亚里士多德《诗学》读后感
亚里士多德的《诗学》在西方文化史上首次构建了系统的美学理论，第一次界定了古希腊悲剧，为悲剧从理论上下了第一个定义，也成为了西方悲剧美学理论的源头。《诗学》此书原名的意思是“论诗的技艺”。从希腊文的词源意义来说，“诗”有“创制”的含义。创制的技艺本来也包括制作实用物品。而“诗”的创制，则指一切艺术创作。对“诗”也可狭义地理解：从荷马时代至希腊古典文明时期，文学作品包括颂诗、讽刺诗、史诗、悲剧、喜剧等，都以韵文形式创作。《诗学》着重研究文学创作，特别是处于希腊古典文学峰巅的悲剧。简言之，亚里士多德的诗学是研究艺术的美学，和他的第一哲学、知识论及伦理思想有内在联系，是他的哲学体系的一个不可或缺的组成部分。《诗学》的译者这样说到“《诗学》理论精辟，内容深刻，虽然篇幅不长，但气度不小，无疑是一篇有分量、有深度的大家之作。”
在这里我想首先谈谈对《诗学》中关于摹仿学的理论的理解。在亚里士多德看来，所谓艺术之“属”，就是摹仿。而这里所说的“属”来自于亚里士多德的定义理论，他的定义理论是在他批判了他的导师柏拉图经验定义法的基础上建立起来的，由此发展起的逻辑学说开创了西方二千多年的科学理论精神。“史诗和悲剧、喜剧和酒神颂以及大部分双管乐和竖琴——这一切实际上都是摹仿。”（第一章），这里不限于悲剧，而是指所有的艺术种类。摹仿是专门相对于艺术而言的，我们知道古希腊的自然哲学家的著作也是用韵文写的，习惯上也称为“诗人”但实际上并不合适，荷马与哲学家恩培多克勒除了所用的都是格律之外，并没有什么共同之处，所以我们称荷马是诗人并不为过，但后者，“与其称为诗人，毋宁称为自然哲学家”。我们知道任何一种学说的起源均来自于对前人的成果的总结并发展，谁都没有能凭空创造了一门学问。那么这样说来，亚里士多德的艺术摹仿学说是怎样依附于前人的呢？
艺术范畴的本质是摹仿，那么划分艺术门类之“种”的则是“种差”。“种差”有三：摹仿所用媒介不同，所取的对象不同，所采的方式不同。而这三者的不同可以决定艺术的种类。如悲、喜的划分是：“喜剧总是摹仿比我们今天的人坏的人，悲剧总是摹仿比我们今天的人好的人”（第二章），这是根据不同的对象进行划分的。这种好坏人的划分，我们可以嗅到柏拉图的气味，这就是道德主义的气味。在这一点上，柏拉图的目的论与亚里士多德的目的论是相同的。在亚里士多德看来，现实的事物包括人的活动，就是真实的存在，具有多样的意义；诗摹仿人的活动，在作品中创制出艺术真实的存在；“摹仿”不只是映象外在的形象，更指表现人的本性与活动，显示人的这种存在的意义。
通过对《诗学》的仔细研读，我总结出了关于摹仿学理论的几个个重要观点，可以概括为三个点。首先，一切艺术产生于摹仿；其次，摹仿是人的本性，艺术在实现人的本性中进化和完善；最后，摹仿应表现为必然性、或然性和类型。 我认为《诗学》中最重要的内容当属是亚里士多德对悲剧理论详尽、深入而系统的阐述。他提出了悲剧史上第一个悲剧概念，他在《诗学》第六章里说到：悲剧是对于一个严肃、完整、有一定长度的行动的摹仿；他的媒介是言词，具有各种悦耳之音，分别在剧的各部分使用：摹仿方式是借人物的动作来表达，而不是采用叙述法；引起怜悯与恐惧来使这种情感得到陶冶。亚里士多德还给悲剧制
订了许多规则，如悲剧应该是五幕剧，其情节应该发生在最亲近的亲属之间。亚里士多德说，悲剧艺术之所以是一种特别的艺术，是由六个成分组成的（情节、性格、言词、思想、形象和歌曲），所以后来便有“悲剧六成分”这一说法。 因为本着理解由表及里、由浅入深、易及难的原则，在这里我主要想谈一下我对其中言词和歌曲的理解。言词，包括语气、音缀、连接词、名词、动词、词形的变化以及语句的处理等等。歌曲则指的是对歌队里的合唱队所唱的歌。悲剧是由歌队的形式演变而来的，我们知道尼采在《悲剧的诞生》中就是以歌队在悲剧中的地位和意义来重新估计古希腊悲剧神话意义的。在亚里士多德的那个时代，古希腊悲剧已经由极盛转衰，他已经无法体会到悲剧自酒神崇拜中诞生之际那种如火如荼的狂热，所以他说，悲剧只是靠阅读也可以看出它的性质（第二十六章），他已经把悲剧作为标本处理了。当亚里士多德把歌队的作用等同于一个演员（第十八章）的时候，我们已经可以窥见出一点古希腊悲剧自身堕落的原因。 亚里士多德从他的哲学观、伦理观和摹仿说出发，认为：各种艺术形式从不同角度表现人和现实生活。艺术是求知活动，它表达的情感属于人皆应有的人性，受理性指导；包括史诗、抒情诗、悲剧、喜剧在内的雅俗艺术，对社会与人生皆有不同的价值。他的《诗学》，可以说是回应柏拉图的挑战，为卫护全部“诗”的形式，维护希腊艺术的辉煌成就，写出一部深刻有力的“辩护词”。他提出“净化”说解释悲剧的目的，可以说是以悲剧这一高级艺术为范式，肯定一切优美的希腊艺术，在领悟人生哲理、陶冶道德情操、谐和审美情趣等方面，皆有积极、良益的作用。
亚里士多德曾经说过：“一些人沉溺于宗教狂热，当他们听到神圣庄严的旋律，灵魂感发神秘的激动，我们看到圣乐的一种使灵魂恢复正常的效果，仿佛他们的灵魂得到治愈和净洗。那些受怜悯、恐惧及各种情性影响的人，必定有相似经验，而其他每个易受这些情感影响的人，都会以一种被净洗的样式，使他们的灵魂得到澄明和愉悦。这种净化的旋律同样给人类一种清纯的快乐”。我们主张净化那就是旨在宣泄情感。而他们所谓的宣泄，是重复人们潜有的怜悯与恐惧等病态情感，满足强化而发泄它们的欲望，达到“以毒攻毒”、泻尽它们的目的。这种像是弗洛伊德式的解释，未免牵强附会。亚里士多德并不认为作为悲剧效果的怜悯与恐惧是病态的，而认为它们是正常合理的。净化作为一种艺术鉴赏中的审美移情，在各种艺术中有普遍的陶冶审美情操的功用。这样理解，符合亚里士多德的诗学理论。
对于《诗学》这样一部在世界悲剧文学史上留下深远影响的经典之作，凭借我现在的能力是不可能完全把它读懂。其中我也产生了诸多的疑问，如《诗学》是怎样确立人的理性精神为本的人本主义的？在亚里士多德谈到诗与哲学的争论时他发现他的诗学理论必然受制于他所讨论的特定题材，这一点他无法理解，所以他用了一个很勉强的理由“碰巧”，那么真的是“碰巧”吗？亚里士多德为什么在“过失学”中为什么没有试图从英雄习俗的角度去考虑，亚里士多德不就是想到英雄习俗中这样一些事例才替诗艺下的定义吗？
车尔尼夫斯基曾经也学过“他的概念竟雄霸了两千余年”。 它较为切实、深刻地论述了艺术的本质，以悲剧为代表的艺术创作原则，以及艺术认知社会人生、教化伦理道德、陶冶审美情操的功用，真切体现了希腊艺术追求真善美的精神，它对后世西方的美学思想、艺术理论有深远影响。
350 BCPOETICSby AristotleTranslated by S. H. ButcherPOETICS|1II PROPOSE to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds,noting the essential quality of each, to inquire into the structure ofthe plot as requisite to a good poem; into the number and nature ofthe parts of which a poem is composed; and similarly into whateverelse falls within the same inquiry. Following, then, the order ofnature, let us begin with the principles which come first.Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic poetry, and themusic of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are allin their general conception modes of imitation. They differ,however, from one another in three respects- the medium, theobjects, 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 colorand form, or again by the voice; so in the arts above mentioned, takenas 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 rhythmalone are employed; also in other arts, such as that of the shepherd'spipe, which are essentially similar to these. In dancing, rhythm aloneis 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 eithercombine different meters or consist of but one kind- but this hashitherto been without a name. For there is no common term we couldapply to the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic dialogueson the one hand; and, on the other, to poetic imitations in iambic,elegiac, or any similar meter. People do, indeed, add the word 'maker'or 'poet' to the name of the meter, and speak of elegiac poets, orepic (that is, hexameter) poets, as if it were not the imitationthat makes the poet, but the verse that entitles them all to the name.Even when a treatise on medicine or natural science is brought outin verse, the name of poet is by custom given to the author; and yetHomer and Empedocles have nothing in common but the meter, so thatit would be right to call the one poet, the other physicist ratherthan poet. On the same principle, even if a writer in his poeticimitation were to combine all meters, as Chaeremon did in his Centaur,which is a medley composed of meters of all kinds, we should bring himtoo under the general term poet.So much then for these distinctions.There are, again, some arts which employ all the means abovementioned-
is atype of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulouscleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true tolife: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, ashere described. The fourth point is consistency: for though thesubject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent,still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example ofmotiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in theOrestes; of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament ofOdysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe; of inconsistency,the Iphigenia at Aulis- for Iphigenia the suppliant in no wayresembles her later self.As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture ofcharacter, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or theprobable. Thus a person of a given character should speak or act ina given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability; justas this event should follow that by necessary or probable sequence. Itis therefore evident that the unraveling of the plot, no less than thecomplication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not bebrought about by the Deus ex Machina- as in the Medea, or in thereturn of the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should beemployed only for events external to the drama- for antecedent orsubsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods weascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the action there mustbe nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded, it shouldbe outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the irrational elementthe Oedipus of Sophocles.Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above thecommon level, the example of good portrait painters should befollowed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of theoriginal, make a likeness which is true to life and yet morebeautiful. So too the poet, in representing men who are irascible orindolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the typeand yet ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathon andHomer.These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should heneglect those appeals to the senses, which, though not among theessentials, are the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is muchroom for error. But of this enough has been said in our publishedtreatises.POETICS|16XVIWhat Recognition is has been already explained. We will nowenumerate its kinds.First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, ismost commonly employed- recognition by signs. Of these some arecongenital- such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on theirbodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Othersare acquired after birth;
nged to that country. Tragedy too is claimed by certainDorians of the Peloponnese. In each case they appeal to the evidenceof language. The outlying villages, they say, are by them calledkomai, by the Athenians demoi: and they assume that comedians wereso named not from komazein, 'to revel,' but because they wandered fromvillage to village (kata komas), being excluded contemptuously fromthe city. They add also that the Dorian word for 'doing' is dran,and the Athenian, prattein.This may suffice as to the number and nature of the various modes ofimitation.POETICS|4IVPoetry in general seems to have sprung from two causes, each of themlying deep in our nature. First, the instinct of imitation isimplanted in man from childhood, one difference between him andother animals being that he is the most imitative of living creatures,and through imitation learns his earliest lessons; and no lessuniversal is the pleasure felt in things imitated. We have evidence ofthis in the facts of experience. Objects which in themselves we viewwith pain, we delight to contemplate when reproduced with minutefidelity: such as the forms of the most ignoble animals and of deadbodies. The cause of this again is, that to learn gives theliveliest pleasure, not only to philosophers but to men in general;whose capacity, however, of learning is more limited. Thus thereason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating itthey find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps, 'Ah,that is he.' For if you happen not to have seen the original, thepleasure will be due not to the imitation as such, but to theexecution, the coloring, or some such other cause.Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is theinstinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections ofrhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural giftdeveloped by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rudeimprovisations gave birth to Poetry.Poetry now diverged in two directions, according to the individualcharacter of the writers. The graver spirits imitated noble actions,and the actions of good men. The more trivial sort imitated theactions of meaner persons, at first composing satires, as the formerdid hymns to the gods and the praises of famous men. A poem of thesatirical kind cannot indeed be put down to any author earlier thanHomer; though many such writers probably there were. But from Homeronward, instances can be cited- his own Margites, for example, andother similar compositions. The appropriate meter was also hereintroduced; hence the measure is still called the iambic or lampooningmeasure, being that in which people lampooned one another. Thus theolder poets were distinguished as writers of heroic or of lampooningverse.As, in the serious style, Homer is p
re-eminent among poets, for healone combined dramatic form with excellence of imitation so he toofirst laid down the main lines of comedy, by dramatizing the ludicrousinstead of writing personal satire. His Margites bears the samerelation to comedy that the Iliad and Odyssey do to tragedy. Butwhen Tragedy and Comedy came to light, the two classes of poetsstill followed their natural bent: the lampooners became writers ofComedy, and the Epic poets were succeeded by Tragedians, since thedrama was a larger and higher form of art.Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper types or not; andwhether it is to be judged in itself, or in relation also to theaudience- this raises another question. Be that as it may, Tragedy- asalso Comedy- was at first mere improvisation. The one originatedwith the authors of the Dithyramb, the other with those of the phallicsongs, which are still in use in many of our cities. Tragedyadvanced by slow degrees; each new element that showed itself was inturn developed. Having passed through many changes, it found itsnatural form, and there it stopped.Aeschylus first introduced a second actor; he diminished theimportance of the Chorus, and assigned the leading part to thedialogue. Sophocles raised the number of actors to three, and addedscene-painting. Moreover, it was not till late that the short plot wasdiscarded for one of greater compass, and the grotesque diction of theearlier satyric form for the stately manner of Tragedy. The iambicmeasure then replaced the trochaic tetrameter, which was originallyemployed when the poetry was of the satyric order, and had greaterwith dancing. Once dialogue had come in, Nature herself discovered theappropriate measure. For the iambic is, of all measures, the mostcolloquial we see it in the fact that conversational speech runsinto iambic lines more frequently than into any other kind of verse;rarely into hexameters, and only when we drop the colloquialintonation. The additions to the number of 'episodes' or acts, and theother accessories of which tradition tells, must be taken as alreadydescribed; for to discuss them in detail would, doubtless, be alarge undertaking.POETICS|5VComedy is, as we have said, an imitation of characters of a lowertype- not, however, in the full sense of the word bad, the ludicrousbeing merely a subdivision of the ugly. It consists in some defector ugliness which is not painful or destructive. To take an obviousexample, the comic mask is ugly and distorted, but does not implypain.The successive changes through which Tragedy passed, and the authorsof these changes, are well known, whereas Comedy has had no history,because it was not at first treated seriously. It was late beforethe Archon granted a comic chorus to a poet; the performers weretill then voluntary.
Comedy had already taken definite shape whencomic poets, distinctively so called, are heard of. Who furnished itwith masks, or prologues, or increased the number of actors- these andother similar details remain unknown. As for the plot, it cameoriginally from Sicily; but of Athenian writers Crates was the firstwho abandoning the 'iambic' or lampooning form, generalized his themesand plots.Epic poetry agrees with Tragedy in so far as it is an imitation inverse of characters of a higher type. They differ in that Epicpoetry admits but one kind of meter and is narrative in form. Theydiffer, again, in their length: for Tragedy endeavors, as far aspossible, to confine itself to a single revolution of the sun, orbut slightly to exceed this limit, whereas the Epic action has nolimits of time. This, then, is a second point of difference; though atfirst the same freedom was admitted in Tragedy as in Epic poetry.Of their constituent parts some are common to both, some peculiar toTragedy: whoever, therefore knows what is good or bad Tragedy, knowsalso about Epic poetry. All the elements of an Epic poem are foundin Tragedy, but the elements of a Tragedy are not all found in theEpic poem.POETICS|6VIOf the poetry which imitates in hexameter verse, and of Comedy, wewill speak hereafter. Let us now discuss Tragedy, resuming itsformal 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 witheach kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found inseparate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative;through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of theseemotions. By 'language embellished,' I mean language into whichrhythm, 'harmony' and song enter. By 'the several kinds in separateparts,' I mean, that some parts are rendered through the medium ofverse alone, others again with the aid of song.Now as tragic imitation implies persons acting, it necessarilyfollows in the first place, that Spectacular equipment will be apart of Tragedy. Next, Song and Diction, for these are the media ofimitation. By 'Diction' I mean the mere metrical arrangement of thewords: as for 'Song,' it is a term whose sense every one understands.Again, Tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an actionimplies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctivequalities both of character and thought; for it is by these that wequalify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- arethe two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions againall success or failure depends. Hence, the Plot is the imitation ofthe action- for by plot I here mean the arrangement of theincidents. By Character I mean that in virtue of which w
e ascribecertain qualities to the agents. Thought is required wherever astatement is proved, or, it may be, a general truth enunciated.Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determineits quality- namely, Plot, Character, Diction, Thought, Spectacle,Song. Two of the parts constitute the medium of imitation, one themanner, and three the objects of imitation. And these complete thefist. These elements have been employed, we may say, by the poets to aman; in fact, every play contains Spectacular elements as well asCharacter, Plot, Diction, Song, and Thought.But most important of all is the structure of the incidents. ForTragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, andlife consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not aquality. Now character determines men's qualities, but it is bytheir 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 incidentsand the plot are the end of a tragedy; and the end is the chiefthing of all. Again, without action there cannot be a tragedy; theremay be without character. The tragedies of most of our modern poetsfail in the rendering of character; and of poets in general this isoften true. It is the same in painting; and here lies the differencebetween Zeuxis and Polygnotus. Polygnotus delineates character well;the style of Zeuxis is devoid of ethical quality. Again, if you stringtogether a set of speeches expressive of character, and wellfinished in point of diction and thought, you will not produce theessential tragic effect nearly so well as with a play which, howeverdeficient in these respects, yet has a plot and artisticallyconstructed incidents. Besides which, the most powerful elements ofemotional interest in Tragedy- Peripeteia or Reversal of theSituation, and Recognition scenes- are parts of the plot. A furtherproof is, that novices in the art attain to finish of diction andprecision of portraiture before they can construct the plot. It is thesame with almost all the early poets.The plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul ofa tragedy; Character holds the second place. A similar fact is seen inpainting. The most beautiful colors, laid on confusedly, will not giveas much pleasure as the chalk outline of a portrait. Thus Tragedy isthe imitation of an action, and of the agents mainly with a view tothe action.Third in order is Thought- that is, the faculty of saying what ispossible and pertinent in given circumstances. In the case of oratory,this is the function of the political art and of the art ofrhetoric: and so indeed the older poets make their characters speakthe language of civic life; the poets of our time, the language of the
rhetoricians. Character is that which reveals moral purpose, showingwhat kind of things a man chooses or avoids. Speeches, therefore,which do not make this manifest, or in which the speaker does notchoose or avoid anything whatever, are not expressive of character.Thought, on the other hand, is found where something is proved to beor 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 theembellishmentsThe Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own,but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected leastwith the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, isfelt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, theproduction of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stagemachinist than on that of the poet.POETICS|7VIIThese principles being established, let us now discuss the properstructure of the Plot, since this is the first and most importantthing in Tragedy.Now, according to our definition Tragedy is an imitation of anaction that is complete, and whole, and of a certain magnitude; forthere may be a whole that is wanting in magnitude. A whole is thatwhich has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A beginning is that whichdoes not itself follow anything by causal necessity, but after whichsomething naturally is or comes to be. An end, on the contrary, isthat which itself naturally follows some other thing, either bynecessity, or as a rule, but has nothing following it. A middle isthat which follows something as some other thing follows it. A wellconstructed plot, therefore, must neither begin nor end athaphazard, but conform to these principles.Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a living organism or anywhole composed of parts, must not only have an orderly arrangementof parts, but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beautydepends on magnitude and order. Hence a very small animal organismcannot be beautiful; for the view of it is confused, the objectbeing seen in an almost imperceptible moment of time. Nor, again,can one of vast size be beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it allin at once, the unity and sense of the whole is lost for thespectator; as for instance if there were one a thousand miles long.As, therefore, in the case of animate bodies and organisms a certainmagnitude is necessary, and a magnitude which may be easily embracedin one view; so in the plot, a certain length is necessary, and alength which can be easily embraced by the memory. The limit of lengthin relation to dramatic competition and sensuous presentment is nopart of artistic
theory. For had it been the rule for a hundredtragedies to compete together, the performance would have beenregulated 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 reasonof its size, provided that the whole be perspicuous. And to define thematter roughly, we may say that the proper magnitude is comprisedwithin such limits, that the sequence of events, according to thelaw of probability or necessity, will admit of a change from badfortune to good, or from good fortune to bad.POETICS|8VIIIUnity of plot does not, as some persons think, consist in theunity of the hero. For infinitely various are the incidents in oneman's life which cannot be reduced to unity; and so, too, there aremany actions of one man out of which we cannot make one action.Hence the error, as it appears, of all poets who have composed aHeracleid, a Theseid, or other poems of the kind. They imagine that asHeracles 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- whetherfrom art or natural genius- seems to have happily discerned the truth.In composing the Odyssey he did not include all the adventures ofOdysseus- such as his wound on Parnassus, or his feigned madness atthe mustering of the host- incidents between which there was nonecessary or probable connection: but he made the Odyssey, andlikewise the Iliad, to center round an action that in our sense of theword is one. As therefore, in the other imitative arts, theimitation is one when the object imitated is one, so the plot, beingan imitation of an action, must imitate one action and that a whole,the structural union of the parts being such that, if any one ofthem is displaced or removed, the whole will be disjointed anddisturbed. For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visibledifference, is not an organic part of the whole.POETICS|9IXIt is, moreover, evident from what has been said, that it is not thefunction of the poet to relate what has happened, but what may happen-what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity. Thepoet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or in prose. Thework of Herodotus might be put into verse, and it would still be aspecies of history, with meter no less than without it. The truedifference is that one relates what has happened, the other what mayhappen. Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higherthing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, historythe particular. By the universal I mean how a person of a certain typeon occasion speak or act, according to the law of probability ornecessity; and it is this universality at which poetr
y aims in thenames she attaches to the personages. The particular is- forexample- what Alcibiades did or suffered. In Comedy this is alreadyapparent: for here the poet first constructs the plot on the linesof probability, and then inserts characteristic names- unlike thelampooners who write about particular individuals. But tragediansstill keep to real names, the reason being that what is possible iscredible: what has not happened we do not at once feel sure to bepossible; but what has happened is manifestly possible: otherwise itwould not have happened. Still there are even some tragedies inwhich there are only one or two well-known names, the rest beingfictitious. In others, none are well known- as in Agathon's Antheus,where incidents and names alike are fictitious, and yet they give nonethe less pleasure. We must not, therefore, at all costs keep to thereceived legends, which are the usual subjects of Tragedy. Indeed,it would be absurd to attempt it; for even subjects that are known areknown only to a few, and yet give pleasure to all. It clearlyfollows that the poet or 'maker' should be the maker of plots ratherthan of verses; since he is a poet because he imitates, and what heimitates are actions. And even if he chances to take a historicalsubject, he is none the less a poet; for there is no reason why someevents that have actually happened should not conform to the law ofthe probable and possible, and in virtue of that quality in them he istheir poet or maker.Of all plots and actions the episodic are the worst. I call a plot'episodic' in which the episodes or acts succeed one another withoutprobable or necessary sequence. Bad poets compose such pieces by theirown fault, good poets, to please the players; for, as they writeshow pieces for competition, they stretch the plot beyond itscapacity, 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 bestproduced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect isheightened when, at the same time, they follows as cause and effect.The tragic wonder will then be greater than if they happened ofthemselves or by accident; for even coincidences are most strikingwhen they have an air of design. We may instance the statue of Mitysat Argos, which fell upon his murderer while he was a spectator at afestival, and killed him. Such events seem not to be due to merechance. Plots, therefore, constructed on these principles arenecessarily the best.POETICS|10XPlots are either Simple or Complex, for the actions in real life, ofwhich the plots are an imitation, obviously show a similardistinction. An action which is one and continuous in the senseabove defined, I call Simple, when the change of for
tune takes placewithout Reversal of the Situation and without RecognitionA Complex action is one in which the change is accompanied by suchReversal, or by Recognition, or by both. These last should arisefrom the internal structure of the plot, so that what follows shouldbe the necessary or probable result of the preceding action. Itmakes all the difference whether any given event is a case ofpropter hoc or post hoc.POETICS|11XIReversal of the Situation is a change by which the action veersround to its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability ornecessity. Thus in the Oedipus, the messenger comes to cheer Oedipusand free him from his alarms about his mother, but by revealing who heis, he produces the opposite effect. Again in the Lynceus, Lynceusis being led away to his death, and Danaus goes with him, meaning toslay him; but the outcome of the preceding incidents is that Danaus iskilled and Lynceus saved.Recognition, as the name indicates, is a change from ignorance toknowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined bythe poet for good or bad fortune. The best form of recognition iscoincident with a Reversal of the Situation, as in the Oedipus.There are indeed other forms. Even inanimate things of the mosttrivial kind may in a sense be objects of recognition. Again, we mayrecognize or discover whether a person has done a thing or not. Butthe recognition which is most intimately connected with the plot andaction is, as we have said, the recognition of persons. Thisrecognition, combined with Reversal, will produce either pity or fear;and actions producing these effects are those which, by ourdefinition, Tragedy represents. Moreover, it is upon such situationsthat the issues of good or bad fortune will depend. Recognition, then,being between persons, it may happen that one person only isrecognized by the other- when the latter is already known- or it maybe necessary that the recognition should be on both sides. ThusIphigenia is revealed to Orestes by the sending of the letter; butanother act of recognition is required to make Orestes known toIphigenia.Two parts, then, of the Plot- Reversal of the Situation andRecognition- turn upon surprises. A third part is the Scene ofSuffering. The Scene of Suffering is a destructive or painfulaction, such as death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, and thelike.POETICS|12XIIThe parts of Tragedy which must be treated as elements of thewhole have been already mentioned. We now come to the quantitativeparts- the separate parts into which Tragedy is divided- namely,Prologue, Episode, Exode, Choric song; this last being divided intoParode and Stasimon. These are common to all plays: peculiar to someare the songs of actors from the stage and the Commoi.The Prologue is that
entire part of a tragedy which precedes theParode of the Chorus. The Episode is that entire part of a tragedywhich is between complete choric songs. The Exode is that entirepart of a tragedy which has no choric song after it. Of the Choricpart the Parode is the first undivided utterance of the Chorus: theStasimon is a Choric ode without anapaests or trochaic tetrameters:the Commos is a joint lamentation of Chorus and actors. The parts ofTragedy which must be treated as elements of the whole have beenalready mentioned. The quantitative parts- the separate parts intowhich it is divided- are here enumerated.POETICS|13XIIIAs the sequel to what has already been said, we must proceed toconsider what the poet should aim at, and what he should avoid, inconstructing his plots; and by what means the specific effect ofTragedy will be produced.A perfect tragedy should, as we have seen, be arranged not on thesimple but on the complex plan. It should, moreover, imitate actionswhich excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark oftragic imitation. It follows plainly, in the first place, that thechange of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuousman brought from prosperity to adversity: for this moves neitherpity nor fear; it merely shocks us. Nor, again, that of a bad manpassing from adversity to prosperity: for nothing can be more alien tothe spirit of Tragedy; it possesses no single tragic quality; itneither satisfies the moral sense nor calls forth pity or fear. Nor,again, should the downfall of the utter villain be exhibited. A plotof this kind would, doubtless, satisfy the moral sense, but it wouldinspire neither pity nor fear; for pity is aroused by unmeritedmisfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves. Such anevent, therefore, will be neither pitiful nor terrible. There remains,then, the character between these two extremes- that of a man who isnot eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about notby vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one whois 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 benot from bad to good, but, reversely, from good to bad. It should comeabout 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 thanworse. The practice of the stage bears out our view. At first thepoets recounted any legend that came in their way. Now, the besttragedies are founded on the story of a few houses- on the fortunes ofAlcmaeon, Oedipus, Orestes, Meleager, Thyestes, Telephus, and thoseothers who have done or suffered somethi
ng terrible. A tragedy, then,to be perfect according to the rules of art should be of thisconstruction. Hence they are in error who censure Euripides justbecause he follows this principle in his plays, many of which endunhappily. It is, as we have said, the right ending. The best proof isthat on the stage and in dramatic competition, such plays, if wellworked out, are the most tragic in effect; and Euripides, faultythough he may be in the general management of his subject, yet is feltto 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 oppositecatastrophe for the good and for the bad. It is accounted the bestbecause of the weakness of the spectators; for the poet is guided inwhat he writes by the wishes of his audience. The pleasure, however,thence derived is not the true tragic pleasure. It is proper rather toComedy, where those who, in the piece, are the deadliest enemies- likeOrestes and Aegisthus- quit the stage as friends at the close, andno one slays or is slain.POETICS|14XIVFear and pity may be aroused by spectacular means; but they may alsoresult from the inner structure of the piece, which is the better way,and indicates a superior poet. For the plot ought to be so constructedthat, even without the aid of the eye, he who hears the tale told willthrill with horror and melt to pity at what takes Place. This is theimpression we should receive from hearing the story of the Oedipus.But to produce this effect by the mere spectacle is a less artisticmethod, and dependent on extraneous aids. Those who employ spectacularmeans 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 ofTragedy any and every kind of pleasure, but only that which isproper to it. And since the pleasure which the poet should afford isthat which comes from pity and fear through imitation, it is evidentthat this quality must be impressed upon the incidents.Let us then determine what are the circumstances which strike usas terrible or pitiful.Actions capable of this effect must happen between persons who areeither friends or enemies or indifferent to one another. If an enemykills an enemy, there is nothing to excite pity either in the act orthe intention- except so far as the suffering in itself is pitiful. Soagain with indifferent persons. But when the tragic incident occursbetween 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, amother her son, a son his mother, or any other deed of the kind isdone- these are the situations to be looked for by the poet. He maynot indeed destroy the framework of the received legends- the fact
,for instance, that Clytemnestra was slain by Orestes and Eriphyle byAlcmaeon- but he ought to show of his own, and skilfully handle thetraditional. material. Let us explain more clearly what is meant byskilful handling.The action may be done consciously and with knowledge of thepersons, in the manner of the older poets. It is thus too thatEuripides makes Medea slay her children. Or, again, the deed of horrormay be done, but done in ignorance, and the tie of kinship orfriendship be discovered afterwards. The Oedipus of Sophocles is anexample. Here, indeed, the incident is outside the drama proper; butcases occur where it falls within the action of the play: one may citethe Alcmaeon of Astydamas, or Telegonus in the Wounded Odysseus.Again, there is a third case- [to be about to act with knowledge ofthe persons and then not to act. The fourth case] is when some oneis about to do an irreparable deed through ignorance, and makes thediscovery before it is done. These are the only possible ways. For thedeed must either be done or not done- and that wittingly orunwittingly. But of all these ways, to be about to act knowing thepersons, and then not to act, is the worst. It is shocking withoutbeing tragic, for no disaster follows It is, therefore, never, or veryrarely, found in poetry. One instance, however, is in the Antigone,where Haemon threatens to kill Creon. The next and better way isthat the deed should be perpetrated. Still better, that it should beperpetrated in ignorance, and the discovery made afterwards. Thereis then nothing to shock us, while the discovery produces astartling effect. The last case is the best, as when in theCresphontes Merope is about to slay her son, but, recognizing who heis, spares his life. So in the Iphigenia, the sister recognizes thebrother just in time. Again in the Helle, the son recognizes themother when on the point of giving her up. This, then, is why a fewfamilies only, as has been already observed, furnish the subjects oftragedy. It was not art, but happy chance, that led the poets insearch of subjects to impress the tragic quality upon their plots.They are compelled, therefore, to have recourse to those houseswhose history contains moving incidents like these.Enough has now been said concerning the structure of theincidents, and the right kind of plot.POETICS|15XVIn respect of Character there are four things to be aimed at. First,and most important, it must be good. Now any speech or action thatmanifests moral purpose of any kind will be expressive of character:the character will be good if the purpose is good. This rule isrelative 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 slavequite worthless. The second thing to aim at is propriety. There
is atype of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulouscleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true tolife: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, ashere described. The fourth point is consistency: for though thesubject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent,still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example ofmotiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in theOrestes; of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament ofOdysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe; of inconsistency,the Iphigenia at Aulis- for Iphigenia the suppliant in no wayresembles her later self.As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture ofcharacter, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or theprobable. Thus a person of a given character should speak or act ina given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability; justas this event should follow that by necessary or probable sequence. Itis therefore evident that the unraveling of the plot, no less than thecomplication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not bebrought about by the Deus ex Machina- as in the Medea, or in thereturn of the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should beemployed only for events external to the drama- for antecedent orsubsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods weascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the action there mustbe nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded, it shouldbe outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the irrational elementthe Oedipus of Sophocles.Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above thecommon level, the example of good portrait painters should befollowed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of theoriginal, make a likeness which is true to life and yet morebeautiful. So too the poet, in representing men who are irascible orindolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the typeand yet ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathon andHomer.These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should heneglect those appeals to the senses, which, though not among theessentials, are the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is muchroom for error. But of this enough has been said in our publishedtreatises.POETICS|16XVIWhat Recognition is has been already explained. We will nowenumerate its kinds.First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, ismost commonly employed- recognition by signs. Of these some arecongenital- such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on theirbodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Othersare acquired after birth;
and of these some are bodily marks, asscars; some external tokens, as necklaces, or the little ark in theTyro by which the discovery is effected. Even these admit of more orless skilful treatment. Thus in the recognition of Odysseus by hisscar, the discovery is made in one way by the nurse, in another by theswineherds. The use of tokens for the express purpose of proof- and,indeed, any formal proof with or without tokens- is a less artisticmode of recognition. A better kind is that which comes about by a turnof incident, as in the Bath Scene in the Odyssey.Next come the recognitions invented at will by the poet, and on thataccount wanting in art. For example, Orestes in the Iphigeniareveals the fact that he is Orestes. She, indeed, makes herselfknown by the letter; but he, by speaking himself, and saying whatthe poet, not what the plot requires. This, therefore, is nearlyallied to the fault above mentioned- for Orestes might as well havebrought tokens with him. Another similar instance is the 'voice of theshuttle' in the Tereus of Sophocles.The third kind depends on memory when the sight of some objectawakens a feeling: as in the Cyprians of Dicaeogenes, where the herobreaks into tears on seeing the picture; or again in the Lay ofAlcinous, 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 byIphigenia in the play of Polyidus the Sophist. It was a naturalreflection for Orestes to make, 'So I too must die at the altar likemy 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 thePhineidae: the women, on seeing the place, inferred their fate-'Here we are doomed to die, for here we were cast forth.' Again, thereis a composite kind of recognition involving false inference on thepart of one of the characters, as in the Odysseus Disguised as aMessenger. A said [that no one else was able to bend the bow; ...hence B (the disguised Odysseus) imagined that A would] recognizethe bow which, in fact, he had not seen; and to bring about arecognition by this means- the expectation that A would recognizethe bow- is false inference.But, of all recognitions, the best is that which arises from theincidents themselves, where the startling discovery is made by naturalmeans. 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 oramulets. Next come the recognitions by process of reasoning.POETICS|17XVIIIn constructing
the plot and working it out with the proper diction,the poet should place the scene, as far as possible, before hiseyes. In this way, seeing everything with the utmost vividness, asif he were a spectator of the action, he will discover what is inkeeping with it, and be most unlikely to overlook inconsistencies. Theneed of such a rule is shown by the fault found in Carcinus.Amphiaraus was on his way from the temple. This fact escaped theobservation of one who did not see the situation. On the stage,however, the Piece failed, the audience being offended at theoversight.Again, the poet should work out his play, to the best of hispower, with appropriate gestures; for those who feel emotion aremost convincing through natural sympathy with the characters theyrepresent; and one who is agitated storms, one who is angry rages,with the most lifelike reality. Hence poetry implies either a happygift of nature or a strain of madness. In the one case a man cantake the mould of any character; in the other, he is lifted out of hisproper self.As for the story, whether the poet takes it ready made or constructsit for himself, he should first sketch its general outline, and thenfill in the episodes and amplify in detail. The general plan may beillustrated by the Iphigenia. A young girl is sacrificed; shedisappears mysteriously from the eyes of those who sacrificed her; sheis transported to another country, where the custom is to offer upan strangers to the goddess. To this ministry she is appointed. Sometime later her own brother chances to arrive. The fact that the oraclefor some reason ordered him to go there, is outside the general planof the play. The purpose, again, of his coming is outside the actionproper. However, he comes, he is seized, and, when on the point ofbeing sacrificed, reveals who he is. The mode of recognition may beeither that of Euripides or of Polyidus, in whose play he exclaimsvery naturally: 'So it was not my sister only, but I too, who wasdoomed to be sacrificed'; and by that remark he is saved.After this, the names being once given, it remains to fill in theepisodes. We must see that they are relevant to the action. In thecase of Orestes, for example, there is the madness which led to hiscapture, and his deliverance by means of the purificatory rite. In thedrama, the episodes are short, but it is these that give extensionto Epic poetry. Thus the story of the Odyssey can be stated briefly. Acertain man is absent from home for many years; he is jealouslywatched by Poseidon, and left desolate. Meanwhile his home is in awretched plight- suitors are wasting his substance and plottingagainst his son. At length, tempest-tost, he himself arrives; he makescertain persons acquainted with him; he attacks the suitors with hisown hand, and is himself preserved while he des
troys them. This is theessence of the plot; the rest is episode.POETICS|18XVIIIEvery tragedy falls into two parts- Complication and Unravelingor Denouement. Incidents extraneous to the action are frequentlycombined with a portion of the action proper, to form theComplication; the rest is the Unraveling. By the Complication I meanall that extends from the beginning of the action to the part whichmarks the turning-point to good or bad fortune. The Unraveling is thatwhich extends from the beginning of the change to the end. Thus, inthe Lynceus of Theodectes, the Complication consists of theincidents presupposed in the drama, the seizure of the child, and thenagain ... [the Unraveling] extends from the accusation of murder tothe end.There are four kinds of Tragedy: the Complex, depending entirelyon Reversal of the Situation and Recognition; the Pathetic (wherethe motive is passion)- such as the tragedies on Ajax and Ixion; theEthical (where the motives are ethical)- such as the Phthiotides andthe Peleus. The fourth kind is the Simple. [We here exclude the purelyspectacular element], exemplified by the Phorcides, the Prometheus,and scenes laid in Hades. The poet should endeavor, if possible, tocombine all poetic elements; or failing that, the greatest numberand those the most important; the more so, in face of the cavilingcriticism of the day. For whereas there have hitherto been good poets,each in his own branch, the critics now expect one man to surpassall others in their several lines of excellence.In speaking of a tragedy as the same or different, the best testto take is the plot. Identity exists where the Complication andUnraveling are the same. Many poets tie the knot well, but unravelit Both arts, however, should always be mastered.Again, the poet should remember what has been often said, and notmake an Epic structure into a tragedy- by an Epic structure I mean onewith a multiplicity of plots- as if, for instance, you were to makea tragedy out of the entire story of the Iliad. In the Epic poem,owing to its length, each part assumes its proper magnitude. In thedrama the result is far from answering to the poet's expectation.The proof is that the poets who have dramatized the whole story of theFall of Troy, instead of selecting portions, like Euripides; or whohave taken the whole tale of Niobe, and not a part of her story,like Aeschylus, either fail utterly or meet with poor success on thestage. Even Agathon has been known to fail from this one defect. Inhis Reversals of the Situation, however, he shows a marvelous skill inthe effort to hit the popular taste- to produce a tragic effect thatsatisfies the moral sense. This effect is produced when the cleverrogue, like Sisyphus, is outwitted, or the brave villain defeated.Such an event is probable in Aga
thon's sense of the word: 'isprobable,' he says, 'that many things should happen contrary toprobability.'The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors; it should bean integral part of the whole, and share in the action, in themanner not of Euripides but of Sophocles. As for the later poets,their choral songs pertain as little to the subject of the piece as tothat of any other tragedy. They are, therefore, sung as mereinterludes- a practice first begun by Agathon. Yet what differenceis there between introducing such choral interludes, andtransferring a speech, or even a whole act, from one play to another.POETICS|19XIXIt remains to speak of Diction and Thought, the other parts ofTragedy having been already discussed. concerning Thought, we mayassume what is said in the Rhetoric, to which inquiry the subject morestrictly belongs. Under Thought is included every effect which hasto be produced by speech, the subdivisions being: proof andrefutation; the excitation of the feelings, such as pity, fear, anger,and the like; the suggestion of importance or its opposite. Now, it isevident that the dramatic incidents must be treated from the samepoints of view as the dramatic speeches, when the object is to evokethe sense of pity, fear, importance, or probability. The onlydifference is that the incidents should speak for themselves withoutverbal exposition; while effects aimed at in should be produced by thespeaker, and as a result of the speech. For what were the businessof a speaker, if the Thought were revealed quite apart from what hesays?Next, as regards Diction. One branch of the inquiry treats of theModes of Utterance. But this province of knowledge belongs to theart of Delivery and to the masters of that science. It includes, forinstance- what is a command, a prayer, a statement, a threat, aquestion, an answer, and so forth. To know or not to know these thingsinvolves no serious censure upon the poet's art. For who can admit thefault imputed to Homer by Protagoras- that in the words, 'Sing,goddess, of the wrath, he gives a command under the idea that heutters a prayer? For to tell some one to do a thing or not to do itis, he says, a command. We may, therefore, pass this over as aninquiry that belongs to another art, not to poetry.POETICS|20XXLanguage in general includes the following parts: Letter,Syllable, Connecting Word, Noun, Verb, Inflection or Case, Sentence orPhrase.A Letter is an indivisible sound, yet not every such sound, but onlyone which can form part of a group of sounds. For even brutes utterindivisible sounds, none of which I call a letter. The sound I meanmay be either a vowel, a semivowel, or a mute. A vowel is that whichwithout impact of tongue or lip has an audible sound. A semivowel thatwhich with such impac
t has an audible sound, as S and R. A mute,that which with such impact has by itself no sound, but joined to avowel sound becomes audible, as G and D. These are distinguishedaccording to the form assumed by the mouth and the place where theyare produced; according as they are aspirated or smooth, long orshort; as they are acute, grave, or of an intermediate tone; whichinquiry belongs in detail to the writers on meter.A Syllable is a nonsignificant sound, composed of a mute and avowel: for GR without A is a syllable, as also with A- GRA. But theinvestigation of these differences belongs also to metrical science.A Connecting Word is a nonsignificant sound, which neither causesnor hinders the union of many sounds into one significant sound; itmay be placed at either end or in the middle of a sentence. Or, anonsignificant sound, which out of several sounds, each of themsignificant, is capable of forming one significant sound- as amphi,peri, and the like. Or, a nonsignificant sound, which marks thebeginning, end, or division of a sentence; such, however, that itcannot correctly stand by itself at the beginning of a sentence- asmen, etoi, de.A Noun is a composite significant sound, not marking time, ofwhich no part is in itself significant: for in double or compoundwords we do not employ the separate parts as if each were in itselfsignificant. Thus in Theodorus, 'god-given,' the doron or 'gift' isnot 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.Inflection belongs both to the noun and verb, and expresses eitherthe relation 'of,' 'to,' or the like; or that of number, whether oneor many, as 'man' or 'men'; or the modes or tones in actualdelivery, e.g., a question or a command. 'Did he go?' and 'go' areverbal inflections of this kind.A Sentence or Phrase is a composite significant sound, some at leastof whose parts are in themselves significant; for not every such groupof words consists of verbs and nouns- 'the definition of man,' forexample- but it may dispense even with the verb. Still it willalways have some significant part, as 'in walking,' or 'Cleon son ofCleon.' A sentence or phrase may form a unity in two ways- either assignifying one thing, or as consisting of several parts linkedtogether. Thus the Iliad is one by the linking together of parts,the definition of man by the unity of the thing signified.POETICS|21XXIWords are of two kinds, simple and double. By simple I mean thosecomposed of nonsignificant elements, such as ge, 'earth.' By double orcompound, those composed either of a significant and nonsignificantelement (though with
in the whole word no element is significant), orof elements that are both significant. A word may likewise betriple, quadruple, or multiple in form, like so many Massilianexpressions, e.g., 'Hermo-caico-xanthus [who prayed to Father Zeus].'Every word is either current, or strange, or metaphorical, orornamental, or newly-coined, or lengthened, or contracted, or altered.By a current or proper word I mean one which is in general use amonga people; by a strange word, one which is in use in another country.Plainly, therefore, the same word may be at once strange andcurrent, but not in relation to the same people. The word sigynon,'lance,' is to the Cyprians a current term but to us a strange one.Metaphor is the application of an alien name by transferenceeither from genus to species, or from species to genus, or fromspecies to species, or by analogy, that is, proportion. Thus fromgenus to species, as: 'There lies my ship'; for lying at anchor is aspecies of lying. From species to genus, as: 'Verily ten thousandnoble deeds hath Odysseus wrought'; for ten thousand is a species oflarge number, and is here used for a large number generally. Fromspecies to species, as: 'With blade of bronze drew away the life,' and'Cleft the water with the vessel of unyielding bronze.' Here arusai,'to draw away' is used for tamein, 'to cleave,' and tamein, againfor arusai- each being a species of taking away. Analogy or proportionis when the second term is to the first as the fourth to the third. Wemay then use the fourth for the second, or the second for thefourth. Sometimes too we qualify the metaphor by adding the term towhich the proper word is relative. Thus the cup is to Dionysus asthe shield to Ares. The cup may, therefore, be called 'the shield ofDionysus,' and the shield 'the cup of Ares.' Or, again, as old ageis 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, inthe phrase of Empedocles, 'life's setting sun.' For some of theterms of the proportion there is at times no word in existence;still the metaphor may be used. For instance, to scatter seed iscalled sowing: but the action of the sun in scattering his rays isnameless. Still this process bears to the sun the same relation assowing to the seed. Hence the expression of the poet 'sowing thegod-created light.' There is another way in which this kind ofmetaphor may be employed. We may apply an alien term, and then deny ofthat term one of its proper attributes; as if we were to call theshield, not 'the cup of Ares,' but 'the wineless cup'.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 tobe: as ernyges, 'sprouters,' for kerata, 'horns'; and areter,'supplicator', for hiereus, 'pr
is atype of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulouscleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true tolife: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, ashere described. The fourth point is consistency: for though thesubject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent,still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example ofmotiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in theOrestes; of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament ofOdysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe; of inconsistency,the Iphigenia at Aulis- for Iphigenia the suppliant in no wayresembles her later self.As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture ofcharacter, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or theprobable. Thus a person of a given character should speak or act ina given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability; justas this event should follow that by necessary or probable sequence. Itis therefore evident that the unraveling of the plot, no less than thecomplication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not bebrought about by the Deus ex Machina- as in the Medea, or in thereturn of the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should beemployed only for events external to the drama- for antecedent orsubsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods weascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the action there mustbe nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded, it shouldbe outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the irrational elementthe Oedipus of Sophocles.Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above thecommon level, the example of good portrait painters should befollowed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of theoriginal, make a likeness which is true to life and yet morebeautiful. So too the poet, in representing men who are irascible orindolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the typeand yet ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathon andHomer.These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should heneglect those appeals to the senses, which, though not among theessentials, are the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is muchroom for error. But of this enough has been said in our publishedtreatises.POETICS|16XVIWhat Recognition is has been already explained. We will nowenumerate its kinds.First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, ismost commonly employed- recognition by signs. Of these some arecongenital- such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on theirbodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Othersare acquired after birth;
is atype of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulouscleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true tolife: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, ashere described. The fourth point is consistency: for though thesubject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent,still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example ofmotiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in theOrestes; of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament ofOdysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe; of inconsistency,the Iphigenia at Aulis- for Iphigenia the suppliant in no wayresembles her later self.As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture ofcharacter, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or theprobable. Thus a person of a given character should speak or act ina given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability; justas this event should follow that by necessary or probable sequence. Itis therefore evident that the unraveling of the plot, no less than thecomplication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not bebrought about by the Deus ex Machina- as in the Medea, or in thereturn of the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should beemployed only for events external to the drama- for antecedent orsubsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods weascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the action there mustbe nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded, it shouldbe outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the irrational elementthe Oedipus of Sophocles.Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above thecommon level, the example of good portrait painters should befollowed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of theoriginal, make a likeness which is true to life and yet morebeautiful. So too the poet, in representing men who are irascible orindolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the typeand yet ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathon andHomer.These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should heneglect those appeals to the senses, which, though not among theessentials, are the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is muchroom for error. But of this enough has been said in our publishedtreatises.POETICS|16XVIWhat Recognition is has been already explained. We will nowenumerate its kinds.First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, ismost commonly employed- recognition by signs. Of these some arecongenital- such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on theirbodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Othersare acquired after birth;
arkof genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances.Of the various kinds of words, the compound are best adapted todithyrambs, rare words to heroic poetry, metaphors to iambic. Inheroic poetry, indeed, all these varieties are serviceable. But iniambic verse, which reproduces, as far as may be, familiar speech, themost 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 maysuffice.POETICS|23XXIIIAs to that poetic imitation which is narrative in form and employs asingle meter, the plot manifestly ought, as in a tragedy, to beconstructed on dramatic principles. It should have for its subject asingle action, whole and complete, with a beginning, a middle, andan end. It will thus resemble a living organism in all its unity,and produce the pleasure proper to it. It will differ in structurefrom historical compositions, which of necessity present not asingle action, but a single period, and all that happened withinthat period to one person or to many, little connected together as theevents may be. For as the sea-fight at Salamis and the battle with theCarthaginians in Sicily took place at the same time, but did nottend to any one result, so in the sequence of events, one thingsometimes follows another, and yet no single result is therebyproduced. Such is the practice, we may say, of most poets. Here again,then, as has been already observed, the transcendent excellence ofHomer is manifest. He never attempts to make the whole war of Troy thesubject of his poem, though that war had a beginning and an end. Itwould have been too vast a theme, and not easily embraced in asingle view. If, again, he had kept it within moderate limits, it musthave been over-complicated by the variety of the incidents. As itis, he detaches a single portion, and admits as episodes many eventsfrom the general story of the war- such as the Catalogue of theships and others- thus diversifying the poem. All other poets take asingle hero, a single period, or an action single indeed, but with amultiplicity of parts. Thus did the author of the Cypria and of theLittle Iliad. For this reason the Iliad and the Odyssey each furnishthe subject of one tragedy, or, at most, of two; while the Cypriasupplies materials for many, and the Little Iliad for eight- the Awardof the Arms, the Philoctetes, the Neoptolemus, the Eurypylus, theMendicant Odysseus, the Laconian Women, the Fall of Ilium, theDeparture of the Fleet.POETICS|24XXIVAgain, Epic poetry must have as many kinds as Tragedy: it must besimple, or complex, or 'ethical,'or 'pathetic.' The parts also, withthe exception of song and spectacle, are the same; for it requiresReversals of the Si
tuation, Recognitions, and Scenes of Suffering.Moreover, the thoughts and the diction must be artistic. In allthese respects Homer is our earliest and sufficient model. Indeed eachof his poems has a twofold character. The Iliad is at once simpleand 'pathetic,' and the Odyssey complex (for Recognition scenes runthrough it), and at the same time 'ethical.' Moreover, in dictionand thought they are supreme.Epic poetry differs from Tragedy in the scale on which it isconstructed, and in its meter. As regards scale or length, we havealready laid down an adequate limit: the beginning and the end must becapable of being brought within a single view. This condition willbe satisfied by poems on a smaller scale than the old epics, andanswering in length to the group of tragedies presented at a singlesitting.Epic poetry has, however, a great- a special- capacity for enlargingits dimensions, and we can see the reason. In Tragedy we cannotimitate several lines of actions carried on at one and the sametime; we must confine ourselves to the action on the stage and thepart taken by the players. But in Epic poetry, owing to thenarrative form, many events simultaneously transacted can bepresented; and these, if relevant to the subject, add mass and dignityto the poem. The Epic has here an advantage, and one that conducesto grandeur of effect, to diverting the mind of the hearer, andrelieving the story with varying episodes. For sameness of incidentsoon produces satiety, and makes tragedies fail on the stage.As for the meter, the heroic measure has proved its fitness byhexameter test of experience. If a narrative poem in any other meteror in many meters 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 isanother point in which the narrative form of imitation stands alone.On the other hand, the iambic and the trochaic tetrameter are stirringmeasures, the latter being akin to dancing, the former expressive ofaction. Still more absurd would it be to mix together differentmeters, as was done by Chaeremon. Hence no one has ever composed apoem 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 theonly poet who rightly appreciates the part he should take himself. Thepoet should speak as little as possible in his own person, for it isnot this that makes him an imitator. Other poets appear themselvesupon the scene throughout, and imitate but little and rarely. Homer,after a few prefatory words, at once brings in a man, or woman, orother personage; none of them wanting in characteristic qualities, buteach 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 widerscope in Epic poetry, because there the person acting is not seen.Thus, the pursuit of Hector would be ludicrous if placed upon thestage- the Greeks standing still and not joining in the pursuit, andAchilles waving them back. But in the Epic poem the absurdity passesunnoticed. Now the wonderful is pleasing, as may be inferred fromthe fact that every one tells a story with some addition of hisknowing that his hearers like it. It is Homer who has chiefly taughtother poets the art of telling lies skilfully. The secret of it liesin a fallacy For, assuming that if one thing is or becomes, a secondis or becomes, men imagine that, if the second is, the firstlikewise is or becomes. But this is a false inference. Hence, wherethe first thing is untrue, it is quite unnecessary, provided thesecond be true, to add that the first is or has become. For themind, knowing the second to be true, falsely infers the truth of thefirst. There is an example of this in the Bath Scene of the Odyssey.Accordingly, the poet should prefer probable impossibilities toimprobable possibilities. The tragic plot must not be composed ofirrational parts. Everything irrational should, if possible, beexcluded; or, at all events, it should lie outside the action of theplay (as, in the Oedipus, the hero's ignorance as to the manner ofLaius' death); not within the drama- as in the Electra, themessenger's account of the Pythian games; or, as in the Mysians, theman who has come from Tegea to Mysia and is still speechless. The pleathat otherwise the plot would have been ruined, is ridiculous; sucha plot should not in the first instance be constructed. But once theirrational has been introduced and an air of likelihood imparted toit, we must accept it in spite of the absurdity. Take even theirrational incidents in the Odyssey, where Odysseus is left upon theshore of Ithaca. How intolerable even these might have been would beapparent if an inferior poet were to treat the subject. As it is,the absurdity is veiled by the poetic charm with which the poetinvests 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 isover-brilliantPOETICS|25XXVWith respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, thenumber and nature of the sources from which they may be drawn may bethus exhibited.The poet being an imitator, like a painter or any other artist, mustof 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 tobe. The vehicle of expression is languag
e- either current terms or, itmay be, rare words or metaphors. There are also many modificationsof language, which we concede to the poets. Add to this, that thestandard of correctness is not the same in poetry and politics, anymore than in poetry and any other art. Within the art of poetry itselfthere are two kinds of faults- those which touch its essence, andthose which are accidental. If a poet has chosen to imitate something,[but has imitated it incorrectly] through want of capacity, theerror is inherent in the poetry. But if the failure is due to awrong choice- if he has represented a horse as throwing out both hisoff legs at once, or introduced technical inaccuracies in medicine,for example, or in any other art- the error is not essential to thepoetry. These are the points of view from which we should consider andanswer the objections raised by the critics.First as to matters which concern the poet's own art. If hedescribes the impossible, he is guilty of an error; but the errormay be justified, if the end of the art be thereby attained (the endbeing that already mentioned)- if, that is, the effect of this orany other part of the poem is thus rendered more striking. A case inpoint is the pursuit of Hector. if, however, the end might have beenas well, or better, attained without violating the special rules ofthe poetic art, the error is not justified: for every kind of errorshould, if possible, be avoided.Again, does the error touch the essentials of the poetic art, orsome accident of it? For example, not to know that a hind has no hornsis 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.' applies to tales about the gods.It may well be that these stories are not higher than fact nor yettrue to fact: they are, very possibly, what Xenophanes says of them.But anyhow, 'this is what is said.' Again, a description may be nobetter than the fact: 'Still, it was the fact'; as in the passageabout 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 someone is poetically right or not, we must not look merely to theparticular act or saying, and ask whether it is poetically good orbad. 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 beto secure a greater good, or avert a greater evil.Other difficulties may be resolv
ed by due regard to the usage oflanguage. We may note a rare word, as in oureas men proton, 'the mulesfirst [he killed],' where the poet perhaps employs oureas not in thesense of mules, but of sentinels. So, again, of Dolon: 'ill-favoredindeed he was to look upon.' It is not meant that his body wasill-shaped but that his face was ugly; for the Cretans use the wordeueides, 'well-flavored' to denote a fair face. Again, zoroteron dekeraie, 'mix the drink livelier' does not mean 'mix it stronger' asfor hard drinkers, but 'mix it quicker.'Sometimes an expression is metaphorical, as 'Now all gods and menwere sleeping through the night,' while at the same time the poetsays: 'Often indeed as he turned his gaze to the Trojan plain, hemarveled at the sound of flutes and pipes.' 'All' is here usedmetaphorically for 'many,' all being a species of many. So in theverse, 'alone she hath no part... , oie, 'alone' is metaphorical;for the best known may be called the only one.Again, the solution may depend upon accent or breathing. ThusHippias of Thasos solved the difficulties in the lines, didomen(didomen) de hoi, and to men hou (ou) kataputhetai ombro.Or again, the question may be solved by punctuation, as inEmpedocles: 'Of a sudden things became mortal that before had learntto be immortal, and things unmixed before mixed.'Or again, by ambiguity of meaning, as parocheken de pleo nux,where the word pleo is ambiguous.Or by the usage of language. Thus any mixed drink is called oinos,'wine'. Hence Ganymede is said 'to pour the wine to Zeus,' thoughthe gods do not drink wine. So too workers in iron are calledchalkeas, or 'workers in bronze.' This, however, may also be takenas a metaphor.Again, when a word seems to involve some inconsistency of meaning,we should consider how many senses it may bear in the particularpassage. For example: 'there was stayed the spear of bronze'- weshould ask in how many ways we may take 'being checked there.' Thetrue mode of interpretation is the precise opposite of what Glauconmentions. Critics, he says, jump at certain groundless conclusions;they pass adverse judgement and then proceed to reason on it; and,assuming that the poet has said whatever they happen to think, findfault if a thing is inconsistent with their own fancy.The question about Icarius has been treated in this fashion. Thecritics imagine he was a Lacedaemonian. They think it strange,therefore, that Telemachus should not have met him when he went toLacedaemon. But the Cephallenian story may perhaps be the true one.They allege that Odysseus took a wife from among themselves, andthat 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 toartistic requirements, or to
is atype of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulouscleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true tolife: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, ashere described. The fourth point is consistency: for though thesubject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent,still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example ofmotiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in theOrestes; of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament ofOdysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe; of inconsistency,the Iphigenia at Aulis- for Iphigenia the suppliant in no wayresembles her later self.As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture ofcharacter, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or theprobable. Thus a person of a given character should speak or act ina given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability; justas this event should follow that by necessary or probable sequence. Itis therefore evident that the unraveling of the plot, no less than thecomplication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not bebrought about by the Deus ex Machina- as in the Medea, or in thereturn of the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should beemployed only for events external to the drama- for antecedent orsubsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods weascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the action there mustbe nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded, it shouldbe outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the irrational elementthe Oedipus of Sophocles.Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above thecommon level, the example of good portrait painters should befollowed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of theoriginal, make a likeness which is true to life and yet morebeautiful. So too the poet, in representing men who are irascible orindolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the typeand yet ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathon andHomer.These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should heneglect those appeals to the senses, which, though not among theessentials, are the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is muchroom for error. But of this enough has been said in our publishedtreatises.POETICS|16XVIWhat Recognition is has been already explained. We will nowenumerate its kinds.First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, ismost commonly employed- recognition by signs. Of these some arecongenital- such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on theirbodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Othersare acquired after birth;
is atype of manly valor; but valor in a woman, or unscrupulouscleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true tolife: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, ashere described. The fourth point is consistency: for though thesubject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent,still he must be consistently inconsistent. As an example ofmotiveless degradation of character, we have Menelaus in theOrestes; of character indecorous and inappropriate, the lament ofOdysseus in the Scylla, and the speech of Melanippe; of inconsistency,the Iphigenia at Aulis- for Iphigenia the suppliant in no wayresembles her later self.As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture ofcharacter, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or theprobable. Thus a person of a given character should speak or act ina given way, by the rule either of necessity or of probability; justas this event should follow that by necessary or probable sequence. Itis therefore evident that the unraveling of the plot, no less than thecomplication, must arise out of the plot itself, it must not bebrought about by the Deus ex Machina- as in the Medea, or in thereturn of the Greeks in the Iliad. The Deus ex Machina should beemployed only for events external to the drama- for antecedent orsubsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods weascribe the power of seeing all things. Within the action there mustbe nothing irrational. If the irrational cannot be excluded, it shouldbe outside the scope of the tragedy. Such is the irrational elementthe Oedipus of Sophocles.Again, since Tragedy is an imitation of persons who are above thecommon level, the example of good portrait painters should befollowed. They, while reproducing the distinctive form of theoriginal, make a likeness which is true to life and yet morebeautiful. So too the poet, in representing men who are irascible orindolent, or have other defects of character, should preserve the typeand yet ennoble it. In this way Achilles is portrayed by Agathon andHomer.These then are rules the poet should observe. Nor should heneglect those appeals to the senses, which, though not among theessentials, are the concomitants of poetry; for here too there is muchroom for error. But of this enough has been said in our publishedtreatises.POETICS|16XVIWhat Recognition is has been already explained. We will nowenumerate its kinds.First, the least artistic form, which, from poverty of wit, ismost commonly employed- recognition by signs. Of these some arecongenital- such as 'the spear which the earth-born race bear on theirbodies,' or the stars introduced by Carcinus in his Thyestes. Othersare acquired after birth;
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