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poetics-第3章

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the language of civic life; the poets of our time; the language of the



rhetoricians。 Character is that which reveals moral purpose; showing



what kind of things a man chooses or avoids。 Speeches; therefore;



which do not make this manifest; or in which the speaker does not



choose or avoid anything whatever; are not expressive of character。



Thought; on the other hand; is found where something is proved to be



or not to be; or a general maxim is enunciated。



  Fourth among the elements enumerated comes Diction; by which I mean;



as has been already said; the expression of the meaning in words;



and its essence is the same both in verse and prose。



  Of the remaining elements Song holds the chief place among the



embellishments



  The Spectacle has; indeed; an emotional attraction of its own;



but; of all the parts; it is the least artistic; and connected least



with the art of poetry。 For the power of Tragedy; we may be sure; is



felt even apart from representation and actors。 Besides; the



production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage



machinist than on that of the poet。



POETICS|7



  VII







  These principles being established; let us now discuss the proper



structure of the Plot; since this is the first and most important



thing in Tragedy。



  Now; according to our definition Tragedy is an imitation of an



action that is complete; and whole; and of a certain magnitude; for



there may be a whole that is wanting in magnitude。 A whole is that



which has a beginning; a middle; and an end。 A beginning is that which



does not itself follow anything by causal necessity; but after which



something naturally is or comes to be。 An end; on the contrary; is



that which itself naturally follows some other thing; either by



necessity; or as a rule; but has nothing following it。 A middle is



that which follows something as some other thing follows it。 A well



constructed plot; therefore; must neither begin nor end at



haphazard; but conform to these principles。



  Again; a beautiful object; whether it be a living organism or any



whole composed of parts; must not only have an orderly arrangement



of parts; but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty



depends on magnitude and order。 Hence a very small animal organism



cannot be beautiful; for the view of it is confused; the object



being seen in an almost imperceptible moment of time。 Nor; again;



can one of vast size be beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all



in at once; the unity and sense of the whole is lost for the



spectator; as for instance if there were one a thousand miles long。



As; therefore; in the case of animate bodies and organisms a certain



magnitude is necessary; and a magnitude which may be easily embraced



in one view; so in the plot; a certain length is necessary; and a



length which can be easily embraced by the memory。 The limit of length



in relation to dramatic competition and sensuous presentment is no



part of artistic theory。 For had it been the rule for a hundred



tragedies to compete together; the performance would have been



regulated by the water…clock… as indeed we are told was formerly done。



But the limit as fixed by the nature of the drama itself is this:



the greater the length; the more beautiful will the piece be by reason



of its size; provided that the whole be perspicuous。 And to define the



matter roughly; we may say that the proper magnitude is comprised



within such limits; that the sequence of events; according to the



law of probability or necessity; will admit of a change from bad



fortune to good; or from good fortune to bad。



POETICS|8



  VIII







  Unity of plot does not; as some persons think; consist in the



unity of the hero。 For infinitely various are the incidents in one



man's life which cannot be reduced to unity; and so; too; there are



many actions of one man out of which we cannot make one action。



Hence the error; as it appears; of all poets who have composed a



Heracleid; a Theseid; or other poems of the kind。 They imagine that as



Heracles was one man; the story of Heracles must also be a unity。



But Homer; as in all else he is of surpassing merit; here too… whether



from art or natural genius… seems to have happily discerned the truth。



In composing the Odyssey he did not include all the adventures of



Odysseus… such as his wound on Parnassus; or his feigned madness at



the mustering of the host… incidents between which there was no



necessary or probable connection: but he made the Odyssey; and



likewise the Iliad; to center round an action that in our sense of the



word is one。 As therefore; in the other imitative arts; the



imitation is one when the object imitated is one; so the plot; being



an imitation of an action; must imitate one action and that a whole;



the structural union of the parts being such that; if any one of



them is displaced or removed; the whole will be disjointed and



disturbed。 For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible



difference; is not an organic part of the whole。



POETICS|9



  IX







  It is; moreover; evident from what has been said; that it is not the



function of the poet to relate what has happened; but what may happen…



what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity。 The



poet and the historian differ not by writing in verse or in prose。 The



work of Herodotus might be put into verse; and it would still be a



species of history; with meter no less than without it。 The true



difference is that one relates what has happened; the other what may



happen。 Poetry; therefore; is a more philosophical and a higher



thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal; history



the particular。 By the universal I mean how a person of a certain type



on occasion speak or act; according to the law of probability or



necessity; and it is this universality at which poetry aims in the



names she attaches to the personages。 The particular is… for



example… what Alcibiades did or suffered。 In Comedy this is already



apparent: for here the poet first constructs the plot on the lines



of probability; and then inserts characteristic names… unlike the



lampooners who write about particular individuals。 But tragedians



still keep to real names; the reason being that what is possible is



credible: what has not happened we do not at once feel sure to be



possible; but what has happened is manifestly possible: otherwise it



would not have happened。 Still there are even some tragedies in



which there are only one or two well…known names; the rest being



fictitious。 In others; none are well known… as in Agathon's Antheus;



where incidents and names alike are fictitious; and yet they give none



the less pleasure。 We must not; therefore; at all costs keep to the



received legends; which are the usual subjects of Tragedy。 Indeed;



it would be absurd to attempt it; for even subjects that are known are



known only to a few; and yet give pleasure to all。 It clearly



follows that the poet or 'maker' should be the maker of plots rather



than of verses; since he is a poet because he imitates; and what he



imitates are actions。 And even if he chances to take a historical



subject; he is none the less a poet; for there is no reason why some



events that have actually happened should not conform to the law of



the probable and possible; and in virtue of that quality in them he is



their poet or maker。



  Of all plots and actions the episodic are the worst。 I call a plot



'episodic' in which the episodes or acts succeed one another without



probable or necessary sequence。 Bad poets compose such pieces by their



own fault; good poets; to please the players; for; as they write



show pieces for competition; they stretch the plot beyond its



capacity; and are often forced to break the natural continuity。



  But again; Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action;



but of events inspiring fear or pity。 Such an effect is best



produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is



heightened when; at the same time; they follows as cause and effect。



The tragic wonder will then be greater than if they happened of



themselves or by accident; for even coincidences are most striking



when they have an air of design。 We may instance the statue of Mitys



at Argos; which fell upon his murderer while he was a spectator at a



festival; and killed him。 Such events seem not to be due to mere



chance。 Plots; therefore; constructed on these principles are



necessarily the best。



POETICS|10



  X







  Plots are either Simple or Complex; for the actions in real life; of



which the plots are an imitation; obviously show a similar



distinction。 An action which is one and continuous in the sense



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