Aristotle · Complete work
Chapter 23
Chapter 23 of 26. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
περὶ δὲ τῆς διηγηματικῆς καὶ ἐν μέτρῳ μιμητικῆς, ὅτι δεῖ τοὺς μύθους καθάπερ ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις συνιστάναι δραματικοὺς καὶ περὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν ὅλην καὶ τελείαν[Bekker 1459a line 20]ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ μέσα καὶ τέλος, ἵν’ ὥσπερ ζῷον ἓν ὅλον ποιῇ τὴν οἰκείαν ἡδονήν, δῆλον,καὶ μὴ ὁμοίας ἱστορίαις τὰς συνθέσεις εἶναι, ἐν αἷς ἀνάγκη οὐχὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ποιεῖσθαι δήλωσιν ἀλλ’ ἑνὸς χρόνου, ὅσα ἐν τούτῳ συνέβη περὶ ἕνα ἢ πλείους, ὧν ἕκαστον ὡς ἔτυχεν ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα.ὥσπερ[Bekker 1459a line 25]γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἥ τ’ ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ἐγένετο ναυμαχία καὶ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ Καρχηδονίων μάχη οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸ συντείνουσαι τέλος, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς χρόνοις ἐνίοτε γίνεται θάτερον μετὰ θάτερον, ἐξ ὧν ἓν οὐδὲν γίνεται τέλος.σχεδὸν δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ποιητῶν τοῦτο[Bekker 1459a line 30]δρῶσι.διὸ ὥσπερ εἴπομεν ἤδη καὶ ταύτῃ θεσπέσιος ἂν φανείη Ὅμηρος παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους, τῷ μηδὲ τὸν πόλεμον καίπερ ἔχοντα ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος ἐπιχειρῆσαι ποιεῖν ὅλον· λίαν γὰρ ἂν μέγας καὶ οὐκ εὐσύνοπτος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι ὁ μῦθος, ἢ τῷ μεγέθει μετριάζοντα καταπεπλεγμένον τῇ ποικιλίᾳ.[Bekker 1459a line 35]νῦν δ’ ἓν μέρος ἀπολαβὼν ἐπεισοδίοις κέχρηται αὐτῶν πολλοῖς, οἷον νεῶν καταλόγῳ καὶ ἄλλοις ἐπεισοδίοις διαλαμβάνει τὴν ποίησιν.οἱ δ’ ἄλλοι περὶ ἕνα ποιοῦσι καὶ[Bekker 1459b][Bekker 1459b line 1]περὶ ἕνα χρόνον καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν πολυμερῆ, οἷον ὁ τὰ Κύπρια ποιήσας καὶ τὴν μικρὰν Ἰλιάδα.τοιγαροῦν ἐκ μὲν Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας μία τραγῳδία ποιεῖται ἑκατέρας ἢ δύο μόναι, ἐκ δὲ Κυπρίων πολλαὶ καὶ τῆς μικρᾶς[Bekker 1459b line 5]Ἰλιάδος.
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.
As for narrative imitation in meter, it is clear that the plots, as in tragedies, must be constructed dramatically and centered upon a single action, whole and complete,[Bekker 1459a line 20]having a beginning, middle, and end, so that, like a single whole living creature, it may produce its proper pleasure.Their structures must not resemble histories, in which one must present not a single action but a single period of time: everything that happened during it to one person or to several, each event bearing only a chance relation to the others.For just[Bekker 1459a line 25]as the sea battle at Salamis and the battle of the Carthaginians in Sicily occurred at the same time without contributing to the same end, so too in successive periods one event sometimes follows another without any single end resulting from them.Yet nearly all poets[Bekker 1459a line 30]do this.Therefore, as we have already said, in this respect also Homer may appear divinely inspired beside the others, because he did not attempt to make the whole war his subject, though it had a beginning and an end. The plot would have been excessively large and not readily comprehensible at a single view; or, if he had moderated its length, it would have been intricate through its variety.[Bekker 1459a line 35]As it is, he took one part and used many of the remaining events as episodes, such as the Catalogue of Ships and other episodes with which he diversifies the poem.The other poets, however, compose about one man,[Bekker 1459b][Bekker 1459b line 1]one period, and one action with many parts, as did the authors of the Cypria and the Little Iliad.Consequently, from the Iliad and the Odyssey only one tragedy, or at most two, can be made from each, while many can be made from the Cypria and from the Little[Bekker 1459b line 5]Iliad.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved.
As for narrative imitation in meter, it is clear that the plots, just as in tragedies, must be constructed dramatically and around a single action that is whole and complete,[Bekker 1459a line 20]with a beginning, middle, and end, so that, like a single whole living creature, it may produce its proper pleasure.Their structures must not resemble histories, in which it is necessary to present not a single action but a single period of time—everything that happened during it to one or more people, each event related to the others only as chance determined.For just[Bekker 1459a line 25]as the naval battle at Salamis and the Carthaginians’ battle in Sicily occurred during the same period without contributing to the same end, so too, in successive periods, one event sometimes happens after another without any single end resulting from them.Yet nearly all poets[Bekker 1459a line 30]do this.Therefore, as we have already said, Homer may appear inspired in this respect also, in comparison with the others, because he did not attempt to make the entire war his subject, although it had a beginning and an end. The plot would have been excessively large and not readily grasped as a whole; or, if he had limited its scale, it would have been overly complicated by its variety.[Bekker 1459a line 35]Instead, he selected one part and used many of the other events as episodes, such as the Catalogue of Ships and other episodes with which he diversifies the poem.The other poets, however, write about one man,[Bekker 1459b][Bekker 1459b line 1]one period of time, and one action with many parts, as did the authors of the Cypria and the Little Iliad.Consequently, only one tragedy, or at most two, can be made from each of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but many can be made from the Cypria and from the Little[Bekker 1459b line 5]Iliad.