Beginning from Improvisations:

Aristotle’s History of Poetry

Part I

Texts &Translations

(c) 2019; 2024 Bart A. Mazzetti

1
 Chapter 3 complete

1448a 19-1448b 2

eti de toutôn tritê diaphora to hôs hekasta toutôn [20] mimêsaito an tis.

kai gar en tois autois kai ta auta mimeisthai estin hote men apangellonta, ê heteron ti
gignomenon hôsper Homêros poiei ê hôs ton auton kai mê metaballonta, ê pantas hôs
prattontas kai energountas tous mimoumenous.

en trisi dê tautais diaphorais hê mimêsis estin, [25] hôs eipomen kat' archas, en hois te <kai
ha> kai hôs.

hôste têi men ho autos an eiê mimêtês Homêrôi Sophoklês, mimountai gar amphô
spoudaious, têi de Aristophanei, prattontas gar mimountai kai drôntas amphô.

hothen kai dramata kaleisthai tines auta phasin, hoti mimountai drôntas.

dio kai [30] antipoiountai tês te tragôidias kai tês kômôidias hoi Dôrieis (tês men gar
kômôidias hoi Megareis hoi te entautha hôs epi tês par' autois dêmokratias genomenês kai
hoi ek Sikelias, ekeithen gar ên Epicharmos ho poiêtês pollôi proteros ôn Chiônidou kai
Magnêtos:

kai tês tragôidias enioi [35] tôn en Peloponnêsôi) poioumenoi ta onomata sêmeion: autoi
men gar kômas tas perioikidas kalein phasin,

Athênaious de dêmous, hôs kômôidous ouk apo tou kômazein lechthentas alla têi kata
kômas planêi atimazomenous ek tou asteôs:

[1448b] kai to poiein autoi men dran, Athênaious de prattein prosagoreuein. peri men oun
tôn diaphorôn kai posai kai tines tês mimêseôs eirêsthô tauta.

Translation

But there is yet a third difference of these [arts] in the [20] manner by which each of these
things might be imitated. For in the same things one might imitate the same things
sometimes by narrating (whether becoming another person as Homer does, or in the same
manner without changing), or in the manner of imitating all the agents as engaged in
action.
Imitating, then, consists in these three [25] differences, as we have said at the
outset: that in which, the things about which, and the manner by which. Wherefore, indeed,
in one way Sophocles would be the same kind of imitator as Homer, for they both imitate
matters of some seriousness; but [in another way like] Aristophanes, for they both imitate
agents as actors engaged in action. That is why some say they are called dramata,1 because
they imitate drôntas [or ‘those doing them’; that is, ‘those acting them out’].
It is for this [30] reason that the Dorians lay claim to both tragedy and comedy:
comedy, indeed, [being claimed] by the Megarians—those here [on the mainland], who
allege that it arose among them at the time of their democracy; and those in Sicily, on the
1
Or ‘things done’ = ‘dramas’.
2
grounds that Epicharmus the poet, who was much earlier than Chionides and Magnes, was
from there—but tragedy, by some of those who dwell in [35] the Peloponnesus, making
the names a sign. For they say they call their outlying villages kômas, but the Athenians,
dêmous, as if kômôdoi [‘comedians’] were so-called not from kômazein [‘reveling’], but
because kata kômas planêi, ‘they wandered from village to village’ when driven in dis-
grace from the town. [1448b] And they say they name poiein [‘doing’] drân; but the
Athenians prattein [‘acting’, ‘doing’].
Concerning these differences in the ways of imitating, then, both how many and
what they are, let what has been said suffice.

ON THE CLAIM IN SUM.

‘The Dorians’ collectively (comprising the three groups of Megarians) make the
names ‘comedy’ and ‘drama’ a sign of their claim to have invented the two species of
dramata, namely, comedy and tragedy. If it were true that komodoi were so called from
komas (which no one believes) rather than from komazein (which everyone thinks is the
case), this would be a sign that their claim was true. Likewise, if dramata were said from
dran (and this all readily concede), and further, if dran were a Dorian word not in use
among the Athenians (which is demonstrably false), this would be another sign of the truth
of their claim. What the Athenians call poiein they call dran.

The Dorians lay claim to both tragedy and comedy…making the names a sign.

the Megarians
here
in Sicily
(some of those) in the Peloponnesus (the Sicyonians?)

The Megarians here lay claim to comedy because, they say, it arose in the time of their
democracy (the implication being that the rule of the demos is favorable to comedy: see the
relevant passages in the prologomena comoediae).

The Megarians in Sicily lay claim to it on the grounds that the poet Epicharmus was from
there etc., which implies (1) that Epicharmus was (a) a comic poet, (b) from Sicily, and (c)
a Megarian or Dorian, and (2) that he antedated by many years the well-known Athenian
comic poets Chionides and Magnes.

Some of those Megarians in the Peloponnesus claim tragedy, but no reason is given (some
commentators think this is an oblique reference to Epigenes of Sicyon, a shadowy figure in
the early history of tragedy).

The names they make a sign are ‘comedy’ and ‘drama’ (nothing is said of the name
‘tragedy’, presumably because the Megarians based no argument on it).

‘Comedy’ they explain, not from komazein, but from komas.

‘Drama’, from dran, in opposition to the Athenian prattein.

The things claimed and the claimants:

comedy
3
the Megarians here
those in Sicily

tragedy
some of those in the Peloponnesus

Cf. Seth Benardete & Michael Davis, Aristotle: On Poetics (St Augustine's Press, 2002),
pp. 6-8:

From whence some say they are also called dramata24 because they imitate those doing
[drôntas]. It is for this reason that the Dorians also make a claim 25 to tragedy and comedy.
(For the local Megarians make a claim to comedy as having emerged at the time of their
democracy.26 And those in Sicily make a claim to it, for Epicharmus, the poet, was from
there; he was much earlier than Chionides and Magnes. 27 And some of those in the
Peloponnese make a claim to tragedy.) The Dorians make names a sign. For they say that
they call their outlying districts villages [kômai], while the Athenians call them demes, as if
comedians or revel singers [kômôdoi] were so called not from reveling [kômazein] but by
wandering from village to village [kata kômas], and driven in dishonor from the town. And
they say they name doing [poiein] drân, but that the Athenians name it prattein.28
24
Dramata are in the broad sense “doings” and in the narrower sense “dramas.”
25
The word is antipoiountai, again a compound of the verb poiein. It can also mean “to exert
oneself over” or “to have something done in return to one”; etymologically it might be
construed as “antipoetize.”
26
Aristotle discusses Megarian comedy at Nicomachean Ethics 1123a 20-24: “The vulgar
man spends a lot in small expenditures and strikes a false note in making a brilliant display;
in feasting, for example, his picnic-guests on the lavish scale of a wedding, and in
underwriting a comic chorus introduces purple in the parodos, as those in Megara do.” The
scholium on this passage runs: “It was usual to make leather skins as the screens in comedy
and not purple… The Megarians are ridiculed in comedy, since they also claim that
comedy was first discovered by them, inasmuch as the one who started comedy was
Susarion the Megarian. They are disparaged as vulgar and tasteless and for using
purple in the parodos. Aristophanes, at any rate, in mocking them, says somewhere,
‘No stolen joke from Megara.’ Ecphantides the oldest poet of the old comedy says, ‘I
shall not go through a song of Megarian comedy; I am ashamed to make a Megarian
drama.’ It is shown on all sides that the Megarians are the inventors of comedy.”
27
Epicharmus is mentioned in Plato’s Theatetus (152e1-5); Socrates is speaking about the
Heraclitean thesis: “Nothing ever is, but everything is always becoming. All of the wise,
with the exception of Parmenides, concur about this, Protagoras, Heraclitus, and Empedo-
cles, and of the poets, those who are tiptop in each kind of poetry, Epicharmus of comedy,
and Homer, of tragedy.” He is also mentioned in Iamblichus’s Life of Pythagoras (36.266):
“Epicharmus too was one of the external auditors [of the Pythagoreans], but he did not
belong to the inner circle. On his arrival in Syracuse, he abstained from philosophizing
openly on account of the tyranny of Hiero, but he put into meter the thoughts of the
Pythagoreans, making known their secret doctrines playfully.”
28
The verb dran is common in Aristotle and in Attic authors generally. This passage is the
only evidence we have that it is of Doric origin.

Text of 1448 30ff. with brief indications of the major topics.

4
1448b

It is for this [30] reason that the Dorians lay The Dorian claim to tragedy and comedy.
claim to both tragedy and comedy:

comedy, indeed, [being claimed] by the Comedy.

Megarians—those here [on the mainland], who
allege that it arose among them at the time of The Megarians: (a) on mainland Greece;
their democracy;

and those in Sicily, on the grounds that (b) in Sicily. Epicharmus; Chionides and
Epicharmus the poet, who was much earlier Magnes.
than Chionides and Magnes, was from there—

but tragedy, by some of those who dwell in [35] Tragedy

the Peloponnesus, making the names a sign.

For they say they call their outlying villages Comedy as said from kômas
kômas, but the Athenians, dêmous, as if
kômôdoi [‘comedians’] were so-called not from and not from kômazein.
kômazein [‘reveling’],

but because kata kômas planêi, ‘they wandered A popular, but false, etymology.
from village to village’ when driven in disgrace
from the town. [1448b]

And they say they name poiein [‘doing’] drân; The Dorian and Athenian names for ‘acting’.
but the Athenians prattein [‘acting’, ‘doing’].

Concerning these differences in the ways of Conclusion.

imitating, then, both how many and what they
are, let what has been said suffice.

5
Note that no etymology for ‘tragedy’ is offered here, but cf. the evidence of the following:

THAT KÔMÔIDIA IS SAID FROM KÔMAZEIN (‘REVELING’).

Cf. Aristotle, Poetics ch. 3, 1148a 36-7 (tr. B.A.M.):

autoi men gar kômas tas perioikidas kalein For they say they call their outlying villages
phasin, Athênaious de dêmous, kômas, but the Athenians, dêmous,

hôs kômôidous ouk apo
lechthentas alla têi kata
atimazomenous ek tou asteôs:
tou kômazein as if kômôdoi [‘comedians’] were so-called not
kômas planêi from kômazein [‘reveling’], but because kata
kômas planêi, ‘they wandered from village to
village’ when driven in disgrace from the
town….

THAT IAMBEION IS SAID FROM IAMBIZON (‘LAMPOONING’).

Cf. Aristotle, Poetics ch. 4, 1448b 30-32 (tr. B.A.M.):

dio kai iambeion kaleitai nun, …and hence [this kind of poetry, namely,
invective] is nowadays also called ‘iambic’ [or
‘lampooning’],

hoti en tôi metrôi toutôi iambizon allêlous. because in this metre they used to ‘iambize’ [or
‘lampoon’] one another.

THAT ‘TRAGEDY’ IS SAID FROM TRAGIZEIN (IN REFERENCE TO THE VOICE,

‘TO BE CRACKED’ AND HENCE ‘OF IRREGULAR PITCH’).

Cf. D. S. Margoliouth, The Poetics. Translated from Greek into English and from Arabic
into Latin with a Revised Text, Introduction, Commentary, Glossary and Onomasticon
(London/New York/Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, 1911), “On the Esoteric Style”, pp.
61-62:

It remains to consider how this idion of Tragedy [i.e. katharsis] is obtained. It must strike
any student that whereas Aristotle discusses the etymology of Epopoiia and Comedy, he says
nothing about that of Tragedy, on which he treats at such length. Either, then, the etymology
was so well known that such trouble was unnecessary, or, as elsewhere, it is the teacher’s
business to furnish the references. That the latter is the case we learn from the de Gener-
atione Animalium, where it is implied that not every one knows the meaning of tragi/zein.1
This verb in reference to the voice means “to be cracked,” i.e. “when at puberty it begins to
change in the direction of harshness and irregularity of pitch, 2 being neither still treble nor
yet bass, [61-62] nor all of uniform pitch, but resembling ill-strung and harsh chords.” 3 A
“tragic song” is, then, a song of irregular pitch; and in the Problems the word “tragic”
is used in an association which leaves no doubt that this is the author’s view of its
meaning.4 “Why is parakataloge in songs tragic? Possibly because of the irregularity of
pitch. For the irregular pitch is pathetic and is found in great crises or great sorrows.
The regular, on the other hand, is less doleful.” A “tragic song” is thus in a pitch which is
characteristic of great crises and sorrows: the terror and pity which it inspires belong to its
musical nature. “Tragic” is not named from Tragedy, but Tragedy from tragic; “the voice is
symbolic of pleasure and pain,”5 and “things get their names from the functions which they
are meant to fulfill.”6
6
 Great grief and the sense of overwhelming disaster are naturally symbolized by irregularity
of pitch in the voice; the rudiment of Tragedy will then be a howling and wailing of this sort;
out of this nucleus such masterpieces as the Oedipus of Sophocles developed.

788a 1 kalou=si/ tinej tragi/zein o(/tan a)nw/maloj v)= fwnh/.

2 Aristotle’s account of the phenomenon does not differ from that of modern authorities. See
G. STANLEY HALL, Adolescence and Psychology (1908), ii. 27: “Often the vocal cords
and cartilages to which they are attached do not grow in exact proportion the one to the
other; the tension is unsteady, and the voice occasionally breaks to a childish treble, often
with notes that are higher than were normal before the change began…. Sometimes the voice
is literally broken, perhaps into three or even more parts with gaps between them, and slowly
the intervals fill in.”
3 Natural History 518 a 17 h( fwnh\ metaba/llein a)/rxetai e)pi\ to\ traxu/teron kai\
a)nwmale/steron, ou)/t) e)/ti o)cei=a ou)=sa ou)/te pw barei=a, ou)/te pa=sa o(malh/, a)ll)
o(moi/a fainome/nh tai=j paraneneusme/naij kai\ traxei/aij xordai=j, o(\ kalou=si tragi/zein .
4 918 a 10 dia\ ti/ h( parakatalogh\ e)n tai=j %)dai=j tragiko/n; e)\ dia\ th\n a)nwmali/an;
paqhtiko\n ga\r to\ a)nwmale\j kai\ e)n mege/qei tu/xhj h)\ lu/phj. to de\ o(malej e)/latton
gow=dej.
5 Politics 1253 a 10.
6 Ibid. 1253 a 23.

CONCLUSION.

Just as iambeion or ‘iambic verse’ is so called from iambizon, ‘to lampoon’ or

‘lampooning’ (Poet. 4, 1448b 30-32), and kômôidia from kômazein, ‘to revel’ or ‘reveling’
(Poet. 3, 1148a 36-7), so tragoîdia would be so called from tragizein, the bringing forth of
a voice that is anomalian; that is, ‘uneven’ or ‘of irregular pitch’, as in ‘great crises or
great sorrows’.

TEXTS OF ARISTOTLE POINTING TO TRAGIZEIN AS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM

TRAGOÎDIA.

Cf. Aristotle, Probl., XIX. 6 (918 a 10-11) (tr. D. S. Margoliouth):

“Why is parakataloge in songs tragic? Possibly because of the irregularity of pitch

(anomalian). For the irregular pitch is pathetic and is found in great crises or great sorrows.
The regular, on the other hand, is less doleful.”

Cf. Aristotle, De gen. animal., V. 7 (787b 20—788a 11) (tr. ed. Loeb):

[20] All animals when castrated change to the female character, and utter a voice like that of
the females because the sinewy strength in the principle of the voice is relaxed. This
relaxation is just as if one should stretch a string and make it taut by hanging some weight
onto it, as women do who weave at the loom, for they stretch [25] the warp by attaching to it
what are called ‘laiai’. For in this way are the testes attached to the seminal passages, and
these again to the blood-vessel which takes its origin in the heart near the organ which sets
the voice in motion. Hence as the seminal [30] passages change towards the age at which
they are now able to secrete the semen, this part also changes along with them. As this
changes, the voice again changes, more indeed in males, but the same thing happens in
females too, only not so plainly, the [788a 1] result being what some call ‘bleating’
[tragizein] when the voice is uneven [anomalous, i.e. of irregular pitch]. After this it settles
into the deep or high voice of the succeeding time of life. If the testes are removed the
7
 tension of the passages relaxes, as when the weight is taken off the string or the [5] warp; as
this relaxes, the organ which moves the voice is loosened in the same proportion. This, then,
is the reason why the voice and the form generally changes to the female character in
castrated animals; it is because the principle is relaxed upon [10] which depends the tension
of the body; not that, as some suppose, the testes are themselves a ganglion of many
principles, but small changes are the causes of great ones, not per se but when it happens that
a principle changes with them.

DEFINITIONS.

TRAGIZEIN. (1) as meaning bleating, “the characteristic cry of a goat or sheep” (American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language); but, according to Aristotle, (2) “what some
call bleating [is] when the voice is uneven [= anomalous, i.e. of irregular pitch]” (De gen.
animal., 788a 1); but (by an extension of its original imposition), (3) the utterance of a
voice “when at puberty it begins to change in the direction of harshness and irregularity of
pitch, being neither still treble nor yet bass, nor all of uniform pitch [oute pasa omale], but
resembling ill-strung and harsh chords” (Aristotle, Hist. animal., VII, 1, 518a 17, tr. D. S.
Margoliouth); then (by a further extension) (4) the utterance of a voice of irregular pitch
due to emotional distress, for which reason parakataloge in songs is tragic: “for the
irregular pitch [to anomales] is pathetic and is found in great crises or great sorrows. The
regular, on the other hand, is less doleful” (Aristotle, Probl., XIX. 6, 918 a 10-11, tr. D. S.
Margoliouth).

Texts and translations.

kalou=si/ tinej tragi/zein o(/tan a)nw/maloj v)= fwnh/ . ‘what some call ‘bleating’ when the
voice is uneven [i.e. of irregular pitch]’.

dia\ ti/ h( parakatalogh\ e)n tai=j %)dai=j tragiko/n; e)\ dia\ th\n a)nwmali/an , ‘Why is
parakataloge in songs tragic? Possibly because of the irregularity of pitch.’

paqhtiko\n ga\r to\ a)nwmale\j kai\ e)n mege/qei tu/xhj h)\ lu/phj , ‘…for the irregular pitch is
pathetic and is found in great crises or great sorrows’.

8
 Ch. 4 complete.

(ed. R. Kassel)

eoikasi de gennêsai men holôs tên poiêtikên aitiai [5] duo tines kai hautai phusikai. to te
gar mimeisthai sumphuton tois anthrôpois ek paidôn esti kai toutôi diapherousi tôn allôn
zôiôn hoti mimêtikôtaton esti kai tas mathêseis poieitai dia mimêseôs tas prôtas, kai to
chairein tois mimêmasi pantas. sêmeion de toutou to sumbainon [10] epi tôn ergôn: ha gar
auta lupêrôs horômen, toutôn tas eikonas tas malista êkribômenas chairomen theôrountes,
hoion thêriôn te morphas tôn atimotatôn kai nekrôn. aition de kai toutou, hoti manthanein
ou monon tois philosophois hêdiston alla kai tois allois homoiôs, all' epi brachu [15]
koinônousin autou. dia gar touto chairousi tas eikonas horôntes, hoti sumbainei theôrountas
manthanein kai sullogizesthai ti hekaston, hoion hoti houtos ekeinos: epei ean mê tuchêi
proeôrakôs, ouch hêi mimêma poiêsei tên hêdonên alla dia tên apergasian ê tên chroian ê
dia toiautên tina allên aitian.

[20] kata phusin de ontos hêmin tou mimeisthai kai tês harmonias kai tou rhuthmou (ta gar
metra hoti moria tôn rhuthmôn esti phaneron) ex archês hoi pephukotes pros auta malista
kata mikron proagontes egennêsan tên poiêsin ek tôn autoschediasmatôn. diespasthê de
kata ta oikeia êthê hê poiêsis:

[25] hoi men gar semnoteroi tas kalas emimounto praxeis kai tas tôn toioutôn, hoi de
eutelesteroi tas tôn phaulôn, prôton psogous poiountes, hôsper heteroi humnous kai
enkômia. tôn men oun pro Homêrou oudenos echomen eipein toiouton poiêma, eikos de
einai pollous, apo de Homêrou arxamenois [30] estin, hoion ekeinou ho Margitês kai ta
toiauta. en hois kata to harmotton kai to iambeion êlthe metron_dio kai iambeion kaleitai
nun, hoti en tôi metrôi toutôi iambizon allêlous.

kai egenonto tôn palaiôn hoi men hêrôikôn hoi de iambôn poiêtai. hôsper de kai ta
spoudaia malista poiêtês Homêros [35] ên (monos gar ouch hoti eu alla kai mimêseis
dramatikas epoiêsen), houtôs kai to tês kômôidias schêma prôtos hupedeixen, ou psogon
alla to geloion dramatopoiêsas: ho gar Margitês analogon echei, hôsper Ilias kai hê
Odusseia pros tas tragôidias, [1449a] houtô kai houtos pros tas kômôidias.

paraphaneisês de tês tragôidias kai kômôidias hoi eph' hekateran tên poiêsin hormôntes
kata tên oikeian phusin hoi men anti tôn iambôn kômôidopoioi [5] egenonto, hoi de anti
tôn epôn tragôidodidaskaloi, dia to meizô kai entimotera ta schêmata einai tauta ekeinôn.

to men oun episkopein ei ara echei êdê hê tragôidia tois eidesin hikanôs ê ou, auto te kath'
hauto krinai kai pros ta theatra, allos logos.

genomenê d' oun ap' archês [10] autoschediastikês –

kai autê kai hê kômôidia, kai hê men apo tôn exarchontôn ton dithurambon, hê de apo tôn
ta phallika ha eti kai nun en pollais tôn poleôn diamenei nomizomena –

kata mikron êuxêthê proagontôn hoson egigneto phaneron autês:

9
kai pollas metabolas metabalousa hê [15] tragôidia epausato, epei esche tên hautês phusin.

kai to te tôn hupokritôn plêthos ex henos eis duo prôtos Aischulos êgage kai ta tou chorou
êlattôse kai ton logon prôtagônistein pareskeuasen:

treis de kai skênographian Sophoklês.

eti de to megethos:

ek mikrôn muthôn kai [20] lexeôs geloias dia to ek saturikou metabalein opse
apesemnunthê, to te metron ek tetrametrou iambeion egeneto.

to men gar prôton tetrametrôi echrônto dia to saturikên kai orchêstikôteran einai tên
poiêsin, lexeôs de genomenês autê hê phusis to oikeion metron heure: malista gar [25]
lektikon tôn metrôn to iambeion estin:

sêmeion de toutou, pleista gar iambeia legomen en têi dialektôi têi pros allêlous, hexametra
de oligakis kai ekbainontes tês lektikês harmonias. eti de epeisodiôn plêthê.

kai ta all' hôs [30] hekasta kosmêthênai legetai estô hêmin eirêmena: polu gar an isôs ergon
eiê diexienai kath' hekaston.

Translation

But the poetic art [5] in general appears to have been begotten by two kinds of causes, and
themselves natural. {For {1} to imitate is connatural to men from childhood, (and in this
they differ from other animals, because <man> is the most imitative <of animals> and
makes his first learnings through imitation); and {2} because all men delight in imitations.
[10] But a sign of this [second kind of cause] is what happens with respect to their
works. For we delight in considering the most express images of things which themselves
we view with pain, for example, the forms of the most dishonorable beasts, and of the
dead. But the cause of this is that learning is most delightful, not only for philosophers, but
similarly [15] for all other men, though they share in it but slightly. For this reason they
enjoy looking at images, because it happens that in considering them they recognize and
syllogize what each one is; for instance, that this is that, since, if one happens not to have
seen <the thing imitated> before, <the image> would give pleasure not as an imitation, but
on account of the workmanship, or the coloring, or on account of some other [20] such
cause.

But it being according to our nature to imitate both by harmony and rhythm (for
that metres are parts of rhythms is obvious), from a beginning in natural aptitudes men
carried them forward little by little, [developing them] more and more, until they had
produced poetry out of improvisations.
But poetry separated [into two] according to their individual [proper] characters
[25]. For indeed those who were more dignified imitated noble actions and men of such
kind; but the lowlier sort those of base men, at first making invectives, just as the others
[made] hymns and encomia.
Of those, then, who were in fact before Homer we have no such poem to speak of,
although it is likely that there were many such. But beginning from Homer [30] there are
10
[such poems], his Margites for instance, and [others] of such kind, in which, according to
the suitable metre the iambic is found, and on account of which it is nowadays called
‘iambic’, because in this metre they used to “iambize” [sc. ‘lampoon’] each other. And so
of the ancients, some indeed became poets of heroic, but some of iambic verses.

Now, just as Homer was the supreme poet when it came to serious [35] subjects
(for he alone made imitations, not just well, but also dramatic), so, too, he first indicated
the arrangements to be assumed by comedy by dramatically portraying, not invective, but
the laughable. For his Margites have a proportion: as the Iliad and the Odyssey <with
respect to the structure> stand to tragedies, [1449a] so does this stand to comedies.
But when tragedy and comedy came to light, being impelled to both kinds of poetry
according to their nature, the former indeed became poets of comedy [5] instead of iambs,
but the latter teachers of the staging of tragedy instead of epic verses on account of these
forms being greater and held in more esteemed than those.
To consider, therefore, whether tragedy in fact now possesses its forms sufficiently
or not, either judged according to itself or according to the theater, is another story.

Having been made therefore from a beginning [10] in improvisations, both

[tragedy] itself and comedy, (the former indeed from those who led off the dithyramb, the
latter from those who [led off] the phallic songs, which, moreover, still remain customary
in many cities), were little by little increased, the amount of them that had appeared being
lengthened. And tragedy, having undergone many changes, [15] rested when it had arrived
at its proper nature.
And Aeschylus first increased the number of actors from one to two, and reduced
the chorus, and gave the primary role to speech; but three [actors] and scenography [were
introduced by] Sophocles.
Moreover, with respect to size, from slight plots and [20] ridiculous language, on
account of it changing from satyric [poetry], it was late before it acquired dignity, and the
metre from [trochaic] tetrameter became iambic [trimeter]. For at first they were
accustomed to using tetrameter on account of the poetry being satyric, 1 and more suitable
for dancing, but when spoken language was introduced, nature herself found the
appropriate metre. For [25] the metre most suitable for speaking is the iambic. A sign of
this is that in conversing with one another we speak for the most part in iambs, but only
rarely in hexameters, and [then only] when departing from the intonation adapted to
conversation [or ‘from a conversational tone’].

But, furthermore, with respect to the multitude of episodes and how [30] each of
the other particular things is said to have been elaborated, let us take them as having been
discussed—for to go through them one by one would, perhaps, be an enormous task.

NOTE ON THE POETRY BEING ‘SATYRIC’.

As the following excerpt makes clear, by ‘satyric’ poetry, Aristotle understands the style of
language characteristic of the satyr-play of his day, which the earlier satyric form of
dithyramb possessed, and so was its source. He is emphatically not saying that tragedy
itself changed from the satyr-play itself. For a full discussion, see Part II of this paper.

1
That is to say, ‘satyr-play-like’, as is made clear by R.A.S. Seaford in a passage excerpted below.
11
Cf. R.A.S. Seaford, The Cyclops of Euripides (1987), Introduction, §III. The Origins,
History, and Function of Satyric Drama (pp. 10-11):

(1) Origins. In §4 of his Poetics Aristotle remarked that tragedy took time to acquire its
elevated tone and to discard ‘small’ plots and ridiculous diction, ‘because it developed from
the satyr-play-like’ (dia\ to\ e)k saturikou= metabalei=n). In the prolific debate about the origins
of tragedy this has been a central and controversial passage. The tendency to dismiss it as
evidence has been based, firstly, on an apparent contradiction with the Alexandrian view,
preserved in Horace’s Ars Poetica, that satyric drama was a later addition to tragedy;
secondly, on an apparent contradiction with Aristotle’s own observation, earlier in the same
chapter, that tragedy arose from the leaders of the dithyramb; and thirdly on a preconceived
unwillingness to believe that tragedy could originate in crudity, as for example in the bizarre
but influential contribution of G.F. Else, 31 who, having thrust aside the obstacles presented
by Aristotle and others to modern preconceptions of literary development as engineered by
men of genius, feels free to regard tragedy as ‘not the end product of a gradual development
but the product of two successive creative acts [his italics] by two men of genius’.
The preconceptions of Aristotle, on the other hand, were controlled by a knowledge of
early drama much greater than our own. 32 And he does indeed state in the next chapter that
the stages of tragedy’s development, unlike those of comedy, [10-11]
31
The Origin and Early Form of Greek Tragedy (Camb. Mass., 1965)
32
D. W. Lucas, Aristotle Poetics, 79-80; Kranz in NJA 43 (1919) 148-50; Seaford, art. cit. n.
24, 269. [= C.Q. 31 (1981)]

are known. In fact of course the derivation e)k saturikou= would be curious as a mere
hypothesis,33 not least because it cuts across the framework set up earlier in the chapter, in
which there is an early historical division between serious and trivial poetry. saturikon here
means neither ‘satyr-play’, which would probably have been expressed by e)k tw=n
saturikw=n, nor merely ‘boisterous’, but ‘satyr-play-like’, just as by tragiko/n Aristotle can
mean a quality appropriate to tragedy (Rhet. 1406b8).[1] Whether he thought of the dithyramb
from which tragedy evolved as actually performed by satyrs or merely like satyr-play in
some other respects is uncertain. Certainly, the likelihood of sixth-century satyrs performing
dithyrambs, and the similarity between satyric drama and early dithyramb, are both much
greater than is generally supposed, and possibly even greater than Aristotle knew. 34 Notably,
the remains of both satyric drama and of dithyramb betray traces of an origin in mystic ritual
of the Dionysiac thiasos, in which there are independent reasons for seeing the origins of
tragedy (see n. 44 below). A stage in the evolution of tragedy out of ritual was the
performance by the thiasos (satyric or not) of a Dionysiac hymn, the dithyramb.
33
As believed by H. Patzer, Die Anfänge der griechischen Tragödie (Wiesbaden, 1962), 70-
80.
34
Seaford in Maia 29 (1977-8), 88-94, and in art. cit. n. 24, 269-70; also Webster, op. cit. n.
28, 20, 34. [Webster = A. W. Pickard-Cambridge, Dithyramb, Tragedy, and Comedy (1927,
rev. 2d ed. 1962) ed. T.B.L. Webster]

“Some [metaphors] are [inappropriate] because they are ridiculous; they are indeed used by
1[?]

comic as well as tragic poets.” (tr. W. Rhys Roberts)

12
 Ch. 5 in part (1449a 37-1449b 7):

hai men oun tês tragôidias metabaseis kai di' hôn egenonto ou lelêthasin, hê de kômôidia
dia to mê spoudazesthai ex archês elathen: [1449b] kai gar choron kômôidôn opse pote ho
archôn edôken, all' ethelontai êsan.

êdê de schêmata tina autês echousês hoi legomenoi autês poiêtai mnêmoneuontai. tis de
prosôpa apedôken ê prologous ê [5] plêthê hupokritôn kai hosa toiauta, êgnoêtai.

to de muthous poiein [Epicharmos kai Phormis] to men ex archês ek Sikelias êlthe, tôn de
Athênêsin Kratês prôtos êrxen aphemenos tês iambikês ideas katholou poiein logous kai
muthous.

Translation

But comedy is, as we have said, an imitation indeed of those worse, but not
according to every badness; but the laughable is part of the disgraceful. For the laughable
is [35] a certain disgrace; that is, a mistake unaccompanied by pain, and not destructive.
Thus, for example, a laughable face is something ugly and distorted without pain.
The changes of tragedy, then, and [the causes] through which they are made, are, in
fact, not unknown; but [those of] comedy, since they have not been taken seriously from
the beginning, are hidden. [1449b] For it was late before the archon granted a comic
chorus; but before then they were voluntary. Now, however, having indeed its own forms,
those who are said to have been its poets are commemorated. But it is unknown who
handed on masks or prologues, or [5] a multitude of actors, and such-like particulars.
But Epicharmus and Phormis were the first to make plots which, therefore, came
from Sicily; but among the Athenians, Crates, rejecting the iambic style, first began to
make speeches and plots having universality.

13
 Poetics ch. 4 (1448b 20–1449a 21) (tr. Theodore Buckley),
with brief indications of the major topics

CHAP. IV.

The Causes and Progress of Poetry.

Two causes, however, and these physical, Two causes of poetry according to nature:
appear to have produced poetry in general.

For to imitate is congenial to men from The first cause.

childhood.

And in this they differ from other animals, that

they are most imitative,

and acquire the first disciplines through

imitation;

and that all men delight in imitations. The second.

But an evidence of this is that which happens in Its evidence.

works [of artists].

For we are delighted on surveying accurate

images, the realities of which are painful to the
view,

such as the forms of the most contemptible

animals, and dead bodies.

The cause, however, of this is, that learning is Learning is delightful.

not only most delightful to philosophers, but in
like manner, to other persons, though they
partake of it in a small degree.

For on this account, men are delighted in

surveying images, because it happens that by
surveying they learn and infer what each
particular is;

as that this is an image of that man; since,

unless one happen to have seen [the reality],

it is not the imitation that pleases, but [it is

through] either the workmanship, or the colour,
or some other cause of a like kind.

But imitation, harmony, and rhythm being Looked to according to certain means
natural to us, (for it is evident that measures or employed.
metres are parts of rhythms,)
[Cf. Rhet. III. 8. 1408b 23ff.]

14
the earliest among mankind, making gradual Poetry began in improvisation.
progress in these things from the beginning,
produced poetry from extemporaneous efforts. [Cf. Homer’s portrayal of singers.]

But poetry was divided according to appropriate Poetry separated into two. According to the
manners. characters of its poets:

For men of a more venerable character imitated which were either venerable (that is, noble)
beautiful actions, and the actions of such men;

but the more ignoble imitated the actions of or ignoble (that is, base).
depraved characters,

first composing vituperative verses, in the same The earliest forms of the latter: invectives. The
manner as the others composed hymns and earliest forms of the former: hymns (sc. to the
encomiums. gods) and encomia (sc. to virtuous men).

Of the authors, therefore, before Homer, we Their earliest composers are unknown.
cannot mention any poem of this kind; though it
is probable that there were many such writers.

But if we begin from Homer, there are such for Beginning from Homer: following after
instance his Margites, invectives came his Margites,

and some others, in which, as being suited, the in iambic verse. [= the means of imitation]
measure is Iambic.

Hence, also, the Iambic verse is now called, Derivation of the name iambic from iambizein:
because in this metre they used to Iambize (i.e. ‘to lampoon each other’.
defame) each other.

Of ancient poets, likewise, some composed Unknown predecessors of Homer in the heroic
heroic poems, and others Iambic. and iambic forms of poetry. (cf. Homer’s bards,
Phemius and Demodocus)

But as Homer was the greatest of poets on Serious subjects. [= the object of imitation]
serious subjects,

(and this not only because he alone imitated Imitations made dramatic. [= the manner of
well, but also because he made dramatic imitation (narrative, but dramatically so]
imitations,)

thus too he first demonstrated the figures of The figures or arrangements (= schemata) of
comedy, comedy.

not dramatically exhibiting invective, but The dramatic portrayal of the laughable
ridicule. (rather than of invective).

For the Margites bears the same analogy to As the Margites is to comedy, so the Iliad and
comedy, as the Iliad and Odyssey to tragedy. Odyssey are to tragedy.

But when tragedy and comedy had appeared, The first appearance of tragedy and comedy
those poets who were naturally impelled to each (presumably in the aforementioned works of
kind of poetry, Homer).
15
some, instead of writing Iambics, became comic From the iambic kind their composers became
poets, poets of comedy,

but others, instead of [writing] epic poems, while composers of heroic poetry or epic
became the authors of tragedies, because these poems became teachers of the staging of
forms [of poetry] are greater and more esteemed tragedies.
than those.

To consider, therefore, whether tragedy is now Evaluation of the forms attained by tragedy.
perfect in its species or not, regarded as well
with reference to itself as to the theatres, is the
business of another treatise.

Both tragedy and comedy, therefore, at first The origin of tragedy and comedy from
originated from extemporaneous efforts. beginnings that were dramatic in manner:

And tragedy, indeed, originated from those who (a) Beginning from improvisations: the leader
led the dithyramb, but comedy from those who of the [evidently satyric] dithyramb, and the
sung the Phallic verses, which even now in leader of the phallic songs; the first forms of
many cities remain in use; tragedy and comedy respectively.

and it gradually increased as obvious improve- (b) Their intermediate forms reached by
ments became known. increase and improvement.

And tragedy, having experienced many changes, (c) The achieved, final form of tragedy
rested when it had arrived at its proper nature. possessing the nature.

The improvements and increase of tragedy with

respect to the number of its actors and the role
of the chorus, which again have to do with their
dramatic manner of producing an imitation:

Aeschylus, also, increased the number of The contribution of Aeschylus: he increased the
players from one to two, abridged the functions number of actors from one to two and reduced
of the chorus, and made one of the actors act the the role of the chorus.
chief part.

But Sophocles introduced three players into the The contribution of Sophocles: he increased the
scene, and added scenic painting. actors from two to three and added scen-
ography.

Further still, the magnitude [of tragedy The development with respect to the (size of
increased] from small fables and ridiculous the) plot and the (style of the) language.
diction,

in consequence from having been changed from The change with respect to the earliest from of
satyric composition, it was late before it the poiêsis (a) its change from satyric poetry
acquired dignity. lacking in dignity to the tragic, possessing
dignity.

The metre also of tragedy, from tetrameter, The change with respect to the earliest from of
became Iambic, the metre: from tetrameter to iambic.

16
(for at first they used tetrameter in tragedy,
because poetry was then satyrical, and more
adapted to the dance, but dialogue being
adopted, nature herself discovered a suitable
metre; for the Iambic measure is most of all
adapted to conversation.
The earlier form of metre suited the comic
dance, [which was the kordax, as is implied by
A.’s verb at Rhet. III. 8, 1409a 1] while the
achieved form suited conversation in which the
dialogue consisted.

And as an evidence of this, we most frequently The style of conversation explained.

speak in Iambics in familiar discourse with each
other; but we seldom speak in hexameters, and
then only when we depart from that harmony
which is adapted to conversation).

Again, tragedy is said to be further adorned, Further additions to tragedy.

with a multitude of episodes, and other
particulars.

Let therefore, thus much said suffice concerning Conclusion excusing himself from pursuing
these things; for it would perhaps be a great toil these matters in greater detail.
to discuss every particular.

Poetics ch. 5 in part (1448b 20–1449a 21) (tr. Theodore Buckley):

CHAP. V.

On Comedy, and its Origin.--Difference of

Epopee and Tragedy.

But comedy is, as we have said, an imitation The object imitated by comedy: bad characters
indeed of bad characters, yet does not imitate
according to every vice,

[but the ridiculous only;] since the ridiculous is the laughable.

a portion of turpitude.

For the ridiculous is a certain error, and Definition of the laughable.

turpitude unattended with pain, and not
destructive.

Thus, for instance, a ridiculous face is some- An instance of this.

thing deformed and distorted without pain.

The transitions, therefore, of tragedy, and the The changes tragedy has undergone are
causes through which they are produced, are not known…
unknown;

but [those of] comedy have escaped our but not so those of comedy.
knowledge, because it was not at first an object
of attention.

For it was late before the magistrate gave a The role of the Archon is furnishing a chorus to
chorus to comedians; the poet of comedy.

17
but prior to that period, the choruses were Earlier, choruses were voluntary.
voluntary.

Comedy, however, at length having obtained a The achieved form of comedy: their poets are
certain form, those who are said to have been now remembered.
poets therein are commemorated.

But it is unknown who it was that introduced What remains unknown: those who introduced
masks or prologues, or a multitude of players, masks, or prologues, the number of actors etc.
and such like particulars.

But Epicharmus and Phormis [were the first] to The contributions of Epicharmus and Phormis
compose fables; which, therefore, originated in Sicily.
from Sicily.

But among the Athenians, Crates, rejecting the The contribution of the Athenians: Crates, who
Iambic form, first began generally to compose composed universalized speeches and plots.
speeches and fables.

(c) 2019l 2024 Bart A. Mazzetti. All Right Reserved.

18