Aristotle · Complete work
Chapter 22
Chapter 22 of 26. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
λέξεως δὲ ἀρετὴ σαφῆ καὶ μὴ ταπεινὴν εἶναι.σαφεστάτη μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ἡ ἐκ τῶν κυρίων ὀνομάτων, ἀλλὰ[Bekker 1458a line 20]ταπεινή· παράδειγμα δὲ ἡ Κλεοφῶντος ποίησις καὶ ἡ Σθενέλου.σεμνὴ δὲ καὶ ἐξαλλάττουσα τὸ ἰδιωτικὸν ἡ τοῖς ξενικοῖς κεχρημένη· ξενικὸν δὲ λέγω γλῶτταν καὶ μεταφορὰν καὶ ἐπέκτασιν καὶ πᾶν τὸ παρὰ τὸ κύριον.ἀλλ’ ἄν τις ἅπαντα τοιαῦτα ποιήσῃ, ἢ αἴνιγμα ἔσται ἢ[Bekker 1458a line 25]βαρβαρισμός· ἂν μὲν οὖν ἐκ μεταφορῶν, αἴνιγμα, ἐὰν δὲ ἐκ γλωττῶν, βαρβαρισμός.αἰνίγματός τε γὰρ ἰδέα αὕτη ἐστί, τὸ λέγοντα ὑπάρχοντα ἀδύνατα συνάψαι· κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν τῶν ἄλλων ὀνομάτων σύνθεσιν οὐχ οἷόν τε τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, κατὰ δὲ τὴν μεταφορῶν ἐνδέχεται, οἷον ἄνδρ’ εἶδον πυρὶ χαλκὸν[Bekker 1458a line 30]ἐπ’ ἀνέρι κολλήσαντα, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα.τὰ δὲ ἐκ τῶν γλωττῶν βαρβαρισμός.δεῖ ἄρα κεκρᾶσθαί πως τούτοις· τὸ μὲν γὰρ τὸ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν ποιήσει μηδὲ ταπεινόν, οἷον ἡ γλῶττα καὶ ἡ μεταφορὰ καὶ ὁ κόσμος καὶ τἆλλα τὰ εἰρημένα[Bekker 1458a line 34]εἴδη, τὸ δὲ κύριον τὴν σαφήνειαν.οὐκ ἐλάχιστον δὲ μέρος[Bekker 1458b][Bekker 1458b line 1]συμβάλλεται εἰς τὸ σαφὲς τῆς λέξεως καὶ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν αἱ ἐπεκτάσεις καὶ ἀποκοπαὶ καὶ ἐξαλλαγαὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων· διὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἄλλως ἔχειν ἢ ὡς τὸ κύριον παρὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς γιγνόμενον τὸ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν ποιήσει, διὰ δὲ τὸ[Bekker 1458b line 5]κοινωνεῖν τοῦ εἰωθότος τὸ σαφὲς ἔσται.ὥστε οὐκ ὀρθῶς ψέγουσιν οἱ ἐπιτιμῶντες τῷ τοιούτῳ τρόπῳ τῆς διαλέκτου καὶ διακωμῳδοῦντες τὸν ποιητήν, οἷον Εὐκλείδης ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὡς ῥᾴδιον ὂν ποιεῖν εἴ τις δώσει ἐκτείνειν ἐφ’ ὁπόσον βούλεται, ἰαμβοποιήσας ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ λέξει Ἐπιχάρην εἶδον[Bekker 1458b line 10]Μαραθῶνάδε βαδίζοντα, καὶ οὐκ † ἂν γεράμενος † τὸν ἐκείνου ἐλλέβορον.τὸ μὲν οὖν φαίνεσθαί πως χρώμενον τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ γελοῖον· τὸ δὲ μέτρον κοινὸν ἁπάντων ἐστὶ τῶν μερῶν·καὶ γὰρ μεταφοραῖς καὶ γλώτταις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις εἴδεσι χρώμενος ἀπρεπῶς καὶ ἐπίτηδες ἐπὶ τὰ γελοῖα τὸ[Bekker 1458b line 15]αὐτὸ ἂν ἀπεργάσαιτο.τὸ δὲ ἁρμόττον ὅσον διαφέρει ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπῶν θεωρείσθω ἐντιθεμένων τῶν ὀνομάτων εἰς τὸ μέτρον.καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γλώττης δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μεταφορῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἰδεῶν μετατιθεὶς ἄν τις τὰ κύρια ὀνόματα κατίδοι ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγομεν· οἷον τὸ αὐτὸ ποιήσαντος[Bekker 1458b line 20]ἰαμβεῖον Αἰσχύλου καὶ Εὐριπίδου, ἓν δὲ μόνον ὄνομα μεταθέντος, ἀντὶ κυρίου εἰωθότος γλῶτταν, τὸ μὲν φαίνεται καλὸν τὸ δ’ εὐτελές. Αἰσχύλος μὲν γὰρ ἐν τῷ Φιλοκτήτῃ ἐποίησε φαγέδαιναν ἥ μου σάρκας ἐσθίει ποδός,ὁ δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐσθίει τὸ θοινᾶται μετέθηκεν. καὶ[Bekker 1458b line 25]νῦν δέ μ’ ἐὼν ὀλίγος τε καὶ οὐτιδανὸς καὶ ἀεικής,εἴ τις λέγοι τὰ κύρια μετατιθεὶς νῦν δέ μ’ ἐὼν μικρός τε καὶ ἀσθενικὸς καὶ ἀειδής·καὶ δίφρον ἀεικέλιον καταθεὶς ὀλίγην τε τράπεζαν,[Bekker 1458b line 30]δίφρον μοχθηρὸν καταθεὶς μικράν τε τράπεζαν·καὶ τὸ ἠιόνες βοόωσιν, ἠιόνες κράζουσιν.ἔτι δὲ Ἀριφράδης τοὺς τραγῳδοὺς ἐκωμῴδει ὅτι ἃ οὐδεὶς ἂν εἴπειεν ἐν τῇ διαλέκτῳ τούτοις χρῶνται, οἷον τὸ δωμάτων ἄπο ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀπὸ δωμάτων, καὶ τὸ σέθεν καὶ τὸ ἐγὼ δέ νιν καὶ τὸ[Bekker 1459a][Bekker 1459a line 1]Ἀχιλλέως πέρι ἀλλὰ μὴ περὶ Ἀχιλλέως, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα.διὰ γὰρ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἐν τοῖς κυρίοις ποιεῖ τὸ μὴ ἰδιωτικὸν ἐν τῇ λέξει ἅπαντα τὰ τοιαῦτα· ἐκεῖνος δὲ τοῦτο ἠγνόει.ἔστιν δὲ μέγα μὲν τὸ ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰρημένων[Bekker 1459a line 5]πρεπόντως χρῆσθαι, καὶ διπλοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ γλώτταις, πολὺ δὲ μέγιστον τὸ μεταφορικὸν εἶναι.μόνον γὰρ τοῦτο οὔτε παρ’ ἄλλου ἔστι λαβεῖν εὐφυΐας τε σημεῖόν ἐστι· τὸ γὰρ εὖ μεταφέρειν τὸ τὸ ὅμοιον θεωρεῖν ἐστιν.τῶν δ’ ὀνομάτων τὰ μὲν διπλᾶ μάλιστα ἁρμόττει τοῖς διθυράμβοις, αἱ δὲ[Bekker 1459a line 10]γλῶτται τοῖς ἡρωικοῖς, αἱ δὲ μεταφοραὶ τοῖς ἰαμβείοις.καὶ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἡρωικοῖς ἅπαντα χρήσιμα τὰ εἰρημένα, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἰαμβείοις διὰ τὸ ὅτι μάλιστα λέξιν μιμεῖσθαι ταῦτα ἁρμόττει τῶν ὀνομάτων ὅσοις κἂν ἐν λόγοις τις χρήσαιτο· ἔστι δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα τὸ κύριον καὶ μεταφορὰ καὶ κόσμος.[Bekker 1459a line 15]περὶ μὲν οὖν τραγῳδίας καὶ τῆς ἐν τῷ πράττειν μιμήσεως ἔστω ἡμῖν ἱκανὰ τὰ εἰρημένα.
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.
The excellence of diction is to be clear without being commonplace.Diction composed of ordinary nouns is indeed the clearest, but[Bekker 1458a line 20]it is commonplace; examples are the poetry of Cleophon and that of Sthenelus.Diction is elevated and departs from the everyday when it employs unfamiliar forms; by unfamiliar I mean the foreign word, metaphor, lengthening, and everything that departs from the ordinary.But if anyone makes all his diction of this sort, the result will be either a riddle or[Bekker 1458a line 25]a barbarism: if composed of metaphors, a riddle; if of foreign words, a barbarism.For the essence of a riddle is to join actual things together while saying what is impossible. This cannot be done by combining other kinds of nouns, but it can be done by metaphor, as in “I saw a man welding bronze with fire[Bekker 1458a line 30]upon a man,” and similar expressions.Diction composed of foreign words is a barbarism.These elements must therefore be blended in some fashion. The foreign word, metaphor, ornament, and the other forms already mentioned[Bekker 1458a line 34]will keep the diction from being everyday and commonplace, while the ordinary word will secure its clarity.No small contribution[Bekker 1458b][Bekker 1458b line 1]to making diction clear without making it everyday comes from the lengthenings, curtailments, and alterations of nouns. Because such a form differs from the ordinary and departs from customary usage, it will keep the diction from being everyday; because it[Bekker 1458b line 5]shares in customary usage, it will remain clear.Thus those who censure this manner of speech and ridicule the poet are wrong, as was the elder Euclides, who said that it was easy to compose verse if one were allowed to lengthen words as much as one pleased, and who made iambic verses in the diction itself: “I saw Epichares[Bekker 1458b line 10]walking Marathonward,” and “not † having grown old † on his hellebore.”To make one’s use of this method conspicuous is, of course, ridiculous; but due measure is the common rule for every part of diction.For one would produce the same effect by using metaphors, foreign words, and the other forms improperly and deliberately[Bekker 1458b line 15]for comic effect.How great a difference appropriate usage makes may be observed in epic verse by substituting ordinary nouns within the meter.And with the foreign word, metaphors, and the other forms as well, anyone who replaces them with ordinary nouns will see that what we say is true. For example, Aeschylus and Euripides composed the same[Bekker 1458b line 20]iambic line, but Euripides changed only a single noun, substituting a foreign word for the customary ordinary one; the one line appears noble, the other paltry. Aeschylus wrote in his Philoctetes, “the ulcer that eats the flesh of my foot,”while Euripides replaced “eats” with “feasts upon.” And in[Bekker 1458b line 25]“Now, being small and worthless and unseemly,”if someone were to replace the words with ordinary ones and say, “Now, being little and weak and ugly”;and for “setting down an unseemly stool and a meager table,”[Bekker 1458b line 30]“setting down a wretched stool and a little table”;and for “the shores roar,” “the shores cry out.”Ariphrades also ridiculed the tragedians because they used expressions that no one would employ in conversation, such as “from the halls away” instead of “away from the halls,” and “of thee,” and “I him,” and[Bekker 1459a][Bekker 1459a line 1]“Achilles about” instead of “about Achilles,” and all other expressions of that kind.Because they are not among the ordinary forms, all such expressions keep diction from being everyday; but he did not understand this.It is a great thing to use each of the forms already mentioned[Bekker 1459a line 5]appropriately, compound nouns and foreign words included, but by far the greatest thing is to be master of metaphor.This alone cannot be learned from another and is a sign of natural genius; for to make good metaphors is to perceive likeness.Among nouns, compound forms are especially suited to dithyrambs,[Bekker 1459a line 10]foreign words to heroic verse, and metaphors to iambic verse.In heroic verse all the forms mentioned are useful; but because iambic verse imitates speech as closely as possible, the nouns appropriate to it are those one might also use in prose: the ordinary noun, metaphor, and ornament.[Bekker 1459a line 15]Let what has been said suffice, then, concerning tragedy and imitation through action.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved.
The excellence of diction is to be clear without being commonplace.Diction composed of ordinary words is certainly the clearest, but[Bekker 1458a line 20]it is commonplace; examples are the poetry of Cleophon and that of Sthenelus.Diction that uses unfamiliar words is elevated and departs from everyday usage. By unfamiliar words I mean foreign words, metaphor, extension, and everything that departs from the ordinary word.But if someone makes everything of this kind, the result will be either a riddle or[Bekker 1458a line 25]gibberish: if it is composed of metaphors, a riddle; if of foreign words, gibberish.For the essence of a riddle is to connect real things while saying what is impossible. This cannot be done by combining other kinds of words, but it can be done through metaphors, for example, “I saw a man welding bronze with fire[Bekker 1458a line 30]onto a man,” and similar expressions.Compositions made from foreign words are gibberish.Diction must therefore be blended with these elements in some way. The foreign word, metaphor, ornament, and the other kinds already mentioned[Bekker 1458a line 34]will prevent it from being everyday and commonplace, while the ordinary word will provide clarity.No small contribution[Bekker 1458b][Bekker 1458b line 1]to making diction clear without being everyday is made by extensions, shortenings, and alterations of words. Because a form differs from the ordinary word and departs from customary usage, it will keep the diction from being everyday; but because it[Bekker 1458b line 5]shares something with customary usage, it will be clear.Those who criticize this form of speech and ridicule the poet are therefore wrong. One example is the elder Euclides, who said that it would be easy to write poetry if one were allowed to lengthen words as much as one pleased, and who composed iambic lines in the diction itself: “I saw Epichares[Bekker 1458b line 10]walking to Marathon,” and “I would not, † having honored †, take his hellebore.”To appear to use this device deliberately is certainly ridiculous; but moderation is a requirement common to all the parts of diction.For someone who used metaphors, foreign words, and the other kinds inappropriately and deliberately for comic effect[Bekker 1458b line 15]would produce the same result.How great a difference appropriate usage makes can be seen in epic verse by substituting ordinary words into the meter.With foreign words, metaphors, and the other forms as well, anyone who substitutes the ordinary words can see that what we say is true. For example, Aeschylus and Euripides composed[Bekker 1458b line 20]the same iambic line, but Euripides changed just one word, substituting a foreign word for the customary ordinary one, so that one line appears beautiful and the other cheap. Aeschylus wrote in his Philoctetes, “An ulcer that eats the flesh of my foot,”but Euripides substituted “feasts on” for “eats.” And[Bekker 1458b line 25]“Now, being small and worthless and unsightly,”would become, if someone substituted the ordinary words, “Now, being little and weak and ugly.”And instead of “setting down an unseemly seat and a scanty table,”[Bekker 1458b line 30]“setting down a wretched seat and a little table.”And instead of “the shores resound,” “the shores cry out.”Ariphrades also ridiculed the tragedians because they use forms that no one would use in ordinary speech, such as “from the house away” rather than “away from the house,” “of you,” “and I him,” and[Bekker 1459a][Bekker 1459a line 1]“Achilles about” rather than “about Achilles,” and all other expressions of this kind.Because they are not among the ordinary forms, all such expressions keep diction from being everyday; but Ariphrades failed to understand this.It is important to use each of the kinds already mentioned[Bekker 1459a line 5]appropriately, including compound words and foreign words, but by far the greatest thing is to be skilled in metaphor.This alone cannot be learned from someone else, and it is a sign of natural talent, since to make metaphors well is to perceive similarities.Among nouns, compound words are especially appropriate to dithyrambs,[Bekker 1459a line 10]foreign words to heroic verse, and metaphors to iambic verse.In heroic verse all the kinds already mentioned are useful, but because iambic verse imitates speech as closely as possible, the appropriate nouns are those that one might also use in prose: the ordinary word, metaphor, and ornament.[Bekker 1459a line 15]Let what has been said suffice, then, concerning tragedy and imitation through action.