Aristotle · Complete work
Chapter 1
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[Bekker 1447a][Bekker 1447a line 8]περὶ ποιητικῆς αὐτῆς τε καὶ τῶν εἰδῶν αὐτῆς, ἥν τινα δύναμιν ἕκαστον ἔχει, καὶ πῶς δεῖ συνίστασθαι τοὺς μύθους[Bekker 1447a line 10]εἰ μέλλει καλῶς ἕξειν ἡ ποίησις, ἔτι δὲ ἐκ πόσων καὶ ποίων ἐστὶ μορίων, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστι μεθόδου, λέγωμεν ἀρξάμενοι κατὰ φύσιν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων.ἐποποιία δὴ καὶ ἡ τῆς τραγῳδίας ποίησις ἔτι δὲ κωμῳδία καὶ ἡ διθυραμβοποιητικὴ καὶ τῆς[Bekker 1447a line 15]αὐλητικῆς ἡ πλείστη καὶ κιθαριστικῆς πᾶσαι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι μιμήσεις τὸ σύνολον·διαφέρουσι δὲ ἀλλήλων τρισίν, ἢ γὰρ τῷ ἐν ἑτέροις μιμεῖσθαι ἢ τῷ ἕτερα ἢ τῷ ἑτέρως καὶ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον.ὥσπερ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασι καὶ σχήμασι πολλὰ μιμοῦνταί τινες ἀπεικάζοντες (οἱ μὲν[Bekker 1447a line 20]διὰ τέχνης οἱ δὲ διὰ συνηθείας), ἕτεροι δὲ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς, οὕτω κἀν ταῖς εἰρημέναις τέχναις ἅπασαι μὲν ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν ἐν ῥυθμῷ καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ, τούτοις δ’ ἢ χωρὶς ἢ μεμιγμένοις·οἷον ἁρμονίᾳ μὲν καὶ ῥυθμῷ χρώμεναι μόνον ἥ τε αὐλητικὴ καὶ ἡ κιθαριστικὴ κἂν εἴ τινες[Bekker 1447a line 25]ἕτεραι τυγχάνωσιν οὖσαι τοιαῦται τὴν δύναμιν, οἷον ἡ τῶν συρίγγων,αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ῥυθμῷ χωρὶς ἁρμονίας ἡ τῶν ὀρχηστῶν (καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι διὰ τῶν σχηματιζομένων ῥυθμῶν μιμοῦνται καὶ ἤθη καὶ πάθη καὶ πράξεις)·ἡ δὲ μόνον τοῖς λόγοις ψιλοῖς καὶ ἡ τοῖς μέτροις καὶ τούτοις[Bekker 1447b][Bekker 1447b line 8]εἴτε μιγνῦσα μετ’ ἀλλήλων εἴθ’ ἑνί τινι γένει χρωμένη τῶν μέτρων ἀνώνυμοι τυγχάνουσι μέχρι τοῦ νῦν·οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν[Bekker 1447b line 10]ἔχοιμεν ὀνομάσαι κοινὸν τοὺς Σώφρονος καὶ Ξενάρχου μίμους καὶ τοὺς Σωκρατικοὺς λόγουςοὐδὲ εἴ τις διὰ τριμέτρων ἢ ἐλεγείων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τινῶν τῶν τοιούτων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν.πλὴν οἱ ἄνθρωποί γε συνάπτοντες τῷ μέτρῳ τὸ ποιεῖν ἐλεγειοποιοὺς τοὺς δὲ ἐποποιοὺς ὀνομάζουσιν, οὐχ ὡς[Bekker 1447b line 15]κατὰ τὴν μίμησιν ποιητὰς ἀλλὰ κοινῇ κατὰ τὸ μέτρον προσαγορεύοντες·καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἰατρικὸν ἢ φυσικόν τι διὰ τῶν μέτρων ἐκφέρωσιν, οὕτω καλεῖν εἰώθασιν· οὐδὲν δὲ κοινόν ἐστιν Ὁμήρῳ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλεῖ πλὴν τὸ μέτρον, διὸ τὸν μὲν ποιητὴν δίκαιον καλεῖν, τὸν δὲ φυσιολόγον μᾶλλον ἢ[Bekker 1447b line 20]ποιητήν·ὁμοίως δὲ κἂν εἴ τις ἅπαντα τὰ μέτρα μιγνύων ποιοῖτο τὴν μίμησιν καθάπερ Χαιρήμων ἐποίησε Κένταυρον μικτὴν ῥαψῳδίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν μέτρων, καὶ ποιητὴν προσαγορευτέον. περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων διωρίσθω τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.εἰσὶ δέ τινες αἳ πᾶσι χρῶνται τοῖς[Bekker 1447b line 25]εἰρημένοις, λέγω δὲ οἷον ῥυθμῷ καὶ μέλει καὶ μέτρῳ, ὥσπερ ἥ τε τῶν διθυραμβικῶν ποίησις καὶ ἡ τῶν νόμων καὶ ἥ τε τραγῳδία καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία· διαφέρουσι δὲ ὅτι αἱ μὲν ἅμα πᾶσιν αἱ δὲ κατὰ μέρος.ταύτας μὲν οὖν λέγω τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν τεχνῶν ἐν οἷς ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved for fidelity, technical precision, clarity, and structure.
[Bekker 1447a][Bekker 1447a line 8]Let us speak of the art of poetry, both in itself and in its various kinds: what power each kind possesses, how plots must be constructed[Bekker 1447a line 10]if the poetic work is to be successful, and further, of how many and what sorts of parts it consists; and likewise of all other matters belonging to the same inquiry. Let us begin, as is natural, first with first principles.
Epic poetry, then, and the poetry of tragedy, as well as comedy and dithyrambic poetry, and most of the art of flute-playing and of lyre-playing, all prove to be, taken as a whole, forms of imitation.[Bekker 1447a line 15]They differ from one another in three respects: either by imitating in different media, or by imitating different objects, or by imitating differently and not in the same manner.
For just as some people imitate many things by portraying them with colors and shapes—some through art,[Bekker 1447a line 20]others through practice—while others imitate through the voice, so too in all the arts just mentioned, imitation is produced in rhythm, language, and harmony, these being used either separately or in combination.
For example, flute-playing and lyre-playing employ harmony and rhythm alone, as do any[Bekker 1447a line 25]other arts that may possess the same power, such as the playing of pipes;
the art of dancers employs rhythm by itself, without harmony—for dancers too, through rhythms embodied in their movements, imitate characters, emotions, and actions.
But the art that employs bare language alone, and that which employs metrical language, whether[Bekker 1447b][Bekker 1447b line 8]combining different meters with one another or using some single kind of meter, have remained without a name down to the present day.
For we have no[Bekker 1447b line 10]common name to give to the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic dialogues,
nor to imitations someone might produce in trimeters, elegiac couplets, or any other such meters.
People do, however, attach the word “poet” to the meter and call some “elegiac poets” and others “epic poets,” naming them poets not[Bekker 1447b line 15]according to their imitation, but applying the term indiscriminately according to their meter.
Indeed, even if writers set forth something medical or scientific in meter, people customarily call them poets. Yet Homer and Empedocles have nothing in common except meter, and so it is right to call the former a poet, but the latter a natural philosopher rather than[Bekker 1447b line 20]a poet.
Likewise, even if someone were to produce an imitation by mixing every kind of meter, as Chaeremon did in his Centaur, a mixed rhapsody composed in all meters, he too must be called a poet. Let these matters, then, be distinguished in this way.
There are also some arts that employ all the[Bekker 1447b line 25]means already mentioned—I mean rhythm, melody, and meter—as do dithyrambic poetry and the poetry of nomes, tragedy, and comedy. They differ, however, in that some use all these means at once, while others use them in separate parts.
These, then, are what I call the differences among the arts in the media through which they produce their imitation.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved.
[Bekker 1447a][Bekker 1447a line 8]Let us discuss poetry itself and its kinds, the particular capacity each kind has, how plots should be constructed[Bekker 1447a line 10]if the poetry is to be successful, how many and what sorts of parts it consists of, and likewise all the other matters belonging to the same inquiry, beginning naturally with first principles.
Epic poetry, then, and the making of tragedy, as well as comedy, dithyrambic poetry, and most music for the flute and the lyre, all happen to be, taken as a whole, imitations.[Bekker 1447a line 15]But they differ from one another in three respects: they imitate either by different means, or different objects, or in a different manner and not in the same way.
For just as some people imitate many things by producing likenesses with colors and shapes—some[Bekker 1447a line 20]through skill and others through practice—while others do so through the voice, so too, in all the arts mentioned, imitation is produced through rhythm, language, and melody, these being used either separately or in combination.
For example, flute music and lyre music use melody and rhythm alone, as do any[Bekker 1447a line 25]other arts that happen to have the same capacity, such as the art of playing panpipes.
The art of dancers uses rhythm by itself, without melody, since dancers too imitate character, emotion, and action through rhythms formed into figures.
But the art that uses only plain language, and the one that uses metrical language, whether[Bekker 1447b][Bekker 1447b line 8]combining different meters with one another or using a single kind of meter, happen to have no name even now.
For we have no[Bekker 1447b line 10]common name to give to the mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus and the Socratic dialogues, nor to an imitation that someone might produce in trimeters, elegiac couplets, or any other such meters.
People do, however, attach the making to the meter and call some writers elegiac poets and others epic poets, naming them poets not[Bekker 1447b line 15]according to their imitation but collectively according to their meter.
For even if writers present a medical or scientific subject in meter, people customarily call them poets. Yet Homer and Empedocles have nothing in common except meter, so it is right to call the former a poet, but the latter a natural philosopher rather than[Bekker 1447b line 20]a poet.
Likewise, even if someone were to produce an imitation by combining every kind of meter, as Chaeremon did in his Centaur, a mixed rhapsody composed in every kind of meter, he should still be called a poet. Let these matters, then, be distinguished in this way.
There are also some arts that use all the[Bekker 1447b line 25]means mentioned—I mean rhythm, song, and meter—as do dithyrambic poetry, nome poetry, tragedy, and comedy. They differ, however, in that some use all these means simultaneously, while others use them at different times.
These, then, are what I call the differences among the arts in the means by which they produce imitation.