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original, the pleasure will be due not to the imitation as such, but to the
execution, the coloring, or some such other cause.
Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the instinct for
‘harmony’ and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections of rhythm. Persons,
therefore, starting with this natural gift developed by degrees their special
aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave birth to Poetry.
Poetry now diverged in two directions, according to the individual
character of the writers. The graver spirits imitated noble actions, and the
actions of good men. The more trivial sort imitated the actions of meaner
persons, at first composing satires, as the former did hymns to the gods and
the praises of famous men. A poem of the satirical kind cannot indeed be put
down to any author earlier than Homer; though many such writers probably
there were. But from Homer onward, instances can be cited—his own
Margites, for example, and other similar compositions. The appropriate meter
was also here introduced; hence the measure is still called the iambic or
lampooning measure, being that in which people lampooned one another.
Thus the older poets were distinguished as writers of heroic or of lampooning
verse.
As, in the serious style, Homer is pre-eminent among poets, for he alone
combined dramatic form with excellence of imitation so he too first laid down
the main lines of comedy, by dramatizing the ludicrous instead of writing
personal satire. His Margites bears the same relation to comedy that the Iliad
and Odyssey do to tragedy. But when Tragedy and Comedy came to light, the
two classes of poets still followed their natural bent: the lampooners became
writers of Comedy, and the Epic poets were succeeded by Tragedians, since
the drama was a larger and higher form of art.
Whether Tragedy has as yet perfected its proper types or not; and whether
it is to be judged in itself, or in relation also to the audience—this raises
another question. Be that as it may, Tragedy—as also Comedy—was at first
mere improvisation. The one originated with the authors of the Dithyramb,
the other with those of the phallic songs, which are still in use in many of our
cities. Tragedy advanced by slow degrees; each new element that showed
itself was in turn developed. Having passed through many changes, it found
its natural form, and there it stopped.
Aeschylus first introduced a second actor; he diminished the importance of
the Chorus, and assigned the leading part to the dialogue. Sophocles raised
the number of actors to three, and added scene-painting. Moreover, it was not
till late that the short plot was discarded for one of greater compass, and the
grotesque diction of the earlier satyric form for the stately manner of Tragedy.
The iambic measure then replaced the trochaic tetrameter, which was
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156