Aristotle's theory of poetry and fine art

¡ª

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIII.

4¡ªXXIV.

author of the Cypria and of the Little

reason

the

Iliad

and the

subject of one tragedy,

For

Iliad.

Odyssey each

this 4

furnish

two

or, at most, of

91

4

the

while the

;

Cypria supplies materials for many, and the Little Iliad

¡ª

for eight

Award

the

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

Epic

Again,

Tmgfidy:

or /

it

and

.

must be jimEJ&?.SE jpa.Btex,,;;pr etWcaU

also, with the exception of

^^ The parts

'

pa thetic'

song

poetry must hay?_j&unanx. Jsmdg^ as

are

spectacle,

same

the

for

;

requires

it

B&ve.FsaJs-o^Hjbr'ISiEuanonTIRecio^MSI^^

Moreover, the J;houghts and the diction must^a

-SttSgriPg.

ilg^rtistic

and

.

In

all

twofold character.

?pathetic,'

Homer

these respects

The Iliad

once simple and

at

is

and the Odyssey complex

scenes run through

our earliest

is

Indeed each of his poems has a

sufficient model.

and

it),

at the

Eecognition

(for

same time

'

ethical.*

Moreover, in diction and thought they are supreme.

Epic poetry

from Tragedy

differs

iii

the scale

As

which J;t^ig?ieoastea?teed?aDTl''4ir'44s?^^

scale or length,

limit

:

¡ª

we have

already laid

down an adequate

the beginning and the end must be capable of

being brought within

will be satisfied

a

single

This

view.

by poems on a smaller

answering in

length

tragedies presented at a single

sitting.

old epics, and

Epic poetry has,

capacity for enlarging

reason.

ona

regards

however,

its

a

condition

scale than the

to the

group

¡ª

special

great

dimensions, and

a

we can

In Tragedy we cannot imitate several

of

i

see the

lines

of

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIV.

actions carried on at one

4¡ª7

and the same time

93

we must

;

confine ourselves to the action on the stage and the part

B ut

taken by the players.

nar rative form

many

,

in Epic poetry, owing to the

events simultaneously transacted

*^^iLM.?f&¡ì^ltedi?And these,

add_masB and dignity tn\^P^

relevant to the subject,

if

The Epic has here

pnpyyi

an advantage, and one that conduces

effect, to

the

mind

diverting the

story

with

varying

As

fitness

in

makes

of

tragedies fail

stage.

for the metre, the heroic

by the

measure has proved

test of experience.

If a narrative

its 5

poem

any other metre or in many metres were now com-

posed,

it

measures

massiv e

;

would be found incongruous.

the

heroic

and hence

the

is

it

-Mjl metapl^ors. which

stateliest

a hand, the

For of

all

and the most

most readily admits, rare words

is

another

point

narrative form of imitation stands alone.

1460

of

and relieving

For sameness

episodes.

incident soon produces satiety, and

on the

grandeur

to

of the hearer,

in

which the

On

the other

iambic and the trochaic tetrameter are stirring

measures, the latter being akin to dancing, the former

expressive of action.

mix together

Hence

in

Still

more absurd would

different metres, as

verse.

be to 6

was done by Chaeremon.

no one has ever composed a

any other than heroic

it

poem on

Nature

a great scale

herself, as

we

have said, teaches the choice of the proper measure.

Homer, admirable

in all respects, has the special merit 7

of being the only poet

he should take

himself.

who

rightly appreciates the part

Tjxfi

pnpt should gpeaV

m

.little

as jpi^gible.^in-JHS-owa.-parsQn,, for..it>.is Jiot this that makes

him an

imitator.

Other poets appear themselves upon

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIV.

the scene throughout, and imitate but

Homer,

7

¡ª 10

95

and

little

rarely.

after a few prefatory words, at once brings in

a man, or woman, or other personage

wanting in

characteristic

none of them

;

but

qualities,

each with

a

character of his own.

T^e. ^lemeqt qf th^. yppd^rfal

has wi der scope in Epic poetry, because there

t,be^ per-qon

antinpr

not

js

Greeks standing

still

Achilles waving

one

tells

a

his

assuming that

or becomes,

likewise

is

men

or

is

or

imagine that,

But

becomes.

first

thing

There

is

of

is

his

in

a

fallacy.

if

the second

is,

the

9

lies

Eor,

is

first

this is a false inference.

is

untrue,

it

true, to

is

quite un-

add that the

true, falsely infers the truth of the

an example of

own,

Homer who

For the mind, knowing the

has become.

second to be

is

or becomes, a second

is

necessary, provided the second b6

first

and

poem the

the art of telling

lies

it

It

it.

poets

of

one thing

Hence, where the

the

wonderful

the

some addition

with

hearers like

secret

if

pursuit,

in the Epic

Now

¡ª

be inferred from the fact that every

story

The

But

back.

has chiefly taught other

skilfully.

placed upon the stage

unnoticed.

may

knowing that

if

and not joining in the

them

passes

as

:

Thus, the pursuit of

.qeen.

Hector would be ludicrous

absurdity

in.^Xragedy- 8

T9.q}urp.(\

whidx-.tha.JiEondfiifuL.depeiids^ for -its

The_iaatioiial) on

.-chiaf-effects.

pleasing

^

this in the

first.

Bath Scene of the

Odyssey.

Accordingly,

t l^R

poet

should

prefer Lprobable

The

possibilities jbaJ|mprobable

possibilitiesJ

must not be composed of

irrational parts.

Jm-

tragic plot

Everything

10

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXIV. lo¡ªXXV.

irrational

excluded;

should, if possible, be

97

2

at

or,

all

events, it should lie outside the action of the play (as,

manner

in the Oedipus, the hero's ignorance as to the

of Laius'

death)

¡ª

not within the drama,

;

in

as

Electra, the messenger's account of the Pythian

in the Mysians, the

or, as

to

Mysia and

is still

man who

should not in the

But once the

Take even the

the absurdity.

Odyssey, where Odysseus

How

1460

1

As

it

an

if

is,

the absurdity

The

the

diction s hould

action

Qr th

,

be

were

of Ithaca.

to treat the subject.

by the poetic charm

_eJ abora.tpd. ixu i.hfi.,4)auses jpf 11

,

ex.pir.fisaion-Qf

charac]i;er

Tor, conversely, character and thought are

merely obscured by a diction that

;XV

air

in spite of

it.

where thereisno

ight.

it

upon the shore

veiled

is

accept

might have been would be

inferior poet

with which the poet invests

such a

irrational incidents in the

is left

intolerable even these

apparent

;

been introduced and an

we must

it,

ridiculous

is

instance be constructed.

first

irrational has

of likelihood imparted to

has come from Tegea

The plea that otherwise

speechless.

the plot would have been ruined,

plot

the

games

is

over brilliant.

With respect to critical difficulties and their solutions, the number and nature of the sources from which

may

they

The

other

be drawn

imitator, like

Tmnst

nf

Tiecessity

artist,

nr tb"^in^'--

The Y^rV

terms

are

be thus exhibited.

an

ob|ectgi=;:Jjiings- as-

inH

may

.poe t being

or,

also

"^^

*^"

one

imitate

of. ..tbxefi-

JJifiyjSEfica.^^

^"1

"^

pYpy^gsjon

^'^^"ff?

is

^af

,^^(^7

lan^as^e

may be, rare words

many modifications of

it

a painter or any

.

¡ª

9Vi?:t?tf

tr9

^^-

either current 2

or metaphors.

language,

There

which

H

we

3¡ª6

ARISTOTLE'S POETICS XXV.

Add

concede to the poets.

correctness

more than

to this, that the standard of 3

not the same in poetry and

is

in poetry

and any other

easenc p, and

its

tihn" P-

If a poet has chosen to imitate

imitated

wrong choice

to a

-ihoS?

whiV.h ar Rajnmrjp.nha.l

it

any

politics,

Within the

art.

o f poetry itself there are two kinds

which touch

99

¡ª

if

if

the failure

is

he has represented a horse

as throwing out both his off legs at once, or introduced

technical

inaccuracies in medicine, for

any other

art

¡ª

the error

example, or in

not essential to the poetry.

is

These are the points of view from which we should

answer

and

consider

the

by the

raised

objections

critics.

First

art^

which

concern

the

but the error

?'

be

art

¡ª

if,

any other part of the

striking.

A

may

be

iustified,

thereby attained (the

already mentioned),

5

case

in

that

poem

point

is

the

is,

if

the end

end being that

effect

or

of this

thus rendered more

is

the pursuit of Hector.

however, the end might have been as

If,

own

_ttg__^poe^^^

If Jte?dfi¡ìOTJjes?ahe?ampasfiij3k.Jm.^^

an?j&rr@p

of

to matters

as

well, or better,

attained without violating the special rules of the poetic

the error

art,

is

not justified: for every kind of error

should, if possible, be avoided.

Again, does the error touch

poetic art, or

to

know

some accident

of

Further,

.is

essentials

of the

¡ª

For example,

it ?

that a hind has no horns

than to paint

the

a

less serious

not

matter

it inartistically.

if it

be objected that the description

is

not b

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