Aristotle · Complete work
Chapter 10
Chapter 10 of 26. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν μύθων οἱ μὲν ἁπλοῖ οἱ δὲ πεπλεγμένοι· καὶ γὰρ αἱ πράξεις ὧν μιμήσεις οἱ μῦθοί εἰσιν ὑπάρχουσιν εὐθὺς οὖσαι τοιαῦται.λέγω δὲ ἁπλῆν μὲν πρᾶξιν ἧς[Bekker 1452a line 15]γινομένης ὥσπερ ὥρισται συνεχοῦς καὶ μιᾶς ἄνευ περιπετείας ἢ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἡ μετάβασις γίνεται,πεπλεγμένην δὲ ἐξ ἧς μετὰ ἀναγνωρισμοῦ ἢ περιπετείας ἢ ἀμφοῖν ἡ μετάβασίς ἐστιν.ταῦτα δὲ δεῖ γίνεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ μύθου, ὥστε ἐκ τῶν προγεγενημένων συμβαίνειν[Bekker 1452a line 20]ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἢ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς γίγνεσθαι ταῦτα· διαφέρει γὰρ πολὺ τὸ γίγνεσθαι τάδε διὰ τάδε ἢ μετὰ τάδε.
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.
Some plots are simple and others complex; for the actions of which plots are imitations are themselves, from the outset, of these kinds.By a simple action I mean one which,[Bekker 1452a line 15]being continuous and unified as defined above, undergoes its change of fortune without reversal or recognition;and by a complex action, one in which the change of fortune is accompanied by recognition or reversal, or both.These must arise from the very construction of the plot, so that they result from the preceding events[Bekker 1452a line 20]either by necessity or according to probability; for there is a great difference between one thing happening because of another and happening merely after it.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved.
Some plots are simple and others complex, since the actions of which plots are imitations are themselves naturally of these kinds.By a simple action I mean one in which,[Bekker 1452a line 15]as previously defined, the action is continuous and unified, and the change occurs without reversal or recognition;by a complex action I mean one in which the change occurs with recognition or reversal or both.These must arise from the structure of the plot itself, so that, as a result of what has happened before,[Bekker 1452a line 20]they occur either by necessity or according to probability; for there is a great difference between one event happening because of another and one event merely happening after another.