Aristotle · Complete work
Chapter 4
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ἐοίκασι δὲ γεννῆσαι μὲν ὅλως τὴν ποιητικὴν αἰτίαι[Bekker 1448b line 5]δύο τινὲς καὶ αὗται φυσικαί.τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστὶ καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ὅτι μιμητικώτατόν ἐστι καὶ τὰς μαθήσεις ποιεῖται διὰ μιμήσεως τὰς πρώτας, καὶ τὸ χαίρειν τοῖς μιμήμασι πάντας.σημεῖον δὲ τούτου, τὸ συμβαῖνον[Bekker 1448b line 10]ἐπὶ τῶν ἔργων· ἃ γὰρ αὐτὰ λυπηρῶς ὁρῶμεν, τούτων τὰς εἰκόνας τὰς μάλιστα ἠκριβωμένας χαίρομεν θεωροῦντες, οἷον θηρίων τε μορφὰς τῶν ἀτιμοτάτων καὶ νεκρῶν.αἴτιον δὲ καὶ τούτου, ὅτι μανθάνειν οὐ μόνον τοῖς φιλοσόφοις ἥδιστον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ βραχὺ[Bekker 1448b line 15]κοινωνοῦσιν αὐτοῦ.διὰ γὰρ τοῦτο χαίρουσι τὰς εἰκόνας ὁρῶντες, ὅτι συμβαίνει θεωροῦντας μανθάνειν καὶ συλλογίζεσθαι τί ἕκαστον, οἷον ὅτι οὗτος ἐκεῖνος·ἐπεὶ ἐὰν μὴ τύχῃ προεωρακώς, οὐχ ᾗ μίμημα ποιήσει τὴν ἡδονὴν ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀπεργασίαν ἢ τὴν χροιὰν ἢ διὰ τοιαύτην τινὰ ἄλλην αἰτίαν.[Bekker 1448b line 20]κατὰ φύσιν δὲ ὄντος ἡμῖν τοῦ μιμεῖσθαι καὶ τῆς ἁρμονίας καὶ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ (τὰ γὰρ μέτρα ὅτι μόρια τῶν ῥυθμῶν ἐστι φανερὸν) ἐξ ἀρχῆς οἱ πεφυκότες πρὸς αὐτὰ μάλιστα κατὰ μικρὸν προάγοντες ἐγέννησαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐκ τῶν αὐτοσχεδιασμάτων.διεσπάσθη δὲ κατὰ τὰ οἰκεῖα ἤθη ἡ ποίησις·[Bekker 1448b line 25]οἱ μὲν γὰρ σεμνότεροι τὰς καλὰς ἐμιμοῦντο πράξεις καὶ τὰς τῶν τοιούτων, οἱ δὲ εὐτελέστεροι τὰς τῶν φαύλων, πρῶτον ψόγους ποιοῦντες, ὥσπερ ἕτεροι ὕμνους καὶ ἐγκώμια.τῶν μὲν οὖν πρὸ Ὁμήρου οὐδενὸς ἔχομεν εἰπεῖν τοιοῦτον ποίημα, εἰκὸς δὲ εἶναι πολλούς,ἀπὸ δὲ Ὁμήρου ἀρξαμένοις[Bekker 1448b line 30]ἔστιν, οἷον ἐκείνου ὁ Μαργίτης καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἐν οἷς κατὰ τὸ ἁρμόττον καὶ τὸ ἰαμβεῖον ἦλθε μέτρον—διὸ καὶ ἰαμβεῖον καλεῖται νῦν, ὅτι ἐν τῷ μέτρῳ τούτῳ ἰάμβιζον ἀλλήλους.καὶ ἐγένοντο τῶν παλαιῶν οἱ μὲν ἡρωικῶν οἱ δὲ ἰάμβων ποιηταί.ὥσπερ δὲ καὶ τὰ σπουδαῖα μάλιστα ποιητὴς Ὅμηρος[Bekker 1448b line 35]ἦν (μόνος γὰρ οὐχ ὅτι εὖ ἀλλὰ καὶ μιμήσεις δραματικὰς ἐποίησεν), οὕτως καὶ τὸ τῆς κωμῳδίας σχῆμα πρῶτος ὑπέδειξεν, οὐ ψόγον ἀλλὰ τὸ γελοῖον δραματοποιήσας· ὁ γὰρ Μαργίτης ἀνάλογον ἔχει, ὥσπερ Ἰλιὰς[Bekker 1449a][Bekker 1449a line 1]καὶ ἡ Ὀδύσσεια πρὸς τὰς τραγῳδίας, οὕτω καὶ οὗτος πρὸς τὰς κωμῳδίας.παραφανείσης δὲ τῆς τραγῳδίας καὶ κωμῳδίας οἱ ἐφ’ ἑκατέραν τὴν ποίησιν ὁρμῶντες κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν οἱ μὲν ἀντὶ τῶν ἰάμβων κωμῳδοποιοὶ ἐγένοντο,[Bekker 1449a line 5]οἱ δὲ ἀντὶ τῶν ἐπῶν τραγῳδοδιδάσκαλοι, διὰ τὸ μείζω καὶ ἐντιμότερα τὰ σχήματα εἶναι ταῦτα ἐκείνων. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐπισκοπεῖν εἰ ἄρα ἔχει ἤδη ἡ τραγῳδία τοῖς εἴδεσιν ἱκανῶς ἢ οὔ, αὐτό τε καθ’ αὑτὸ κρῖναι καὶ πρὸς τὰ θέατρα, ἄλλος λόγος.γενομένη δ’ οὖν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς[Bekker 1449a line 10]αὐτοσχεδιαστικῆς — καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ἡ κωμῳδία, καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐξαρχόντων τὸν διθύραμβον, ἡ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν τὰ φαλλικὰ ἃ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἐν πολλαῖς τῶν πόλεων διαμένει νομιζόμενα — κατὰ μικρὸν ηὐξήθη προαγόντων ὅσον ἐγίγνετο φανερὸν αὐτῆς·καὶ πολλὰς μεταβολὰς μεταβαλοῦσα ἡ[Bekker 1449a line 15]τραγῳδία ἐπαύσατο, ἐπεὶ ἔσχε τὴν αὑτῆς φύσιν.καὶ τό τε τῶν ὑποκριτῶν πλῆθος ἐξ ἑνὸς εἰς δύο πρῶτος Αἰσχύλος ἤγαγε καὶ τὰ τοῦ χοροῦ ἠλάττωσε καὶ τὸν λόγον πρωταγωνιστεῖν παρεσκεύασεν· τρεῖς δὲ καὶ σκηνογραφίαν Σοφοκλῆς.ἔτι δὲ τὸ μέγεθος· ἐκ μικρῶν μύθων καὶ[Bekker 1449a line 20]λέξεως γελοίας διὰ τὸ ἐκ σατυρικοῦ μεταβαλεῖν ὀψὲ ἀπεσεμνύνθη, τό τε μέτρον ἐκ τετραμέτρου ἰαμβεῖον ἐγένετο.τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον τετραμέτρῳ ἐχρῶντο διὰ τὸ σατυρικὴν καὶ ὀρχηστικωτέραν εἶναι τὴν ποίησιν, λέξεως δὲ γενομένης αὐτὴ ἡ φύσις τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον εὗρε· μάλιστα γὰρ[Bekker 1449a line 25]λεκτικὸν τῶν μέτρων τὸ ἰαμβεῖόν ἐστιν· σημεῖον δὲ τούτου,πλεῖστα γὰρ ἰαμβεῖα λέγομεν ἐν τῇ διαλέκτῳ τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ἑξάμετρα δὲ ὀλιγάκις καὶ ἐκβαίνοντες τῆς λεκτικῆς ἁρμονίας.ἔτι δὲ ἐπεισοδίων πλήθη. καὶ τὰ ἄλλ’ ὡς ἕκαστα κοσμηθῆναι λέγεται[Bekker 1449a line 30]ἔστω ἡμῖν εἰρημένα·πολὺ γὰρ ἂν ἴσως ἔργον εἴη διεξιέναι καθ’ ἕκαστον.
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.
Two causes appear to have given rise to the art of poetry as a whole,[Bekker 1448b line 5]and both are natural.
First, imitation is innate in human beings from childhood, and in this they differ from the other animals: the human being is the most imitative of them all and makes his first steps in learning through imitation. Second, everyone takes pleasure in imitations.
Evidence of this lies in what happens[Bekker 1448b line 10]in actual experience: although we look with pain upon the things themselves, we take pleasure in viewing the most exact images of them—for example, the forms of the most contemptible animals and of corpses.
The reason for this, too, is that learning gives the greatest pleasure not only to philosophers but equally to others, though they[Bekker 1448b line 15]partake of it only to a small degree.
For this reason people take pleasure in seeing images: as they contemplate them, they learn and infer what each thing is—for example, that this man is that one.
For if one happens not to have seen the subject before, the image will give pleasure not as an imitation, but because of its workmanship, its color, or some other cause of that kind.
[Bekker 1448b line 20]Since imitation, harmony, and rhythm are natural to us—and it is clear that meters are parts of rhythms—those who were by nature most gifted in these things gradually developed them from the beginning and brought poetry into being out of improvisations.
Poetry then divided according to the characters proper to its authors:[Bekker 1448b line 25]the more dignified represented noble actions and the actions of noble people, while the less elevated represented the actions of the base, at first composing invectives, just as the others composed hymns and encomia.
We cannot name any such poem by anyone before Homer, though it is likely that there were many;
but beginning with Homer[Bekker 1448b line 30]we can do so—for example, his Margites and other works of that kind. In these, because it was fitting, the iambic meter also appeared; hence it is now called “iambic,” because in this meter people lampooned one another.
And so, among the ancient poets, some became poets of heroic verse and others poets of iambics.
And just as Homer was preeminently the poet of serious subjects[Bekker 1448b line 35]—for he alone composed not merely well, but also dramatic imitations—so too he was the first to indicate the form of comedy, by dramatizing not invective but the ridiculous. For the Margites stands in an analogous relation: as the Iliad[Bekker 1449a][Bekker 1449a line 1]and the Odyssey stand to tragedies, so the Margites stands to comedies.
But once tragedy and comedy had appeared, those who were drawn toward either kind of poetry in accordance with their own natures became, in the one case, comic poets instead of writers of iambics,[Bekker 1449a line 5]and in the other, producers of tragedies instead of epic poets, because these forms were greater and more honored than the earlier ones. Whether tragedy has yet developed sufficiently in all its forms or not, and whether it is to be judged in itself or in relation to the theaters, is another question.
At any rate, having originated in improvisation[Bekker 1449a line 10]—both tragedy and comedy, tragedy from those who led the dithyramb, and comedy from those who led the phallic songs, which even now survive as established customs in many cities—tragedy gradually grew as poets developed whatever part of it became apparent.
And after undergoing many changes,[Bekker 1449a line 15]tragedy ceased changing once it had attained its own nature.
Aeschylus was the first to increase the number of actors from one to two; he reduced the role of the chorus and made dialogue take the leading part. Sophocles introduced three actors and scene-painting.
There was also the matter of magnitude: beginning with short plots and[Bekker 1449a line 20]ridiculous diction, because it developed out of the satyric form, tragedy acquired dignity only at a late stage; and its meter changed from the tetrameter to the iambic.
At first poets used the tetrameter because the poetry was satyric and more closely associated with dancing; but once dialogue had developed, its own nature discovered the meter suited to it. For the iambic is the most[Bekker 1449a line 25]conversational of meters. Evidence of this is that
in conversation with one another we utter iambic lines very often, but hexameters only rarely and when departing from the harmony of ordinary speech.
There was also the increase in the number of episodes. As for all the other ways in which each element is said to have been embellished,[Bekker 1449a line 30]let what has been said suffice;
for it would perhaps be a great labor to recount each development individually.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved.
Two causes appear to have given rise to poetry as a whole,[Bekker 1448b line 5]and both are natural.
First, imitation is natural to human beings from childhood, and in this respect they differ from the other animals: a human being is the most imitative of animals and acquires the first lessons through imitation. Second, everyone takes pleasure in imitations.
Evidence for this is what happens[Bekker 1448b line 10]with works of art. We take pleasure in looking at the most exact images of things that are painful for us to look at in themselves, such as the forms of the most repulsive animals and of corpses.
The reason for this too is that learning is most pleasant not only for philosophers but equally for everyone else, though they share in it only to a limited[Bekker 1448b line 15]extent.
This is why people take pleasure in looking at images: as they view them, they happen to learn and reason out what each thing is—for example, “That person is this one.”
For if someone has not happened to see the subject before, the image will give pleasure not as an imitation but because of its workmanship, its color, or some other cause of that sort.
[Bekker 1448b line 20]Since imitation, melody, and rhythm are natural to us—and it is clear that meters are parts of rhythms—those who were naturally most gifted in these things gradually developed them from the beginning and produced poetry out of improvisations.
Poetry then divided according to the poets’ own characters.[Bekker 1448b line 25]The more dignified imitated noble actions and the actions of noble people, while the less elevated imitated the actions of inferior people, at first composing invectives, just as the others composed hymns and encomiums.
We cannot name any such poem by anyone before Homer, though it is likely that there were many.
But beginning with Homer,[Bekker 1448b line 30]examples can be given, such as his Margites and other works of that kind. In these, the iambic meter also appeared because it was appropriate. This is why it is now called “iambic”: because in this meter people used to lampoon one another.
Thus, among the ancient poets, some became poets of heroic verse and others poets of iambic verse.
And just as Homer was the supreme poet of serious subjects[Bekker 1448b line 35]—for he alone not only composed well but also produced dramatic imitations—so too he was the first to indicate the form of comedy, dramatizing not invective but the ridiculous. For the Margites stands in the same relation to comedies as the Iliad[Bekker 1449a][Bekker 1449a line 1]and the Odyssey stand to tragedies.
Once tragedy and comedy had appeared, poets were drawn to one or the other kind of poetry according to their own natural disposition. Some became writers of comedy instead of iambic verse,[Bekker 1449a line 5]while others became producers of tragedy instead of epic poets, because these forms were greater and more honored than the earlier ones.
Whether tragedy has by now sufficiently developed all its forms or not, judged both in itself and in relation to theatrical performances, is another question.
At any rate, tragedy originated in improvisation,[Bekker 1449a line 10]as did comedy: tragedy from those who led off the dithyramb, and comedy from those who led the phallic songs, which even now remain customary in many cities. Tragedy then grew little by little, as poets developed whatever aspect of it had become apparent.
After undergoing many changes,[Bekker 1449a line 15]tragedy ceased changing once it had attained its own nature.
Aeschylus was the first to increase the number of actors from one to two; he reduced the role of the chorus and made spoken dialogue take the leading role. Sophocles introduced three actors and scene painting.
There was also the matter of scale. Developing from short plots and[Bekker 1449a line 20]ridiculous language, because it had evolved out of the satyric form, tragedy acquired dignity only at a late stage, and its meter changed from the tetrameter to the iambic meter.
At first poets used the tetrameter because the poetry was satyric and more suited to dancing. But once speech was introduced, its own nature discovered the meter appropriate to it, since the iambic is the most[Bekker 1449a line 25]conversational of the meters. Evidence for this is that in conversation with one another we speak iambic rhythms most often, but hexameters only rarely and only when departing from the natural rhythm of speech.
There was also the increase in the number of episodes. As for the other features and the way each is said to have been embellished,[Bekker 1449a line 30]let what has been said suffice, since it would perhaps be a great task to go through every detail.