by the Iphigenia. A young girl is sacrificed; she disappears mysteriously +from the eyes of those who sacrificed her; She is transported to another +country, where the custom is to offer up all strangers to the goddess. To +this ministry she is appointed. Some time later her own brother chances +to arrive. The fact that the oracle for some reason ordered him to go +there, is outside the general plan of the play. The purpose, again, of +his coming is outside the action proper. However, he comes, he is seized, +and, when on the point of being sacrificed, reveals who he is. The mode +of recognition may be either that of Euripides or of Polyidus, in whose +play he exclaims very naturally:--'So it was not my sister only, but I +too, who was doomed to be sacrificed'; and by that remark he is saved. + +After this, the names being once given, it remains to fill in the +episodes. We must see that they are relevant to the action. In the case +of Orestes, for example, there is the madness which led to his capture, +and his deliverance by means of the purificatory rite. In the drama, the +episodes are short, but it is these that give extension to Epic poetry. +Thus the story of the Odyssey can be stated briefly. A certain man is +absent from home for many years; he is jealously watched by Poseidon, and +left desolate. Meanwhile his home is in a wretched plight---suitors are +wasting his substance and plotting against his son. At length, tempest- +tost, he himself arrives; he makes certain persons acquainted with him; +he attacks the suitors with his own hand, and is himself preserved while +he destroys them. This is the essence of the plot; the rest is episode. + + + +XVIII + +Every tragedy falls into two parts,--Complication and Unravelling or +Denouement. Incidents extraneous to the action are frequently combined +with a portion of the action proper, to form the Complication; the rest +is the Unravelling. By the Complication I mean all that extends from the +beginning of the action to the part which marks the turning-point to good +or bad fortune. The Unravelling is that which extends from the beginning +of the change to the end. Thus, in the Lynceus of Theodectes, the +Complication consists of the incidents presupposed in the drama, the +seizure of the child, and then again * * <The Unravelling> extends from +the accusation of murder to the end. + +There are four kinds of Tragedy, the Complex, depending entirely on +Reversal of the Situation and Recognition; the Pathetic (where the motive +is passion),--such as the tragedies on Ajax and Ixion; the Ethical (where +the motives are ethical),--such as the Phthiotides and the Peleus. The +fourth kind is the Simple <We here exclude the purely spectacular +element>, exemplified by the Phorcides, the Prometheus, and scenes laid +in Hades. The poet should endeavour, if possible, to combine all poetic +elements; or failing that, the greatest number and those the most +important; the more so, in face of the cavilling criticism of the day. +For whereas there have hitherto been good poets, each in his own branch, +the critics now expect one man to surpass all others in their several +lines of excellence. + +In speaking of a tragedy as the same or different, the best test to take +is the plot. Identity exists where the Complication and Unravelling are +the same. Many poets tie the knot well, but unravel it ill. Both arts, +however, should always be mastered. + +Again, the poet should remember what has been often said, and not make an +Epic structure into a Tragedy--by an Epic structure I mean one with a +multiplicity of plots--as if, for instance, you were to make a tragedy +out of the entire story of the Iliad. In the Epic poem, owing to its +length, each part assumes its proper magnitude. In the drama the result +is far from answering to the poet's expectation. The proof is that the +poets who have dramatised the whole story of the Fall of Troy, instead of +selecting portions, like Euripides; or who have taken the whole tale of +Niobe, and not a part of her story, like Aeschylus, either fail utterly +or meet with poor success on the stage. Even Agathon has been known to +fail from this one defect. In his Reversals of the Situation, however, he +shows a marvellous skill in the effort to hit the popular taste,--to +produce a tragic effect that satisfies the moral sense. This effect is +produced when the clever rogue, like Sisyphus, is outwitted, or the brave +villain defeated. Such an event is probable in Agathon's sense of the +word: 'it is probable,' he says, 'that many things should happen contrary +to probability.' + +The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors; it should be an +integral part of the whole, and share in the action, in the manner not of +Euripides but of Sophocles. As for the later poets, their choral songs +pertain as little to the subject of the piece as to that of any other +tragedy. They are, therefore, sung as mere interludes, a practice first +begun by Agathon. Yet what difference is there between introducing such +choral interludes, and transferring a speech, or even a whole act, from +one play to another? + + + +XIX + +It remains to speak of Diction and Thought, the other parts of Tragedy +having been already discussed. Concerning Thought, we may assume what is +said in the Rhetoric, to which inquiry the subject more strictly belongs. +Under Thought is included every effect which has to be produced by +speech, the subdivisions being,-- proof and refutation; the excitation of +the feelings, such as pity, fear, anger, and the like; the suggestion of +importance or its opposite. Now, it is evident that the dramatic +incidents must be treated from the same points of view as the dramatic +speeches, when the object is to evoke the sense of pity, fear, +importance, or probability. The only difference is, that the incidents +should speak for themselves without verbal exposition; while the effects +aimed at in speech should be produced by the speaker, and as a result of +the speech. For what were the business of a speaker, if the Thought were +revealed quite apart from what he says? + +Next, as regards Diction. One branch of the inquiry treats of the Modes +of Utterance. But this province of knowledge belongs to the art of +Delivery and to the masters of that science. It includes, for instance,-- +what is a command, a prayer, a statement, a threat, a question, an +answer, and so forth. To know or not to know these things involves no +serious censure upon the poet's art. For who can admit the fault imputed +to Homer by Protagoras,--that in the words, 'Sing, goddess, of the +wrath,' he gives a command under the idea that he utters a prayer? For to +tell some one to do a thing or not to do it is, he says, a command. We +may, therefore, pass this over as an inquiry that belongs to another art, +not to poetry. + + + +XX + +[Language in general includes the following parts:- Letter, Syllable, +Connecting word, Noun, Verb, Inflexion or Case, Sentence or Phrase. + +A Letter is an indivisible sound, yet not every such sound, but only one +which can form part of a group of sounds. For even brutes utter +indivisible sounds, none of which I call a letter. The sound I mean may +be either a vowel, a semi-vowel, or a mute. A vowel is that which without +impact of tongue or lip has an audible sound. A semi-vowel, that which +with such impact has an audible sound, as S and R. A mute, that which +with such impact has by itself no sound, but joined to a vowel sound +becomes audible, as G and D. These are distinguished according to the +form assumed by the mouth and the place where they are produced; +according as they are aspirated or smooth, long or short; as they are +acute, grave, or of an intermediate tone; which inquiry belongs in detail +to the writers on metre. + +A Syllable is a non-significant sound, composed of a mute and a vowel: +for GR without A is a syllable, as also with A,--GRA. But the +investigation of these differences belongs also to metrical science. + +A Connecting word is a non-significant sound, which neither causes nor +hinders the union of many sounds into one significant sound; it may be +placed at either end or in the middle of a sentence. Or, a non- +significant sound, which out of several sounds, each of them significant, +is capable of forming one significant sound,--as {alpha mu theta iota}, +{pi epsilon rho iota}, and the like. Or, a non-significant sound, which +marks the beginning, end, or division of a sentence; such, however, that +it cannot correctly stand by itself at the beginning of a sentence, as +{mu epsilon nu}, {eta tau omicron iota}, {delta epsilon}. + +A Noun is a composite significant sound, not marking time, of which no +part is in itself significant: for in double or compound words we do not +employ the separate parts as if each were in itself significant. Thus in +Theodorus, 'god-given,' the {delta omega rho omicron nu} or 'gift' is not +in itself significant. + +A Verb is a composite significant sound, marking time, in which, as in +the noun, no part is in itself significant. For 'man,' or 'white' does +not express the idea of 'when'; but 'he walks,' or 'he has walked' does +connote time, present or past. + +Inflexion belongs both to the noun and verb, and expresses either the +relation 'of,' 'to,' or the like; or that of number, whether one or many, +as 'man' or 'men '; or the modes or tones in actual delivery, e.g. a +question or a command. 'Did he go?' and 'go' are verbal inflexions of +this kind. + +A Sentence or Phrase is a composite significant sound, some at least of +whose parts are in themselves significant; for not every such group of +words consists of verbs and nouns--'the definition of man,' for example - +-but it may dispense even with the verb. Still it will always have some +significant part, as 'in walking,' or 'Cleon son of Cleon.' A sentence or +phrase may form a unity in two ways,--either as signifying one thing, or +as consisting of several parts linked together. Thus the Iliad is one by +the linking together of parts, the definition of man by the unity of the +thing signified.] + + + +XXI + +Words are of two kinds, simple and double. By simple I mean those +composed of non-significant elements, such as {gamma eta}. By double or +compound, those composed either of a significant and non-significant +element (though within the whole word no element is significant), or of +elements that are both significant. A word may likewise be triple, +quadruple, or multiple in form, like so many Massilian expressions, e.g. +'Hermo-caico-xanthus who prayed to Father Zeus>.' + +Every word is either current, or strange, or metaphorical, or ornamental, +or newly-coined, or lengthened, or contracted, or altered. + +By a current or proper word I mean one which is in general use among a +people; by a strange word, one which is in use in another country. +Plainly, therefore, the same word may be at once strange and current, but +not in relation to the same people. The word {sigma iota gamma upsilon nu +omicron nu}, 'lance,' is to the Cyprians a current term but to us a +strange one. + +Metaphor is the application of an alien name by transference either from +genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, +or by analogy, that is, proportion. Thus from genus to species, as: 'There +lies my ship'; for lying at anchor is a species of lying. From species to +genus, as: 'Verily ten thousand noble deeds hath Odysseus wrought'; for +ten thousand is a species of large number, and is here used for a large +number generally. From species to species, as: 'With blade of bronze drew +away the life,' and 'Cleft the water with the vessel of unyielding +bronze.' Here {alpha rho upsilon rho alpha iota}, 'to draw away,' is used +for {tau alpha mu epsilon iota nu}, 'to cleave,' and {tau alpha mu +epsilon iota nu} again for {alpha rho upsilon alpha iota},--each being a +species of taking away. Analogy or proportion is when the second term is +to the first as the fourth to the third. We may then use the fourth for +the second, or the second for the fourth. Sometimes too we qualify the +metaphor by adding the term to which the proper word is relative. Thus +the cup is to Dionysus as the shield to Ares. The cup may, therefore, be +called 'the shield of Dionysus,' and the shield 'the cup of Ares.' Or, +again, as old age is to life, so is evening to day. Evening may therefore +be called 'the old age of the day,' and old age, 'the evening of life,' +or, in the phrase of Empedocles, 'life's setting sun.' For some of the +terms of the proportion there is at times no word in existence; still the +metaphor may be used. For instance, to scatter seed is called sowing: but +the action of the sun in scattering his rays is nameless. Still this +process bears to the sun the same relation as sowing to the seed. Hence +the expression of the poet 'sowing the god-created light.' There is +another way in which this kind of metaphor may be employed. We may apply +an alien term, and then deny of that term one of its proper attributes; +as if we were to call the shield, not 'the cup of Ares,' but 'the +wineless cup.' + +<An ornamental word . . .> + +A newly-coined word is one which has never been even in local use, but is +adopted by the poet himself. Some such words there appear to be: as +{epsilon rho nu upsilon gamma epsilon sigma}, 'sprouters,' for {kappa +epsilon rho alpha tau alpha}, 'horns,' and {alpha rho eta tau eta rho}, +'supplicator,' for {iota epsilon rho epsilon upsilon sigma}, 'priest.' + +A word is lengthened when its own vowel is exchanged for a longer one, or +when a syllable is inserted. A word is contracted when some part of it is +removed. Instances of lengthening are,--{pi omicron lambda eta omicron +sigma} for {pi omicron lambda epsilon omega sigma}, and {Pi eta lambda +eta iota alpha delta epsilon omega} for {Pi eta lambda epsilon iota delta +omicron upsilon}: of contraction,--{kappa rho iota}, {delta omega}, and +{omicron psi}, as in {mu iota alpha / gamma iota nu epsilon tau alpha +iota / alpha mu phi omicron tau episilon rho omega nu / omicron psi}. + +An altered word is one in which part of the ordinary form is left +unchanged, and part is re-cast; as in {delta epsilon xi iota-tau epsilon +rho omicron nu / kappa alpha tau alpha / mu alpha zeta omicron nu}, +{delta epsilon xi iota tau epsilon rho omicron nu} is for {delta epsilon +xi iota omicron nu}. + +[Nouns in themselves are either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Masculine +are such as end in {nu}, {rho}, {sigma}, or in some letter compounded +with {sigma},--these being two, and {xi}. Feminine, such as end in vowels +that are always long, namely {eta} and {omega}, and--of vowels that admit +of lengthening--those in {alpha}. Thus the number of letters in which +nouns masculine and feminine end is the same; for {psi} and {xi} are +equivalent to endings in {sigma}. No noun ends in a mute or a vowel short +by nature. Three only end in {iota},--{mu eta lambda iota}, {kappa +omicron mu mu iota}, {pi epsilon pi epsilon rho iota}: five end in +{upsilon}. Neuter nouns end in these two latter vowels; also in {nu} and +{sigma}.] + + + +XXII + +The perfection of style is to be clear without being mean. The clearest +style is that which uses only current or proper words; at the same time +it is mean:--witness the poetry of Cleophon and of Sthenelus. That +diction, on the other hand, is lofty and raised above the commonplace +which employs unusual words. By unusual, I mean strange (or rare) words, +metaphorical, lengthened,--anything, in short, that differs from the +normal idiom. Yet a style wholly composed of such words is either a +riddle or a jargon; a riddle, if it consists of metaphors; a jargon, if +it consists of strange (or rare) words. For the essence of a riddle is to +express true facts under impossible combinations. Now this cannot be done +by any arrangement of ordinary words, but by the use of metaphor it can. +Such is the riddle:--'A man I saw who on another man had glued the bronze +by aid of fire,' and others of the same kind. A diction that is made up +of strange (or rare) terms is a jargon. A certain infusion, therefore, of +these elements is necessary to style; for the strange (or rare) word, the +metaphorical, the ornamental, and the other kinds above mentioned, will +raise it above the commonplace and mean, while the use of proper words +will make it perspicuous. But nothing contributes more to produce a +clearness of diction that is remote from commonness than the lengthening, +contraction, and alteration of words. For by deviating in exceptional +cases from the normal idiom, the language will gain distinction; while, +at the same time, the partial conformity with usage will give +perspicuity. The critics, therefore, are in error who censure these +licenses of speech, and hold the author up to ridicule. Thus Eucleides, +the elder, declared that it would be an easy matter to be a poet if you +might lengthen syllables at will. He caricatured the practice in the very +form of his diction, as in the verse: '{Epsilon pi iota chi alpha rho eta +nu / epsilon iota delta omicron nu / Mu alpha rho alpha theta omega nu +alpha delta epsilon / Beta alpha delta iota zeta omicron nu tau alpha}, +or, {omicron upsilon kappa / alpha nu / gamma / epsilon rho alpha mu +epsilon nu omicron sigma / tau omicron nu / epsilon kappa epsilon iota nu +omicron upsilon /epsilon lambda lambda epsilon beta omicron rho omicron +nu}. To employ such license at all obtrusively is, no doubt, grotesque; +but in any mode of poetic diction there must be moderation. Even +metaphors, strange (or rare) words, or any similar forms of speech, would +produce the like effect if used without propriety and with the express +purpose of being ludicrous. How great a difference is made by the +appropriate use of lengthening, may be seen in Epic poetry by the +insertion of ordinary forms in the verse. So, again, if we take a strange +(or rare) word, a metaphor, or any similar mode of expression, and +replace it by the current or proper term, the truth of our observation +will be manifest. For example Aeschylus and Euripides each composed the +same iambic line. But the alteration of a single word by Euripides, who +employed the rarer term instead of the ordinary one, makes one verse +appear beautiful and the other trivial. Aeschylus in his Philoctetes +says: {Phi alpha gamma epsilon delta alpha iota nu alpha / <delta> / eta +/ mu omicron upsilon / sigma alpha rho kappa alpha sigma / epsilon rho +theta iota epsilon iota / pi omicron delta omicron sigma}. + +Euripides substitutes {Theta omicron iota nu alpha tau alpha iota} +'feasts on' for {epsilon sigma theta iota epsilon iota} 'feeds on.' +Again, in the line, {nu upsilon nu / delta epsilon / mu /epsilon omega nu +/ omicron lambda iota gamma iota gamma upsilon sigma / tau epsilon / +kappa alpha iota / omicron upsilon tau iota delta alpha nu omicron sigma +/ kappa alpha iota / alpha epsilon iota kappa eta sigma, the difference +will be felt if we substitute the common words, {nu upsilon nu / delta +epsilon / mu / epsilon omega nu / mu iota kappa rho omicron sigma / tau +epsilon / kappa alpha iota / alpha rho theta epsilon nu iota kappa +omicron sigma / kappa alpha iota / alpha epsilon iota delta gamma sigma}. +Or, if for the line, {delta iota phi rho omicron nu / alpha epsilon iota +kappa epsilon lambda iota omicron nu / kappa alpha tau alpha theta +epsilon iota sigma / omicron lambda iota gamma eta nu / tau epsilon / tau +rho alpha pi epsilon iota sigma / omicron lambda iota gamma eta nu / tau +epsilon / tau rho alpha pi epsilon zeta alpha nu),} We read, {delta iota +phi rho omicron nu / mu omicron chi theta eta rho omicron nu / kappa +alpha tau alpha theta epsilon iota sigma / mu iota kappa rho alpha nu / +tau epsilon / tau rho alpha pi epsilon zeta alpha nu}. + +Or, for {eta iota omicron nu epsilon sigma / beta omicron omicron omega +rho iota nu, eta iota omicron nu epsilon sigma kappa rho alpha zeta +omicron upsilon rho iota nu} + +Again, Ariphrades ridiculed the tragedians for using phrases which no one +would employ in ordinary speech: for example, {delta omega mu alpha tau +omega nu / alpha pi omicron} instead of {alpha pi omicron / delta omega +mu alpha tau omega nu}, {rho epsilon theta epsilon nu}, {epsilon gamma +omega / delta epsilon / nu iota nu}, {Alpha chi iota lambda lambda +epsilon omega sigma / pi epsilon rho iota} instead of (pi epsilon rho +iota / 'Alpha chi iota lambda lambda epsilon omega sigma}, and the like. +It is precisely because such phrases are not part of the current idiom +that they give distinction to the style. This, however, he failed to see. + +It is a great matter to observe propriety in these several modes of +expression, as also in compound words, strange (or rare) words, and so +forth. But the greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor. +This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for +to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances. + +Of the various kinds of words, the compound are best adapted to +Dithyrambs, rare words to heroic poetry, metaphors to iambic. In heroic +poetry, indeed, all these varieties are serviceable. But in iambic verse, +which reproduces, as far as may be, familiar speech, the most appropriate +words are those which are found even in prose. These are,--the current or +proper, the metaphorical, the ornamental. + +Concerning Tragedy and imitation by means of action this may suffice. + + + +XXIII + +As to that poetic imitation which is narrative in form and employs a +single metre, the plot manifestly ought, as in a tragedy, to be +constructed on dramatic principles. It should have for its subject a +single action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle, and an +end. It will thus resemble a living organism in all its unity, and +produce the pleasure proper to it. It will differ in structure from +historical compositions, which of necessity present not a single action, +but a single period, and all that happened within that period to one +person or to many, little connected together as the events may be. For as +the sea-fight at Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily +took place at the same time, but did not tend to any one result, so in +the sequence of events, one thing sometimes follows another, and yet no +single result is thereby produced. Such is the practice, we may say, of +most poets. Here again, then, as has been already observed, the +transcendent excellence of Homer is manifest. He never attempts to make +the whole war of Troy the subject of his poem, though that war had a +beginning and an end. It would have been too vast a theme, and not easily +embraced in a single view. If, again, he had kept it within moderate +limits, it must have been over-complicated by the variety of the +incidents. As it is, he detaches a single portion, and admits as episodes +many events from the general story of the war--such as the Catalogue of +the ships and others--thus diversifying the poem. All other poets take a +single hero, a single period, or an action single indeed, but with a +multiplicity of parts. Thus did the author of the Cypria and of the +Little Iliad. For this reason the Iliad and the Odyssey each furnish the +subject of one tragedy, or, at most, of two; while the Cypria supplies +materials for many, and the Little Iliad for eight--the Award of the +Arms, the Philoctetes, the Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, the Mendicant +Odysseus, the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, the Departure of the +Fleet. + + + +XXIV + +Again, Epic poetry must have as many kinds as Tragedy: it must be simple, +or complex, or 'ethical,' or 'pathetic.' The parts also, with the +exception of song and spectacle, are the same; for it requires Reversals +of the Situation, Recognitions, and Scenes of Suffering. Moreover, the +thoughts and the diction must be artistic. In all these respects Homer is +our earliest and sufficient model. Indeed each of his poems has a twofold +character. The Iliad is at once simple and 'pathetic,' and the Odyssey +complex (for Recognition scenes run through it), and at the same time +'ethical.' Moreover, in diction and thought they are supreme. + +Epic poetry differs from Tragedy in the scale on which it is constructed, +and in its metre. As regards scale or length, we have already laid down +an adequate limit:--the beginning and the end must be capable of being +brought within a single view. This condition will be satisfied by poems +on a smaller scale than the old epics, and answering in length to the +group of tragedies presented at a single sitting. + +Epic poetry has, however, a great--a special--capacity for enlarging its +dimensions, and we can see the reason. In Tragedy we cannot imitate +several lines of actions carried on at one and the same time; we must +confine ourselves to the action on the stage and the part taken by the +players. But in Epic poetry, owing to the narrative form, many events +simultaneously transacted can be presented; and these, if relevant to the +subject, add mass and dignity to the poem. The Epic has here an +advantage, and one that conduces to grandeur of effect, to diverting the +mind of the hearer, and relieving the story with varying episodes. For +sameness of incident soon produces satiety, and makes tragedies fail on +the stage. + +As for the metre, the heroic measure has proved its fitness by the test +of experience. If a narrative poem in any other metre or in many metres +were now composed, it would be found incongruous. For of all measures the +heroic is the stateliest and the most massive; and hence it most readily +admits rare words and metaphors, which is another point in which the +narrative form of imitation stands alone. On the other hand, the iambic +and the trochaic tetrameter are stirring measures, the latter being akin +to dancing, the former expressive of action. Still more absurd would it +be to mix together different metres, as was done by Chaeremon. Hence no +one has ever composed a poem on a great scale in any other than heroic +verse. Nature herself, as we have said, teaches the choice of the proper +measure. + +Homer, admirable in all respects, has the special merit of being the only +poet who rightly appreciates the part he should take himself. The poet +should speak as little as possible in his own person, for it is not this +that makes him an imitator. Other poets appear themselves upon +the scene throughout, and imitate but little and rarely. Homer, after a +few prefatory words, at once brings in a man, or woman, or other +personage; none of them wanting in characteristic qualities, but each +with a character of his own. + +The element of the wonderful is required in Tragedy. The irrational, on +which the wonderful depends for its chief effects, has wider scope in +Epic poetry, because there the person acting is not seen. Thus, the +pursuit of Hector would be ludicrous if placed upon the stage--the Greeks +standing still and not joining in the pursuit, and Achilles waving them +back. But in the Epic poem the absurdity passes unnoticed. Now the +wonderful is pleasing: as may be inferred from the fact that every one +tells a story with some addition of his own, knowing that his hearers +like it. It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of +telling lies skilfully. The secret of it lies in a fallacy, For, assuming +that if one thing is or becomes, a second is or becomes, men imagine +that, if the second is, the first likewise is or becomes. But this is a +false inference. Hence, where the first thing is untrue, it is quite +unnecessary, provided the second be true, to add that the first is or has +become. For the mind, knowing the second to be true, falsely infers the +truth of the first. There is an example of this in the Bath Scene of the +Odyssey. + +Accordingly, the poet should prefer probable impossibilities to +improbable possibilities. The tragic plot must not be composed of +irrational parts. Everything irrational should, if possible, be excluded; +or, at all events, it should lie outside the action of the play (as, in +the Oedipus, the hero's ignorance as to the manner of Laius' death); not +within the drama,--as in the Electra, the messenger's account of the +Pythian games; or, as in the Mysians, the man who has come from Tegea to +Mysia and is still speechless. The plea that otherwise the plot would +have been ruined, is ridiculous; such a plot should not in the first +instance be constructed. But once the irrational has been introduced and +an air of likelihood imparted to it, we must accept it in spite of the +absurdity. Take even the irrational incidents in the Odyssey, where +Odysseus is left upon the shore of Ithaca. How intolerable even these +might have been would be apparent if an inferior poet were to treat the +subject. As it is, the absurdity is veiled by the poetic charm with which +the poet invests it. + +The diction should be elaborated in the pauses of the action, where there +is no expression of character or thought. For, conversely, character and +thought are merely obscured by a diction that is over brilliant. + + + +XXV + +With respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, the number and +nature of the sources from which they may be drawn may be thus exhibited. + +The poet being an imitator, like a painter or any other artist, must of +necessity imitate one of three objects,--things as they were or are, +things as they are said or thought to be, or things as they ought to be. +The vehicle of expression is language,--either current terms or, it may +be, rare words or metaphors. There are also many modifications of +language, which we concede to the poets. Add to this, that the standard +of correctness is not the same in poetry and politics, any more than in +poetry and any other art. Within the art of poetry itself there are two +kinds of faults, those which touch its essence, and those which are +accidental. If a poet has chosen to imitate something, <but has imitated +it incorrectly> through want of capacity, the error is inherent in the +poetry. But if the failure is due to a wrong choice if he has represented +a horse as throwing out both his off legs at once, or introduced +technical inaccuracies in medicine, for example, or in any other art the +error is not essential to the poetry. These are the points of view from +which we should consider and answer the objections raised by the critics. + +First as to matters which concern the poet's own art. If he describes the +impossible, he is guilty of an error; but the error may be justified, if +the end of the art be thereby attained (the end being that already +mentioned), if, that is, the effect of this or any other part of the poem +is thus rendered more striking. A case in point is the pursuit of Hector. +If, however, the end might have been as well, or better, attained without +violating the special rules of the poetic art, the error is not +justified: for every kind of error should, if possible, be avoided. + +Again, does the error touch the essentials of the poetic art, or some +accident of it? For example,--not to know that a hind has no horns is a +less serious matter than to paint it inartistically. + +Further, if it be objected that the description is not true to fact, the +poet may perhaps reply,--'But the objects are as they ought to be': just +as Sophocles said that he drew men as they ought to be; Euripides, as +they are. In this way the objection may be met. If, however, the +representation be of neither kind, the poet may answer,--This is how men +say the thing is.' This applies to tales about the gods. It may well be +that these stories are not higher than fact nor yet true to fact: they +are, very possibly, what Xenophanes says of them. But anyhow, 'this is +what is said.' Again, a description may be no better than the fact: +'still, it was the fact'; as in the passage about the arms: 'Upright upon +their butt-ends stood the spears.' This was the custom then, as it now is +among the Illyrians. + +Again, in examining whether what has been said or done by some one is +poetically right or not, we must not look merely to the particular act or +saying, and ask whether it is poetically good or bad. We must also +consider by whom it is said or done, to whom, when, by what means, or for +what end; whether, for instance, it be to secure a greater good, or avert +a greater evil. + +Other difficulties may be resolved by due regard to the usage of +language. We may note a rare word, as in {omicron upsilon rho eta alpha +sigma / mu epsilon nu / pi rho omega tau omicron nu}, where the poet +perhaps employs {omicron upsilon rho eta alpha sigma} not in the sense of +mules, but of sentinels. So, again, of Dolon: 'ill-favoured indeed he was +to look upon.' It is not meant that his body was ill-shaped, but that his +face was ugly; for the Cretans use the word {epsilon upsilon epsilon iota +delta epsilon sigma}, 'well-favoured,' to denote a fair face. Again, +{zeta omega rho omicron tau epsilon rho omicron nu / delta epsilon / +kappa epsilon rho alpha iota epsilon}, 'mix the drink livelier,' does not +mean `mix it stronger' as for hard drinkers, but 'mix it quicker.' + +Sometimes an expression is metaphorical, as 'Now all gods and men were +sleeping through the night,'--while at the same time the poet says: +'Often indeed as he turned his gaze to the Trojan plain, he marvelled at +the sound of flutes and pipes.' 'All' is here used metaphorically for +'many,' all being a species of many. So in the verse,--'alone she hath no +part . . ,' {omicron iota eta}, 'alone,' is metaphorical; for the best +known may be called the only one. + +Again, the solution may depend upon accent or breathing. Thus Hippias of +Thasos solved the difficulties in the lines,--{delta iota delta omicron +mu epsilon nu (delta iota delta omicron mu epsilon nu) delta epsilon / +omicron iota,} and { tau omicron / mu epsilon nu / omicron upsilon +(omicron upsilon) kappa alpha tau alpha pi upsilon theta epsilon tau +alpha iota / omicron mu beta rho omega}. + +Or again, the question may be solved by punctuation, as in Empedocles,-- +'Of a sudden things became mortal that before had learnt to be immortal, +and things unmixed before mixed.' + +Or again, by ambiguity of meaning,--as {pi alpha rho omega chi eta kappa +epsilon nu / delta epsilon / pi lambda epsilon omega / nu upsilon xi}, +where the word {pi lambda epsilon omega} is ambiguous. + +Or by the usage of language. Thus any mixed drink is called {omicron iota +nu omicron sigma}, 'wine.' Hence Ganymede is said 'to pour the wine to +Zeus,' though the gods do not drink wine. So too workers in iron are +called {chi alpha lambda kappa epsilon alpha sigma}, or workers in +bronze. This, however, may also be taken as a metaphor. + +Again, when a word seems to involve some inconsistency of meaning, we +should consider how many senses it may bear in the particular passage. +For example: 'there was stayed the spear of bronze'--we should ask in how +many ways we may take 'being checked there.' The true mode of +interpretation is the precise opposite of what Glaucon mentions. Critics, +he says, jump at certain groundless conclusions; they pass adverse +judgment and then proceed to reason on it; and, assuming that the poet +has said whatever they happen to think, find fault if a thing is +inconsistent with their own fancy. The question about Icarius has been +treated in this fashion. The critics imagine he was a Lacedaemonian. They +think it strange, therefore, that Telemachus should not have met him when +he went to Lacedaemon. But the Cephallenian story may perhaps be the true +one. They allege that Odysseus took a wife from among themselves, and +that her father was Icadius not Icarius. It is merely a mistake, then, +that gives plausibility to the objection. + +In general, the impossible must be justified by reference to artistic +requirements, or to the higher reality, or to received opinion. With +respect to the requirements of art, a probable impossibility is to be +preferred to a thing improbable and yet possible. Again, it may be +impossible that there should be men such as Zeuxis painted. 'Yes,' we +say, 'but the impossible is the higher thing; for the ideal type must +surpass the reality.' To justify the irrational, we appeal to what is +commonly said to be. In addition to which, we urge that the irrational +sometimes does not violate reason; just as 'it is probable that a thing +may happen contrary to probability.' + +Things that sound contradictory should be examined by the same rules as +in dialectical refutation whether the same thing is meant, in the same +relation, and in the same sense. We should therefore solve the question +by reference to what the poet says himself, or to what is tacitly assumed +by a person of intelligence. + +The element of the irrational, and, similarly, depravity of character, +are justly censured when there is no inner necessity for introducing +them. Such is the irrational element in the introduction of Aegeus by +Euripides and the badness of Menelaus in the Orestes. + +Thus, there are five sources from which critical objections are drawn. +Things are censured either as impossible, or irrational, or morally +hurtful, or contradictory, or contrary to artistic correctness. The +answers should be sought under the twelve heads above mentioned. + + + +XXVI + +The question may be raised whether the Epic or Tragic mode of imitation +is the higher. If the more refined art is the higher, and the more +refined in every case is that which appeals to the better sort of +audience, the art which imitates anything and everything is manifestly +most unrefined. The audience is supposed to be too dull to comprehend +unless something of their own is thrown in by the performers, who +therefore indulge in restless movements. Bad flute-players twist and +twirl, if they have to represent 'the quoit-throw,' or hustle the +coryphaeus when they perform the 'Scylla.' Tragedy, it is said, has this +same defect. We may compare the opinion that the older actors entertained +of their successors. Mynniscus used to call Callippides 'ape' on account +of the extravagance of his action, and the same view was held of +Pindarus. Tragic art, then, as a whole, stands to Epic in the same +relation as the younger to the elder actors. So we are told that Epic +poetry is addressed to a cultivated audience, who do not need gesture; +Tragedy, to an inferior public. Being then unrefined, it is evidently the +lower of the two. + +Now, in the first place, this censure attaches not to the poetic but to +the histrionic art; for gesticulation may be equally overdone in epic +recitation, as by Sosi-stratus, or in lyrical competition, as by +Mnasitheus the Opuntian. Next, all action is not to be condemned any more +than all dancing--but only that of bad performers. Such was the fault +found in Callippides, as also in others of our own day, who are censured +for representing degraded women. Again, Tragedy like Epic poetry produces +its effect even without action; it reveals its power by mere reading. If, +then, in all other respects it is superior, this fault, we say, is not +inherent in it. + +And superior it is, because it has all the epic elements--it may even use +the epic metre--with the music and spectacular effects as important +accessories; and these produce the most vivid of pleasures. Further, it +has vividness of impression in reading as well as in representation. +Moreover, the art attains its end within narrower limits; for the +concentrated effect is more pleasurable than one which is spread over a +long time and so diluted. What, for example, would be the effect of the +Oedipus of Sophocles, if it were cast into a form as long as the Iliad? +Once more, the Epic imitation has less unity; as is shown by this, that +any Epic poem will furnish subjects for several tragedies. Thus if the +story adopted by the poet has a strict unity, it must either be concisely +told and appear truncated; or, if it conform to the Epic canon of length, +it must seem weak and watery. <Such length implies some loss of unity,> +if, I mean, the poem is constructed out of several actions, like the +Iliad and the Odyssey, which have many such parts, each with a certain +magnitude of its own. Yet these poems are as perfect as possible in +structure; each is, in the highest degree attainable, an imitation of a +single action. + +If, then, Tragedy is superior to Epic poetry in all these respects, and, +moreover, fulfils its specific function better as an art for each art +ought to produce, not any chance pleasure, but the pleasure proper to it, +as already stated it plainly follows that Tragedy is the higher art, as +attaining its end more perfectly. + +Thus much may suffice concerning Tragic and Epic poetry in general; +their several kinds and parts, with the number of each and their +differences; the causes that make a poem good or bad; the objections of +the critics and the answers to these objections. * * * + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Poetics, by Aristotle + |