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 - I inn A n\/ ^
 
 ARISrOTLE'S 
 
 TREATISE ON POETRY, 
 
 TRANSLATED: 
 
 ft 
 
 WITH 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON THE TRANSLATION, AND ON THE ORIGINAL; 
 
 AND 
 
 TWO DISSERTATIONS, 
 
 O N 
 
 POETICAL, AND MUSIC AL, ' IMITATION. 
 
 By THOMAS TWINING, M.A. 
 
 LONDON Printed: 
 
 And Sold by Payne and Son, Mews-Gate; White and Son, Fleet Street; Robson 
 
 and Clarke, Bond Street; Elmsly, Strand; Cadell, Strand; Robinsons, 
 
 Paternofler-Row; Merrills, Cambridge; and Fletcher, Oxford. 
 
 M.DCC.LXXXIX.
 
 
 R E F A C E. 
 
 WHOEVER recolleils, that, ia writing a preface, he prc- 
 fumes, in fome degree or other, to call the attention of the 
 public more particularly to himfelf, will hardly be difpofed to fay 
 more than he thinks necefliuy, and will fay even that with fome 
 reluftance. To be allowed, however, to explain his own dcfign, 
 in his own defence. Is a privilege which every writer may juftly 
 claim ; and I am too fenfible of the imperfecSlion of the following 
 work to deliver it up in filent confidence to the public judgment. 
 
 It may be faid, I think, univerfally, of all tranllation, that it 
 fhould give the thoughts of the original with all the accuracy pof- 
 fible, and the language as clofely as is confiftent v/ith the purpofe, 
 which every man who writes mulT: necelTarily have in view — that 
 of being read with fatisfadlion. No work can be read with fatif- 
 fadiion if it is ill written; and every tranllation is undoubtedly ill 
 written, that does not, as far, at ieaft, as language is concerned, 
 read like an original ; that, on the contrary, to every reader, at 
 .once difcovers itfelf to be tranflation, by that conflrained uncouth- 
 nefs of expreffion, harHinefs of phrafe, and cmbarraffment of mean- 
 ing, which necelTarily refult from the transfufion of idiom out of 
 one language into another. A work fo tranflated may be laid to be 
 tranllated into broken EngliJ}?. For the cfTc^H is much the fame, 
 
 a 2 whether 
 
 J*
 
 IV 
 
 R E F A C E. 
 
 whether we are imperfeiflly acquainted with the language in which, 
 or adhere too fervilely to the language yr^w which, we fpeak: whe- 
 ther we write Englifli in Greek, or Greek in Englifli. In both 
 cafes we write one language In the idiom of another. 
 
 But In fleering from this rock, the tranflator, if he takes too 
 wide a compafs, will be In danger of running upon another. It is 
 fingular, that Pope, in one of his early letters, fliould have pointed 
 out, by a fenfible and true obfervation, the very defeat, and perhaps 
 the only general defedl, of his own Homer. In a letter to Mr. 
 Cromwell" he fiiys, " Let the fenfe be ever fo exadlly rendered, 
 " unlefs an author looks like himself, in his habit and 
 " MANNER, 'tis a difgulfe, and not a tranflation." Now, let every 
 other merit pofTible be allowed to Pope's tranllation, it furely can- 
 not be denied, that we have there a 7nanner, a look, a habit, very 
 widely different from that of Homer himfelf. — But poetical tranf- 
 lation is attended with peculiar difficulty, and demands peculiar 
 indulgence. The tranflator of profe Into profe has far lefs excufe, 
 when he departs fo widely from the words of his author, as to re- 
 tain no refemblance to his manner; and leaft of all, perhaps, would 
 fuch liberty be exxufable in a verfion of Ariflotle, In whofe writ- 
 ings, however perplexing on many other accounts, a tranflator is 
 feldom embarralTed by any of thole delicate " blolToms of elocu- 
 " tion," which " drop ofFfo eallly" at his touch. 
 
 An Englifh tranflator, it has been faid, " is to exhibit his au- 
 " thor's thoui^hts in fuch a drefs of didtlon as the author would 
 " have given them, had his language been Englllli''." An Idea 
 of tranflation, to which nothing can be objeded, but the difficulty, 
 I might perhaps have faid, the impoffibility, of its pradlical appli- 
 cation. The rule, therefore. Is not rule enough. It leaves too 
 
 » Letter 24. 
 
 '' Dr. Joluifon's Life of Dryden, p. 125. 
 
 much
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 much to the fancy and the prejudices of the tranflator ; who will 
 naturally imagine, that his oivti, or his favourite, flylc, whatever it 
 be, is precifely that, which the author, had he written Englifli, 
 would have preferred. Perhaps the efidof this rule cannot any way 
 be more fecurely anfwered in praftice, than by the obfervance of 
 the rule I firft mentioned — to depart no farther from the expreffion 
 of the original, than is fairly required by the different genius of the 
 two languages. 
 
 In faying what I think ought to be done by every tranflator, I 
 have of courfe faid, not, I fear, what I /.^ave done, but certainly 
 what I have endeavoured to do, myfelf. My objeii:, in few words, 
 was, to produce a verfion fufhciently clofe and accurate to fatisfy 
 thofe readers who are acquainted with the original, and, at the 
 fame time, fufliciently EfigliJJj to be read without difguft by thofe 
 who are not. — Such a verfion, at the time when I was induced to 
 undertake the taf!<:, was certainly among the dejiderata of our lite- 
 rature. We had then no Englifli tranflation that could be read 
 with patience by any one competently acquainted either with the 
 Greek language, or with his own. I know indeed of but two 
 attempts'. The one, publiHied in 1705, a mere tranflation of 
 Dacier's tranflation, notes, and preface; though profeffmg, in the 
 title-page, to be tranflated from the original Greek, and accom- 
 panied, indeed, by fome marginal iinprovemeiits from the Greek 
 text, mofl: of which, if admitted into the verfion, would make it 
 ftill worfe than it is. — The other is a tranflation from the Greek, 
 I know not by whom, publiflied in 1775. It may fpeak fufli- 
 
 * Fabricius gives the following account of a tranflation by Rymer : " Angllci^ 
 *' Rimero interprets, cum Renati Raplni Objervationibus Poeticis, e Gnllico in idem 
 " idiotna tranjlatis, Lond. 1674." — Bib, Grac. vol. ii. p. 124. — The belt inquiries I 
 have been able to make juftify me in concluding this account to be a mii^aice, occa- 
 fioned by Rymer's trannation of Rapin's RefleSliom on AriJlotW i Treatife of Pocf.c, Sec, 
 publifhed in 1694, and to which he prefi.xed his famous critical Preface. 
 
 ciently
 
 m P R E F A C E. 
 
 ciently for itfelf by a few fpecimens, which, from among many 
 others of the fame fort, I have given in the margin''. 
 
 It would be doing injufcice to the tranflation lately given to 
 the public by Mr. Pye, to place it, in any view, however favour- 
 able, by the fide of thefe. A particular and critical examination 
 ■of its merits would come with little propriety from me. So much, 
 however, I may be allowed to fay, for it is an indifpu table fadl, that 
 Mr. Pye's tranflation and mine are frequently very different ; and 
 that, in many pafTages, if he is right, I mufl confefs myfelf to be 
 wrong. 
 
 It is natural for me to wifli, that I could fecure the indulgence 
 of the reader, by giving him fome idea of the uncommon diffi- 
 culties, with which a tranflator of this work of Ariflotle has to 
 ftruggle. But they are fuch as can hardly be conceived, but by 
 thofe who are well acquainted with the original; and even among 
 them, I may venture to fay, can be adequately conceived by thofe 
 only, who have tried their flrength againft them by aftual expe- 
 riment. Thefe difficulties arife from various fources: from the 
 elliptic concifenefs, and other peculiarities, of Ariflotle's flyle, and 
 from the nature of the work itfelf, which, in many parts of it at 
 leafl, feems to have been intended for little more than a coliedlion 
 .of hints, or fhort memorial notes, and has fometimes almofl the 
 appearance of a fyllabus for leftures, or a table of contents ' ; Co 
 
 that 
 
 d P. 3, and throughout, h^ is rendered " morals." — p. ii, and i6, auToirxe^tx(rfMrix, 
 *^ fclf-formcd images," — p. 31. -wpj (jliv -ns; ayava.; km tuv cu<79miv~" with regard to the 
 *' Controverjies and the Conception. — p. 57. aTExvoTEfai — ^^ a degree nearer art." — p. 8g. 
 "ExEi ^E TTpof TO EWSKTEivstrSai TO j^eye9@■ iro'M ti M kTroTtoHa. l^iov. — " Epic has much peculiar 
 '•'■for lengthening the greatnejs," — p. 92. aJuyara xai iixora — " Impojfibilitics and Suit" 
 " able." 
 
 ' — " He has a dry concifcricfs, that majces one imagine one is perufuig a table «f 
 *' contents, rjtber than a book." — Gray's Letters, SeSi. 4. Let. 3. The account 
 |ljr. Gray there gives of Arillotle's writings, though it is written with the fporlivc 
 
 pleafantry,
 
 PREFACE. v-ii 
 
 that we might apply to it, in fome degree, what Ariflotle himfelf 
 is faid to have written to Alexander the Great, who had repri- 
 manded him for having publillied fome private ledlures which that 
 Prince had received from him : " They are publiflied," anfwered 
 the philofopher, " and not publifhed ; for they are intelligible 
 *' only to thofe who have been my pupils ^" An anfwer, which 
 does indeed give fome countenance to the alTertion of Ammonius, 
 that the obfcurity of Ariftotle's ftyle was voluntary^. Yet I hope 
 the afTertion is not true. I cannot perfuade myfelf to give full 
 credit to an account fo degrading to a great philofopher. And 
 furely it is but a perverfe kind of apology, to affign, of all the 
 caufes of obfcurity that can be afligned, the only one which leaves 
 it totally without excufe. If, however, this was really the cafe, it 
 muft be confefTed, that Ariftotle fucceeded well, and flood in little 
 need of the admonition of the fchool-mafler mentioned by Quin- 
 tilian, " qui difcipulos Oi^7/r«r^ quce dkerent juberet, Graeco verbo 
 " utens, SjcoTj(ra!'\" — Another confiderable fource of difficulty is; 
 that fo many of the Tragedies and other poems, alluded to, and 
 quoted, throughout the treatife, are loft. — But the chief of thefe 
 fources, undoubtedly, is the mutilated and corrupt condition of the 
 text. The work is but a fragment : — YliluvJ^ \^ U^vi^ ixiyyj A;/3a?! — 
 
 I wifll I could add, AAA ving KocQuavj r£ kcci ci'x^aaciVT'^ dvBpTret : but 
 
 even of this fragment it may be doubted, whether it. has been moft 
 
 pleafantry of a familiar letter, is extremely ju ft ; except, perhaps, in one obferva- 
 tion: — it feems hardly fair to conclude that Ariftotle "loft bimfe/f," wherever his 
 readers are now at a lofs to find his meaning. 
 
 ' I<7& 81 avrm KAI EKAEAOiMENOTS KM MH EKAEAOMENOTS- |wEm 7«^ 
 iiiri |Uovoi? Toif r,fA.ciiv aKnaaa-iv. — See Aul. Gell. XX. 5. where the tv/o letters, of Alex- 
 ander and Ariftotle, are preferved. 
 
 K noWia%s TE c-uvciT<piyfii,smv, [fc. to eiJ'©- ruv Afij-OTS^a; (ruyypaiitia,Tm.,2 ««'' atra<pu; 
 "TTtip^aa-fMSvov, [h 5ia tuv ^uatv ts y^a^avT®-^ aAx' 'EKOTZIXIS raro TTSTToimsv. Amnion, ad 
 Categ. Arljiot. See alfo Fabric. Bib, Grac, vol, \v. p. 166.— «ff-a?et«v imnhvuv. 
 
 ^ Qiiintil. VIII. 2.. 
 
 injured
 
 Vlll 
 
 R E F A C E. 
 
 injured by mutijatlon, or by repair. The hiftory given by Strabo, 
 of the fate of Ariftotle's works after his death, is fo curious, and fo 
 effeftually removes all wonder at the mangled flate in which we 
 find them, that I fliall here, for the fake of the Englifli reader, 
 infert a tranflation of it. 
 
 " The Socratic philofophers, Erallus and Corifcus, were natives 
 *' of Scepfis'; as M^as alfo Neleus, (the fon of Corifcus,) who was 
 *' a fcholar of Arifcotle and Theophraflus, and to whom the latter 
 *' bequeathed his library, in which was included that of Ariflotle. 
 *' For Ariftotle, who, as far as we know, was the firft colleftor of 
 " books, and the firll: who taught the kings of Egypt to form and 
 *' arrange a library, left his own colledlion of books, (as he alfo 
 ** did his fchcol,) to Theophraftus ; and from Theophraflus it 
 '• came to Neleus. Neleus removed it to Scepfis, and left it to 
 " his defcendantsj who, being illiterate perfons, threw the books 
 " together as lumber, and locked them up : but afterwards, when 
 *' they heard, that the Attalic monarchs, their fovereigns, were 
 *' taking great pains to colled: books for the Pergamenian library, 
 " they concealed them in a cave under ground j whence, after 
 *' having been long damaged by damp ajid ivorms ", the books both 
 ** of Ariftotle and Theophraftus were, at length, fold by fomc of 
 '* the family, at'a great price, to Apellicon the Teian. This man 
 *' was rather a lover of books, than a lover of wifdoniy or a Philofo- 
 '• pher ' ; and being therefore anxious to reftore, at any rate, thofe 
 *' parts of the manufcripts that had been deftroyed or damaged, he 
 *' had them fairly copied ; and, the vacuities in the writitig being 
 " unfkilfully fupplied, they were thus publiped, full of blunders. The 
 '* old Peripatetics, who fucceeded Theophraftus, poflefling none 
 *' of thefe writings, except a very few, and thofe chiefly of the 
 
 ' A city of Myfia. 
 
 ^ 'Xtto vorixf KM a»rav naiiiuiivra — . 
 
 ' ^i>.oSi^7,@- ij.a».(.v n (pihoaap©-. — A very modern fort of cliaraiSler. 
 
 8 ** exoteric
 
 R E F A C E. 
 
 IX 
 
 " exoteric kind, were not qualified to philofophize accurately, but 
 " contented themfelves with treating, in a fliewy and fuperficial 
 " manner, fucli particular queflions as were propofed. The later 
 " Peripatetics, however, who lived after the publication of thofe 
 ** books, were enabled to teach the Ariftotelic dodrines with more 
 '* exadlnefs ; yet even they, from the multitude of errors in their 
 " copies, were frequently obliged to have recourfe to explanations 
 *' merely conjeftural. And thefe errors were much inCreafed at 
 " Rome, For immediately on the death of Apellicon, Sylla, 
 " when he took Athens, poffeffed himfelf of his library, and 
 ** carried it to Rome j where the books fell into the hands of 
 " Tyrannio the Grammarian, a great admirer of Ariftotle, who 
 •* procured them from the librarian ; and afterwards into thole 
 *' of certain bookfellers, who employed carelefs and ignorant 
 ** tranfcribers, and neglecfled to collate the copies with the ori- 
 " ginals i which is alfo the cafe with many other books tranf- 
 •* cribed for fale, both at Rome and Alexandria "'." 
 
 In the divifion of the tranllation into Parts and Sedions, there 
 was no authority to reftrain me from following my own ideas, 
 and preferring that method which appeared mofl conducive to 
 clearnefs. — By the marginal titles the convenience of the reader 
 is confulted : he has the work, and its index, under his eye at 
 the fame time. — The order of the chapters I have not attempted 
 to difturb. But if, on the one hand, I cannot admit the unnecef- 
 fary and licentious tranfpofitions of Heinfius, neither can I, on 
 the other, afl'ent to thofe commentators, who, like Dacier, defend, 
 on all occafions, the common arrangement as authentic. If they 
 are right, we muft fuppofe one of the mofl flrid: and methodical 
 of philofophers to have been fometimes almoft as carelefs as old 
 Montague; who, as he tells us pleafantly, " 92' avoit j>oJnt d' autre 
 " p^i'gent dc bande a ranger fes pieces que la fortune'' 
 
 " Strabo, lib. xiii. p. 608, D. ed. Caf.uib.— See alfo Plutarch's life of Sylla, 
 !>. 856. ed. H. St. and Bayle, art. Tyrannion. 
 
 b Every
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Every tranllation ftiould be accompanied with fuch explanationt 
 as are neceflary to render it intelligible to thofe readers who are> 
 fuppofed, chiefly, to have recourfe to tranflation ; thofe, who are 
 totally unacquainted with the language of the original. This is 
 the objedl of the fhort notes under the verfion j in which, how- 
 ever, I have fometimes referred to the larger notes, when they 
 were fuch as would anfvver the fame purpofe. 
 
 Thefe laft-mentioned notes, which follow the tranflation, and 
 the two diflertations prefixed to it, (which indeed are but longer 
 rotes thrown into that form,) I wifli to be confidered as the prin- 
 cipal part of my deiign. They form a full, and nearly a continued, 
 commentary. My purpofe was, to difcufs all the difficulties of 
 the original, of whatever kind : to remove, or at leaft to diminifh 
 them, where I could ; where I could not, to ftate them fairly, and 
 to confefs them — the eafieft part, certainly, of a commentator's 
 duty, though not, perhaps, that, which is mofl; commonly dif- 
 char^ed. 
 
 As a great part of thefe difficulties arife from the obfcurity or 
 corruption of the Greek text, a great part of my comment is, of 
 courfe, taken up by philological and verbal criticifm. But though 
 my plan obliged me to fubmit to an employment which wit has 
 difs-raced by the name of " word-catching," I hope it will not be 
 found that I altogether " live on fyllables "." It is, indeed, rather 
 hard upon a commentator, that he Ihould be expefted to " catch" 
 the meaning of his author, and, at the fame time, reproached for 
 endeavouring to catch the words in v/hich that meaning is con- 
 tained. But, in executing this part of my tafk, I muft confefs 
 myfelf to have, indeed, an infatiable appetite for obfcurity, if I ■ 
 liave difcovered any defire of finding the text more corrupt and 
 mutilated than it is. Where I have indulged conjedure, I hope 
 I have always remembered tjiat it is conjedure, and have neither 
 
 » " Eiich word-catcher, that li\'es on fyllables." — Pope's Ep. to Arbuthnot. 
 
 4 infulted
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 infulted the reader, nor difgraced myfelf, by the difgufting, though 
 privileged, language of emendatory criticifm on antient authors. 
 A Latin commentator, indeed, may lay any wager, that his author 
 wrote this, or that ; may afTert his emendation to be clearer than 
 light itfdf, and fay to his reader, if yen arc not a blockhead, you will 
 be of my opinion", &c. — " Nobis non licet effe tarn difertis." 
 
 They, who think any interpretation better than none, may per- 
 haps wifh, that I had not employed fo confiderable a portion of 
 my notes in merely ftating difficulties which had not been fully 
 feen or fairly acknowledged, without attempting to remove them ; 
 in combating interpretations hitherto acquiefced in as fatisfadtory, 
 and fliewing, that many pafTages,' fuppofed to be fufficiently un- 
 derflood, are yet to be explained. This is certainly not that part 
 of a commentator's duty, which is moft pleafant, either to his 
 readers, or himfelf ; but it is furely a necelTary and indifpenfable 
 part of it, and I have endeavoured to difcharge it faithfully. I 
 hope I have no where either made a difficulty to fhew my faga- 
 city, or diffembled one to conceal the want of it. 
 
 We live in a delicate and faftidious age, in which learning, 
 even in books, is hardly releafed from the neccffity of obferving, 
 in fome degree, what Fontenelle calls " the exterior decencies of 
 ** ignorance ^" But, if pedantry be an unnecejfary, imfeafonable, 
 and therefore often tatious, difplay of learning, I fliould hope, that 
 the nature of my work would fufficiently fecure me againft that 
 charge. It will fcarce be thought flrange, that notes, intended 
 to explain a Greek author, and fuppofed, of courfe, to be addrelied 
 to Greek fcholars, (liould abound with Greek quotations. One 
 of my chief objedls was, to illuftrate Ariftotle, wherever I could, 
 from himfelf, and from Plato, to whofe opinions and writings 
 
 " " Qi_iovis pignore contenderim." — " Luce meridiana clarius." — " Tu, fi fapis, 
 " raecum repoiic." — &c. &c. 
 
 p " Les bicnfcanccs exterieures de I'ignorance." 
 
 b 2 he
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 he continually alludes. Another was, to relieve the drynefs of 
 fo much philological difcuffion by paffiigcs, which, at the fame 
 time that they throw light upon the author, might alfo be ex- 
 pedled to afford fome pleafure to the reader, either as beautiful, 
 or as curious. With the fame view, I have now and then 
 ventured to quit, for a moment, my direft path; to tranfgrefs 
 Seneca's rule, " Quo ducit materia fequendum eft, non quo 
 " invitat," and to avail myfelf of fome of thofe many openings, 
 which Ariftotle affords, into collateral, though not irrelative 
 inquiries. 
 
 The time is come, when we no longer read the antients with 
 our judgments fliackled by determined admiration ; when even 
 from the editor and the commentator, it is no longer required 
 as an indifpenfable duty, that he fliould fee nothing in his author 
 but perfection. No apology therefore, I truft, will be required 
 from me, for fpeaking freely of the defedls of this work of Arif- 
 totle, even where thofe defefts appear to be his own. 
 
 It is neceffary to mention, that many of my notes were written, 
 and of more the materials were prepared, before I confulted, or 
 indeed had it in my power to confult, fome of the earlieft and 
 bell; commentators, whofe works are too fcarce to be procured 
 at the moment they are wanted. In perufing them I might often 
 have adopted the exclamation of the old Grammarian % " Pereant^ 
 " qui ante nos nojira dixermit!" But " every thing," fays Epidtetus, 
 " has two handles;" and it required but little philofophy in this 
 cafe, to be more pleafed with the fupport which my opinions 
 received from fuch coincidence, than mortified by the mere cir- 
 cumftance of prior occupation : a circumftance, which, after all, 
 could not deprive me of the property of my own thoughts, though, 
 as Dr. Johnfon has obferved on a funilar occafion', I certainly 
 
 1 Donatus. 
 
 » Pref. to Shakfpeare.. 
 
 can
 
 PREFACE. xili 
 
 czn prove that property only to myfelf. — This coincidence, where- 
 ever I found it, I have fcrupuloufly pointed out. 
 
 How much fubfequent commentators, and Dacier in particular, 
 have been obliged to the labours of thofe learned, acute, and in- 
 defatigable Italians, will perhaps fufficiently appear from the ufe 
 I have made of them, and the frequent extradls, which the fcarce- 
 nefs of their books has induced me to give from them in my 
 notes. This I muft be allowed to lay, that, in my opinion, 
 great injuftice is done to their merits by thofe editors, who not 
 only negled: to avail themfelves of their affiftance, but affex^ 
 alfo to fpeak of them with contempt. The truth is, that ta 
 confult them is a work of confiderable labour, and requires no 
 fmall degree of patience and refolution. The trouble we are un- 
 wilhng to take, we eafily perfuade ourfelves to think not worth 
 taking ; and plaufible reafons are readily given, and as readily 
 admitted, for neglefting, what thofe, to whom we make our 
 apology, are, in general, as little difpofed to take the pains of 
 examining as ourfelves. And thus, " Difficultas laborque dif- 
 " cendi DISERTAM negligentiam reddit'." 
 
 In what I have here faid, I allude, more particularly, to the 
 commentaries of Cartel vetro and Beni'. Their prolixity, their 
 fcholaftic and trifling fubtilty, their ufelefs tedioufnefs of logical 
 analyfis, their microfcopic deted:ion of difficukies invifible to 
 
 ' Gic. de Divin. I. 47. 
 
 ' Poetica (T Arijlotele vulgarizzata e fpojla per Lodovico Caflehetro., Sec, Bafth 
 
 1576- 
 
 Fault Beni/, Et/gtthini, &c. in Arijiotelis Poeticani Comnientarii., Sec. Venet. 1624. 
 
 Caftelvetro's criticifm is well charaiSterized, and its eftedl upon his reader well 
 defcnbed, by Gravina : " E perche il Caftelvetro, quanto e acuto e diligente, ed 
 " amator del vero, tanto e difficile ed afFannofo per quelle fcolaftiche reti, che 
 " agli altri ed a fe fteiTi, allora, i maggiori ingegni tendeano ; percio, per difpetto 
 '^ fpelTo e per rabbia vien da' lettori abbandonato, ed e da loro condannato, prima 
 " che intendano la fua ragione ; la quale fi rincrefcono tirar fuori da quei labirintL 
 " delle fue fottili e mokfte diftinzioni." Delia Tragedia, p. 75. 
 
 the
 
 »iy PREFACE. 
 
 die naked eye of common fenfe, and their wafle of ctjnfutation 
 upon objecflions made only by themfelves, and made on purpofe 
 to be confuted — all this, it muft be owned, is difgufting and 
 repullive. It may fufficiently releafe a commentator from the 
 duty of reading their works throughout, but not from that of 
 examining and confulting them : for in both thefe writers, but 
 more efpecially in Be7ii, there are many remarks equally acute 
 and folid ; many difficulties well (ten, clearly flated, and, fome- 
 times, fuccefsfully removed ; many things ufefuUy illuflrated, 
 and judicioufly explained ; and if their freedom of cenfure is 
 how and then difgraced by a little difpofition to cavil, this be- 
 comes almoft a virtue, when compared with the fervile and 
 implicit admiration of Dacier, who, as a fine writer has obferved, 
 •' avoit fait vceu d'etre de I'avis d'Ariftote, foit qu'il I'entendit ou 
 •* qu'il ne I'entendit pas"." 
 
 Of the tranflations and commentaries written in the Italian 
 language there is one, which deferves particular notice, though, 
 by what hard fate I know not, it feems fcarce to have been 
 noticed at all : I mean that of Piccolomint^ . His verfion, though 
 fometimes rather paraphraftical, is Angularly exadl ; and, on the 
 whole, more faithful to the fenfe, or at leaft to what / conceive to 
 be the fenfe, of Ariftotle, than any other that 1 have feen. In 
 his commentary, he has nothing of the Quixotifm of Caftelvetro 
 and Beni. He does not fally forth fo eagerly to the relief of dif- 
 trejfed readers, as to create the diftrefs for the fake of flievving his 
 prowefs in furmounting it. Some commentators appear to be really 
 difappointed, when they find any thing which they cannot deny to 
 
 " Marmontel, Pdetique Fran^oife, Pref. p. 6. 
 
 "" Anrntation't dl M. AkJJ'andro Pkcolomini^ nel lihro ddla Poetica d" Arljiotele ; 
 cnn la traduUione del medefimo lihro h lingua vo'gare. In Vitugla. I575' — Picco- 
 lomini was archbifhop of Patras. See Baylc. He alfo wrote Copiofijftmi: Parafrafc 
 nel Retorica d'AriJhtele. Vcnet. 1565. A clear, exaiSt, and ufeful work, though 
 prolix, and an unpleafant mixture of tranflation and comment. 
 
 be
 
 PREFACE. XT 
 
 be intelligible. Piccolomini fairly endeavoured to underftand his 
 author ; and, which is no fmall praife, feems always to have 
 underitood himfelf. His annotations, though often prolix and 
 difFufed, are generally fenfible, and always clear. They will fome- 
 times tire the reader, but feldom, I think, perplex him. 
 
 With refpedl to the original work, iticlf, it would be fuper- 
 fiuous to enter, here, into any difcufllon of its merits and its de- 
 fers. My ideas of both will fuificiently appear in the courfe 
 of my notes. I muft however remark one point of view, in 
 which the crlticifm of Ariftotle has always particularly ftruck 
 me, though it feems to have been little noticed : And that is, that 
 his philofophy, auftere and cold as it appears, has not encroached 
 upon his taile. He has not indeed expreffed that tafle by mixing 
 the language of admiration with that of philofophy in his invef- 
 tigation of principles, but he has difcovered it in thofe principles 
 themfelvesj which, in many refpeds at leaft, are truly poetical 
 principles, and fuch as afford no countenance to that fort of 
 criticifm, which requires the Poet to be " o{ reajon ail compadl." 
 Ariflotle, on the contrary, every where reminds him, that it is 
 his buiinefs to reprefent, not what is, but \vh.^t Jhould be j to look 
 beyond adual and common nature, to the ideal model of perfection 
 in his own mind. He fees fully, wliat the ratiotialijis among 
 modern critics have not always (cen., the power of popular opinion 
 and belief w^Qw poetical credibility" — that "a legend, a tale, a 
 " tradition, a rumour, a fuperftition — in iliort, any thing, is 
 " enough to be the bails of the poet's air-formed vi/ions^." He 
 never lofes iight of the end of Poetry, which, in conformity to 
 common fenfe, he held to h^ pleajure^ . He is ready to excufe, 
 not only impoflibilities, but even abfurdities, where that end 
 
 " See the tranllation, Part IV. Se<Sl. I. and the note there : Se£t. 3, and 6. 
 
 1 Letters on Chivalry and Romance, p. 300. 
 
 '■ This I have endeavoured to prove in Note 277. 
 
 appears
 
 xvi PREFACE. 
 
 appears to be better anfwered with them, than it would have 
 been without them". In a word, he afferts the privileges of 
 Poetry, and gives her free range to employ her la/jo/e power, and 
 to do all ihe caf2 do — that is, to impofe upon the imagination, 
 by whatever means, as far as imagination, for the fake of its own 
 pleafure, will confent to be impofed upon. Poetry can do no 
 more than this, and, from its very nature and end, ought not to 
 be required to do lefs. If it is our interell to be cheated, it is 
 her duty to cheat us ''. The critic, who fufFers his philofophy to 
 reafon away his pleafure, is not much wifer than the child, who 
 cuts open his drum, to fee what it is within that caufed the 
 found. 
 
 The Englifli reader of Ariftotle will, I hope, do him (and, I 
 may add, his tranflator,) fo much juftice, as to recoiled:, when 
 the improvements of modern criticifm occur to him, that he is 
 reading a book, which was written above two thoufand years 
 ago, and which, for the reafons already given, can be confidered 
 as little more than the fragment of a fragment. What looidd 
 have been the prefent ftate of poetical criticifm, had Ariftotle never 
 written, it is impoffible to fay : two fadls, however, are certain j 
 that he was the firft who carried philofophical inveftigation into 
 thefe regions of imagination and fidtion, and that the ableft of his 
 fuccelTors have not difdained to purfue the path which he had 
 opened to them, and even, in many inflances, to tread in his very 
 footfleps. It may therefore, poj/tbly, be true, that modern critics 
 are, in fome meafure, indebted to Ariftotle himfelf for their very 
 pretenfions to defpife him. At leaft, the more we admire the fkill 
 
 =■ Part IV. S^a 2. and p. 120. 
 
 * I allude to the ingenious faying of Gorgtas, who called Tragedy, " an impo- 
 *'■ fttion-i where they who cheat us are honejler than they zuho do not cheat us, and they 
 " who arc cheated, wifer than they who are not cheated^" — Tw Tfayi'Siav intiv amxTr^v, 
 r,v aTTamax; SiXMOTS^®- ts /x>) a-aaTnuavT©', km i awanifoij ccpcoTi^®- m fin awamSiVT©-. 
 Ph(t. de and. Poet. p. 26. ed. H. S. 
 
 of
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 xvii 
 
 of thofc, who have raifed and finished the ftrudure, the more 
 reafon we have to refpedl the Archite6t, who not only gave the 
 plan, but, with it, many fpecimens of mafterly execution. 
 
 With refped: to my own work, I have already faid all that I 
 thought it neceffary to fay, by way of explaining its defign, and of 
 apologizing for fuch particulars in the execution of it, as might 
 appear moft liable to exception. To fuppofe it free from imper- 
 feftion and error, would be not only to forget the nature of the 
 work, but to forget myfelf. I commit it with the lefs anxiety to 
 the candour of the public, as I am confident, (and it is the only 
 confidence I allow myfelf to feel,) that the time and the labour I 
 have beftowed upon it will, at leaft, acquit me of that difrefpeftful 
 indifference to the public judgment, which hafle and negligence 
 imply. It is now fix years fince the tranflation was finilhed ; and 
 both that, and the differtations and notes, have received every 
 advantage of revifion and correftion, which either my own care, 
 or friendly criticifm, could give them. And, upon this occafion, 
 I cannot refufe myfelf the gratification of publicly acknowledging 
 how much I owe to the accurate judgment and jufl tafi;e of one 
 perfon % in particular, in whom I found precifely that friendly 
 cenfor, fo happily and fo comprehenfively charadierized by the 
 Poet as 
 
 " Eager to praife, yet refolute to blame, 
 
 " Kind to his verfe, but kinder to his fame " :" 
 
 — and of whom, indeed, I may lay, without any fear of indulging 
 too far the partiality of friendfhip, that he never fhrinks from any 
 tafk, whether of private kindnefs, or more general benevolence, 
 that calls for his afilftance, and flands in need of his abilities. 
 
 ' The Rev. Dr. Fonler, of Colchefter. 
 
 * Hayley's Epiille on the death of Mr. Thornton. 
 
 •I TAKE
 
 [ xviii ] 
 
 TAKE the only opportunity now left me to mention a; 
 book, which was very lately fent to me by a friend, and 
 which I have read with great pleafure j — Dramaturgie, ou Obfer- 
 •vations critiques fur piujieurs pieces de 'Theatre, tant anciennes que 
 'modernes : [Paris 1785] — a tranilation from the German of the 
 late Mr. LefTing. The notice takea of the original work in 
 Mr. Winftanley's edition of Ariftotle had, indeed, long ago ex- 
 cited my curiofity ; but I am unacquainted with the German 
 language, and my inquiries afforded me no reafon to conclude that 
 the work had been tranllated.- It contains many excellent and 
 uncommon things. Mr. Leffing appears to me to have poffeffed, 
 in no ordinary degree, that combination of tafle and pbilofophy — 
 of ftrength of feeling and ffrength of thought — upon which good 
 and origifial criticifm depends. He had, it feems, particularly 
 applied himfelf to the ftudy of Ariftotle's treatife on Poetry ; as 
 indeed fufficiently appears from feveral maflerly difcuffions of 
 difficult and contested paffages in that work. I cannot but regret, 
 that he did not write a regular commentary on the whole. From 
 the fpecimens he has given, I have no doubt, that it would have 
 been, in many refpedts, far fuperior to any other work of the 
 kind ; though, at the fame time, thofe fpecimens afford us 
 reafon to conclude, that we fhould have found in it fome in- 
 ftances of refinement, upon Ariftotle, at leaft, if not upon the 
 truth ; and that, like many other ingenious men, he would, 
 now and then, have transferred his own ingenuity to his author. 
 Something of this refinement, I think, there is in his explanation 
 of Ariftotle's definition of Tragedy, and of the purgation of the 
 paffions, tome z.p. 6 — 35. After confidering, very attentively, that, 
 I and
 
 [ ilx ] 
 
 and fome other explanations, in which he differs from me, I have 
 not yet found rcafon to alter my opinion. But, had I fecn this 
 ingenious work in time, I fhould certainly have paid every atten- 
 tion due to the opinions of fuch a writei-, by availing myfelf of 
 his fupport, where we agree, and by giving my reafons, where wc 
 differ. 
 
 ^•- 
 
 ERRATA.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 6. 
 26. 
 
 37- 
 42. 
 
 58. 
 
 132. 
 
 133- 
 
 137- 
 
 ^55- 
 161. 
 164. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 173- 
 J 74. 
 
 209. 
 
 224. 
 
 271. 
 
 3"- 
 3>8- 
 324. 
 
 376- 
 418. 
 425. 
 
 434- 
 
 471. 
 506. 
 
 line 33. for and, read et. 
 
 — 31, and injome other Italian quotations where it occurs, for et, r, e. 
 
 — 24. for way, r. manner. 
 
 — 3 from bottom, r, Eumaeus 
 
 — 5. for note, r. differtation. 
 
 — 14. — r. Callippides. 
 
 — II. — r. Soilftratus. 
 168. In the rtf fences prrfxed to the 1 1 firjl "Notes, for p. I, read p. 65. 
 
 for p. 2, and 3, r. p. 66. /ir p. 4, r. p. 67. 
 note '. — r. Satyrica. 
 
 line 1. — r. E-B-owoiia. 
 
 note '. for 44, ?•. 8. 
 
 line 20. -^ r. o^x'^tmov, 
 
 afler, AN0PannN, /;zATf [De Leg. VII. p. 798. D.] 
 note P. for 81, r. 
 
 50. — note c^' for 85, r. 51. 
 
 note '. — r. Anapaeftic. 
 
 line 7. for, or r. for. 
 
 7tiite °. — r. (ruvtTrKTtv, 
 
 line 19. — r. xaWvis-n. 
 
 ««/^ ^. y^r vol. ii. r. vol. i. 
 
 «o*^ *. _/ar r.b fuit >•. abfuit. 
 
 line 6. — r, auvaTsepya^o/jtcvov. 
 
 line 8. — r, yittcii, and x^urTto. 
 
 note ''. — r. iroWiaij. 
 
 «»/^ ''. y«rvol.i. r. vol. ii. 
 
 penult. — r. cij 0', ffr, 015 TE. 
 
 5 & 6. — r. travailloit. 
 
 note '^. — r. 326. 
 
 TWO
 
 V 
 
 TWO 
 
 DISSERTATIONS. 
 
 I. ON POETRY CONSIDERED AS AN 
 
 IMITATIVE ART. 
 
 II. ON THE DIFFERENT SENSES OF THE 
 
 WORD, IMITATIVE, AS APPLIED TO 
 MUSIC BY THE ANTIENTS, AND BY 
 THE MODERNS. 
 
 B
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 ON POETRY CONSIDERED AS AN 
 IMITATIVE ART. 
 
 TH E word Imitation, like many others, is ufed, fometimes 
 in a ftrid: and proper fenfe, and fometimes in a fenfe more 
 or lefs extended and improper. Its application to poetry is 
 chiefly of the latter kind. Its precife meaning, therefore, when 
 applied to poetry in general, is by no means obvious. No one 
 who has feen a picfture is at any lofs to underftand how painting 
 is imitation. But no man, I believe, ever heard or read, for the 
 firft time, that poetry is imitation, without being confcious in 
 fome degree, of that *' confufion of thought" which an ingenious 
 writer complains of having felt whenever he has attempted to 
 explain the imitative nature of Mufic\ It is eafy to fee whence 
 this confuiion arifes, if we confider the procefs of the mind when 
 words thus extended from their proper fignifications are prefented 
 to it. We are told that " Poetry is an imitative art." In order 
 to conceive how it is fo, we naturally compare it with paintings 
 fculpture, and fuch arts as are flridlly and clearly imitative. But, 
 in this comparifon, the c}iffere?ice is fo much more obvious and 
 
 • Dr. Bejttie, Ejjay on Poetry, &c. ch. vi. §. I. 
 
 B a Ariking
 
 4 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 ftriking than the refcmblance — we fee fo much more readily in 
 what refped:s poetry is not properly imitation, than in what 
 refpefts it is ; — that the mind, at laft, is left in that fort of 
 perplexity which muft always arife from words thus loofely and 
 analogically applied, when the analogy is not fufficiently clear and 
 obvious ; that is, when, of that mixture of circumftances, like 
 and unlike, which conftitutes analogy, the latter are the moft ap- 
 parent. 
 
 In order to underftand the following treatife on poetry, in 
 which imitation is confidered as the very effence of the art '', it 
 feems necefliiry to fatisfy ourfelves, if poflible, with refpedl to two 
 points ; I. In what fenfes the word Imitation is, or f}tay be, applied 
 to Poetry. II. In what fenfes it was fo applied by Aristotle. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE only circumflance, I think, common to everything we 
 denominate imitation, whether properly or improperly, is refcm- 
 blance, of fome fort or other. 
 
 In every imitation, ftridlly and properly fo called, two conditions 
 ieem eflential : — the refemblance muft be immediate j i. e. between 
 the imitation, or imitative work, itfelf, and the objedl imitated ; — 
 and, it muft alfo be obvious. Thus, in fculpture, figure is repre- 
 fented by fimilar figure; in painting, colour and figure, by fimilar 
 colour and figure ; in perfonal imitation, or mimicry, voice and 
 gefture, by fimilar voice and gefture. In all thefe inftances, the 
 refemblance is obvious ; we recognize the objedl imitated : and 
 it is, alfo, immediate; it lies in the imitative luork, or energy, 
 itfelf; or, in other words, in the very materials, or fenftble fnedia % 
 by which the imitation is conveyed. All thefe copies, therefore, 
 are called, ftridly and intelligibly, imitations. 
 
 * See the feconJ part of this Diflertation. 
 
 * See Mr. Harris's Treatife on Mufic, &c. ch. i- 
 
 I. The
 
 On Poetry conjiaered as an hn'itattve Art. 5 
 
 I . The materials of poetic imitation are words. Thefe may be 
 confidered in two views; as founds merely, and as founds 7%;;^- 
 cant, or arbitrary and conventional y/^«j of ideas. It is evidently, 
 in thefrji view only, that words can bear any real refemblance to 
 the thhigs expreff'ed ; and, accordingly, that kind of imitation 
 which confifls in the refemblance of words confidered as mere 
 SOUND, to x\\Q founds and motions of the objeds imitated'', has 
 ufually been afligned as the only inftance in which the term imi- 
 tative is, in its ftridl and proper fenfe, applicable to Poetry '. 
 But fetting afide all that Is the effect of fancy and of accommo- 
 dated pronunciation in the reader, to which, I fear, many pafTages, 
 repeatedly quoted and admired as the happiefl: coincidences of 
 found and fenfe, may be reduced ' ; fetting this afide, even in fuch 
 words, and fuch arrangements of words, as are aftually, in fome 
 degree, analogous in found or motion to the thing fignified or 
 defcribed, the refemblance is fo faint and diflant, and of fo general 
 and vague a nature, that It would never, of itfrlf, lead us to recog- 
 nize the objed: imitated. We difcover not the likenefs till we 
 know the meaning. The natural relation of the word to the thing 
 fignified, is pointed out only by its arbitrary or conventional 
 ^elation^ — I do not here mean to deny that fuch refemblances, 
 
 however 
 
 ^ Mr. Harris's Treatife, Sec. ch. iii. 
 
 ' Mr. Harris. — Lord Kaims, Elements of Criticifm, vol. li. p. r. 
 
 ' The reader may fee this fufEclently proved by Dr. Jolmfon in his Lives of the 
 Poets, vol. iv. p. 183. a£iavo, and in the Rambler, N° 92. " In fuch refemblances," 
 as he well obferves, " the mind often governs the ear, and the founds are eftimated 
 " by their meaning." Sec alfo Lord Kaims, EL of Ciit. vol. ii. p. 84, 85. 
 
 s See Harris on Mufic, &c. ch. iii. §. :, 2. This verfe of Virgil, 
 
 Stridenti miferum ftipula difperdere carmen — 
 
 ■is commonly cited as an example of this fort of imitation. I queflion, however, 
 whether this line would have been remarked by any one as particul.wly IiarHi, if a 
 
 harfli
 
 6 DISSERTATION L 
 
 however flight and delicate where they really are, and however liable 
 to be difcovered by fancy where they are not, are yet a fource of real 
 beauties, of beauties aSiually felt by the reader, when they ariie, 
 or appear to arife, fpontaneoully from the poet's feeling, and their 
 
 harfh foujid had not been defcribed in it. At leafi-, many verfes fall as harfhiy 
 conftruifted might, I believe, be produced, in which no fuch imitation can be fup- 
 pofed. But, even admitting that fuch imitation was here intended, it feems to me 
 almoft ridiculous to talk of the " natural relation between die found of this verfe, and 
 " that of a vile hautboy.'" [Harris, in the chapter above referred to.] All that can 
 be faid is, that the founds are, both of them, harfh founds ; but, certainly no one 
 fpecies of harfh found can v/ell be more unlike another, than the found of a rough 
 verfe is to the tone of a bad hautboy, or, indeed, of any other mufical inflrument.^ 
 That, in the cleareft and moft acknowledged inftances of fuch imitative vocal found, 
 the refemblance is, or can pofllbly be, fo exacl as to lead a perfon unacquainted with 
 the language, hy the found ahve-, to the fgnif cation,, no man in his fenfes would affert. 
 Yet Dr. Beattie, in a note, p. 304, of his EfTay on Poetry, &c. by a miflake for 
 which I am at a lofs to account, has afcribed fo extravagant a notion to RoufTeau. 
 ♦' There is in Taflb's Gicrufalemme Liberata, a famous flanza, of which RoufTeau 
 " fays, that a good ear and fncere heart are alone able to judge of it;" meaning, as 
 appears from what follows, of its feifc ; for he adds, " The imitative harmony and 
 *' the poetry are indeed admirable ; but I doubt ivhcther a perfon who underflands 
 " neither Italian nor Latin, could even guefs at the fneaning from the found" There 
 can be no room for doubt in this matter; — ^he certainly could not: nor does RoufTeau 
 appear to have even hinted the pofTibility of fuch a thing. The pafTage is in his 
 admirable letter Stir la Muftque Frangoife ; where, in order to obviate the prejudices 
 of thofe who regard the Italian language as wholly foft and efTeminate, he produces 
 two flanzas of TafTo, the one as an example of a fweet and tender, the other of a 
 forcible and nervous, combination of founds : and he adds, that to judge of this, i. e. 
 of the found only, not the feife, of the ftanzas, and alfo of the impofUbility of ren- 
 dering adequately the fweetnefs of the one, or the force of the other, in the French 
 language, " it is not necefTary to underftand Italian — it is fufficient that we have an 
 " ear, and are impartial." — " Qiie ceux qui penfent que I'ltalien n'efl que Ic hn- 
 " gage de la douceur and de la tendrell'e, prenncnt la peine de comparer entre elks 
 *' ces deux flrophes du TafTe : — et s'ils defefperent de rendre en Francois la douce 
 " harmnnie de Tune, qu'ils efTayent d'exprimer la rauque duret'e de I'autre: il n'efl pas 
 " befoin pourjuger de ccci d'entendrc la langue, il ne faut qu' avoir des oreilles h dc 
 " la bonne foi" 
 
 effed
 
 On Poelry confidered as an hn'itative Art. 7 
 
 cffecl: is not counteradled by the obvioufnefs of cool intention, 
 and deliberate artifice''. Nor do I mean to objed: to this appli- 
 cation of the word imitative. My purpofe is merely to fhew, 
 that when we call this kind of refemblance, imitation, we do not 
 ufe the word in its jlrilJl k\\(<t — that, in which it is applied to a 
 pidlure, or a ftatue. Of the two conditions above mentioned, it 
 
 '' I am peifuaded that many very beautiful and ftriking paflages of this kind in the 
 beft poets were folely fuirEiu; auToiJ-xniHo-r,^ £f7«5 not rex^yii (i.i(j,wa/!^M ra yivo/iaji ■jreipa- 
 fMvtii^ as it is weil exprefled by Dion. HaL Hifi (ruvfeo-ea;, § 20. — But the Critic is 
 always too ready to transfer his own reflcdlion to the Poet ; and to confider as the 
 ef'eSls of art, all thofe fpontaneous ftrokes of genius which become the caufei of art 
 by his calm obfervation and difcuffion. Scarce any poet has, I think, fo many beauties 
 of this kind, fairly produced by ftrength of imagination, and delicacy of ear, as 
 Virgil. Yet there are fome verfes frequently cited as fine examples in this way, 
 which appear to me too vifibly artificial to be pleafing : fuch as ■■ 
 
 Quadrupedante putrem fonitu quatit ungula campum. 
 
 I am tempted to add to this note a paflage from the firfl: differtation prefixed to the 
 y^neid by that excellent editor, C. G. Heyne ; — a man who has honourably diftin- 
 guifhed himfelf from the herd of commentators, by fuch a degree of tafte and philo- 
 fophy as we do not often find united with laborious and accurate erudition. Speaking 
 of the charms of Virgil's verfification, he fays, " Illud unum monebimus, in errorem 
 " inducere juvenilem animum videri eos qui nimii in eo funt, ut ad rerum fonos et 
 " naturas accommodatos & formatos velint elTe verfus. Equidem non diffiteor 
 " fenfum animi me refragantem habere, quotiefcunque perfuadere mihi volo, magnum 
 " ahquem poetam aftu tantarum rerum abreptum et magnorum phantafmatum vt 
 " inflammatum, infono curfiu equejiris vel tuboe vel aliarum rerum reddendo laborare ; 
 " attenuat ea res et deprimit ingenium poets & artis dignitatem. Sunt tamen, ais, 
 *' tales verfus in optimo quoque poeta. Refte ; funt utique multi ; etfi plures alios 
 " ad hoc lufus genus accomniodare folet eorum ingenium qui talibus rebus indulgent. 
 *' Sed mihi ad poetices indolem propius efle videtur fl^atuere, ipfam oratioiiis naturam 
 " ita efle comparatam, ut multarum rerum fonos exprimat ; inflammatum autem 
 *' phantafmatum fpecie objeiSta animum, cum rerum fpecies fibi obverfantes ut ora- 
 " tione vivide expriynat laboreit, necejfario in ijla vocabula incidere., vel orationis pro- 
 " prietatc ducente, Ita graves et celeres, lenes ac duros fonos, vel non id agent et 
 «' cufeins, ad rerum naturam accommodabit et orator quifque bonus, et multo magis 
 " poeta." [Heyne's Virgil, vol, ii. p. 39.] 
 
 wants
 
 « DISSERTATION I. 
 
 wants that which muft be regarded as moft eiTentlal. The refem- 
 blance is, indeed, real, as far as it goes, and immediate; but, 
 neceffarily, from its generality, fo imperfedl, that even when pointed 
 out by the fenfe, it is by no means always obvious, and without 
 that, cannot poiTibly lead to any thing like a clear and certain 
 recognition of the particular objed imitated'. I muft obferve 
 farther, that this kind of imitation, even fuppofing it much more 
 perfed:, is, by no means, that which would be likely firft: to occur 
 to any one, in an enquiry concerning the nature of the imitation 
 attributed to Poetry, were it not, that the circumflance of its real 
 and immediate refemblance, has occafioned its being confidered, 
 I think not juftly, as the ftridleil fenfe of the term fo applied. 
 
 For the moft iifual, and the moft important fenfes, and even, 
 as will perhaps appear, for xhtjiri^eji fenfe, in which Poetry has 
 
 ' The caufes of this imperfeftion are accurately pointed out by Mr. Harris ; 
 I. The " natural founds and motions which Poetry thus imitates, are themfelves but 
 " loofe and indefinite accidents of thofefibjeSfs to which they belong, and confequently 
 " do but looffly and indefinitely chara6terife them. 2. Poetic founds and motions do 
 " but faintly refemble thofe of nature, which are themfelves confeiTed to be fo imperfiii 
 "and vague." [Treatife on Mufic, &c. ch. iii. §2. See alfo ch, ii. § 3-] The 
 following is a famous imitative line of Boileau : 
 
 S'en va frapper le mur, & revient en roulant. 
 
 If this line were read to any one ignorant of the language, he would be fo far from 
 ^ueffing what was imitated, that it would not, I believe, occur to him that anything 
 was imitated at all; unlefs, indeed, the idea were forced upon his mind by the pro- 
 nuntiation of the reader. Now, fuppofc him to underftand French : — as the circum- 
 ftance of ra///n^ is mentioned in the line, he might poffibly notice the efFedt of the 
 letter R, and think the poet intended to exprefs the noife oi fomething that rolled. 
 And this i'^ all the real refemblance that can be difcovered in thisverfe: a refem- 
 blance, and that too, but diftant and imperfe£t, in the found of a letter to the found 
 nf rolling in general. For anything beyond this, we muft truft to our imagination, 
 affiftcd by the commentator, who affures us, that the poet " a cherche a imiter par le 
 "fon des mots, le bruit que fait UNE AS6IETTE en roulant," Sat. iii. v. 2i6. 
 
 been,
 
 On Poetry confidered as an Imitative Art, ^ 
 
 been, or may be, underftood to Imitate, we muft have recourfc 
 to language conlidered in its moft important point of view, as 
 compofed, not of founds merely, but of (oxxnd^ Jignifica'at . 
 
 2. Tlie mofl general and extenfive of thefe fenfes, is that in 
 which it is applied to description, comprehending, not only 
 that poetic landfcape-painting which is peculiarly called defcriptive 
 Poetry, but all fuch circumftantial and diftind: reprefentation as 
 conveys to the mind a ftrong and clear idea of its objedl, whether 
 fenjible or mental^. Poetry, in this view, is naturally confidered 
 as more or lefs imitative, in proportion as it is capable of railing 
 an ideal image or fiSliire, more or lefs refembling the reality of 
 things. The more diflindl and vivid the ideas are of which this 
 pidlure is compofed, and the more clofely they correfpond to the 
 adlual imprejjions received from nature, the flronger will be the 
 refemblance, and the more perfed: the imitation. 
 
 Hence it is evident that, of all defcription, that o1 vifibk objeds 
 will be the mofi imitative, the ideas of fuch objeds being of all 
 others, the moft dlftind and vivid. T\vz.X. fuch defcription, there- 
 fore, fhould have been called imitation, can be no wonder j and, 
 indeed, of all the extended or analogical applications of the word, 
 
 ^ Nothing Is more common than this application of the word to defcription; 
 though the writers who fo apply it have not always explained the ground of the 
 amplication, or pointed out thofe precife properties of defcription which entitle it to 
 be confidered as imitation. Mr. Addifon makes ufe of defcription as a general term, 
 comprehending all poetic imitation, or imitation by language, as oppofed to that of 
 painting, &c. See SpeHator N" 416. I. C. Scaliger, though he extended imitation 
 to fpeech in general, [fee Part II. Note '.] did not overlook the circumftances which 
 render defcription peculiarly imitative. He fays, with his ufual fpirit, fpeaking of 
 poetic or, verbal imitation.j — " At imitati-o non uno modo ; quando ne res quidem. 
 " Alia namque eft fimpkx dcfignatio, ut, Mneas pugnat : alia tnodos addit et circnm^ 
 *-^ Jiantias; \erbi gratia — armutus, in equo, irattis. Jam hie eft pugnantis eti am fades y 
 " non folum aStio. Ita adjunEia circinnflantite^ loci^ affeittis, occafionis, &c. plenio- 
 " rem adhuc atque to7-cfiore?n e^cmni imitationem." [Poet. lib. vii. cap. 2.] We 
 miift not, however, confound imitative defcription with fuch defcription as is merely 
 2.R enumeration of parts. See note "', fecond part of this differtation. 
 
 this 
 
 l/t-x^
 
 10 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 this is, perhaps, the moft obvious and natural'. "There needs no 
 other proof of this than the very language in which we are natu- 
 rally led to exprefs our admiration of this kind of poetry, and 
 which we perpetually borrow from the arts of ftridl imitation. 
 We fay the poet has painted his objeft; we talk of his imagery, 
 of the lively colours of his defcription, and the rnafterly touches 
 of his pencil"^. 
 
 The objefts of our other fenfes fall lefs within the power of 
 defcription, in proportion as the ideas of thofe objefts are more 
 fimple, more fleeting, and lefs diftind:, than thofe of fight. The 
 defcription of fuch objedls is, therefore, called with lefs propriety 
 imitation^. 
 
 ' T* ?£ O'^'El yvii^i/xx, Ota woitiTiKu; i^//.wiia; k^upcaviTM MIMHTIlifiTEPON* oldv, kvj/m- 
 
 TBv axa7y£?iM);icEVfflv, US HPilMENOIE. Ptol. Harmon, 2- 3- 
 
 " It cannot be neceflary to produce examples of this. They are to be found in 
 almoft every page of every writer on the fubjeft of poetry. The reader may fee Dr. 
 Kurd's Difcourfe on Poetical Imitation, p. lo, &c. — Dr. Beattie's Effay on Poetry 
 and Mufic, p. 97, (Ed. 8vo.) and the note.— Dr. Warton on Pope, vol. i. p. 44, 455 
 vol. ii. 223, 227. — Lord Kaims, Elem. of Criticifm, vol. ii. p. 326. 
 
 Nor is this manner of fpeaking peculiar to modern writers. tps^e iv, fays 
 ^lian, introducing his defcription of the Vale of Tempe ; xm ra naxay-evoc Tfi^^n, t« 
 QiTzaMaa, AIAFPAYnMEN tjj ^07?, ««• AIAnAASnMEN. And he adds, as in 
 juftification of thefe expreflions, oifMhoyrtTai -/a^ xcu 7:oy©-, ixv IxV ^"^''it^ii' ^parmyrj, iitiSft 
 ao'Osverepov offa |3aX£T«i AEIKNTN^AI rav avSjjiuv toiv xc/.ra. x^^p'^pJ^'^v Jiivai'. Hi/f. Var. lib. iii. 
 cap, I. Hence, alfo, the faying of Simonides, fo often repeated, that " a piflure is 
 " a filent poem, and a poem a fpeaking picture." Lucian, in that agreeable deline- 
 ation of a beautiful and accompiiihed woman, his EIKONE2, ranks the defcriptive 
 poet with the painter and the fculptor : rauroc f^tv isv nAASTflN xai rPA'tEHN xai 
 nOIHTXlN -jucioEj epyaaovrai. Homer, he denominates, rov a^mv TUN FPA^'EIiN, 
 " the befi: of painters ;" and calls upon him, even in preference to Polygnotus, 
 Apelles, and the moft eminent artifts, to paint the charms of his Panthea. See alfo 
 the treatife Tlcfi rr; OMHPOT •n-omTta;, towards the end. (Ei Si nai Zuy^atpiai ^lOOKnaMv 
 O/Mi^ov (pain TIJ — K, T. aM. ) 
 
 " One obvious rcafon of this is, the want of that natural aflbclation juft remarked, 
 T/ith painting, (the moft ftriking of thejlriifly imitative art?,) which is peculiar to the 
 defcription of vijible objedts. 
 
 Next
 
 On Poetry confidered as an Imitative Art. \ i 
 
 Next to vlfible objects, founds feem the moft capable of defcrlp- 
 tive imitation. Such defcription is, indeed, generally aided bjr 
 real, though imperfedl, refemblance of verbal found; more, or lefs, 
 according to the nature of the language, and the delicacy of the 
 poet's ear. The following lines of Virgil are, I think, an inftaacc 
 of this. 
 
 Lamentis gemituque et foemineo ukilatu 
 
 Tedta fremunt, refonat magnis plangoribus aether. 
 
 JEn. iv. 663. 
 
 But we are not, now, confidering this immediate imitation of 
 found by found, but fuch only as is merely defcrlptlve, and operates, 
 like the defcription of vifible objed:s, only by the meaning of the 
 words. Now if we are allowed to call defcription of vifible ob- 
 jedts, imitation, when it is fuch that we fcem to fee the objedl", 
 I know of no reafon why we may not alfo confider founds as 
 imitated'', when they are fo defcribed that we feem to hear them. 
 It v/ould not be difficult to produce from the beft poets, and even 
 from profe-writers of a ftrong and poetical imagination, many 
 inftances of found fo imitated. Thofe readers who are both poe- 
 tical and mufical will, I believe, excufe my dwelling a moment 
 upon a fubjedl which has not, as far as I know, been much con- 
 fidered. 
 
 Of our own poets I do not recolleft any who have prefented 
 mufical ideas with fuch feeling, force, and reality of defcription, 
 as Milton, and Mr. Mafon. When Milton fpeaks of 
 
 Notes with many a winding bout 
 
 Of linked fweetnefs long drawn out. U Allegro, 
 
 • OPHMENOIS it/ta-XAov r\ oKHO/ievoti kixs tx ["Oittupii] croiiiiaaTa. 
 
 Treaufe de Horn. Pocf. loco cit'. 
 
 p Lucian, in his Imagines-, juft now cited, has very happily defcribed a fine female 
 voice ; and he calls the defcription, fome what boldly, KaMnpawa; hcu uS^jijEIKUN. Tom. ii. 
 p. 17. Ed, Be:u-d, licii h to'S^ tb ipkyi^a-c®'. — a, t. a^. i.i .■ 
 
 C 2 And
 
 12 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 And of — " a foft and folemn-breathing found," that 
 
 Rofe like a fleam of rich diftill'd perfumes. 
 
 And ftole upon the air. Comus, 
 
 Who, that has a truly mufical ear, will refufe to confider fuch 
 defcription as, in fome fort, imitative'' ? 
 
 In the fame fpirit both of Poetry and of Mufic are thefe 
 beautiful lines in Caractacus, addreffed by the Chorus to the 
 Bards : 
 
 . ■ Wond'rous men! 
 Ye, whofe fldll'd fingers know how beft to lead. 
 Through all the maze of found, the wayward ftep 
 Of Harmony, recalling oft, and oft 
 Permitting her unbridled courfe to rufli 
 Through diffonance to concord, fweeteft then 
 Ev'n when expedled harflieft. 
 
 It feems fcarce poffible to convey with greater clearnefs to the 
 ear of imagination the effed: of an artful and well conduced 
 harmony ; of that free and varied range of modulation, in which 
 the ear is ever wandering, yet never loft, and of that mafterly 
 and bold intertexture of difcord, which leads the fenfe to pleafure, 
 through paths that lie clofe upon the very verge of pain. 
 
 The general and confufed effedl of complex and aggregated 
 found may be faid to be defcribed, when the moft ftriking and 
 charadteriftic of the lingle founds of which it is compounded 
 are feledled and enumerated; '^w'^. ■&% Jingk founds are defcribed 
 (and they can be defcribed no otherwife) by the feledlion of 
 their principal qualities, or modijicat ions . — I cannot produce a 
 liner example of this than the following admirable paffage of 
 Dante, in which, with a force of reprefentation peculiar to 
 himfelf in fuch fubjedts, he defcribes the mingled terrors of 
 thofe diftant founds that ftruck his ear as he entered the gates 
 of his imaginary Iriferno ; — " fi mife dentro alle fegrete cofe."— 
 
 « See alfo II Penferofo, i6i— 166. 
 
 Quivi
 
 0}i Poetry co7ifidered as an Imitative Art, 1 3 
 
 Quivi fofpiri, pianti, ed ahi guai 
 Rifonavan per I'aer fenza ftelle ; 
 
 Diverfe lingue, orribili favelle. 
 Parole di dolore, accenti d'ira, 
 Voci alte fioche, e fuon di man con elle. 
 
 Inferno, Canto III. 
 
 -The reader may be glad to relieve his imagination from the 
 terrible ENAPrEIA of this defcription, by turning his ear to a - 
 far different combination of founds j — to the charming defcrip- 
 tion of ** the melodies of morn," in the Minjirel' , or of the 
 ?nclodies of evening in the Deferted Village : 
 
 Sweet was the found, when oft at evening's clofe, 
 Up yonder hill the village murmur rofe. 
 There as I paft with carelefs fteps and flow. 
 The mingling notes came foften'd from belowj 
 The fwain refponfive as the milk-maid fung. 
 The fober herd that low'd to meet their young ; 
 The noify geefe that gabbled o'er the pool. 
 The playful children juft let loofe from fchool ; 
 The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whifp'ring wind. 
 And the loud laugh that fpoke the vacant mind. 
 Thefe all in foft confufion fought the fliade. 
 And fill'd each paufe the nightingale had made'. 
 
 But 
 ' Book I. Stanzas ^o, ifi. 
 
 ' The following Stanza of Spenfer has been much admired : 
 
 The joyous birdes, flirouded in cheareful fhade, 
 Their notes unto the voice attempred fweet, 
 Th' angelical foft trembling voices made 
 To til' inftruments divine, refpondence meet ; 
 The filver-founding inftruments did meet 
 With the bafe murmur of the water's fall ; 
 The water's fall with difFerence difcreet 
 Now foft, now loud, unto the wind did call ; 
 The gentle warbling wind low anfwered to all. 
 
 Fairy ^een, Book II. Canto 12, Stanza 71. 
 
 Dr.
 
 J4 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 B\itjingk founds may alfo be fo defcribed or charadlerized as to 
 produce a fecondary perception, of fufficient clearnefs to deferve 
 the name of imitation. It is thus that we hear the " far-off 
 *' Curfeu" of Milton; 
 
 Over fome wide-water'd fhore 
 Swinging flow with fullen roar'. 
 
 And Mr. Mafon's " Bell of Death," that 
 
 paufes now; and now with rifiiigknell 
 
 Flings to the hollow gale its fullen found. ' 
 
 Elegy II r. 
 
 I do not know a happier defcriptive line in Homer than the 
 following, in his fimile of the nightingale : 
 
 Dr. Warton fays of thefe lines, that they " are of themfelves a complete concert 
 " of the moft delicious mufic." It is unwillingly that I differ from a perfoii of fo 
 much tafte. I cannot confider as Mufic, much lefs as " delicious mufic," a mixture 
 of incompatible founds, if I may fo call them — of founds mufical with founds immu- 
 ftcal. The finging of birds cannot poffibly be " attempred" to the notes of a human 
 voice. The mixture is, and muft be, difagreeable. To a perfon liftening to a 
 concert of voices and inftruments, the interruption of Jinging-birds, zvind, and water- 
 falls, would be little better than the torment of Hogarth's enraged mufician.— Far- 
 ther the defcription itfelf is, like too many of Spenfer's, coldly elaborate, and in- 
 
 difcriminately minute. Of the exprefiions, fomc are feeble and without effect — as, 
 •■'■joyous birds;" fome evidently improper— as, '■^trembling voices," and '■'■ ch careful 
 " fliade ;" for there cannot be a greater fault in a voice than to be tremulous ; 
 and cheareful is furely an unhappy epithet applied to fliade ; fome cold and laboured, 
 and fuch as betray too, plainly the ncceffities of rhyme ; fuch is, 
 
 " The v/ater's fall with difference difcrcct." 
 
 • The reader who conceives the word '■'■ fwinging" to be merely defcriptive of 
 Kition, will be far, I. think, from feeling the whole force of this pallage. They who 
 are accuflomed to attend to founds, will, 1 believe, agree with me, that the found, in 
 this cafe, is afFcdled by the motion, and that the fwing of a bell is aclually heard in 
 its t',nc, v/hich is different from what it would be if the fame bell were Itruck with 
 the fmc force., but at rcjl. The experiment may be eafily made with a fmall 
 hand-bell. 
 
 r 'Hrg
 
 On Poetry conjldered as an Imitative Art. \^ 
 
 That which is peculiar in the Tinging of this bird, the variety, 
 richneis, flexibihty, and liquid volubility of its notes, cannot 
 well be more ftrongly characterized, more audibly prefented to the 
 mind, than by the iFoAuij%e«, the %£«, and, above all, the ^0.^.0. tdu- 
 TTua-x, of this Ihort defcription ". But, to return — 
 
 I mentioned alio, defcription of mental objedts ; of the emotions, 
 palTions, and other internal movements and operations of the 
 mind. Such objedts may be defcribed, either immediately, as they 
 afFed: the mind, or through theiv external ^n6.fenjil?le eJf'eSls. Let 
 us take the paffion of Dido for an inflance : 
 
 At regina gravi jamdudum faucia cura 
 Vulnus alit venis, et cceco carpitur igni, &c. 
 
 jEneid IV. i. 
 
 This is immediate defcription. But when Dido 
 
 Incipit efFarij mediaqiie in voce refiftit ; 
 Nunc eadem, labente die, convivia quserit, 
 Iliacofqiie itenim, demens, audire labores 
 Expofcit, pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore. 
 Pofl-j ubi digrefll, lumenque obfcura viciffira 
 Luna premie, fuadentque cadentia fidera fomnos, 
 
 " OdyfTey, T. 521. I am fiirprifed at Erneftus's interpretation of -r^a'naaa; 
 i. e. " de lufcinia inter canendum se verjante ;" [Index to his Homer.] by which the 
 greateft beauty of the defcription would be loft ; and loft without neccffify : for the 
 natural conftruclion is that which Hcfychlus gives : T^aTraaa — T^tTrxaa THN 4>riNHN. 
 
 " Not a fingle beauty of this line is preferved in Mr. Pope's tranflation. The 
 XEEi, '■'■pours her voice," is miirely dropt; and the ftrong and rich expreffion, in 
 da-ixa. TfiuTrojcra, and -sro^trpiEa , is diluted into " varied ftrains." [Book xix. 607.] For 
 the particuhir ideas of a variety of quick turns and inflexions [fe^a; Tfwvraa-a] and a 
 variety of tones, [-sroAjMxEa] the tranflator has fubftituted the genera!, and therefore 
 weak idea, of variety in the abftra6t— of a fong or" ftrains" fimply varied. The 
 reader may fee this fubje£t — the importance of particular and determinate ideas to the 
 force and beauty of defcription— admirably iluftrated in the Difcourfe on Poetical 
 Imitation. [Hurd's Horace, vpl. iii. p. 15— ig.j 
 
 Sola
 
 i6 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 Sola domo mccret vacua, flratifque relidis 
 Incubat, 
 
 — here, the paffion is defcribed, and moft cxquifitely, by Xfs, Jenfiblc 
 effects. This, indeed, fnay be confidered as faUing under the 
 former kind of defcriptive imitation — that of JenJibJe objedls. 
 There is this difference, however, between the defcription of a 
 fenfible objed:, and the defcription of a mental — of any paffion for 
 example — through that of a fenfible objed:, that, in the former, 
 the defcription is confidered as terminating in the clear and diftinft 
 reprefentation of the fenfible objefl:, the landfcape, the attitude, 
 the found, &c. : whereas in the other, the fenfible exhibition is 
 only, or chiefly, the means of eifeding that which is the principal 
 end of fuch defcription — the emotion, of whatever kind, that 
 arifes from a flrong conception of the paffion ilfelf. The image 
 carries us on forcibly to the feeling of its internal caufe. When 
 ^kinfirji effect is once produced, we may, indeed, return from it 
 to the calmer pleafure, of contemplating the imagery itfelf with a 
 painter's eye. 
 
 It is undoubtedly, this defcription of paffions and emotions, by 
 their Jenjiblc effedts, that principally deferves the name of imita- 
 tive ; and it is a great and fertile fource of fome of the highefl 
 and mofi: touching beauties of poetry*". With refped: to immediate 
 defcriptions of this kind, they are from their very nature, far more 
 weak and indiftind, and do not, perhaps, often poffeis that degree 
 of forcible reprefentation that amounts to what we call imitative 
 defcription. — But here fome diftindions fecm necellary. In a 
 flrid and philofophical viev/, a Jingle paffion or emotion does 
 not admit of defcription at all. Confidered in itfelf, it is a 
 fimple internal fcehng, and, as fuch, can no more be dcjcribcd, 
 than a fimple idea can be defined. It can be defcribed no other- 
 wife than in its effeSls, of fome kind or other. But the eifeds 
 of a paflion are of two kinds, internal and external. Now, 
 
 1 See the Difcourfe on Poetical Imitation, of Dr. Hurd, p. 39, kc 
 
 popularly
 
 On Poetry confidcred as an Imltatroe Ar^. ty 
 
 popularly fpeaking, by the pajfion of love, for example, we mean 
 the whole operation of that paflion upon the tnind — we include all 
 its internal workings; and when it is defcribcd in thefe internal and 
 invifible effed:s only, we confider it as im)7iediately defcribed; thefe 
 internal effedls being included in our general idea of the pafTion. 
 Mental ohje£is, then, admit of immediate defcription, only when 
 they are, more or lefs, complex ; and fuch defcription may be con- 
 lidered as more or lefs imitative, in proportion as its impreffion on 
 the mind approaches more or lefs clofely to the real impreffion of 
 the paffion or emotion itfelf. Thus, in the pafTage above re- 
 ferred to as an inftance of fuch immediate defcription, the mental 
 objedl defcribed is a complex objed: — the paffion of love, including 
 fome of its internal eiledls ; that is, fome other paffions or feelings 
 which it excites, or with which it is accompanied ; 
 
 At regina gravi jamdudum faucia cura 
 Vulnus alit venis, et coeco carpitur igni. 
 Multa viri virtus animo, multufque recurfat 
 Gentis honos : ha;rent infixi pedlore vultus, 
 , Verbaque : nee placidam membris dat cura quietem. 
 
 jE7t. IV. hiltio. 
 
 Reduce this pafTage to the mere mention of the paffion itfelf—' 
 the fmiple feeling or emotion of love, in the precife and ftrid: ac- 
 ceptation of the word, abflradedly from its concomitant effedls, 
 it will not even be defcription, much lefs imitative defcription. It 
 will be mere attribution, or predication. It will fay only — " Dido 
 " was in love." 
 
 Thus, again, a complication of different paffoJis admits of for- 
 cible and imitative defcription : 
 
 ■■ aeftuat ingens 
 
 Imo in corde pudor, mixtoque infania luftu, 
 Et furiis agitatus amor, et confcia virtus. 
 
 Mn, XII. ee(>. 
 
 i\ ' D Here
 
 j8 DISSERTATION L 
 
 Here, tlie mental objeft defcribed is not any fingle paffion, but 
 the complex paflion, if I may call it fo, that refults from the 
 mixture and fermentation of all the pafiions^//;7^a/f</to Turnus. 
 
 To give one example more : — The mind of a reader can hardly, 
 I think, be flung into an imaginary fituation more clofely refem- 
 bling the real lituation of a mind diflrefled by the co7nplicated 
 movements of irrefolute, fludluating and anxious deliberation, than 
 It is by thefe lines of Virgil : 
 
 magiio curarum fludtuat seftu ; 
 
 Atque animum nunc hue celerem, nunc dividit illuc. 
 In partefque rapit varias, perque omnia verfat. 
 
 jEn. VIII. 19. 
 
 It may be neceffary, alfo, for clearnefs, to obferve, that defcrip- 
 tion, as applied to mental objedls, is fom.etimes ufed in a more 
 loofe and improper lenfe, and the Poet is faid to defcribe, in ge- 
 neral, all the paffions or manners which he, in any way, exhibits j 
 whether, in the proper' fenfe of the word, defcribed, or merely 
 exprejfed ; as, for example, in the lines quoted from the opening 
 of the fourth book of the ^Eneid, the pafTion of Dido is defcribed 
 by the Poet. In thefe 
 
 Quis novus hie noftris fuccenic fcdibus hofpes ? 
 
 Quam fefe ore ferens ! — quam forti pciflore et armis ! 
 
 ' — It is exprejfed by herfelf. But is not this, it may be afked, 
 ^^ imitation ^^ Itis^ but not (^/^yZr/^/rjc? imitation. As expre//ive 
 of pajjion, it is no farther imitative, than as the paffion exprefled is 
 imaginary, and makes a part of the Poet's fiBion : otherwife, we 
 mufl apply the word imitative, as nobody ever thought of applying 
 it, to all cafes in which we are made, by fympathy, to feel ftrongly 
 the paffion of another expreffed by words. The paflage is, 
 indeed, alfo imitative in another view — as dramatic. But for an 
 explanation of both thefe heads of imitation, I muft refer to 
 what follows. — I Ihall only add, for fear of miftake, that there 
 
 is
 
 On Poetry conjidered as an Imitative Art^ 19 
 
 is alio, in the fecond of thofe lines, defcriptivc imitation ; but de- 
 fcriptive of JEneas only ; not of Dido's pajjion, though it ftrongly 
 indicates that paiTion. — All I mean to affert is, that thofe lines are 
 not defcriptive imitation of a mental obje5i. 
 
 So much, then, for the fubjedl of defcriptive imitation, which 
 has, perhaps, detained us too long upon a fingle point of our 
 general inquiry. 
 
 3. The word imitation is alfo, in a more particular, but well- 
 known, fenfe, applied to Poetry when confidered as fiction — to 
 ilories, adlions, incidents, and characters, as far as they -^xc feigned 
 or invented by the Poet in imitation, as we find it commonly, and 
 obvioufly enough, expreffed, of nature, of real life, of truth, ia 
 general, as oppofed to that individual reality of things which is the 
 province of the hiftorian \ Of this imitation the epic and dra- 
 matic poems are the principal examples. 
 
 That this fenfe of the term, as applied to fidiion, is entirely 
 diftindl from that in which it is applied to defcription, will evi- 
 dently appear from the following confaderations. — In defcriptivc 
 imitation, the refemblance is between the ideas raifed, and the 
 adlual imprejjions, whether external or internal, received from the 
 things themfelves. In fid:ive imitation, the refemblance is, ftridly 
 fpeaking, between the ideas raifed, and other ideas ; the ideas raifed 
 —the ideas of the Poem — being no other than copies, refemblances, 
 or, more philofophlcally, new, though fmiilar, combinations of that 
 general flock of ideas, collected from experience, obfervation, and 
 reading, and repofited in the Poet's mind. — In defcription, imita-' 
 tion is oppofed to aftual impreJ}io7i, external or internal : in ii(5i;ion, 
 it is oppofed to facl. — In their effeSls, fome degree of iliufion is 
 implied ; but the iliufion is not of the fame kind in both. De- 
 fcriptive imitation may be faid to produce illufive perception, — » 
 fidlive, ilhffive belief. ' 
 
 ' M:;«^— ?^y®- ^t,hi EKONIZflN THN AAH0EIAN.— ^w/i/er-^ ^ Hefychius, 
 voce Mi/9@-. 
 
 D 2 Farther — •
 
 .2d DISSERTATION I. 
 
 Farther — defcriptive imitation may fubfift without fidllve, and 
 fidlive, without defcriptive. The firft of thefe aflertions is too 
 obvious to ftand in need of pvroof. The other may require fome 
 explanation. It feems es^-ident that fi&ion may even fubfift in mere 
 narration, without any degree of dcfcription, properly fo called \ 
 much more, without fuch defcription as I have called imitative j 
 that is, without any greater degree of refemblance to the things 
 exprelled, than that which is implied in all ideas, and produced by 
 all language, confidered merely as intelligible . Let a ftory be in- 
 Yented, and related in the plaineft manner poflible ; in fliort and 
 general exprelTions, amounting, in the incidents, to mere ailertion, 
 and in the accoiint of paflions and charadlers, as far as poffible, to 
 mere attribution : this, as fi-dlion, is ftill imitation, — an invented 
 refemblance of real life, or, if you pleafe, of hi ftory % — tliough 
 without a fmgle imitative defcription, a fingle piSliire, a fingle 
 inftance of ftrong and viiible colouring, throughout the whole \ 
 I mean, by this, only to fhew the diftindl and independent fenfes 
 in which imitation is applied to defcription and to iidlion, by 
 fliewing how each fpecies of imitation tnay fubfift without the 
 other : but, that fiftive imitation, though it does not, in any 
 degree, depend on defcriptive for its exiftence, does, in a very great 
 degree, depend on it for its beauty, is too obvious to be called in 
 queftion ^ 
 
 The 
 
 « 
 
 '^ " Hiftorias imitatio ad placitum." Bacon, Tie augm, Scient. lib. ii. c. 13. 
 
 * The i^ncid, in this view, is equally hiiitation in every part where it is not, or 
 is not fuppofed to be, hiftorically true ; even in the fimpleft and bareft narration. In 
 point of liiition, " tres littore cervos profpicit errantes," is as much imitation, though 
 not as pireiical, as the fine defcription of the ftorm i« the feme book, or of Dido's 
 c-onflidting paflions, in the fourth. 
 
 ^ Yet even here a diftirldlion obvioufly fuggefts itfelf. A work of fiftion may 
 fee confidered in two views ; in the whole, or in its parts : in the general ftory, the 
 tAuS®-, fable, fcries of events. Sec. or, in the detail and circumftances of the ftory, the 
 ;account of fuch places, perfons, and things, as the fable neccflarily involves. Now,
 
 On Poetry conjidered as an Imitative Art^ 2 1 
 
 The two fenfes kfl: mentioned of the word Imitative, as applied 
 to defcription, and to fitlion, are manifeftly extended, or improper 
 fenfes, as well as that firfl mentioned, in which it is applied to 
 language confidered as mere found. In all thefe imitations, one 
 of the effential conditions of whatever isJIriBly fo denominated is 
 wanting ;—m fonorous imitation, the refemblance is immediate, 
 but not obvious ; in the others, it is obvious, but not im7nediate ; 
 that is, it lies, not in the words themfelves, but in the ideas which 
 they raife s.sjigns\- yet as the circumflance o{ obvious refemblance, 
 which may be regarded as the moft ftriking and diflindlive pro- 
 perty of Imitation, is here found, this extenfion of the word feems 
 to have more propriety than that in which it is applied to thofe 
 faint and evanefcent refemblances which have, not without reafon, 
 been called the echo of found to fenfe ^ 
 
 4. There feems to be but one view in which Poetry can be con- 
 fidered as Imitation, in the flridt and proper fenfe of the word. 
 If we look for both immediate and obvious refemblance, we fliall 
 
 in the firll view, nothing farther feems requifite to make the fiftive imitation good^ 
 than that the events be, in themfelves^ important, interefting, and afFedting, and fo 
 tonneSied as to appear credible, probable, and natural to the reader, and, by that 
 means, to produce the illufior;, and give the pleafure, that is expected : — and this purpofe 
 may be anfwered by mere tiarration. But in the detail this is not the cafe. When 
 the Poet proceeds to fill up and diftcnd the outline of his general plan by the exhi- 
 bition of places, charaflers, or pafiions, thefe alfo, as well as the events, mufl: appear 
 probable and natural: but, being more complex objects, they can no otherwife be 
 made to appear fo than by feme degree of defcription, and that defcription will not be 
 ^00^/ defcription, that is, will not give the 'pleafure expefted from a work of imagi- 
 nation, unlefs it be imitative — fuch as makes us fee the place, feel the paffion, enter 
 tlioroughly into the charaSfcr defcribed. Here, the ficlivs imitation itfelf cannot 
 produce its proper effect, and tlierefore camiot be confidered as good, without the 
 jiffiftance of defcriptive. 
 
 • See above, p. 5. 
 
 i 
 
 Pope's Effciy on Crlt. 365. — Indeed, what Ovid fays of the nymph Echo [Met. 
 'in. 353.] may be applied to this echo of imitative words and conltru6tion : — Nee prior 
 jpfa kgui didicit. The fenfe of the words mu^fpeakfirjl, 
 
 find
 
 22 DISSERTATION L 
 
 find it only in dramatic — or to ufe a more general term — per- 
 SONATIVE Poetry; that is, all Poetry in which, whether eflen- 
 tially or occafionally, the Poet perfonates ; for here, fpeecb is 
 imitated by fpeecb" , The difference between this, and mere 
 narration or defer iption, is obvious. When, in common difcourfe, 
 we relate, or defcribe, in our own perfons, we imitate in no other 
 fenfe than as we raife ideas which refemble the things related or 
 defcribed. But when we fpeak as another perfm, we become 
 mimics, and not only the ideas we convey, but the words, the 
 difcourfe itfelf, in which we convey them, are imitations; they 
 refemble, or are fuppofed to refemble, thofe of the perfon we repre- 
 fent. Now this is the cafe not only with the Tragic and Comic 
 Poet, but alfo with the Epic Poet, and even the Hiftorian, when 
 either of thefe quits his own charadler, and writes a fpeech in 
 the charadler of another perfon. He is then an imitator, in as ftridt 
 a fenfe as the perfonal mimic. — In dramatic, and all perfonative 
 Poetry, then, both the conditions of what is properly denominated 
 Imitation, are fulfilled. 
 
 And now, the quefiion — " in what fenfes the word Imitation 
 *' is, or may be applied to Poetry,"— feems to have received its 
 anfwer. It appears, I think, that the term ought not to be ex- 
 tended beyond the four different applications which have been 
 mentioned ; and that Poetry can be juflly confidered as imitative, 
 only hy J otmd, by defcription, hyfdiion, or by perfo?iatio}z . When- 
 ever the Poet fpeaks in his own perfon, and, at the fame time, 
 does not either feign, or make *' the found an echo to the fenfe," 
 or flay to imprefs his ideas upon the fancy with fome degree of 
 that force and diflindnefs which we call defcription, he cannot, 
 
 * The drama, indeed, is fald alfo to imitate aSlion by aSI'ton ; but this Is only in 
 a6lual reprefentation, where the players are the immediate imitators. In the poem 
 itfelf notjiing but wards can be immediately copied. Gravina fays well, Non e imi- 
 taxtone foetiea quella, die non e fatta dalle faroie>^{Dslla Trag-feSi, 13.J 
 
 2 hi
 
 On Foetry confidered as an Imitative Art, 23 
 
 in any Tenfe that I am aware of, be laid to imitate; unlefs we 
 extend imitation to all fpeecli — to every mode of exprefling our 
 thouglits by words — merely becaufe all words are figns of ideas, 
 and thole ideas images oi thi?igs'. 
 
 It is fcarce necelTary to obferve, that thefe different fpecies of 
 imitation often run into, and are mixed with, each other. They 
 are, indeed, more properly fpeaking, only fo many diftinft, ab- 
 flradled views, in which Poetry may be confidered as imitating. 
 It is feldom that any of them are to be found feparately ; and in 
 fome of them, others are necelTarily implied. Thus, dramatic 
 imitation implies fidion, and fonorous imitation, defcription ; 
 though converfely, it is plainly otherwife. Defcriptive imitation is, 
 manifeftly, that which is molt independent on all the others. The 
 palTages in which they are all united are frequent j and thofe in 
 which all are excluded, are, in the beft Poetry, very rare : for the 
 Poet of genius rarely forgets his proper language ; and that can 
 fcarcely be retained, at leaft while he relates, v/ithout more or lefs 
 of colouring, of imagery, of that defcriptive force which makes 
 us fee and hear. A total fufpenfion of all his fundlions as an 
 imitator is hardly to be found, but in the fimple propofal of his 
 fubjedt^ in his invocation'', the expreffion of his own lentiments ', 
 or, in thofe calm beginnings of narration where, now and then, 
 the Poet floops to faB, and becomes, for a moment, little more 
 than a metrical hillorian ". 
 
 "■ See Hermes, Book iii. ch. 3, p. 329, &c. And Part 11. of this Dljf. note '. 
 
 * Arma virumque cano, Trojs qui primus ab oris 
 Italiam, fato profugus, Lavinaque venit 
 Litora. ^ /EneiJ, I, 
 
 •■ Mufa, mihi caufas memora, &c, Il/td. 
 
 ' Tantsene animis casleftibus irse ? 
 
 , Tantae molis erat Romanam condere gentem. IHd, 
 
 * Urbs antiqua fuit, (Tyrii tenuere coloni,) 
 Carthago, Italiam contra, Tiberinaque longe 
 Ol^ia, Sec. /I'id. 
 
 The
 
 24 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 The full iiluftration of all this by examples, would draw oet 
 to greater length a difcuffion, which the reader, I fear, has already 
 thought too long. If he will open the iEneid, or any other epic 
 poem, and apply thefe remarks, he may, perhaps, find it amuung 
 to trace the different kinds of imitation as they fucceifively occur, 
 in their various combinations and degrees ; and to obferve the 
 Poit varying, from page to page, and fometimes even from line to 
 line, the quantity, if I may io fpeak, of his imitation ; fometimes 
 iliifting, and fom.etimes, though rarely and for a moment, throwing 
 off altogether, his imitative form. 
 
 It has been often faid that all Poetry is Imitation^. But from 
 the preceding inquiry it appears, that, if we take Poetry in its 
 common acceptation, for all jnetrical compofition, the affertion is 
 not true; notj at leaft, in any fenfe of the term Imitation but fuch as 
 will make it equally true of all Speech "". If, on the other hand, 
 we depart from that common acceptation of the word Poetry y the 
 affertion that " all Poetry is Imitation," feems only an improper 
 and confufed way of faying, that no compofition that is not 
 imitative ought to be called Poetry.- To examine the truth of 
 this, would be to engage in a frefh difcuffion totally diflincfl from 
 the objed; of this differtation. We have not, now, been confidering 
 Uuhat Poetry is, or how it fhould be dejined; but only, in what fenfe 
 it is an Imitative Art: or, rather, we have been examining the 
 nature and extent of verbal imitation in general". 
 
 ' This expreflion is nowhere, that I know of, ufed by Ariftotle. In the beginning 
 of his treatife he afferts only that the Efic, Tragic, Comic, and Dithyy:imJ:ic Poems are 
 imitations. Le Boffu, not content with faying that " every fort of Poern in genera! is an 
 " imitation," goes fo far as even to alter the text of Ariltotle in his mari^inal quo- 
 tation. He makes him fay, nOIH2EI2 'aag-cu rvyy,avsQ-iv iaat jxi/^weii to o-uk^ov. 
 
 "' See p. 23, note ^. 
 
 " Imitation, in every fenfe of the word that has been mentioned, is manifeftly 
 independent on metre, though being more eminently adapted to the nature and end of 
 metrical compofition, it has thence been peculiarly denominated Poetic imitation, 
 and attributed to the Poetic Jrt. 
 
 II. THE
 
 On Poetry confidered as an Imitative Art, Ji'^ 
 
 THE preceding general inquiry, " in what fenfes tli6 word Imi- 
 " tation is, or may be, applied to Poetry," brings us with fome 
 advantage to the other queliion propofed, of more immediate con- 
 cern to the reader of this treatife of Ariftotle, — " in what fenfes it 
 *' was fo applied by him." 
 
 1. It is clearly fo applied by him in the fenfe which, from him, 
 has, I think, mofh generally been adopted by modern writers — that 
 of FICTION, as above explained'', whether conveyed in the dra- 
 matic or perfonativeform, or by mere narration in theperfon of the 
 Poet himfelf ''. This appears from the whole fixth fedlion of Part 
 II. [of the original, ch. ix.] but efpecially from the laft paragraph, 
 where he exprefsly fays, that what conftitutes the Poet an imitator ^ 
 is the i7iventio7i of a fable : sroiijrij!/ [/.xXXov TUN MT0I1N eivxi Sh 
 
 nOIHTHN o(ru 'zs-oiyiTv;? KATA MIMHZIN sg^r f^if^strxt Se TA2 
 
 nPAHEIS \ He repeatedly calls the fable, or Mv9©^, " an imita-, 
 *' tion of an aBion ;" but this it can be in no other fenfe than as 
 it' is feigned, either entirely, or in part. A hiftory, as far, at 
 leaf!:, as it is ftridlly hiilory, is not an imitation of an adlion. 
 
 2. It feems equally clear, that he confidered dramatic Poetry 
 iiS peculiarly imitative, above every other fpecies. Hence his^Vy? 
 rule concerning the epic or narrative imitation, that its fable 
 " fhould be dramatically conftrufted, like that of tragedy " :" — ; 
 rag [^vdag, TcxSuTrip tv rccig r^ccyu^tccig, APAMATIKOTS : — his praife of 
 Homer for " the dramatic fpirit of his imitations -."^—'cti km MI- 
 MHIEIS APAMATIKAS jTTonjo-g •■■ : and above all, the remarkable 
 exprCiTion he ufes, where, having laid it down as a precept that 
 
 » P. 19. 
 
 ^ lMij.ii<7^M is-iv k TON AYTON km MH METABAAAONTA. cap. 3, « The 
 
 *' Poet may i?nitatc; &c. — or, in his own pa-jon throinhoui, xvtthoiit chai%ge" Part L 
 Sea. 4. 
 
 ' See Mr. Harris, FhiloL Inq. p. 139. ^ Part III, SeS. i. Of the orig. ch. xxlii. 
 
 * Part. I. Se<a. 6. Orig. cap. iv. 
 
 E tlie
 
 2^ DISSERTATION* I. 
 
 the epic Poet " fliould fpeak as little as poffible in his own perfon^ 
 (ATTON hi rov TsyoiriTviv eXax'S''^ Keyetv) he gives this reafon — ■ 
 O^f yao £5"' y-oiT<x roLXirct. MIMHTHS : *' for he is not then the iMi- 
 ** TATQR ^" But, he had before exprefsly allowed the Poet to 
 be an in^iitator even v;hile he retains his own perfon ^. I fee no- 
 other way of removing this apparent inconfiflence, than by fup- 
 pofing him to fpeak comparatively, and to mean no more, than 
 that the Poet is not then truly ?Lnd JlriSily an imitator "^ or, ia 
 other words, that imitation is applicable in its JlriB and proper 
 ienfe, only to perfonative poetry, as above explained i to that Poetry 
 in which fpeech is reprefented by fpeech, and the reiemblance, a&. 
 in painting and fculpture, is immediate. I am not confcious that 
 I am here forcing upon Ariflotle a meaning that may not be his.. 
 1 feem to be only drawing a clear inference from a clear fadl. It 
 cannot be denied, that, in the paffages alleged, he plainly fpeaks- 
 .of perfonative Poetry as that which peculiarly deferves the name of 
 imitation. The inference feems obvious — that he fpeaks of it as; 
 peculiarly imitative, in the only fenfe in which it is fo, as being tha 
 only fpecies of Poetry that \sJlriBly imitative. 
 
 I do not find in Ariflotle any exprefs application of the term, 
 except thefe two. Of the other two fenfes in which Poetry may 
 be, and by modern writers has been, confidered as imitation — refemi^ 
 blmce oi found, and defcription — he fays nothing. 
 
 ' Part III. Sefl. 3. Orig. cap. 24. ^ See above note ''. 
 
 * So VilSorJus : " amittit peni eo tempore nomen Poetse." Caftelvetro's folu- 
 tion of this difficulty is the fame ; and I find his ideas of this matter fo coincident with, 
 my own, that I am induced to tranfcribe his words : In his comment upon the paf- 
 fagc, he fay?, fpcaking of the dramatic part of epic poetry, " Si domanda quiyS/a 
 *' rajfomigliativo-, (i. e. imitative) non perche ancora quando il Poeta narra fenza in- 
 " troducimento di pcrfone a favellarc, non raflbmigli, ma perche le parole dirittc pojle 
 " in luogo di parole dnitte^ jigurano^ rapprefentano, et rajjornigliano MEGLIO le parole, 
 " che le parole pojie in luogo di cose non figurano, non rapprefentano, non raiTomi- 
 " gliano le cofe\ in guifa che, in cert* modo ft puo dire che il rapprefcntare parole con 
 " parole fia raffomigHare ; c il rapprefcntare cofe con parole non fia raflbmigliare, 
 " faragonando I'un ri.Jforn:§Uare (sn I'altre, & nov Jctnplic erne ate," P. 5^4. 
 
 Witli.
 
 On Toetry confidercd as an Lmiathe Art. 
 
 ij 
 
 With refped:, indeed, to the former of t\\tk,fo?7oroiis imitation, 
 it cannot appear in any degree furprifing that he fliould pafs it over 
 in total filence. I have already obferved, that even in a goieral 
 inquiry concerning the nature of the imitation attributed to Poetry, 
 it is by no means that fenfe of the word which would be likely 
 firft to occur j and it would, perhaps, never have occurred at all, 
 if, in fuch inquiries, we were not naturally led to compare Poetry 
 with Painting, and other arts ftri5lly imitative', and as naturally 
 led by that comparifon to admit fonorous imitation as one fpecies, ^ 
 from its agreement with thofe flriftly imitative arts in the circum- 
 ftance of immediate refemblance. But no fuch general inquiry 
 was the objedl of Ariflotle's work, which is not a treatile on Poetic 
 Imitation, but on Poetry. His fubjedl, therefore, led him to con- 
 fider, not all that might without impropriety be denominated 
 imitation in Poetry, but that imitation only which he regarded as 
 eflential to the art ; as the fource of its greateft beauties, and the 
 foundation of its moft important rules. With refpedl, then, to 
 that cafual and fubordinate kind of imitation which is produced 
 merely by the, found of words, it was not likely even that the idea 
 of it fliould occur to him. Indeed, it is to be confidered as a 
 property of language in general, rather than of Poetry; and of 
 fpeech — of adtual pronunciation — rather than of language''. Be- 
 iides that the beauties arifing from this fource are of too delicate 
 and fugitive a nature to be held by rule. They muji be left to 
 the ear of the reader for their effedl, and ought to be left to that 
 of the Poet for their produdlion. 
 
 But neither does Ariil:otle appear to have included defcription 
 in his notion of Poetic imitation ; which, as far as he has ex- 
 plained it, ieems to have been fimply that of the imitation of 
 human actions, manners, paflions, events, &c. in feigned Jiory j 
 and thSiX, principally, v/hen conveyed in a dramatic form. Of de- 
 fcription, indeed, important as it is to the beauty of Poetry in 
 
 ' See above p. 3. *= See above, p. 5. 
 
 E 2 generalj,
 
 2S DISSERTATION I. 
 
 general, and to that of fidlion itfelf, more particularly In the epic 
 form, he has not faid one word throughout his treatife : fo far was 
 he from extending Poetic imitation, as fome have, done, to that 
 general fenfe which comprehends all fpeech '. 
 
 But here, to avoid confufion, the fenfe in which I have ufed 
 the term defcription muft be kept in view. When it is faid that 
 Ariflotle " did not include defcription in his notion of imitation," 
 it is not meant, that he did not confider the defcriptive parts of 
 narrative Poetry as in any refpel^ imitative. The fubjedt of a de- 
 fcription may be either real, or feigned. Almoft all the defcrip- 
 tions of the higher Poetry, the Poetry of invention, are of the 
 latter kind. Thefe Ariflotle, uaqueftionably, confidered as- imita- 
 tion ; but it v/as as JiSiion,. not as defcription; — as falfehood re- 
 fembling truth, or nature,- in general, not as verbal expreffioa 
 refcmbling, by its force and clearnefs, the vifible reprefentations 
 pf painting, or the perception of the thing itfelf. Had he confir- 
 dered defcription in this fenfe as imitation, he muft neceffarily hava 
 admitted imitation without- fidlion "'. But this feems clearly con- 
 trary 
 
 ' Thus I. C. Scaliger, Poet. lib. vli. cap. 2. " Denlque imitationem efle in 
 ** OMNI SERMONE, quia Verba fuiit imagines rerum." He is followed by If. Cafau- 
 bon; D^ Rom. Satira, cap. v. p. 340. Both thefe acute crilics difijutc warmly, 
 againfl: Arifiotle's principle, that the eiTence of Poetry is imitation. And they are, 
 andoubtedly, fo far in the right, that if, as they contend, the only proper fenfe of 
 Poetry is that in which it is oppofed. to profe ('^ omnem ?nctro ajlriciam orationem et 
 " pofle et debere Poema dici." Caf. ubifup.) then, there can be no other iniitationN 
 common to all Poetry., than that which is common to all fptech. See above-,, 
 p. 22, 23. 
 
 " It is obvious, that, if tht imitation attributed to defcription confifls in the clear 
 and diftinft image of the obje£t defcribed, every, defcription conveying faeh an image 
 to the mind mud be equally confidered as imitative, whether that obje(Sl: be real, or 
 imaginary; that is, whether tiic imitation be of individual, or general nature ; juft 
 as in painting, a portrait, or a landfcape from nature, is as much imitation, as an hif- 
 torical figure, or an ideal fcene of Claude Lorrain, though certainly of an inferior 
 kind. Indeed, that which prefects a real, fcnfiblc, and precife obje£l of comparifon, 
 may even be faid to be more wbvjoufly and properly imitatiouy tliau that wliich refers
 
 On Poetry confuicrcd as an Ltihathe Art, St} 
 
 trary to the whole tenor of his treatife. The beauty, indeed, o£ 
 fuch defcription was well known to the antients, and frequent 
 examples of it are to be found in their befc writers — their orators 
 
 us, for its orlgina], to-a vague and general idea. — It may be objefted, that this will 
 extend imitation to all exa£i: defcription i and it may be afked,. whether every fuch 
 defcription, of a building, or of a machine, for inftance, is to be called an imitation ?' 
 I anfwer, that defcriptions may be too exa6l to be imitative ; too detailed and minute 
 to prefent tik whole ftrongly, as a pidture. Technical defcriptions are fuch. They 
 may be faid to defcribe every part without defcribing the whole. To give a com- 
 plete idea of all the parts, for the mere purpofe of information, and to give a flrong 
 and vivid general idea in order to pleafe the imagination, are very different things. 
 It is hy fclsBion, not by enmneration, that the latter purpofe is to be efFefted. [See 
 Dr.. Beattie's EJ/ay on Poetry and Mufic, part I. ch. 5. feft. 4.] — I belie\'e it will be 
 found, on examination, that every defcription, whatever be its purpofe, or its fiibjedt, 
 which does adtually convey fuch a lively and diflincl idea of the whole of any object, 
 affords _/»/72i? degree of pleafure tathe imagination, and is, lb far, imitative ; but whe- 
 ther it affords fuch a degree of that pleafure, or whether it be fuch in other refpefts, 
 as to amount, on the whole, to what may properly be called Poetical imitation, is 
 another queftion. I mufl: again remind the reader, that the object of this Differtation. 
 is to inquire in what fenfes the word imitation is applied to language in general — not to 
 examine all the requifites of fuch im.itation as deferves the name of poetrv. Though 
 it has been faid that all Poetry is imitation, it has ne\<er, I think, been faid that all 
 imitation is Poetry — See above, p. 20, and note ^. 
 
 What I faid above, of the difference between the defcription of all the parts, or 
 circumjiancesy and the defcription of the whole by the feleclion of thofe parts or cir- 
 cumjlances which are mofl: ftriking, and chara£l:eriftic of the thing defcribed, may be 
 illuffrated by a fingle defcription of a 7nachinc, in Virgil : I mean the defcription of a. 
 plough in his Georgics. 
 
 Continuo in fylvis magna viflexa clomatur 
 \n burim, & c\JK\fi fonnam acclpit ulmtis aratri.*. 
 Huic ab ftirpe pedes temo protentus in o£lo, 
 Binas aures, duplici aptantur dejitalia dorfo. 
 Caeditur & tilia ante jugo levis, altaque fagus,. 
 ^ Stivaque, quae currus a tergo torqueat imos, &c. 
 
 1 believe every reader \w\\\ agree with me that the fecond line of this defcription; 
 oonvrj'S, alone, a clearer ^/<??«r^ of a plough to the imagination, than r.Il that fol- 
 lows ; which indeed differs little, if we except the metre, from a mere technicJfl 
 dtfcription in a didionary of arts. 
 
 acd.
 
 3# DISSERTATION I. 
 
 and hiflorkns, as well as Poets; and, particularly, in Homer *. 
 But there is one particular kind of defcription that may be iiiid to 
 be, in a great meafure at leaft, peculiar to modern times ; I mean 
 that which anfwers to landfcape in painting, and of which the 
 fubjcd: is, proi^eds, views, rural fcenery, &c. confidered merely 
 'z.'i piciurcs — as beautiful objefls to the eye-\-. As the truth of 
 this ob/ervation may not be readily admitted, and as the fubjedl is 
 curious, and has not, that I know of, been difcufled, the reader 
 will, perhaps, pardon me, if I fuffer it to detain us from our 
 dired path, in a digrefTion of fome length. 
 
 I do not mean to deny that there are fome beautiful, though 
 flight, touches of local defcription to be found in the antient Poets. 
 
 * Indeed, the very exiftcnce of an appropriated term, ha^ytta, to denote the 
 charmfs and vifibUlty of defcription, would alone furnifh a fufficient proof of this, 
 though every work in which it was exemplified had been loft. 
 
 t Dcfcriptions of rural objefts in the antient writers, are almoft always, what 
 may be called fcnfual dcfcriptions. They defcribe them not as beautiful^ but as 
 pUiTfant; — as pleafures, not of the imagination, but of the external fenfes. Of this kind 
 is the defcription of a Sicilian fcene in the 7th paftoral of Theocritus, from vcr. 131 
 to 146. — Refrefhing fliades, cool fountains, the fmging of birds, fweet fmells, boughs 
 laden with fruit, the hum of bees, &c. — all this is charming, but it is not a landfcape, 
 [See Dr. Warton's Effay on Pope, vol. i. p. 4.] Nor does Virgil paint a landfcape, 
 though his reader may paint one for himfelf, when he exclaims, 
 
 O qui me gelidls in vallibus Hsmi 
 
 Siftat, & ingenti i7anoT\xm protegat U7nbra. 
 
 Of the fame kind is the famous defcription, in the Phadrus of Plato, of that fpot 
 on the banks of the IlilTus to which Socrates and Phsedrus retire to read and converfe 
 together in the heat of afummer's day. The broad fhade of a plane-tree, refrefliing 
 breezes, a fpring, /waxa -^ux^^ iJax©-, to cool their feet, and, tvhat is hejl of all, fays 
 Socrates, — [isavToi'/ uon-l'^-iarcv) a bed of grafs in which they could recline at their eafe 
 — thefe are the materials of the defcription : not a fingle allufion to the pleafure of tl^ 
 ^-yt.— We learn from a palTage that follov/s this defcription, that the country had no 
 charms for Socrates. His apology is curious. He could '■'■ learn r.othing from fiehh 
 and trees." "Lvyyivutta 3») /uoi, u afii-£, he fays to Pha;drus, who had rallied him on tliat 
 fubjedt, fi}~oiMx9ni; ya^ h/M. to. (/.tv 'av x^^ia nai ■:» JivJ^ai sJev (At iihn 'Siiacrnuv^ it i'iv ia arsi 
 ioB^iimi. Phevdrus^ p. 230, Ed, Sfrrani, 
 
 7 But
 
 On Poetry confide^-ed as an Imitative Art. g i 
 
 But It mufl be confeffed^ I think, that they fcattered thefe beau- 
 ties with a fpaiing hand, in comparifon with that rich profufion of 
 pidlurefque ideas which every reader of Poetry recolledls in Shak- 
 fpeare, Milton, Spenfer, Thonnfon, and almoft all the modern 
 Poets of any name. Nor can I lay that I am able to point out 
 anything of this fort in the mofl defcriptive of the Gt-eek Poets — ■ 
 in Theocritus,, or even in Homer — that fairly amounts to fuchr 
 pidlurefque landfcape^defcription (if I may call it fo), as I mean» 
 and as we find fo frequently in the Poets juil mentioned. In 
 Mr. Pope's Poetical Index to his Homer, we are referred, in- 
 deed, to defcriptions of '' profpeolSf' and "land/capes of a Jitie 
 *' country ; but, if we turn to the original, we fliall feldom, or 
 never, find thefe landfcapes. They are of Mr. Pope's painting; 
 fometimes fuggefted by a fingle epithet, as his 
 
 gtafiy Pteleon deck'd with chearful greens, 
 
 'The bow'rs of -Ceres and the fy Ivan fcenes. 
 
 Iliad. II. 850. 
 
 One word only ©f this defcription is Homer's property, *' grajfy" 
 Xi'xiTTOiviv "» Many other inftances may be found, particularly ia 
 his catalogue of the fhips, which indeed he profefles to have en- 
 deavoured to '■' make appear as much a landfcape or piece of 
 ** pai?tti?ig as poflible." [Obf. on the catalogue.] Sometimes he 
 does more than " open the profpeB a little^' as he exprefles it ; he 
 creates it. In his perfdious verfion (" Perfida— fed q^uamvis per- 
 
 * II. B. 697. THe adjeiSlive, grajfy-^ however, is by no means adequate to — 
 7f ;!tf CTOiriv,— i . e. tuv 'soy^kiw nsoav l^^^aav xai i3cx9Biav, luau^-n^ ev n Iri xai AEHAS0AI, TSTEr;,, 
 KOIMH0HNAI. Hefychhis.— Hence, probably, Mr. Pope's borvers, he. A ftngle 
 word perfedly equivalent to a fugle word of the original cannot always be found. 
 In this cafe, a tranflator, unwilling to fall ftiort of the Poet's meaning, naturalljr 
 endeavours to exprefs in more words what he has faid in one ; but in doing th''s, he 
 will often be unavoidably reduced to the dilemma, of either mifreprefenting the ori- 
 ginal, if he admits different or additional ideas, or, of weakening it by dilFufion, if 
 &e docs not, ^ 
 
 *^ fida.
 
 ?ft D 1 r, S K 11 T A T I O N I. 
 
 > 
 
 " fui.\, cam taiiicn !") " U/}j/ Scfi\nius inviuks ^hc Jly ;" and the 
 river Piutlicnins 
 
 rcll'il thro' hanks of flowers 
 
 Fi'flf'/s her hrJ'rwg palsccs ciud bowers. 
 
 lb. 1040. 
 
 In Homer, the mountain and the river arc funply named ; not 
 n Jingle epithet attends then-i". In the index to the Odylley, we 
 tind, iunong otlicr dcleriptions, oik-, of " the lanufcape about 
 *' llhacii." 'I'liis has a promiling appearance. Ah-. Pope indeed 
 lias done his utmofl. to make a landscape of this defeription ; yet, 
 even his tranllaiion, though certainly heautifnl, and even pitJu- 
 rcfiucy will hardly, I helicvc, be thought to conic up to what a 
 modern reader would evped' from — " //v /</;/<//('-<//>(• n/wiit Ithadi." 
 Still left; is this title applicable to the original''. All that can be 
 laid of it without exaggeration is, that it is a very plcaling fccne, 
 though dcfcribed, as many things in Homer arc defcribed, with 
 that liiniilicity which leaves a great iKal, and may fuggcn: a great 
 deal, to the fancy of the reader. Though it does not anfwcr to 
 the idea given of it in Pope's index, or in the note upon tlie pkce'', 
 yet it mud: be allowed to i"urni{]i, at Icall, ibine good materials for 
 a landfcipe; Inch as, a grove', water falling from a rock, and a 
 rudic altar. If tlie defeription itfclf is too fimple, iliort, and 
 general, to be, properly fjK-aking, pidiirej'qiic defcrlpt'wriy yet it is 
 fuch as wants nothing, to becoiue lo, but a little more colouring 
 of exprcilion, a little more dilliiK'tnei's and jpeclality of touch. 
 M'his, and more tb.ui this, Mr. Poj^c has given it ; and that bis 
 
 " U. 1?. 853, 854. f t)J. 1'. .104-211. 
 
 ■I " Ii is obfciv.ililc that Ilomci- gives us nn f.\'(ii9 draught of tht country, ; lie fcfs 
 •' before us, <;.( In a ph'lurtt the city-, I've." Oil. liook XVll. not.- oa v. 27.j[. 
 
 ' Horner's grove is chiuUir; «v5*- rianTtxri KTKAOTFI'F.S. vrr. 200- Aiii- 
 lunill.mec rather uupi^-'turefquc. Mr. Pope knew what to fupprcCs, as well as wlmt 
 lo ailii. He loflejis this into !\ '■'■furrounJlii^ grove." 
 
 defeription
 
 On Poetry confidend ai an Imitative Art, 33 
 
 defcrlptlon is, at Icaft, highly pitlurefrf^c, will fcarce be difputcd. 
 Homer gives us fiinply — " an altar to the nymphs'." Pope 
 covers it with tnofs^ and embowers it deep in jJ.ades ; and in his 
 concluding line, he goes beyond the defcriptioii of tiae -place, to the 
 defcription of the religio loci" — of the cJJ'c^ of the place upon the 
 minds of thofe who approached it. 
 
 Beneath, fequcjler'd lo the nymphs is fccfi 
 
 A mojfy altar, decp-cmbowcr'd in green ; 
 
 Where conflant vows by travellers are paid. 
 
 And holy horrors Jolemnixe the fliadc. v, 242. 
 
 • — The additions of Mr. Pope's pencil are diftinguifhed, in the 
 above quotations, by Italics'. But, to prove the inferiority of the 
 
 • ■ 0w/[«©*— »W/*p«4J|'. V, 210. 
 
 • Many fuch additions and improvements the reader will alfo find in his tranf- 
 Kition of Homer's defcription of the fliield in the i8tli book. To give one remark- 
 able fpccimcn : — I he ckvuith compartimcnt (jf tlie fliiclil, lie tells us in liis OhfeK' 
 vations on the Shield at the end of that book, is, " an entire lumlfape without human 
 " figures, an image of nature folitary and undifturbcd, &c." Let us firft view 
 this landfcapc in the original. II. 2^. 587. 
 
 Ev it vo/Mv isfoiwt wf j>ixM/T®" A/it^/yi/xfifj 
 Ev xeOvtj Pyi(r<r<^, fMyav oim o^ytncmvy 
 
 What I faid of the fimpiicity and generality of the defcription laft mentioned, in 
 the Odyilcy, is exaiSlly applicable to this. Even in his /)r»/2'-tranflation of thefe 
 lines, [Obf. p. J23.] Mr. Pope could not perfci£lly command his fancy. "The 
 •' divine artifl then engraved a large flock of white fliccp, feeding along a beautiful 
 *' valley. Innumerable folds, cottages, and enclofcd fliclters, were scattered 
 •' through the PROsrEcr." Thi; exprc-flions I have diftinguifljcd are Mr. Poije'sj 
 their efFcfl on the vifiLitity and dirtinctnefs of the piftiire, I need not point out. 
 The lall addition — "yir/r^fr^(^ through the profpfit" is particularly pidturefc|uc. — • 
 Now, let us turn to his poetic verfion, and there, indeed, we ihall iuid that fuiiflicd 
 landfcapc of wliich Homer furniftied only the (iiiiple fkctch : 
 
 Next this, the eye the art of Vulcan Lads 
 Deep through iiw forcjh., and a length of meads ; 
 And ftalls, and folds, and fcalter'd eats f'etzveen^ 
 hniljlci'cj flocks tliat whiten all iheficne, 
 
 F anticnts
 
 5^ DISSERTATION I, 
 
 antients in this fpecies of defcription, by an accurate and compa-* 
 rative examination of all thofe paffages which are commonly pro- 
 duced as examples of it, would be a talk of confiderable length, 
 though, I think, of no great difficulty. The few inflances here 
 given from Homer are intended rather as illuftrations of the dif- 
 ference I meant to point out, than as proofs of the general faft, 
 Avhich I leave to the recolledtion and the judgment of the reader. 
 To me, I confefs, nothing appears more evident. 
 
 And may v/e not account for this defedl in antient Poetry, from 
 a fimiiar defect in the fifter art of painting ? — For it appears, 
 I think, from all that has been tranfmitted to us of the hiilory 
 of that art among the antients, that landfcape-painting either did 
 not exift, or, at leaft, was very little cultivated or regarded among 
 the Greeks". In Pliny's account of Grecian artifts we find no 
 landfcape-painter mentioned ; nor anything like a landfcape de- 
 fcribed in his catalogue of their principal works. The firfl, and 
 the only landfcapes he mentions, are thofe faid to be painted in 
 jrefco by one Ludius in the time of Auguftus j " qui primus ifi- 
 "j^//z//V amceniffimam parietum pidturamj — villas, & porticus, Z€ 
 
 " topiaria opera — lucos^ nemora, co/Ies, — amties, littora varias 
 
 ** ibi obambulantium fpecies, aut navigantium, terrdque •villas. 
 *' adeiintium afellis ant vehiculis, &c."— "He likewife painted fea- 
 ports j— ** idemque — — maritimas urbes pingere injUtuit, blan- 
 
 " The Abbe Winckelmann, eminent for the accuracy of his refearches into- 
 every thing relative to the fubjeft of antient arts, gives it as his opinion, that the 
 paintings difcovered in the ruins of Herculanum, {four only excepted,) are not older 
 than the times of the Emperors ; and he affigns this reafon, among others, that mod 
 of them are only landfcapes : — " Payfages, ports, maifons de campagne, chafles, 
 " peches, vues, & que le premier qui travailla dans ce genre fut un certain Ludio qui 
 *' vivoit du terns d'Augufte." He adds, — " Les anciem Grecs nc s'amufoient pas a 
 " peindre des objets inanimes, iiniquement propres a rejouir ogreablcment la vue fans 
 ^^ occuper Vefprit" \_HiJi. de I' Art chez les Anciens, tome ii. p. 104.] The remark 
 feems juft. Men and manners^ were the only objefts which the Greeks feem to 
 have thought v/orth regarding, either in painting, or poetry, 
 
 *' difllmo
 
 On Pcetry conjidercd as an Imhaflve Ari^ \^ 
 
 *' diirimo afpedir." He fcems to have been the Claude Lorrain 
 of antient painting. But, that landfcape was not, even in Pliny's 
 time, a common and eftabliflied branch of painting, may perhaps 
 be prefumed from the fingle circumftance of its not having ac- 
 quired a name. In the pafTage jufl quoted, Pliny calls it only, 
 periphrafticaily, " an agreeable kind of painting, or fubjed:," 
 *' amceniffimam pidturam "." He is not fparing of technical 
 terms upon other occalions ; as, rhyfarographus, antbropograpbia, 
 catagrapha, monocro?}jata, ficc. With refpedl to the Greeks, at 
 leafl, this may be allowed to afford fomewhat more than a pre- 
 fumption of the fad:. 
 
 The Greek Poets, then, did not defcribe the fcenery of nature 
 in a pidurefque manner, becaufe they were not accuftomed toy?^ 
 it with a painter's eye. Undoubtedly they were not blind to all 
 the beauties of fuch fcenesj but thofe beauties were not height- 
 ened to them, as they are to us, by comparifon with painting— 
 with thofe models of improved and feleSled nature, which it is the 
 bufmefs of the landfcape -painter to exhibit. They had no 
 Thomsons, becaufe they had no Claudes. Indeed, the in- 
 fluence of painting, in this refped, not only on Poetry, but on 
 the general tajle for the vifible beauties of rural nature, feems 
 obvious and indifputable ijl. Shew the moft beautiful profpe<5t to 
 
 * Plin. Hift. Nat. xxxv. lo. 
 
 * It is remarkable alfo, that the younger Pliny, where he defcribes the view frotrf 
 one of his villas, and compares it to a painted landfcape, exprefles himfelf, probably 
 for want of an appropriated term, (fuch as payfage, &c.) by a periphrafis ;— 
 ^^ formam aliquant ad ex'imiam pukhritudinem pi£ia/n;"-—\. e. " a beautiful ideal 
 *' landfcape." Plin, Ep. lib. v, ep. 6. 
 
 t I do not know that there is, either in the Greek or Roman language, any fingle 
 term appropriated to exprefs exa£Uy what we mean by a profpe£l. Pliny, in the 
 epillle referred to in note ", and in the 17th of 2d book, has frequent occafion for 
 fuch a term, but is obliged to have recourfe to circumlocution — regicnis format' 
 regionis fitian— fades— fades locorum. " Tot fades locorum totidem feneftris & di- 
 
 *' ftinguit & mifcet." [ii. 17. J Ang " fo many profpc£}s,'\ 
 
 F 2 a peafant.
 
 36 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 a peafant, who never faw a landfcape, or read a defcriptlon t 
 I do not fay that he will abfolutely feel no pleafure from it ; but 
 I will venture to fay, that the pleafure he will feel is very different 
 in kindy and very inferior in degree, compared with that which is 
 felt by a perfon of a cultivated imagination, accuftomed to the 
 reprefentation of fuch objetts, either in painting, or in pifturefque 
 Poetiy. Such beauty does imitation refledl back upon the objcdt 
 imitated ''.—What may ferve to confirm the truth of thefe remarks^ 
 is, that from the time of Auguftus, when, according to Pliny, 
 landfcape-painting was firft cultivated, defcriptions of profpedls, 
 pi<Sturefque imagery, and allulions to that kind of painting, feeni 
 to have become more common. I do not pretend, however, to 
 have accurately examined this matter, I fliall only remind the 
 reader of the acknowledged fuperiority of Virgil in touches of 
 this kind ; of Pliny's defcription of the view from his villa, 
 mentioned above j and of /Elian's defcription of the Vale of 
 Tempe, and his allufion to painting in the introdudtion to it^. 
 
 To return to dcfa-iptioii in general^ — this, as I obferved above, 
 Ariflotle was fo far from including in his notion of imitation, that 
 he is even totally filent concerning it ; unlefs he may be thought 
 nightly to allude to it in one paiTage, where he recommends it to 
 the Poet to referve his higheft colouring of language for the in- 
 aBive, that is, the merely narrative, or defcriptive, parts of his 
 poem*. Several obvious circumflances help to account for this 
 filence. Intent on the higher precepts, and on what he regarded 
 as the more effential beauties of the art— the internal conftruc- 
 
 y ** Elegant imitation has ftrange powers of interefting us in certain views of 
 " nature. Thefe we confidcr but tranfiently, till the Poet, or Painter, awake our 
 " attention, and fend us back to life with a new curiofity, which we owe entirely ta 
 .** the copies which they lay before us." Preface to Wood's Eflay on Homer, p. 13, 
 
 » See above, Part I. note "". 
 
 » 'Ev Tcij APrOIS >Efe<r(, Kai urat tiOmoi;, (Min SlarmjTWJif. Cap. xxiv. Tranflation,, 
 Part III. Scd. 6. See the note, 
 
 tioa
 
 On Poetry cotijidered as an Imkaiwe Art, 37 
 
 tion and contrivance of the fable, the artful dependence and clofe 
 connediion of the incidents, the union of the wonderful and the 
 probable, the natural delineation of character and paffion, and 
 whatever tended moil eiFed:ually to arrefl the attention, and fecure 
 the emotion, of the fpediator or the reader — intent on thefe, he 
 feems to have thought the beauties of language and expreflion a 
 matter of inferior confideration, fcarce worthy of his attention. 
 The chapters on diSiion feem to afford fome proof of this. The 
 manner in v/hich he has treated that fubjeft, will be found, if I 
 miftake not, to bear fbrong marks of this comparative negligence, 
 and to be, in feveral refpefts, not fuch as the reader, from the 
 former parts of the work, would naturally exped; ''. To this it 
 fhouid be added, that Ariftotle's principal objed; was, evidently. 
 Tragedy. Now in Tragedy, where the Poet himfelf appears not, — 
 where all is adlion, emotion, imitation — where the fucceflion of 
 incidents is clofe and rapid, and rarely admits thofe aoya, f/.s^vi, thoie 
 ** id/e or inaSiive parts," of which the philofopher fpeaks — there 
 is, of courfe, but little occafion, and little room, for defcription. 
 It is in the open and extended plan, the varied and digrellive nar- 
 ration, of the Epic form, that the defcriptive powers of the 
 Poet have full range to difplay themfelves within their proper 
 province. 
 
 I have attempted, in the preceding difcuffion, to make my way 
 through a fubjedt, which I have never ken treated in a way per- 
 fe<3:ly clear and fatisfacStory by others, and which I am therefore 
 far from confident that I have treated clearly myfelf. I can only 
 hope that I have, at leafl, left it lefs embarrafled than I found it'. 
 
 I fhall 
 
 '' See the notes on that part. 
 
 • Some writers, by imitation underftand/<f?/V« only: others explain It only by the 
 general term defcription ; and others, again, give it a greater extent, and feem to 
 confider language as imitating whatever it can exprefs. [See above, note ', and Harris 
 tn Mufic^ &c. ch. i.J Some fpeak of it as Uie imitation of nature^ in general j others 
 
 8 feem
 
 38 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 I fliall venture, with the fame view, to terminate this inquiry by 
 ft few remarks on the origin of this dodtrine of poetic imitation. 
 
 Its hiftory may be fketched in few words. — We find it firft in 
 Plato j alluded to in many parts of his works, but no where 
 fo clearly and particularly developed, as in the third and tenth 
 books of his Republic. Aristotle followed; applying, and 
 purfuing to its confequences, with the enlarged view of a philo- 
 fopher and a critic, the principle which his mafter had conlidered 
 with the feverity of a moral cenfor, and had defcribed, as we 
 defcribe an impoflor or a robber, only, that being known, it 
 •might be avoided ^ 
 
 From thefe fources, but principally from the treatife of Ari- 
 flotle, this dodlrine was derived, through the later antient, to the 
 latefb modern writers. In general, however, it muft be confeffed, 
 that the way in which the fubje<ft has been explained is not fuch 
 as is calculated to give perfedl fatisfadiion to thofe faflidious un- 
 derftandings that are not to be contented with anything lefs than 
 diflinft ideas ; that, like the fun-dial in the fable, allow of no 
 medium between knowing clearly, and knowing nothing. 
 
 Si je ne vols bien clair, je dis — Je n'en fcais rien % 
 
 It is one queftion, in what fenfes, and from what original ideas. 
 Poetry wasjirj} called imitation by Plato and Ariflotle; and an- 
 other, what fenfes may have fuggefted themfelves to modern 
 writers, who finding Poetry denominated an imitative art, inftead 
 
 feem to confine it to the imitation of /a belle nature. — By fome writers, the propo- 
 fition, that " all poetry is imitation," is confidered as too plain a point to need 
 any explanation ; while others arc unable to fee why any Poetry, except the dramatic 
 cnly, (hould be fo denominated. [See Wood's E flay on Homer, p. 240, cSfavo^zn^ 
 the note.] 
 
 •• The chief objedions of Plato to Imitative Poetry, particularly Tragedy, may be 
 feen in the lOth book of his Republic, from wfaTTOVTa;, (fajiiVy mO^uiTm; — p. 603, C, 
 . to ^u/AtprifM, p. 608, B. Ed. Serrani. 
 
 " La Montre ct U ^^adran, in the ingenious and philofophical fables of La Motte. 
 Livre iii, fab, 2. 
 
 of
 
 On Poetry conjidered as an Jmitative Jtrt. ^9 
 
 of carefully invefligating the original meaning of the expreffion, 
 have had recourfe, lor its explication, to their own ideas, and have, 
 accordingly, extended it to every fenfe which tlie widefl and mofl 
 diftant analogy would bear. 
 
 With refped; to the origin of the appellation — the very idea that 
 Poetry is imitation^ may, I think, evidently be traced to the 
 THEATRE as to its natural fource j and it may, perhaps, very rea- 
 fonably be questioned, whether, if the drama had never been 
 invented. Poetry would ever have been placed in the clafs of 
 Imitative Arts. 
 
 That Aristotle drew his ideas of Poetic imitation chiefly 
 from the drama, is evident from what has been already faid. His 
 preference, indeed, of dramatic Poetry, is not only openly declared 
 in his concluding ciiapter, but ftrongly marked throughout, and 
 by the very plan and texture of his work. The Epic — that 
 *' greatefl work," as Dryden extravagantly calls it, " which the 
 ** foul of fnan is capable to perform \" is Hightly touched and 
 foon difmifled. Our eye is ftill kept on Tragedy. The form and 
 features of the Epic Mufe are rather defcribed by comparifon with 
 thofe of her fifter, than delineated as they are in themfelves ; 
 and though that preference which is the refult of the comparifon 
 feems juftly given on the whole, yet it muft, perhaps, be con- 
 fefled, that the comparifon is not completely ftated, and that the 
 advantages and privileges of the Epic are touched with fome re- 
 ferve^ It is, indeed, no wonder, that he, who held imitation to 
 be the effence of Poetry, fhouid prefer that fpecies which, being 
 
 ' Pref. to his iEneid, 
 
 « For example :— in Part III. feiJ:. 2. {Or'ig. ch. xxiv.] he had allowed the greater 
 extent of the Epic Poem to give it an advantage over Tragedy in point of variety and 
 magnificence. But, in the comparifon between them in his laft chapter, this import- 
 ant advantage is entirely paffed over, and only the difadvantages of the epic extent of 
 plan are mentioned ; its variety, the want of which he had before allowed to be a 
 great defeft, and even a frequent caufe of ill fuccefs, in tragedy, is here ftated only as 
 a fault— as want of unity, [oee Pait V. feit, 3, Orig, cap. xxvi.J 
 
 mora
 
 40 DISSERTATION L 
 
 mors flrldlly imitative, was, in his view, more ftridly Poetry, 
 than any other. 
 
 With refped: to Plato the cafe Is ftill plainer. In the third 
 book of his RepubHc, where he treats the fubjedl moft fully, and 
 is moft clear and explicit, he is fo far from confidering ** all 
 *' Poetry" as imitation, that he exprefsly diftinguifhes imitative 
 Poetry from " Poetry without imitation^." Nor does he leave us 
 in any uncertainty about his meaning. His imitative Poetry is 
 no other than that which I have called perfonative, and which 
 the reader will find clearly and precifely defcribed in the paflage 
 referred to '. Imitation, then, he confines to the drama, and the 
 dramatic part of the epic poem; and that, which with Ariftotle is 
 the prificipal, with Plato is the oftly, fenfe of imitation applied to 
 Poetry. In Ihort, that Plato drew his idea of the MIMHSIS of 
 Poetry from the theatre itfelf, and from the perfonal imitations of 
 reprefented tragedy, is evident from the manner in which he ex- 
 plains the term, and from the general caft and language of all his 
 illuflrations and allufions. — " When the Poet," he fays, " quit- 
 " ting his narration, makes any fpeech in the charad:er of another 
 *' perjhn, does he not then affimilate, as much as poffibic, his 
 ** language to that of the perfon introduced as fpeaking ? — Cer- 
 *' tainly. — But to affimilate one's felf to another perfon, either 
 ** in VOICE or gesture — is not this to imitate that perfon " ?" 
 And in many other palTages we find the fame allufion to the imi- 
 tations, by voice and aSiion, of the adlor and the rhapfodift ; and 
 even to ludicrous mimicry of the loweft kind'. 
 
 All 
 
 * Rep. 3. ed. Ser. p. 393. catv ij.tixr,7su; 'sronia-i;. and lib, X. p. 605. (cu^nroi©- isomTr.i, 
 » Rep. 3, from D, p. 392, to D, p. 394. ed. Ser. 
 
 '' A>a' brav ys Tiiot Myv pwiv a; ti; «M®" wv, ap ou tote i/iomv oiurov pntrofiev ortfAafara 
 Tuv avrn hi^jv inai-a ov av woEiwji wj B^arra^ — ih^<roiJi.iV' ti ya^ a ; — Ouxav to ye ojMshv iavrof 
 ri>x», v yaTct <I'ilNHN, )') Kara 2XHMA, (iijji,iia^ai irtv ixdvov to av ti; ofMtot ; R.-p. 3, 
 p. 393. cd. Seiran, 
 
 ' Ibid. p. 395— xacra inMA xai ^UNAS. — p. 397, ^e|i{ Jia /ui/nijo-faj ♦UNAIS rt 
 KM J^XirlMAIl. The reader may alfo fee p. 396 and 397 j in both which places he 
 
 alludes
 
 On Poetry confidcrcd as an Imiiathc Art. 4.1 
 
 All this will foarce appear ftrange or furprifing, if we recoiled 
 the clofe toiinedion which then lubfifted between poetical and 
 
 perj'onal 
 
 alludes even to the lowefl: and mod ridiculous kind of mimicry. Ths paflages are 
 fo curious and amufiiig, that the reader will pardon me if I fuft'er them, in a not,-, to 
 lead me into a fhort digreffion. He fpealcs in them of imitating, or, a^ we call it, 
 taking off\ " the neighing of horfes, and the bellowing of bulls — the found of 
 " thunder, the roaring of the fea and the winds— the tones of the trumpet, the flute, 
 " and all forts of inflruments — the barking of dogs, the bleating of fiieep, and the 
 " finging of birds— the rattle of a jhowcr of hail, and the rumbling of wheels." — The 
 fublime Plato was not always fublime.— The expreffions here are too ftrong to be 
 underftood merely of the imitations of poetical defcription ; they are applicable only 
 to vocal mimicry. Were there any doubt of this, it might be fufficiently removed 
 by other pa(I;iges of antient authors in which fimilar feats are recorded. Plutarchj 
 \^De aud. Poet. ed. H. Steph. p. 31.] commenting upon Arifirotle's diftinfllon, 
 Part I. § 5, between the pleafure v/e receive from the imitation, and that which we 
 receive from the real objeft, obferves, that — " though the grunting of a hog, die rattle 
 " of wheels, the whiftling of the wind, and the roaring of the fea, for inftance, are 
 " founds, in themfelves offenfive and dilagreeable, yet when we hear them well and 
 " naturally imitated, they give us pleafure." And he records the names of two emi- 
 nent performers in this way, Parmcno, and Thcodoria ; the firft of whom poflelfed 
 the grunt of the hog, and the other the rattle of the wheel, in high perfection.— 
 This Theodoras was, probably, a different perfon from the tragic aftor of the fame 
 name, whofe vocal talents of a higher kind are mentioned by Ariftotle in his Rhe- 
 toric, [lih. iii. cap. I.) and who was eminent for the power of accommodating the 
 tone of his voice to the various characters he reprefented, " The voice," fays the 
 philofopher, " of Theodorus appears always to be that of the very perfon fuppofcd to 
 " fpeak : not fo the voices of other ai£lors." In order fully to underftand which 
 praife, it is neceflary to recolledl, that this vocal flexibility in an adlor had far greater 
 room to difplay itfelf among the antients, than it has with us, on account of the 
 exclufion of women from their ftage. Hence one of the objedtions of Plato to the 
 admiflion of dramatic Poetry into his Republic : k ^rtiniT^e-laiJLa wv <paim kyi^ktBoi, kcu Seii* 
 WTs; liySfaj ayaSi^s yina&cci, TTNAIKA M1MF.IS0AI, ANAPiVS ONTA2. x. t. a^. [Rep. 
 
 3. p. 395, D.j a paffage which may alfo ferve to confirin what has been aflerted, 
 
 that Plato, in fpeaking of Poetry as imitation, conflrantly kept his eye on the perfonal 
 imitation of the aftor or the rhapfodift. — To return to the art of vocal mimicry: — 
 the paflages above produced fhew it to have been of very refpedlable antiquity. 
 But there are two other paflages that make it fl:ill more venerable ; one in the hj-mn 
 to Apollo attributed to Homer, v. 162, 3, 4,— where the mufical imitations of the 
 Delian virgins are defcribed ; (fee Dr. Burney's Hift. of Mufic, vol. i. p. 372.) and 
 
 G another
 
 42 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 ■perjhnal imitation. It was by no means with the antients as it is 
 with us. Before the multipHcation of copies was faciUtated by 
 the invention of printing, reading was uncommon. It was not 
 even till long after, that it became, in any degree, the general 
 practice, as it is now. Yet Poetry, we know, among the Greeks, 
 was the common food even of the vulgar. But they heard it 
 only. The philofopher, the critic, and the few who colledted 
 books when they could be obtained only by the labour or expence 
 .of tranfcription, might, indeed, take a tragedy or an epic poem 
 into their clofets ; but, to the generality, all was a<ilion, repre- 
 fentation, and recital. The tragic, and even the epic poet, were, 
 
 another yery curious pafTage in the Odyfley, A. 279, by which it appears, that the 
 r.rt was praclifcd even in the Trojan times, and that the beauteous Hele^n hcrfelf, 
 among her other charms, pofTeffcd the talent of vocal mim.icry in a degree that 
 would, in modern times, have qualified her to make no inconfiderable figure at Bar- 
 tholomew-fair. She is defcribed as walking round the wooden horfe, after its admif- 
 fion within the walls of Troy, calling, by name, upon each of the Grecian chief?, 
 and " imitating the voices of their wives." — -Tlcanav Aqyainv- <pu\y,v yxao' aUyj'^'^^- And 
 fo well did flie take them off] that their hufbands were ort the point of betraying them- 
 felves by aiifwering, or coming out. Anticl'us, in particular, would have fpoicen, 
 if Ul)des had not, by main force, Jlopped his mouth vjlth his hand, till Minerva came 
 to their relief, and took Helen away. 
 
 — aM 0?i/<rE!;; ETII MAITAKA XEPII niEZE 
 NIlAEMEnS KPATEPHIII, sami h -manai A^aias ! — — Od. 4. 287, 8. 
 
 A line added in Pope's tranilation of tliis pafTage, afFords a curious, example of 
 
 mifapplied ornament : — : 
 
 P"irm to his lips his forceful hands apply'd. 
 
 Till on his tongue tlic fiuti'rlng murmurs dy\L B. IV. v. 391. 
 
 — one inflancc out of many that might be quoted, of the ridiculous effect pro- 
 duced, (efpecially.in, the Odyfley,) by continual efforts to elevate what neither ySaa/i:/ 
 nrtr can be elevated. In the verfion of the r6th book, (a vcrfion appraved at leaft 
 by Mr. Pope) we have this line : 
 
 " Thiy rcacli'd the dome \ the dome with marble JJ;ind. v. 41. 
 
 — who would fufpccl: this to be a defcr-iption of the rude building which Eumocus, 
 "■4</T©^ hiixa/S vtaanV [Lib. xiv. 8.] All that is to be found' of this marUe dome 
 in Ilomcr is a '■'•Jlone threjhold," — Im^fiv) ;i3tiMvaJov! v. 41. 
 
 -j- in
 
 On Poetry conji^eredas cm Iin'itaihe Art, 43 
 
 in a manner, lofl in the adlor and the rhapfodifl"'. A tragedy 
 not intended for the ftage, would have appeared to the antients as 
 .great aiiablurdityasan ode -not written for mufic. 'SR\'^i:ke7Jt, 
 there could be no difficulty in conceiving Poetry to be an Imita- 
 tive Art, when it was fcarce known to them but through the 
 vifible medium of arts, ftridly and literally, mimetic. 
 
 " The rhapfodift was defined to be, the a(^or of an epic Poem. Pa-ljjSbi — vTroH^nai 
 i'TTm, Hefych. — Vx^u^oi — oi rot, O/xri^a eTn h TOIS 0EATPOIS (iTrayyEW-ovTs;, — Suidas. 
 " Homer's Poems," fays the ingenious and entertaining author of the Enquiry tntt 
 the Life and Writings of Homer., " were made to be recited., or fung to a canpany; 
 " and not read in private, or perufed in a book, which few were then capable of 
 " doing : and I will venture to affirm, that whoever reads not Homer in this vleiu, 
 " lofes a great part of the delight he might receive from tiie Poet."— Blackwell's 
 Enquiry, &c. p. 122. 
 
 G 2 DISSERTA-
 
 [ 44 3 
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 ON THE DIFFERENT SENSES OF THE WORDy. 
 IMITATIVE, AS APPLIED TO MUSIC BY THE 
 ANTIENTS, AND BY THE MODERNS. 
 
 THE whole power of Music may be reduced, I think, to 
 three diflindl efFetls ; — upon the ear, the pajjionsy and the 
 imagmation : in other words, it may be confidered as fimply de- 
 lighting the pnje, as raifing emotions, or, as railing ideas. Th& 
 two laft of thefe effedls conflitute the whole of what is called the 
 moral*, or exprejjive, power of Mufic ; and in thefe only we are 
 to look for anything that can be called imitation. Mufic can be 
 faid to imitate, no farther than as it expreffes fomething. As far 
 as its effeft is merely phyfical, and confined to the ear, it gives 
 a fimple, original pleafure ; it expreffes nothing, it refers to 
 nothing ; it is no more imitative than the fmell of a rofe, or the 
 flavour of a pine-apple. 
 
 Mufic can raife ideas, immediately % only by the aftual refem- 
 blance of its founds and motions to the founds and motions of the 
 
 thing 
 
 * Morale merely as oppofed to phyfical : — as affefting the mind; not as Etb'iCy or 
 influencing the manners. 
 
 =■ Mufic may raife ideas immediately., by mere ajfociation ; but I pafs over the effedls 
 ©f this principle, (important and powerful as it is, in Mufic, as in everything elfe,) 
 
 as
 
 On the Word Imitative, as applied to Miific, 45 
 
 thing fuggefted ". Such Mufic we call imitative, in the fame fenfe 
 in which we apply the word to a fimilar refemblance of found 
 and motion in poetry '. In both cafes, the refemblance, though 
 immediate, is fo impcrfeEl, that it cannot be kt'Ci till it is, in fome 
 fort, pointed out ; and even when it is fo, is not always very evi- 
 dent. Poetry, indeed, has here a great advantage; it carries with 
 it, of neceffity, its own explanation : for the fame word that 
 imitates by its found, points out, or hints, at leaft, the imitation, 
 by its meaning. With Mufic it is not fo. It mufl: call in the 
 aififtance of language, or fomething equivalent to language, for 
 its interpreter ■". 
 
 Of all the powers of Mufic, this of raifing ideas by diredl 
 refemblance is confeffed to be the weakeft, and the leaft: import- 
 ant. It is, indeed, fo far from being effential to the pleafure of the 
 art, that unlefs ufed with great caution, judgment, and delicacy, 
 
 as having nothing to do with imitation. If, to raife an idea of any objeft by cafual 
 aflbciation, be to imitate, any one thing may imitate any other. 
 
 I inferted the word, immediately-, becaufe Miific has alfo a power of raifing ideas, 
 to a certain degree, through the medium of emotions, which naturally fuggeft corref- 
 pondent ideas ; that is, fuch ideas as ufually raife fuch emotions. [See Harris, on 
 Mufic, Sec. ch. vi. and below, note '.] ' ; 
 
 '' See Harris, ibid. ch. ii. where this fubjeiSt is treated with the author's ufuaj 
 accuracy and clearnefs. ' 
 
 « See Dijpn. I. 
 
 ^ When the idea to be raifed is that of a vlfible obje£t, the imitation of that object' 
 by painting, machinery, or other vifible reprefentation, may anfwer the fame end. — • 
 A vifible objcft ftrongly characterized by motion, may be fuggefted by fuch muftcal 
 motion as is analogous to it. Thus, a rapid elevation of founds, bears, or at leaft is 
 conceived to bear, fome analogy to the motion of flame ; — but this analogy muft be 
 pointed out — " II faut que I'auditeur foit averti, ou par les paroles, ou par \q fpeilacle, 
 " ou par quelque chofe d'equivalent, qu'il doit fubftituer I'idee da feu a celle du fan." 
 See M. Dalembert's Melanges de Literature, vol, v. p. 158, — where the philofophical 
 reader will, perhaps, be pleafed with fome very ingenious and uncommon obfervations, 
 on the manner in which the imitative exprellion even of Mufic without words^ may be 
 influenced by the phrafeology of the language in which the hearer thinks, 
 
 it
 
 45 DISSERTATION 11. ' 
 
 it will deftroy th.it pleafure, by becoming, to every competent 
 judge, offenlive, or ridiculous. It is, however, to Mnfic of this 
 kind only that Mr. Harris, and mod other modern writers, allow 
 the word imitatroe to be applied % The higheft power of Muiic,. 
 and that from which " it derives its greateft efficacy," is, un- 
 doubtedly, its power of raifing emotions. But this is fo far from 
 being regarded by them as imitation, that it is exprefsly oppofed 
 to it''. 
 
 The ideas, and the language, of the antients, on this fubjefl:, 
 were ditierent. When they fpeak of Mufic as imitation, they 
 appear to have folely, or chiefly, in view, its power over the aj'ec- 
 fwis. By imitation, they mean, in iliort, what lue commonly 
 diftinguilh from imitation, and oppofe to it, under the general 
 term of exprejjion'. With refpe6t to Arisiotle, in particular, 
 this will clearly appear from a few palTages which I fhall produce 
 from another of his writings ; and, at the fame time, the expref- 
 fions made ufe of in thefe paffages, will help us to account for a 
 mode of fpeaking fo different from that of modern writers on the 
 fubjea. 
 
 What Ariftotle, in the beginning of his treatife on Poetry *, 
 calls MIA'IHSIE — imitation- he elfewhere, in the fame appli- 
 cation of it, to Mujic, calls 'OMOiriMA — resemblance. And 
 he, alfo, clears up his meaning farther, by adding the thing refem^ 
 
 «■ Dr. Beatde, On Podry and Miific^ p. 138, h pajp.m. — Lord Kaims, El. of 
 C->it. vol. ii. /). I. Avifon, &c. — There is but ons branch of this imitation oi found 
 hy found, that is really important ; and that has been generally overlooked. I mean, 
 the imitation of the tone: oi fpecch. — Of this, prefently. 
 
 *■ Harrif, On Miifc, kc. p. 69, 99, ico. 
 
 s " If we compare imitation with exprejfton, the fuperiority of the latter will be 
 "evident." — Dr. Bcattie, On Poetry and Mufu; p. 139, 140, &c. — Avifon, on Muf. 
 Exprejjioii, Part II. § 3. ' 
 
 * Hxi Ti-,; avMTiKns n w^EJrJlJ nai «i9afiriwi; -»— /ui|U)is-ei;,— See Si^, I. of the tranf- 
 lation. 
 
 Med
 
 On the Word Imitative, as applied to Mnjic. 47 
 
 bled or imitated^:— ofzoiu^a. T.OIZ HGEEI — o[^oiuf/,a.Ta, TXIN HGHN ' — 
 ** refemblance to human 7nanners," i. e. difpojitions, or tempers; 
 for what he means by thefe 5?(5»7, he has, hkewife, clearly explained 
 by thefe expreffions — oixoMyt.ot.Tix OPrHS Y.ot.i nPAOTHTOi;* \ti AN- 
 APIAS %ou. 2;na>POXTNHS, &c. " refemblances of the irafcible and 
 ** the gentle difpofition — oi fortitude and temperance, &c." ^ This 
 refemblance, he exprefsly tells us, is " in the rhythm and the 
 
 " melody :" — o^oica^aru. \v roi- PT0MOIS y-oci. rotg MEAESIN, 
 
 o^yiig Kxt ■z!r^xor-^r^\ In thefe paifages, Ariftotle differs only in 
 the mode of expreflion from Mr. Harris, when he affirms that 
 *' there are founds to fnaie us chearful or fad, martial or tender, 
 &c.. "' : — from Dr. Beattie, when he fays, " Mufic" may infpire 
 " devotion, fortitude, compajfon ; — may infife 2iforron.v, &c." ". 
 
 It appears then, in the frji place,, that Mufic, coniidered as 
 affecfting, or railing emations, was called imitation by the antients, 
 becaufe they perceived in it that which is eifential to all imitation, 
 and is, indeed, often fpoken of as the fame thing — refemblance° . 
 
 This 
 
 '' In the fnme paffage he ufes the word |ai|U»,i43, as fynonymous with o^wiau^. 
 
 ' Arift. de Repub. lib. viii. cap. 5, p. 455, Ed. Duval. Plato ufes iJ.\i.a\!j.aTX 
 TPOnnN in the fame fenfe. De leg. lib. ii. p. 655, Ed. Set: 
 
 ^ The word, >)fc, taken in its utmofl: extent, includes everythirg that is habitual 
 and cbaraSleriJhc ; but it is often ufed in a limited fenfe, for the habitual tptipfir^ cir 
 difpofition. I'hat it is here ufed in that fenfe appears from Ariftotle's own explana- 
 tion. I therefore thought it necelTary to fix the fenfe of the word mannen, which 
 has the fame generality as ^fe, and is its ufuai tranflation, by adding the words " dif- 
 " pofitiom or temper; J' . . 
 
 ' The fame expreffions occur in the Problems, Se.&. xix. ProL 29 and 2-^. 
 
 "" Chap. vi. 
 
 "Oil Poet, and Aluf. p. 167. — In another place Dr. Beattie approaches very. Bear 
 indeed to the language of Ariftotle ; he fays, " After all, it mull be acknouiedsed, 
 " that there is fome relation, at leaft, or analogy, if not similitude, between 
 " certaia mufic.il yo.'cwA, and mental i7^fJ7?W, &c." [p. 143.] 
 
 ' " Imitation;:, or refemblances, of fomething elfe." [lilitchefon's Inquiry into 
 ths Orig. of our Ideas of Beauty, &c. p. 15.] " Taking imitation in its firopirfenfi, 
 
 " as
 
 4S DISSERTATION II. 
 
 This relemblance, however, as here ftated by Ariftotle, cannot be 
 immediate ^ ; for between founds thciiifel-ves, and mental afcBions^ 
 there can be no refemblance. The refemblance can only be a 
 refemblance of effect: — the general emotions, tempers, ov feelings 
 produced in us by certain founds, are like thofe that accompany 
 ad:ual grief, joy, angei-, &c. — And this, as far, at leafl, as can be 
 collefted from the pafiage in queftion, appears to be all that 
 Ariftotle meant. 
 
 'S,\xt,f'Condly; — the expreffions of Mufic confidered in itfelf, and 
 ivithout ivords, are, (within certain limits,) vague, general, and 
 equivocal. What is ufually called its power over \ht pajions, is, in 
 fad, no more than a power of raifnig a general emotion, temper, or 
 difpojition, common to feveral different, though related, paffions ; as 
 pity, love — anger, courage, &c. ''. The effedl of ivords, is, to 
 ilrengthen the expreffion of Mufic, by confining it — by giving 
 it a precife diredion, fupplying it with ideas, circumftances, and 
 an objeSi, and, by this means, raifing it from a calm and general 
 difpofition, or emotion, into fomething approaching, at leaf!:, to 
 the flronger feeling of a particular and determinate /^o/z. Now, 
 among the antients, Mufic, it is well known, was fcarce ever 
 heard without this affifiiance. Poetry and Mufic were then far 
 from having reached that ftate of mutual independence, and 
 feparate improvement, in which they have now been long efi:a- 
 bliflied. When an antient writer fpeaks of Music, he is, almoft 
 always, to be underflood to mean vocal Mufic — Mufic and Poetry 
 united. This helps greatly to account for the application of the 
 
 *' as importing a refemblance between two objefls." [Lord Kaims, EL of Cr'it. 
 ch. xviii. § 3.] Imitation, indeed, neccirarily implies refemblance ; but the convcrfe 
 is not true. 
 
 P See D'ljfert. I. firjl pages. 
 
 ^ The exprcdion of Ariftotle feems therefore accurate and philofophical. It is 
 everywhere — o;ixi)i<0|i/a HGiiN, — not IlAQflN— a refemblance " to manners., or tem- 
 " pers" not " to paJ[ions."_ 
 
 3 term
 
 On the Word Imitative, as applied to Mujlc. 49 
 
 term imitative, by Ariflotle, Plato, and other Greek writers, to 
 mufical exprejjlon, which modern writers oppofe to mufical imita- 
 tion. That emotions are raifed by Mufic, independently of words, 
 is certain'; and it is as certain that thefe emotions refemble thofc 
 of adlual pafTion, temper, &c. — But, in the vague and indeter- 
 minate affimilations of Mufic purely inllrumental, though the 
 effedt is felt, and the emotion raifed, the idea of rejhnblance is far 
 from being neceffarily fuggefled ; much lefs is it likely, that fuch 
 refemblance, if it did occur, having no precife dirediion, Ihould 
 be confidered as imltatlon\ Add words to this Mufic, and the 
 
 cafe 
 
 ' This is exprefsly allowed by Aiiftotle in the Problem which will prefcntly be 
 produced : — km ya^ iav i; ANET AOFOT ;(/.£^©-, ofAu; I%e» H0O2. 
 
 s I obferved (Note '.) that Mufic is capable of raifmg itkas, to a certain degree, 
 through the medium of thofe emotions which it raifes vmnedlatcly. But this is an 
 efFeftfo delicate and uncertain— ib dependent on the fancy, the fenfibility, the mufical 
 experience, and even the temporary difpofition, of the hearer, that to call it imitation, 
 is furely going beyond the bounds of all reafonable analogy. Mufic, here, is not 
 imitative, but if I may hazard the expreilion, merely fuggejiive. But, whatever we 
 may call it, this I will venture to fay, — that in the hejl inftrumental Mufic, ex- 
 preiTively performed, the very indecifion itfelf of the expredion, leaving the hearer 
 to the free operation of his emotion upon his fancy, and, as it were, to the free choice 
 of fuch ideas as are, to him, moft adapted to react upon and heighten the emotion 
 which occafioned them, produces a pleafure, which nobody, I believe, who is able 
 to feel it, will deny to be one of the moft delicious that Mufic is capable of afford- 
 ing. But far the greater part even of thofe who have an ear for Mufic, have only 
 an ear; and to them this pleafure is unknown. — The complaint, fo common, of the 
 feparation of Poetry and Mufic, and of the total want of meaning and expreflion in 
 ivjlrumcntal Mufic, was never, I believe, the complaint of a man of true mufical 
 feeling : and it might, perhaps, be not unf.iirly concluded, that Ariftotle, who ex- 
 prefsly allows that " Mufic, even without words, has exprcffwn," [See the Problem 
 below.] was more of a mufician than his mafler Plato, who is fond of railing at 
 inftrumental Mufic, and afks with Fontenelle,— " Sonate, que me veux tu r — z:ay- 
 %a?.£TCV, aitu Mya yiyvojufvov puS/xov te km a^ixmav yiyvaamiv, 'O, TI BOTAETAI. De Le^. 
 ii. p. 669. [The ftory of Fontenelle is we'l known. — "Je n' oublierai jamais," 
 fiys Rouifeau, " la faillie du celcbre Fontenelle, qui fe trouvant excede de ces cter- 
 " nelles (ympiionies, s'ecria tout haut dans un tranfport d'impatience : Sonate, que mt 
 
 H veuK
 
 50 DISSERTATION 11. 
 
 cafe will be very different. There is now a precife objedl of com' 
 parifon prefented to the mind ; the refemblance is pointed out ; the 
 thing imitated is before us. Farther, one principal ufe of Mufic 
 in th^ time of Ariftotle, was to accompany dramatic Foetry—t/jat 
 Poetry which is moft pecuharly and ftridlly imitative \ and where 
 manners and pajjions {Ji^-q kxi •ara9-,j) are peculiarly the objedts of 
 imitation. 
 
 It is, then, no wonder, that the Antients, accuftomed to hear the 
 expreffions of Mufic thus conftantly fpecijied, determined, and 
 referred to a precife objedt by the ideas of Poetry, fliould view 
 them in the light of imitations ; and that even in fpeaking of 
 Mufic, properly fo called, as Ariftotle does, they fhould be led by 
 this affociation to fpeak of it in the fame terms, and to attribute 
 to it powers, which, in its feparate ftate, do not, in ilridlnefs,. 
 belong to it. With refpedt, however, even to the injlrumental 
 Mufic of thofe times, it fliould be remembered, that we cannot 
 properly judge of it by our oivn, nor fuppofe it to have been, in 
 that fimple ftate of the art, what it is now, in its ftate of feparate 
 improvement and refinement. It feems highly probable that the 
 Mufic of the antients, even in performances merely inftrumental, 
 retained much of its vocal flyle and charadler, and would therefore 
 appear more imitative than our inflrumental Mufic : and perhaps, 
 after all, a Greek Solo on the flute, or the cithara, was not much 
 more than a fong without the words, embellifhed here and there 
 with a little embroidery, or a few fprinklings of fimple arpeggio^ 
 fuch as the fancy, and the fingers, of the player could fupply. 
 
 veux tu?" D'til. de Muf. — Sonate.] I would by no means be untlerilood to 
 deny, that there is now, and has been at all times, much unmeaning trafli compofed 
 for inftruments; that would juftly provoke fuch a queftion. I mean only to fay, 
 what has been faid for me by a fuperior judge and mafter of the art: — " There is 
 '■'■ fome kind, even of inftrumental Mufic, fo divinely compofed, and fo cxpreffively 
 " performed, that it wants no words to explain its meaning." — Dr. Burney's Hiji. 
 of Mufic, vol. i. p. 85. 
 
 « Di/r. I. 
 
 But
 
 ■ On the Word Imitative t as applied to Mujic. 51 
 
 But there is another circumftance that deferves to be confidered. 
 Dramatic Mufic is, often, JlriBly imitative. It imitates, not only 
 the effe£i of the words, by exciting correfpondent emotions, but 
 alfo the words themfelves immediately, by tones, accents, inflexions, 
 intervals, and rhythmical movcvatnU, fimilar to thofe of fpeech. 
 That this was peculiarly the charader of the dramatic Mufic of 
 the antients, feems highly probable, not only from what is faid 
 of it by antient authors, but from what we know of their Mufic 
 in general ; of their fcales, iholr ge-nera, their fondncfs for chroma- 
 tic and enharmonic intervals, which approach fo nearly to thofe 
 Aiding and unaffignable inflexions, (if I may fo fpeak,) that cha- 
 rad:erize the melody o? fpeech. 
 
 I am, indeed, perfuaded, that the analogy between the melody 
 and rhythm of Mufic, and the melody and rhythm oi fpeech ", is 
 a principle of greater extent and importance than is commonly 
 imagined. Some writers have extended it fo far as to refolve into 
 it the whole power of Mufic over the affedtions. Such appears to 
 have been the idea of Roufleau. He divides all Mufic into natural 
 and imitative ; including, under the latter denomination, all Mufic 
 that goes beyond the mere pleafure of the fenfe, and raifes any 
 kind or degree 0/ emotion ; an effedt which he conceives to be 
 wholly owing to an iniitation, more or lefs perceptible, of the 
 accents and inflexions of the voice in animated or pafllonate 
 fpeech ". Profeflbr Hutchefon was of the fame opinion. In his 
 Inquiry concerning Beauty, &c. he fays — ** There is alfo another 
 " charm in Mufic to various perfons, which is diflinft from the 
 *' harmony, and is occafioned by its raifng agreeable pafjions. The 
 " human voice is obvioufly varied by all the ftronger pafilons"; 
 
 ■" now 
 
 " — — 'kiyiTM yaf Jii Kai AOmAES TI MEAOS, to a-v/taituvov ek tov 'm^oau^Mv rm 
 £v T015 ov<3|Ha<n. \_AriJlox. Harm, i. p. 18. Ed. Meibom.] To this he oppofes — MOT- 
 2IK0N MEAOS. 
 
 * Didl. de Mufique, Art/MusiQUE — Melodie, &c. 
 
 " Thus Theophrastus, in a curious pafTage cited by Plutarch in his Sympo- 
 
 H 2 faCf
 
 52 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 " now when our car difcerns any rcjhnblafice between the air of ;i 
 " tune, whether fung, or played upon an inftrument, either in its 
 ** time or modiilaticji , or any other circumflance, to tht found of t':-' 
 " human voice in any pajion, we fli;ill be touched bv it in a very 
 " fenfible manner, and have melancholy, joy, gravity, thought fulnefs, 
 " excited in us by a fort oi fympathy or confagion." [Sedi. 6. p. 83.] 
 This ingenious and amiable writer feems to have adopted this 
 opinion from Plato, to whom, indeed, in' a limilar pafTage in 
 his Syfbcm of Moral Philofophy >', he refers, and who, in the 
 third book of his Republic, fpeaks of a warlike melody, infpiring 
 courage, as " imitating the founds and accents of the courageous 
 " man ;" and, of a calm ^nA fedate melody, as imitating ihe. founds 
 of a man oi fuch a character ^. 
 
 With refped: to Aristotle — whether this was his opinion, 
 or not, cannot, I think, be determined from anything he has 
 exprefsly faid upon the fubjed:. In the pallage above produced *, 
 where fo much is faid of the refemblance of melody and rhythm 
 
 fiaci, p. 623, Ed. XyL—MiS!xmi a^xo"; rffi; tivai, ATOHN, HAONHN, EN0OT2I- 
 
 ASMON* 015 mam TSTm tsa^ar^iTrovTOi hi ts crwi'tife; xai iyi'.\ivo\T©' iw pavrv. " Xhere 
 
 " are three principles of Mufic, grief, love, and enthufiaj'm ; tor each of thefe paffions 
 " turns the voice from its v.fual cotirfe, and gives it inflexions difFerent from thofe of 
 " ordinary fpeech." — " II n'y a que les paffions qui chnntent," fays RoulTeau ; " I'en- 
 
 " tendement ne fait que parler." This pafTage of Theophraflus is introduced to 
 
 refolve the queflion — In what fenfe love is faid to teach Mufic? — " No wonder," 
 fays the refolver, " if love, having in itfelf all thefe three principles of Mufic, grief, 
 " pknfure, and enthuftafm, fhould be more prone to vent itfelf in Mufic and Poetry 
 " than any other paflion." — Arifloxenus, defcribing the difference between the two 
 motions of the voice, m fpeaking and xnfmging^ — (the motion by (lides, and that by 
 intervals) fays — JioTTff, hi tjj ha>.iyi<76ai 'J:ivyofj,iv to IsavM tuv (paivir^; av /i^n AL\ H-AQOS "sjcte 
 h$ Toiai/Tnv umaw avayhoo'Sioj/.ev B>hiv. — p. g. isV/. Aleibomii. 
 
 T Vol. i. p. ]6. 
 
 * De Rep. lib. iii. p. 399. Ed. Ser, The exprefTions are — r\ [(c. a^iiovM — i. e. 
 melody,'] ev rn 'laoy^jim-ri T^^a^et o'vt®- av^^sm ■ -jrjiETrovTwj av MIMHSAITO 'I'QOrrOTS 
 TE KjM nPOSiilAIAS.— And again— (rupfovwv, wfjeiwi', *0OrrOT2 MiMHXONTAl. 
 
 * P. 47- 
 
 10 to
 
 On the Word Imitathc, as applied to Miijlc. z^i 
 
 to manners, or tempers, not a word is faid from which it can be 
 inferred, that he meant a refemblance to the tones and accents by 
 which thofc manners are cxprejjl'd in fpeech. On tlie contrary^ 
 the exprelTions there made ufe of are fuch as lead us naturally to- 
 conclude, that he meant no more than I have above fuppofed him 
 to mean ; i. e. that the Mufic produces in us, immediately, feel- 
 ings refembling thofe of real paflion, &c. — For, after having 
 aflerted, that there is " a refemblance in rhythms and melodies to 
 " the irafcible and the gentle difpofition," he adds, — " This is 
 " evident from the manner in which we find burlelves affcdled by 
 " the perf or mem ce of Cuch Mufic ; for we perceive a change pro - 
 " diiced in the foul while we liften to it"," And again — " In 
 " melody itfelf there are imitations of human 7nanners : this is 
 *' manifeft, from the melodies or modes, which have, evidentfy, 
 " their diftindl nature and charaiTterj fo that, when we hear them, 
 *' we feel ourfelves affe5led by each of them in a different manner. 
 ''Sec.""' — But the paffage furniflies, I think, a miore decifive 
 
 » Anxov ?£ hi TCv Ifyav METABAAAOMEN TAP THN YTXH>T k^mi^mi toiktuv. 
 
 '' Ev 0£ T015 {Xi'Kid.v «UTCI5 In iJ.\fJ.y\i/.a.TOi -rav riSm' hm rm' L-i ipaitf ov e;/9u; ya^ n rm ApfM- 
 viiiv oicry}y.£ ipi/crij* uirs annovTa^ AAAflE AIATI0ES0AI, nai fx-n rev aurov tpottov ix^''^ 'mpo^ 
 inamv aanm. — k- t. «>.. The 'ApKOviai, i. e. melodies^ (or, more properly perhaps, 
 
 tnhartnonic melodies) here fpoken of, muft not be confounded with what are ufually 
 called the modes, and defcribed by the writers on antient mufic, under the denomina- 
 tion of Tcvoi, i.e. pitches, or Ljs : — thefe were mere tranfpofitions of the fa/zii; 
 fcale, or Gfliein ; the 'A^f^ov-ai sppear to have been, as the name implies, different 
 melodies — fcales, in which the arrangement of intervals', and the divillons of the 
 tetrachord (or genera) were different. Ariftides Quintilianus is the only Greek 
 writer who has given any account of thefe af^oviai. (p. 21. Ed. Meib.) He allerts, 
 that it is of thefe, not of the rom, that Plato fpeaks in the famous pafTage of his 
 
 Republic, nil. iii. where he reje£ls fome of them, and retains others. T/jis, at leaft, 
 is clear, that whatever the a^uovicci of Plato were, Ariftotle here fpeaks of the fame-. 
 See his Rep. vili. p. 459. — Their diftinftive names, Lydian, Dorian, &c. Were the 
 fame with thofe of the tow;, that o? fyntono- Lydian excepted, which, I think, is peculiar 
 to the a^izovim. This coincidence of names feems to have been the chief caufe of 
 the confufion w£_find in tjie ?nodern writers on this fubjeft. The diltinftion has been 
 pointed out in Dr. Burney's Hijl. of Muf. vol. i. p. 32. — See alfo Roufleau's 
 Di<a. art. SvNTONO-LYDi£N, & Genre. 
 
 proof
 
 54 
 
 DISSERTATION IL 
 
 proof that the refcmblance here meant, was not a refemblance to 
 fpeech. Ariftotle afferts here, as in the problem of which I fhall 
 prefently fpeak, that, of all that affeds the fenfes, Mufic alone 
 poffefles this property of refemblance to human manners. In 
 comparing it with painting, he obferves, that this art can imitate, 
 immediately, only Jigures and colours; which are not refemblances 
 {ofzoiiofixTcc) of manners and paffions, but only //gris and indications 
 of them (iTTiyMCi) in the human body : whereas, in Mufic, the 
 refemblance to manners " is in the melody itfelf'" . Now, whatever 
 may be the meaning of this laft afTertion — for it feems not quite 
 philofophical to talk oi fuch a refemblance as being in the founds 
 themfehes — whatever may be its meaning, it cannot well be, that 
 the melody refembles manners as exprej'ed by fpeech ; becaufe this 
 •would deftroy the diftinftion between Mufic and Painting : for 
 loords are exaftly in the fame cafe with colours zndfgures ; they 
 are not refemblances of manners, or paffions, but indications only. 
 We muft then, I fear, be contented to take what Ariflotle fays as 
 a popular and unphilofopliical way of expreffing a mere refem- 
 .bJance of effc5l. 
 
 In one of his Mufical Problems, indeed, he advances a flep far- 
 ther, and inquires into the caufe of this effeiS of Mufic upon the 
 mind. The text of thcfe problems is, in general, very incorred, 
 and often abfolutely unintelligible; this problem, however, feems 
 not beyond the reach of fecure emendation, though it may, pof- 
 fibly, be beyond that of fecure explanation. As it has not, that 
 I know of, been noticed by any writer on the fubjedt, and may 
 be regarded at leafi: as a curiofity not uninterefling to the mufical 
 and philofophical reader, I fhall venture to give the entire problem, 
 as I think lijhouldht read, and to fubjoin a tranllation. 
 
 « — 8K In Toina oixotaiiara t»v Woir, ay^oi SHMEIA imi>^ovj toc yivo^iva crxnuara km 
 Xi^i^tuexa^ Twv k^w kcxi taura irtv etti ts (ra/xar©" iv T015 -ssakcriv. ■ £v 01 TOIS MEiVESIN 
 
 ^TTOIZ in i^tiAyfiMTa mv hSuv,—n. t, a?i.— p. 455. Ed, Duval.
 
 On the Word Imitathc, as applied to Mnfic. ^^ 
 
 AIA TI TO uxn^ov fjuovov »i9©-' 6%« ruv cacr^fiTuv, [xat yap \ocv *i oiveu Xoyn 
 jw£X©j, o[4,ug l'/£t »?5©o*) kKK i TO ^^uf/,x, i^s. vi ocTf^r;, ^Se c x'^!^^) '^X^ » — 
 «, OTi Kir/jO-iu £%a fycovov ; ^^ r,v'^ o if/c^®^ ij^asj kivh' tomutv} ^sv yxp KXt 
 TOtg ciXXoi^ inrup^ei' Kwet yxp kx( to xpu)[/,x Trjv oi^m' uXXx rvjg STTOfASvyig tco 
 ToiHTU ^ocpu aKr9xvo[^i9x KivTjcrBug' xuTfj Se £%« of/,otoTviTX {roig ij5£cr<;/] ' ev 
 
 T£ TCi; pu9[^0ig XXI ev TV TWV (p9oyyCi)V TX^et TUV O^SWV KXi Q'XpiUlV. (yjt £1/ TV? 
 
 ui'^et' aXX VI (r\jy,<puvia ix, e^^et ^5©b.) Ev ^e too; xXXoig xio-QriTOtg tuto ax; 
 ES'iv. xt Sb }civyi(r£tg xvtxi TtrpxarMxi et(riv' xi as ■srpa^ag 7j9ii; (Tvifixa'ix sgi. 
 [Problem xxvii. of SeSlion 19.] 
 
 Pr OB l e m, 
 "Why, of all that affedls the fenfes, the audible only has 
 •' any exprejjion of the manners ; (for melody, even without words ^ 
 " has this effedl — ) but colours, fmells, and taftes, have no fuch 
 
 '* property ? Is it becaufe the audible alone affe<rrs us by mo- 
 
 ** tion ? — I do not mean that motion by which as mere found it 
 ** a6ls upon the ear ; for fuch motion belongs equally to the 
 ** objedts of our other fenfes ; — thus, colour a6ts by motion upon 
 " the organs of fight, &c. — But I mean another motioJi which we 
 ** ^tvcQive fubfequent to that ; and this motion bears a refemblance 
 ** to human manners, both in the rhythm, and in the arrangemetit 
 " oifou7tds acute and grave: — not in their mixture; for harmony 
 ** has no expreffwn\ With the objedls of our other fenfes this is 
 
 " not 
 
 ■f The text here, in the Ed. of Duval, ftands thus : — rnvma ix^i /^ovovuxt w 4'Op©" 
 —of which no fenfe can be made. The emendation appeared to me obvious and 
 certain. 
 
 ° I infert — ro;; 'nkaiv — as plainly required by the fenfe of the paflage, and fully 
 warranted by Ariftotle's repeated expreflions of the fame kind. — See above, p. 47. 
 —I found no other corredtions necefl'ary. 
 
 ' This paffage is remarkable. It is exa£lly the language of Roufleau — " il n'y a 
 " AUCUN RAPPORT entre des acccrds^ & les objets qu'on veut peindre, ou Ics 
 '■'■ pajfwns qu'on veut exprimer." [Dii?. de Muf. art. imitation: fee alfo the laft 
 paragraph of art. harmonie.] Thus, too, Lord Kaims : — " Harmony, pro- 
 "perly fo called, though delightful when in perfection, hath no relation to fenti- 
 
 " tnent"
 
 56 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 *' not the cafe. Now thefe motions are analogous to the mo- 
 
 *' tion of human aSiions ; and thofe aStions are the index of the 
 
 *' manners. 
 
 In 
 
 ^'' ment." [El. of Crit. i. 128.] But how is this? The fame intervals are the 
 materials both of melody and of harmony. Thefe intervals have, each of them, 
 their peculiar effecl and charadler, and it is by the proper choice of them in fuccef- 
 fion, and by that only, that ?neIody., confidered abftraftedly from rhythm or meafure, 
 becomes exprejpve, or has any " relation to fentiment." Do thefe intervals, then, 
 lofe at once, as by magic, all their variety and ftriking difference of chara6ler, as 
 foon as they are heard in the fimultaneous combinations of harmony ? If this be 
 the cafe, the vocal compofer is at once relieved from all care of adapting the har- 
 monies of his accompaniment to the expreflion of the fcntiments conveyed in the 
 words ; and it muft be matter of perfeft indifference vi^hether, for example, he ufes 
 the major or minor third— the perfeft, or the fAk,ffth — the common chord, or the 
 
 chord of the diminifhed fevcnih, &c. With refpeiSt to Roufleau, it is not eafy 
 
 to fee how this aflertion of his can be reconciled with what he has elfewhere faid. 
 In his letter Sur la Alufique Franfoife, he exprefsly allows that every interval, con- 
 fonant or diffonant, " a fon carafterc particulier, c'eft a dire, une manicre d* affener 
 " rame qui lui eft propre." — And upon this depend entirely all the admirable ob- 
 fervations he has there made, concerning the ill effedts which a crowded harmony, 
 and the " rcmpllfjage" of chords, have upon mufical expreflion. — In another article 
 [accord] of his diftionary, this inconfiftence is fl:ill more ftriking. One would 
 not think it poflible for the fame writer, who in one place talks of intervals " pro- 
 *' pres, par leur durete, a exprimer I' cinportement, la cokre-, et les passions aigues" — 
 
 and, of — " une harmonie plaintive qui attendrit le coeur" to aflert in 
 
 another part of the fame work, that " il n'y a aucun rapport entre des accords, 
 " et LES passions qu'on veut exprimer." 
 
 Had thefe writers contented themfelves with faying, that harmony has much kfs 
 relation to fentiment than melody, they would not have gone beyond the truth. 
 And the reafon of this difference in the effe£t of the fume intervals, in melody, and 
 in harmony, fcems, plainly, tliis — that in melody, thefe intervals being formed by 
 fuccejjive founds, have, of courfe, a much clofer, and more obvious relation to the 
 tones and inflexions by which fcntiments are expreffed in fpeech., than they can have 
 in harmony, where they are formed by founds heard together. 
 
 As to the affertion of Ariftotlc, it feems only to furnilTi an additional proof that 
 the antients did not practice anything like our countei'point, or continued harmoiiy in 
 different parts. Where the utmolt ufe of harmony fcems to have been confined to 
 imifons, ocSavcs, fourths, and fifths — where at leaft no difcords, (the moft expref- 
 fivc materials of modern harmony,) were allowed — we cannot wonder that the 
 
 " ?nixture"
 
 On the Word Imilathe, as applied to Mufic, 57 
 
 111 this problem, the philofopher plainly attributes the expref- 
 Jive power of mufical founds to their fuccejjion — to their motion. 
 in meafured melody. He alfo diftinguiilies the rhythmical, from the 
 melodious, fucceflion ; for he fays exprefsly, that this motion is 
 ** both in the rhythm (or meafure,) and in the order or arrangement 
 " oi founds acute and grave." — But ivhence the effedt of thefc 
 motions ? He anfwers, from their analogy to the motions of 
 human anions ', by which the manners and tempers of men are 
 expreffed in common life. With refpedl to the analogy of rhyth- 
 mic movement to the various motions of men in ad:ion, this, indeed, 
 is fufficiently obvious. But Ariftotle goes farther, and Hippofes 
 that there is alfo fuch analogy in the motion of melody confidered 
 merely as a fucceffion of different tones, without any regard to time', 
 — £1/ TE Tuv (pSoyycou roc'^et, tuv OHEXIN jca< BAPEXIN. He plainly 
 afferts, that this fucceffion of tones, alfo, is analogous to the 
 motion of human a£lions. Now it feems impoflible to aflign any 
 human adtion to which a fucceffion oi founds and intervals, merely 
 as fuch, has, or can have, any relation or fimilitude, except the 
 aSiion (if the expreffion is allowable,) of ^^^i/«^, which is inch. 
 a fucceffion. If this be Ariflotle's meaning — and I confefs myfelf 
 unable to difcover any other — I do not fee how we can avoid con- 
 cluding, that he agreed fo far with Plato, as to attribute part, at 
 leafl, of the effeft of Mufic upon the affections to the analogy 
 between melody and fpeech. 
 
 " tnixture" of founds in confonance fhould be thought to have no relation X.o fenti- 
 menty and that all the power of Mufic over the paflions, (hould be confined to melo- 
 dious and rhythmical fucceffion, 
 
 s The original is fliort, and rather obfcure. It fays, literally, " thefe motions are 
 " praiiical motions :" 'ss^ounnuu Lcnv. But that I have given Ariftotlc's true meaniag 
 in my tranflation, is evident from a clearer expreffion in Prob. xxix. which is a 
 fliorter folution of the fame queftion. His expreffion there is — Kivn<reti La-tv [fc. u 
 pyS/ioi KM ra fi£\n] liSIIEP ICAI AI IIPAHEIS.— " Rhytljni and melody are motions^ 
 " as anions alfo are." 
 
 I Thij
 
 5ft DISSERTATION II. 
 
 This analogy is, indeed, a curious fubjedl, and deferves, perhaps, 
 a more thorough examination and development than it has yet 
 received \ But I fhall not truft myfelf farther, with a fpecula- 
 tion fo likely to draw me wide from the proper bufinefs of 
 this note, than juft to obferve, that the writers above-men- 
 tioned, who refolve all the pathetic expreffion of Mufic into this 
 principle, though they affert more than it feems poffible to prove, 
 are yet muth nearer to the truth than thofe, who altogether 
 overlook, or rejed:, that principle'; a principle, of which, in- 
 
 ftances 
 
 •" Much light has been flung upon this fubje£t, as far as relates to fpeech, by Mr. 
 Steele, in his curious and ingenious eflay Ori the Melody and Meafurc pf Speech. But 
 the obje£l of his enquirer was Speech, not Mtific, His purpofe in tracing the refem- 
 blance between them, was only to fbew that fpeech is capable of notation ; not to 
 examine how. far the eiFect of Mtiftc on the paffions depends on that refemblance.— . 
 His notation is extremely ingenious; but with refpecfl to his projeft of accompanying 
 the declamation of Tragedy by a drone bafs, I muft confefs that, for my own part, 
 r cannot refleft without fome comfort upon the 'improbability that it will ever be 
 atipernp.tedj . 
 
 ''^- After all6wrng'that " different paflions and fentiments do indeed -give jdiffcrenf • 
 ^ tones and accents to the human voice," Dr. Beattie afks — " but can the tones of 
 " the mpfl pathetic melody be, laid to bear a refemblance to the voice of a man or 
 " woman fpeakipg from the impulfe of paflion ?" I can only anfwer, that to 7ny ear, 
 fuch a refeintlan'ce," in the " mojl pathetic melody^'' is, oftcn^ even ftriking : and I have 
 no doubt riiatin mwiy pafTages-we are "aftefteid-froma more delicate and latent degree 
 of that refemblance, fufficient to be felt, in its effadl, though not to be perceived.— 
 Dr. Beattie alfo afks — " if there arc not melancholy airs in the ^larp key, and 
 " chear/ul ones in xiac. fiat?" — Undoubtedly, the peculiar and oppofite chara6lers of 
 thcfe keys, may be varioufly modified and tanpered by the movement, the accent, and 
 the manner o{ performance, in general: but they can never be drjlroyed; much lefs 
 can they be changed, as Dr. Beattie fuppofcs, to their very ofpofitcs. A chearfid air 
 iri z.fat keyj I confefs, I never heard. If Dr. Beattie 'thinks the jig in the fifth folo 
 of Corelli cheerful^ becaufe the tnovement is allegro, I would beg of him to try an 
 experiment: let him only play the firft' bar of that jig, (with the baf?,) upon a harp- 
 fichord, &c. in c! 'major: and when he has attended to the cfFedt of that, let him 
 return- to the ;ww^ key,- and hear the idifference. — As to '■'■melancholy airs in T^Jhttrp 
 " key," the -word melancholy is, I think, ufed with confiderablc latitude, and com- 
 p;chcnds difFeri.-n.ty7jfl^/«. In the lightejl of thcfc Ihades, it may ptrl):ips be applied to 
 J fome
 
 Ot2 the Word Lnitatke, (is applied to Mufic. 59 
 
 fiances fo frequent and fo palpable are to be traced in the works 
 'of the beil mailers of vocal compofition — in thofe of Purcell, 
 for example, of Handel, and above all, of Pergolesi — that 
 I have often w^ondered it fliould have been negleded by fo exa6l a 
 writer as Mr. Harris, though it lay diredly in his way, and, in 
 one place, he adluaUy touched it as he palfed''. He feems, here, 
 to have defcrted thofe antients whom, in general, he moil delighted 
 to follow. 
 
 But to return to Arijloik, and his treatife on Poetry: — the 
 reader will obferve that he does not there aifert in general terms, 
 that " Mufic is (in Imitative Art^' but only, that the Muiic " of 
 '* thejiute and the lyre' is imitative; and even that, not always, but 
 ** for the mojl part\" I juil mention this, becaufe I have ob- 
 ferved in many of the commentators, as well as. in other writers, 
 a difpofition.to extend and generalize his aifertions, by which they 
 
 fome airs in a major key : that key may, by flownefs of movement, fofrnefs and 
 fmoothnefs of tone, &c. become folemn, tender, touching, &c. — but I cannot fay I 
 recolleft any air in that key which makes an iinprelTion that can properly be called 
 melancholy. But we muft be careful in this matter to allow for the magic of aJfo~ 
 ciatiofi, which no one better underftands, or has defcribed with more feeling and fancy 
 than Dr. Beattie himfelf. [See p. 173, &c.]— — With refped: to " a tranfition from 
 " the one key to the other" [from major to minor, &c.] " in the fame air, without 
 *' any fenfibk change in the expreffion," I muft alfo confefs that it is, to me, totally 
 unknown. — One word more : — Dr. Beattie is " at a lofs to conceive how it fhould 
 " happen, that a mufician overwhelmed with forrow, for example, fliould put together 
 " a feries of notes, whofe expreffion is contrary to that of another feries which he had 
 " put together when elevated with joy." [p. 180.] — But is not Dr. Beattie equally 
 at a lofs to conceive how it fhould happen that any man overwhelmed with forrow^ 
 fliould put together, in fpeaking, (as he certainly does) a feries of tones, whofe ex- 
 preffion is contrary to that of «««;/;(;?■ feries which he had put together when elevated 
 •w\t\\ joy?— The two fa^s are equally certain, and, even at the firft View, fo nearly 
 allied, that whoever can account for the one, need not, 1 am perfuaded, be at the 
 trouble of trying to account feparately for the other. 
 
 '' Ch. ii. § 2. — particularly note '. 
 
 ' — -n;? «i/Mmii); H IIABIETH kcu y.i^irumu 
 
 I 2 have
 
 6d DISSERTATION 11. 
 
 have fometlmes involved the fubjedl and themfelves in unneceflary 
 difficulties. 
 
 With relped to modern writers, at leaft, there feems to be a 
 manifefl impropriety in denominating Mufic an Imitative Arty 
 while they confine the application of the term Imitative to what 
 they confeis to be the flightefl and leaft important of all its 
 powers. In this view, confiflence and propriety are, certainly, on 
 the fide of Dr. Beattie, when he would " ftrike Mufic off the 
 " liil of Imitative Arts'"." But perhaps even a farther reform 
 may juflly be confidered as wanting, in our language upon this 
 fubjedl. With whatever propriety, and however naturally and 
 obvioufly, the arts both of Mujic, and of Poetry, may be, 
 feparately, and occafionally, regarded and fpcken of as imitative^ yet, 
 when we arrange and cloj's the arts, it feems defirable that a clearer 
 language were adopted. The notion, that Painting, Poetry and 
 Mufic " are all Arts of Imitation, certainly tends to produce, and 
 has produced, much confufion. That they all, m fome fenfe of 
 the word, or other, imitate, cannot be denied ; but the fenfes of the 
 word when applied to Poetry, or Mufic, ai-e fo different both from 
 each other, and from that in which it is applied to Painting, 
 Sculpture, and the arts of defign in general — the only arts that 
 
 "• Page 1 29. 
 
 • What (hall we fay to thofe who add Architecture to the lift of hnitatwe- 
 Jrts? — One would not expeft to find fo abfurd a notion adopted by fo clear and 
 philofophical a writer as M. d'Alembert. Yet In his Difcours Prd. de VEncyclop. he 
 not only makes Architefture an imitative art, but even clalTes it with painting and 
 fctilpture. He allows, indeed, that the imitation " de la belle nature, y eft mains 
 "frappante & plus rejferr'ee que dans les deux autres arts:" — but how is it any imi- 
 tation at all? — only becaufe it imitates "par I'alTemblage et I'union des difl'erens 
 " corps qu'elle emploie" — what? — '■'■ l' arrangement fymmetriqtie que la nature oh{erve 
 " plus ou moins fcnfiblement dans chaque individu, &c." [Mel. de lit. i. 63] I can 
 only fay, that, upon this principle, the joiner, the fmith, and the mechanic of ainioft 
 every kind, have a fair claim to be elevated to the rank of Imitative Artijls: for if a 
 regular building be an imitation of " la belle nature" ^ is a chaiR, a table, or a pair 
 •f fire -tongs. 
 
 are
 
 On the Word Imitattvc, as applied to Mufic, 6 1 
 
 are obvioujly and ejfmtmlly imitative — that when we include them 
 all, without diflindtion, under the fame general denomination of 
 Imitative ArtSy we feem to defeat the only ufeful purpofe of all 
 elaffing and arrangement ; and, inftead of producing order and 
 method in our ideas, produce only embarraflment and confufion. 
 [See Diss. I. p. 3, 4 J 
 
 AK.IST OTLE
 
 ARISTOTLE 
 
 O NT 
 
 P O E T R Y.
 
 *6s' 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 
 POETRY AND ITS PRINCIPAL SPECIES. 
 
 SECT. PAGE. 
 
 Introduction — — -_ 65 
 
 I. Poetry.a fpecies of hnitation — — ib. 
 
 II. Difterent means of Imitation — — — 66 
 
 III. Different obje5ls of Imitation — — — 67 
 
 IV. Different manner iof Imitation — - — — 68 
 V. Origin of Poetry — -— — — 69 
 
 VI. Its divifion into ferioia and ludicrous — ■ — 70 
 
 VII. Progrefs of Tragedy — — — — 72 
 
 VIII. Objed: and progrefs of Comedy — -^ — 73 
 
 IX, Epic and Tragic fpecies compared — — 74 
 
 PART IL 
 
 OF TRAGEDY. 
 
 I. Definition of Tragedy — — y^ 
 
 II. Dedu&ion o{ its conjiittienf parts — — ib. 
 
 III. Comparative importance of thofe parts — — 76 
 
 *I* IV. Of
 
 *66* CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. PAGE. 
 
 IV, Of the Fable [to Sed. 15.] — itfliould be a perfeSl 
 
 ivhole, and of a certain magnitude — — 79 
 
 V. Unity of the Fable — — — — 80 
 
 VI. Different provinces of the P(J^/ and the iy^^ww — 82 
 
 VII. £/^^'6' Fables — — — — 83 
 
 VIII. Fables, fimple, or complicated — — — 84 
 
 IX. Parts of the F^/^/(f. i.' Revolutiotis, 2. Difcoveries. 
 
 3. Dijlijlers — — — ib. 
 
 X. Parts into which Tragedy is divided — — 86 
 XL What catafirophe, and what charaBer, beft adapted 
 
 to the purpofe of Tragedy — — — 87 
 
 XIL Cataftrophe fliould \itfmgle, and that unhappy — 88 
 
 XIII. Terror and Pity to be excited by the aSiion, not by 
 
 the decoration, or fpeSlacle — — -7-89 
 
 XIV. Of dijajlrous incidents and the proper management " 
 
 of them — — — — 90 
 
 XV. Of the Manners — — — — 92 
 
 XVI. Of the different kinds of Difcovery — — 9^ 
 
 XVII. Praftical diredtions for the Tragic Poet — — 98 
 
 XVIII. Comp/ication znd Development of the plot — — 100 
 
 XIX. Different /^/Wj of Tragedy , — — ib. 
 
 XX. Too great extent of plan to be avoided — — loi 
 
 XXI. Of tht C/jorus — — — — 102 
 
 XXII. Of the Sentiments — — — 103 
 
 XXIII. Of the Diction, [to the end of this part] — 104 
 
 XXIV. Analyfis of Didlion, or Language, in genera/ — ib. 
 XXV. Different kinds of w^r^j' •— — — 107 
 
 XXVI. Of Poetic Diaion — — — —no 
 
 PART
 
 CONTENT Si *67< 
 
 PART III. 
 
 u I OF THE EPIC POEM. 
 
 SECT. ' PAGE. 
 
 I. In what Epic and Tragic Poetry agree — — 114 
 
 II. In what they difier — • — — . — X17 
 
 III. Epic Narration ihould be dralnatic and imitative — n8 
 . IV.- Epic admits the wonderful more eafily, and in a greater 
 
 degree, than Tragedy — — — ib. 
 
 V. FiSlion, how made to pafs as truth — < — ng 
 
 ''^\r Oi xJat improbable ^•i.vA iihjurd — — — ib. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 OF CRITICAL OBJECTIONS, AND THE PRIN- 
 CIPLES ON WHICH THEY ARE TO BE 
 ANSWERED. 
 
 I. Principles on which Poetry is to be defended — 122 
 
 II. Application of the /cz/i? principle — — — 123 
 
 III. of the. Jirjl — — — 124 
 
 IV. Cenfure of immoral fpeech, or adtion — how to be 
 
 examined — — — — _ 125 
 
 V. Application of the fecond principle — — — ib. 
 
 VI. Cenfure of /w/'i5//7'^/7//y farther confidered — — 130 
 
 VII. ■ Inconfiftence — — — 131 
 
 VIII. Improbability and vitious charader — ib. 
 
 PART
 
 *68* CONTENTS. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 OF THE SUPERIORITY OF TRAGIC TO 
 
 EPIC POETRY. 
 
 SECT. PAGE. 
 
 I. Objedtron to Tragedy — — — — 132 
 
 II. That obje(5lion anfwered — — — 133 
 
 III. Advantages of Tragedy — — — —■ ib. 
 
 IV. Preference of Tragedy — — — '^~ ^35 
 
 CONCLUSION -„ ^ — . =— ib. 
 
 PART
 
 [ 65 ] 
 
 PART I. 
 
 GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE VIEW OF 
 POETRY AND ITS PRINCIPAL SPECIES. 
 
 M 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "Y defign is to treat of Poetry In general, and of its Design. 
 feveral fpecies — to inquire, what is the proper effeSi of 
 each — what conftrudlion of a fable, or plan, is effential to a good 
 Poem — of what, and how many, parts, each fpecies confifts ; 
 with whatever elfe belongs to the fame fubjedl : which I Ihall 
 confider in the order that mofl naturally prefents itfelf. 
 
 I. 
 
 Epic Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, Dithyrambics, as alfo, for Poetry a fpe- 
 the mofl part, the Mufic of the flute, and of the lyre — all thefe "'« "f Imi- 
 are, in the moft general view of them, imitations'^ differing, '^^'^•'^'^'^' 
 however, from each other in three refpedts, according to the dif- 
 ferent means, the different objeSts, or the different fnanner, of their 
 imitation. 
 
 • The application of this term to Poetry, in general, is confidered in Diflertation 
 1.— 'to Mt/Jii; in DifT. II, — to Dithyrambic Poetry, in note l, 
 
 K II. For,
 
 66 Gefieral and comparative View of Part I. 
 
 II. 
 
 Different For, as men, fome through art, and fome through habit, 
 
 MEANS of imitate various objefts, by means of colour and figure, and others, 
 
 mitation.. ^g^^^^ by •voice''; fo, with refpeft to the arts above-mentioned, 
 
 rhythm, ivords, and melody, are the different means by which, either 
 
 Tingle, or varioufly combined, they all produce their imitation. 
 
 For example : in the imitations of the flute, and the lyre, and 
 of any other inftruments capable of producing a fimilar effecft — as 
 the. fyrinx, or pipe — melody and rhythm only are employed. In thofe 
 of Dance, rhythm alone, without melody j for there are dancers 
 who, by rhythm applied to gefture', exprefs manners, paflions, and 
 acflions. 
 
 The Epopoeia Imitates by words alone, or by verfe* ; and that 
 verfe may either be compofed of various metres, or confined, 
 according to the pradlice hitherto eftabliflied, to a fingle fpecies. 
 For we fhould, otherwife, have no general name which would 
 comprehend the Mimes of Sophron and Xenarchus, and the 
 Socratic dialogues ; or Poems in Iambic, Elegiac, or other metres, 
 in which the Epic fpecies of imitation may be conveyed. Cuflom, 
 indeed, connecting the poetry or jnaking with the tnetre, has deno- 
 minated fome Elegiac Poets, i. e. makers^ of elegiac verfe; others. 
 
 Epic Poets ; 
 
 ^ Vocal mimicry; imitation by tone of voice merely; See DilT. I. towards the 
 end, Ncte '.r— And Note 2, on this paflage. 
 
 ^ The exprcffion feems inaccurate; for it is by their ge/Itires that they exprefs, or 
 imitate; — not by the rhythm, or rmafnred motion, of thofe geftures. — See note 4, 
 where I have endeavoured to account for Ariftotle's exprefling himfelf thus. 
 
 * i. e. by words only, without melody and rhythm; or, at mofl, with no other 
 rhythm than is implied in the idea of metre: — without rliythm in its ;/K//7t-«/ acceptation 
 of time. See note 5. 
 
 ' It may be neceflary to obferve, that the Greek word, (woimtjij — poictes) whence 
 poeta, and poet, is, literally, wff/!-t?-; and maker, it is well known, was once tiie cur- 
 rent term for poet in our language ; and to write verfes, was, to make. Sir Philip 
 Sidney, fpeaking of the Greek word, fays — " wherein, I know not whether by luck 
 "or wifdom, we Engiifhmcn have imt with the Greeks.^ in calling him Maker." 
 
 Defenfe of Poefy. 
 So
 
 Part I. Poetry and its principal Species. 67 
 
 Epic Poets; i. e. makers of hexameter verfe ; thus diftinguifhing the 
 Poets, not according to the nature of their imitation, but according 
 .to that of their metre only. For even they, who compofe treatifes 
 of medicine, or natural philofophy, in verfe, are denominatedPot'^j-.- 
 yet Homer and Empedocles have nothing in common, except 
 their metre; the former, therefore, juftly merits the name oi Poet; 
 while the other fhould rather be called a Phyjiologiji than a Poet. 
 
 So, alfo, though any one fhould chufe to convey his imitation in 
 every kind of metre, promifcuoufly, as Chaeremon has done in 
 his Centaur, which is a medley of all forts of verfe, it would not 
 immediately follow, that, on that account merely, he was entitled 
 to the name of Poet. — But of this, enough, — 
 
 There are, again, other fpecies of Poetry which make ufe of all 
 the means of imitation, rhythm, melody, and verfe. Such are, the 
 Dithyrambic, that of Nomes, Tragedy, and Comedy: with this dif- 
 ference, however, that in fome of thefe*, they are employed all 
 together, in others, feparately. And fuch are the differences of thefe 
 arts with refpedl to the ?neans by which they imitate. 
 
 III. 
 
 But, as the objeSis of imitation are the adlions of men, and thefe Different 
 men muft of neceffity be either good or bad, (for on this does objects 
 charaBer principally depend ; the manners being, in all men, mofl 
 llrongly marked by virtue and vice,) it follows, that we can only 
 
 So Spenferj 
 
 The god of fliepherds, Tiiyrus, is dead, 
 Who taught me, homely, as I can, to make. 
 
 Shep. Cat. June. 
 
 * In Dithyramtlc, or Bacchic hymns, and in the N'omes, which were alio a fpecies 
 of hymns, to Apollo, and other deities, all the means of imitation were employed 
 together, and throughout: in Tragedy and Comedy, feparatcly; fome of them in one 
 part of the drama, and fome in another. (See Part II. ScJf. J.) In the choral pzrt, 
 however, at leaft, if no where elfe, all, melody, rhythm and words, muft probably 
 hav« been ufed at once, as in the hymns. 
 
 K 2 rcprefent 
 
 of imita-i 
 tion.
 
 68 General and comparative View of Part I. 
 
 reprefent men, either as better than they adlually are, or worfe, or 
 exadlly as they are : jufl as, in Painting, the pidiures of Polyg- 
 tiotus were above the common level of nature j thofe of Paiijhn, 
 below it J thofe of Dionvfnis, faithful likenejj'es. 
 
 Now it is evident that each of the imitations above-men- 
 tioned will admit of thefe differences, and become a different kind 
 of imitation, as it imitates obje&s that differ in this refpedt. This 
 may be the cafe with Dancing ; with the Mvjic of the flute, and of 
 the lyre; and, alfo, with the Poetry which employs words, or 
 i)erfe only, without melody, or rhythm: thus. Homer has drawn 
 xnQw fuperior to what they are'; Clcophon, as they are ; Hegemon 
 the Thafian, the inventor of parodies, and Nicocharis, the author 
 of the Deliad, wqrfe than they are. 
 
 So, again, with refpedt to Dithyrambics, and Nomcs: in thefe, 
 too, the imitation may be as different as that of the Perfians, by 
 Timotheiis, and the Cyclops, by Philoxe?iiis. 
 
 'Tragedy, alfo, and Comedy, are diftinguiflied in the liime manner; 
 the aim of Comedy being, to exhibit men wo?-fe than we find them, 
 that of Tragedy, better. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Different There remains the third difference — that of the manner in 
 
 MANNER which each of thefe obiecls may be imitated. For the Poet, imi- 
 tating the fame objeB, and by the fame means, may do it either in 
 NARRATION — and that, again, either perfonating other charadlers, 
 as Homer does, or, in his ov/n perfon throughout, without 
 
 ' Superior, that is, in courage, ftrength, wifdom, prudence, &c. — in any laudable, 
 ufeful, or admirable quality, whether fuch as we denominate morale or not. If fupe- 
 riority of wwr/?/ character only were meant, the afiertion would be falfe. — It is neccf- 
 fary to remember here, the wuk fenfe in which the antients ufed the terms virtue, 
 vice—good, had, &c. See NOTE 19. — The difference between moral, and poetical, 
 perfcftion of chara£lerj is wtll explained by Dr. Beattie, EJfay on Poetry, &c. Part I. 
 ch. 4. — The heroes of Homer, as he well obferves, are '■'■finer animals" than we are; 
 (p. 69.) not I'cttir men, 
 
 change: 
 
 of imita 
 tion
 
 Part I. Poetry and ks principal Specks. 69 
 
 change : — or, he may imitate by rcprefenting all his charaflers as 
 real, and employed in the very action itfelf. 
 
 Thefe, then, are the three differences by which, as I faid in the 
 beginning, all imitation is diftinguill-ied; thofe of the means, the 
 'objeSl, and the manner: fo that Sophocles is, in one refpedl, an 
 imitator of the fame kind with Homer, as elevated charadqrs 
 are the ohjeBs of both ; in anotlier refpedl, of the fame kind 
 with Arijlopbanes, as both imitate in the -joay of adion ; 
 whence, according to fome, the application of the term Drama Drama,. 
 [i. e. a5lion'\ to fach Poems. Upon this it is that the Do- Digrefllon 
 rians ground their claim to the invention both of Tragedy and ^^^^ different 
 Comedy. For Comedy is claimed by the Megariansj' both by national 
 thofe of Greece, who contend that it took its rife in their ^'^ims to 
 popular government; and by thofe of Sicily, among whom the ^j^^j 
 poet Epicharmus flouriflied long before Cbionides and Magnes : and 
 Tragedy, alfo, is claimed by fome of the Dorians of Peloponnefus. 
 — In fupport of thefe claims they argue from the words themfelves. 
 They allege, that the Doric word for a village is come, the Attic, 
 DEMOS; and that Comedians were fo called, not from Comazein — 
 to revel^hut from their flrolling about the Comai, or villages^ 
 before they were tolerated in the city. They fay, farther, that, 
 to do, or aci, they exprefs by the word dran ; the Athenians by 
 Prattein. 
 
 And thus much as to the differences of imitation — how ?)2any^ 
 and what, they are. 
 
 V. 
 
 Poetry, in general, feems to have derived its origin from ORrciNof 
 two caiifes, each of them natural. Poetry. 
 
 I. To imitate is inftinftive in man from his infancy. By 
 this he is diflinguiflied from other animals, that he is, of all, the 
 moll imitative, and through this inftindl receives his earliefl edu- 
 
 * Who were all of Doric origin. 
 
 * A derivation very honourable to itinerant players. 
 
 * cation.
 
 70 Genera! and comparative View of Part I. 
 
 cation*. All men, likewife, naturally receive pleafure from imita- 
 tion. This is evident from what we experience in viewing the works 
 of imitative art; for in them, we contemplate with pleafure, and 
 with the more pleafure, the more exadlly they are imitated, fuch 
 objedls as, if real, we could not fee Vi'ithout pain; as, the figures 
 of the meaneft and moft difgufting animals, dead bodies, and the 
 like. And the reafon of this is, that to learn, is a natural plea- 
 fure, not confined to philofophers, but common to all men ; with 
 this difference only, that the multitude partake of it in a more 
 tranfient and compendious inanner. Hence the pleafure they 
 receive from a pidture : in viewing it they learn ', they infer, they 
 difcover, what every objedt is : that this, for inflance, is fuch a 
 particular man, fisc. For if we fuppofe the objedt reprefented to 
 be fomethlng which the fpeftator had never feen, his pleafure, in 
 that cafe, will not arife from the imitation, but from the work- 
 manfhip, tlie colours, or fome fuch caufe. 
 
 Imitation, then, being thus natural to us, and, ztidly, melody 
 and RHYTHM* being alfo natural, (for as to metre, it is plainly a 
 fpecies of rhythm,) thofe perfons, in whom, originally, thefe pro- 
 penfities were the ftrongeft, were naturally led to rude and ex- 
 temporaneous attempts, v.'hich, gradually improved, gave birth to 
 
 Poetry. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Its divir.on But this Poetry, following the different characlers of its authors, 
 
 into TWO naturally divided itfelf into two different kinds. They who were 
 
 KINDS — 
 
 the SERIOUS * See Dr. Beattic's EfTay on Poetry, &c. Part\. ch. 6. 
 
 and the lu- ' This is explained in note 22. 
 
 * " Rhythm differs from metre, in as much as rhythm is proport'ion, applied ta 
 " any tnation -whatever ; metre is proportion^ applied to the motion of WOKDS spoken. 
 " Thus, in the drumming o£, a march, or the dancing of a hornpipe, there is 
 " rhythm, though no metre; m Dryden's celebrated ode there is metre as weJl as 
 " RHYTHM, bccaufe the Poet with the rhythm has aflbciated certain words. And 
 '' hence it follows, that, though all metre is rhythm, yet all rhythm is 
 »' not metre." Harris's Philol. Inquiries, p. 67. — where it is alfo obferved, very 
 truly, that " no Englifh word expre/Tes r/;>'fAff!»j better than the word, time. P. 69. note. 
 
 2 of 
 
 DICROUS.
 
 Part I. Poetry and its principal Species, 71 
 
 of a grave and lofty fpirit, chofc, for their imitation, the aftions 
 and the adventures of elevated charadlers : while Poets of a lighter 
 turn, reprefented thofe of the vitious and contemptible. And thefe 
 compofed, originally. Satires , as the former did Hymns and 
 Encomia. 
 
 Of the lighter kind, we have no Poem anterior to the time of 
 Homer, though many fuch, in all probability, there were; but, 
 from his time, we have; as, his Margites, and others of the fame 
 fpecies, in which the Iambic was introduced as the moft proper 
 meafure; and hence, indeed, the name of Iambic, becaufe it was 
 the meafure in which tliey ufed to iambize, [i. e, to Jatirize,] each 
 other. 
 
 And thus thefe old Poets were divided into two clafTes — thofe 
 who ufed the heroic^ , and thofe who ufed the iambic, verfe. 
 
 And as, in the Jerious kind. Homer alone may be faid to 
 deferve the name of Poet, not only on account of his other excel- 
 lences, but alfoof the dramatic* fpirit of his imitations; fo was 
 he likewife the firfl who fuggefted the idea of Comedy, by fubfti- 
 tuting ridicule for inveBive, and giving that ridicule a dramatic 
 caft: for his Margites bears the fame analogy to Comedy, as 
 his Iliad and Odyssey to Tragedy. — But when Tragedy and 
 Comedy, had once made their appearance, fucceeding Poets, 
 according to the turn of their genius, attached tliemfelves to the 
 one, or the other, of thefe new fpecies : the lighter fort, inflead of 
 Iambic, became Comic Poets ; the graver. Tragic, inftead of Heroic : 
 and that, on account of the fuperior dignity and higher eftimation 
 of thefe Iditter forms of Poetry. 
 
 Whether Tragedy has now, with refped: to its constituent parts', 
 received the utmofl improvement of v/hich it is capable, confidered 
 
 ' i. e. hexameters, compofed of dadtyls and fpondees, which were called heroh 
 feet. 
 
 * See Part III. Seft. 3. 
 
 » i, e. the fable, the manners, the fentiments, &c.— See Part II, Seit. 2. 
 
 both
 
 CEE V. 
 
 72 General and comparative View of Part I. 
 
 both in itji'lf, and relatively to the theatre, is a queftion that belongs 
 not to this place. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Progress Both Tragedy, then, and Comedy, having originated in a rude 
 
 of Tra- and unpremeditated manner — the firil from the Dithyrambic hymns, 
 the other from thofe Phallic fongs", ^\'hich, in many cities, remain 
 fcill in ufe — each advanced gradually towards perfeilion, by fuch 
 fucceflive improvements as were moil: obvious. 
 
 Tragedy, after various changes, repofed at length in the com- 
 pletion of its proper form. iEscHYLUs firft added a fecond adlor^i 
 he alfo abridged the chorus, and made the dialogue the principal 
 part of Tragedy. Sophocles increafed the number of adtors to 
 three, and added the decoration of painted fcenery. It was alfo 
 late before Tragedy threw alide the fliort and limple fable, and 
 ludicrous language, of its fatyric original, and attained its proper 
 magnitude and dignity. The Iambic meafure was then firft 
 adopted : for, originally, the Trochaic tetrameter was made ufe of, 
 as better fuited to the fatyric^ and faltatorial genius of thePoem at 
 
 that 
 
 * Of the I'lcenUoin and ohfcene religious ceremony here alluded to, the reader, 
 who has any curiofity about if, may find fome account in Potter's Antiquities of 
 Crecci'i vol. i. p. 383, 
 
 ' The firft who introduced a fingle aftor, or fpeaker, between thofe choral fongs 
 which originally, wc are told, formed the whole of Tragedy, i. e. according to the 
 moft ufual derivation of the woid, the goat-fmging, was Thespis, whom Ariftotlc 
 pafTes over in filence. The ftory fo often told, of him and his theatrical ivaggon, it 
 cannot be necefTary to repeat. — By introducing a fecond aiSor, j^fchylus, in faiS, in- 
 trodu'ced the dialogue; though it feenis probable that the _/7K^/t' fpeaker of Thefpis 
 told his tale, in part, at leafl, dramatically. Sec Bni?iioy's Difc.fur I'Orig. de la Trag. 
 Se£}. iii. — Iheatrc dei Grccs, To>ne i. 
 
 ' Siityyic, from the fliare which thofe fantaftic beings called Satyrs, the compa- 
 nions and plciy-fclloivs of BacchuSy had in the earlicft Tragedy, of which they formed 
 the chorus, yoking, and dancing, were cfTcntial attributes of thefe ruftic femi-deities. 
 Hence, the " ludicrous language^" and the *' dancing genius" of the old Tragedy, to 
 
 which,
 
 DY. 
 
 Part I. Poetry and its prmcipal Species. 73 
 
 that time; but when the dialogue was formed, nature itfelf pointed 
 out the proper metre. For the iambic is, of all metres, the moft 
 colloquial; as appears evidently from this fait, that our common 
 converfation frequently falls into iambic verfe; feldom into hexa- 
 meter, and only when we depart from the ufual melody of fpeech. — 
 Epifodes were, alfo, multiplied, and every other part of the dranrj. 
 fucceffively improved and poliihed. 
 
 But of this enough : to enter into a minute detail would, per- 
 haps, be a ta^k of fome length. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Comedy, as was faid before, is an imitation o? bad characters '-, Object and 
 bad, not with refpedt to every fort of vice, but to the ridiculous Progress 
 only, as being 2. /pedes of turpitude or deformity ; fince it may be ° 
 defined to be — -a. fault or deformity of fuch a fort as is neither pai?iful 
 nor deJlruBive. A ridiculous face, for example, is fomething ugly 
 and diftorted, but not fo as to ciiuk pain. 
 
 The fucceffive improvements of Tragedy, and the refpeftive au- 
 thors of them, have not efcaped our knowledge; but thofe of Comedy, 
 from the little attention that was paid to it in its origin, remain in 
 obfcurity. For it was not till late, that Comedy was authorized by 
 the magiflrate, and carried on at the public expence: it was, at 
 firft, a private and voluntary exhibition. From the time, indeed, 
 when it began to acquire fome degree of form, its Poets have been 
 recorded ; but who firfl introduced mafks, or prologues, or aug-. 
 mented the number of a£lors — thefe, and other particulars of the 
 fame kind, are unknown. 
 
 Epicharmus and Phormis were the firft who invented comic 
 fables. This improvement, therefore, is of Sicilian origin. But, 
 
 which the trochaic or running metre here fpoken of was peculiarly ad.ipted ; beino- 
 no other than this : 
 
 " Jolly mortals, fill your giafies, noble deeds are done by wine." 
 The reader will not confound yaCj/r/V vf'ith fiitlric ; nor the Greek falyric drama, with 
 the fatirt; of Roman origin. See Harris's Phil. Jj-rang. p. 460. note. Or, Dacier's 
 Preface to Horace's Satires, The two words are of diiFerent derivations, 
 
 L of
 
 74 General and comparative Ftetv, &c. Part I. 
 
 of Athenian Poets, Crates was the firfl who abandoned the Iambic* 
 form of comedy, and made ufe of invented and general ilories, or 
 fables. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Epic and 'Epic Poetry agrees fo far with Tragic, as it is an imitation of 
 
 Tragic great charaBers and aBions, by meaiis of words: but in this it 
 COMPARED, differs, that it makes ufe of only one kind of metre throughout ; 
 and that it is narrative. It alfo differs in length: for Tragedy en- 
 deavours, as far as poffible, to confine its aftion within the limits 
 of a {\\\<^it revolution of the fun, or nearly fo; but the time of 
 JLpic aftion is indefinite. This, however, at firfl, was equally the 
 cafe with Tragedy itfelf. 
 
 Of their conflituent/^r/j-, fome are conomon toboth,fome peculiar 
 to Tragedy. He, therefore, who is a judge of the beauties and defedts 
 of Tragedy, is, of courfe, equally a judge with refped: to thofe of 
 Epic Poetry : ^x all the parts of the Epic poem are to be found in 
 Tragedy ; not all thofe of Tragedy, in the Epic poem. 
 
 ' Iambic^ i. e. fatlrical, and perfonally fo, like the old Iambi, invetfhes, or lam- 
 poorr?, of which Ariftotle fpcaks above, Sciff, 6. and from which the lanibU rmtre, 
 which is not here alluded to, took its name. 
 
 PA R T
 
 C 11 3 
 
 ART IT. 
 
 OF TRAGEDY. 
 
 I. 
 
 OF the fpecies of Poetry which imitates in hexapietcrs, and Defini- 
 of Comedy, we fhall fpeak hereafter. Let us now confider 1,'°'^ ° 
 Tragedy J collecting, firfl, from what has been already faid, its 
 true and elTential definition. 
 
 Tragedy, then, is an imitation of fome aSimi that is important, 
 c?itirc, and of a proper tnagnitiide — by language, embelliflied and 
 rendered pleafnrabk, but by different means in different parts — in 
 the way, not of Jiarration, but of aBion — effedling through pity 
 and tcj-ror, the corrcBion and refinement oi {\\c\v pafTions. 
 
 By pleafiirable language, I mean a language that has the embel- 
 lifhments of rhythm, melody, and metre. And I add, by different 
 means in different parts, becaufe in fome parts metre alone is 
 employed, in others, melody. 
 
 II. 
 
 Now as Tragedy imitates by aSiing, the decoration*, in .^ , _. 
 
 ^■' „.,,^. , , Deductionof 
 
 the firfl place, muft necefianly be one or its parts : then tlie ;ts consti- 
 tuent 
 
 * Drcoration — literally, the decoration of the fpe£Iacky or J/ghi. In other places it Partp. 
 is called th.t fpeSiacle, or fight only — 6-\a%. It comprehends yjfw^'r^, dreffes — the 
 whole vifible apparatus of the theatre. I do not know any fingle Englifli word, that 
 anfwers fully to the Greek word. 
 
 L 2 Melopoeia,
 
 76 
 
 Of Tragedy. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Compara- 
 tive IM- 
 PORT A NCn 
 
 of the 
 Parts. 
 
 Melopoeia, (or Music',) and the diction j for thefe lafl include 
 the )7ieans of tragic imitation. By diSlion, I mean the metrical com- 
 po^ltion'f^ The meaning oi Melopceia is obvious to everyone. 
 
 Again— Tragedy being an imitation of an adlion, and the per- 
 fons employed in that adlion being neceffarily charadterized by their 
 manners and \\\€nfenthmnts, fmce it is from thcfc that actions them- 
 felves derive theircharafter, it follows, that there mull alfo be, man- 
 ners, and SENTIMENTS, as the two caiifes of aftions, and, con- 
 lequently, of the happinefs, or unhappinefs, of all men. The imita- 
 tion of the acJionh the fable: for hy fait k I now mean the contex- 
 ture of incidents, or the plot. By manners, I mean, whatever marks 
 the charaSlers of the perfons. By fentiments, whatever theyy^j, 
 ■\yhs.t\\tr proving anything, or delivering a general fentiinent , &c.* 
 
 Hence, all Tragedy mull neceffarily contain Jix parts, which^ 
 together, conflitute its peculiar charafter, or quality : fable, 
 
 MANNERS, DICTION, SENTIMENTS, DECORATION, and MUSIC. 
 
 Of thefe parts, two relate to the means, one to the manner, 
 and three to the objecl, of imitation*. And thefe are all, Thefe 
 fpecifc parts^, if we may fo call them, have been employed by moll 
 Poets, and are all to be found in [almoll] every Tragedy. 
 
 in. 
 
 But of all thefe parts the moll important is the combination of 
 incidents, or, the fable. Becaufe Tragedy is an imitation, not 
 
 ' Melopce'ia — literally, the making, -or the compofttlon, of the miific ; as we ufe 
 Epopxia, or aecorJiiig to the French termination, which we have naturalized, 
 EpDpec, to fignify epic poetry, or epic-making, iu general. — I might have rendered 
 it, at once, the music; but that it would have appeared ridiculous to obferve, of a 
 v/ord fo familiar to us, even that " its meaning is obvious.'" 
 
 I Not the verjification., but merely the metrical exprejfion — the language of the 
 vcrfe. This is plain from the clearer definition, p. 78. 
 
 * •For a fuller account of this part of Tragedy, fee Sel^i. 22. 
 
 * MufiC, and diJlion, to the means, which are ivords, melody, and rhythm : decora- 
 tion, to the tnanner of imitating — i. e. by reprefentation and a^ion: fable, manners, 
 ■And fentiments, to t\\t objeSls of imitation —i. e. men, and their a£lionr, charadlcrs, &c. 
 
 ' i. c. fuch M arceilbnrial to Tragedy, and, together, conftitute itfjpaies. 
 
 of
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. ' yy 
 
 of mc?7, but of aEiions * — of life, of happincfs and unhappincfs : 
 for happinefs confills in adlion, and the fupreme good itfclf, the 
 very end of life, is aSiion of a certain kind' — not quality. Now 
 the manners of men conftitute only their quality or charaBers ; 
 but it is by their aSlions that they are happy, or the contrary. 
 Tragedy, therefore, does not imitate adion, for the fake of imitat- 
 ing manners, but in the imitation of adion, that of manners is of 
 courfe involved. So that the aBion and the falde are the end of 
 Tragedy ; and in every thing the end is of principal importance. 
 
 Again — Tragedy cannot fubfift without aBion ; without manners. 
 it may : the Tragedies of moft modern Poets have this defed ; a 
 defed common, indeed, among Poets in general. As among 
 Painters alfo, this is the cafe with Zeuxis, compared with Polyg- 
 NOTUS : the latter excels in the expreffion of the manners-, there 
 is no fuch exprelTion in the pidures of Zeuxis. 
 
 Farther — fuppofe any one to firing together a number of fpeeches 
 in which the manners are ftrongly marked, the language and the 
 fen ti men ts well turned j this will not be fufficient to produce the 
 proper effed of Tragedy: that end will much rather be anfwered 
 by a piece, defedive in each of thofe particulars, but furnifhed 
 with a proper fable and contexture of incidents. Jufl as in Paint- 
 ing, the moft brilliant colours, fpread at random and without defign, 
 will give far lefs pleafure than the fimplefl outline of 2, figure. 
 
 Add to this, tliat thofe parts of Tragedy, by means of which it 
 becomes moil interefting and affeding, are parts of \\\t fable • I 
 mean, revolutionsy and di/ceverics* . 
 
 As a farther proof, adventurers in Tragic writing are iboncr able 
 to arrive at excellence in the language, and the manners, than in 
 
 ♦ See the Diil. On the Provinces of the Drama, ch. i. [Dr. Kurd's Hor. vol. ii.] 
 
 ' i. e. virtuous adion. — The doftrine oF Ariftotle was, that thz^greatefl happinejs, 
 the funmium bonum or end of life, confifted in virtuous energies and aniens; not u\ 
 virtue, coiifidered merely as an internal habit, difpofition, or quality, of mind. 
 
 ' Thefc arc explained afterwards, SeCi. 9. 
 
 the
 
 y3 Of I'ragedy. Part II. 
 
 the condrrudion of a plot; as appears from almoft all our earlier 
 Poets. 
 
 The fable, then, is the principal part, the foul, as it were, of 
 Tragedy; and the manners are next in rank : Tragedy being an 
 imitation of an oBton, and through that, principally, of the agents. 
 
 In the third place ftand the sentiments. To this part it 
 belongs, to fay fuch things as are true and proper ; which, in the 
 dialogue, depends on the Political'' and Rhetorical arts : for, the 
 antients made their charad;ers fpeak in the ftyle of political and 
 popular eloquence; but now, the rhetorical manner prevails. 
 
 The manners are, whatever manifefls the difpofition of the 
 fpeaker. There are fpeeches, therefore, which are without man- 
 ners, or charadler ; as not containing any thing by which the pro- 
 penftics or averfions of the perfon who delivers them can be known. 
 The fentiments comprehend ivhatever is faid ; whether proving 
 any thing, affirmatively, or negatively, or expreffing fome general 
 refleSlion, &c. 
 
 Fourth, in order, is the diction; that is, as I have already 
 faid, the cxprefion of the fentiments by words; the power and 
 effedl of which is the fame, whether in verfe or profe. 
 
 Of the remaining two parts, the music Hands next; of all the 
 pleafurable accompaniments and embellilhments of Tragedy, the 
 moft delightful. 
 
 The DECORATION has, alfo, a great effeft, but, of all the 
 parts, is moft foreign to the art. For the power of Tragedy is 
 felt without rcprefentation, and adlors; and the beauty of the 
 decorations depends more on the art of the mechanic, than on that 
 of the Poet'. 
 
 ' The reader, here, muft not think of our modern politics. — The political^ or civil 
 art^ or fcienccy was, in Ariftotlc's view, of wide extent, and high importance. It 
 comprehended ethics., and eloqnencc, or the art of public fpeaking ; every thing, in 
 (hort, that concerned the well-being of 2.Jlate. — See note 57. 
 
 " The reader will find a ufeful comment on thi--, and the two preceding fedions, 
 in the Philolog, Inquiria, Part II. ch. vi. viii. ix. xi. 
 
 4. IV. Thef«
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy, 79 
 
 IV, 
 
 Thefe things being thus adjufted, let us go on to examine in OftheFA- 
 what manner the fable fliould be conftrudedj fince this is the ble— [to 
 firfl, and moft important part of Tragedy. 
 
 Now we have defined Tragedy to be an imitation of an action 
 that is complete and entire -, and that has alfo a certain magnitude; 
 for a thing may be entire, and a 'whole, and yet not be of any rnag- 
 nitude '. 
 
 1 . By entire, I mean, that which has a beginning, a middle, and It fliouId be 
 an end. A beginning, is that which does not, neceflarily, fuppofe ^ perfect 
 any thing before it, but which requires fomething to follow it. 
 
 An end, on the contrary, is that which fuppofes fomething to 
 precede it, either neceffarily, or probably; but wliich nothing is 
 required to follow. A middle, is that which both fuppofes 
 fomething to precede, and requires fomething to follo'A\ The 
 Poet, therefore, who would conftrudt his fable properly, is not 
 at liberty to begin, or end, where he pleafes, but mufl conform to 
 thefe definitions. 
 
 2. Again : whatever is beautiful, whether it be an animal, or any —and of 
 other thing compofed of different parts, muft not only have thofe ^ certain 
 parts arranged in a certain manner, but mull: alfo be of a certain ^'^^^' 
 viag7iitude ; for beauty confifts in nmgfjititde and order. Hence it 
 
 is that no very minute animal can be beautiful ; the eye compre- 
 hends the whole too inftantaneoufly to diftinguiOi and compare 
 the parts : — neither, on the contrary, can one of a prodigious fize 
 be beautiful; becaufe, as all its parts cannot be feen at once, the 
 •wljole, the tmity ' of objedl, is loft to the fped:ator ; as it would be, 
 
 =" i. e. — not be large. — AfagnituJe is here ufed in its proper and relative fcnfc,. of 
 greatnefs; and with reference to feme ftandard. 
 
 • The unity here fpoken cf, it muft be remembered, is not ahfolute and fi?nplc-, but 
 relative and compound, unity ; a unity confiftmg of different ;>«?■/'.;, the relation of which 
 to each other, and to the whole, is eafily perceived at one view. On this depends 
 the perception of beauty inform. — In objedts too extended, you mav be faid to have 
 Jiartiy but no whole : in very minute objedts a x^'hole., but no parts. 
 
 for
 
 8o OfTragcdy. Part 11. 
 
 for example, if he were furveying an animal of many miles in 
 length. As, therefore, in animals, and other objeds, a certain 
 magnitude is requifite, but that magnitude muft be fuch as to 
 prefent a whole eajily comprehended by the eye-, fo, in the fable, a 
 .certain length is requifite, but that length muft be fuch as to prefent 
 a whole eajily comprehended by the memorv. 
 
 With refped to the meajure of this length— if referred to adual 
 repreientation in the dramatic contefls, it is a matter foreign to the 
 art itfelf : for if a hundred Tragedies M^ere to be exhibited in con- 
 currence, the length of each performance muft be regulated by 
 the hour-glafs ; a pradice of which, it is fiid, tliere have formerly 
 been inftances. But, if we determine this meafure by the nature 
 of the thing itfelf, the more extenfive the fable, confidently with 
 the clear and eafy comprehenfion of the whole, the more beau- 
 tiful will it be, with refpedt to magnitude. In general, we may 
 fay, that an adlion is fufficiently extended, when it is long enough 
 to admit of a change of fortune, from happy to unhappy, or the 
 reverfe, brought about by a fucceiTion, neceflary or probable, of 
 'well-connetled incidents. 
 
 V. 
 Un'ity of K fable is not one, as fome conceive it to be, merely becaufe the 
 the Fable. jj^y^ ^^f ^j. jg ^.^^^ p^^. numberlefs events happen to one man, 
 many of which are fuch as cannot be connected into one event: 
 and fo, likewife, there are many adlions of one man which cannot 
 be cojineded into any one oStion. Hence appears the miftake of 
 all thofe Poets who have compofed Herculeibs, Theseids, 
 and other Poems of that kind. They conclude that becaufe Her- 
 cnks was one, fo alfo muft be the fable of which he is the fubjeft. 
 Eut Homer, among his many other excellences, feems alfo to 
 have been perfedly aware of tliis miftake, either from art or genius. 
 For when he compofed his Odyssey, he did not introduce all 
 the events of his hero's life, — fuch, for inftance, as the wound 
 
 he
 
 Part II. • Of "Tragedy. ' Si 
 
 he received upon Parnafllis* — his feigned madnefs ' wlien the 
 Grecian army was afrembling,&c. — events, not connefted, either by 
 necefliiry or probable confcquence, with each other j but he compre- 
 hended thofe only which have relation to one aSiion ; for fuch we 
 call that of the OdyJJey. — And in the fame manner he compofed 
 his Iliad*. 
 
 As, therefore, in other mimetic arts, one imitation' is an imita- 
 tion of one thing, fo here, the fiible, being an imitation of an adlion, 
 fhould be an imitation of an adion that is 07ie, and entire; the 
 parts of it being fo connedled, that if any one of them be either 
 tranfpofed or taken away, the •whole will be deftroyed, or changed : 
 for whatever may be either retained, or omitted, without niakinor 
 any fenfible difference, is not, properly, a part *. 
 
 * This Incident is, however, related, and at confiderable length, in the xixth book 
 of the Odyfley, (v. 563 of Pope's tranflation) but digreffively, and incidentally; it 
 made no elTential part of his general plan. — See Se£l. 17. 
 
 ^ A ridiculous ftory. — " To avoid going to the Trojan war, Ulyflcs pretended to 
 «* be mad; and, to prove his infanity, went to plough with an ox and a horfe ; but Pala- 
 «' medes, in order to dcteft him, laid his infant fon, Telemachus, in the way of the 
 «' plough ; upon which UlyfTes immediately flopped, and thereby proved himfcif to be 
 * in his right fenfes." — (Hyginus, &c.) 
 
 * Or, according to a different, and perhaps preferable, reading, thus: — « but he 
 « planned his OdyJJey, as he alfo did his Iliad-, upon an adion that is cne in the fenfc 
 *' here explained." — See the note. 
 
 = i. e. one imitative work. Thus one pifture reprefents, or /-ffj^/^ reprefent, but 
 tne thing;— a fingle objeSl, or a fmgle aalon, &c. So, every Poem, (the Orlanda 
 Furlefo as much as the Iliad,) is C7ie imitation — one imitative zuorA, and fhould imitate 
 ene aftion, in Ariftotle's fenfe of unity, like the Poems of Homer ; not a number of 
 aftions unconnefted with each other, or conneflied merely by their common relntlon 
 to one perfon, as in the Thefelds, Sic. or to one time, as in the Poem of Ariofto ; or, 
 by their refemblance merely, as in the Mctamorphofes of Ovid. 
 
 * " The painter will not enquire what things may be admitted without much cen- 
 " fure. He will not think it enough to fhew that they may be there, he will fliew that 
 " they tnujl be there; that their ahfence would render his pia:ure maimed and defealve. 
 " ——They fhould make a part of that whole which would be hnperfea without them." 
 
 Sir J. Reynolds, Dljc. on. Painting, p. 106. 
 
 M , ' VI. It
 
 82 Of Tragciy. Part II. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Different It appears, farther, from what has been faid, that it Is not the 
 
 Provinces of Poet's province to relate fuch things as have a(3:ually happened, 
 and the His- ^"^ ^^^^^ ^^ might have happened — fuch as are pojjibky according 
 ToRiAN, either to probable, or necefiary, confequence. 
 
 For it is not by writing in verfe, or profe, that the Hiflorian and 
 the Poet are diftinguifhed : the v»'ork of Herodotus might be ver- 
 fified -y but it would flill be a fpecies of hiilory, no lefs with metre, 
 than without. They are diftinguifhed by this, that the one relates 
 what has been, the other what might be. On this account, Poetry 
 is a more philofophical, and a more excellent thing, than Hiftory r 
 for Poetry is chiefly converfant about ge?ieral truth; Hiftory, 
 ^hovit particular. In what manner, for example, any perfon of a 
 certain charadier would fpeak, or ad:, probably, or necefTarily— 
 this is general; and this is the objed: of Poetry, even while it 
 makes ufe of particular names.. But, what Alcibiades did, or what 
 happened to him — this is particular truth. 
 
 With refped to Comedy, this is now become obvious ; for here, 
 the Poet, when he has formed his plot of probable incidents, gives 
 to his charafters whatever names he pleafes ; and is not, like the. 
 Iambic Poets, particular, and perfonal. 
 
 Tragedy, indeed, retains the ufe of real names ; and the reafon- 
 is, that, what we are difpofed to believe, we muft think pojjible : 
 now what has never aftually happened, we are not apt to regard as 
 poffible ; but what has been is unqueftionably fo, or it could not 
 have been at air. There are, however, fome Tragedies in which 
 one or two of the names are hiftorical, and the reft feigned : there 
 are even fome, in which none of the names are hiftorical ; fuch 
 is Agatho's Tragedy called T!he Flower; for in that, all is inven- 
 
 ' " or it couM not, &c."— The philofopher might fafely have trufted to any reader 
 to find this proof of the fojpbility of what has adtually happened. — A modern writer 
 would certainly have omitted this ; and I wifli Ariftotle had. But it is my bufmefs 
 to fay whatever he has faid^ 
 
 tion,.
 
 Part II. Of tragedy, 8j 
 
 tion, both incidents, and names; and yet it pleafcs. It is by no 
 means, therefore, eflential, that a Poet fliould confine hinifelf to 
 the known and eftabbflied ftibjedls of Tragedy. Such a reflraint 
 would, indeed, be ridiculous ^ lince even thofe fvibjedls that arc 
 known, are knpwn, comparatively, but to few, and yet are intereft- 
 ing to all. 
 
 From all this it is manifefl, that a Poet fliould be a Poet, or 
 vmker, oi fables, rather than oiverfes; fince it is imitation thatcon- 
 ftitutes the Poet, and of this imitation aSHons are the objedl : nor 
 is he the lefs a Poet, though the incidents of his fable fhould 
 chance to be fuch as have adlually happened ; for nothing hinders, 
 but that fome true events may pofTefs that probability ', the inven- 
 tion of which entitles him to the name of Poet. 
 
 VII. 
 
 O? fmple fables or anions, the cplfodic are the worft. I call Episodic 
 that an epifodic fable, the cpifodes^ of which follow each other Fables, 
 without z.ny probable or necejfary connexion; a fault into which ^jjj ^y/_,v 
 bad Poets are betrayed by their want of fkill, and good Poets by 
 the players : for in order to accommodate their pieces to the 
 purpofes of rival performers in the dramatic contells, they fpin 
 out the adion beyond their powers, and are thus, frequently, forced 
 to break the connexion and continuity of its parts. 
 
 But Tragedy is an imitation, not only of a complete action, but 
 alfo of an action exciting terror and pity. Now that purpofe is 
 
 * It may appear to the reader to be a ftrange obfervation, that " foyne trui 
 " events may he probable.'^ But he will recoiled what fort of events, and what fort 
 of probability, Aril^otle here fpeaks of: i, e. of extraordinary events, fuch as Poetry 
 requires, and of that more JhiB and perfeii probability, that clofer coimeiStion and 
 vifible dependence of circumftances, which are always required from the Poet, though, 
 mfuch events, not often to be found \n faa, and real life, and therefore not ex- 
 peftedfrom the Hijlorian. — See the quotation from Diderot, note 156. 
 
 « Epifodes — epifodic circumftances — in the fecond knk explained Note 37: 
 by no means in the modern and epic fenfe, of a digrejjion^ incidental narrative, &c. 
 
 M 2 beil
 
 H 
 
 Of Tragedy. 
 
 Part IL 
 
 Fables sim-. 
 PLE or 
 
 COMPLI- 
 CATED. 
 
 beft anfvvered by fuch events as are not only unexpeBed, but unex- 
 pecfled CGtifequences of each other : for, by this means, they will have 
 more of the wonderful, than if they appeared to be the effedls of 
 chance ; fince we find, that, among events merely cafual, thofe 
 are the moll: wonderful and ftriking, which feem to imply defign r 
 as when, for inftance, the ftatue of Mhys at Argos killed the very 
 man who had murdered Mitys, by falling down upon him as he 
 was furveying it ; events of this kind, not having the appearance 
 of accident. It follows then, that fuch fables as are formed on 
 thefe principles muft be the befl. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Fables are of two forts, funple and complicated ; for fo alfo are 
 the adlions themfelves of which they are imitations. An adlion, 
 (having the contiyiuity and unity prefcribed,) I cdW fmpk, when its 
 cataftrophe is produced without either revolution, or difcovery : 
 complicated, when with one, or both. And thefe fliould arife from 
 the ftrudlure of the fable itfelf, fo as to be the natural confequences, 
 neceffary or probable, of what has preceded in the aftion. p'or 
 there is a wide difference between incidents that ^oWo^ from, and 
 incidents that follow only after, each other. 
 
 Revolu 
 
 TIONS. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Parts of A revolution, is a change, (fuch as has already been men- 
 the Fable, tioned',) into the reverfe of what is expefted from the circum- 
 flances of the adlion j and that, produced, as we have faid, by 
 probable, or neceffary confequence. 
 
 Thus, in the Oedipus'", the meffenger, meaning to make Oedi- 
 pus happy, and to relieve him from the dread he was under with 
 refpedl to his mother, by making known to him his real birth, 
 produces an cffcdl diredly contrary to his intention. Thus, alfo, 
 
 • SciSV. 7. — " events that are unexpeEied confequences. of each other,'" 
 ' The Oedipus Tyratmus of Sophocles. 
 
 in
 
 Discove- 
 ries. 
 
 Part ir. Of 'Tragedy, 85 
 
 in the 'Tx■^^t^y o^ Lynceus : Lynceus is led to fufler death, Da- 
 naus follows to inflid: it ; but the event, refulting from the courfe 
 of the incidents, is, that Danaus is killed, and Lynceus faved. 
 
 A DISCOVERY, as, indeed, the word implies, is a change fro7n 2. 
 
 unknown to known, happening between thofe characters whofe hap- 
 pinefs, or unhappinefs, forms the catailrophe of the drama, and 
 terminating in friendfliip or enmity. 
 
 The beft fort of Difcovery is th;a.t which is accompanied by a 
 Revolution ', as in the Oedipus. 
 
 There are, alfo, other Difcoveries ; for inanimate things, of any 
 kind, may be recognized in the fame manner * ; and we may dif- 
 cover whether fuch a particular thing was, or was not, do?te by 
 fuch a perfon: — but the Difcovery moft appropriated to i\\& fable, 
 and the aSlion, is that above defined; becaufe fuch Difcoveries, and 
 Revolutions, mufl excite either ^zVy or ten-or ; and Tragedy we have 
 defined to be an imitation of pitiable and terrible acftions : and be- 
 caufe, alfo, by them the event, happy, or unhappy, is produced. 
 
 Now Difcoveries, being relative things, are fometimes of one of 
 the perfons only, the other being already known; and fometimes 
 thty zre. 7-eciprocal : thus, Iphige?iia is difcovered to Oreftes by the 
 letter which flie charges him to deliver, and Orefcs is obliged, by 
 other means, to make himfelf known to her'. 
 
 ^ Such is the difcovery of Jofeph, by his brethren, Gen. xlv. — the moft beautiful 
 and afFedling example that can be given. 
 
 * I do not underftand Ariftotle to be here fpeaking oi fuch difcoveries of " ina- 
 *' nimate things" (rings, bracelets, &c.) as are the means of bringing about the true 
 difcovery — that of the perfons. For, in what follows, it is implied that thefe " other 
 " forts of difcovery" produce neither terror nor pity, neither bapplnefs nor unhappU 
 nefs ; which can by no means be faid of fuch difcoveries as are inftrumental to the 
 perfonal difcovery, and, through that, to the cataftrophe of the piece. Of thefe, he 
 treats afterwards, iic£i. i6. — -Dacier, I think, has miftaken this. 
 
 * See Mr. Potter's Euripides :-^Jphlgenla In Taurisy v. 799, &c. 
 
 Thefe
 
 [86 
 
 iDlSASTERS. 
 
 Of Tragedy. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Parts into 
 which Tra- 
 gedy is DI- 
 VIDED. 
 
 Thefe then are two parts of the fable — Revolution and Difco~ 
 very. There is a third, which we denominate. Disasters. 
 The two former have been explained. Difajiers comprehend all 
 painful or defirutlive adlions ; the exhibition of death, bodily an- 
 guifli, wounds, and every thing of that kind. 
 
 X. 
 
 The parts of Tragedy which are necelTary to conftitute its qua~ 
 lityy have been already enumerated. Its parts of quantity — the 
 diJiinSl parts into which it is divided — are -thefe : Prologue, 
 Episode, Exode, and Chorus j which laft is alfo divided into 
 the Par ode, and the Stasimon, Thefe are common to all 
 Tragedies. The Commoi are found mfome only. 
 
 The Prologue^ is all that part of a Tragedy which precedes the 
 Parade of the Chorus. — The Epfode\ all that part which is in- 
 cluded between entire Choral Odes. — The Exode^, that part which 
 has no Choral Ode after it. 
 
 Of the Choral part, the Parode ' is the firfl fpeech of the whok 
 Chorus: the Utafimon^, includes all thofe Choral Odes that are 
 without Anapcejls and Trochees. 
 
 The Covvnos'^, is a general lamentation of the Cho?-us and the 
 Actors together. 
 
 * Prologue — This may be compared to omx firji aSl. See note 40. 
 
 ' Eptfodc — i. e. a part introduced^ inprtcd, &c. as all the dialogue was, originalIy> 
 between the choral odes. Sec Part I. Scifl. 7. Note '. 
 
 * Exode — i. e. the going out, or exit: the concluding a£f^ as we (hould term it. 
 The Greek tragedies never pnijhed with a choral ode. 
 
 " Parode — i. c. entry of the Chorus upon the ftage : and hence the term waa 
 implied to what they ffjlfung, upon their entry. See the note. 
 
 ' Stafimon — i. e. Jlahle: becaufe, as it is explained, thefe odes were fung by th« 
 choral troop when fixed on the ftagc, and at reft : whereas the Parade is faid to have 
 been fung, ai they came on. Hence, the trochaic and anapajfic meafures, being lively 
 and full of motion, were adapted to the Parode^ but not to the Stafwion. 
 
 * From a verb fignifying to heat srjlrikc ; alluding to tlie gefturcs of violent grief. 
 
 Such
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. 87 
 
 Such are the feparate parts into which Tragedy is divided. Its 
 parts of quality were before, explained. 
 
 XL 
 
 The order of the fubjeft leads us to confider, in the next place, What Ca. 
 what the Poet fliould iii?u at, and what avoid, in the conftrudtion tastro- 
 of his fable; and by what means the purpofe of Tragedy may be whatCHA- 
 befl effefted. racter, 
 
 Now fince it is requifite to the perfedlion of a Tragedy that its /* "^'^ 
 plot fliould be of the complicated, not of i\\e.Jimple kind, and that pofes of 
 k fliould imitate fuch anions as excite terror and pity, (this being Tragedy. 
 the peculiar property of the Tragic imitation,) it follows evidently, 
 in the firll place, that the change from profperity to adverfity 
 fliould not be reprefented as happening to a virtuous character' ; 
 for this i-aifes difgufl;, rather than terror, or compafllon. Neither 
 fliould the contrary change, from adverfity to profperity, be exhi- 
 bited in a vitious character : this, of all plans, is the mo/l oppo- 
 fite to the genius of Tragedy,, having no one property that it 
 ought to have ; for it is neither gratifying in a moral view, nor 
 affeSiing, nor terrible. Nor, again, fliould the fall of a very bad 
 man from profperous to adverfe fortune be reprefented : becaufe, 
 though fuch a fubjedl may be pleafing from its moral tendency, 
 it will produce neither pity nor terror. For our pity is excited by 
 misfortunes tmdefervedly fuftered, and our terror, by fome refein- 
 blance between the fufferer and ourfelves. Neither of thefe effects 
 ■will, therefore, be produced by fuch an event. 
 
 There remains, then, for our choice, the charadler bctaveen thefc 
 extremes ; that of a perfon neither eminently virtuous or jufl:, 
 Ror yet, involved in misfortune by deliberate vice, or villainy ; but 
 by fome error of human frailty : and this perfon fliould, alfo, be 
 fome one of high fame and flourifliing profperity. For example, 
 Oedipus, Thvestes, or other illufl:rious men of fuch families. 
 
 ^ i. e. eminently virtuous, or good : for fo he exprefles it at the end of this fedlion, 
 
 8. XII. Hence
 
 SS Q/" Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Catas- Hence it appears, that, to be well conflruded, a fable, contrary 
 
 TROPHE {y the opinion of fome, iliould h& fmgle rather than double; that 
 - NGLE and *^^ change of fortune fhould not be f- om adverfe to profperous, 
 that UN- but the reverfej and that it fliould be the conlequence, not of vice, 
 HAPPY, i^m of (qix^q great frailty, in a charader fuch as has been de- 
 fcribed, or better rather than ivorfe. 
 
 Thefe principles are confirmed by experience; for Poets, for- 
 merly, admitted almoft any ftory into the number of Tragic fub- 
 jedls; but now, the fubjetls of the befl Tragedies are confined to 
 a few families — to Alcmaeon, Oedipus, Oreftes, Meleager, Thyeftes, 
 Telephus, and others, the fufferers, or the authors, of fome ten-ible 
 calamity. 
 
 The moft perfect Tragedy, then, according to the principles of 
 the art, is of this conflrudlion. Whence appears the miftake of 
 thofe critics who cenfure Euripides for this prad:ice in his Tra- 
 gedies, many of which terminate unhappily; for this, as we have 
 fliewn, is right. And, as the ftrongeft proof of it, we find that 
 upon the ftage, and in the dramatic contefts, fuch Tragedies, if 
 they fucceed, have always the mofl Tragic effeSl: and Euripides, 
 though, in other refpeds, faulty in the condudt of his fubjedis, 
 feems clearly to be the moA Tragic of all Poets. 
 
 I place in t\\& Jecotid rank, that kind of fable to which fome 
 affign the Jirji ; that which is of a double conilrudion, like the 
 Odyffey, and alfo ends in two oppofite events, to the good, and to 
 the bad, charadlers. That this pafies for the beft, is owing to the 
 weaknefs ' of the fpeftators, to whofe wiihes the Poets accommo- 
 date 
 
 ♦ What is here meant by a fingle fable, will appear prefently from the account 
 of its oppofite — the douile fable. It miift not be confounded with t\it Jimple fable, 
 though, in the ori<^inal, both are expreflcd by the fame word. The Jimp/e fable is 
 only a fable without revuution, or difcovery, Se£t. 8. 
 
 ' That weaknefs which cannot bear ftrong emotions, even from fi(51itious diftrefs, 
 I have known thofe who could not look at t'lat admirable pidture, the Ugolina of Sir 
 
 JoC.
 
 RATIOM. 
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy . 89 
 
 date their produ6tions. This kind of pleafure, however, is not 
 tht proper pleafure of Tragedy, but belongs rather to Comedy; 
 for there, if even the bitterefl enemies, like Orc/ics and JEgiJlhus, 
 are introduced, they quit the fcene at laft in perfed; friendrtiip, and 
 no blood is flied on either lide. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Terror and pity may be raifed by the decoration^-\\\z mere y^tr- Terro-r 
 tacle^; but they may alfo arife from the circumflances of the an<JPiTYto 
 
 be excited 
 aSlion itfelf ; which is far preferable, and fhews a fuperior Poet. j,„ ^^ ^^.^ 
 
 For the fable fliould be fo conftrudted, that, without the affiftance TioN,notby 
 
 of the fight, its incidents may excite horror and commiferation in. t^^DEco- 
 
 thofe, who hear them only : an elFedl, which every one, who 
 
 hears the fable of the Oedipus, mufl experience. But, to produce 
 
 this effed: by means of the decoration, difcovers want of art in 
 
 the Poet; who mufl alfo be fupplied, by the public, with an 
 
 expenfive apparatus'. 
 
 As to thofe Poets, who make ufe of the decoration in order to 
 
 produce, not the terrible, but the marvellous only, their purpofc 
 
 has nothing in common with that of Tragedy. For we are not 
 
 to feek for every fort of pleafure from Tragedy, but for that only 
 
 which \% proper to the fpecies. 
 
 Jof. Reynolds. — To fome minds, every thing, that is not chearful^ '\% Jhoding. — But, 
 might not the preference here attributed to weaknefs, be attiibuted to better caufes 
 — the gratification of philanthropy, the love of juftice, order, &c. .'' — the fame caufes 
 which, juft before, induced Ariftotle himfelf to condemn, as JhocAing., zi\A difgufting, 
 thofe fables which involve the virtuous in calamity. 
 
 * See a very pleafant paper of Addifon's on this fubjefl, SpeSlator N° 42. We 
 know the efFeftof the fkull and black hangings in the Fair Penitoit^ the fcafFold in 
 {''aiice Prefcrved, the tomb in Romeo and "Juliet, Sec. 
 
 ' Among other public offices, which the wealthier citizens of At'hcns were, by 
 turns, called upon to difcharge, was that of the Choragi, who were obliged, at their 
 own expence, to provide a chorus, drefl'es, and, perhaps, fcenes, and the v.hole deco- 
 ration of theatrical exhibitions. 
 
 N * Since,
 
 ^o Of Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 Since, therefore, it is the bufinefs of the Tragic Poet to give 
 that pleafure, which arifes from pity and terror, through imitation, 
 it is evident, that he ought to produce that effedl by the circuni- 
 ilances of the aSiion itfelf. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Of DisAs- Let us, then, fee, of what kind thofe incidents are, which appear 
 
 TRous Ii^- ^^^ terrible, or piteous. 
 
 and t:)eir Now, fuch aftions muft, of neceffity, happen between perfons 
 
 proper ma- who are either friends, or enemies, or -indifferent to each other, 
 agcmen.. j£ ^^ enemy kills, or purpofes to kill, an enemy, in neither cafe is 
 any commiferation raifed in us *, beyond what neceffarily arifes from 
 the nature of the adlion itfelf. 
 
 The cafe is the fame, when the perfons are neither friends nor 
 enemies. But when fuch difafters happen between friends' — when, 
 for inflance, the brother kills, or is going to kill, his brother, the 
 fon his father, the mother her fon, or the reverfe — thefe, and others 
 of a fimilar kind, are the proper incidents for the Poet's choice. 
 The received Tragic fubjefts, therefore, he is not at liberty e^en- 
 tially to alter; Clytamnejlra muft die by the hand of Orejies, and 
 Eriphyle by that of Alcmaon : but it is his province to invent 
 other fubjefts, and to make a fkilful ufe of thofe which he finds 
 already eftablifhed, — What I mean by a fkilful ufe, I proceed to 
 explain. 
 
 The atrocious aftion may be perpetrated knowingly and inten- 
 tionally', as v/as ufual with the earlier Poets ; and as Euripides, 
 alfo, has reprefented Medea deftroying her children^. 
 
 ' i. e. any of tliat degree of commiferation, which is requifitc to the effe£l of the 
 ieepejl tragedy, fucli as is the fabjc6tof this fciSlion. See note 102. 
 
 » Ariftotle ufes this word here, and in other parts of his works, in a wide fcnii, 
 including relations, &c. 
 
 • As in Machtth, Richard the Third, &c, 
 
 * See Mr. Pottsr's tranflation of the Tragedy here alluded to» 
 
 It
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. 91. 
 
 It may, likewire, be perpetrated by thofe, who are igoorant, 
 at the time, of the connexion between them and the injured 
 perfon, which they afterwards difcover'; Hke Oedipm, in Sopho- 
 cles. There, indeed, the ad;ion itfelf does not make a part of 
 the drama * : the AlcuK^on of AJiy damns, and Telegonus in the 
 Ulyjfes Wounded, furni/li inllances within the Tragedy'. 
 
 There is yet a third way, where a perfon upon the point of 
 perpetrating, through ignorance, fome dreadful deed, is prevented 
 by a fudden difcovery*. 
 
 Befide thefe, there is no other proper way. For the aftion muf^ 
 of necefllty be either done, or not done, and that, either with know^ 
 ledge, or without: but of all thefe ways *, that of being ready to 
 execute, knowingly, and yet not executing, is the worft ; for this 
 is, at the fame time, fliocking, and yet not Tragic, becaufe it exhibits 
 no difaftrous event. It is, therefore, never, or very rarely, made 
 ufe of. The attempt of Hcemon to kill Creon, in the Antigone ', i^ 
 an example. 
 
 Next to this, is the adtual execution of the purpofe '. 
 
 ^ As in the Fatal Curlofity of Lillo. 
 
 • The murder of Laius by Oedipus, his fon, is fuppofed to have happened a 
 confiderable time before the beginning of the adion, 
 
 ' Of thefe two dramas nothing more is known than the little that Ariftotle here 
 tells us. In the firft, the Poet adhered fo far to hiftory, as to make Alcnueon kill 
 his mother Eriphyle, but with the irriprovement, (according to Ariftotle's idea,) of 
 making him do it ignorantly. The ftory o^Telcgonus is, that he was a fon of Ulyfies 
 by Circe; was fent by her in queft of his father, whom he wounded, without knowing 
 bim, in a fkirmifh relative to fome flicep, that he attempted to carry off froro the 
 iiland of Ithaca. It is fomewhat fingular, that the wound is faid to have been given 
 with a kind of Otaheite fpear, headed with a fharp fi(h-bone. See Pope's Odypy XL 
 167. and the note. 
 
 • As in Aferope; Ariftotle's own example. 
 
 • There is here much embarraffment and confuilon in the original. See 
 NOTE 105. 
 
 ' Of Sophocles, See Franklin's, or Brumoy's, tranflation. 
 
 The ftji of the threi proper and aebnifJibU ways that were enumerated j that of 
 
 8 
 
 Atttcl-eth, ivc. 
 
 N 2 ~ ■ "To
 
 ^2 Of Tragedy. Part H. 
 
 To execute, through ignorance, and afterwards to difcover, is 
 better: for thus, the fhocking atrocioufnefs is avoided, and, at 
 the fame time, the difcovery is ftriking. 
 
 But the beft of all thefe ways, is the laft. Thus, in the Tra- 
 gedy of Crefphontes, Merope, in the very adt of putting her fon to 
 death, difcovers him, and is prevented. In the Iphigenia*, the 
 lifter, in the fame manner, difcovers her brother ; and in the 
 Helle ', the fan difcovers his mother, at the inftant when he was 
 going to betray her. 
 
 On this account it is, that the fubjefts of Tragedy, as before 
 remarked, are confined to a fniall number of families. For it was 
 not to art, but \.o fortune^, that Poets applied themfelves, to find 
 incidents of this nature. Hence the neceflity of having recourfe 
 to thofe families, in which fuch calamities have happened. 
 
 Of the Plot, or Fable, and its requifites, enough has now 
 been faid. 
 
 XV. 
 Of the With refped: to the Manners, j^«r things are to be attended 
 
 Manners, to by the Poet. 
 
 Firji, and principally, they fliould be good. Now manners, or 
 chara6ler, belong, as we have faid before, to any fpeech or ad:ion 
 that manifefts a certain difpojition ; and they are bad, or good, as 
 the difpofition manifefted is bad, or good. This goodnefs of man- 
 ners may be found in perfons of every defcription^ : the manners 
 of a woman, or of a flave, may be good ; though, in general, 
 women are, perhaps, rather bad, than good, and flaves, altogether 
 
 bad. 
 
 The 
 
 * The Iphtgema in Tauris of Euripides. 
 
 * Of this Tragedy nothing farther is known. 
 
 * i. e, tohiflory or tradition. — See above, ScSf. 6. p. 82. and Sc<n. 12. p. 88. 
 
 ' This is obferved, to fhew the confiftence of this Jir/I precept with the next. The 
 manners muft be drawn as good as may be, confiftently with the obfervance of pro- 
 priety, with refpea to the geniral charadter of different fexes, ages, conditions, &c. 
 
 . It
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy, 93 
 
 ThQ fecond requifite of the manners, is propriety. There is a 
 manly charadler of bravery and ficrcenefs, which cannot, with 
 propriety, be given to a woman. 
 
 The third requi^te is refemblajice ; for this is a different thing 
 fi-om their being good, '^■nA. proper, as above defcribed*. 
 
 The fourth, is uniformity; for even though the model of the 
 Poet's imitation be fome perfon of ununlform manners, ftill that 
 perfon muft be reprefented as unifonnly imuniforyn. 
 
 We have an example of maniiers iinnecejfarily bad, in the cha- 
 rafter of Menelaus in the Tragedy of Orejles^: of improper and 
 unbecoming manners, in the lamentation of Ulyjfes in Scylla, and 
 in thefpeech oi Menalippe^ : oi ununiform manners, in thz Iphigenia 
 
 It might have been objeded — " You fay, the charadler muft be good. But fuppofe 
 " the Poet has to reprefent, for inftance, a fiave? — the charadter of flaves in general 
 " is notorioufly bad." — The anfwer is, — any thing may be good in its kind. 
 
 * That is, the manners may be both good, and proper or becoming ; and yet not 
 like. For example ; fliould a Poet draw Medea, gentle, patient, &c. the manners 
 wculd be both good, and becoming, but not like — not conformable to the hiftorical or 
 traditional character of the individual. The portrait would be defe£live, 
 
 * The Orejles of Euripides. — Menelaus, throughout this play, as Mr. Potter has 
 juftly remarked, is " reprefented as an ungrateful, unfeeling, timid, defigning pol- 
 " tron." 
 
 * The author had here, no doubt, given an inftance of the violation of refemblance 
 in the manners, though it be wanting in all the manufcripts. — Of the Scylla, nothing 
 
 is known. — Some fragments remain of the Menalippe the Wife, (for this was the title,) 
 a Tragedy of Euripides, the fubject of which is a curiofity. Menalippe was delivered 
 of two children, the fruits of a ftolen amour with Neptune. To conceal her ftiame, 
 fhe hid them in her father's cow-houfe ; where he found them, and, being lefs of a 
 philofopher than his daughter, took them for a monftrous produdlion of fome of his 
 cows, and ordered them to be burned. His daughter, in order to fave them, without 
 expofing herfelf, enters into a long phyfical argument, upon the principles of Anax- 
 agoras, to cure her father of his unphilofophical prejudices about monfters, and por- 
 tentous births, and to convince him, that thefe infants might be the natural children 
 of his cows. Part of this very fpcech is preferved by Dionyfius of Hallcarnnfjiis, 
 [See the Ox. Eurip. vol. iii. p. 371.] and it is this maj'culine philofophy that is here 
 underftood to be cenfured as an impropriety of character. — How would a Tra^edv on 
 iuch a fubjeda? this, be now received by an audience? 
 
 at
 
 94 ^f Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 at Aulis J for there, the Iphigenla, who fapplicates for life, has no 
 refemblance to the Iphigenia of the conclufion. 
 
 In the manners, as in the fable, the Poet fhould always aim, 
 either a.t what is fieceJJ'ary, or what is probable ; fo thzX. fucb a 
 charadler fliall appear to fpeak or aft, neceffarily, or probably, in 
 fiicb a. manner, and this event, to be the neceffary or probable con- 
 [Machi- fequence of that. — 'Hence it is evident, that the development alfo 
 NERv.J q£ ^ fable fliould arife out of the fable itfelf, and not depend upon 
 machinery, as in the Medea ^, or in the incidents relative to the re- 
 turn of the Greeks, in the Iliad''. The proper application of 
 machinery is to fuch circumllances, as are extraneous to the drama j 
 fuch, as either happened before the time of the ad:ion, and could 
 not, by human means, be known j or, are to happen after, and re- 
 quire to be foretold : for to the Gods we attribute the knowledge 
 of all things. But nothing ijnprobable fliould be admitted in the 
 incidents of the fable ' ; or, if it cannot be avoided, it fliould, at 
 leaft, be confined to fuch as are 'without the Tragedy itfelf; as. in 
 the Oedipus of Sophocles. 
 
 Since Tragedy is an imitation of tiohat is beft, we fliould follow 
 the example of fkilful portrait-painters ; who, while they exprefs 
 the peculiar lineaments, and produce a likenefs, at the fame time 
 improve upon the original \ And thus, too, the Poet, when he 
 
 j^ ^ What follows, to the end of the paragraph, appears rather out of place. But 
 fee the NOTE. Y ox development^ fee Seel. i8. 
 
 * Of Euripides. Medea is carried off, at the end of the Tragedy, in a chariot 
 drawn by flying dragons. See Air. Potter's Tranfl. v. 1443, ^'^* 
 
 ' Pope's Iliad^ II. 189, &c.— if the text here is right: but this is doubtful. See 
 the NOTE. 
 
 ' By ineiJetits ofthefahle^ Ariflotle here plainly means, all thofe aiSions or events 
 which are ejfential parts of the fuljeSl or Ji or y, whether previous to the adlion, and 
 necefTary to be known, or included in it, and actually rcprcfcnted in the drama. 
 Compare Part III. Sefl. 6. 
 
 '^ This feems intended to explain his third precept, of refertiblance in the manners ; 
 to reconcile it with his firj}, and to fliew whatySrf of likenefs the nature of Tragic 
 imitation requires. — Compare Part I. Self. 3. — and Part IV. SeSl. 5. 
 
 I imitates ]
 
 KINDS of 
 
 Discove- 
 ry. 
 
 Part IL Of Tragedy. 95 
 
 imitates the manners of pq/Jtonate men, (or of indolent, or any 
 other of a fimilar kind,) fhould draw an example approaching 
 rather to a good, than to a hard and ferocious charadler: as Achilles 
 is drawn, by Agatho, and by Homer. Thefe things the Poet 
 fhould keep in view ; and, belides thefe, whatever relates to thofe 
 Jenjt's * which have a neceffary connexion with Poetry : for here, 
 alfo, he may often err. — But of this enough has been faid in the 
 treatifes ah^eady publifhed. 
 
 xvr. 
 
 ' What is meant by a Discovery, has already been explained. Different 
 Its kinds are the following. 
 
 Firji, the moft inartificial of all, and to which, from poverty 
 of invention, the generality of Poets have recourfe — the difcovery 
 by vijible figns. Of thefe figns, fome are natural ; as, the lance 
 with which the fimily of the earth-born Thebans* were marked, 
 or the flars which Carcinus has made ufe of in his Thyejies : 
 others are adventitious ; and of thefe, fome are corporal, as fears i 
 fome external, as necklaces, bracelets, &c. or the little boat by 
 which the difcovery is made in the Tragedy of Tyro^. Even 
 
 * i. e. To the ftghty and the hearing ; in other words, to aflual reprefeniatlon. 
 See the noTe. 
 
 ^ The reader, who recollects the conclufion of Seifl. 14, where the author took a 
 formal leave of the '■'■ fable s.nA its requifites" and proceeded to they^raa.-/ eflential part 
 of Tragedy, the manners, will hardly be of Dacier's opinion, who contends, that 
 this fection is rightly placed. His reafons are perfedlly unfatisfadtory. 
 
 ♦ The defcendants of the original Thebans, who, according to the fabulous 
 hiftory, fprung from the earth when Cadmus fowed the Dragon's teeth, &c. — This 
 noble race are faid to have been diftinguifhed by the natural mark of a lance upon their 
 bodies. 
 
 ' Sophocles wrote two Tragedies of this name, neither of them preferved. 
 
 The ftory of Tyro leads us to fuppofe, that Ariftotle means the little boat, trough, 
 or, as fome render it, cradle, in which Tyro had expofed her children, on, or near, 
 the river : the particular manner of the difcovery, it would be in vain to guefs. 
 
 thefe.
 
 96 Of Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 thefe, however, may be employed with more, or lefs ikllL The 
 difcovery of Vlyjfes, for example, to his nurfe, by means of his fear, 
 is very different from his difcovery, by the fame means, to the 
 herdfmen*. For all thofe difcoveries, in which the fign is produced 
 by \\'-i.y oi proof , are inartificial. Thofe, which, like that in the 
 JVdJl.nng of Ulyjfes'' , happen fi/Jckn/y and cq/ua//y^s.vQ better. 
 
 Secofid/y-^DH'coycries invented, at pleafure, by the Poet, and, on 
 that account, flill inartificial. For example; in the Iphigenia, 
 Orejles, after having difcovered his.fifter, difcovers himfelf to her. 
 She, indeed, is difcovered by the letter; but Orejies, by [verbal 
 proofs :'\ and thefe are fpch, as the Poet chufes to make him 
 produce, not fuch, as arife from the circumftances of ih.t fable*. 
 This kind of difcovery, therefore, borders upon the fault of that 
 firft mentioned : for, fome of the things from which thofe proofs 
 are drawn, are even fuch, as might have been adtually produced 
 as vifblefgns. 
 
 Another inftance, is the difcovery by the found of the fhuttle ia 
 the Tereus of Sophocles. 
 
 Thirdly — The Difcovery occafioned by memory ; as, when fome 
 recolleftion is excited by the view of a particular objedl. Thus, in 
 the Cyprians of Dicceogenes, a difcovery is produced by tears flied 
 at the fight of a pidure : and thus, in the Tale of Alcinous, Ulyffes, 
 liftening to the bard, recolleds, weeps, and is difcovered'. 
 
 * See Pope's Odyjpy, XIX. v. 451, &c. and the note tliere, on v. 461, and 
 XXI. 226. 
 
 ' The antients diftinguifhed the different parts of Homer's Poems by different 
 titles accommodated to the different fubje<fls, or epifodes ; and, in referring to him, 
 they made ufe of thefe, not of the divifion into hool;s. Thus, the part of the xixth 
 book of the Odyffey above referred to, was called The IVaJlnng. The Talc of Alci- 
 nous was another title, which will prefently be mentioned : See the note on that 
 paffage. 
 
 * See Mr. Potter's tranflation of the Iphigenia in Tauris, v. 884 to 910. 
 » Pope's Odyfcy, VIII. 569, &c. 
 
 Fourthly — ■
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. 97 
 
 Fourthly — The Difcovery occafioned by reafoning or inference ' ; 
 fuch as that in the Choephorce : " The perfon, who is arrived, re- 
 " fembles me — no one refembles me but Oreftes — it mufl be he !" 
 And that of Po/yides the Sophift, in his Iphigenia'^ ; for the con- 
 chifion of Orcftes was natural. — ■" It had been h.\&fjier's lot to 
 ** be facrificed, and it was now his own!" That, alfo, in the 
 Tydeus of ThcodcSies: — " He came to find his fon, and he himfelf 
 " muft perifli!" And thus, the daughters of Phineus, in the 
 Tragedy denominated from them ^ viewing the place to which they 
 were led, infer their fate : — " there they were to die, for there they 
 " were expofed !" There is alfo a compound fort of difcovery, arifing 
 ivom folfe inference in the audience; as in Ulyjes the Falfe Mf- 
 fenger : he ailerts, that he {hall know the bow, which he had not 
 ii:.fa. ; the audience falfely infer, that a difcovery, by that means, 
 
 will follow \ 
 
 But, of all Difcoveries, the ^y? is that, which arifes from the 
 nSfion itf'f, and in which a ftriking effed: is produced by probable 
 incidents. Such is that in the Oedipus of Sophocles : and that 
 in the Iphigcnia ; for nothing more natural than her defire of con- 
 
 ' Occ^fionsdhy reafoning ; — i. e. by reafoning, (or rather, inference, or conclujlon,) 
 m the perfon difcovered. See the note. — It fhould be remembered, that Ariftotle is 
 not, in this chapter, inventing difcoveries, nor enumerating all the kinds polEble or 
 praiSlicable ; but only claffing and examining fiich, as he found in ufe, or could recoi- 
 led, in the Tragedies and Epic Poems of his time. 
 
 "^ The fubjcfl: appears to have been the fame, as that of the Iphigenia in Tauris of 
 Euripides. We are to fuppofe, that Orejles was difcovered to his fifter by this na- 
 tural exclamation, at the moment when he was led to the altar of Diana to be 
 faciificed. 
 
 ' Of this, and the preceding Tragedy, we know nothing, but what we learn 
 here : i. e. that in the one, a father, and in the other, the daughters of Phineus, Avjre 
 difcovered, and, probably, faved, by thofe ex:lamations. 
 
 * The original here is all incurable corruption, and impenetrable obfcuritv. Stc 
 the NOTE. 
 
 O veying
 
 98 Of tragedy. ' Part IL 
 
 veying the letter. Such difcoveries are the bed, becaufe they 
 alone are efFedled without the help of invented proofs, or brace- 
 lets, &c.'. 
 
 Next to thefe, are the difcoveries by inference. 
 
 xvri. 
 
 Practi" The Poet, both when he plans, and when he writes, his Tra- 
 
 CAL Di- gedy, iliould put himfelf, as much as poffible, in the place of a 
 for the fpeftator j for, by this means, feeing everything diftind:ly, as if 
 
 Tragic prefent at the aftion, he will difcern what is proper, and no in- 
 ^'^^'^' confiftences will efcape him. The fault objedted to Carcinus is a 
 
 proof of this. Amphiaraiis had left the temple ° : this, the Poet, 
 for want of conceiving the adtion to pafs before his eyes, over- 
 looked ; but in the representation, the audience \\'ere difgufled, 
 and the piece condemned. 
 
 In compoiing, the Poet fhould even, as much as poffible, be an 
 aEior : for, by natural fympathy, they are moft perfuafive and af- 
 feding, who are under the influence of adlual paffion. We flaare 
 the agitation of thofe, who appear to be truly agitated — the anger 
 of thofe, who appear to be truly angry. 
 
 Hence it is, that Poetry demands, either great natural quicknefs 
 of parts, or an enthuliafm allied to madnefs. By the iiril: of 
 thefe, we mould ourfelves with facility to the imitation of every 
 form; by the other, tranfported out of ourfelves, we become what 
 
 we imagine. 
 
 When tlie Poet invents a fubjeft, he fliould, firfl, draw a general 
 fketch of it, and afterwards give it the detail of its Epifodes, 
 and extend it. The general argument, for inflance, of the Iphi- 
 
 » All this is extremely perplexing. I muft refer the reader to tlie note; — but, 
 certainly, with no promile of any thing like perfedl fatisfadion. 
 
 * As the fubjedt of this Tragedy is not known, it feems impofliblc, from what is 
 here faid, even to guefs how this was. 
 
 genia. 
 
 y
 
 Part 11. Of Tragedy. . 9-9 
 
 gen'ui\ iliould be confidered in this v^^ay : " A virgin, on the 
 " point of being facrificed, is imperceptibly conveyed away from 
 " the altar, and tranfported to another country, vv'here it v/as the 
 " cuflom to facrifice all flrangers to Diana. Of thefe rites ihe 
 " is appointed pricftefs. It happens, fome time after, that her 
 " brother arrives there." But why'? — becaufe an oracle had com- 
 manded him, for fome reafon exterior to the general plan. For 
 ivhat purpofcf — This, alfo, is exterior to the plan. — " He arrives, 
 " is feizcd, and, at the inftant that he is going to be facrificed, 
 " the difcovery is made.'' — And this may be, either in the way 
 of Euripides, or like that of Polyides % by the natural refledlion of 
 Orejies, that — " it was his fate alfo, as it had been his fifler's, to be 
 *' facrificed ;" by which exclamation he is faved. 
 
 After this, the Poet, when he has given names to his charac- 
 ters, fhould proceed to the Epifodes of his adion ; and he muft 
 take care, that thefe belong properly to the fubjed: ; like that of 
 the madnefs of OreJIes, which occafions his being taken, and his 
 efcape by means of the ablution ". In dramatic Poetry the Epif- 
 odes are Ihort ; but, in the Epic, they are the means of drawing 
 out the poem to its proper length. The general ftory of the 
 Odyssey, for example, lies in a fmall compafs : " A certain man 
 " is fuppofed to be abfent from his own country for many years — 
 " he is perfecuted by Neptwie, deprived of all his companions, 
 ** and left alone. At home, his affairs are in diforder — the fuitors 
 " of his wife diflipating his wealth, and plotting the deflruftion 
 ** of his fon. Tofled by many tempefls, he at length arrives, and, 
 
 *' making himfelf known to fome of his family, attacks his ene- 
 
 ' In Taurh. — The general fpirit of this precept of Ariflotle is well illuftrated 
 by Diderot in the Ejfaifur la Poijie Dram, at the end of his Pere dc Famille, p. 292, 
 &c. " Surtout, s'impofer la loi de ne pas jeter fur Ic papier une feule idee de dcta:', 
 " que le plan ne foit arrete," &c. 
 
 ^ See the preceding feftion. 
 
 5 See V. 301, &c. and v. 1248, &c. of Mr. Potter's tranflation. 
 
 O 2 . " mies.
 
 lOO 
 
 Of Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 Tragedy. 
 
 " mies, dcflroys them, and remains hlmfelf in fafety." This is 
 the cjfential; the reft is Epifode. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 CoMPLi- Every Tragedy conlifts of two parts — the coinpUcation, and the 
 
 CATION and J^^gi^pj^^fif \ The complication is often formed by incidents fup- 
 MENT of pofed prior to the a<flion, and by a part, alfo, of thofe that are 
 the Plot. luithin the adion ; the reft, form the development. I call com- 
 plication, all that is between the beginning of the piece, and the 
 laft part, where the change of fortune commences : — development , 
 all between the beginning of that change, and the conclufion. 
 Thus, in the Lynceus of TheodeSies, the events antecedent to the 
 adlion, and the feizure of the child, conftitute the complication ; 
 the development is from the accufation of murder to the end^. 
 
 XIX. 
 Different There are four kinds of Tragedy, deducible from fo many parts, 
 
 KINDS of whic"h have been mentioned. One kind is the complicated j 
 where all depends on revolution and difcovcry : another is the dis- 
 astrous ^ fuch as thofe on the fubjed: oi Ajax or Ixion: another, 
 the MORAL*, as the Fhthiotides, and the Pcleus : and, fourthly, 
 the SIMPLE, fuch as the Pborcides^, the Protnetbetis, and all thofe 
 Tragedies, the fcene of which is laid in the infernal regions. 
 
 It 
 
 ' Literally, the tying, and untjing. With the French, Nceud, and Denouement,- 
 are convenient and eftablifhed terms. I hope I {hall be pardoned for avoiding our 
 awkward exprefflons of the intrigue and unravelling of a plot, &c. I coulJ find no 
 terms lefs exceptionable than thofe I have uft.'d. 
 
 * Of the plot of this Tragedy notliing is known. See the note. 
 ' For thefe two kinds, fee above, SeH. 8, and 9. 
 
 * i. e. In which the delineation oi manners or charaSier is predomiiiant. See the 
 
 NOTE. Our langiage, I think, wants a word to exprcfs thh knk of the Greek 'nfwoi', 
 
 and the Latin, moratum. Alanucrcd, has, I believe, fometimes been ufed in this fenfe ; 
 but fo feldom, as to found awkwardly. We know nothing of the fubjefts here given 
 as examples. 
 
 ' JEkhylui wrote a Tragedy fo named. It is difficult to imagine what he could 
 
 make
 
 Part II. Of tragedy. loi 
 
 It fliould be the Poet's aim to make himfelf mailer of all thefe 
 manners ; of as many of them, at lead, as pofTible, and thofe the 
 befl : efpecially, confidcring the captious criticifm, to which, in 
 thele days, he is expofed. For, the public, having now feen diffe- 
 rent Poets excel in each of thefe different kinds, exped; tvtvy Jingle 
 Poet to unite in himfelf, and to furpafs, the peculiar excellences 
 of them all. 
 
 * One Tragedy may jufbly be conildered as the fame with an- 
 other, or different, not according as the fubjedis, but, rather, 
 according as the complication and development, are the fame or 
 different. — Many Poets, when they have complicated well, develop 
 badly\ They ihould endeavour to deferve equal applaufe in 
 both. 
 
 XX. 
 
 We mull alfo be attentive to what has been often mentioned'. Too grra? 
 and not conflrud: a 'Tragedy upon an Epic plan. By an Epic plan, ^^t^nt of 
 I mean, a fable compofed of many fables^ ; as if any one, for avoided. 
 
 make of thefe three curious perfonages, who were horn old womert^ lived underground, 
 and had but one eye among them, which they ufed by turns ; carrying it, I fuppofe, 
 in a cafe, like a pair of fpettacles. — Such is the tale ! See Mr. Potter's Mfchyhis, 
 p. 49, quarto. 
 
 ' What follows feems rather to belong to the preceding fe£tion. But perhaps 
 Arifl:otle was led to this obfervatlon here, by what he hadjuft dropped about the uniair 
 and cavilling criticifm of the times, which probably, (^s Dacier has remarked,) 
 denied the praife of invention to thofe who compofed Tragedies upon old fubjedls, 
 with old titles, which, we fee, was the common pracStice of the Greek Poets. 
 
 ' No fault fo common: fee note 59. — It was with the Gieek Tragcdrans, 
 probably, as with Shakfpeare. — " In many of his plays the latter part is evidently 
 " neglected. When he found himfelf near the end of his work, and in view of his 
 " reward, he fhortened the labour, to fuatch the profit. He therefore remits his 
 " efforts where he fhould moft vigoroufiy exert them, and his cataftrophc is impro- 
 " bably produced, or imperfedly rtprcfcnted." Johnfon's Pref. to Shakfpeare. 
 
 " See Part I. SeSl. 9.— II. Seii. 7. 
 
 ' i. e — of many 6MYmQi parts^ or Epifodcs, each of them capable of furniiliing a 
 Tragic fable. Compare Part III. Sedt- i. and V. Sed. 3. about the want o{ Jiri£i 
 unity in the epic fable. 
 
 inflance.
 
 102 Of "tragedy. Part II. 
 
 inftance, fhould take the entire fable of the Iliad for the fubje(ft 
 of a Tragedy. In the Epic Poem, the length of the whole 
 admits of a proper magnitude in the parts j but in the drama, the 
 effedl of fuch a plan is far different from what is expeded. As a 
 proof of this, thofe Poets, who have formed the ivhok of the 
 deilruftion of Troy into a Tragedy, inflead of confining them- 
 felves (as 'Euripides, but not /Efchylus, has done, in the flory of 
 Niobe,) to apart, have either been condemned in the reprefentation, 
 or have contended without fuccefs. Even Agatbo has failed on 
 this account, and on this only ; for, in revolutions, and in adlions 
 alfo of th.Qjifnple kind, thefe Poets fucceed wonderfully in what 
 they aim at ; and that is, the union of Tragic effeB with moral 
 tendency: as when, for example, a chara<fter of great wilHom, but 
 without integrity, is deceived, like Sijyphus; or, a brave, but unjull 
 man, conquered. Such events, as Agatbo fays, are probable, "as 
 *' it is probable, in general, that many things lliould happen con- 
 ** trary to probability." 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Of the The Chorus fliould be confidered as one of the perfons in the 
 
 Chorus. drama'; fhould be z part of the whole, and a fliarer in the ad:ion : 
 
 not as in Euripides'", but, as in Sophocles. As for other Poets — 
 
 ' j^iforls pzTtes chorus, offic'iumque virile 
 Defendat : tieu quid medios interc'inat apAis, 
 ^lod v.on propof.to conducat & harcat aptc. 
 
 Hor. A. p. 193, 
 
 " This expreffion does not, I think, necefFarily imply any Wronger cenfure of 
 Euripidis, than that the Choral Odes of his Tragedies were, in general, more loofely 
 conncdled with the fubjeil, th;;n thofe of Sophocles ; which, on examination, would, 
 I believe, be found true. For, that this is the fault here meant, not the improper 
 *^ choice of the perfons tvho compofe the Chorus" as the ingenious tranflator of Euripides 
 underftands, is, I think, plain from what immediately follows ; the connection being 
 this: — " Sophocles is, in this refpedl, moji perfect; Euripides lefs fo ; as to the others, 
 " their choral fongs are totally foreign to the fubjcil of their Tragedies." See Mr. 
 Potter's Euripides — Polifcript to the Trojan Dames. Dr. ^Varton's Ejjijy on the 
 Genius, Sic. of Pope, vol. i. p. 71. 
 
 their
 
 MENTS. 
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. ^ 103 
 
 their choral fongs have no more conneftion with their fubjedt, 
 than with that of any other Tragedy : and hence, they ^are now 
 become detached pieces, inferted at pleafure^: a pradlice firft in- 
 troduced by Agatho. Yet where is the difference, between this 
 arbitrary infertion of an Ode, and the. tranfpoiition of a fpee'ch, or 
 even of a whole Epifode, from one Tragedy to another ? 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Of the other parts of Tragedy enough has now been faid. Oi the 
 We are next to confider the Diction, and the Sentiments. Sesti- 
 
 For what concerns the fentimcnts, we refer to the principles laid 
 down in the books on Rhetoric ; for to that fubjefl: they more pro- 
 perly belong. The fentiments include whatever is the object of 
 fpeech * ; as, for inftance, to prove, to confute, to move the paf- 
 fions — pity, terror, anger, and the like ; to amplify, or to dimi- 
 nifh. But it is evident, that, with refped: to the things themfelves 
 alfo ', when the Poet would make them appear pitiable, or ter- 
 rible, or great, or probable, he mufh draw from the lame fources ; 
 with this difference only, that, in the drama, thefe things mufl 
 appear to be fuch, without being jhewn to be fuch ' ; whereas, in 
 
 ^ It is curious to trace the gradual extinction of the Chorus. At firfl:, it was all; 
 then, relieved by the intermixture of dialogue, but ftiU principal; ihcn, fubordinate 
 to the dialogue ; then digreffive, and ill conneiied with the piece i then borrowed from 
 othtr pieces at pleafure — and fo on, to the fiddles and the acl-tunes, at which Dacier 
 is fo angry. (See his Note p. 335.) The performers in the orchtjlra of a modern 
 theatre, are little, I believe, aware, that they occupy the place, and may confider 
 themfelves as the lineal defcendants, of the antient Chorus. — Orchejlra (of%nrfa) was 
 the name of that part of the antient theatre, which was appropriated to the Clicrus. 
 [Jul. Pollux, IV. ^. 423.] 
 
 * See Harris's Philolog. Inquiries, p. 173, &c. 
 
 ' Things themfelves — i. e. the events, incidents, &c. of the fable, as oppofed to the 
 fentiments, or thoughts. See the note. 
 
 * The circumftances which form the fable of Lear, Othello, Oedipus, Sec. are 
 fuch, as muft of themfelves, always appear in the higheft degree atrocious, terrible, 
 piteous, lie. whether the Pcet be a Shalfpcare^ or a Tate. See the note. 
 
 4 oratory f
 
 104 Of Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 oratory, they mufl; be made to appear fo by the fpeaker, and in con- 
 fequence of what he fays : otherwife, what need of an orator, if 
 they ah-eady appear fo, in themfelvesy and not through his elo- 
 quence ? 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 OftheDic- With refpedl to Diction, one part of its theory is that, which 
 
 ?^1°^" treats of the figures'' of fpeecb ; fuch as, cotnmanding, eiitreating, 
 
 c( Part 11.] relat'mg, menacing^ inten-ogatmg, anfweringy and the Hke. But 
 
 this belongs, properly, to the art of aSting, and to the pro- 
 
 feffed mafters of that kind. The Poet's knowledge, or ignorance, 
 
 of thefe things, cannot any way materially affedl the credit of his 
 
 art. For who will fuppofe there is any juftice in the cavil of 
 
 Protagoras — that, in the words, " The wrath, O goddefs,y&zg- %" 
 
 the Poet, where he intended a prayer, had expreffed a con^mand: 
 
 for he infifls, that to lay. Do this, or do it not, is to command. — 
 
 This fubjeft, therefore, we pafs over, as belonging to an art diflinft 
 
 from that of Poetry. 
 
 XXIV. 
 Analysis To ALL DiCTioN, belong the following parts: — the letter, the 
 
 of Die- fyllahle, the coniunciion, the noun, the verb, the article, the cafe, 
 TION, ox ^-^ •' -^ 
 
 Language ih^ difourfe ov Jpcecb. 
 
 in general, i . A letter is an indivifible found ; yet not a// fuch founds are 
 
 letters, but thofe only that are capable of forming an intelligible 
 
 found. For there are indivifible founds of brute creatures ; but no 
 
 fuch founds are called letters. Letters are of three kinds ; vowels, 
 
 femivoivels, and jnutcs. The vowel, is that, which has a diflincft 
 
 found without articulatio.n'j as A, or O. — The fetnivoivel, that 
 
 which 
 
 ' Figures of fpeech — not in the vfual fenfe of that expreflion; as appears, indeed, 
 from his inftiinces. See the note ; and Hermes, I. 8. about the tnodcs : particularly, 
 NOTE (c.) 
 
 ' In the opening of the Iliad. 
 
 • Literally, percuffion : i. e. of the tongue againft the palate, or teeth, the lips 
 againft the teeth, or againft each other, and all the other modes of confonant articula-
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy, 105 
 
 which has a diflind: found with articulation, as S, and R. The 
 mute, that which, with articulation, has yet no found by itfclf ; 
 but joined with one of thofe letters that have fome found, be- 
 comes audible; as, G, and D. Thefe all differ from each other, 
 as they are produced by different configurations, and in different 
 parts, of the mouth ; as they are afpirated or fmooth, long or 
 ihort ; as their tone is acute, grave, or intermediate : the detail of 
 all which, is the bufinefs of the metrical treatifes. 
 
 2. K fy liable, is a found without fignification, compofed of a 
 mute and a vowel : for GR, without A, is not a fyllable; with A, 
 as GR A, it is. But thefe differences, alfo, are the fubjedl of the 
 metrical art. 
 
 3. A r(j;?/Wz(J?/(5«, is a found without fignification, * * * *■ 
 *■*«-* of fuch a nature, as, out of feveral founds, eack 
 of them fignificant, to form one fignificant found '. 
 
 4. KvL article, is a found without fignification, which marks the 
 beginning, or the end of a fentence ; or dijiingiiifies *, as when we 
 fay, THE word (pijp — the word Trs^i, &c. 
 
 5. A notin, is a found, compofed of other founds; fignificant, 
 without expreflion of tivie ; and of which no part is by itfelf 
 
 Jignijicant : for even in double words, the parts are not taken in 
 
 tion. See Heniies, III. 2. p. 322. where they are called " centals." Dacier makes 
 fad confufion here, both in his verfion, and his notes, by confounding the natnes of the 
 confonants, when vowels are prefixed, or put after them, to make them feparate/y pro- 
 twunciblfj (Te, eF, eL, Sic.) with their powers in compojition — as elements of vjords. 
 Thus, it is ftridly true, that S and R, have a found, without the afliftance of a vowel, 
 merely by their mode of articulation. But D, or G, have no found at all hy ihetn- 
 felves. The femi vowels arel, m, n, r, f. {Dion. Halicarn. Dc Struli. Or at. Sedl. 14.) 
 
 ' ^te Hermes., p. 239, Note (a). Here are, in the original, tivo definitions ; one 
 intelligible, and one unintelligible. I believe I fhall eafily be excufed for giving the 
 reader the intelligible definition only. See the NOTE. 
 
 '■ Hermes^ p. 216, &c. 
 
 P ihn
 
 jo6 Of tragedy. Part II. 
 
 the fenfe that feparately belongs to them. Thus, in the word. 
 Thcodorus, dorus is not fignificant'. 
 
 6. A verb, is a found compofed of other founds; — fignificant — 
 with expreffion of time — and of which, as of the noun, no part 
 is by itjclf Jignijicant. Thus, ia the words, man, ivhite, indica- 
 tion of time is not included : in the words, he walks, he ivalkedy 
 See. it is included ; the one exprefling the prefect time^ the other 
 the pajl. 
 
 •7. Cafes belong to nouns and verbs. Some cafes exprefs rela~ 
 tioH; as of, to'', and the like: others, number; as man, or men, 
 &c. Others relate to a5lion ox pronunciation^ : as thofe of inters 
 rogation, of com7nand, &c. for, sfjaSias; \_did he gof^ and, /SaJi^e, 
 [gOfl are verbal cafes of that kind. 
 
 8. Difcoiirfe, ov fpeech, is a found fignificant, compofed of other 
 founds, feme of which are fignificant by themfehes : for all dif- 
 courfeis not compofed of verbs and nouns; — the definition of Man % 
 for inftance. Difcourfe, or fpeech, may fubfifl without a verb: 
 fame fignificant part, however, it muft contain j fignificant, as the 
 word Ckon is, in, " Clcon ivalks." 
 
 ' The name, Theodorus, is derived from ThcoSf God, and Devon, a gift. Yet 
 when the word is ufed, it ftands for neither of thefe ideas, but merely for the indivi- 
 dual fo named. 
 
 * Thefe «»/y, in modern grammar, are called cafes : in Ariftotle, rntmher, whether 
 in noun or verb, and the tenfesy aiid modes, (or riwods,) of verbs, are comprehended 
 under that term ; becaufe cnfcs, (wTOo-fij — cafi/s) are endings, terminations, infleSfions^ 
 &CC. and, in the learned languages, a!i the above mentioned differences of meaning 
 are cxprefied by different terminations. The French ufe chute, the literal tranflation 
 of cafus, in the fenfe of termination. — " La chute d'une periode,"&c. And /allh 
 ufed, in our poetical language, for A clofc, or cadence, in mufic. 
 
 Thatflrain again — it had a dying fall. 
 
 Merch. of Venice. And fo Milton in Comus, v. 251. 
 
 ' Thefe modes, arc the fame which he czlls fgures of Jpeech, Seft. 23. See the 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 * The definition alluded to appears to be this, literally rendered : " J temflrial 
 '^ animal with two feet." (fwov wtfoi', Jmai'.) Seethe note, 
 
 A difcourfe
 
 WORDS. 
 
 Fart II, Of 'Tragedy, 107 
 
 A difcourfe or fpecch Is one, in two fenfes j either •x% \\. Jignlfies 
 one thing, or, feveral tilings made one by conjunction. Thus, the 
 Iliad 15 one by conjun5lion: the definition of Man, hy Jignifying one 
 thing. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Of WORDS, fome are fingle — by which I mean, compofe4 of Different 
 parts not fienificant : and fonie double: of which lafl, fome have ^^'^^^^ ^^ 
 one part fignificant, and the other not fignificantj and fome, both 
 parts fignificant. A word may alfo be triple, quadruple. Sec. like 
 many of thofe ufed by the Megalioti^ ; as, Hermocdicoxanthus\ 
 Every word is either common, or foreign, or tjietaphorical, or or- 
 namental, ox invented, or extended, ox contraSled, ox altered^ . 
 
 By COP4MON words, I mean, fuch as are in general and cfta- 
 "bliflied. ife. — By foreign, fuch as belong to a different lan- 
 guage : fo that the fame word may, evidently, be botli common, 
 ■2,r\d foreign, though not to the fime people. The word tiywav, to 
 the Cyprians is common, to \x^, foreign. 
 
 A metaphorical" word is a word transferred from its />r^/>^r 
 fenfe; either from genus to Jpecies, or from^ecies to genus, or 
 from onefpecies to another, or in the way of analogy. 
 
 I. From genus to Jpecies : as, 
 
 Secure in yonder port my veflel stands'. 
 For, to be at anchor, is owtfpecies oi faiiding or being ^av^*. 
 
 ^ A ftrange word, and Iiow it was applied we know not. It appears to be a con- 
 folidation of three Afiatic rivers — the Hermus, the Caicus, and the Xanthus. 
 
 * See the laft paragraph of note 190 i an obfeivation of importance to the 
 right underftanding of this enumeration. 
 
 ' For the general fenfe, in which metaphorical is here ufed, fee the beginning 
 ©f NOTE 183. 
 
 ' From Homer, Od. A. 185. — In Pope's tranflation, I. 237. 
 " Far from your capital my (liip refides." 
 This would not anfwer my purpofe, becaufe the metaphor is changed. 
 
 ^ How widely different is the metaphor, when we talk of a fhip riding at 
 anchor ! 
 
 Pa 2. From
 
 toS Of Tragedy. Part II. 
 
 2. From Jpea'es to genus: as, 
 
 to Ulyjes, 
 
 A THOUSAND generous deeds we owe '. 
 
 'For a thoufand is a certain definite many^ which is here ufed for 
 rnanyy in general. 
 
 J. From onefpcc'ies to another* : as, 
 
 Xcil.y~.Kia asro ^x^^ APTSAS. 
 . And, 
 
 TAM UTSipBl ^OiXKCf^ 
 
 For here, the Poet ufes to-^hv, to cut off^ inflead of a^va-at, fty 
 draw forth, and upva-ai inflead of rx^siv : each being a fpecies of 
 takmg away. 
 
 4. In the way of analogy — when, of four terms, xhcfecond bears 
 the fame relation to x\\Qfrfi, as the. fourth to the third; in which 
 cafe, the fourth may be fubflituted for the fecond, and the fecond 
 for the fourth. And, fometimes, the proper term is alfo intro- 
 duced, befides its relative term. 
 
 Thus, a cup bears the fame relation to Bacchus, as zpield to 
 Mars. A fhield, therefore, may be called the cup of Mars, and a 
 cup, the JJ.neld of Bacchus. Again — evening being to day, what 
 old age is to life, the evening may be called the old age of the day, 
 and old age, the evening of life ; or, as Empedocks has exprelTed it,, 
 " Life's fetting fun'." It fometimes happens, that there is no 
 proper analogous term, anfwering to the term borrowed ; which 
 yet may be ufed in the fame manner, as if there were. For in- 
 ftance: to fow, is the term appropriated to the aftion of difperfmg 
 
 ^ //. B. 272. — In Pope, II. 333. — but the metaphor is not retained. 
 '^ This, .lad the next fi>ecies, only, anfwer to what we call metaphor — the meta- 
 .phor founded on refeml'lance. The two firft fpecies belong to the trope denominated, 
 liiicc Ariilotle's time. Synecdoche. 
 
 ' " Thy fun is fet, thy fpring is gone." Gray— 0^^ on Springs 
 
 '•* Yet hath my night of life fome memory." 
 
 JShcdJpcare, Com, of Errors— hit kene. 
 
 feed
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. 109 
 
 • 
 
 feed upon the earth ; but the difperfion of rays from the fun is 
 exprcfled by no appropriated term ; it is, however, with refpedl to 
 they««'j light J wh^t foiving is with refpedl io feed. Hence the 
 
 Poet's exprefiion, of the fun 
 
 " SOWING abroad 
 
 " His heaven-created flameJ' 
 There is, alfo, miother way of ufing this kind of metaphor, by 
 adding to the borrowed word a negation of fome of thofe quali- 
 ties, v/hich belong to it in its proper fenfe : as if, inflead of calling 
 a fhield the cup of Mars y we fhould call it the winelefs cup'^. 
 
 All INVENTED word, is a word never before ufed by any one,. 
 but coined by the Poet himfelf ; for fuch, it appears, there are j 
 as EPNYTAl" for KEPATA, horns, or APHTHPf for lEPEYS, 
 a prieji. 
 
 A word is EXTENDED, when for the proper vowel a longer is 
 fiiblHtuted, or a fyllable is inferted. — A word is contracted, 
 when fome part of it is retrenched. — Thus, ttoAH©^, for ttoXE©^, 
 and TlviKU.M^e.u for n^jXaaoW, are extended words : contrad:ed, fuch 
 as KPI, and AXl, and OY ' : e. g. 
 
 An alt:ered word, is a word, of which part remains in its 
 tifual ftate, znA part is of the Poet's making: as in 
 AEHITEPON tcxtu f^a^ov', 
 ^£|«TEPOi: is for ^e|;Ov. 
 
 ^ For the ornamental word, or the ornament, {ko(tij.®-) as Ariftotle calls it, the de- 
 Jinition of which fhould have come in here, fee note 190. 
 
 • i. e. Bramhes; which we alfo ufe for the horns of a flag. But Ariftotle 
 means a itevj vjord-, not a new application merely^ of a word already in ufe. 
 
 t A fupplicator : literally, a prayer, taken in the fenfe of one who prays ; as fetr 
 is ufed for prophet. 
 
 ' Kfi, occurs II. E. I96. — Aw, II. A. 425. 
 
 ' Part of a verfe of Empedactes, quoted by Straho-^ p. 364. Ed. Caf. 
 
 ' //. E. 393. 
 
 Parther; — >
 
 iiQ Qf^f<%^4^* Part II. 
 
 Farther; kouns are divided into mafculmey feminine, and 
 neuter. The tnafculine are thofe which end in v, o, «r, or in fome 
 letter compounded of «r and.a muie-y thefeare two, ^ and |. — Tiie 
 feminine i are thofe which end in the- vowels always kng, as r„ or w, 
 or, in a, of the ^ou^ffui vowels : £o that tlie mafcuhne and 
 tile feminine terminations are equal in number ; for as to if/ and ^, 
 they are the fame with terminations in a-. No noun ends in a 
 mute, or a flaort vow^l. There are but th-ee ending in «; 
 f/,BXt, xofcf^i, TTesri^i : fve ending in o: ttuu, vasT-v, yovu, So^v, afu. 
 
 The neiiier terminate inithefe two laft^mentioned vowels, and 
 ill y and ir. 
 
 XXVI. 
 Of Pop TIC '^^^ excellence of didlion confifts in being perfpicuous without 
 Diction. being }7iean. The moll: perfpicuous is that which is compofed of 
 co?nmon words ; but, at the fame time, it is mean. Such is the 
 Poetry of Cleophon, and that of Sthcnelus. That language, on 
 the contrary, is elevated, and remote from the vulgar idiom, which 
 employs unujual words : by unufiial, I \-i\t\\\, foreign, metaphorical, 
 extended — all, in fliort, that are not common words. Yet, fliould a 
 Poet compofe his didion entirely of fuch words, the refult would 
 be, either an enigma, or a barbarous jargon : an jenigma, if 
 compofed of mctapkors ; a barbarous jargon, if compofed of 
 foreign words. — For the efTence of an asnigma confifls in putting 
 together things apparently inconfijient and impofible, a?id, at the fame 
 time, faying nothing but what is true. Now this cannot be effedled 
 by the mere arrangement ' of the words ; by the metaphorical ife 
 of them, it may; as in this a^nigma : 
 
 A man I once beheldj [and wondering view'd,] 
 Who, on another, brafs with fire had glew'd'. 
 
 ' By mere arrangement or conftruclion of words iifed in their proper fenfes, you 
 may produce nonfenfe-, or ambiguity j but not, an inconfjient and i?npnjfibh; yet clear., 
 meaning, 
 
 * See the note. The operation of cupping is meant, which the Greeks per- 
 formed with an inftrumcnt of brajs. 
 
 With
 
 Part IL Of Tragedy. iii 
 
 With refpeS: to harbarifm, it ariies from tlie ufe o^ foreign 
 words. A judicious intermixture is, therefore, requifite. 
 
 Thus, the foreign word, the metaphorical, the ornamental, and 
 the other fpecies before mentioned, will raife the language above 
 the vulgar idiom, and commoji words will give it perfpicuity. But 
 nothing contributes more confiderably to produce clearnefs, without 
 vulgarity, of did;ion, than extenfons, confraSiions, and alterations, 
 of words : for here, the variation from the proper form, being im~ 
 ufiial, will give elevation to the .expreflron ; and, at the fame time, 
 what is retained of /^((iS'/ fpeech will give it clearnefs. It is without 
 reafon, therefore, that fome critics have cenfured thefe modes of 
 Ipeech, and ridiculed the Poet ^ for the ufe of them ; as old Euclid*' 
 did, objeding, that " verfification would be an ealy bufinefs, if it 
 "were permitted to lengthen words at pleafure :" — and then 
 ]giving a burlefque example of that fort of diiflion : as, 
 
 * * « * * *-■■-* 
 
 * * *•* « •*. $y 
 
 Undoubtedly, v/hen thefe lieeftces appear to be thus ptirpofely 
 ■ufed, tlie thing becomes ridiculous. In the employment of all 
 the fpecies of imvfiial words, moderation is neceffary : for meta- 
 phors, foreign words, or any of the others, improperly ufed, and 
 with a dcfgn to be ridiculous, would produce the fame' effect. 
 But how great a difference is made by a proper and temperate ufe 
 of fuch words, may be {tQ.n in heroic verfe. Let any one only f^b- 
 ftitute co??jmon words in the place of the metaphorical, the foreign, 
 and others of the fame kind, and he will be convinced of the 
 truth of what I fay. For example : the fame Iambic verfe occurs 
 in Mfchylus and in Euripides ; but, by means of a fmgle alteration 
 
 ^ Homer. 
 
 * Not the Geometrician. 
 
 ' I have omitted the ex;imples— two lines of incurable corruption ; the " cmfu- 
 ^^f.on" of which is " nvorfe confounded" by an endlefs variety of various readiffgs, 
 which, after all, are only fo many different fiaades of nonfenfe. See the note. 
 
 + ■ -~tlw
 
 112 Of 'Tragedy. Part 11. 
 
 ' — the fubftitution of z foreign, for a common and vfual word, one 
 of thefe verfes appears beautiful, the other ordinary. For ^4t/^ 
 chylus, in his PhiloSietes^, fays 
 
 <3>a^e^a(va, 17 f/,M (Tocpnx; ED0IEI ttoo®^ — 
 The cankerous wound that eats my flefli. — — 
 
 But Euripides, inftead of so-Qih [eats] ufes 0OINATAI. 
 The fame difference will appear, if, in this verfe, 
 
 Nvv Ss 1^' euv OAirOE re kki OTTIAANOE kcci AKIKYS'» 
 we fubfhitute common words, and fay, 
 
 Nuf (Je h*' zwj MIKPOS t£ x«; AS0ENIKO2 ytoti. AEIAH2. 
 5o, again, fhould we for the following, — 
 
 A;(f!floi/ AEIKEAION xa,r«.Sei;, OAIFHN re t^xtss^xv — 
 fubfhitute this : — 
 
 AkP^ov MOXQEPO^ KdruSag, AIIKPAN re r^anrB'^ctv. 
 Or, change — HIovb; BOOnilN' — The cliffs rebellow — to Yimzz 
 KPAZOrilN — The cliffs refoimd. 
 
 Ariphrades, alfo, endeavoured to throw ridicule upon the Tragic 
 Poets, for making ufe of fuch expreffions as no one would think 
 of ufing in common fpeech ; as, ^uficcruv a-is-o, inftead of dis-o 
 ^ufiOiTuv : and XE0EN — and, lyu Je NIN — and, A%(XAE«f tts^;, in- 
 flead of TTB^i A%/AX£aj, &;c. Now it is precifely owing to their 
 being noi in common ufe, that fjch expreffions have the effeft of 
 giving elevation to the didlion. But this he did not know'. 
 
 * We have neither of the Tragedies here alluded to. 
 
 ■' OdyfTey IX. v- 515. of the original. It is obvious that thtk differences cannot 
 te preferved in a tranflation. 
 
 » Od. T. 259. 
 
 ' 11. P. 265. — Pope's line is, " And diftant rocks rebellovj to the roar." 
 
 XVII. 315. 
 
 * Ariftotle's thorough contempt of the critic, and his criticifm, could not have 
 been more ftrongly marJced than by this fbort and limplc expreflion. [ — trnv®- h tkto 
 %flQU I J 
 
 T©
 
 Part II. Of Tragedy. 113 
 
 To employ with propriety any of thefe modes of fpeech — the 
 double words, the foreign, Sec. — is a great excellence: but the 
 greateft of all, is to be happy in the ufe of metaphor ; for it is this 
 alone which cannot be acquired, and which, confilling in a quick 
 difcernment of refemblances, is a certain mark of genius *. 
 
 Of the different kinds of words, the double are beil fuited to 
 Dithyrambic Poetry ; the foreign to Heroic j the metaphorical to 
 Iambic. In Heroic Poetry, indeed, they have all their place ; but 
 to Iambic verfe^ which is, as much as may be, an imitation of 
 common fpeech*, thofe words which are ufed in common fpeech 
 are befl adapted ; and fuch are, the coimrmi, the metaphorical, and 
 the omamejztaL 
 
 Concerning Tragedy, and the imitation by action, enough 
 has now been faid. 
 
 * Metaphors are, evidently, much more important, and more of the effence of 
 Poetry, than the o^tx forts of words. It is very eafy, and very commonly praftifed 
 by Poets of no genius or originality, to copy the technical language, the formula, 
 as it were, of Peetry— compound epithets, obfolete words, &c. Thefe occur but now 
 and then : metaphorical exprefllon is continually wanted ; and the beauty, force, and 
 novelty of it, depend on the writer's own imagination. Indeed, almoft all the beauty of 
 Poetry, as far as language is concerned, all that diftinguiflies the Poet of genius, from 
 the verfifier who trufts folely to his ear, and to his memory, arifes from the uncommon 
 and original ufe of metaphor ; efpecially, taking that word in Ariftotle's latitude, as 
 comprehending all tropical expreffion. Here^ however, he plainly has our metaphor 
 chiefly in view; — the metaphor founded on refemhlance, 
 
 5 The verfe of Tragedy. See the note. 
 
 * See above— P<jr; I. Sei^. 7. 
 
 Q^ PART
 
 C »H ] 
 
 R T in. 
 
 OF THE EPIC POEM. 
 
 I. 
 
 In what T X 7" -^ "^ -^ refpeft to that fpecies of Poetry which imitates by' 
 Epic and VV- NARRATION, and in hexameter verfe, it is obvipus, that 
 Poetf'^^'^ they^^/t? ought to be dramatically conftrudled', like that of Tra- 
 agree. g^dy : and that it fhould have for its fubje(fi one entire and perfeB 
 
 u3:ion, having a beginning, a middle, and an end; fo that, forming, 
 like an animal, a complete whole, it may afford its proper * pleafure: 
 widely differing, in its conftrudlion, from hiftoiy, which neceffarily 
 treats, not of one ciBion, but of one time ; and of all the events 
 that happened, to one perfon, or to many, during that timej 
 events, the relation of which, to each other, is merely cafual'. 
 For, as the naval aftion at Salamis, and the battle with the Car- 
 thaginians in Sicily, were events of the fame titne, unconnedled by 
 any relation to a common end, or piirpofc ; fo alfo, in fuccejjive 
 events, we fometimes fee one thing follow another, without being 
 
 ' See below, ScH. 3. 
 
 * i. e. Oppofed, (as appears from what follows,) to that which hijiory gives. 
 Unity of intereji is c/Tential-to the pleafure we expeft from the Epic Poem ; and this 
 cannot txift, at leaft, in the degree required, without unity of aHim. 
 
 3 Compare, Part II. Seii. 5, 7, and 8. 
 
 conneBed
 
 Part III. t)f the Epic Poem, X15 
 
 connected to it by fuch relation. And this is the praftice of the 
 generality of Poets. Even in this, therefore, as we have before 
 obferved*, the fupcriority of Homer's genius is apparent, that he 
 did not attempt to bring the nvhok war, though an eiitire adlion 
 Wiih beginning and end, into his Poem. It would have been too 
 vaft an objedl, and not eq/i/y comprehended in one view * .• or had he 
 forced it into a moderate compafs, it would have been perplexed 
 by its variety*. Inftead of this, feledling one part only of the 
 war, he has, from the reft, introduced many Epifodes — fuch as 
 the catalogue of the pips, and others — by which he has diverfifted 
 his Poem. Other Poets take for their fubjed: the adions of one 
 per/on \ or of one period of time^, or an acSion which, though 
 one, is compofed of too many parts. Thus, the author of the 
 Cypriacs, and of the Little Iliad'. Hence it is, that the Iliad, 
 and the Odyssey, each of them, furnilh matter for one Tragedy, 
 
 ♦ Part II. Sea. 5. 
 
 » See Part II. SeSI. 4. 
 
 * Bccaufe " the length of the whole would" then '■'■not admit of a proper magnitude in 
 " the parts;" and, thus, aa Epic Poem conftrudted upon an hijhrical plan, would be 
 exaftly in the fame cafe with a tragedy " conftrudted on an Epic plan" See Part II, 
 Se6t. 20. and note 153. 
 
 ^ Part II. Sea. 5. 
 
 ' Of this kind feems the Poem of Ariojio, the exordium of which, not only expre/Tes 
 the mifceUancous variety of his matter, but, alfo, his principle of unity. 
 Le Donne, i cavalier, I'arme', gli amori, 
 Le cortcfie, I'audaci imprefe, io canto, 
 Che furo al tempo che pailaro i Mori, &c. 
 jiriojlo's expedient was, to " intertwift the feveral anions together, in order to give 
 " Ibmethlng like the appearance of one adion," to the whole, as has been obferved 
 of Spenfer : [Letters on Chivalry, &C.] he has given his Poem the contijiuity of 
 •bancet-work. 'Or, if I may be indulged in another comp;irifon, his unity, is the 
 unity produced between oil and vinegar by (baking them together j which oniv makes 
 them feparatii l>y /mailer portions. 
 
 ' s So called, to diftinguifh it from the Iliad of Homer, of which it feems to have 
 been a continuation. See the note. 
 
 0^2 or
 
 ii6 Of the Epic Poem. Part III. 
 
 or two, at mofl; but from the Cypriacs many may be taken, and 
 iroin the Litik Bind, more than eight ; as, ^he Contejl for the Ar- 
 mour'' ^ Fhilotletes^., Neoptolemns, Eurypylus^, T^he Vagrant*, The 
 Spartan Women, The Fail of 'Troy, The Return of the Fleet'', Sinon'', 
 and The Trojan Women\ 
 
 Again — the Epic Poem muft alfo agree with the Tragic, as to 
 its kinds : it muft hcfimple, or complicated, moral, or difajlrous^. Its 
 parts, alfo, letting afide Mufic and Decoration, are the fame' ; 
 for it requires Revolution's, Difcoveries, and Difajlers ; and it muil be 
 furniflied with proper fentime'ats ixnd di^ion : of all which Homer 
 gave both the firft, and the moll perfeft, example. Thus, of his 
 two Poems, the Iliad is of the fimple and difajirous kind; the 
 ■ Odyfey, complicated, (for it abounds throughout with difcoveries',) 
 and moral. Add to this, that in language and fentiments he has 
 furpaffed all Poets. 
 
 • i. e. Between Ajax and UlyfTes. Mfchylus wrote a Tragedy on this fubje£t, 
 of which the Ajax of Sophocles is the fequel. — Dacler. 
 
 ■^ The Philoftetes of Sophocles only remains. 
 
 3 Of the fubjeft of tliis, and the preceding drama, we know nothing. 
 
 ♦ See Pope's OdyflTey, IV. 335. but what is there rendered yZrtw, is, in Homer, 
 heggar, or vagrant. Tlie ftory is alfo touched by Euripides, in his Hecuba. See 
 Potter's Tranjl. v. 210, &c. 
 
 5 See the latter part of note 116. 
 
 * The ftory is well known from Virgil, Mn. 2.— Sophocles wrote a Tragedy of 
 this title. 
 
 ' A Tragedy of this name by Euripides is extant. See The Trojan Dams, in Mr. 
 Potter's tranflation. 
 
 » See Pari II. SeH. 19. 
 
 9 Part I. SeSt. 9. 
 
 ' See Pope's tranflation, XVI. 206, &c, where Ulyfies difcovers himfelf to Tela- 
 machus: XXI. 212. to the ihephcrds. -XXIII. 211. to Penelope.— XXIV. 375. 
 to his father. — IX. 17. to Alcinous. — ^IV. 150, &c. Telemachus is difcovercd to 
 Menelaus by his tears : v. 189, to Helen, by his refemblance to his father. — XIX. 545. 
 Ulyffcs is difcovered to the old nurfc, by the fear. 
 
 II. The
 
 FER. 
 
 Part III. Of the Epic Poem. 117 
 
 11. 
 
 The Epic Poem dr/fers from Tragedy, in the length of its plan, in what 
 and in its metre. t'^"^/ ^^^' 
 
 With refpedt to length, a fufficient meafure has ah'eady been 
 affigned^. It ihould be fuch, as to admit of our comprehending at 
 one vienv the beginning and the end: and this would be the cafe, if 
 the Epic Poem were reduced from its antient length, fo as not to ex- 
 ceed that of fuch a number of Tragedies, as are performed fucceffively 
 at one hearing'. But there is a circuniflance in the nature of Epic 
 Poetry which affords it peculiar latitude in the extenlion of its 
 plan. It is not in the power of Tragedy to imitate feveral different 
 actions performed at the fame time; it can imitate only that one 
 which occupies the llage, and in which the actoi-s are employed. 
 But, the Epic imitation, being narrative, admits of many fuch 
 fimultaneous incidents, properly related to the fubjedl, which 
 fwell the Poem to a confiderable fize. 
 
 And this gives it a great advantage, both in point of magnifi- 
 cence, and, alfo, as it enables the Poet to relieve his hearer*, and 
 diverffy his work, by a variety of diffimilar Epifodes : for it is to 
 the fatiety naturally arifmg from fimilarity that Tragedies fre- 
 quently owe their ill fuccefs. 
 
 With refpedl to metre, the heroic is eflablifhed by experience as 
 the moft proper ; fo that, fhould any one compofe a narrative 
 Poem in any other, or in a variety of metres, he would be thought 
 guilty of a great impropriety. For the heroic is the gravefl and 
 moft majeilic of all meafures ; and hence it is, that it peculiarly 
 admits the ufe oi foreign and metaphorical expreffions ; for in this 
 refped: alfo, the narrative imitation is abundant and various be- 
 yond the reft. But the Iambic and Trochaic have more ^notion ; 
 the latter being adapted to dance, the other to aBion and bufnefs. 
 
 '' See the preceding SeSi. and Part II. Seii. 4. 
 ' In the dramatic contefts. See the note. 
 ♦ " i/f«n'r."--See Dijert. I, p. 42, 43. 
 
 To
 
 ii8 
 
 OJ the "Epic Poem, 
 
 Part III. 
 
 Ep-x Narra- 
 tion fhould 
 
 be DRAMA- 
 TIC and 
 IMITA- 
 TIVE. 
 
 Ep\c admits 
 
 the WON- 
 DERFUL 
 
 more eafily 
 and in a 
 greater de- 
 gree than 
 
 Tragedy. 
 
 To mix thefe different metres, as Chceremon has done, would be 
 ftill more abfurd. No one, therefore, has ever attempted to com- 
 pofe a Poem of an extended plan in any other than heroic verfe j 
 nature itfelf, as we before obferved', pointing out the proper choice. 
 
 III. 
 
 Among the many jufl claims of Homer to our praife, this is 
 one — that he is the only Poet who feems to have underftood what 
 part in his Poem it was proper for him to take hmfelf. The Poet, 
 in. his own perfon, fhould fpeak as little as poflible ; for he is not 
 then the imitator''. But other Poets, ambitious to figure through- 
 out, themfelves', imitate but little, and feldom. Homer, after a 
 few preparatory lines, immediately introduces a man, a woman, or 
 fome other character % for all have their cbaraSler — no where are 
 the manners neglected. 
 
 IV. 
 
 T\\t furprijing is necefTary in Tragedy^; but the Epic Poem 
 goes farther, and admits even the improbable and incredible, from 
 which the higheft degree of the furprifing refults, becaufe, there, 
 the ad:ion is not feen *. The circumflances, for example, of the 
 
 * Part L Sea. 7. 
 
 * Stri£ily fpeaking. See Dijprtation I. p. 26. 
 
 ^ This is remarlcably the cafe with Litcan ; of whom Hobbes fays, that '< no 
 *' Heroic Poem raifes fuch admiration of the Poet, as his hath done, though not fo 
 *' great admiration of the perfons he i>ifroduceth."-^[Difi\ concerning the Virtues of an 
 Heroic Poem,] 
 
 ' As, gods, goddefles, allegorical beings, &c. 
 
 t See above. Part II. Se<^. 7. p. 83, 84. 
 
 * The beft comment to which I can refer the reader upon all this part of Ariftotle, 
 is to be found in the lOth of the Letters on Chivalry and Romance, in which the 
 Italian Poets, and the privileges of genuine Poetry, arc vindicated, with as much 
 folidity as elegance, againft thofe, -whom Dryden ufed to call his " Profe Vritus" — 
 againft that fort of criticifm " which haks Hie phihjophy^ and is noi."-^JDr, Murd's 
 Dialogues^ tfc. vol, iii. . . . ■• 
 
 , purfuit
 
 Part HI. Of the Epic Poem, ti^ 
 
 purfuit of Heilor by Achilles, are fuch, as, upon the flage, would 
 appear ridiculous ; — the Grecian army ftanding fhill, and taking 
 no part in the purfuit, and Achilles making figns to them, by the 
 motion of his head, not to interfere'. But in the Epic Poem 
 this efcapes our notice. Now the wonderful always pleafes ; as 
 is evident from the additions which men always make in relating 
 any thing, in order to gratify the hearers. 
 
 V. 
 
 It is from Homer principally, that other Poets have learned the Ficnoir 
 art oi feigning well. It confifls in a fort oi fophifm. When one ^^^ '"^'^ 
 thing is obferved to be conftantly accompanied, or followed, by ^^.^^^/^^ 
 anothery men are apt to conclude, that, if the latter is, or has hap- 
 pened, the former muft alfo be, or muft have happened. But this 
 is an error. ******* For, knowing the latter 
 to be true, the mind is betrayed into the falfe inference, that the 
 firjl is true alfo '. 
 
 VL 
 The Poet fliould prefer impojjibilities ' which appear probable, to Of the im- 
 fuch things as, though pojjible, appear improbable^ Far from pro- probable 
 
 J . and AB« 
 
 ducing 
 
 SURD. 
 
 ' Pope's Iliad, XXII. 267. — Perhaps, the idea of flopping a whole army by a nod, 
 or fhake of the head, {■& circumftance diftindtly mentioned by Homer, but funk in 
 Mr. Pope's verfion,) was the abfurdity htrs principally meant. If this whole Homeric 
 Icene were reprefented on our ftage, in the bejl manner poiiible, there can be na 
 .doubt, that the efFeft would juflify Ariftotle's obferyation. It would certainly fet the 
 audience in a roar. 
 
 ' For an attempt to explain Ariftotle's meaning in this difficult paffage, which, 
 I think, has not hitherto been underftood, I muft refer the reader to the note. 
 
 * This includes all that is- called faery, machinery, ghofts, witches, enchantments, 
 &c. — things, according to Hobbes, " beyond the aiSlual bounds, and only within the 
 " conceived pojjilility of nature." [See the Letters on Chivalry^ as above.] Such a 
 'being as Caliban^ for example, is impojjible. Yet Shakfpeare has made the charaSer 
 appear probable ; not certainly, to reafon, but to imagination : that is, zve make no dif~ 
 JHulty about the pojfibility of it, in raiding. Is not the Lovelace of Richardfon, in this 
 
 view,
 
 120 Of the 'Epic Toenu Part III. 
 
 ducing a plan' made up of improbable incidents, he fliould, if 
 poffible, admit no one circumftance of that kind ; or, if he does, 
 it iliould be exterior to the aSlion itfelf*, like the ignorance of 
 Oedipus concerning the manner in which Laius died ; not within the 
 drama, like the narrative of what happened at the Pythian games, 
 in the EleBra^ ; or, in The Myjians, the man who travels from 
 Tegea to Myfia without fpeaking^. To fay, that without thefe 
 circumftances the fable would have been deftroyed, is a ridiculous 
 excufe : the Poet fliould take care, from the firft, not to conftrudt 
 his fable in that manner. If, however, any thing of this kind has 
 been admitted, and yet is made to pafs under fome colour of pro- 
 bability, it may be allowed, though even, in itfelf, ahfurd. Thus 
 in the OdyJJ'ey ', the improbable account of the manner in which 
 Ulyjfes was landed upon the fliore of Ithaca, is fuch, as in the 
 
 view, more out of nature, more improbable, than the Caliban of Shakfpeare ? The 
 latter is, at lead, confiftent. I can imagine fuch a monfter as Caliban : I never could 
 imagine fuch a man as Lovelace. 
 
 ^ The general plan, Jiory, or argument, as Part II. Se^. 17. including events 
 prior to the aftion, but neceffary to be known. 
 
 ♦ See the beginning of the Oedipus of Sophocles. Though the ignorance of 
 Oedipus appears in the drama itfelf, yet the circumjiances, upon which the improbability 
 of that ignorance depends (his coming to Thebes, marrying Jocafta, and living with 
 her twenty years,) are exterior to the drama: i. e. prior to the opening of the adtion. 
 See above, Part II. Se£i. 15. 
 
 5 See Brumoy, Th. des Grecs, I. p. 428. I belie\'e he is right in underftanding 
 the abfurdity here meant to be — " d'avoir feit racontcr comme inconnue, une chofs 
 " dont Clytemnejlre auroit pu fcavoir d'ailleurs la verite ou la fauITete, furtout s'a- 
 " gillant mOreJle qu'elle craignoit." — The games in queftion were probably fre- 
 quented by all Greece, and whatever happened at them, muft have been matter of 
 fuch public notoriety, that a fraudulent account would have been liable to immediate 
 dcteftion. 
 
 * Of the fubjeft of this Tragedy, and, confequently, of the canfc of the filence 
 here cenfured, we are entirely ignorant. 
 
 ^ See Pope's Tranjl. XIII. 138, and the note there, and on v. 142. Homer fecms, 
 clearly, to have imagined this circuinrtance, for the fake of the intcrcfting fcene 
 which follows when Ulyfles wakes. Sea v. 220,- &c. Of the original, v. 187. 
 
 hands
 
 Part III. Of the Epk Poem. I2i 
 
 hands of an ordinary Poet, would evidently have been intolerable : 
 but here, the abfurdity is concealed under the various beauties, of 
 other kinds, with which the Poet has embelliflied it. 
 
 The DiSlioJi fliould be moft laboured in the idle parts" of the 
 Poem — thofe, in which neither Tnanners, nor fentiments^ prevail j 
 for the manners and the fentiments are only obfcurcd by too 
 fplendid a diilion '. 
 
 ' In the Jlrlifly narrative, or defcript'tve puts, where the Poet fpeaks in his own 
 perfon, and the ii.nltation., the drama, which Ariftotle confidcrs as the trite bufinefs ©f 
 Poetry, is fufpended. Thefe he calls the idle parts. The expre/Tion is ;ipp]ic:iblc alfo 
 to Tragedy; for though its imitation is throughout, yet every drama inuft h;u'C its 
 comparatively idle parts. Such is the defcription above alluded to, of the chariot-race, 
 in the Eletira of Sophocles. The chorufTes alfo may, in a great meafure be {o con- 
 fidereJ; and in them, accordingly, the language is '■'■laboured" and '■'■ fplendid."— \;\ 
 Epic Poetry, thefe parts are of great importance to that variety which charaftcrizcs 
 the fp?cics. [See above, Se£l. II.] In fo long a work, relief is wanted, and we art- 
 glad to hear the Poet in his turn. 
 
 ' The reader may wonder that Ariftotle did not add — " nor pajfwn." But that 
 part of the Epic and Tragic Ppem, which he calls the fentiments, includes the expref^ 
 Jion of pajfon, SeePartll. Scof. 22. And the note here. 
 
 ' " Hisdiflion [Tljomfoh'::] is in the highcft degree florid and luxuriant; fuch as 
 *' may be faid to be to his images and thoughts Iwtlj their lujlre and their fjade ; fuch 
 "as invefts them with fplendour, through which perhapsjhey are not always eafilv 
 " difcerned." — Dr. Johnfon's Life ofThomfon, 
 
 a PART
 
 [ ^22 ] 
 
 R T IV. 
 
 OF CRITICAL OBJECTIONS, AND THE 
 PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THEY ARE TO 
 
 BE ANSWERED. 
 
 I. 
 
 Princi- TTJ'ITH refped to critical objections^ and the an- 
 pLEs on VV swERs to them, the number and nature of the difterent 
 
 Poetry is to fi^'c^^i from which they may be drawn, will be clearly underftood, 
 be DE- if we confider them in the following manner. 
 .TENDED. j^ 'T\\& Poet, being an imitator, like the painter or any other 
 
 artift of that kind, muil necefiarily, when he imitates, have in 
 view one of thcfe three objects ; — he muil reprefent things, fncb 
 
 ' The original is, Problems. This appears to have been a common title of criti- 
 cal worics in Ariftotle's time. Objedions, cenfures, and the moft unreafonabie 
 cavils, v/ere conveyed in the civil form o( problems and qiicjllons. Thus, many criti- 
 cifms on Homer were publiflied under the title of Homeric Problems. 
 
 The fcope of this part of Ariftotle's work is of more importance to his fubjci5l 
 than, at firft view, it may appear to be. In teaching how to ^^/w^r criticifms, it, in fa'ft, 
 teaches, (as far, I mean, as it goes,) what the Poet fliould do to avoid giving occafion 
 to them. It feems, indeed, intended as an apology for Poetry, and a vindication of 
 its privileges upon true poetical principles, at a time when the art and its profeflbrs 
 were unfairly attacked on all fides, by the cavils of profalc philofophers and fophifts, 
 fuch as JriphradeSj Protagoras^ Eudid, &c. and by the/>«r?V««w/obje6tions of Plato 
 and his followers.
 
 Part IV. Of Critical OlyeBlons, &c\ iaj 
 
 «j they tvere, or are^ ; — or, Jlic/j as they ^xcfald to be, and believed 
 to be^, — or, fuch as th.ty JJjould be*. 
 
 2. Again : all this he is to exprefs in words, either common, 
 ov foreign and metaphorical — or varied by feme of thofe many ?!wdl- 
 
 f cations and peculiarities of language, which are the privilege of 
 Poets. 
 
 3. To this we muft add, that what Is right in the Poetic art, 
 is a diftindt confideration from what Is right in the political, or any 
 other art. The faults of Poetry are of two kinds, ejjentlal and 
 accidental. If the Poet has undertaken to Imitate without talents 
 for imitation, his Poetry will be ejfentlally faulty. But if he is 
 right in applying himfelf to Poetic imitation, yet in imitating is 
 occafionally wrong; as, if a horfe, for example, were reprefented 
 moving both his right legs at once ; — or, if he has committed 
 mljlakes, or defcribed things ImpoJJible, with refped: to other arts, 
 that of Phylic, for inflance, or any other — all fuch faults, what- 
 ever they may be, are not ejfentlal, but accidental faults, in tiie 
 Poetry. 
 
 II. 
 
 To the foregoing confiderations, then, we muil have recourfe. In Applica- 
 order to obviate the doubts and objedlions of the critics. '^'^'^ dfcif. 
 
 For, in t\\cfrji place, fuppofe the Poet to have reprefented things ^2. 
 ImpoJJible with refped: to fome other art. This is certainly a fault. 
 Yet it may be an excufable fault, provided the end of the Poet\ 
 art be more effedrually obtained by it ; that is, according to what 
 has already been faid of that e7id, if, by this means, that, or any 
 other part, of the Poem, is made to produce a movt frlklng cffe5i\ 
 The purfuit of Heftor is an inflance \ If, indeed, this end might 
 
 * Compare "Part I. SeEi. 3. 
 
 ' This opens -the door for the marvellous ; machinery, ghoRs, witches, faery, kc*- 
 
 * Compare Part\. Self. 3.— II. end of SeH. 15. and below, Se^. 5. 
 
 ' Which is exadly the cafe with Homer'% improbable account of the landino- of 
 UlyfTef, mentioned above, Part HI. Seti. 6. Sec NoU 7, 
 « PartWl. 5t/7, 4, 
 
 R 2 as
 
 J 24 Qf)CrkicalOlJBahns.^Jic^ ParxJV. 
 
 as welj, or nearly as wel], have been attained, without departiii''- 
 from the principles of the particular art in quellion, the tault, in 
 that cafe, could not be juftiliedj 'fmce faults of every kind lliould, 
 if poliible, be avoided. 
 
 Still we are to confider, farther, v^hether. a fault,t^e,ia things 
 ejjcntial to the Poetic art, or foreign and incidental to it: for it is 
 a far more pardonable fault to he ignorant, for in(lflnce, that a 
 liind has no horns', than to paint one badly. 
 
 III. 
 
 Applica- Farther: If it be objedted to the Poet, that he has not repre- 
 
 VTp°r^^-^ Rented things conformably to truth\ he may anfwer, that he h?£ 
 pl^^ ■ reprefented them as thty JJjouldhe. This was the anfwer of So- 
 phocles — that " he drew mankind fuch as they JJ^ouId be; Euri- 
 " pides, fuch as they are." And this is the proper anfwer. 
 
 But if the Poet has reprefented things in neither of thefe 
 ways, he may anfwer, that he has reprefented them as they iscfaid 
 and believed to be. Of this kind are the poetical defcriptions of 
 the Gods. It cannot, perhaps, be faid, that they are either what 
 is bejl, or what is true ; but, as Xenophanes fays, opinions " taken 
 " up at random:" thefe are things, however, not " clearly 
 " known." 
 
 Again — What the Poet has exhibited is, perhaps, not what is 
 befi, but it is the faSl ; as in the pallage about the arms of the 
 Ikeping foldiers: 
 
 fixed upright in the earth 
 
 Their fpeari ftooJ by". 
 
 For 
 
 ' " A hind ivitb golikn horns" is exprcfsly mentloneJ by Pindar in iiis 3d Olym- 
 pic Ode, and by other Greek Poets. This inaccuracy in natural hiJlor)\ had probably 
 been the fubjedt of critical cavil. 
 
 ° i. e. to common nature. Above, he cxprefTcs it, by " reprefenting thingsyaci^ 
 " as they werey or are." 
 
 » Iliad, X. 152,— In Pope's tianflation, v. 170, fee— On what account this had 
 
 been
 
 ^ ART .IV-. Qf Critical Oljcdiknsy &>, 125 
 
 For fuch wns the cuflom at thiU time, as it is now amon^ the 
 Illyrians. 
 
 IV. 
 In order to jucige whether what is faid, or done, by any cha- Ceamie of 
 rafter, be ivell, or ///, we are not to coniider that Ipeech or adion '••'Mo-'^-^f' 
 
 7 1 11 ••,..•• 1 7 , ! ^ ^r I i • Jpecch OX CK- 
 
 ahm , whether in iljclj it be good, or bad, but alio by wlioin it ^/j,, -^^^ t^, 
 is fpoken or done, to whom, at what time, in what manner, or for be examiu- 
 what end — whether, for inftance, in order to obtain fome greater 
 good, or to avoid fome greater evil. 
 
 V. 
 
 For the fokition of fome objeftions, we mull have recourfe to the Applica- 
 Biaion. For example : '^ '^^, °^ '^?'i 
 
 lecond Prin- 
 OTPHAS l^l^V 'TT^COTOV — -^.;^/^_ 
 
 *'■ On MULES and dogs the infeftion/r,'? began '." 
 
 Pope. 
 This may be defended by faying, that the Poet has, perhaps, ufed 
 the word ^^yjoig in its foreign acceptation of centinels, not in its 
 proper fenfe, of mules. 
 
 been objefted to by the critics, we are left to guefs. Dacier, after Victorius, fuppofcs 
 the objection to be, that the fpear?, {o faftened in the gi-ound, could not be readily dif- 
 engaged, in cafe of a fudden attack:. I fhall only obierve, that by Homer's defcrip- 
 tion of the truce in the 3d book, this appears to have been the ufual pofition of their 
 fpears when no attack was apprehended, and in open day-light ; which makes it the 
 lefs furprifing that it fhould have been objected to as an impropriety in a fituation of 
 nofturnal danger, fuch as is defcribcd in the paffage referred to. — What Pope, III. 
 177, tranflates, " reft their fpears," is, in Homer, "their fpears Vicre fixed." ( — Trance 
 5' iyxto- i^^icfa riEriHrEN. V. 1 35. ) 
 
 ' This is plainly connected with what precedes, which cannot be properly applied 
 without taking in the confideration of charaSIer, circumjlances, motives. Sec. — The 
 fpeech of Satan, for example, in Farad. Loji, IV. 32, taken in itfelf, is horrible : re- 
 ferred to the charafler who fpeaks it, nothing can be better. It is, poetically fpeaking, 
 exadtly what \t jhould be. 
 
 '^ II. I. 69.— The reafon of the objection here is not told, and has been varioufly 
 gueffl'd by the commentators. Probably, the piopricty of making the mules xhe. firji 
 fufferers, before horfes and other animals, was the matter in difpute. The objeiStion 
 feems frivolous, and the folution improbable. 
 
 So
 
 126 Cf Critical Obje£lio}isy &c. Part IV, 
 
 So alfo in the paflage where it is faid of 'Doloii'-* 
 
 Of form unhappy. 
 
 The meaning is, not, that his per/on was deformed, but, that his 
 face was ugly ; for the Cretans ufe the word ETEIAEZ— " well- 
 " formed" — to exprefs a beautifuiy^f^. 
 Again : 
 
 ZXIPOTEPON h zs^xi^B* 
 
 Here, the meaning is not, " mix it jlrong," as for intemperate 
 drinkers; but, " mix it quickly." 
 
 2. The following paffages may be defended by metaphor. 
 " Now pleafing fleep had feal'd each mortal eye ; 
 " Stretch'd in the tents the Grecian leaders lie ; 
 " The immortals 7?««/iJ^r'J on their thrones above'" 
 
 As:ain 
 
 " When on the Trojan plain his anxious eye 
 
 <t Watchful he /xV''." 
 
 ' II. K. 316. — Pope, X. 375, has followed AriRotle's interpretation: 
 " Not bled by luture with the charms of face, 
 " But fvvlft of foot, and matchlefs in the race." 
 The objection of the critics isfuppofed to have been, that an ill-made man, could 
 not be a good racer. See Pope's Note. 
 
 ^ Iliad IX. 267, 8. — Pope follows the common, and probably the right, accept- 
 ation of the word. " ^Wx purer wine." — Ariftotle's interpretation has not made its 
 fv>rtunc with the critics. He feems to have produced it rather as an exemplification 
 of they»rf of anfwer which he is here confideriiig, than as an opinion in which he 
 acquiefced himftlf. It was, probably, an anfwer which bad been given.' The 
 cavil, according to Plutarch, came from Zollus. [See the Sympofiac Prob. c^f Plut. V, 4, 
 where this fubjc-£t is difcufled, and fcveral other conjeflural fenfes of the word Zwfo- 
 Tffw are propofed.J 
 
 ' Beginning of //. \\. — JVhat it was that wanted defence in this pafTage, and that 
 was to be taken metaphorically, we are not told. That it was the reprcfentation of 
 the Godi z% Jleepingy is the moft probable conjcfture. This is fomewhat foftciied by 
 Mr. Pope's '■'■ fumbered.'" Homer fays — " slept all the night." — Ei/obv wmwx'i". 
 
 ' Iliad^ X. V. 13. (of the Or'ig. v. 11.) But Pope's verfion was not literal 
 enough for mv purpofe. Eor the fuppofcd objection, fee my note. 
 
 And—
 
 Part IV^. Of Critical Objecllom^ Gf^, izy 
 
 And— 
 
 k\Skm (TV^iyyui/ 5' OMAAON'^ 
 
 ********* 
 
 For, all\ is put metaphorically'^ iiiflead oi many ', all being a 
 f pedes of many. 
 Here alfo— 
 
 The Bear alone, 
 
 " Still fhines exalted in th' fecherial plain, 
 
 " Nor bathes his flaming forehead in the main '." 
 
 Pope. 
 Alone, is metaphorical: the mofl remarkable thing in any kind, 
 we fpeak, of as the 07zly one. 
 We may have recourfe alfo, 
 3. To accent: as the following paflage — - 
 
 AIAOMEN Je hi lb%©^ d^ea-dai ''■ — 
 And this — TO fx.ev OT KurxTs-uQsrai c,«,G^iy ^ — were defended by 
 Htpplas of Thafos. 
 
 ' Ihul, 15, 16. — Orig. 13. The fenfe of the example may be given, pretty 
 dofely, thus; 
 
 The diftant voice of flutes and pipes he mark'd 
 With wonder, and the " bufy hum of men." 
 But this does not anfwer exaftly to the Greek, where the word, wliich I have 
 rendered hum, may fignify either the hum or murmur of a multitude, or the multltudi 
 itfelf. See the note. 
 
 * As the Greek word for all, does not occur in any of the preceding examples, 
 we fuppofe fome example, correfppnding to this explanation, to have been loft, 
 
 ^ i. e. by Synecdoche. See above, p. 107. 
 
 ' Iliad, XVIII. V. 565, 566, and fee the note there. 
 
 * See Pope's Iliad, II. 9, and his note. Fc* the Jefuitical diftincllon of /////j/rti's 
 Theology, fee the note. 
 
 ' II. Y. 328.— Pope's tranfl. XXIII. 402.—" unperlflied with the rains." Ac- 
 cording to a different accentuation of the word OT, in the original, it would mean, 
 " where perifhed with the rains.".*— See the note. 
 
 Q . 4. To
 
 12? Of Critical ObjeBioJis, ^c. Part IV. 
 
 4. To PUNCTUATION; as ill tliis paflage of Empedoclcs: — 
 
 Z-QPA TE TA nPIN AKPHTA- 
 
 i. e. things, before immortal. 
 
 Mortal became, and mix'd before unmix' d'', 
 [Their courfes changed.] 
 
 5. To AMBiGuiTVj as in — Tkot.^'xyj.v.vj li IIAEIIN j-'j?' — where 
 the word nAEIlN is ambiguous. 
 
 6. To CUSTOMARY SPEECH: thus, wiiie mixed with water, 
 or whatever is poured out to drink as wine, is called OINOZ — wine: 
 hence, Ganymede is faid — A;i" OINOXOETEIN *" — to " pour the 
 " WINE to Jove:" though wine is not the liquor of the Gods. 
 This, however, may alfo be defended by metaphor \ 
 
 * The verfes allude to the two great phyfical pnnciples of Empedodes, which lie 
 chofe to denominate yj-w.'.'^;//) ^.ndjirife, and in which modern philofophers have dif- 
 covereJ the Newtonian principles of cdtra^lon and npulfton. He held everything to 
 be formed of the four elements, and refolved into them again. Friendjhjp was the 
 unitiiig,y/?7/i', the feparating, principle. The elements themfelves, in their fepa rate 
 zndjimpk^^ Itate, were immortal; the things compounded of them, were mortal; i. e. 
 liable to be refolved into their flrft principles, — As far as we can make anything of 
 this fragment, it feems intended to exprefs ths two contrary changes of things ; from 
 im?nortal to mortal, by the uniting principle, and from mortal to immortal, i. e. from 
 ?nixed to umnixcd, by the difuuiting principle. But the v.'ords — " mixed before iin~ 
 " mixed" will, plainly, exprefs either of thefe changes, according as we place the 
 comma, after ?nixed-, or after before. It is imagined, that the critics miftook the 
 puniStuation fo as to make Empedocles exprefs only the fame change in dift'erent words, 
 and then cenfured this, as inconfiftent with the expreflion, " their courfes changed," 
 [Jia^XxTTOi'Ta: KEAsyfe; — changing their ivays.'\ 
 
 5 ILK. 252.— Pope's tranflation, X. 298. The original hys—'-'- more thaa 
 *'■ two parts of the night are pad: ; the third part remains." — This the cavilling 
 critics cenfured as a fort of bull. What is gneffed to have been the anfwcr, the reader 
 may f(.e, but I believe will hardly w//7j to fee, in Dacier's notes. 
 
 '■ //. T. 23+. Pope, XX. 278, &c.— He renders it-" to bear the cup of Jove." 
 
 ' The metaphor ivomffecics tbfpecia. See p. 108. 
 
 Tlius,
 
 Part iV. Of Critical Olje^iians, &c, 129 
 
 Thus, again, artificers in iron are called XoiXKn; — literally, bra^ 
 Jiers, Of this kind is the expreffion of the Poet — Ki/)jjK..f vioTiv^x!' 
 KAZIITEPOIO'. 
 
 7. When a word, in any paflage, appears to exprefs a co7itra- 
 diSlion, we muft confider, in how many different senses it may 
 there be taken. Here, for inftance — 
 
 — Tj? p EEXETO -xoCK-Aiov iyx^^—— 
 " There/,!/^-^ the huice'." Pope. 
 
 —the -meaning is, -wz?, Jiopped only , or repelled. 
 
 Of how many different fenfes a word is capable, may befl be dif- 
 covered by confidering the different fenfes that ^.vcoppofed to it. 
 
 We may alfo fay, with Glauco, that fome critics, firll take 
 things for granted without foundation, and then argue from thefe 
 previous decifions of their own; and, having once pronounced their 
 judgment, condemn, as an inconjijience, whatever is contrary to 
 their preconceived opinion. Of this kind is the cavil of the critics 
 concerning Icariics\ Taking it for granted that he was a Lace- 
 
 ' //. $. 592. — Literally, " greaves of //«." But it is not cujlomary fpeech with 
 ?/;, to fay tin, for iron or ftecl. The Greek word for tin, however, appears to have 
 been fo ufed. — We are not here to underftand the objeftion to have been pointed at 
 the improper ufe of a word. The critics took, or pretended to take, the word in its 
 proper fenfe, and thence objefted to the abfurdity of tin armour. 
 
 ' II. XX. 321. — Mr. Pope feems to have tranflated very accurately here, and to 
 have preferved even the ambiguity of the original ; for the verb, to Jiick, admit?, 
 like the Greek word, (EXEcrSai) of two fenfes; — that of being fijiened to, or fixed in, 
 and that of he'ingjlopped — prevented from going fa rt/jer. — See the note. 
 " impenetrable charms" 
 
 Secur'd the temper of th' aetherial arms. 
 
 Thro' two ftrong plates the point its pafTage held, 
 
 But Jlopp'd, and rejied, by the third repell'd; 
 
 Five plates of various metal, various mold, 
 
 Compos'd the fhield ; of brafs each outward fold, 
 
 Of tin each inward, and the middle, gold : 
 
 There stuck the lance." ■■ 
 
 I Mentioned by Homer as the father of Penelope. 
 
 S dfemonian^
 
 1 00 Of Critical ObjeHions, &c. Part IV. 
 
 dasmonian, they thence infer the abfurdity of fuppofmg Telema- 
 chus not to have feen him when he went to Lacedeemon ''. But, 
 perhaps, what the Cephalenians fay may be the truth. They 
 aflcrt, that the wife of Ulyfes was of their country, and that the , 
 name of her father was not Icariiis, but Icadius. The objeftion 
 itfelf, therefore, is probably founded on a miflake. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Cenfure of The ItnpoJJibk , in general, is to be juflified by referring, either to 
 
 Impossibi- ^\^q end of Poetry itfelf, or to what is beji, or to opinion. 
 
 th^^ ^7- ^ov, with refpedl to Poetry, impoffibilities, rtndicrzA probable, are 
 
 dered. preferable to things improbable, though pojjibk^ . 
 
 With refpeft alfo to what is beJl", the imitations of Poetry fhould 
 refemble the paintings of Zeuxis': the example fhould be more 
 perfedl than nature. 
 
 To opinion, or what is commonly yT/zV to be, may be referred 
 even fuch things as are improbable and abfurd; and it may alfo be 
 faid, that events of that kind are, fometimes, not really impro- 
 bable ; fince " it is probable, that many things ilaould happen 
 '' contrary to probability*. 
 
 -- See Pope's Odyffey, IV. 
 
 5 See ?art\\\. Sea. 6. and Note \ p. 119. 
 
 * Improved nature, ideal beauty, &c. which, elfewhere, is cxprefied by, what 
 J!}3u!(l be. Compare the beginning of this Patt, and Se^. ^.—Pait I. Se£f. 3.— 
 Port II. Seff. 15. p. 94. 
 
 ' " In ancient days, while Greece was flourifliing in liberty and arts, a celebrated 
 " painter, \_Zeuxis,] having drawn many excellent pidlures for a certain free ftate, 
 " and been generoufly rewarded for his labours, at laft made an offer to paint them a 
 *' Helen, as a model and exemplar of the moft exquifite beauty. The propofal was 
 " readily accepted, when the artift informed them, that in order to draw one Fair, it 
 " was necefTary he (hould contemplate many. He demanded therefore a fight of all 
 " their fined women. The ftate, to afllft the work, afiented Co his requeft. They 
 «' were exhibited before him ;• he fclcilcd the moft beautiful ; and from thefe formed 
 *' his Helen, more beautiful than them all." — Harris's Three Trcatifcs, p. 216. 
 
 * See Part II. Seii, 20, at the end, and note 156. 
 
 VII. When
 
 Part IV. Of Critical Objections, ^c, 131 
 
 VII. 
 
 When things are faid, which appear to be contradidiory, we muft Inconsis- 
 cxamine them as we do in logical confutation : whether thtfame tence. 
 thing be fpoken of 5 whether in the fame 7-efpe£}, and in the fame 
 fen/e. *■**********■*. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Improbability, and vitious manners, when excufed by no neceffity, Improba- 
 are iuft obiedts of critical cenfure. Such is the improbability in ^'^'"^^ ^^^ 
 the JEgeiis'' of Euripides, and the vitious character of Menelaus charac- 
 in his OreJies\ ter. 
 
 Thus, the fources from which the critics draw their o/^V^wzx Recapitula- 
 arefive: theyobjedt to things as impofjible, ox improbable, or of immo 
 ral tendency, or contradictory, or contrary to technical accuracy. The 
 anfwers, which are twelve in number, may be deduced from what 
 has been faid*. 
 
 ' Of this Tragedy, fome inconfiderable fragments only remain. 
 
 " See p. 93. 
 
 ° The reader, who regards his own eafe, will, I believe, do well to take this for 
 granted. If however he has any defire to try the experiment, he may read tl)e 
 NOTE on this paflage; and I wifli it may anfwer to him. 
 
 tion. 
 
 S a PART
 
 C ^r- 1 
 
 R T V. 
 
 OF THE SUPERIORITY OF TRAGIC TO 
 EPIC POETRY. 
 
 I. 
 
 Objectioh XT may be inquired, farther, which of the two imitations, the 
 to Fra- J_ Epic, or the Tragic, deferves the preference. 
 
 CJDY. ^ 
 
 If that, which is the lead vulgar, or popular, of the two, be the 
 beft, and that be fuch, which is calculated for the better fort of 
 fpeftators — the imitation, which extends to every circumftance', 
 muft, evidently, be the mofl vulgar, or popular; for there, the 
 imitators have recourfe to every kind of motion and gefliculation, 
 as if the audience, without the aid of adlion, were incapable of 
 underftanding them : like bad flute-players, who whirl them- 
 felves round, when they would imitate the motion of the Difcus, 
 and pull the Coryphseus, when Scylla is the fubjedl\ Such is 
 Tragedy. It may alfo be compared to what the modern aSlors 
 are in the eftimation of their predeceflbrs ; for Mynifcus ufed to 
 call Cal/ipedes, on account of his intemperate adlion, the ape : and 
 
 * Though Ariftotie inftances in gejlure only, the cbjeftion, no doubt, extended 
 io\hs whole imitative rcprefentation of the theatre, induding ihejlage and fcenery, by 
 which place is imitated, and the drejjisy which arc ncccfliiry to complete the imitation 
 of the perfons. 
 
 * See the notei. 
 
 Tyndartis
 
 tion AN- 
 SWERED. 
 
 Part V. Of the Superiority of Tragic fo Epic Poetry. 133 
 
 'Tyndariis was cen fared on the fame account. What thefe per- 
 formers are with refpedl to their predeceflbrs, the Tragic imita- 
 tion, when entire, is to the Epic. The latter, then, it is urged, 
 addrefTes itfelf to hearers of the better fort, to whom the adaition 
 of gefture is fuperfluous : but Tragedy is for the people^; and 
 being, therefore, the moft vulgar kind of imitation, is evidently 
 the inferior. 
 
 11. 
 
 But now, in the firft place, this cenfure falls, not upon the The Objec- 
 Poet''?, art, but upon that of the aSlor ; for the gefticulatic^n may be 
 equally laboured in the recitation of an Epic Poem, as it was by 
 Sojlratus ; and in fmging, as by Mnafitheus, the Opimtian. 
 
 Again — 'All gefticulation is not to be condemned; fince even all 
 dancijig is not ; but fuch only, as is unbecoming — fuch as was 
 Gbjed:ed to Callipides, and is now objedled to others, whofe geftures 
 refemble thofe of immodeft women*. 
 
 ' Farther — Tragedy, as v/ell as the Epic, is capable of producing 
 its effecft, even without aftion ; we can judge of it perfedlly by 
 reading\ If, then, in other refpefts. Tragedy be fuperior, it is 
 fafficient that the fault here objected is not ejjential to it. 
 
 rii. 
 
 Tragedy has the advantage in the following refpedls. — It pof- Advakta. 
 feffes all that is poffefTed by the Epic j it might even adopt its c^sot Tra- 
 
 gedy. 
 
 3 '* It muft be allowed, that ftage-poetry, of all other, is more particularly levelled 
 " to pleafe the populace., and its fuccefs more immediately depending upon the common 
 ^'■fuff'rage." Pope's Pref. to Shakfpeare. 
 
 * As no aHreffes were admitted on the Greek ftage, their capital aSion muft fre- 
 quently have appeared in female p^rts, fuch as, EleHra, Iphigefiia^ Medeg, &Cn This 
 is fufficiently proved by many pafTages of antient authors ; and among others, by a 
 remarkable (lory of an eminent Greek Tragic aflor, told by Aulm Gellius. See the 
 
 NbTE. 
 
 = So above, p. 78,—" the pov/er of Tragedy is felt without reprefentation and 
 « adiorA'*: , '-' 
 
 metre : ,
 
 r \ 
 
 134. Of tie Superiority of Tragic to Epic Poetry. Part V. 
 
 ijietre' : and to this it makes no inconfidcrable addition, in the 
 Mufic and the Decoration j by the latter of which, the illufion is 
 heightened, and the pleafure, adfing from the aiStion, is rendered 
 more fenfible and ftriking. 
 
 It has tlie advantage of greater clearnefs and diftindlnefs of im- 
 preffion, as well hi receding, as in reprefentation. 
 
 It has alfo that, of attaining the end of its imitation in a iliorter 
 compafs : for the effedl is more pleafurable, when produced by a 
 fhort and clofe feries of imprelTions, than when weakened by dif- 
 fufion through a long extent of time j as the Oedipus of Sophocles, 
 for example, would be, if it were drawn out to the length of the 
 Iliad, 
 
 Farther: there is leCs unity '^ in all Epic imitation ^ a§ appears 
 from this — that any Epic Poem will furnifli matter for fevcral 
 Tragedies. For, fuppofmg the Poet to chufe a fAhlt Jlrlclly onct 
 the confequence muft be, either, that his Poem, if proportionably 
 contrafted, will appear curtailed and defedlive, or, if extended to 
 the ufual length, will become weak, and, as it were, diluted. If, 
 on the other hand, we fuppofe him to employ fevcral fables — that 
 is J a fable compofed o^ jroeral aclIo7is''^—h\s imitation is no longer 
 JlrlBly one. The Iliad, for example, and the Odyjfey contain many 
 fuch fubordinate parts, each of which has a certain magnitude, 
 and unity, of its own : yet is the condrudlion of thofe Poems as 
 perfeft, and as nearly approaching to the imitation of a fingle 
 adion, as poffible. 
 
 * See NOTE 36. 
 
 * See p. 39, Note ^. 
 
 '' Compare Part 11. Se£I. 20, and Note 9. — Ariftotle is not here fpeaking of that 
 unconneJled, hi/Iorical multipVidty of aftion, which he had before condemned, [Part 
 111. Sen. I.] but of fuch as was ejcnt'uil to the nature of the Epic Poem. This is 
 plain, from the example^ which immediately follow*; and, indeed, from the very drift 
 •f his argument. 
 
 8 IV. if.
 
 Part V. Of the Superiority of Tragic to Epic Poetry. 135 
 
 IV. 
 
 If then Tragedy be fuperior to the Epic in all thefe refpeds, Prefer- 
 and, alfo, in the peculiar end at which it aims', (for each fpecies -y^j^q^j^^ 
 ought to afford, not any fort of pleafure indifcriminately, but 
 fuch only as has been pointed out,) it evidently follows, that 
 Tragedy, as it attains more effectually the end of the art itfelf. 
 mufl deferve the preference. 
 
 And thus much concerning Tragic and Epic Poetry in CoNctui 
 genera/, and their feveral fpecies — the ?iumber and the differences of siok. 
 their parts — the cavJfes of their beauties and their defe5is — the 
 cenfiires of critics, and the principles on which they are to be 
 
 anfwered. 
 
 * i. e. according to Ariftotle's principles, to give " that pleafure which arifkl. 
 '^frtm terrar andpit^, through inutation," See p^ 90^ 
 
 NOTES.
 
 [ 137 ] 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 P. I. T~XI1'HYRAMBICS IMITATION. 
 
 D 
 
 If the fenfes, in which the term imitation is applied by Ari- 
 ftotle to Poetry, have been rightly determined in the firft 
 DifTertation, there can be no difficulty with refpedl to the imitative 
 nature of the Epic and Dramatic fpecies. That of the Dithy- 
 rambic is not quite fo obvious, and has accordingly been varioufly 
 explained. The little, however, that remains of what Ariflotle 
 had faid upon this fubje6t, feems fufficient to releafe any conamen- 
 tator, who is willing to be releafed, from the trouble of conjectural 
 ingenuity. In Se5i. 3. Parti, where the different objcSis .oi imi- 
 tation are confidered, he exprefsly makes Dithyrambic Poetry 
 imitative of actions, charadlers, and manners, as well as the Epic 
 and Dramatic ; and he, particularly, mentions the Perfians and 
 the Cyclops as imitated in the Dithyrambic and Nomic Poetiy of 
 Timotheus and Philoxenus\ We may conclude, then, that he 
 regarded this kind of Poetry as imitative becaufe, though the my- 
 thological tales, which furniilied the fubjedl of thefe hymns, v/ere, 
 
 " -- i>i riEPSAS m\. KYKAanAS TiMf©" m $iMje»®-. 
 
 T indeed.
 
 1-38 N O T E S. 
 
 indeed, . articles of Pagan faith, and depended not on the Poet's 
 imagination, yet, in the detail of thefe ftories, in defcribing the 
 aftions, .and dehneating the charadters, of the deities themfeh-es, 
 and, flill more, of other fabulous and heroic perfonages occaiionally 
 introduced, his fancy and invention mufl neceflarily be, more or 
 lefs, employed. This, as we have feen, was, in Ariflotle's view, 
 imitation; whether the form of that imitation was partly dramatic 
 and perfonative, or mere recital in the perfon of the Poet''. That 
 the Poetry of thefe Dithyrambic compofitions was chieiiy of the 
 latter kind, feems to be implied in the expreffion of Plato, who, 
 where he explains his divifion of Poetry into three forts — the 
 purely imitative, or dramatic, the purely narrative, and the mixed — 
 refers, for an example of the purely narrative, to Dithyrambic 
 Poetry. Yet he fays only, that it is to be found cbiejiy there— 
 \moiq V CX.V civrviv MAAILTA HOT \v Ai9u^oif/,f^otg\ The expreffion is 
 remarkable, and leaves room for more than a conjetHure, that the 
 Dithyrambic was fometimes imitative even in the ftridl fenfe 
 of Plato ; that is, that the dramatic mixture of the Epic was 
 occafionally admitted. Inftances of this occur in the Odes of 
 Pindar ** ; and many of the Odes of Horace are dramatic'. 
 
 The embarraflment of the commentators feems to have arifen, 
 principally, from the difficulty they found in conceiving, thzt JiSiioJi 
 could be admitted into a fpecies of Poetry addreffed to the Gods, 
 and founded on the eftabliihied Theology of the age. The hymns 
 of Callimachus, and thofe attributed to Homer, might have been 
 
 ^ Diir. I. p. 25. •= Rep. lib. iii. p. 394. 
 
 <• Ofyinp. I. Ant'if. 7, where Pelops fpeaks. See alfo Olymp. VI. E-pode a, and 
 •/. — Olymp. VIII. Ep. g — And the prophecy of Amphiaraus, in Pyth. VIII. Strophe y. 
 — The Odes of Pindar, indeed, are not y?r;V7/v Dithyrambit Poetry; but the chief 
 cifFtrcnce was probably that of their fubje^s. 
 
 ' See Dr. Warton's E^ciy on Pope, vol. ii. 44, &c. wlicre the beauties of thofe 
 dramatic Odes,ajid particularly of the fifth Epode, are pointed out and illultratcd with 
 much tafte. 
 
 6 fufficient
 
 N O t E S. 139 
 
 fufficient to remove this difficulty. Thcfc are not, like the Orphic 
 hymns, mere invocations, and mdigitamcnta, confifting in a fliort 
 and folemn accumulation of epithets and attributes : they are Epicy 
 narrative hymns ; in v^^hich the birth, the adlions, and even the 
 charadlers and manners oi^ the deities are dcfcribed at length, and 
 the fi<9:ions of the Poet's imagination are everywhere engrafted 
 upon the popular creed. The mixture of dramatic imitation, in 
 the Dithyrambic Poetry, is alfo rendered more probable by the 
 frequent examples of it in thefe hymns j and efpecially in thofe of 
 Homer. From the enthufiailic, wild, audacious character "^ po'cu- 
 liarly attributed to the Bacchic hymns, we have, furely, no reafonr 
 to fuppofe in them a degree of fcruple and referve, with refpedt to 
 all this, which we do not find in other antient religious compofi- 
 tions of a more fober and regular caft. 
 
 After what has been faid, the reader will hardly think it necef- 
 fary to have recourfe to fo dillant and conjeftural an interpretation 
 as that of the Abbe Batteux, who fays — " Le Dithyrambe eft; 
 " imitatio?2, parceque le Poete, en le compofant, exprime d'apres le 
 " vraifemblable, les fentimens, les tranfports, I'ivrelTe, qui doit 
 *'. regner dans le Dithyrambe^ This ingenious writer feems to have 
 been forced into this folution of the matter by his defire of extend- 
 ing the principle of Poetic imitation beyond the limits, not only 
 * of Ariflotle's meaning, but of all reafonable analogy. All Lyric 
 Poetry he holds to be ejjentially imitative ; and defining it to be that 
 -Poetry, " qui exprime le fentiment^ ^^ he is reduced to the neceffity 
 of making out thefe fentiments, or feelings, to be, in fome fort, 
 itnitations -y for no other reafon, than, that they are affumed and 
 feigned — the temporary produce of that voluntary enthufiafm, 
 which the Poet, by the force of his imagination, excites in him- 
 
 ^ " Audacei Dithyrambos." Hor. 
 
 « Ch. i. of his tranflation; — notc^ under the text. 
 
 * See his Beaux Arts reduks a uii mime principe, ch. on Lyrk Pectry : and vol. iii. 
 of h'i^ Principts de la literature, ch. i. Trt^ite 6. 
 
 T 2 felf
 
 140 NOTES. 
 
 fel£ during the moments of compofition. But this belongs rather 
 to the flyle and manner, than to the matter, of Poetry : if 
 vnitation at all, it is the imitation, not, properly, of the Poet, but 
 of the fnati, in order to become the Poet. — The general charader 
 of Lyric Poetry is enthufiafm -, and enthufiafm, fays M. Batteux, 
 " n'eft autre chofe quiin fentimetit quel quil foit — amour, colere, 
 *' joie, admiration, triflefle, &c. — produit par une idee'." But if 
 all illufive feelings of this kind, raifed in us by imagination, are 
 imitations, then, not only every artifl of genius is an imitator, when 
 he conceives and plans his w^ork, but even every man of fenfibility, 
 whenever he is led, by the voluntary excurfions of his fancy, into 
 warm and paffionate feelings, that are not prompted by real cir- 
 cumftances. — It is certain, indeed, that not only Dithyrambic and 
 Lyric Poetry, but Epic alfo, and perhaps every other fpecies 
 worth regarding, has its appropriated flyle and tone, which every 
 Poet adopts and imitates, when he compofes in the kind to which 
 it belongs. But the fame may be faid of a hiflory, a fermon, and 
 eves of a letter: for in thefe alfo, though wo. may not imitate any 
 particular writer, we. naturally conform to the general ftyle and 
 manner that charafterize the particular fpecies of compofition. 
 Ail this however has, manifeftly, nothing to do with the imi-. 
 tation that we are confidering. 
 
 The Lyric Poet is not always, and elTentially, an imitator, any 
 more than the Epic. While he is merely expreffing his own Jen- 
 timcnts, in his own perfon, we confider him not as imitating; — 
 we inquire not whether they are the affumed fentiments of the 
 Poetic character, or the real fentiments of the writer himfelf ; we 
 do not even think of any fuch diftinftion. He is underftood to 
 imitate, in the moll general view, no otherwife than hyfBion, by 
 perfonation, by defcription, or hy foiind"^ ; in the view of Ariltotle, 
 only by the twofirji of thefe. 
 
 ' Pr:ncipcs dc la Lit. Tralte 6. cb. 
 •' See Dijfert. I. p. 22, 
 
 I wHl
 
 NOTES. 141 
 
 I will only add, that the Dithyrambic Poetry was, it feems, not 
 originally imitative, but became fo by degrees. This faft, and the 
 caufes of it, we learn from a curious paiTage, in the Harmonic 
 Problems of Ariilotle, which I Ihall have occafion to mention in 
 another place. 
 
 NOTE 2, 
 
 P. 2. For as men, some through art, and som.e 
 
 THROUGH HABIT, IMITATE VARIOUS OBJECTS, &C. 
 
 I have followed the old and moft authentic reading, ?<a tijs- 
 *X1NHS : which, though not unexceptionable, has been rejedled, 
 I think, without fufficient reafon. The philofopher is, here, 
 only illuflrating what he had faid of the ditferent means of poe- 
 tical and mufical imitation, by comparing thofe arts, in this 
 refpedl, v/ith other arts more JiriBly and obvioujiy imitative. That 
 he meant to confine his illuilration to Painting, was a groundlefs 
 fancy of Dacier, v/hich led him into two unnecefiaiy correftions 
 of the text, and a very forced and improbable explication of the 
 whole paffage. The remark of Ariflotle, parenthetically flung in, 
 about art and habif, [01 ^iv ^m te;^!"^?-, ot Jk Sia crvvrfizioig,) was by no 
 means necejjary to his illuftration. Dacier extends the parenthefis 
 by the reading he adopts, (o< ^vj oiot TS-^vrig, 01 Se ha. <rvv7i9siug, ereooi 
 ^£ AI'AM^OIN,) then wonders, why Ariilotle, " qui n'ecrit pas un 
 •* feul mot inutilement," lliould enter into fuch a detail j and then, 
 wantonly alters the text, (from la Ts^r,;,', to la, TTXHS,) in order 
 to account for it in a manner, that leaves it more wonderful than 
 he found it. Caftelvetro had before propofed a fimilar alteration 
 — sTB^ot Se AMOjOTEPOIS ; but in a fenfe, which, could it be fup- 
 ported, would be far more to the purpofe than that of Dacier t 
 
 i. e>
 
 142 NOT E S; 
 
 i.e. " others, again, [imitate] both by colour and by figure." 
 This would anfvver to what follows, — that the different means oi 
 imitation, in tlie Poetical and Mufical arb, were ufed, fofiaetinfye* 
 feparately, and fometinies combined. To 'this- fetife, however, aA 
 objedlion immediately occurs. We may imitate arl object by 
 figure without colour, but not by colour without figure. This 
 difficulty, indeed, Caftelvetro endeavours to get rid of, by under- 
 flanding a-x^'^fii^ot-rci, here_, to denote^only xhtfolid form of Sculpture, 
 and %^to/*aT«, Painting, as chiefly characSterized by colour j and, 
 thus, for an example of . imitation by both tbofe means j be is 
 forced to_have recourfe to the coloured Sculpture of the antients". 
 But it would be a wafte of difcuffion to enter fully into the merits 
 of an- explanation, that is founded on a reading, by no means, I 
 think, fufficiently warranted, either by the ^ authority of .MSS. or 
 by any neceflity of alteration. 
 
 * That the antients fometimes coloured their fiatue?, is well known. From 
 many paiTages which might be produced >is proof?, I fhall feleft one from Plato, 
 ■which is curious, and would be, alone, decifive. It is iii the beginning of his 4th 
 book De Repuh. — It had been objected, that, by the feveiity of his laws relating to 
 his (pifMMii or magiftrates, they were reduced to a worfe condition, with refpedt to 
 happinefs, than the reft of the citizens. His anfwer is, that the aim of his legiflation 
 was, not to provide for the fuperior happinefs of any one part of his commonwealth, 
 but for the greateft poflible happinefs of the whole. " Suppofe," fays Socrates, " we 
 " were painting ajiatiie; and any one fhould come, and objeiSt to us, as a fault, that 
 " we did not apply the moft beautiful colours to the m«ft beautiful parts of the 
 " body — that we had made the eye^^ for inftance, hlack^ when we fliould have given 
 *' them, as being the chief beauty of the human form, a purple colour. — It would," 
 cominucs Socrates, " be a very reafonable apology, if we fliould requeft this critic 
 *' not to infift on our making the eyes fo beautiful, as to have no longer the appear > 
 " ance of eyes; but to confider, only, whether, by giving to each part its proper 
 " colour, we fhould not make the ivholc beautiful. — This is prccifely the apology 
 " I make for our legiflation: I requeft the cbjedtor, iiot to infift on our allotting to 
 ♦' the guardians of the ftate fuch a happinefs, as would render them any thing elfe 
 " rather than guardians^" &c. PlatoDe Rep, lib. iv. p. 420. C. Ed. Ser. Llawif 
 iviui £1 — &c. 
 
 That
 
 NOTES. 
 
 h: 
 
 That -the Avords •x^vfJi.xTx and o-^niA'X'Tot, are very frequently joined 
 by the Greek writers to denote painting, is certain \ But Ariftotle 
 is not here fpeaking of the .different ^V/j' jvhich employ thefe means 
 of imitation, but of the Wi'«*/ themfelves, feparately and abflradt- 
 edly. The applica^tion. of ,ili©fe; -fingly, or in -thek various cona- 
 biaations, to thofe arts, he has left to the reader. It feems 
 probable, (as Viftorius has obferved,) that Sculpture, at leaft, was 
 included in Arjflotle's idea ;of {r;^jijjttf«ra. Poffibly, too, the word 
 may be here ufed ia its widefl: Xenifi, ^i figure ov form in general; 
 which would tafcein .the OMtlim ef Painting, ths fo-lid figure of 
 Sculpture ', and the gefiiires of thp perfonal Mimic. 
 
 That, at leaff, the word (puvt\ is right, in tlie old reading, appears 
 highly probable from the frequent mention of the voice, as a 
 principal inftrument of imitation, in antient authors'". It is called 
 by Ariftotle, as Mr. Winflanley has judicioufly obferved, iTa,vTm 
 utuTjrtiCCiiTxrov tuv fj-omuv iiyj-j" . 
 
 Farther — by this reading the illuftration intended is more per- 
 fedl, as it comprehends more " means of different kinds'^ — FENEI 
 Inaa. The fame reafon favours alfo the extenfion of the word- 
 (T-X7\^x-rix, to Sculpture, at leaft. 
 
 The only objection to the reading, Im t;;j (fwi/-)?;, is, the impro- 
 bability that Ariflotle fliould, without any apparent reafon, envelop 
 the whole pafTage in embarraflment and ambiguity, by fuch a 
 change of phrafe: — AIA (piJi'Tj?;^ which every reader is naturally 
 led to join, not with the datives, "x^u^aa-t kxi (T-xr,y,a.iTi., but with AIA 
 Tfxy'fii;., and AIA (Tw4^iiot.q\ but the word o^mviq oppofing fuch a 
 
 ■° See Ar'ijl. de Rep. lib. viii. cap. 5. p. 455. C. Plat, de Rep. x. p. Coi. A. 
 De Leg. ii. p. .669. A. 
 
 ' 2;\;nii«t is defined by Socrates, in the'MENO qf Plato, to he, w£^ct{ rff«a— •" the 
 '* boundary of falid form." 
 
 i See Dif. I. towards the end, Note '. Vi^orius defends the reading on the fame 
 ground. 
 
 * Rhet. lib, iii. cap. i. § 4, 
 
 conftrudtion,^
 
 144 NOTES. 
 
 conflrudion, has therefore, probably, been changed to uf^ipoiv.—- 
 This objedion has not been foHdly anfwered, I think, either by 
 Vidorius, or any other commentator ; nor can I think the change 
 of phrafe here by any means fufficiently accounted for, merely by 
 afligning, as Vidorius does, a paflage of Lucian, where the phrafe 
 itfelf, (to which no one objedls,) occurs. [See Mr. Winftanley's 
 note.] — I am much inclined, therefore, to admit the reading faid 
 by Madius to have been found in an antient MS. and confirming 
 the conjedlure of Robortelli,— lr£^o< Ss TH( OXINH;. This would 
 clearly mark the bounds of the parenthefis, and fix the conftruc- 
 tion : KM ^uf/.cc(ri, xcci crxviJ'-oca'i, ttoXXx f^tfjL^ivrou nveg— ( ) 
 
 Ml OS Tvi <pmj. 
 
 tT£, 
 
 N O T E 3. 
 
 P. 2. And of any other instruments capable of 
 
 A SIMILAR EFFECT, AS, THE SYRINX OR PIPE. 
 
 The word Zu^iy^ is ufually underflood to mean the Fijiula 
 Pants, conflrudted of reeds, differing in length, faflened together 
 with wax and thread : — xoikcti^uv a-uvSijKyi, Xivu km Kmu a-wSedenTx—^ 
 as it is defcribed by Jul. Pollux\ Tibullus has prefented in two 
 lines almoft as diftindl an idea of its form as can be obtained from 
 a drawing. 
 
 -Fiftula cmfemper decrejcit arundinis ordo. 
 Nam calamus cera jungitur ujque minor. 
 
 [Lib. ii. 5. 31.] 
 But the Iv^iy^ of Ariflotle, whatever it was, is here mentioned 
 with the Lyre, and the Flute, as having fome, though an inferior, 
 
 * Oticmajfi, lib, iv. cap, 9. 
 
 degree
 
 NO T E S. 145 
 
 degree of the fame poivcr and effcB : — roicurca rijy ^vm[u,tv. This 
 
 is hardly applicable to To very fimple and rude an inflrumcnt as 
 
 the pipe of Panj a contrivance not beyond the invention of a 
 
 fchool-boy. Inflruments of nearly the fame conftrudlion are 
 
 found, at this day, not only in Turkey, and Arabia, but even in 
 
 the ifland of New Amfterdam in the South Seas""; and it is a cir~ 
 
 cumftance foi^iewhat curious, that, in France, the inftrument of 
 
 the Arcadian- deity, or fomething very like it, is degraded to the 
 
 ufe of travelling tinkers, and known by the n-xvat of Jiffiet de 
 
 chaiidronnier . The reader may fee a,defcription and a figure of 
 
 of it in Merfennu's'j as he may, alfo, of the South Sea inftrument 
 
 .in the Philofophical Tranfaftions, vol. 65, Part I. — But he will 
 
 not, probably, be much difpofed to believe, that the wild and ran- 
 
 . dom founds of this favagfc whiftle have any thing to do with the 
 
 ichromaticfyflem of the Greeks. -.v> .>,', ,ii.... ^ 
 
 ' But the paffage before us is not the only one, where the 
 
 . Syrinx is mentioned in a way which naturally leads one to fuppofe, 
 
 that fome. inftrument lefs fimple and imperfedt than the fiftula 
 
 Panis mufi: be meant. , It is often joined with the clthara and the 
 
 fiute, as an inftrument of fome importance and eff&dl in concerts 
 
 and choral accompaniments'*. In Lucian's treatife Uiai Opxv<^^^', 
 
 it appears, among other curious information upon the fubjecS, 
 
 that the words of the drama, which the pantomimic dancer was 
 
 to exprefs by gefture alone, were, at the fame time, fung by a 
 
 chorus, accompanied by various inftruments, among which 'the 
 
 fyrinx is repeated!}^ mentioned, together with the AuX^ or flute*. 
 
 This has, certainly, the appearance of fome more powerful inftru- 
 
 ■ment than the paftoral fyrinx. — Indeed, from the pafTage of 
 
 Pollux above referred to, there is reafon to conclude, that there 
 
 i" Dr. Burney's ////?. of Mnjic, vol. i. />. 511. 
 --• ' Harmonic, p- 73. 
 ^i..,"' See Spaiiheirn, in Callimachum^Hymn. in Dianam, v. 243t "? 
 
 * Ed. Benediiii, p. 942, E.— 938, D, £.—945, B, 
 '"' U were
 
 146 NOTES. 
 
 \vere two inflruments of this denomination ; that above defL-ribed, 
 which he calls the rude, or exteinporaneous fyrinx, \oa>TO(ryili.^^>^ and 
 another, of fimilar form, but more artificial conftrudlion, which 
 he defcribes as confining, not of reeds, but of a ntimber o^ flutes 
 [auXcf '7T<A'koi\ arranged in. the fame manner. The pafiage is de- 
 fedtive'; but this feems to me pretty clearly to be the drift of it^ 
 By flutes, he mufl:, at leaft, be fuppofed to mean pipes of larger 
 fize, and of more folid materials, fuch as thofe of which flutes 
 were made. 
 
 ■ . It feems, on the whole, very probable, that the fyrinx of Ari- 
 ftotle was either fome fuch improved conftrudlion of the flute of 
 Pan, or, as I rather incline to believe, fome kind of fingle pipe^ 
 or flageolet. Any fingle pipe, modulated by the fingers, muft be 
 regarded as an inftrument far fuperior to any kind of the fiftula 
 Panis, that could be played on only by the clumfy expedient of 
 drawing it along the mouth ; — " fupra calamos unco percurrere 
 *' labro," as Lucretius has well defcribed the operation^. I cannot 
 indeed fay, that I have met with any paflTage in which the word 
 Xu^ty^, by itfelf, is clearly and exprcfsly applied to a Jif-gle muiical 
 pipe or flute. But fuch a fenfe is perfedly analogous to other 
 common applications of the word*'j and, on the other hand, I 
 know of no clear authority that reftrains the meaning of the word, 
 whenever it is fingly ufed, to the fiftula Panis. Athena^us fpeaks 
 
 ' The pafiage flioulJ, I think, be written as defeftive, thus : h y.iv sv, (fc. au^iy^,) 
 uaTMy/jiv In truvSrvcn >.ivsj xai wfw cuvhSeitra, hys mnoax^Oi®-. ******** 
 ATAOI -^ruMoi, maci©- k. t. aw^. — Salmafius fupplied the hiatus' thus : — AAA" "H IIIOT- 
 AAIOTEPA, avhoi 57■o^>ol, &c. — I would not anfwer for the very words; but that 
 fomething equivalent is omitted, I have little doubt. See Ed. Hmijl. p. 387. Note 
 i^2. — where, by the way, Kuhnius compiends thf emendation, but appears to mifun- 
 derftand it. 
 
 « Lib. V. 1406. 
 
 * Vide Lexica : and fee Dr. Burney's Hift. of Mufic, vol. i. p. 51 r, where it is 
 lightly obferved, that " each of the pipes" which compofcd the fiftula Panis, " was, 
 « properly^ a Swfiy^." 
 
 o of
 
 NOTES. 147 
 
 of the fMVDKxKxi/,'^ St;^<^| invented by Mercury, and oppofes it to 
 the TroXiixiaXaji*©^' • and Spanheim'', whofe authority, in matters of 
 erudition, is as great as the profoundcft erudition can give to any 
 man, underflands this fingle-reed fyrinx to be meant in the hymn 
 to Mercury attributed to Homer, where it is faid of that god, 
 that — 
 
 ZTPirmN hoT!rr,v mtYjirars THAO0' AKOYITHN, v. 509. 
 —a mode of charadlerizing the tone of the inftrument, that re- 
 minds one of the ** ear-piercing fife " of Shakfpeare. 
 
 After all, a modern reader may be ftill furprifed to find any degree 
 of imitation, or exprejjion, attributed to fo trifling an inftrument as 
 a flageolet, or a common flute. But, in reading antient authors, it 
 is frequently neceflary, if we would either relifli, or even under- 
 ftand them, properly, to lay afide modern ideas. And if this be 
 neceflary in general, it is, perhaps, peculiarly fo in the fubjedl of 
 Mufic. ExpreJJion, in cur mufical language, ufually conveys the 
 idea of delicate and refined performance, and is almoft appropri- 
 ated to emotions of the tender and pathetic kind. But, with the 
 antients, imitation, or exprejjion (for the words appear to have been 
 fynonymous',) extended to every kind of emotion; to every effeB 
 produced, in any confiderable degree, by Mufic upon the mind. 
 Now very fimple infl:ruments, as well as very fimple mufic, are 
 capable of making impreflions, and Jlrong impreflions, of the 
 joyous kind, without any delicacy or refinement, either in the com- 
 pofition, or the execution. It is not, therefore, llrange, that the 
 fyrinx, a fl:irill and lively pipe, fliould be ranked by Ariilotle as aa 
 inftrument of y2/«t' expreffion ; efpecially if, as it feems probable, 
 the fyrinx, of whatever kind, was confidered as a pajloral inftru- 
 ment, and its exprefiions were, in confequence, aided by the aflb- 
 .«iation of rural and paftoral ideas'". The rude fyrinx of Pan was 
 
 unqueftionably 
 
 * P. 184.^ " Ubifupra. ' SeeDiff.II. 
 
 "> " One of the moft afFeding ftyles in mufic is the Paftoral. Some airs," [we 
 may add, and thofe injirumaits^ alfo, on which we have been ufed to hear thole airs 
 
 U 2 performed,]
 
 148 NOTES. 
 
 unqueilionably of this kind, and appropriated to paftoral ufe"; 
 and, as far as it can be fuppofed to have affedled by aflbciation, 
 might, in the mufical language of the Greeks, and by a hearer 
 who felt that effect from it, be confidered and fpoken of as imita- 
 tive, without impropriety. But being, as I conceive, of too 
 fimple and inconvenient a conftrudtion to admit of any expreflion 
 but what it derived purely from aflbciated ideas, it would not, I 
 think, have been joined by Ariilotle with the moji expreffive and 
 refined inftruments of the antients, the cithara, and t.h.Qfiute", and 
 mentioned as of ^^ fimilar power and eff'e£l" 
 
 NOTE 4. 
 
 P. 2. For there are dancers who by rhythm 
 
 APPLIED TO GESTURE- 
 
 The Greek is — It ruv co^ri^uv : but there is great reafon to 
 fufpedl the reading. It is generally rendered, " Some dancers :'* 
 but Vidtorius, who underftands it in that fenfe, fays — durus tamen 
 fermo; and produces no authority for fuch a phrafe. Heinfius 
 
 performed,] " put us in mind of the country, of rural fights and rural founds^ and 
 " difpofe the heart to that chearful tranquillity, that pleafing melancholy, that '■'•vernal 
 ♦' delight" which groves and ftreams, flocks and herds, hills and vallics, infpire." 
 Dr. Beattie — E[[ay on Poetry aiid Mufic, p. 142. 
 
 " Plato, Rep. iii. p. 399. Serran, 
 
 ■ " Ariftotle, in the 8th book De Republican cap. vi. where he is confidering what 
 inftruments fhould be ufed in the mufical education of children, excludes the cithara, 
 as too complicated and difricult for any but profefTors. He calls it nxvMov ofyavov, and 
 ranks it with the «^^©• or flute. Plato, however, admits the ufe of the cithara in 
 his republic, as a more fimple iiiftrument than the flute, which he forbids. [Rep. iii. 
 iibi fupra."] For fome idea of the delicacy and refinement of execution, and force of 
 expreflion, expcfted from the accompliflied Ai/Mith;, I refer the reader to the Harmo~ 
 sicks cf Lucian, and to a paflagc in Philoftratus, Ed. MareL p, 228. 
 
 8 * propofed—
 
 NOTES. 149 
 
 piopofed — oi nOAAOI Tuv l^xTtgcov. The learned reader may, per- 
 haps, agree with me, that — ENIo< rm o^x'^g-uv, would be preferable, 
 as nearer to the text. It is not probable, that the degree of imita- 
 tive fliill here defcribed was poffeffed by a/J dancers, or even by 
 ** t/je greater part" of them. A paffage from Ariftocles is pre- 
 ferved by AtheniEus, in which Teleftes, a dancer employed by 
 iEfchylus, is mentioned as remarkable for this talent: — OTTHI; 
 HN. TEXNITHi;, uigi, ev rco o^x^icr^oci rag Etjtix ewt ®iii2a,g, (pccvepx 7ro<- 
 eKT^oci rot, Tr^xyfiix.Toc.Sl c^^rjcreug. \_Athen. p. 22.] This dancing appears 
 plainly to have been of that kind, which was afterwards puOied to 
 fuch an excefs of cultivation by the pantomimic dancers in the age 
 of Auguftus"; and which is well known to have divided all Rome 
 into parties, and even, frequently, to have made the theatre a fcene 
 of bloodlhed\ Of this fait, I cannot help adding, that a proof 
 fomewhat curious is furniflied by Valerius Maximus ; who, in 
 the arrangement of his mifcellaneous work, places his chapter 
 IDe SpeStacuiis, immediately after that, De militaribus^ injlitntis i 
 and gives this reafon : " Froximus miUtaribus inftitutis, ad urbana 
 cajira, id eil:, Thcatra, gradus ficiendus eft : quoniam hsc quo- 
 (^Q, fcepenumero, animojds acies injiruxerunt ; excogitataque cultus 
 Deorum, et hominum deleftationis, causa, non line aliquo pacis 
 rubore, voluptatem et religionem civili sanguine, Jcenicorunt 
 portentorum gratia, macularunt." \Lib. ii. 4.] — Thtik fcenica per- 
 tenta were the Pantomimes. 
 
 Ariitotle fays here, lia, tuv o-^ijiwaT/^OjCtsj/wi/ pu9f^uv. It feems, at 
 firft view, that the inverfe of this expreffion would have been 
 more accurate — Six rm pu9fxi^oiAsvuv cryyijjLa.ruv — by rhythmic gejltires, ■ 
 And, if he had been here confidering the imitation of Dance, 
 feparately, and in itfelf, he probably would have exprefled him- 
 felf in that way. But dancing is here tranfiently mentioned, 
 
 ' ^ — * vara, rov XEBA2TON fxanra' at /xsv yap "Tr^urai euuvai [Ic. wxni^'Eif] inT'sto imi 
 f^ou Kat SE/AeMot rn{ 'Ofxio^fw; vicrav. — Lucian. de Salt. p. 927, £<i. Btned. 
 
 ''See Tacit ^ and Suet on. pajfm. 
 
 snerely
 
 i5« 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 merely to exemplify what he had been faying, of the combined, or 
 fep urate, ufe oi rhythin, words, and melody ; and to fhew, in what 
 manner, not only melody and rhythm m'ight be feparated from 
 words, as in mufic ; but rhythm, alfo, might be feparated from 
 melody, and ufed alone '. Any mode of expreffion, therefore, which 
 would have reprefented geftures ((r%i7,«a;Ta) as the principal vieans of 
 the imitation, would not have fuited his purpofe. It would, alfo, 
 as Viciorius and others have obferved, have tended to confound the 
 means of imitation in the poetic and mulical arts, which he is here 
 confidering, with thofe means of a different kind, which he had 
 jufl: enumerated, as employed in arts of more obvious and flridt 
 imitation, and among which ZXHMATA were mentioned. 
 
 It has been alfo objeded, that Ariftotle is, here, profefiedly 
 inflancing Iv roug EIPHMENAIE t£xv(^^? — in the arts ** above-men- 
 " tioned" — and yet introduces Dancing, which had ?iot been 
 mentioned : a difficulty eafily overcome, if we confider, that 
 Dancing was among the mujical arts ; clofely connedted with Poetry, 
 and, above all, with Tragedy. 
 
 N O T E 5. 
 
 P. 3. The epopoeia imitates by words alone, or 
 
 BY VERSE, &C. 
 
 In my tranflation of this perplexing paflage, as fir as the 
 v/ords — -TToioiTo ryjv fu^vtcrtv — inclufively, I have given that fenfe 
 which is now generally adopted, and in which almoft all the 
 
 ' Forfuch an inftance, he could have recourfe only to Dance; and fo Ariji. ^lintil. 
 •—puS/i^ ie KA©" ATTON /xev [votna,] em ^lAHS OPXHSEHS. The wliole paffage, 
 vhere he is confidering melody-, rhythm, and words, in their feparate ufe, and in their 
 various combinations, is curious, and may ferve to illuftrate this part of Ariltotle's 
 trcatife. — See^. 31, 32. Ed. Mdb. 
 
 commentators
 
 NOTES. 
 
 151 
 
 commentators are agreed'. And it has certainly this advantage, 
 that it fecms to be the only confident and intelligible verfion thkt 
 can be given of the labok paffage, as it now {lands. But it ap- 
 pears to me, after the clofeft attention I have been able to give 
 it, that, in the prefent condition of the text, no man can reafon- 
 ably be confident of conveying the true meaning of Ariftotle in 
 any tranflation or explanation that he can give. 
 
 The pafTage fets out with an expreflion moll unfortunately am- 
 biguous, and demonflrated to be fo, by the very confidence with 
 which the ambiguity has been denied, by critics and commentators 
 of great learning and fagacity, in favour of interpretations direflly 
 oppofite to each other. Some, by the expreflion, Xoyoiq ij/;Ao(f, have 
 underllood Ariflotle to mean profe, and others, verfe, without mujic. 
 —But this is far from being all the difficulty with which a tranf- 
 lator has to flruggle in this paflage. In the words — l/fl' \vi twi ynn 
 XPriMENH Tuv [^T^m rvyx'^^vaa-oi, MEXPI TOT NTN — there is, 
 furely, fomething defedive. All render this, — " or, making ufe 
 " rf fi^*^ °^^ ^^^'■^ ^f ^^<^tf'Sy AS IT HAS DONE to this duj^ ." And 
 this, indeed, feems the only fenfe that can be given to the words 
 as they fland. But it appears to me, that the original cannot, by 
 any fair and warranted elliptical conftruftion, be made to fay this. 
 Heinfius alone gives the fair and literal verfion j " vel uno tantum 
 " genere utatur ufque ad tempus nojinwi' — in plain Englifli — 
 *' whether mixing diflferent metres together, or ujing fome one 
 " kind of metre to this day"." I am perfectly aware of tlie ellip- 
 tical genius of the Greek language in general, and of Arifl;otle's 
 
 • Madius, Beni,- Piccolomini, Heinfius, Dacier, Batteux. 
 
 '' " Aut uno aliquo metrorum genere ufa fit, quod a prifcls tempor'ibus ad noftrutn 
 " ufquc fafikatum cjl." Goulfton. — " Ou qu'elle fe concente d'une feule efpeqe, 
 " cormne elk I'afaitjuCq' a prefent." Dacier. — And fo Piccolomini, " Per quelle che 
 " fi vede fare fino ai tempi d'oggi," 
 
 " It is fo rendered, I find, by the Englifh tranflator of 1775; " either inter- 
 « mixing the various metres, or, uJing one pai ticularfort to this very day." 
 
 ftylc,
 
 152 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ftyle, in particular ; yet to my ears, I confefs, this Englilli, non- 
 fenfical as it is, does not found more ftrange than the Greek from 
 which it is taken. Some word, or words, muft, I iliould fuppofe, 
 have been omitted between T\iyxa.v:i(Ta, and, /^e%^'. 
 
 Again: — iliv ya.^ om Ix^if^^v ONOMASAI KOINON ra? Eiw(ppov@- x«< 
 Befupxn fJi-ty-^ii &c; — I fubmit it to thofe who are verfed in the 
 Greek language, whether it feems probable, that, if Ariftotle had 
 meant to exprefs the fenfe ufually given to the words, (i. e, " for 
 " we fliould otherwife have 7io common name to give to," &c.) he 
 would have exprelTed it in that Greek ? I can only fay that I know 
 of no fimilar example. But farther : the words are conditional— 
 iliv yx^ AN exotf^^v — and yet the condition is by no means clearly 
 pointed out. The fenfe may be, and has been, varioufly fupplied. 
 It feems not improbable, that there is fome omiflion between the 
 words, vuvy and ihv.'—l am not able entirely to repel a fufpicion— 
 for I give it as nothing more — that the words, f^ixj^t tm vw, may be- 
 long to this fentence, and the whole may originally have ftood 
 thus : — tin fitywiTcit, [^sr aXKrikuv, ei9 evi rivi ysv^i xP^l^^vvj rwv [^erptov 
 rvyxoivii(rx. M£%p; TAP ra vvv ^Sev EXOMEN, &c. i. e. " For "we 
 *' have hitherto no common appellation''," &c. — So much, as to 
 the condition of the text in this pafTage. 
 
 The interpretation, which I have followed, 'has been ver)' ably 
 defended by feveral of the commentators, whofe arguments I need 
 not repeat ; by none, I think, fo powerfully as by Paolo Beni' : 
 but it requires confiderable patience to follow him through the 
 controverfial zigzag of his captious and fatiguing logic. 
 
 The rtrongeft fupport furniflied by Ariftotle himfelf to this exten- 
 lion of tlie term Epopaia to all imitation, JiBion, invention, &c. by 
 words only, ivithout mufic, ivhether in verfe or proje, is, I think, 
 
 * I have only tranfpoftd ya^, ami omitted av, for which omiflion there is MS. 
 authority. 
 
 • Comment, in Jri/htelis Poeticam^ Purtic, 6. , — 
 
 to
 
 3sr O T E s. 15s 
 
 to be found In Self. 6, Part I. [Original, cap. ix.] For, if a hif- 
 tory put into verfe would, as he there afferts, be flill z fort of 
 hiilory, we may infer, that an Epic Poem reduced to profe would, 
 in his idea, have been ftill -x fort, at leaft, of Poem. — What he 
 fays in the conclufion of that fcBion. — that the Poet (hould be the 
 HoitjTYji;, or Maker, rather of his fible, than of his verfe, has the fame 
 afpedt. — The fame idea is alfo favoured by the extent which he has 
 adlually given to the term Epopivia, in Sedt. 3, Part I. [Original^ 
 cap. ii.] where it is exprefsly applied, not only to the ferious Poetry 
 of Homer, but to Poems of a comic, and even burlefque, cha- 
 radler. An Epic Poem without elevation is, nearly, as repugnant 
 to modern ideas as a Poem without verfe. It would not appear 
 much more ftrange to give the title of Epic Poem to Tom Jones, 
 than to Hudibras ; to apply it to the T^elemaque, would, undoubt- 
 edly, appear much lefs ftrange ^ 
 
 It may be worth remarking, farther, that there is one circum- 
 fiance, which, I think, would evidently tend to render this doc- 
 trine of Ariftotle — if it %vas his dodtrine — lefs extraordinary to 
 the antients, than it appears to us ; and that is, that the difference 
 between metre, and well-meafured profe, though, no doubt, fuf- 
 ficient to make them readily diftinguiflied by the ear, feems to 
 have been lefs than it is with us. To what a degree of refine- 
 ment they carried their rules for the application of the various 
 poetical feet to their profe conipofitions, and with what faftidious 
 delicacy of ear they difcriminated one combination of fyllables 
 from another, is well known from the writings of Cicero, Quin- 
 tilian, Dion. Halicarnaffenfis, &;c, — It would be thought a ftrange 
 expreifaon, were a modern writer to fay, comparing the Orator and 
 
 ^ Itaque video vifum efle nonnullis, Platonis & Detnocriti locutionem, etjt ahjit 
 e verfu, tamen, quod incitatius feiatiir, et clarifTimis verborum luminibus utatur, 
 potius PoEMA putandum quam comicofum Poetarum, apud quo?, nifi quod verftadi 
 Junt, nihil eft aliud quotidiani diflioiile fermoiiis. Cic. Orat. cap, xx. 
 
 X the
 
 154 NOTES. 
 
 the Poet, that the latter was " rather more confined by numbers:** 
 ** numeris adfl:ri6tior/>«z//(5^" 
 
 But, after all, the chief point of difficulty appears to me to lie, 
 not in Ariftotle's alTerting, that Poetry, in his idea of the word, 
 might fubfifl: without verie, but in his giving the name of Epopivia 
 to -fuch compofitions as the Mimes of Sophron, and the Dialogues 
 of Plato. But of this, in the next note. 
 
 In my tranllation of the words, Xoya^ ^iXok;, I have ventured to 
 depart from the common interpretation ; but without any material 
 change in the fenfe. They are generally undcrftood to mean profe ; 
 and Dacier ailerts pofitively, that, " thofe two words are 7ievcr 
 " joined by Arrftotle or Plato in any other fenfe'." If he meant, 
 that, wherever ^iX^ is joined to Xoy^, it is always ufed to ex- 
 clude metre only, he is certainly miftaken. He had, himfelf, but 
 jull before, quoted a paflage of Plato, in which the exprelTion, 
 Xoyoi •\itXoi, appears clearly to mean, words without melody. It is in 
 his fecond book De Legibus, where, complaining, in his ufual 
 flrain, of the feparation of Poetry and Mufic, he fays of the Poets, 
 that they employ pvdj^ov f/,sv kui lrjfA,o<.Tcc^ MsXs'? %w^'?, AOFOYS f lAOYE 
 E-IS METPA TI0ENTES' fA.sXog S'lxu kou pv^f^ag oivsx) pfif/,a.Tuv, 4"^? 
 
 KtQxpKTU TS xai KVXXCSI TTpOiTXPi^l^iVOt'^' TllC WOrds, Xoy^iQ lJ/iX«f eii 
 
 ^iTpa, rAvreg, Dacier tranflates, very ftrangely, " mettant de la 
 *' Ji?fiple profe en vers." But what has turning profe into verfe to 
 
 s Cic. de Or at. i. i6. — So, again, Or. ad Brutum^ cap. Ixvi. fpeaking of profe 
 compared with verfe, he fays, " at liberior aliquanto oratio." — To the fame purpofe 
 ibid. cap. xx. Nam etiani Poetas quoeftionem attulerunt, quidnam efTet illud quo ipfi 
 differrent ab oratoribus. Numero maxime videbantur aritcoy et verfu; nunc apud 
 pratpres jam ipfe numcrus increbuit. 
 
 •> Ch. i. Noter%. 
 
 ' I have ventured to alter the word ax^fi^'^a. to prtfjuicra; a correftion, which, I 
 think, the learned reader will fee to be obvioufly nccelfary, from the purport and ex- 
 prcfTion of the whole paflage. The oppofition is clear — ^uOfxov ixiv Kai PHMATA 
 ^E^a; x'^f'i |i^E^^ o' AT x«i pi/fl^aj »nu PHMATiiN, 
 
 " Ed. Scrr, vol. ii. p. 669. 
 
 do
 
 NOTES. 155 
 
 do with Plato's complaint ? — i^t-Xoi, here, applied to Xoyot, anfwcrs 
 evidently to fzeXni %woi?, and excludes melody; jufl: as, in ^iXv kiQx- 
 ^icret text oi\)Xy](ni, the fame adjeiflive anfvvers to civzv pyifxaruv, and ex- 
 cludes worJs\ And this appears to me to be the obvious fenfe 
 of -^liXotq in the pafTage of Ariilotle before us. By Xoyoig ^iXotg, 
 I underfland — not, words without metre, i. e. Profe^ — but, words 
 ivithout mujic. It is, furely, mofl natural, and moft to Ariflotle's 
 purpofe, to apply the privative force of 4"^^©^> here, to the twa 
 means of imitation, melody and rhythm; which are excluded in the 
 Epopoeia, as words are, in the preceding inftance of the flute and 
 the lyre, and both words and mufic, in that of dance. And thus 
 he has adlually ufed the word, in the compound ^iXo^zTatu, in 
 the next chapter. The only difference is, that there he has 
 joined the word ip;A®>. to metre; here, to words in general. But 
 in both places, the meaning is probably the fame — i. e. *' without 
 ** melody and rhythm^ 
 
 The word Xoy<^ is, plainly, ufed by Ariftotle, in his firft enu- 
 meration of the means of imitation, [ — \v Fu9fA,i! kxi Aoya km 'Aof^ovM. 
 cap. i.] in the general fenfe, of language, difcourfe, or ivordsy 
 whether with, or without metre ; as we fay, " the words of a 
 ** fong," &c. as oppofed to the mufic"'; and that, whether thofe 
 words are verfe, as in general they are, or profe, as in the fongs 
 of the Mejjiah, and in the anthems of our church. And, that the 
 word Xoy'^ was purpofely ufed by Arillotle in this latitude, is 
 rendered highly probable by his varying the expreffion, where he 
 
 ' I find this very pafTage mentioned by Cafaubon, De Sat'irica, &g. p. 346, with 
 the fame explanation of ^07s$ •4-i?,8;. — This is not the only Inftance in Plato that con- 
 tradicts the affertion of Dacier. In a paflage of his Sympofium, cited by Vi(5lorius, 
 \_Ed. Serf, p. 215.] the w&rds — aviu o^yamv, i^'^^oij ^07015 — are, I think, rightly rendered 
 by Serranus, " Sine ullis inftrumentis, itj/d tantumftmpHcique vociJ' 
 
 "" So Virgil : " numeros memini, fi VERBA tencrem." Eli. jx. 
 
 Nothing is more common than this ufe of ^07©- in Ariftotle and Plato. Thus the 
 latter, De Rep. lib. iii.— to /^tE^©- ix. r^iav en a-uyxeificvov, AOFOY te km a^/jioua; xat 
 fviixts — which agrees exadlly with Ariflotle's account of the w.rt/;.f of imitation. 
 
 X 2 fpeak^
 
 156 NOTE S. 
 
 fpeaks of Tragedy, Comedy, DIthyrambics, and Nomes, to whicli 
 metre was eflential, and fubftitoting there, the word Msr^u, for 
 Aoyu)". It was natural, then, that he fliould fay, when he came 
 to fpeak of the Epic imitation, as diftinguiHied from thofe he had 
 before mentioned, that it imitates Hy words alone — i. e. without 
 melody and rhythm, or, as we fliould fay, without fniijic. But he 
 adds — ^' MsTfOi? — " or i;erfe." And why? — Probably, becaufe he 
 thought liis expreffion would be neither clear, nor exa(3:, without 
 •it : not clear, becaufe the mofl ujiial meaning of Xoyoi ■i/iXot being 
 profe, it might have been fo taken here, and he might have ap- 
 peared to fay, at leaft, though no one could reafonably fuppofe he 
 meafJt it, that the Epic imitates hy prqfe only — ^ovo-j roig Xoyoig -^/tXatg'. 
 ' — not exaSf, becaufe, metre being, as he himfelf exprefsly fays, a 
 fpecies, or part^ of rhythm", words, put into metre, were not, 
 itridlly fpeaking, ^iXoi, that is, %tof<j A^fiovtag kxi PT0MOT. And 
 this is exadtly conformable to the expreifioa of Plato in the palTage 
 above quoted, where he confiders verfe, even unaccompanied by 
 mulic, as flill confifling of rhythm and words, [PT0MON jwev xa« 
 pyjl^aroi, MeXiff %w^?;] — plainly regarding metre as a fpecies, or form, 
 of rhythm^ 
 
 I underfland, therefore, the meaning of Ariflotle, in this expref- 
 fion — Toig Xoyoig -^nXoig, vi roig [^iT^otg, to amount tO this ; — " by 
 
 *' words, without the other means of melody and rhythm, or at 
 " mojl, with fo much of rhythjji only, as is implied in the idea of metre: 
 " without rhythm, in its mu/ical fenie of ftridt time''" This fenfe 
 of the words agrees perfedtly with what follows — iliv yu.^ uv sx^'f*^"* 
 &c. i. e. " For otherwife — if we do not allow the Epopoeia to 
 *' imitate fy words, in the general fenfe, whether profe or verfe — ■ 
 ■" we fliall have no common name for Epic imitations in profe; 
 '* and, if we do not allow it to imitate in either one or more fpecies 
 
 » f i/9;iia, WW jH£>'Ei, w>:i METPIil. Cap. i. 
 * T« 7«j jMETfa, oTi MOPIA Twv puOfjuiiv m, favi^ov. Cap, iv. 
 See the quotation from Mr. Harris, p. 70, 
 
 7 *' of
 
 N O T E &. 157 
 
 '*• oF metre, we fhall have no common name for tke fame kind of 
 *' imitation in Elegiac, or other verfe." 
 
 The great advantage of this fenfe of Xoyoig ^tXoti; is, that, while 
 it leaves in full force that explanation of the ivhole paflage, which 
 I have followed, it removes, at the fame time, or at leaft confider- 
 ably weakens, what has always flruck me as one of the flrongeil 
 objedlions to it. Nothing appears to me more improbable, than, 
 that Ariftotle, advancing a doftrine fo new, and fo repugnant to 
 tlie prevailing ideas of his own times, as, that a fpecies of Poetry 
 might fubfift without verfe, fliould chufe to prefent this novelty 
 in the moft offenfive way, by beginning at once, and without any 
 management, with the mention of profe : that he fliould fay— 
 "*• The Epic Poem imitates hy profe alone, or, by verfe." If by 
 Xoyoig ip;Ao(f he had meant profe, as Dacier and others contend, 
 would he not naturally — one might fay, unavoidably — have re- 
 served thofe words for the laft in the period? Would not the 
 order, in fliort, have been this? — " by verfe alone ^ and that eithef 
 ** of a fingle kind, or mixed — or even by profe " As I have ren- 
 dered the words, profe is not mentioned at all, but implied only in 
 the general exprefllon of, ■'words; as it is, equally, in his firft enu- 
 meration of the means of imitation — Iv pv9y.ca kxi AOrXil koci a.^\xo^ 
 Via.. At the worft, the idea of profe is not, as in the other 
 verfion, prefented before that of verfe. 
 
 With refpetS to what I have faid of the novelty of the philofo- 
 pher's doctrine, and its remotenefs from the commion ideas of the 
 antients concerning the importance of metre to Poetry, I may 
 refer even to his oivn way of fpeaking, in general, upon that 
 fubjedt. In his Rhetoric, for example, he fays — puS^of l^i £%£iv rov 
 hoyov, Mer^ov (Js, p-?" nOIHMA TAP E£TAI. — " In profe-compofi- 
 '*'' tion there fliould be rhythm, but not metre — for then it ivill be 
 ■'* a Poem''." The reader may alfo be not difpleafed to fee what 
 
 9 Rhtt. lib, iii. cap. viii, p. 591. Ed. Duval, 
 
 Ifocrates
 
 158 Kf o T E s: 
 
 Ifocrates thought of the importance of verfe, in a paflage, which 
 I have given in note 229, refpe(5ting the privileges and advantages 
 of Poetry. — Plato goes fo far, as to compare Poetry, when reduced 
 to profe, to a face, which, having no folid beauty of form and 
 fymmetry, has lofb its on/y charm, when the bloom of youth, and 
 delicacy of complexion, have deferted it'. But the zeal of Plato 
 for depreciating Poetry is well known. He would, probably, 
 have approved the indignation of one of the Fathers,, who called it 
 " the Devil's wine." It muft be confelled, however, that he has 
 poured a great deal of this wine into his own writings ; and were 
 they to be reduced to plain profe, and ftripped of that dvQo; — that 
 bloom and colouring of poetic didtion, and poetic fancy, by which 
 they are fo diftinguilhed, I ihould be in fome pain for the appear- 
 ance they would make. 
 
 But, to return -.—After all that is to be faid in favour of that 
 interpretation, which, on the w^hole, I have thought it beil to 
 follow, I muft end this note, as I began it, by declaring my con- 
 vidlion of the imperfecfl condition of the original^ and confeffing 
 my doubt, whether the true meaning of Ariflotle,,. in this paflage, 
 has yet been, or ever will be, difcovered. 
 
 ' — loMt [(c. T« TW Tloim^v, yupLvuSevra ye tuv m; /jmiTtmi XPflMATilN, out* ep 
 hurid'j X£-/o/x£','a,] toij tov 'iiPAIIiN ■srfocruOTi;, KAAHN AE MH, oia yivETai iJeiv, orav ai/ra 
 TO AN0O2 -aooUTTn. — Rep. x. p. 6oi. Ed. Serrani.— This is quoted by Ariftotle, 
 Rhet. iii, cap. w. p. 588. Duval.^-\n Dr. Beattie's EfTay on Poetry, &c. Part II. 
 ch. ii. it is, by miftake, attributed to Demofthenes. Nor is the meaning of tho 
 pafTage there fully given. Plato does not content himfelf with faying, that " verfifi- 
 " cation is to Poetry, what bloom is to the human countenance." He fays, thai 
 Teifification is to Poetry, what bloom is to a face, that has no beauty but bloom- 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. i;9 
 
 NOTE 6. 
 
 P. 3. The Mip/ies of Sophron and Xekarciius, and 
 
 THE SOCRATIC DIALOGUES. 
 
 HAD Ariflotle propofed only to e:^tend the term EttottoI'm to 
 cU imitations of the narrative kind, whether in verfe or prof', 
 "whether ferioiis or comic, this, to a reader who fhould enter tho- 
 roughly into his ideas of Poetry, would not, perhaps, appear extra- 
 ordinary. It would be only clafTinp- the diiFercnt forms of Poetry, 
 as one might expedl him to clafs them, according to what he him- 
 felf conceived to be the chief and niofl charafteriftic difference of 
 their imitations. But here, we find the name applied to compofitions 
 of a charafter ftrikingly different — to Mimes, and Dialogues ; for 
 it is indeed, as Dacier fays, a very obvious queflion, and one which 
 cannot but have occurred to every reader — " les Dialogues ne re- 
 *' femblent-ils pas plutot au Poeme Dramatique, qu' au Poeme 
 "Epique?" — An embarrafhng queflion, and which, being at all 
 events to be anfwered, he anfwers immediately, and roundly — 
 " Non, fans doute." And why? — Becaufe, lays he, " the drama 
 *' imitates by ivords and tnujic, the Epic Poem, by ivords only." 
 But, to apply the exprefTion of the philofopher to this critic — 
 TrXslaj Iv, Xvei KXKug*. This is much the fame thing as if one 
 fhould deny, that two men, of form and features ftrikingly fimilar, 
 refembled each other, merely becaufe their coats were of different 
 colours; or, to come ftill nearer to the cafe, if one fliould aflert 
 that one of thefe men bore a greater refemblance to a third, with 
 whom he chanced to agree in the lingle circumflance of not wear- 
 ing a wig. Is it probable, that Ariftotle, in clalfing and denomi- 
 nating a principal fpecies of Poetry, lliould be guided by luch a 
 
 *■■ £aj>. xviii, 
 
 circumflance
 
 i6o N O T © 5; 
 
 eircumftanee as the mere ab fence of mufic'^ when even metre He 
 
 regards as not elTential, and fpeaks of it as one of the rj^va-f^ccra, of 
 
 Poetic language\ He allows, indeed, that mufic is the moft 
 
 pleafurable of the rihcrf^a.~ci, or feajonmgs, of Tragedy"; but, that 
 
 he regarded it as lefs eilential than metre, is evident from the place 
 
 which he affigns it in his arrangement of the fix. parts of Tragedy. 
 
 according to the order of their importance ; for he there places it 
 
 next before the Oj/'?, or Decoj^ation, which he pronounces to be,. 
 
 of all the parts, " the moil foreign to the Poet's art:" r,Ki?cx, 
 
 oMnov Tijg TTOiviTizrig^.- — On the Other hand, the circumftance of 
 
 Narration in the perfon of the Poet he every where feems to 
 
 make an eflential mark of dillindion between the Epic and the. 
 
 Dramatic Poem": fo that, in order to avoid making him abfo- 
 
 lutely inconfiftent with himfelf, we muil be obliged to fup- 
 
 pofe, with the commentators, that he ufes the word 'ETroTroiix 
 
 in two fenfes; Acre, in its general, and etymological fenfe, that 
 
 of imltatmgy or makingy by loords^ and everywhere elfe in the 
 
 common and limited fenfe of narrative imitation^. The firfl 
 
 of thefe muft be confidered as a mere propofal: we muft un- 
 
 derfland Ariflotle to fay no more than tliis — that fome common 
 
 term, to include all compofitions imitating by ivords only, was 
 
 wanted, and that the term, Epopm'a, was beft adapted to that 
 
 purpofe. In the re^ of his treatife he conforms to the eftabliflied 
 
 ideas and language. — This, however, is by no means fatisfadory,. 
 
 »• },(yu Jv 'H ATXMENON ' >j>yov, tov ■ Ixowa puifiov kcu hpiirnxv hcu METPON. . 
 
 Qip. vi. 
 
 ' — //tr/ircv rav y^^uafMnnv, Ibid. . 
 
 * Ibid. 
 
 ' See Cap. v.-^Cap. xxiii. in'tti/i. So Cap, xxiv. Ij h -rn ETino'i.a, Jia to AIH— 
 THIIN Eivai, &c. — and ibid, h Iw/nixomKn fui^n^is, is equivalent to n EmTroinTixn /xi/xija-ij, , 
 iu Cap. xxvi. 
 
 ' See the note of Hcinfius. 
 
 s As in the paflages juft referred to, Not^ °,^ 
 
 It
 
 NOTES. 161 
 
 It flill remains, I confefs, no inconfiderable difiiculty with me, to 
 conceive, that Ariftotle fliould, by applying the term YTroTTol'ix. to 
 a// imitative writing, whether of a narrative or dramatic form, 
 without miific, give it an extenfion inconfiftent, as it feems, with 
 his own principles, and confounding thofe diftindtions, which, in 
 his own view, were the moft eflential. If he had meant fo to 
 apply the term in the paffage before us, he would, fnrely, have 
 been more explicit, and, where, after this paffage, heyZ/y? mentioned 
 the Epopceia in the ufual fenfe, would have added fome words of 
 limitation and diftindlion to prevent confullon. But this he has 
 not done. Though evidently fpeaking of the heroic and narrative 
 Epic, he calls it only, ^ 'Eiro'TroiM ; as if no other application of the 
 word had been mentioned. 
 
 Of the Mimes of Sophron we can acquire but a very imper- 
 fedt idea, either from what is faid of them in antient authors, or 
 from the fragments that are preferved in Athenreus, Demetrius, 
 and others. It has even been long difputed among the learned, 
 whether they were profe or verfe; and, at laft, it feems to be fettled, 
 that they were neither; a kind of compromife comfortable enough 
 to the difputants on both fides j for if the fragments are fome- 
 thing between verfe and profe, they, who affert them to be either, 
 are fomething between right and wrong. I fliall not enter into this 
 difcuffion ; but refer the reader to the remarks of the learned 
 Valckenaer on the argument of the A^wria^Ko-a; of Theocritus ; 
 where he will find fome curious and uncommon information upon 
 this fubjed:\ That thefe compofitions, however, were either a 
 fpecies of the drama, or, at leaft, dialogues in the dramatic form, 
 there feems to be no doubt'. Dacier, indeed, afferts, that they 
 were, like the Epic Poem, " une imitation composee de narration 
 
 '■ Thcocy'ttl Di-can E'uiyUia, Lug. Bat. 1773. See, particularly, p, 200. 
 
 ' See Cafaubon^de Sat. Poef. cap. iii. p. 115, 116, and the palTage of Plutarch to 
 which he refers, Syjnpof. Proh. lib. vii. Proh. viii. p. 1268. Ed, H, St, And, in his 
 treatife Hori^oi twv fway, h.t. it?^ p. 1792. 
 
 Y " ct
 
 i62 NOTES. 
 
 " et d'adlon." But be produces no proof of this, nor do I know 
 of any. — I mufl farther obferve, that, fuppofing what is related, 
 of the fondnefs of Plato for the Mimes of Sophron, and of their 
 having been his model in the f/.iu'riTtg TrooTcaTruv of his own dialogues'', 
 to be true, it may reafonably be inferred, that we ought by no 
 means to confound them with the Roman Mimes, or to apply to 
 them, as is too often done, all that is faid of the latter by Dio- 
 medes, and other writers of that age. Such licentious and obfcene 
 trafh would not, furely, have been found under the pillow of the 
 moral and reforming Plato ^ and that, oXow i-m yr.^c/J^-^ aJw, and, as 
 fome alTert, even in the hour of death'. In faying this, however, 
 I do not forget, that delicacy is not to be fought for even in the 
 fcricfleft morality of antient times. For the befl idea that can now 
 be formed of the rnanner of this famous mimographer, we mufl 
 have recourfe, I believe, to the fifteenth/^'/ of Theocritus'", which, 
 fis we are informed in the MS. argument found by Ruhnkenius in 
 the royal library at Paris, is an imitation of a Mime of Sophron 
 upon a fimilar fubjedl ". A more exad: piece of natural delineation 
 cannot be imagined. It is not, indeed, la belle nature -, it is the 
 nature of common and fimple, or, as fome affed: to call it, of loiv, 
 life i but copied with fo clofe and faithful a f/cncil, that, to every 
 reader accuftomed, in any degree, to obferve the manners of man- 
 kind in general, and whofe tafte is not perverted by affedlation, or 
 fettered by rule, the truth and reality of the imitation will, I be- 
 lieve, amply compenfate for the want of dignity in the thing imi- 
 tated. To thofe Vs'ho receive no pleafure from tlj/s fource, I would 
 
 ^ See Valckenaer's Theoc. p. 194. 
 
 ' Sophron, mimorum quidem fcriptor, fed quem Plato r.deo probavit, ut fuppofitos 
 capiti libros ejus, cum moreretur, habuifle tnidatur. ^lintil. i. 10. 
 
 "> The 2uf«K8(nai, « A5'iui'ia<8J-«<. The Syracufian women, or, the women at the 
 
 feftival of Adonis. 
 
 " Wa^e'7i%a<n h miniJiaTiov h t«v 7r«f« Swpfov* flea^xEVcov T« Itrf/^ia. Vakken. DecvH 
 
 E\d. Theoc. p. 188. 
 
 rather
 
 NOTES. 163 
 
 ratlier recommend the belle nature of Pope's Paftorals, or the flill 
 Jiner nature of Fontenelle's.— I would only obferve farther, that 
 this imitation of Sophron is in the ftriit dramatic form ; and that 
 it contains nothing in the lead degree indecent, or difgufling. 
 
 Of the AOrOI snKPATIKOI, by which, undoubtedly, Ariftotle 
 meant chiefly, if not folely, the Dialogues of Plato, I fhall 
 only obferve, that they have all, in a high degree, the dramatic and 
 imitative fpirit, .and that by far the greater part of them are in the 
 unmixed dramatic form", fo as to admit of reprefentation ; and it, 
 accordingly, appears from Plutarch, that thofe of the lighter caft 
 among them were fometimes performed by boys, as an entertain- 
 ment, at the Sympofia of the Romans in his time". 
 
 NOTE 7. 
 
 P. 3. Connecting the Poetry, or Makin.g, with the 
 
 METRE. 
 
 — ruyaTj-Twrff xw f^csTou to rroiav.'—'Not, " on applique au vers 
 •' feul ndJe quon a lie la Poejie," as M. Batteux renders it, but, as 
 it is tranflated by Piccolomini, with his ufual exadtnefs — " con- 
 " giugnendo // ■yt'r/^o, Usistv, \_Poiein, cio 6 fare,'] con la qualita del 
 " f/ietro." — I underftand Ariftotle's expreffion to mean, not the 
 connexion of the general idea of Poetry with that of Verfe, though 
 this indeed be htiplied ; but, the jundlion of thcword, Uaieiv, with 
 the name of fome particular metre, in the compound words, EXa~ 
 •yeto-^oiot, EvroTfOioi, and the like. 
 
 ° We have, I think, thirty-two dialogues of Plato, taking thofe De Rc:puhlica, and 
 De Legibus, which are now divided into books, as each one dialogue. Of thefc 
 thirty-two, only fix are in the narrative -form. 
 
 P Plutarchi Sympof. Prob. lib. vii. Prob. viii. 
 
 Y 2 NOTE
 
 i64 NOTES, 
 
 NOTE 8. 
 
 P. 4. Treatises of Medicine or natural Philosophy 
 
 IN VERSE. 
 
 Two Poems of EmpedocleS' — that concerning Nature, and his 
 TLxpiations — contained together, according to Diog, Laertius, Jive 
 thoufand hexameters, and another, on the fubjedt of Medicifie, Jix 
 hundred. — to, i^iv iv itboi OTZEXIS ccvtu zxi ct Kx9a.pfA,oi, sig sTryj retvacrt 
 '::ivraMi<T'xp\M, iJ'e lATPIKOS Xoy©^, e<j Ittij I^omou-ix \_Etid of the Ltife 
 of Empedocks.'] This, by the way, confirms the emendation of 
 lieinfius — (pwiyiov, for (jimo-ikov. Nothing, I beheve, is known of 
 any antient Poem on the fubjedl of Mufic. 
 
 The earheil: philofophy was natural philofophy, and the earlieft 
 vehicle of that philofophy was verfe. Orpheus, Hefiod, Parme- 
 nides, Xenophanes, Empedocles, and Thales, are all mentioned 
 by Plutarch as poet-philofophers of this kind. Pythagoras is faid 
 to have written a Poem On the Univerfe, in hexameters'*. This 
 nieafure was, at leaft, fuited to the dignity of pbilofophical fpecu- 
 iatlon. We cannot fay fo much of the verfe chofen by Epichar- 
 mus for the vehicle of a treatife CaJicerning fcnfible and intellecliial 
 objeSls — Tliai rm uktStituv kxi voviruv — part of which is quoted by 
 Dios:. Laertius in his life of Plato ^ It was written in the Tro- 
 chaic tetrameter, a veiy unphilofophical meafure, if rightly cha- 
 rafterized by Ariflotle, who gives it the epithets of t^ox^^ov — o^xyj^ 
 f.y.5^— KOPAAKIKriTEPON'. An Englifli reader would be fur- 
 
 prifed, 
 
 » riffi Ta'0;«i, Iv OTfcri. D!og. Laert, VIII. 7. — And fee Plut, Ylt^i t« im x§xv if^i/.S" 
 7^a, &c. p. 716. H. Sfeph. 
 
 " III. 10. 
 
 * Rhet. iii. 44. Poet. cnp. xxiv. The worcf, xofJizwwTffoi', cannat be adequately 
 tranflated. " Ajtggl_fh meafure.^' would be weak, to the force of the .original. The 
 Xof 5*1 is known to have been a kind of ^ancc, fo full of buffoonery and indecency, 
 
 that
 
 NOTES. .165 
 
 prlfed, on opening a didafVIc and philofophlcal Poem, to find it 
 written in the meafure of — " 'Jollj mortals y Jill your glajjes," &c« 
 
 NOTE 9. 
 
 P. 4. Homer and Empedocles have nothing in 
 
 COMMON BUT THEIR METRE. 
 
 In his book De Poetis, Ariftotle fpoke fomewhat differently. 
 He there faid, as cited by Diog. Laertius, " that Empedocles 
 *' refembled Homer in the beauty of his diction; "abounding in 
 ** metaphors, and making a happy ufe of the other embellifliments 
 *' of Poetic language"." It does not feem eafy to make this per- 
 fedlly confiftent with what he here afferts — that Empedocles had 
 nothing in common with Homer hut his metre. He nieattt, I fup- 
 pofe, no more, than that Empedocles had nothing of the true 
 Poetic charadler of Homer, his invention, imitation. Sec. But he 
 certainly h^s /aid more. 
 
 NOTE 10. 
 
 P. 4. So, ALSO, THOUGH ANY ONE SHOULD CHUSE TO 
 CONVEY HIS liMITATION IN EVERY KIND OF METRE, &C. 
 
 The conjedure of Eleinfius, who contended, that — k^ ^^tj kcu 
 •TTOi'/irriv Trfioa-ccyo^svreov — iliould be read interrogatively, I have re- 
 
 that Theophrafius makes it one of the marks of his Profligate Man, that " he will 
 *'^ even dance tlie Ko^^ai., fober, and without a 7?iq/k." — TheophrajU Characi. cap. vi. 
 Xlsfi Aw^cvoiaj. 
 
 » — Ev 3e Ti) riEfi Ylointm') (pwa [AfiroTs^nj] In hcci '0MHPIK02 6 E/x5r£5b»^»i;,. km JViv©* 
 WEft Tw <I>?ASIN y£70V£, /xiTa^ofiK®- TE uv, KM Toij «Moi; TOij TTi^i TTODrtMriv imnuy/utju 
 ^^ay^v<B-. Diog. Laert, lib, viii. 57. 
 
 5 je6led.
 
 i66 NOTE S. 
 
 iedled, becaufe the fenfe it gives the pailage appears to mc to be 
 trifling. It malies Arillotle fay — " If Poets are to be denominated 
 " from their metre, what name is to be given to him, who writes 
 " a Poem in all forts of metre ? You cannot call him an E7ro7ro<©o, 
 ** an lcif/.!3c7roi®^, &c. Is he, therefore, not to be called a Poet at ally 
 *' becaufe you cannot call him the Poet, or Maker, of this or that 
 " particular metre?" — But the anfwer to this would furely be 
 obvious : " We cannot, it is true, call him any o?ie of thefe, 
 " exclufivelyi we call him all thefe ; he is the Poet of eve?-y 
 " inetre, in which he compofesj and, in our ideas, the ?nore a Poet, 
 " in proportion to the number of the different meafures, of which 
 " he fhews himfelf a mafter." — I mull alfo remark, that, in this way 
 of underllanding tlie paflage, the word, o^o;uq, is not accounted 
 for, nor fairly rendered, I think, either in the verfion of Heinlius, 
 or in any of thofe that follow him. 
 
 I have, alfo, rejedted the reading of Vidlorius — ^"OT rromro riip 
 ixiur,iriv; becaufe it appears to me, that the phrafe will not admit of 
 the fen le, in which it is rendered, oi not imitating at all. — It is ob- 
 ferved by Viftorius himfelf, that the phrafe, Troieta-Bxi tyiv f^if^ria-iv, is 
 never ufed by Ariilotle as equivalent to [/.ifjina-Sxt only, but always 
 Vv'here he is fpeaking of the vieanSi or manner, by, or in, which, 
 the imitation is made. Thus, ch. i. — nOIOTNTAI -nji/ [/,if/,'^(riv EN" 
 PT0Mni KXi AOrxiI Koci APMONIAI. — Again — AIA TPIMETPXIN 
 K. r. aX. nOIOITO rsji/ . ^aij.'/\(tiv. And, at the" end, EN 'OI2 
 nOIOYNTAl ry]v imut^ctiv — " the different means, by i;^ji.ch they form 
 or execute their imitation." — Thus, too, ch. xxiv. — \i yx^ ng EN 
 AAAnl TINI METPfll ^lyiy/jf^xriKtiv fz:f/,'rj(riv nOIOITO. — c/j. vi. EN . 
 I'OTTOIS [fc. ixsKoTToua. y.cci XsPet] nOIOTNTAI t?)i/ ixi^ya-iv. So 
 ibid, with a participle — nPATTONTEZ nOIOTNTAI rr,v ^ufj^wn — 
 as in the paflage before us, a.-rra.vTo, rot, fjisr^ci MIFNTAN nOI- 
 OITO TTjv iiiiA,ri(7iv. — The conftruftion and the fenfe are the fame, 
 when the fame mode of expreiTion is applied to other fubjeds^ as, 
 cap. iv. — rag f^ocSr^irBtg nOIEITAI AIA MIMHlTXil — And^^ Rljct. 
 
 A lib.
 
 NOTES. ily 
 
 lib. I. cap. \feSl. 3. AIA TnN KOINXIN nOIEISGAI rag 'jrignq km 
 rag Xoym; — i. e. ** to argue through the medium of common and popii- 
 *' lar truths." — I do not know of any inllance, in which TrotHa-Qxi 
 rriv iu,i[zy;criv is ufed in any other way, or put iimply for jjufAHa-^ai. 
 I cannot, for example, conceive, that Arillotle, inllead of, ro rz 
 yx^ MIMEIL0AI (ruiJ.<puTov rotq avQ^wrroig, [cap. iv.) would have writ- 
 ten — TO T£ yoc^ nOIEIIGAI MIMHIIN a-vfupurov, &c. It appears to 
 me, that, whether the phrafe be ufed pofitively, or negatively, yS;^/? 
 imitation is equally implied ; and this fentence — 1< r<? arrxv-a to. 
 fiSTox fjityvvuv OT irototra THN (A.i'j.viTw — I fhould by no means think, 
 it accurate to tranllate — " If any one, mixing all forts of metre, 
 " fhould 7iot imitate ; — but, (to conftrue Literally for the flike of 
 clearnefs,) " if any one fliould not 7}2ake THE, (or, which is the 
 " fame thing, H I S) imitation by mixing all forts of metre." This, 
 I confefs, appears clearly to me to be the fair Engliih of that Greek; 
 but as this certainly cannot be the meaning of Ariftotle here, 
 I mufl abandon the reading which gives it, and content myfelf with 
 following that explanation, which is encumbered with the fcweft . 
 difficulties". The fenfe, in this way, does not materially differ 
 from that, which is given to the pafTage by thofe who adopt the 
 reading of Vidlorius. The word, ofyuotijcc, has tlius its proper force. 
 So has, m HAH, KAI Tro/ijTi^y TT^oa-xyo^evrBov. As if Ariftotle had 
 faid — " Such a writer we might, certainly, on the iirft glance, 
 ** call, a ver/i/ier—3. metre-maker — Ittottciov, o^syaoTrmov, Sec. but we 
 " fhould not immediately (HAH), -merely on account of the variety of 
 *' his verffcation., allow him alfo the title of Poet — ICAI -r^oi'/i-^ii 
 " TrcotrayooauTeov. 
 
 I mufl, however, be again permitted to declare my doubt, as to 
 the integrity of the text. — I have here given, as I have been obliged 
 
 * According to the verfion of Goulfton — " Similiter vero etiam fi quis omni.i 
 " metrorum genera uno in opere permifcens, imitailonem injiituerlt, (quemadmodum ■ 
 " Chasremon, kc. ) non ftatim Poetie titiila, ab carmoi^fed ob i/niiaticKc-m, infigniendu;.." 
 See alfo Caftelvetro, p. 25, 26. 1 
 
 to
 
 i68 NOTES. 
 
 to do In many other places, that fenfe, which appears to me the 
 bej} that can be given to the original as it Jiands; not that, upon 
 which I can with any confidence rely, as the ^lear meaning of the 
 author. 
 
 N O T E II. 
 
 P. 4. As Ch^remon has done in his Centaur. 
 
 From fome curious fragments of this Poet preferved, or, rather, 
 half-preferved, in Athensus, his genius appears to have been of a 
 gay and voluptuous caft, and to have delighted in minute defcrip- 
 tion of pleafurable objecfls. In the lines quoted by Athenseus 
 from his Tragedy of Mjieus^ which are a defcription of a group 
 of beautiful virgins fporting by moon-light, there is certainly 
 fome fancy, and fome elegance; but, of that kind, the effedl of 
 which is, perhaps, fomewhat counteradled by too much appearance 
 of affectation and refearch. And this correfponds with the cha- 
 racter given of this Poet by Ariftotle, in his Rhetoric \lib. iii, cap. 
 xii.] that he was, a;c^i,G'ijj wVtte^ Xcyoy^acp^ ; and of that clafs of 
 Poets, whom he calls izvccymg-Moi ; that is, whofe productions, as we 
 commonly exprefs it, read better than they a5l ; are more adapted to 
 the c/ofct, than to thtjiage. The antient Poets, both Greek and 
 Roman, were often, I believe, indebted, for their dtfcriptive ideas, 
 to Painting, or Sculpture. This paflage of Ch^remon is certainly 
 very piSturefque, and was, probably, fuggefhed by fome painting on 
 the fame fubjedt. 
 
 Athena;us fays of this Poet, that he was particularly fond of 
 dwelling upon the defcription of flowers — iTTixa.rct'^o^'^ Itti to. kvS-/]^ ; 
 and cites fome lines of that kind from his Tragedies. 
 
 In his Centaur, whi9h Athcnaeus calls ^aiA.a. ttoXvimt^ov, we 
 muft underftand, that even the dialogue was in various metres; for 
 in the chra/ parts this would have been no innovation^ 
 
 * At/joi. lib. xiii. P. 608. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES.. 169 
 
 NOTE 12. 
 
 P. 68. POLYGNOTUS PaUSON — DlONYSItTS. 
 
 FoJygnotus and Paufon are alfo mentioned by Ariftotle in his 
 8th book De Rep. cap. v. where, fpeaking of Painting with a view 
 to education, he fays, that " young men fhould not be permitted 
 " to contemplate the works of Pauson, but thofe only of Poly g- 
 '* NOTUS, and of other artifts who excelled in moral exprcffionT 
 It feems probable, from this paflage, that the pi(5tures of Faiifon 
 were not only of a ludicrous, but alfo of a licentious caft. To 
 what a degree the abufe of this art was carried in Ariftotle's time, 
 appears from another paflage, \Rep. lib. vii. cap. xvii.] in which 
 he fays, the magiflrate fhould fuffer no " licentious and indecent 
 " paintings or flatues," fuch as would endanger the morals of 
 youth: but the exception that follows is curious; — ** Unlefs," he 
 adds, " in the temples of fome deities of that character, 
 '* whofe legal and eflabliflied worfhip confifls in ludicrous and 
 •* wanton rites"." 
 
 While I am upon this fubjed:, I cannot forbear adding a lin- 
 gular pafTage of Euripides, where Hippolytus, vindicating himfelf, 
 and afferting his chartity, fays, with a naivete that, I fear, would 
 hardly be received with decent gravity by a modern audience; — 
 
 A£%Jf? yap. It; TOO ijjWEpa?, ayyov Oi^oci;. 
 OuK. otox nPAHIN THNAE, 7tA?)i/ Xcyu kXvcoVj 
 rPAOHI TE AETEZXIN- ^^s txvtx yap (Tkottuv 
 U^odvi^^ hi^tj nAPQENON f TXHN £;^&k 
 
 Hippol. v. 1003, 
 
 ■• —Act fij) Ta IlATmNOS Scu^wjth; raj, aXKa to IlOATrNiiTOT, k'«; h 7t:a>^.®- 
 rruiv yfaipenv « tii)v aycif^MroTrotoiv mv ^flix©-. — De Rep. viii, 5. 
 
 » — i^nkv iA-n^i ayaTna finri y^atpnv hvai TOIOTTilN IlPAHEiiN MIMHSIN' £. (im: 
 sro^a TW ©E0I2 T01OTTOI£j w; km tw rnjflairjKov etTto^ihciv i •cf/,®-,— 
 
 ' Z I an>
 
 i;o NOTES. 
 
 I am a ftranger to the couch of love ; 
 Nor know I of its rites more than the tale 
 May have informed me, or the Painter's pencil 
 Prof en ted to mine cj't?; yet on fuch pidlure 
 Dwells not mine eye delighted, for my mind 
 
 Is as a virgin's pure. 
 
 [Mr. Porter's Tranflation, v. 1060.} 
 
 The Paufon mentioned by Ariftotle was probably the fame 
 painter, whofe poverty only is recorded by Suidas% and of whofe 
 wit we have a curious fpecimen in ^lian''. 
 
 Of DiONYSius, too, veiy little is known. That he excelled 
 in ;7^z^;Wreprefentation and exadt refemblance — in exhibiting men, 
 fuch as he Jaw them, without ideal grace on the one hand, or 
 exaggerated deformity on the other — ^is known, I believe, only from 
 this pafiage of Ariftotle. Dacier fays this account is confimied 
 by JEVizn; but I think he is miftaken. It appears to me, that 
 the f/,s-ye6'^ of which iElian fpeaks, as the only difference between 
 the paintings of Polygnotus and thofe of Dionyfius, is literal, not 
 figurative, magnitude. He fiys only, that the pidlures of Diony- 
 fius, " except, that they were o/t a fmall fcale, were exa6l imita- 
 " lions of Polygnotus, in the expreffion of pafjions and manners^ the 
 " attitudes of the figures, the lightnefs and tranfparency of the 
 " draperies, and every other circumftance"." It is not eaiy to fee 
 how Dionyfius could copy fo exadly, \k uK^S^tav, the cxprtf- 
 
 ' Ylaujuv®- TTTiiixori^^, was proverbial. Snidds,. And fee Arijloph. Plut. 602* 
 Tbcfnwph. 958. Acharn. 854. 
 
 '' Lib. xiv. cap. xv. — And fee Dacicr's note on the pafiage of Ariftotle. 
 
 ' /tt£v no^U7VDT®- EyfflfE -ra laya'ha^ km h Toi; TEAEIOID li^ycd^cro ra iA>jx' ra Ss ra 
 iiicwjtHf riAHN TGT MEFEQOYS, rw Ta TloXvy^/nnii Tf^wiv e/xifttiTo E15 rw ax^i^uav, 7raf)®-j, 
 XM >i6®-, Kou crxW'X'it'iv x^^^'h Ifixzixv ><i7noTriTa;, km ta hotTTiX.. — /Elian, iv. 3. If the 
 tufe of the iv/jok pajfage left room for doubt as to the fcnfe of the word lityii®-, it. 
 would, I think, be fufficiently fixed by what follows — iv TEAEI012. \.e. jujldjhitiira,. 
 af rightly rendered by Perizonius ; in large figures.^ — as large m life^ &c. Dacier's- 
 ** vifoit a la per-feStitn" is nothuig to the piirpofe. 
 
 Jon,
 
 NOTES. 
 
 171 
 
 fwn, and x\\(t forms, or attitudes^ of Polygnotus, without copying, 
 at the fame time, his greatnefs of manner, and his improvement 
 of that nature which he imitated j for thefe feem entirely to de- 
 pend upon thofe two circumftances, the expreflion of the counte- 
 nance, and the airs and attitudes of the ligures*^. 
 
 It feems, therefore, doubtful, whether Aridotle and yElian 
 fpeak of the fame perfon. There muft, in all probability, have 
 been more painters than one, of that namej which was fo common, 
 that the writers fo called, alone, furniilied Meurfms with matter 
 for a whole book. — The pidtures of Ti'ionyHus the Colopbonian are 
 mentioned by Plutarch* as .being painted with confiderabley?rd'«^//6 
 of pencil, [ — «V%w 1-xovtol Y.at tovov,'\ but in a manner which appeared 
 forced and laboured, [etcf^elSictu-fj-i-jovyl and which he oppofes to the 
 freedom and facility of Niconuichus, who feems to have been the 
 Fa Prejio of the antient painters \ This fault, fo likely to be 
 that of the artifl who aims at an exadl and fcrupulous refemblance 
 of the nature that is before his eyes, may, perhaps, afford fome 
 prefumption, that Plutarch and Ariftotle fpeak oi x}!\t fame painter. 
 
 What Ariftotle fays of thefe three llyles of pidturefque imitation, 
 is eafily applied to modern times. The produdlions, indeed, of 
 thefe antient artifts, were perilhable and of ihort duration; — '^ At 
 ^* genus immortale manet:" thefe fpccific charafters have fublifted, 
 and probably will fubfifl-, in every period of the art. For the 
 name of Polygnotus, it is obvious enough to fubftitute that of 
 Raphael, or other mafters of the higher Italian fchools. " When 
 *' a man," fays Mr. Richardfon, with that fimplicity of enthuliafm, 
 
 ' ♦' The painter has no other means of giving an idea of the dignity of the mir.d, 
 " but by that exterml appeartma which grandeur of thought does generallv, thou'Tli 
 " not always, imprefs on the countenance ■■, and by that corrcfpondence o'i figure to fen- 
 timent and fituation, which all men v/ilh, but cannot couiniaad." — Sir Jof. Reynokib's 
 D'.fic. on Paintings p. in, 
 
 « Life of Timokon — vol. i. p. 461. Hen. Steph. 
 
 ^ Luca Giordano was called, Luca Fa Prejh. Pliny fays of Nicomachus — 
 — ^' Ncc fuit alius in ea arte vilocwr." — Lib. x.\xv. cup, x. 
 
 Z 2 which
 
 172 NOTES. 
 
 '.vhich gives fo amuling a fingularity to his writings' — " When a. 
 *■' man enters into that awful gallery at Hampton-court", he finds 
 *■* hinifelf amongft a fort of people fupenor to ivhat he has ever 
 ^' fec'iy and very probably to wliat thofe really li-ere^" This is 
 exaftly the (^iXnovccq ^ y,xff •>j/xa? of Ariflotle. " Michael Angelo," 
 fij's the fame author, " no where ^y^^-zf fuch living figures as he 
 " cut in marble." — The Flemiili and Dutch fchools will fupply 
 plenty of fubftitutes for the Dionyjii of antient painting — thofe, 
 who, like Protogenes, *' in pidlura verum efle, non veri/imile, vo- 
 " lunt"'." Rembrandt mufl occur to every body. Even Rubens. 
 *' took his figures too vcwich. from the people before him." \_Sir J of 
 Reynolds's Dfc. p . 133.] 
 
 As for the Paufons, the buffoons of the art, they are to be- 
 fcen in the windows of every print-fliop. We mufl not, how- 
 ever, confound with thefe " Tom Browns of the mob," as Mr. 
 Walpole calls them", the moral humour of Hogarth, or the 
 fportive, but harmlefs, exaggerations of Mr. Bunbury. Hogarth, 
 indeed, in general, and in his greatefl works, feems rather to- 
 belong to the highejl clafs of the exaEl imitators of vulgar nature — • 
 T(x\i «|)ATAflN. His Country-dance, however, may be mentioned 
 as an example, and an admirable one, of exaggerated comic imita- 
 tion, in which men are made, in feme degree at leafl:, " worfe than, 
 " they are" — XEIPOTS l.xa^e. — And if any man can look at this 
 print, or at the Family-piece, the Coffee- houfe Patriots, or the Lo?ig 
 Story, of Mr. Bunbury, without feeling a high degree of that 
 
 ' Sec Mr. Walpole's juft: apology for the fingularities of Richardfon's ftyle, and-, 
 iurt ccnfurc of thofe, who faw nothing, in that fenfiblc and original wjriter, but an. 
 object of (Icriuon. — Anccdota of Painting. 
 
 * Where the Cartoons then were. 
 
 ' Theory of Pa'mtlifg, p. 96. Ed. 1773. 
 
 "■ Plin. lib. XXXV. cap. x. Sec his account of the laborioufnefs of that painter 
 
 See alfo Milan. Far. Hljl. lib. xii. cap. xli. and Plut, in Lcmct. p. 1646. Ed. H..S. 
 
 " Ante, (f Painting, vol. iv. p. 149. 
 
 pleafure
 
 NOTES. J7^ 
 
 preafure v/hlch arifes from the perception of ftrong humour, he 
 muA, I think, be fVill more unprovided with a fenfe of the ridicu- 
 loos, than even that CrafTus, who is recorded to have laughed once,, 
 though once only, in his hfe^ 
 
 NOTE 13, 
 P. 68. With the music of the flute and of the 
 
 tYRE. 
 
 Thus Plato, in the very language of Ariftotle, — ra Tn^i thq 
 ^vdfiHi icai TTOiirccv fxMa-Mviv e^t toottuv f/.t[xr!fia,T» BEATIONfiN Kxt XEI- 
 PONXIN AN0PXlIT.n,N. A modern reader, that is, a perfon who 
 reads an antient author with modern ideas, might be inclined to 
 to aflc, how men are to be reprefented as better, or worfe, than 
 they are, or how, indeed, reprefented at all, in a harpfichord 
 leflbn, or a folo for a German flute T But the fame reader, fup- 
 pofmg him in any degree converfant with mufic, would furely be at 
 no lofs to conceive, that it admits of the difference of Jerwus and. 
 £vmlc exprejfifjn ; and admits of it ia various degrees, from the higheft 
 elevation and dignity of ftyle, do vn to the coarfe and vulgar jollity 
 of the gavot, or the hornpipe. Now the meaning of Ariftotle, put. 
 into modern muficai language, amounts, I apprehend, to no more 
 than that. Suppofe, then,, the mufic, in thefe different ftyles, to- 
 be accompanied by words, relating the anions, or imitating the 
 fpeech, of low, or elevated characters; wc might fay, that the 
 mufic was exprejjhe of fuch actions, or characters ; the antients 
 would have faid, that it imitated them. On the contrary, fuppofe 
 this mufic merely inflrumental, we iliould,. in general, only lay, 
 that it was grand, and fublime, or comic, mean, vulgar, &:c. But 
 ^e antients, from the clofe, and almofl infeparable connexion of 
 
 " Ck. de Fin. v. 3,0. 
 
 tkeir
 
 iU 
 
 NOTES, 
 
 tbeir Mufic with Poetry, and particularly with the moil imitative 
 fqrt of Poetry, the Drama tic ""i and partly, alfo, from the nature 
 pf their Mufic itfelf % would, in this cafe likewife, have retained 
 much the fame language, and would have confidered this Mufic as 
 imitative of the manners and pafTions of exalted, or vulgar cha- 
 radlers, or even as reprcfenting thofe charafters themfelves. — But 
 the different ideas, or rather, the different language, of the antients 
 and the moderns on this fubjedt, I have confidered more fully, 
 and endeavoured to account for, in the Second DiJJlrtation. 
 
 N O T E 14. 
 
 P. 68. Cleophon, as they are.— 
 
 It may be worth while to remark, that the charadler Ariilotle 
 gives of the diSlion of Cleophon'' — that it was of the common and 
 familiar kind, without Poetic elevation — correfponds with the 
 account here given of the general objed: of his Poetry, the exa<ft 
 delineation of common nature and common life. Pie who means 
 to reprefent jnen as they arey will alfo, of courfe, reprefent their 
 language nearly as it is. 
 
 The only Poet of this name, of whom, I believe, any account 
 is given, is recorded as a T'ragic Poet'': but Ariftotle undoubtedly 
 alludes here to a Poem of the narrative kind. In another part of 
 his works he mentions a Poem of Cleophon, called Mandra- 
 BUT,us% From the proverbial expreflion — Itt/ Ma;i'i?^«,3»Xy x^^"* '''" 
 nr^ot-yi^M (*' worfe and ivorfe, like the affairs of Mandrabulus" — ) 
 
 \ Diff. II. p. 8/, he. 9 Ibid. p. 85. 
 
 » Partll. Scif. 26. Ot' the Orig. cap. xxii. 
 
 ' Suidas V. Cleophon. He gives the names of fome of his Tragedies, 
 
 ' De Soph. Eltnch. cap. xv. where we ftiould, I fuppofe, for Mai/Jfo^»Ai', read, 
 
 4* ^^
 
 N O t E S": 17/ 
 
 in Lucian'', and the account of its origin in Suidas, and ricfychius*, 
 it feems very improbable that the Poem was a "Tragedy. We may 
 4uther conckide it to have been of a comic cafl; and it feems no 
 unreafonable conje61:ure, to fuppofe, that it miglit be of the nar- 
 rative kind; . modelled, perhaps, in fome refpeds, upon the Mar- 
 GiTEs of Homer. At leafl:, the two heroes feem to have been of 
 kindred chara iters. 
 
 NOTE 15'. 
 
 P. 68. HeGEMON INVENTOR OF PARODIES. 
 
 See Athenaeus, p. 698, 699, and 406, 407. And Fabric. 
 Bibliotb. Gr. lib. ii. cap. vii. — The Athenians were delighted 
 with this fort of y«« — of all expedients to raife a laugh, the cheap- 
 eft, and, at the fame time, the moft infallible. Homer was the 
 great and inexhauftible refource of thefe Parodifts. The beft and 
 moft confiderable fpecimen remaining, of this kind of Poem, 
 feems to be the Homeric defcription of an Attic fupper by Matron^ 
 a great Parodift, and a great eater, in Atheuieus, lib. iv. cap. v. 
 Ifaac Cafaubon calls it, " Carmen ingeniofum, et leporis ac ve- 
 " nuftatis pleniflimum." — The firft three lines may ferve as a 
 fpecimen : 
 
 AUTTVa. flOl SVl/BTTS, MniTX, 'TTOXurpotOi KM f^MXoc TTOXXtX.', 
 
 A BsvokXti; pyiTup ev AG'^vu,g ^SiTTVidiv yifJLoci;, 
 HXbov yocD KKKSio-i, TToXv; as fytoi eiTTTSTo Xiu.'^^. 
 The Poem, it muft be confelfed, has fome pleafmtry, and much 
 dexterity of comical perverfion. We cannot wonder at its effeift 
 
 * De Mcrcede conduii. 478. EJ. Bened'UT, 
 ' V. Em -n yiavo^a.p>i>.>i. 
 
 ■* A',5fa fwi hmitey M.H<ra, TroXuTfoTrov, o$ /JuxXa ttoTAx. 'Hx/m. Od, initr 
 
 upon
 
 i7« NOTES. 
 
 upon a people, who had all Homer in their memories. It is eafy 
 to conceive the roar of the Athenian upper gallery, when, in the 
 defcription of the cook, bringing in the fupper, they heard this 
 line; 
 
 Tjw a otaoc re(r<rBoay,ovTcc fjuXxivui XTTPAI Ittovto'. 
 Sometimes the Parody depended on a pun ; of which Athena^us 
 gives, with great complacence, a curious example, in a fci^ap from 
 a Parody of Eicbcvus, defcribing a quarrel between a barber and a 
 potter. The barber, whofe wife, it feems, the other attempts to 
 force from him, addreffes the potter in the language of Neflor'' : — • 
 
 MsjTE (Tu rovd, a'yix,9©^ Trep euv, d-TToaipBo KOTPHN,, 
 
 Mi?r£ <rt;, riHAEIAH. 
 
 ■ — where the joke depends on the allufion to riHAOS, mud, ox clay \ 
 and, probably, to the trade of the fpeaker, in the word jtsr^iji/; or, 
 perhaps, to the inftrument of his art, which we may fuppofe the 
 aElor of the Parody to have brandilhed at his adverfary. — But 
 I do not mean to take to myfelf the honour of this illuftration of 
 an Attic joke. It is to be found in the Poetics of J. C. Scaligcr. — - 
 ScQAthen. p. 699. B. 
 
 NOTE 16. 
 
 P. 68. The Deliad.^ 
 
 The conjedture of Caflelvetro, Triv AYAXtu^ot, (which might be 
 rendered, 'The Poltromad,J was certainly ingenious, but, I think, 
 unnecefTary. Dacier's account is probably right ; and both his 
 idea, and the common reading, feem to receive fome fupport from 
 the fimilar national titles that are preferved of other pieces of this 
 Poetj fuch as, Kjijrej, Aoiy.uvtq, Ai;/*wa/, — See Suuias z.nd Fabric ius, 
 
 * See IL L 275, &c. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 177 
 
 NOTE 17. 
 
 P. 68. So, AGAIN, WITH RESPECT TO DITHYR AMBICS 
 AND NOMES. 
 
 The expreffion, in this paffage, is too general, and too little 
 is known of the examples mentioned in it, to admit of perfecS 
 fatisfadion, with refpedl to any thing farther than its general mean- 
 ing ; i. e. that l^of6 Dithyrambic and Nomic Poetry admitted 
 the fame differences in the ohjcSfs of their imitation. For fo, I 
 think, the fenfe requires us to underfland; not, that the imitation 
 of heroic charadlers was appropriated to the one, and that of light 
 charadlers to the other. Both thefe fpecies of Poetry were hym7is-y 
 and though the Dithyrambic, or hymn to Bacchus, might, indeed, 
 from its wild and free charad:er, be privileged with a greater latitude 
 and variety of imitation, yet I know of no authority that will 
 warrant our going fo far, as to fuppofe, that they were efTentially 
 diftinguillied from each other in this refpedt, like Tragedy and 
 Comedy'. 
 
 The conftrudion of the Greek I underfland to be this: — yj^Mi- 
 (ruiTo av rVf, cog Tt[/,o9i<^ Kcci ^iXo^ev^^ [fc. $iu,ifzyj(rocvTo'\ rispcrug Kca 
 Ku^XuTTocg. 
 
 I am aftoniflied, that any commentators fliould have taken 
 either of the compofitions here mentioned for dramas j an idea 
 totally repugnant to the plain fenfe of the whole paffage, and to 
 the evident purpofe for which thefe examples are cited. With 
 refpedl to the ns^crai, the paffage of Paufanias may be regarded as 
 decifive; — UuXacSa — a'Jovr©. T;p5ea NOMON, Tts MiXwas, nEPLAZ''. 
 
 « Yet fo the laft Ox. editor feems to underfland : — " Hoc differre Nomos a Di- 
 thyrambis, quod Hits perfonas graves, his leves imitarentur. p. 273. 
 
 •> Pauf. Arcad. — And the Poem begiin with an hexameter verfe which is tJicre 
 quoted. Yet Fabricius calls it a Tragedy. 
 
 A a TJic
 
 lyS NOTES. 
 
 The Poem of Philoxenus here meant muft, clearly, have been 
 either a Nome, or a Dithyrambic Poemj moll: probably, the 
 latter. Philoxenus is recorded as a Dithyrambic Poet; and Ari- 
 ftotle's illuftration will be more complete, if we underfland him 
 to exemplify in eac/j of the kinds of Poetry in queftion. It is by 
 no means certain, that the Cyclops of Philoxenus mentioned by 
 Athenasus, iElian, and others, is the piece here alluded to: and, if 
 it were, which, undoubtedly, appears rather probable, I know of 
 no fufficient proof that it v/as a Drama, as it has been repeatedly 
 called. If iSlian is to be regarded, it certainly was not^ for he 
 calls it (WeXoj — a term appropriated to Lyric Poetry. — tov KYK- 
 AXiriA eipyucrxTO, tuv sauri: MEAXIN ro ycocKXt^ov" . 
 
 I mentioned, in the conclufion of note i. a problem of Ari- 
 ilotle, from which it appears, that the Dithyrambic Poetry was 
 not originally imitative, but became fo by degrees. It is the 15th 
 of the Harmonic Pi'oblems, Se5l. 19. It is there faid, that the 
 Dithyrambics, after they became imitative, laid afide the antiftro- 
 phical form, (i. e. the divilion into correfponding ftanzas",) in 
 which, before, they had been compofed". And the reafon affigned 
 for this is, that, originally, thefe Dithyrambic hymns were per- 
 formed by choruffes of gentlemen, [eXeuSs^oi] who could not ling in. 
 the ftyle of artills, and profelTors : [ayw^s-i^w? a.hiv :] the words 
 were, therefore, fet to the limpleft kind of melody, fuch as that, in 
 which the fame air is repeated to limilar llanzas, as in our ballads \ 
 
 ' /El. V(ir. H'tfl, lib. xii, cap. 44. 
 
 ■^ AvT:rfo?i®-— I2H, "OMOIA. Hcjych. 
 
 ' —tTTH^av /Mfimwoi iycvovro, sxeti ex'"''^^ avTir^o^ni, "Tr^ortfov 5e iixov. 
 
 ' Aio cf7r>Jir^!x iTioiHVTO avni; ra |U£^>;• h h amr^up®- a-y.ar a^t§fA@- y«j efi km hi fU- 
 TffiT« : i. e. (if I underftand it rightly,) it confifts of a number of parts that have one 
 common meafure. 
 
 That, in the Strophe and Antiftrophe of the Greek Ode, the fame mufical ftrain 
 was repeated, is clear from Dionyf. Hal, de StriiSl. Orat. §19. TOij,- os rot f/.iM y^oupnai, 
 K. t, «^. And alfo from what Ariftotlc, in this Prob. fays of the Nomes,yih\ch vver« 
 }wt antiftrophkal, and the melodies of which, as well as the words, Tfi im/xwu moyaki 
 AEI ETEPA yv^oi^iva.. 
 
 8 ' But
 
 NOTES. 
 
 179 
 
 But afterwards, it feemsjthe performance of thefe hymns, like that 
 of the Nomes, was left to profe/Ted muficians, the a.-ymig-ai, or 
 mafters of the art, who .contended with each other in trials of 
 fliill, and who were, of courfe, to. exwt^ all their imitative powers. 
 The fymmetry c^ {i^-ophe and antiftrophe, and the flmplicity of 
 air regularly repeated, were ill adapted to this purpofe, which re- 
 quired length, variety, and frequent changes^ of metre, melody, 
 rhythm, mode, genus, &c. in conformity to the various fubjed!ls 
 of imitation, and tranfitions of expi-effion''. — This account, which 
 affords fome little giimpfe of curious information, with refpecSl 
 both to the Nomic and Dithyrambic hymn, is confirmed, as far 
 as the latter is concerned, by Dionyfius Halicarn. De StruSiurd 
 Orat. SeB. 19. He there traces the, progrefs of all. this Lyric 
 corniption, and names Timotheus and Philoxenus as the prin- 
 cipal authors of thefe licentious and wicked innovations — " for, 
 " in the time of the old Poets," he fays, " the Dithyrambic ode 
 was an orderly and -regular compofition'." 
 
 Plutarch, too, in the Dialogue rie^; MucrtKr.g, fpeaks exadlly'thc 
 fame language. Timotheus and Philoxenus are there repeatedly 
 ftigmatized as corrupters of the good old fnujlc; and the iT^i/^a- 
 c«©o and ZifycoviSa^ TfOTT©-, is oppofed to the <i>iXo^sva(S^^ , with a 
 zeal fimilar to that, with which, in modern mufic, we fometimes 
 hear the flyle of Corelli and Geminiani oppofed and preferred to 
 the heterodox novelties of Haydn and Boccherini. 
 
 s See Dr. Burney's Hi/L of Alujic, vol. i. p. 61, &c. 
 
 '' — ayavirav — m tou lUimir^ou ^vvaiA.eviOV >cai 5iaT£irE0'Sai, « wSVi kyivero nxsc^x kcu TroAUi.Jii;, 
 «a9a7r£f kv rx PH1\4ATA, nat ix MEAH tjj iji.if4.wa mo7oi6a, Ah ETEfa yiivi^evix. — He adds, 
 T^aMov yap ™ //sAsi avayicy], /ju/jiEtcrSai ti toi; pvtiA,a<n' — by which, I fuppofe, he means, that in 
 this union of poetical and mufical imitation in the Nomes, the ??if^fa/ imitation was 
 confidered as the principal and moft elTential objeiS. 
 
 i — Trance ye rot; «fx;aioi5 TETArMENOS HN O AI0YPAMBOE. What he means 
 by TSTay/j.(v®- is fufficiently explained in the firft paragraph of the fame fedtion. 
 
 '' Plut, Ed, H. Steph, p. 2092, and 2084. 
 
 A a 2 I'hc
 
 i8o NOTES. 
 
 The manner. In which Ariftotle, in this Problem, fpeaks of the 
 Nomes, when compared with his expreffions relative to the Dithy- 
 rambics, rather leads one to fuppole, that the former were not, 
 even originally y compofed in the antillrophic form' : the leaft,. 
 however, that can be inferred from it, is, that they difcarded that, 
 form, and, confequently, became complicated, artificial, and imi- 
 tative, long before a firnilar revolution took place in the Dithy- 
 rambic Poetry and Mufic. — I may, atfo, obfcrve that the variety 
 of imitation, and changes of exprefTion, clearly attributed by 
 Ariftotle to the Noines, feem to confirm what I faid above — that 
 they did not exclude the fame variety, in the ohjcSls of their imi- 
 tation, which the Dithyrambic Poem confeffedly admitted. 
 
 I will juft add, that this Problem of Ariftotte throws light 
 upon a pafiage .in his Rhetoric, which has embarrafled his com- 
 mentators. He there [///^. iii. cap. 9.] compares the didtion that 
 is divided into periods, to the Antijlrophic Odes " of the old Poets:" 
 but, the Xsl^j ei^o[j,svyi, ia which the fentence has no other unity 
 than that which copulatives give it"', nor any other meafure than, 
 the completion of iht fenfe, and the neceflity of taking breath", 
 or, as Cicero, in few words, fo admirably defcribes it, " ilia Jine 
 "■ intervallis loquacitas perennis et proliuens"" — this Ariftotle 
 compares to what he calls the (xva.fioXcx.i in Dithyrambic Poetry; 
 meaning, I think, evidently, the long, irregular, protrnBed Odes of 
 the more modern Dithyrambic Poets ; fuch as thofe, of which he 
 fpeaks in the Problem. For the v\'ord, Avuf^oXyj, here, does not,. 
 I believe, fignify exordium, procemium, as ufually underftood, but 
 was, probably, the name by which thefe u^m fzxtc^xt kxi TroXvctSetg ' 
 
 ' Aia Ti ot lAtv Nojiioi a« iv cuiTir^opoii EFIOIOTNTO j — and, oi N«/xoi ar/ava-av HSAN.. 
 
 " i hJev ^%a T£A©- naff cunnv, cci. /xm to 'K^xyijux T^iyoixtmi/ TEAfiaS.j.. The periodic diflion, 
 as oppofed to this, he calls iuawKvtuT®-. [§ 3,]— Ille ludis, incondite /////(^/V quantum 
 potej}, ct id quod dicit spiritu, uon ARTE^detenninat. — C/V. d.' Or iii. 44. 
 
 o De Or. iii. 48. 
 
 f See note " 
 
 were
 
 NOTES. i8i 
 
 were diftinguifhed, and oppofed to the old and fimple Dithyrambic 
 
 injlanzas. 
 
 NOTE i8. 
 
 P. 68. Either ln narration, — and that, again,. 
 
 EITHER, &C> 
 
 It may fafely be pronounced, that the original here, either is 
 not as Ariflotle left it, or, was carelefsly and ambiguoudy written. 
 As the ambiguity, however, does not affecfl the general fenfe of the 
 paflage, it is fcarcely worth while to engage in a minute difcuffion 
 of the comparative merits of the two different conflrudlions, which 
 have been adopted by different commentators and tranflators. The 
 learned reader knows, or may fee, whafhas been faid on both fides. 
 I have preferred that conflruftion, which has always appeared to 
 me to refult moft obvioully and naturally from the words of the 
 original. — zv rotg auroic, Kxi rex. ciurcx. lA-ifxeia-^M Ig'w, ore fxev AITArrEA- 
 AONTA ('f; sreoov n yiyvoixevov, ucTTrsp 'OjM.r;^©-' ttoih, oj cog rov aurov, 
 xxi f^vi f4,irix.f3(xX\ovTct,) vj TTcmrccg u; IIPATTONTAE KOii IvBoyavTag nsq 
 
 In the other, and mofl ufual vfzy of taking this pafTage, ths 
 mixture of mere narratmi, and dr wiatic imitation, in the Epic 
 fpecies, is exprefled by the words, oVs ^iv (x-TrxyysXXovrx, i srepov n 
 yfyvof/,evov . But it feems not likely, that Ariftotle would thus 
 oppole the word dTrocyyeXXovrec, to erspov ri yiyvo[x,evov ; becaufe the 
 term, cxTrxyyBKix, is conftantly applied by him, throughout the 
 treatife, to the iiarratwe fpecies in general : it is oppofed, not 
 to the dramatic part of the Epic, but to the drama itfelf. k.Tra.y~ 
 ytkm and ^iT/'/;crii, are ufed by him as fynonymous terms, and are 
 both applied to the iv/jo/e of the Homeric, or dramatic. Epic 
 Poem\ 
 
 " See ch. V. — Tu h AIlArrEAIAN iii/o!!— fpeaking of the Epic Poem— 
 
 And cap. vi. in the definition of Tragedy — mxt s Ji ATIArrE/UAZ. So, ch. xxiii. and 
 xxiv. pajjim.-
 
 ^^3. ^ O T E S. 
 
 On the other hand, the words — i? ETETON t; yiyvofzevov — lecm 
 evidently oppofed to — v] ug TON ATTON Kai {/.vj f/,STxl3izXXovTx, and 
 fhould, therefore, be joined with t/.>em, not with aTrayyaXkovTcx.. — 
 Laftly, in this way of underftanding the paffage, Ariftotle divides 
 the different 7nanners of imitation, as he might naturally be ex- 
 pe£ted to divide them, iato thofe which charadlerize the two great 
 and principal fpecies, of which he means to treat — the narra- 
 tive and the dramatic. The two diiferent modes of the 
 former, i. e. xht pure narrative, and the dramatic narrative, are, 
 with more propriety than in the other conftrudlion, (in his view of 
 the fubjed, at leaft,) flung into a fubdivifion. 
 
 In either conflruftion, however, Ariflotle agrees with Flato in 
 enumerating three kinds of Poetry, the purely dramatic, the 
 purely narrative, and the mixed \ But the generality of the com- 
 mentators feem, too haftily, to have taken it for granted, that 
 Ariflotle mufl therefore neceffarily enumerate them in the fame 
 manner ; and they have, accordingly, moulded the flexible and 
 ambiguous conftrudion of this paflage, exactly upon the divifiOn 
 
 of Plato \ 
 
 I was ghd to find myfelf fupported here by the judgment of 
 
 the accurate Piccolomini, v/hofe verfion coincides with mine. — 
 
 In UN MODO, per via di narratione, — e quejlo, 6 ponendo fe fteffb 
 
 alle volte il Poeta in perfona d'altri, come fa Homero, over confer- 
 
 vando fempre la propria perfona non mutata mai. Nel altro 
 
 MODO poi, introducendo perfone a trattare et negotiare, come fe le 
 
 ^zi'i'^ perfone che fono imitate, fufl!ero. 
 
 With refpedl to the imitation here exprefsly allowed by Arifl:otle 
 
 to fubfifl; even in mere narration, without the intermixture of any 
 
 thing dramatic, fee Diff. I. p. 26. 
 
 " Plato, Rep. lib. iii. p. 392, P, to 394, D, Ed. Serrani. But, for the difference 
 of Plato's (lodtrinc, or rather of his language, from that of Ariftotle, fee Dif. I. p. 40. 
 
 ' See, particularly, If. Cafaubon, De Sat. Poef. cap. iii. Inlt. I agree perfedly 
 with Mr. Winftanley, that his emendations are not neceflary. 
 
 NOTE
 
 MOTES. 183 
 
 NOTE 19., 
 ?. 69. Elevated characters — Gr. snOTAAIOTE.. 
 
 The adjedtive Zir-dlui^, ^nd its oppofite, <iuvX©^, are words of 
 conliderable latitude. They, each of them, comprehend a number 
 of different, though related, ideas, for which ive have not, that I 
 know of, any common word. Propriety itfelf, therefore, requires 
 of a tranilator that, which, at firft view, feems contrary to pro- 
 priety — that he iliould render each of thofe words differently in 
 different places. To have tranflated c-TraSuiiig here, " gooc/," or 
 " 'virtuous," as itmay generally be tranflated, v/ould only have been 
 giving an Englilh.wor^/ with a Greek idea, which none but readers 
 of Greek would have affixed to it. 
 
 The Greeks appear to have applied the word, SITOTAAION, to 
 whatever was, on any account, a^iov (nns^yi? — whatever was refpcSl- 
 able, important, admirable,, ferious, valuable, &c. as oppofed to 
 OATAON, vvhich was applied, not to vice only, but to whatever 
 was contemptible, trijiing^ , light, ordinary, ridiculous — -or, as we 
 fay in familiar Engliih, good for nothing. Hence the various 
 fenfes of both thefe words, in the Greek writers, according as 
 they were applied to peffons, and things, that were the objefts of 
 ejieem, or contempt,. ov\. different accounts. Sometimes, therefore, 
 o-TTSJiLi©- may be rendered by "good;" fometimes by " ferious, 
 " earnejl" Sec. — Sometimes, as in this paffage, and in the defi- 
 nition of Tragedy, by " elevated," ** important," &cc.^ 
 
 Suidas explains the word, not only by Evxdbt©^, but by SOOOZ, 
 and EYAOKIMOS, See aifo the article, ^auX©., Hefychius gives, 
 
 =■ Demofthenes has this expreffion : — 4 fj,ST^ia; kxi <&ATAA2 >,a(3iiv 'TrMya; — Orai. 
 xjtTO Kcvojv©-. — So, bady is fometimes ufed \n familiar Englifli, for, trifling: " no bad 
 " blows." 
 
 ^ "= Thus, Dacier — les gens les plus confiderables. — Piccolomini — perfone grave :-— 
 attione grave et 7nag}!ifica,—U6.n^ms—h(meJ}o5, Go\i\^on,—praJiantes, &c. . 
 
 as
 
 j84 NOTES. 
 
 as fynonymous to ^auX©-, not only the general word, ICajc©-, but, 
 ETTEAHI — 'AOAOYS — KATArEAASTOS. And Phavorinus — 
 (pxvXov, TO KXKOv, %ou TO iVTeXsg, KOii TO [^ixpov, Kxi OTAAMINON— 
 Angl. *' govdfor nothiiig" 
 
 Some kind of mrtiie, in the extended fenfe given to the word 
 APETH by the antient writers on morals, was, indeed, always 
 implied in the epithet Zttk^k;©^; but it included fuch good qua- 
 lities, and endowments, as ii-e do not ufually call virtues; or, at 
 leaft, fuch as we never include in our idea of 2i 'virtuous man^ : as, 
 wifdom, courage, eloquence, &;c.— Thus Ariftotle himfelf; — to ^z. 
 XnOTAAION \mo(,i, e^i to TA£ APETAS £%a/. And what are 
 thefe virtues? — they are — " <?// laudable habits." — Tm e^suv tk; 
 EOAINETAS, APETAS Xiyoy.zv\ 
 
 The fubje£t of Criticifm is neceflarily connedled, in fome degree, 
 with that of Ethics; and unlefs we underftand well the moral lan- 
 guage of any writer, we cannot be competent judges of his criticifm. 
 
 NOTE 20. 
 
 P. 69. In support of these claims they argue from 
 
 THE WORDS THEMSELVES. r 
 
 Homuevci toc, ovo[u,oiTCi a-'/ifjinov. — The participle, •7roiiS[j,svoi, fhould be 
 applied, I think, to all the Dorians — not confined, as in Dacier's 
 tranflationj to thofe of Peloponncfus. Sec Goulfton's verfion, 
 which appears to me to be right. 
 
 Ariflotle begins by faying exprefsly, that the Doriafts, in general, 
 laid claim to both Tragedy and Comedy, on account of the term 
 
 « See Hume's Pnnapks of Morals^ Sed. 6. Part I.— particularly p. ill, &c.— 
 and the note, p. 104. 
 
 d Mag. Moral, i. i. 
 
 • Eth, Nicom.—End of Book I.— I may alfo refer the reader, on this fubjeit, to 
 Cc, de Or. lib. ii. cap. 84. " Virtus autem, qux eft per fe jpfa laudabilis," &c. 
 
 APAMA,
 
 NOTES, 185 
 
 APAMA, which was a Doric word: — AIO (i. e. from the term 
 ApxfMXTtx, jufl; before mentioned,) oivTmot^vrou tvj^ re Toccyut^iai yizt Tr,i 
 Ka)f/,uSixg OI AfiPIEIS. — He then mentions the peculiar claims of 
 the Megarians to Comedy, and of the Dorians of Peloponnefus 
 to Tragedy; throwing in, parenthetically, fome other arguments 
 on which the former alfo founded their title to the invention of 
 Comedy: after which, he returns, at the word 7roi>iiA,ivoi, to fliew, 
 how thefe people concurred in arguing from the etymology of the 
 words thernfelvesi all of them, from the word (S^^a^a, as it was 
 common to Tragedy and Comedy, and they, who laid claim to 
 Comedy, both from that, and alfo from the derivation of the word 
 
 The conftrudion. In this way, is, I confefs, fomewhat paren- 
 thetical and embarraffed ; but the reader, who is accuflomed to the 
 ilyle of Ariftotle, will not, I believe, confider this as affording 
 alone 'any fuflicient prefumption againft the explanation here 
 given. 
 
 NOTE 21. 
 
 P. 70. The figures of the meanest and most dis- 
 gusting ANIMALS. 
 
 Qrj^iuv TE iA.o^(pccg ruv ATIMOTATflN. — This reading is flrongly 
 fupported by the arguments of Viilorius, the authority of MSS, 
 and the fenfe and purport of the pafTage itfelf, which feems to re- 
 quire inftances oi mean, or difgujling, rather than o^ terrible, objedls. 
 Thus too Plutarch, in the pafTages referred to by Vidorius, 
 which undoubtedly allude to this of Ariftotle. — Tiy^ocif-^ivyiv SAY- 
 PAN ij niQHKON, l^ovTBg r,^ci^s9oi Kxt Suvix,x^ofA,iv, ovx ^f KOcXov, oiX'K 
 
 cog ofiotov' itrtu yotp g ^woiTut kocXov yiveaSai TO AISXPON— k. r. ccX. — ■ 
 And prefently after — KXi NOSriAH fiev ANGPfinON, xa< TnOTAON, 
 
 Bb cJf
 
 iS6 NOTE S", 
 
 *J(r a-TB^TTiq 6eK-<.x, (ptvyoi^sv' «. r. oA. — See alfo his Sytnpof. Problems, 
 lib. V. Prob. i. 
 
 NOTE 22. 
 
 P. 70. To LEARN IS A NATURAL PLEASURE '■ — . 
 
 To the fame purpofe, in his Rhetoric, lib. i. cap, xi. p. 537, 
 pd. Duval. Etts; h to MAN0ANEIN ts ij(5l», v.m to 6oujy,a^»y, k«i Tet 
 ToioojTK., avix.y%yi rfiio, hvxi, to tb jt^spjwijjttevci/^, ucnrsa TPAOIKH, xcu 
 ANAPIANTOnOIIA, Ka; IIOIHTIKH, km -ttccv uv lu f^iiiif^rjf^Bvov r, 
 Kuu fXT] VI ^du a TO iJi,if^yif>t,oe,' 5? yap Itti tutw %*w«, uXkx tniX'koyur^^ tj-;, 
 cTi TOYTO EKEINO- wVe MAN0ANEIN t; (ru[/.l2xim. — " And as it 
 •* is by nature delightful to learn, to admire, and the like, 
 *' hence we neceflarily receive pleafure from imitative arts, as 
 ** Painting, Sculpture, and Poetry, and from whatever is 
 " well imitated, even though the original may be difagreeablej for 
 •' our pleafure does not arife from the beauty of the thing itfelf, 
 " but from the iitfereiice — tht difcovery, that " This is That," 
 " &c. fo that we feem to learn fomething." 
 
 McivOxmv — to learn, to knoiv, i, e. merely to recognize, difcover, 
 &:c. See Harris, On Miijic, Painting, 6cc. ch. iv. note (b). The 
 meaning is fufficiently explained by what follows. Dryden, who 
 i^carce ever mentions Ariftotle without difcovering that he had 
 looked only at the wrong fide of the tapeftry', fays — *' Ariilotle 
 *• tells us, that imitation pleafes becaufe it affords matter for a rca~ 
 
 » I cannot but fufpe£l this reading. It was perhaps, originally, m ts MIMOT- 
 MENON : othcrwile, (jtifxi/xvusvov muft here be taken ailively, which, though not 
 unufual, is in this place, I thin'c, improbable, becaufe the fame participle immediately 
 follows, in the pajfive fenfc. 
 
 ■= " Methinlies this tranjlnting" fnys Don Q^iixotc, " is juft like looking upon 
 " the wrong ftde of arras hanging'^ ; that although the piJlurcs be fecne, yet they are 
 *• full of threil-ends, that darken them, and they are not feene with the plainnefle and 
 ♦* fmoothntffe as on tiic other fide." SheUan's Don ^uixotf. Sec. part, ch. Ixii. 
 
 9 " Jbncr
 
 NOTES. 187 
 
 ** fomr to enquire Into the truth or falfehood of imitation," 6cc.* 
 But Ariflotle is not here fpeaking of rcafoners, or inquiry \ but, on 
 the contrary, of the vulgar, the generality of mankind, whom he 
 exprefsly oppofcs to philolbphers, or reafoners : and his o-v?^oyi^e<r9xt 
 is no more than that rapid, habitual, and iniperceptible ad: of the 
 mind, that " raifonnement aufli prompt que le coup d'oeil," (as it 
 is well paraphrafed by M. Batteux,) by which we coUeBy or infer, 
 from a comparifon of the pifture with the image of the original 
 in our minds, that it was intended to reprefent that original. 
 
 The fulleft illuftration of this paflage is to be found in another 
 work of Ariftotle, his Rhetoric, lib. iii. cap. x.% where he applies 
 the fame principle to metaphorical language, and refolves the 
 pleafure we receive from fuch language, into that which arifes frorai 
 the f/.x9vj(rig TAXEIA- — the exercife of our underftandings in ^^t'3- 
 vering the meaning, by a quick and eajy perception of fome quality 
 or qualities common to the thing exprejjed, and the thing intended — 
 to a mirror, for example, and to the theatre, when the latter is 
 is called metaphorically, ** The mirror of human life*^." 
 
 In the Problems, SeB. 19, Prob. V. the fame principle is applied' 
 to Mufic. The Problem is. Why we arc more pleafed with fmging 
 when we are acquainted with the air that is fung, than when it is 
 new to us? — And one of the anfwers is, on ^ov to fzavdumv — i. e. 
 to fay, this is fuch a tune, or fong, &c. And indeed the pleafure 
 afforded by 7'ecognition, is no where, perhaps, more vifibly illuf- 
 trated, than in the raptures and rhythmical agitation of a popular 
 
 "" Parallel between Poetry and Painting-, prefixed to his tranflatioa of Dufrefnoy. 
 Dryden feems to have taken his idea from Dacier's note on this- place, which is ex- 
 tremely confufed, and fo exprefled, as to leave it doubtful, whether he mifunderftood 
 the original, or only explained himfelf awkwardly. — The ufe that Dryden made of 
 French critics and tranflators is well known. He commends " Danler's late excellent 
 " tranjlatlm of Jrljhtle^" ia the Parol, between Poet, and Paint, juA before the paf- 
 fage above quoted. 
 
 ' Ed. Duval. In other Ed. differently divided, rap. vi, 
 
 ' See Harris's Philol. Jnq. p. igo, and note *. 
 
 B b 2 audience.
 
 iS8 NOTE S. 
 
 audience, at the return of the leading air, in that fpecies of infal- 
 lible ear-trap, the Rondeau. — I muft add, as fomewhat amufing, 
 that Plato makes ufe of this principle to prove a dog to be a phi- 
 lofophical animal: " for, (he argues,) to (ptXoy-xdsg km (piXoa-cpa/, 
 " rccuTov, the love of h/owifig, and the love of ivifdom, are one 
 -'and the fame thing. Now dogs are delighted with knowings 
 " limply, and difintereftedly ; they fawn upon every one whom they 
 " know, and bark at the approach of every flranger ^ j and that, 
 " without having ever experienced good from the one, or harm 
 " from the other \" 
 
 The philofophy of Ariftotle here, though undoubtedly true, as 
 far as it goes, will, I am afraid, to thofe who examine it, hardly 
 appear to be perfectly fatisfad;ory, or to reach the bottom of the 
 flibjedl. • It is however to be conlidered, that what he has faid, 
 ftems applicable chiejiy to rude and unlTcilful fped:ators, and fliould, 
 perhaps, be conlidered as a defcription of the effed: of a pid;ure or 
 a liatue upon children, and the multitude, who are little, accuf- 
 tomed to view v/orks of imitative art. And even with refpedl to. 
 them, the principle feems fcarcely applicable but to portraits, and 
 individual refemblances, fuch as rnay not be inftantly recognized. 
 When we look at a piifture of that kind, we may not difcover, 
 till after a comparifon of, at leaft, a few moments, tliat it is an 
 imitation of this or that ^^xion ; but, that it is an imitation of a 
 man, we fee at once,; and where there is not even a momentary 
 ignorance, or doubt, I do not fee how any information ' can b? laid. 
 to be acquired by the fptftator, nor how, on the philofopher's 
 
 * Every pcrfon, of whom, in Ariflctle's language, they cannot yrtry—'Ovr®- sxm©-. 
 "This is he." 
 
 •^ 'Oil iixEv «tt ijv, AFNUTA, ^•»''£f'2"i'fi, sJef 5)1 hamv Tt^oTSBVcv^ns' iv ^av FNilPIMON, 
 tt-ZTTj^ETai, Hav uriiiv TruTTOTC vii aum aya&m '^i7rovOoi,——AM^a imi xo/x^uv ye ^MVZTai to 
 waS©- aura m (pueriui, km ftS AAM0ii2 <I>IA02;0$0N; x. t. a^. 
 
 Rep. ii, p. 376. Serran. 
 
 ' See below, note '. 
 
 own
 
 N O T E S: • 189 
 
 own principles, (it I rightly underiland him,) the pkafure con- 
 veyed by the imitation, can, in any fenfe, be refolved into that, 
 which the mind receives from the exertion of its own powers in 
 inferring, ox difcovering, the relemblance. — I fay, on Ariftotle's onvn 
 principles, becaufe, in the paflage above referred to'', where he 
 explains himfelf more fully in applying the principle to metaphor, 
 he exprefsly allows, that this pleafure of recognition, is not af-' 
 forded by proper or comtnon Words, hnce they inftantly fuggcft 
 their meaning and cannot be miftaken'. Now a painting, confi- 
 dered as an imitation of a man, a horfe, a houfe, in general, obvi- 
 vioufly anfwerS in this refped:, iinlefs the imitation be grofsly 
 imperfed:*, to the conwion and familiar word ; the one fiiggefting 
 its original, as readily and immediately, as tlie other fuggcfts its 
 idea. 
 
 Among Ariftotle's illuflrations of this phyfical principle of the 
 pleafure 0\ Jelf -in formation, as it might be called, there are two fhort 
 paffages, in particular, which feern to be fo explicit with regard 
 to the nature of that pleafure, that" I will venture to add to the 
 length of this note by a tranfcript and tranflation of them both. 
 They will, I think, fatisfy the learned reader that I have not, in 
 the foregoing remarks, mifreprefented the philofopher's meaning. 
 
 After having applied the principle to metaphor, he applies it in 
 like manner to the eJitbymemes, or arguments, of the orator. 
 
 " Rhet. iii. 10. 
 
 ' — la ?£ Ki;pia ISMEN. — "The Stagirite having told us what a natural pleafure wc 
 " derive from information, and having told us that, in the fubje£t of words, exotic 
 " words want that ■pleasure from bei.ig obfcure, and common words from bnng too ivell 
 " Intiun" adds, &c. Harris, Phil. Inq. p. 190, note *. 
 
 * As it was, when Painting was iri its infaiH Rate — Iv yoOuh xat cTracyami — ac-'- 
 cording to the quaint expreffion of ^lian, Hiji. f^ar. x. 10. — of which he feems to 
 have been fond ; for it occurs before lib. viii. cap. 8. It feems very properly guarded, 
 in both places, by a — rfOTov liva. — The old painters of whom ^lian fpeaks were 
 little aware of Ariftotle's principle, wken they wrote under their pictures— Taro iSs; 
 — — E«Eiyo iVa'©'— Taro ftvjjsov.
 
 19® N O T. E S. 
 
 Ato »TS Toi eirnrcXuta rm iv^vy.i/nia.rm evooxtf/^' {IttittoXchx yap Xsyanigy 
 Tcc'TTCiVTi cviXct, Kut 'A MHAEN AEI ZHTHZAI*) in o7cc li^r^jjuBvot. <lyvo^[4,iva 
 tgi' uXk ocruv, vj ai^cx, XBycf^Buuv nj yvucig yii/STKi, kki et j/.fi ttootsocv inrm^ev, 
 vj f^ixpov v^epi(^et ij owvoicn' ytveToct yup 'OION MA0HLIS" SKStvug Je, k^£- 
 rspov". 
 
 '* For the fame reafon, we are pleafed, neither with fupeijicial 
 •* arguments, (by which we mean fuch as are obvious to every 
 ** one, and require no thought ov fearch m the hearer^) nor with 
 " fuch as we do not underiland when we have heard them ; but, 
 " with thofe, which the mind apprehends, either while we hear 
 " them, (though not 2iiJitji,J or in the moment after they are de- 
 *' hvered: — for by thefe, we, in a tnanner, learn fomething: bj 
 " the others, we learn nothing in either of thefe ways"." 
 
 The other paffage, in which the nature of the pleafure that Ari-< 
 flotle means is ftill more exprefsly marked, is this : 
 
 YlxvTuv OS TCiiv — (ruXXoyi(rf/.uv SopufdetTea fx-aXi^a to, toixutcx. o(rct ao^of^Bix 
 nPOOPnSI, jitij Tu BTTfTroXTig Itvxr uf^x ya.^ zxi AYTOI E* EAYTOIS 
 XAIPOTZI 'TrpoxKTdxvof^ei'ot' Kxt cxruv Toimrov vg-eoi^ao'iv, okt^ ccj.i,x iip7iiA,£vcDV 
 yVup'^siv". 
 
 " Of all arguments, thofe are moft applauded ^ of which the 
 " audience have no fooner heard the beginning, than xhty fore/ee 
 f. the conclufionj — not, however, from their being trite and ob- 
 *' vious ; for they are pleafed, [not only with the ingenuity of the 
 *' fpeakcr, biit'Y at the fame time, with themselves and their 
 
 ■" Rhct. iii. 10. 
 
 " aOETtfov — i. e. neither luhile we hear them, nor asfoon as we have heard thetn. 
 
 ' Rhit. ii. cap. xxiii. Duval. In fome other editions, cap. xix. 
 
 f " applauJtvl" — Sofu^EiToti. The commentators (Irangcly miftake the fcnfc of this 
 word here, and in 1U>. i. c. ii. They render it, abfurdly, — vchementiits percellunt-^ 
 
 perturliant maxime, &cc. Whether an audience be pleaJitJ, or difphafed, to any great 
 
 degree, 7ioifi is cquaHy ihe confequence; and the word io^ucMv is ufed, rometimcs for 
 the uproar o{ approbation, and fometimes for that of dijlike. 
 
 < I infort thefe words, becaufe, though not in the original, they fccm plainly im- 
 plied in the expreflion — ■^\MA yof KAI w-tci, &c. 
 
 *' own
 
 NOTES. 191 
 
 ** cmn fagactty . — Thofe arguments, alfo, afford pleafure, which, 
 ** the T/Joment after they are deUvered, we are no longer at a lofs to 
 '* apprehend." 
 
 N O T E 23, 
 
 P. 70. In a more transient and compendious man- 
 ner.—— 
 
 Ett/ /3^a%u :— literally, ** for zjhort time." As Plato, Rep. iii. 
 p. 396, KXTot, (i^ocyQj, for a moment — en fajfant. Dacier's explana- 
 tion — Quoi qu'ils ne foient pas tous egalemeitt fropres a apprendre, — 
 is, furely, wide of Ariftotle's purpofe. None of the verfions, that 
 I have feen, feem to give the exadl idea, except that of Heinfius : 
 — " Quamquam minor breviorque ad hos perveniat voluptas." 
 
 NOTE 24. 
 
 P. 70. From the workmanship. 
 
 A<a ryiv AHEPrASIAN — " neatnefs" — " fnifing," &cc. In the 
 following paffages of Plato, it is oppofed to a flight flcetch: — km 
 auTcov TUTcov [fc. Sixoiica-uv/ig, (riiXppoa-viivji, &c.] a;:^/ 'TnOrPA<I>HN iJ?.', 
 u(nre^ vvv 9eMra.(r9xi, ocXXx ttji/ tsXsutxtijv APEPFASIAN |M.»? ■mxpuva.t- 
 Rep. vi. p. 504. So again, lib. viii. p. 548, the verb, KTnpyot'CiaQMf 
 is oppofed to vTrcypoccpiiv, 
 
 NOTE 25. 
 
 P. 70. Metre — a species of rhythm. 
 
 Mo^tci — parts. — The following paflage will afcertain the fenfe of 
 the word in this place, and juil:ify my verfion. Explaining the 
 
 different
 
 19^ u o r E ^1 
 
 diftereftt<fenfe-in ivhich the word Ms^Ql, was ufed, Ariftotle fays,— 
 iV(,-ii^ ix:To'ei&^ cixi^s^aii] dii, aviu m Iloj-a, xxi tocuto. MOPIA Xzyirat 
 TK-ra' oio TO. EIAH, r-d TENOTS ^ourtv livou MOPIA. — Metaphyf. lib. v. 
 cap. 25. — So, in this treatife, cap. 5. — t-k Ata-xpi h' to VeXoiov 
 MOPION — *• a part, or /pecieSf of the ridiculous." 
 
 N O T E 26. 
 
 .:.F..<yO. ThO?E 'persons, IN whom', .0lRIGINAtL-Y^"T.HESE 
 PJR.OPENSITIESWER~E THE STRONGEST, &C. .-»s ^C 
 
 . " It is obvious to remark here, that Ariftotle, in this dedu(ftion of 
 the art from, the tnimetic and mujical inflindts,/ includes yerfe in his 
 idea of . Poetry, which he, at leaft, confidered' as imperfeSi without 
 it. AH that he drops, elfewhere, to the difparagement of metre, 
 mufl be underftood only comparatively : it goes no farther, than 
 to fay, that imitation, that is, iidlion and invention, without verfe, 
 deferves the title of Poetry, or Making, better than verfe without 
 imitation . : . . 
 
 An eminent writer has adjufted this matter, and fet it on its 
 true and folid bafis, in his Differtation On the idea of JJniverfal 
 Poetry''. What is there faid, of " the origin and firft application 
 " of Poetry among all nations," will furnifh the befl comment I 
 can give, upon the paflage wliich is the fubjedt of this note.' 
 
 •' Poetry is every where of the mofl: early growth, preceding every 
 *' other fort of conipofition ; and being deftined for the ear, that is, 
 " to be either fung, or at leaft recited, it adapts itfelf, even in its 
 *' firft rude eflays, to that fenfe of meafure, and proportion in 
 " founds, which is fo natural to us. The hearer's attention is the 
 •♦ fconer gained by this means, his entertainment quickened, and 
 " his admiration of the performer's art excited. Men are ambi- 
 
 * Dr. Huid's Horace, vol. ii, 
 
 •* tious
 
 NOTES. 193 
 
 *' tious of pleaiing, and ingenious in refining upon what they 
 " obferve will pleafe. So that mufical cadences and harmonious 
 " founds, which nature didtated, are farther foftened and im- 
 " proved by art, till Poetry become as raviihing to the ear, as the 
 " images, it prefents, are to the imagination. In procefs of time, 
 " what was at firft the extemporaneous produ*5lion of genius or 
 " paflion, under the condud of a natural ear, becomes the labour 
 " of the clofet, and is conduced by artificial rules ; yet ftill, with 
 " a fecret reference to t\\Qfenfc of hearing, and to that acceptation 
 ** which melodious founds meet with in the recital of expreflive 
 *' words." 
 
 NOTE 27. 
 
 P. ji. Margites. 
 
 The fcrf.ps that have been preferved of this Poem, the Duk' 
 «»Wof HoMEK, are fo few, and fo fliort, that it may be worth 
 while, for the convenience of the reader, to colle<3: them. — 
 
 - — a line as likely to be found in one kind of Poem as In another, 
 and which affords about as good a Jamp/e of t/>!s Poem, as a brick 
 does of the building from which it was taken. — The other frag- 
 ments are a little more interefting, as they give fome idea of the 
 hero of the Poem^ 
 
 TONA' ST au (TKUTrrripci Seoi Quroa', ir xpoTfjax, 
 
 TlcXX rjTrig-oiTO Bpyoc, Kxy.ag a '/jing'Cira Travra''. 
 
 -^ Circd by the Scholiaft on the Aves of Ariflophanes, v. 9x4. 
 
 ^ Preferved by Ariftotle, Eth. lib. vi. cap. 7, as far as the word fo^o*. The 
 remainder of the fecond line is in ChnuAhxand. Strom, /I'i. i. 
 
 '' Plato, A'i^l'. Sccund, p. 147. Ed. S^rrani. 
 
 C c —This
 
 194 NOTES. 
 
 • — This laft llroke of chara<5ler is not peculiarly antique. The- 
 line is of eafy application in all times. It is not fo eafy to recon- 
 cile it with fome other accounts, which feem to make Margites a 
 downright idiot; fuch as, his not being able to number beyond 
 five; his abftaining from all intercourfe with his bride, left ihe 
 (liould complain of him to her mother, &c^ — One cannot well 
 conceive, how fuch a man Ihould, as Homer exprefsly fays, 
 *' kno'U} how to do- many things ;" even though he did them ever fo 
 ill. But a tale,, ftill more ridiculous^ is told of this curious per- 
 fonage by Eujiathius" ^ 
 
 NOTE 28. 
 
 P. 71. His Margites bears the same analogy to 
 Comedy, as his Iliad and Odyssey to Tragedy. 
 
 Whenever AriHotle Ipeaks of Comedy, we muft remember,, 
 that he fpeaks of the Old, or Middle Comedy, which was no 
 other than what we fliould call farce, and to which his definition 
 of Comedy was adapted : ^if^rjo-ig (pccuXors^av ; that is, as he explains 
 himfelf, ** an imitation of ridiculous charadlers*." — This 
 remark is neceffary to explain what is here faid of tlie Margites^ 
 A Poem, which, as far we can fi^rm any idea of it, celebrated the 
 blunders and abfurdities of an idiot, cannot well be conceived to 
 have been analogous to any thing, that would now be denominated 
 a Comedy. It feems to verge to the very bottom of the dramatic 
 fcale j " jufq' au boiijj'on ; celui-ci fera I'extreme de la Comedie,, 
 
 * Suidas,^ Art. Margites. 
 
 ' Eujiath. ad Horn. OJyll'. K. — See alfo Kufter's note on Suidas, Jrt. Mar- 
 eiTES. 
 
 ,» Chap. V. Tranjlat'iony §8. Parti. And fee Dr. Hurd's D/^ a« //;^ Prmwrj 
 of the Drama, ch. ii, p. 20i..
 
 (( 
 
 NOTES. 195 
 
 ' le plus bas degre dc I'echelle, oppose au terrible qui eft a 1 'autre 
 bout\" The Bourgeois Gcntilhomme of Moliere is certainly 
 farce, however excellent in its way. But Monf. Jourdain is a 
 \'ery Ulyjfcsy compared with Margttes, . ; 
 
 NOTE 29. 
 
 P. 72. By such successive improvements as were 
 
 MOST OBVIOUS. 
 
 'Oa-ov lyiveTo (paveoov a'uTijf— literally, " Jo much of it as ivas 
 " manife/L" — I doubt of the reading : but, taking it as it ftands, 
 I have given what appears to me to offer itfelf as the moft natural 
 and limple meaning of the expreffion, if not the only one that it 
 will reafonably bear. 
 
 N O T E 30. 
 
 P. 72. iEsCHYLUS ABRIDGED THE CHORAL PART. 
 
 The words are, TA t» %of'rf. Ariftotle would hardly have ex- 
 preffed himfelf thus, had he meant, as Madius, Bayle, and others, 
 have underftood, a retrenchment in the number of choral per- 
 formers. TA ra %ooif, the choral party is oppofed to TA a.Tvo a-xTjvrig, 
 the dialogue, Prob. xv. of Se£i. 19. It is fmgular, that Stanley 
 fliould mifunderftand this paffage ; and ftill more fingular, that lie 
 Ihould cite Fhiloftratus, who is diredly againft him : for his words 
 are, ,<ruv£^eiXB rag x°^^?> AOOTAAHN ONTAS : " ^J^ contra.^cd the 
 *' chorufes, nvhich were immoderately long'"." 
 
 ^ Fontenelle, Preface to his Comedies, vol. vii. of his works. 
 » Stanl. in vit. ^fchyli, Ed, Pauw-, p. 706. 
 
 C c a This
 
 J96 NOTES. 
 
 This is conhrmed by one of Arillotle's Problems, referred to by 
 Vi6torius "". The Problem is, t.^/. rt ci tte^i (^Lmfxcv r^a-uv fxccXXov 
 fiiXoTTOici J (meaning, I fuppofe, more Muficicins than the dramatic 
 Poets of his own time:) The anfwer is, vi. Six to TroXXaTrKoca-iu. hvoct 
 roTi rx fA,e}.'/} ev rate tuv fxc-rcuv rfixyuStxig ; — I believe the palTage 
 may be redified by tranfpofition — ttdXX. ivxt tots tx [^sX'/j tw (ht^uv 
 tv T. T. Perhaps, too, we fliould read, ruv TPIMETPXIN. But, 
 even taking it as it Hands, it may fufficiently anfwer our purpofe, 
 as it fliews clearly enough how much the Lyric parts of Tragedy, 
 before the time oi Mfchylus, wanted contradlion. 
 
 The prolixity of the Tragic Chorus, we know, was fometimes 
 trying to the patience of an Athenian audience. This is plea- 
 iimtly glanced at by Arijlophanes in his O^v^ae? : where the Chorus of 
 birds, defcanting on the convenience of wings, tell the fpeilators, 
 that if they had wings, whenever, in the Theatre, they "found 
 " themfelves bungry, and ivere tired with the Tragic Chorus, they 
 " might fly home and eat their dinners, and fly back again, whea 
 " the Chorus was over." 
 
 XOP. Ovoiv \g xf^etvov, jjiJ' ^Siov, ^ (pv(rxi Trreax. 
 
 AuT/;^ , VfiCtjv TUV 9exTCi}v si Ttq tjv UTTOTrrfoi^, 
 
 "EiTX, TTstvuv, Toii; ^opoKTi TUV Tpxyuouv ^^i^Sbto, 
 
 EK7rsro[A,£v<^ xv KT©^ '^pt^ijo'ev, lx9uv oiycxoBj 
 
 Kxr av, ifiTrXyjC^etg, i<p ijftaj xu^tg uu KXTtiTTXTo. V. 786. 
 
 N O T E 31. 
 
 P. 72. And made the dialogue the principal part 
 ©F Tragedy. 
 
 — Kxi Tov Xoyov TT^uTuyuvig^v TrapEtr^euacre.— Vi(ftoriuS, and Others, 
 have fuppofed Ariftotle to mean the Prologue. But it feems to be 
 
 ^ Se^. 19. Proh. xxxi. 
 
 a fufficient
 
 NOTES. ^97 
 
 a fufficient objedlion to this fenfe, that no example has been pro- 
 duced of the word ir^caruyuviC'r,, ufed as merely fynonymous to 
 7r^wT©^; as fignifying Jij-Ji only, not principal. Nor is it eafy to 
 difcover any reafon, why Ariftotle fliould have recourfe here to 
 an unufual and ambiguous expreffion, when, prefently after, in 
 fpeaking of the improvements of Comedy [cap. v.], he makes ufc 
 of the proper and eftablifhed term, -rr^oXoy^. There feem to be 
 no words in the Greek language, of which tl\e (tnic is more 
 clearly fixed, than that of Tr^iwrag/wws-ifj — ■Tr^uroiyuvig-av. They occur 
 frequently, and always, as far as I know, in the fame fenfe, of 
 principal — primas agere, &c. To this fenfe, therefore, I thought 
 it necefTary to adhere. But I confefs I cannot be fatisfied with 
 either of the explanations which have been given of the word 
 AOrOS. It appears ftrange to fay, that i^fchylusy^r/? introduced 
 two adlors, and thea to add, as a diJiinSi improvement, that he 
 z\(q firjl introduced "x principal part or charaSler: — unlefs we are to 
 underfland, what feems not very probable, that the two aftors 
 even of iEfchylus himfelf were, at firjl, perfonages of equal dig- 
 nity and importance ia the drama, like the two kings of Brentford 
 in the Rehearfal ; and that, afterwards, he was the firft who cor- 
 redled this error, (in which he would probably have been followed 
 by other Poets,) and reduced the drama to unity of aftion by a 
 proper fubordination of characters. But, admitting thh fenfe to 
 be without difficulty, the exprefwn of it, I think, is not. Aoyoj, 
 for a part in the drama, role, perfo?inage, (as Dacier,) charaSler, 
 &c. feems harfli, and unufual. At leaft, I know no example of it. 
 The difficulties which attend both the expreffion and the fe?ife, m 
 each of thefe interpretations, have almoft convinced me, that the 
 very conftrucflion of the words has been miftaken^ and that the 
 meaning is, " he ?nade the difcourfe, or dialogue, the principal pari 
 " of Tragedy." This is well connedled with what precedes, and 
 agreeable to the known hiftory of the Tragic drama, in which, 
 originally, the Chorus was the cfential, and the Epifodes, or dra- 
 matis
 
 198 NOTES. 
 
 matic part, only the acccjjory. But iEfchylus " abridged the 
 ** Chorus, and made the Epifodic part i\iQ principal." Aoy'^, here, 
 may well be underflood to mean what Ariflotle elfewhere calls 
 h-i^ig; t\\t /peaking, or recitative, part of Tragedy, whether deli- 
 vered by one or more aftors, as oppofed to the f^iKr,, or Lyric 
 part'\ ncia£(rKsvx(rs, reddidit, effecit, &c. as, (to take the iirfl: in- 
 ftance of this common ufe of that verb which the Lexicons offer me) 
 — eu<r£l3eg-ep-'ig re kxi a-eapgovegsottg rag iruvovTocg Tra^scrKeuxarBv — " mzgis pios 
 " et temperatos reddidit'".'" And thus Ariftotle himfelf, cap. xix. 
 
 ora,v vj eXeeivtx, v] ^eivcx, cs-/? 7ra^x<ry.iux(^^v. i. e. tO make things piteous, 
 
 terrible, &c. as in Goulfton's verlion ; and that of the accurate 
 Piccolomini : — *' Quando occorre d'havere a Jar parere le cofe, b 
 *' miferabiU, atroci," &c.— If the ufe of ir^uraryuvigiig as an ad- 
 jeftive be an objeftion, it is one to which the other explanations 
 are equally liable. On the whole, \ have not fcrupled to prefer 
 this fenfe in my verfion'. 
 
 NOTE 32. 
 P. 72. Sophocles added the decoration of 
 
 PAINTED SCENERY. 
 
 To adjufl exadlly the rival claims of ^Efchylus and Sophocles 
 with refpedl to the O^^g, or decoration, of the Tragic ftage, would 
 be a defperate undertaking. Some accounts are fo liberal to ^Ef- 
 chylus, as fcarce to leave his fuccefTors any room for farther im- 
 provements. They give him " paintitigs, machinery, altars, tombs, 
 •' trumpets, ghojls, and /uries :" — to which others add a very fin- 
 
 » See NOTE 90. 
 
 '' JTenophoii. So Ifocrates, Hd^aaxsua^e acaunv ttxeoveoteiv fiev ^uva/xewv, Sec. Jd 
 Demonicum. 
 
 ' Since this note was written, the fame explanation lias been given, and well fup- 
 ported, in the Canib. edit, of 1785. Prcel, p. xxxi. 6(c. 
 
 8 gular
 
 NOTES. 199 
 
 gnlar fpecies of Tragic improvement, the " exhibition of drunken 
 *' men'' — t);!/ 01 crzyivviv BKocr^'^(r£, km tyjv oi]/iv ruiv Qeu^ivuv icccTiTrXfi^i t'o 
 'ko'MTrpor'/iTi — rPAOAIS ycai fjivi'^ocvciig, j3ufA,otg rs kki ratpoig, cciX-TTi'y^iVf 
 BiSuKotg, eoivvusp. — MS. life of /Efchylus, quoted by Stanley, In 
 'vitam Mfchyli, and by Fabric. Bib. Gr. lib. ii. cap. xvi. SeB. 2. — 
 
 And Athencetis fays, v^ut©^ sksiu©^ Trx^viyxys r-^v ruv ME0TON- 
 
 TXIN Of IN k T^ayu^Mv. p. 428. — He adds an example. In the 
 Tragedy called Ka(3apot, he introduced " y^^'^ ^^^ ^ji^ retinue 
 " drunk!" 
 
 The paiTage given by Dacier from Vitruvius is very general ; it 
 fays only, '^ fccnam fecit^ ." This may, or may not, include paint- 
 ings which, indeed, rather feems to be implied, in what follows, 
 about the improvements of Pemocritus and Anaxagoras, where 
 the " imagines a;dificiorum \n fcenarum pilaris" are mentioned. 
 But all this is far outweighed by the teftimony of Ariftotle, who 
 here explicitly attributes the introdudion oi painted fcenery to 
 Sophocles. 
 
 NOTE 33. 
 
 P. 72. It vv^as late before Tragedy attaineo 
 
 ITS PROPER DIGNITY. 
 
 — Oif/s aTTeo-fpto^^j : — and to "late," we might add, //;//»^r/t'^/y'. 
 For, v/hat Horace fays of the Roman Tragedy, is, in fome mea- 
 fure, though perhaps not equally, applicable to the Greek : 
 
 in longum tamen Kvum 
 
 Manferunt, hodieque manent vejiigia ruris. 
 
 Ep. ad Aug. V. 160. 
 
 =• Primus Agatharcus Athenis, ^fchylo docente Tragcedlam, fcenam fecit. Vltruvm^ 
 Praf. in lib, vii. 
 
 Prejudice
 
 200 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Piejudice afide, it cannot furely be faid, that the Greek Tragedy, 
 in the hands, at leaft, of iSilchylus, Sophocles, or Euripides, ever 
 Attained its proper dignity. I do not fpeak of modern dignity; of that 
 uniform, unremitting ftrut of pomp and folemnity, which is now 
 required in Tragedy. This was equally unknown to the manners, 
 and to the Poetry, of the antients. I fpeak only of fuch a degree 
 of dignity as excludes, not fimplicity, but meannefs — the familiar, 
 the jocole, the coarfe, the comic. Now it cannot, I think, be 
 faid, with any truth, that thefe are thoroughly excluded in any of 
 the Greek Tragedies that are extant : in Jbrne oi tliem they are 
 admitted to a very conliderable degree. In particular, fomething 
 of this fori: — of what the French call 7nejquin — is almoft con- 
 ftantly to be found in the jloort dialogue of the Greek Tragedies; 
 in that part, I mean, which the eye, when we turn over any Tra- 
 gedy, eafily diflinguilhes from the refl, by its being carried on in 
 a regular alternation of lingle vei-fes\ In this " clofe fighting" 
 of the dialogue, as Dryden calls it*", which feems to have retained 
 fomething of the fpirit of the old fatyric diverbia, where, in the 
 origin of the Greek, as well as of the Roman drama, 
 
 Versibus alternis opprobria ruftica fundunt, Hor. 
 
 — in this part of the dialogue, we generally find, mixed indeed 
 frequently with fine flrokes of nature and feeling, fomewhat more 
 than what Brumoy calls " an petit vernis de familiarite';" efpe- 
 cially when thefe fcenes are, as they often are, fcenes of altercation 
 ■and angry repartee. In the Iphigenia in Aulide of Euripides, 
 Menelaus, in the ftruggle with the old inefienger for the letter, 
 threatens to break his head with hisjlrptre, 
 
 > A fenfible writer has juftly remarked the ill effect of this fymmetiical fort of 
 coiiverfation upon the illufion of the drama. [Letters on various fubjofts, by Mr, 
 Jackfon of Exeter, vol. ii. p. 109.] The Englifh reader may fee an example of it 
 Sn Milton's Coniui, v. 277 — 2go. 
 * EfTay on Dram. Pocfy. 
 ■» Theatre dts Grccs, tome iii. p. 205. 
 
 I Fdii/y
 
 NOTES. g-oi 
 
 Fairly rendered by Mr. Potter's ver/e—' 
 
 " Soon fhall thy head this fceptre ftain with blood." 
 
 Unfairly dignified by Brumoy's proje — 
 
 " Prends garde qu'une mart prompte ne puniile ton audace." 
 
 Even Sophocles, who gave the Tragic tone, in general, its proper 
 pitch, between the oy)i<^ of /Efchykis, and the la-xvor-,]; of P^uri- 
 pides ^f is by no means free from fome mixture of this a//oy in the 
 language of his fhort dialogue. For example : in the fcene be- 
 tween UlyfTes and Neoptolemus in the FhiloStetes, [v. 1250,] wlien 
 Neoptolemus declares his refolution of reftoring to Philoftetes his 
 bow and arrows, at which Ulyfles exprefles his furprife by a repe- 
 tition of the quefliion, T/ <p*?f; — nv li^rjKxg Xoyov ; — Neoptolemus 
 replies, " Would yon have me tell you the fame thing tivo or three 
 " times overf" 
 
 An; rauTOi (2nKei km r^iQ avxiroXeiV (a! \ityi' ; V. 1 267. 
 
 In another fcene of this Poet, between Teucer and Menelaus, 
 after a long altercation about the interment of Ajax, Menelaus 
 fays — 
 
 —to which Teucer replies — 
 
 In plain Englifli, but no plainer than the Greek — " M. One 
 " thing I'll tell you— he fhall not be buried. T. And I'll tell 
 •* another thing — he jl:)all be buried." — Certainly this approaches 
 
 * Ariftophanes, in The Frogs, makes Euripides boaft to /Efchylus— — 
 
 — aif va^sT^^ov rnv Tsxnv Tra^a era to it^aiov iuSu; 
 
 Ot^xffav V7T0 KO/j.Trao'iji.aTav xai mixarav £5r«%6a)v 
 
 I2XNANA lUEv TTfsjTirov aurw, nai ro ^a^@- apeiXov. v. Ago, 
 
 • The reader may alfo fee fomething of the fame caft in the fcene between Oedipus 
 and Creon, Oed. Tyr. v. 550, &c. And in that between Oedipus and the two Shep- 
 herds, V. 1 162, Sec. — Thefe fcenes of fnarling altercation, I fuppofe, were what gave 
 occafionto the ridiculous idea of fome Comic Poet, that *' Sophocles feemed to have 
 " been ajjijled, hi writing his Tragedies, by a majiiff-dog." 
 
 Ki/£ov Ti; tSoxii cu/^mtitv Mci?iOTT«©-. Diog, Laert, Vf. 20, 
 ' Ajax, V. 159, 160. 
 
 D d very
 
 20f NOTE 
 
 S. 
 
 very nearly to the language of a conteft between two vt^ailier- 
 women. 
 
 Thefe may be reckoned among the paffages, in which the fpirit 
 of Sophocles, according to the obfervation of a great critic, tr/Bei/- 
 vvrai oiyKoyu^ troXkoMig, zat TrtTrra «TU%es-aTa. \_Long!2l, Se£i. 33.] 
 
 In the Antigone there is a fcene of altercation between Creon, 
 Ifmene, and Antigone, in which, when Ifmene, pleading for her 
 iifteri alks Creon whether he will put her to death, who was ta- 
 become the wife of his fon, his anfwer is — 
 
 APXISIMOI ya.^ %aTe^wi/ \mv rYAI^. 
 
 The prejudiced admirers of the antients are very angry at the 
 leafh infinuation that they had any idea of our barbarous Tragi- 
 comedy. But after all, it cannot be diflembled, that, if they had 
 not the nat7te, they had the thmg^ or fomething very nearly ap- 
 proaching to it. If that be Tragi-Comedy, which is partly ferious 
 and partly comical, I do not know why we fhould fcruple to fiy, 
 that the Alcejiis of Euripides is, to ail intents ajid purpofes, a Tragi- 
 Comedy. I have not the leaft doubt, that it had upon an Athe- 
 nian audience the proper effeB of Tragi-Comedy ; that is, that in 
 fome places it made them cry, and in others, laugh. And the beft 
 thing we have to hope, for the credit of Euripides, is, that he 
 intended to produce this effect. For though he may be an unlkilful 
 Poet, who purpofes to write a Tragi-Comedy, he furely is a more 
 unfldful Poet, who writes one without knowing it. 
 
 The learned reader will underftand me to allude particularly to 
 t)ie fcene, in which the domeftic defcribes the behaviour of Her- 
 cules > and to the fpeech of Hercules himfelf, which follows. 
 Nothing can well be of a more comic caft than the fervant's 
 complaint \ He defcribes the hero as the moft greedy* and ill- 
 mannered 
 
 ' V. 576. This is not much more delicate than the anfwer of one of the 
 ^Egyptian fugitives to King Pfammeticus. — Herod, Eutcrp. p. 63. <i. H. Steph. 
 
 * Jlcefth^ V. 757, &c. 
 
 • • Hercults \vas renowned for his a^^n(?a,yix. The following extravagant defcrip- 
 
 tioo
 
 NOTES. 203 
 
 mannered gue/l he had ever attended, under his mafler's hofpitable 
 roof J calling about him, eating, drinking, zvi^ Jmging, in a room 
 by hinifelf, while the mafler and all the family were in the height 
 of funereal lamentation. He was not contented with fuch refrc(l:i- 
 ments as had been fet before him; 
 
 Tot 7rpo(TTUxovrx ^evix- 
 AXK ei n jw.-/j (pspoti^v, XITPTNEN (pB^B^if. 
 Then he drinks 
 
 Oiva' 
 
 —crowns himfelf with myrtle, and fmgs, AMOYE' YAAKTriN 
 — and all this, alone. " Cette defcription," fays Fontenelle, " ell 
 " fi burlefque, qu'on diroit d'un crocheteur qui eft de confrairle'." 
 A cenfure fomewhat juftified by Euripides himfelf, who makes 
 the fervant take Hercules for a thief: 
 
 — -TTuvis^yov KAXinA xa* AHISTHN twx. 
 The fpeech of Hercules, (piXaTotpavr©^ ev i^eG^, as the fchollafl 
 obferves, (v. 776,) " philofophizing in his cups," is ftill more 
 curious. It is, indeed, full of the (pXo^ oiva, and completely jufti- 
 fies the attendant's defcription. Nothing can be move Jolly. It is 
 in the true fpirit of a modern drinking fongj recommending it to 
 the fervant to uncloud his brow, enjoy the prefent hour, think 
 nothing of the morrow, and drown his cares in love and wifie: 
 
 tion of his eating, preferved by Athensus from the Buftrisy zftityric drama of Epi- 
 charmus, affords a curious fpecimen of the fatyric _/}/», 
 Up'jiTov ^£v, MX ItrSovT i'Jjjj viv, aTToOavoi^. 
 
 '^opei J' 6 70|ttpi©", TETfiye S"' o x^^voSwv, 
 
 IifEi h Tai; pivwcn, KINEI A' 'OTATA 
 
 Tcov rtTpaTTo^av ix ^ttov— — Athen, I'lh, X, iniu 
 
 ' Oeuvres de Font. vol. ix. p. 415. 
 
 D d 2 OTTOS
 
 ao4 NOTES. 
 
 'ottos'' — -Ti (r£[/,voii Kui vsip^ovTiK®'' (iXiiretg ; 
 
 OU %fl»7 CKvOoWTTOV, K. T. CCK, 
 
 AETP' *EA0*, oTTcoi; dv km <ro(puTi^^ yum, 
 
 Ta Ov'/iToc, Trpx'yiA,aT otoct^ v^v iyei (pucriv ; 
 
 OIAIAI fiev 'or- nO0EN TAP; — xXX cckhb [ih, 
 
 BpoToig uTTOicri KKT$xvav c<peiXiTciif 
 K UK e^i Gvriruv o^ig sz^Tngot.Tou 
 Tijv aupiov j^eXXiS(TCiv it fiiua-eroii. 
 
 Ev^pxivs (ravTOV FIINE \——tov kocB vif^Boxv 
 
 B<ov Xoyi^n <rov, ret o" uXXk, rvig xu^ijff. 
 
 Ti[y(,x OS Koii Trjv 'TTXao'Tov viots'yiv Seoiv 
 
 KYnPIN (S^oTomv — x. t. X. V. 783 — 8 1 2. 
 
 If any man can read this, without fuppofing it to havejk the 
 audience in a roar, I certainly cannot demonftrate that he is mif- 
 taken. I can only fay, that I think he muft be a very grave man 
 himfelf, and muft forget that the Athenians were not a very grave 
 people. The zeal of Pere Brumoy in defending this Tragedy, 
 betrays him into a little indifcretion. He fays, " tout cela a 
 " fait penfer a quelques critiques modernes que cette piece etoit 
 " une Tragicomedie; chimere inconnu aux anciens. Cette piece 
 *' eji du gout des ant res Tragedies, antiques^." Indeed they, who 
 call this play a Tragi- Comedy, give it rather a favourable name; 
 for, in the fcenes alluded to, it is, in fadt, of a lower fpecies than 
 our Tragi-Comedy: it is, rather, biirlefque Tragedy, what Deme- 
 trius calls r^xyu^Kx. izou'QitTot''. Much of the comic cafl: prevails in 
 other fcenes ; though mixed with thofe genuine flrokes of fimple 
 
 * " You, fellow !"— Mr. Potter's tranflation. 
 ' ^ome iii. />. 206. 
 
 "> riffi Ep/.t, § 170. — 'O ?■£ r£^u;, fays this writer, Ix^f^ TfayjjJiaf. Neither Euri- 
 pides, nor Sophocles, fecm to have held tliis as an inviolable maxim. 
 
 and
 
 NOTES. 205 
 
 and univerfiil nature, which abound in this Poet, and which I fhould 
 be forry to exchange for that monotonous and unafFedting level of 
 Tragic dignity, which never falls, and never rifes. 
 
 I will only mention one more inftance of this Tragi-comic 
 mixture, and that from Sophocles. The dialogue between Mi- 
 nerva and Ulyffes, in the firfl fcene of the Ajax, from v. 74 to 88> 
 is perfectly ludicrous. The cowardice of Ulyfles is almoft as 
 comic as the cowardice of Falftaff. In fpite of the prefence of 
 Minerva, and her previous afTurance, that fhe would effedually 
 guard him from all danger by rendering him invifible, when fhe 
 calls Ajax out, UlyfTes, in the utmofl trepidation, exclaims — 
 
 Minerva anfwers — 
 
 Ou triy' xiii^ri, [/.vjoe SsiXixv upag' ; 
 
 But Ulyffes cannot conquer his fears : — 
 
 MH, nPOS GEnN — dxx' Iv^ov x^zarco f/,£mv^. 
 And in this tone the converfation continues ; till, upon Minerva's 
 repeating her promife that Ajax fhould -not fee him, he confents to 
 flayi but in a line of moft comical reludance, and with an q^de,- 
 that is in the true fpirit of Sancho Panfa : — 
 
 MBvoif^ «!/' HOEAON A' AN EKT02 X2N TYXEIN''. 
 No unprejudiced perfon, I think, can read this fcene without being 
 convinced, not only, that it muft have aftually produced, but that 
 it mufl have been intended to produce, the effedl of Comedy. 
 
 It appears, indeed, tome, that we may plainly trace in the Greek 
 Tragedy, with all its improvements, and all its beauties, pretty 
 ftrong marks of its popular and Tragi-comic origin. For, Toa- 
 
 • V. 74.— Anglice, " Wlmt are you about, Minerva .?— by no means call h-im out." 
 
 " " Will you not be filent, and lay a fide your fears !" 
 
 f " Don't call him out, for heaven's fake: — let him flay within." 
 
 9 " I'll ik^y—(af!de) hut J wijh I was not here."—'-'- J'avoue," fays Brumoy, 
 " que ce trait u'eft pas a la louange d'UlylTe, ni de Sophocle." {Teme \n.)
 
 2o6 NOTES. 
 
 yu^ix, we are told, was, originally, the only dramatic appellation 'j 
 and when, afterwards, the ludicrous was feparated from^the furious, 
 and diilinguiihed by its appropriated name of Comedy, the fepara- 
 tion feems to have been imperfedtly made, and Tragedyy dillinc- 
 tively fo called, feems flill to have retained a tindure of its original 
 merriment. Nor will this appear ftrange, if we confider the 
 popular nature of the Greek fpeftacles. The people, it is pro- 
 bable, would ftill require, even in the midfl: of their Tragic emo- 
 tion, a little dafj of their old fatyric fun, and Poets were obliged 
 to comply, in fome degree, with their tafte'. 
 
 "When we fpeak of the Greek Tragedies as corred: and perfedl 
 models, we feem merely to conform to the eftabliilied language of 
 prejudice, and content ourfelves with echoing, without refledtion 
 or examination, what has been faid before us. Lord Shaftfbury, 
 for example, talks of Tragedy's being " raifed to its height by 
 ** Sophocles and Euripides, and no room left for further excellence 
 ■*' or emulation" Advice to an Author, Fart II. Sc6i. 2. where 
 the reader may alfo fee his unwarrantable and abfurd interpreta- 
 tion of Ariftotle's phrafe, £cr;^/£ tv^ lauTjjj ^^urn, by which he makes 
 the philofopher " declare, that whatever idea might be formed of 
 *' the utmojl perfection of the kind of Poem, // could, in praBice, 
 *' rife no higher than it had been already carried in his time." I 
 fliould be forry to be ranked in the clafs of thofe critics, who 
 
 ' Cufaub. De Sat. Foeft^ p. 21, 22. — Conftat fane primis temporibus ignoratum 
 
 fuiffe difcrinien inter Tragoediam et Comoediam : nam et Tfw/aiSia et TpaycDJio, 
 
 primitus nonien fuit commune, quod poftea ^lea-Trac^Sn, ut ait Ariftoteles, et vetcres 
 critic! teftantur. Idem : [fc, ^thenesusj Tfay-wSio, ro TraAaity, w c'/oxa koivov km wfSf 
 TiiV Ka/jUjiotav' Irigov Jij to n&i mivov ivoiui. iffx^ *i Tfaya;5ifl;' n 3i K«/uaJi«, (Jiov. 
 
 • " Scenical rcprcfentatlons, being then intended, not, as in our days, for the 
 *' entertainment of the better fort^ but on certain great folemnities, indifferently for 
 " the divcrfion of the ivkole city, it became neceflary to confult the tafte of the multi- 
 " tudc, a& well as of thofe, " giiibus cjl equus, et pater, et res." Notes on Hor. vol. i. 
 p. 93. Sec alfo p. !()$.— Plato calls Tragedy, ■mj wciwwj AHMOTEPIIlilTATON 
 ■71 xai ■^uyJxylay^)Ulna^(l^>, Min. vol. iii p. 311. Serr. 
 
 7 prefer
 
 NOTES. 207 
 
 prefer that Poetry which has the fevvefl faults, to that which has 
 the greateft beauties'. I mean only to combat that conventional 
 and hearfay kind of praife, v/hich has fo often held out the Tra- 
 gedies of the Greek Poets, as elaborate and perfcS models, fuch as 
 had received the lafl; polifh of art and meditation. The true 
 praife of ^Efchylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, is, (in kiJid at lead, 
 though not, in degree,) the praiie of Shakfpeare ; that of flrong, 
 but irregular, unequal, and hafty genius. Every thing, Vv^hich 
 this genius and the feeling of the moment could produce, in an 
 early period of the art, before time, and long experience, and 
 criticifm, had cultivated and refined it, thefe writers pofTefs in great 
 abundance: what meditation, and " the labour and delay ofthejile" 
 only can effed:, they too often want. Of Shakfpeare, however,, 
 compared with the Greek Poets, it may juflly, I think, be pro- 
 nounced, that he has much more, both of this 'want^ and of that 
 abundance. 
 
 NOTE 34. 
 
 P. 72. Originally,'Thjs Trochaic tetrameter was 
 
 MADE USE OF, &C. 
 
 As the Trochaic meafure was ftill occafionally admitted, even 
 in the improved and ferious Greek Tragedy, and, in particular, 
 occurs very frequently in the Tragedies of Euripides, it is natural 
 to fuppofe, that a ftill more frequent uie of it would be one of the 
 ehara(fteriftics of th&fatyric drama, which feems to have been only 
 
 ' YIOTEBOV :T0T£ Kf flTTOl/ SV W01K/«tT{ KM f.OyO.^ /IZSytS©- EV blOi; Si>l,ttC;fTU/iEVOV, >i, T5 
 
 ^tllAnerqov lAev h TOif KaTO^QajAaij-iv, iyizi Si TraTrii xai ahaTrruTOt. Long. Seii. 33. The 
 JyiEj wavT>) xai aJiawTWTov is, furely, by no means the character of the Greek Trage- 
 dians. They who think it worth fearching for mufc lay afide Sophocles, and 
 Shakfpeare. In the French Theatre, perhaps, they may find it; but they mufl he 
 content, I fear, to take with it, the uuiaimt^cv iv tcjj x«T0f!)s'«a3-i, 
 
 a'fort
 
 5o8 N -O T E S. 
 
 a fort of revival, in an improved and regular form, of the old 
 Trochaic Tragedy'' with its chorus of dancing fatyrs*". It feems 
 therefore fomewhat remarkable, though I have not feen it noticed, 
 that in the only fatyric drama extant, the Cyclops, and that 
 written by Euripides, who has made fo much ufe of this meafure in 
 his Tragedies, not a fingle Trochaic tetrameter is to be found. 
 
 NOTE 35. 
 P. 73. The Iamric is, of all metres, the most 
 
 COLLOQUIAL, &C. 
 
 Compare Rhei. lib, iii. cap. i. and cap. viii. Ed. Duval. And 
 Demet. Ile^* 'E^p. Se6i. 43. 
 
 NOTE 36. 
 
 p. 7^. SELDOM INTO HEXAMETER, AND ONLY WHEN 
 
 WE DEPART FROM THE USUAL MELODY OF SPEECH. 
 
 It has been thought ftrange, that Ariftotle fliould introduce here 
 the mention of hexameters, when he has been fpeaking only of 
 Trochaic and Iambic verfe, and is accounting for the adoption of 
 the latter, in preference, not to the hexameter, but to the Trochaic 
 tetrameter: and it has, therefore, been doubted, whether we fhould 
 not read rerpcci^iT^x^ . But the eftabliflied reading, I believe, is 
 right. The Trochaic tetrameter, Ariftotle has, both here, and in 
 his Rhetoric, charadlerized as (ruTv^ixou — roox^ov — o^;:^^i7s-<;cwTejoi/— 
 
 " Ariftode's exprefllon on this fubjeft elfcvvhere, is, 01 ra; TPAFXliAIAS mmncf 
 »"•—£« rov TSTfa/tjixETfwv Ei; Te iaiJ.i3tiov jUETf^vio-aVj &C. Rhet. iiii I. 
 
 '■ See Cafaub. de Sat. Poef. lib, i. c. 3. 
 
 » Eel, Ox. 1780, p. 277. 
 
 and
 
 .V- 
 
 NOTES. 20^ 
 
 and even ko^^ukmutsoov* . He did not, I apprehend, confider it as 
 being, in any degree, X'zktmov. It was therefore entirely out of the 
 queflion, when a metre proper for the general dialogue of Tra- 
 gedy was to be fought for : but the hexameter was not fo ; and ic 
 might, without abfurdity, be ailced by an objedor, as Caflelvetro 
 and Piccolomini have obferved, why that fpecies of verfe was not 
 adopted; efpecially as the Tragic Poets were the fucceffors of the 
 Epic, or Heroic", and Homer, according to Plato, was " thejirjl 
 *' of Tragic Poets\ As its charadler was grave and ftately, it 
 might feem, on that account, well adapted to Tragedy, where, 
 indeed, we adlually find it occafionally introduced. But Ariflotle 
 objedls to it as lefs proper, becaufe, though asi^vov, it was at the fame 
 time, i XsicTiKoy'. He allows, however, that it was not Jb remote 
 from the rhythm of common fpeech, but that it mig/jf be cafually 
 produced, like the Iambic, though it rarely happened ^ He even 
 goes fo far, as to allow, in his concluding chapter, that Tragedy 
 " might adopt the Epic metre^." — All this feems to afford fufficient 
 fupport to the common reading. The Heroic and Iambic feet are, 
 in the fame manner, confidered together, Rhet. iii. 8. 
 
 ■» See above, note 8. and ^. 
 
 ^ —avTi Tojv tViov, T^ayaSb5(5'iJ6<r«a^ol. ch, iv. Traiijl. Part I. Scci, 6. 
 
 d — ^TfUToi' T£jv T^a.yiiiSioTroiav.'—Repub. lib, x. p. 607. 
 
 « Rhet. iii. 8. 
 
 '' See ^unt'il. lib. ix. ch. 4 — The moft fingular inflance of involuntary verfifi- 
 cation that I ever met with, is to be found, where no one would expe£l to find fuch a 
 thing, — in Dr. Smith's Syjiem of Optics. The 47th Se£t. of ch. ii. book i. begins 
 
 thus : — — 
 
 " When parallel rays 
 " Come contrary ways 
 *' And fall upon oppofite fides". •> 
 If, as Quintilian fays, " Verfum in oratione fieri, mnlio fcedijjimian eft, totum; ficut 
 *' etiam in parte, deforme" — what would he have faid to halfzn Anapceiiiicjlanza, in 
 rhinie, produced in a mathematical book, the author of which, too, was fuppofed to 
 have pofleiTed an uncommon delicacy of ear? 
 
 t _TU iKETfM [fc, mi BTTOTTOHCii'] tiiTI X?'^"'^^'- Cap, tilt, 
 
 E e By
 
 2IO 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 By XsKTiKT] tx^i^ovM, Ariftotle means what Ariftoxenus calls MEAOS 
 Xoyco^eg*". We muft not fuppofe him to ufe the word ct^y^ovio. here, 
 in that lax and general fenfe, in which we commonly apply it to 
 the rhythm of fpeech, when -we talk of the harmony of a verfe or 
 a period. He fpeaks with his ufiial accuracy. Speech, as well 
 as Muiic, has its melody and its rhythm j and thefe, in fpeech ani- 
 mated by paflion, are fo modified, as to approach, more or lefs 
 perceptibly, to 7m!fical melody and rhythm'. And what Ariflotle 
 here aflerts, I think, is, that the Greeks feldom, or never, departed 
 fo far from the ufual rhythm of fpeech, as to run into hexameter 
 verfe, except when they were led, by the fame caufe, to depart 
 equally from its ufual 7?ielody or tones. 
 
 NOTE 37^ 
 
 P. J2,' The Episodes were multiplied. 
 
 Themiflakes, into which fome commentators have been led by 
 annexing to the term ETrairo^iov, as applied by Ariilotle to Tragedy, 
 the modern and Epic idea of a digrejjionj *' hors-d'truvre, intermedt\ 
 *' morccau d'attache"", have been well pointed out by Le BofTu, 
 Tr. du Poeme Ep. Ih. ii. ch. iv. v. vi. ''. But he appears to me to 
 have gone too far, and to have fallen iato the oppofite error, by 
 extending the word even to the moft ejfential parts of the general 
 action, to which he will not allow the eTreitroSta to be, in any fenfc, 
 added, united, &c. — but infifts that they conjlitiite that adtion, 
 
 *> Harmon, lib. i. p. l8. Ed.ALii>,-—A^fMvt», here, is equivalent to /^s^^, as chap. 
 j. iv. vi. &c. 
 
 * See DifT. II. p. 51, and note *. 
 
 " Batteux's note on this pad'age. 
 
 •» The Abbe D'Aubignac had led the way, in his Pratique du Theatre, I'm. iii. 
 (h. i. 
 
 ** comme
 
 NOTES. 2n 
 
 *' comme les membres font la matlere des corps'." With this 
 idea, he had, indeed, fome reafon to call the word eTrairoSiov, 
 " tcrmt' trompeur ;" for, in this application of it, all fight of its 
 etymological fenfe is lofl. By all that I can gather from an atten- 
 tive comparifon of all the pafTages in wliich Ariftotle ufes the \vord, 
 there appears to me no reafon to fuppofe, that he any where meant 
 to apply it iudifcriminately to a// the incidents of a fable; and it 
 is for this reafon that I have no where ventured to render it by the 
 word incident, which would have been too general ''. Le Boffu's 
 definition is, — ** Les Epifodes font les parties nece/faires de l'a£tion 
 ** etendues avecdes circonjlajices vraifemblabks." — The death of Cato, 
 for example, in the Tragedy of Addifon, anfwers to this definition. 
 But would Ariftotle have called that an Epifodc? I can fcarce 
 think it. The moft I can conceive is, that he might have applied 
 the term Ittho-o^m to the particular cij-cumjlances and detail of the 
 adtion, which were the additions of the Poet's fancy. Le Boflli 
 mentions, as an inftance, the efcape of Oreftes by means of the 
 ablution, in the Iphig. in 'Taw. of Euripides ; which, he fays, 
 Ariftotle calls an Epifode '. But^ it is not the e/cape c£ Oreftes, 
 (jn c-wni^ix) that Ariftotle fo denominates ; this was an ejfential cir- 
 cumflance, and is exprefsly included by him in that general iketch 
 of the plot, into which the eTrairo^ix were afterwards to be worked : . 
 and one of thefe Epifodes was the detail of the mariner in which 
 the efcape was effedled, ^la tvi; aocdaaa-iug. — See note 143. 
 
 The word eTraa-oSiov is, I think, ufed by Ariflotle only in two 
 fenfes : i . The technical fenfe, in which it is clearly defined to 
 mean, all that pa7-f, or, rather, thofe parts, of a Tragedy, that are 
 included betweeji entire choral odcs\ 2. It is evidently applied, in 
 
 « Chap. vi. 
 
 * For the incidenU in general, without diftin(9:ion of effential or epifodic, Ariftotle's 
 word feems to be i/.e^ — parts of the adlion. So, ch, viii. and xxiv. 
 
 ■« Ch. xvii.— Tranfl. Part II. SeSJ. x-j. 
 
 ^•Ch, xiu-^TrmJl. Part II. Si£l. 10. 
 
 E e 2 Other
 
 212 NOTES. 
 
 other paflages, to the particular parts, fubordinate adions, cir- 
 cumilances, or incidents, of the fable ; but only, I think, tt> 
 fuch, as were not ejfential parts of the Poet's plan or ftory, 
 though they might be, and indeed ought to be, clofely con- 
 neded with it \—fucb, as, however important in the adlion, by 
 contributing to promote the cataftrophe, were yet no way necelli- 
 tated by hiflory, or popular tradition, or, in fubjeds of pure in- 
 vention, by the Poet's general and determined plan, but depended 
 on the invention or the choice of the Poet, who might, without 
 any alteration in the y.o(.^oK-<s \oy%', as Ariflotle calls it, of his 
 drama, have conduded the adion to its cataflrophe by different 
 meojis ^, 
 
 The word sTreitro^tov, then, appears to me never to be ufed by 
 Ariflotle but in its proper and derivative fenfe, of fomething more 
 or lefs adventitious or acceffory — fomething inferted, fuperadded, 
 introduced'^ , at pleafure, by the Poet. But the Epic Poem, from 
 its extent of plan, and the variety requifite to its purpofe, admits, 
 and requires, fubordinate adions of greater length and flighter 
 relation to the principal adion of the fable, than is confiftent with 
 the fliort^ compafs, clofer unity', and different end, of Tragedy.. 
 As the Epifodes of Epic Poetry, therefore, had more diffindnefs, 
 entirenefs, and projedion from the fubjed, if I may fo exprefs 
 myfelf, than thofe of Tragedy, this, as it was the moit obvious, 
 became in time almofl the only, application of the term ; till, at 
 length, from the frequent abujeoi this Epic privilege of variety, 
 
 s This diftindion is very well illuftrated by Le Boflu, liv. ii. ch, v, " Mais, s'H 
 " etoit necefiairc,"' &c. — to the end. But, in other reipe(fls, this chapter is embrou- 
 illi. He confounds (as the reader will foe by his marginal quotations) omuov, proper.^ 
 jiatuivl, connected, &c. with I'Sicv — nrcejjary, ejfentlul to the ftory, &c. He confounds 
 an Epifode with an eflential a£tion cpifoded, i. c. extended and filled up by epifodic or 
 invented clrcumjlances. 
 
 ^ Ev Sis Toi,- ETriJ'siKTiKoi; [^oyoi;], 5fi tov Xoysi/ EIIEISOAIOTN iTrait'O/f, ww IffOH^a-nii 
 rcitf Suti ya^ Ttva. EISAFEI. R/'ut. iil. cap. Xvii. p. 605. Duval, 
 
 and
 
 NOTES. 213 
 
 and the i^ztk^xXXuv tov uk^ovto", fcarce any other idea was annexed 
 to the word Epifode, than that of digre/lion, hors-d'oeuvre, fome- 
 thing foreign to the fubje6t, or connedled with it only by the 
 flighteft thread. Hence, too, in modern language, the word, I 
 think, is applied only to entire adtions of this additional, or di- 
 greflive kind; not to the minuter circumftances or incidents which 
 form the detail of an adlion. Thus, we call the whole flory of 
 Dido, in the JEneid, an Epifode j but we fliould not give that 
 name to any of the incidents by which the death of Turnus (an 
 aftion effential to the fable,) is circumjiantiated, though equally 
 introduced and juppUed by the Poet, and therefore equally, in 
 Ariflotle's fenfe, gTratro^/a. And fo much, as to his ufe of this 
 term, in general. Whether thefe remarks are well or ill founded,, 
 will befl appear, when we come to apply them to the particular 
 paflages in which the word occurs. In that now before us, it is 
 ufed, I think, in ih&fecond of the two fenfes I mentioned ; and its 
 beft comment feems to be another paiTage, cap. xxiv. \TranJl. Part 
 III. SeSi. 2.] where the critic obferves the advantage which the 
 Epic Poem has in the variety of its Epifodes, and afllgns the want 
 of that variety, as one common caufe of ill fuccefs in Tragic 
 writing: — to yap OMGION ra^u ttXti^hv eKTmrrav TTOist rag roxycc^wcg,. 
 
 N. O T E 38. 
 
 P. 73. Ttl^ RIDICULOUS A SPECIES OF TURPITUDE OR 
 
 DEFORMITYi SINCE IT MAY BE DEFINED, &C. 
 
 It has been aflcrted by fbme writers of eminence, that Ariftotld 
 here fpeaks, not of what is laughable or ludicrous, in general, but 
 only of the ridiculous, in that particular fenfe of the word, in 
 which it is difHnguifhed from the merely rijibk, and implies 
 
 Cop, xxiv. 
 
 laughter
 
 214 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 laughter mixed ivith difapprobatlon or coji tempt''. This, hov/ever, 
 is certainly not what Arillotle hasyi/Vj for the \vov6.yekcm, which 
 he ufes, is as general as poffible, and anfwers exactly to our word 
 laughable. And it is in this general fenfe, juflified, I think, by 
 •common ufage, that I have uled the word ridiculous in my verfion. 
 For though in a philofophical fpeculation tlie diftindion above- 
 mentioned may be necelfary for clearnefs, and is undoubtedly well 
 founded, yet, in common language, the word ridiculous is never 
 ufed with this nice appropriation, but applied, like its Latin original, 
 to whatever excites laughter. 
 
 But it is objeded, thi'.t, if Ariflotle means the laughable in ge^ 
 neral, his account of the matter is falfe; becaufe " men laugh at 
 " that, in which there is neither fault nor turpitude of any 
 " kind""." I anfwer, that this is true in Englip, but not true in 
 Greek. Our word, turpitude, -is confined, I think, to a moral 
 ienfe, and I fuppofe is here fo ufed by Dr. Beattie ; and it is cer- 
 tainly true, that we laugh at many things that have in them no 
 turpitude of that kind— ^-nothing morally wrong. But the Greek 
 word, AISXPON, was a word of wide extent, and feems mani- 
 fefily ufed hei-e by Ariftotle in its utmoft latitude; comprehending 
 every thing that is, in any degree, ugly or deformed^ from atrocious 
 villainy, the higheft moral uglinefs, to a ridiculous cafl of features 
 in an xt^yface. It is the oppofite to KAAON, which was ufed in 
 a correfpondent latitude of application. — The objedtions, which 
 have been made to this paifage, have chiefly, I think, been owing 
 to this, — that the objediors have not been fufficiently aware of the 
 extenfive fignification in which the Greeks ufed the words, kocXov, 
 
 aKT^poVy — ao£T7], KOiKix — (TTrnoxiou, (pKuXov — ce,f/,xpTrifZCi, &C. — We tranf- 
 
 late the words of antient authors by words to which we annex 
 different ideas, and then raifc objedions and difficulties from our 
 
 * Beattie, On Laughter and Ludicrous cmpofithn-^ch, I. p. ^2().'-—Ln-dK^ims, 
 £L if Criticifin^ i. ch. vii. 
 
 •> Dr. Beattie, ibid. p. 33a, 
 
 own
 
 NOTES. 215- 
 
 own miftakes. The confequence of taking unr-x^ov here in the 
 retrained fenfe of moral turpitude, has been, that thofe writers, 
 who have fo taken it, have been obliged to deny, that yzKom means 
 laughable, becaufe the laughable in general could not truly be de- 
 fined, *' a fpecies of moral turpitude." 
 
 It plainly was not Ariftotle's defign here to enter into an accu- 
 rate inquiry about the nature of laughter, and the diflindtion of 
 rijible and ridiculous objedts. This he had perhaps done, in that 
 part of this mutilated treatifc, which related to Comedy, and to 
 which he himfelf refers in his Rhetoric^. His purpofe, herC;, 
 feems to have been, merely to fiipport and explain his account of 
 Comedy; /. e. that it was p^wijo-/? (pxvXoTs^uv, " an imitation o{ bad 
 ** charadlersj" that is, as he immediately limits the fenfe of the 
 general term cpa-vKov, — of ridiculous, or laughable, chara<flers ■*. 
 Such, he continues, are properly denominated (px'jXoi, kxkoi, bad, 
 8cc. becaufe the laughable [yBXom) is one fpecies of the oita-x^ov, taken 
 in its moft general fenfe. " But to what fpecies, or clafs," it was 
 obvious to afk, " does it belong ?" — To that clafs, it is anfwered, 
 of things uio-xj^x, which are neither deflruSiive nor painful : for 
 thefe, exciting terror or pity, are the property of Tragedy ^ And 
 he afferts, I think, plainly, that the laughable in general, to yiXoiovp. 
 i. e. every thing that excites laughter, is dj^x^ryifix TI zx; xktx®^ 
 avuhvov Kxi a (pSxpriKov — is, in fome refpedl or other, faulty, wrong, 
 deformed, but neither painful nor pernicious. What follows, 
 about a ridiculous face, is, I think, clearly, not an illuf ration 
 merely, as Dr. Campbell underflands it to be*^, but an inftajtce. 
 This feems evident from Ariftotle's ufing the very word xt(ryj.ov ; 
 {-TT^oa-coTTov aia-x^ov) which he would hardly have done, had he juft 
 
 ' — ha^h-at h Tre^i ysxoiaiv x^^'i ^'■' ''''"5 "'f^" "■"ivrriCTf. Rhet. i. 11. Ed. Duval.— 
 h^TM nOEA EIAH TEAOIXIN ktv, b tol^ wm woi)itix»?. Ibid. iii. 18. 
 
 *' See NOTE ig. — One of the explanations oi (pxv),®- in Hefychius is r.arayt'Ms®',, 
 
 ^ See cap. xii. initio.- — Tranfl. Part II. End of Seii. 9. 
 
 * Philof. of Rhetoric., book i. ch, iii, S(ii, I. 
 
 7 before
 
 2i6 NOTES, 
 
 before ufed the words aia-xj^ov and ato-x-^, as Dr. Campbell and Dr, 
 Beattie contend that he has ufed them, in a moral fenfe only. 
 
 But it is objeded — " We can never fuppofe that Ariftotle would 
 " have called diftorted features " a certain fault or Jllp^ ." To call 
 them ay//]"', would indeed found flrangcly ; becaufe that expreffion 
 conveys the idea of fomething morally wrong. But when we fay, 
 that a very long nofe, or a wide mouth, is -^ fault in a face, we ufc 
 a very common expreillon ; the word fault having, I think, the 
 fame latitude of application as the Greek word ix,f/M^r7;i/.x. 
 
 It muft be obferved, however, that all Ariftotle fays is, that 
 thefe two charadlers, deformity of fame fort, and the abftice of pain, 
 or hurt, are to be found in every objedl of laughter : he neither 
 fays, nor implies, the f!:;^'!;^';^^'— that every thing fo qualified is 
 laughable''. With refpeft to one of thefe charad;ers— tlie abfencc 
 of pain or harm — there can be no doubt. It is only fiying that 
 we cannot laugh at that which fliocks us. As to the other ge- 
 neral charader, deformity, iigUncfs , fomething 'wrong. Sec. {df/,ix^T7if/.ci 
 TI Kdt a;cr;!/©o) it feems to me, that thefe expreffions, taken in that 
 large fenfe, in which Ariftotle plainly means to ufe them, amount 
 to much the fame as thofe ufed by modern philofophers to charac- 
 terize the ri/il^le in general ; fuch as, " incongruity, incongruous 
 " afociation, ftrikijig unfuitablenefs\" — " dif proportion, inconfjlence 
 " and difonance of circumfiances in the fame ohjeSl^ ." — " With re- 
 " fpefh to works both of nature, and of art," fays the ingenious 
 and philofophical author of the Elements of Criticifm, " none of 
 
 « riiil. of Rhet. book i. ch. iii. ^cR. i. 
 
 ^ " Though every incongruous combination is not ludicrous, every ludicrous 
 " combination is incongruous." Dr. Beattie, On Laughter, &c. ch. ii. p. 351. 
 
 ^ Phil, of Rhet. ibid. p. 89, 93. 
 
 '' Beattie, On Laughter, from Dr. Gerrard. So Akenfide — 
 
 fome incongruous form, 
 
 Samejlubborn dijfunance of things combined. 
 
 n, of Jm, b. iii. v. 250. 
 
 ** them
 
 NOTES. 217 
 
 " them are rllible but what are out of rule, fome remarkable cTefedl 
 *' or excefsj a very long vifage, for example, or a very fliort one. 
 " Hence nothing juft, proper, decent, beautiful, proportioned, or 
 " grand, is i-ifible'." This appears to me to be exaftly the mean- 
 ing, and to approach very near to the language, of Arillotlc. For, 
 of whatever may be thus charaderized it furely may be faid, that 
 it hsL^ fome fpecies oi fault, deformity, or dijiortion: m Arijiotle% 
 words, a^u^ryiiJi.a. T* x«< «*%©- — a<o-%^oy TI k«< AIEITPAMMENON. 
 
 Arillotle's account, then, of the yiXom, appears to be right, as 
 far as it goes. It might, indeed, be objefted to, as too general, had 
 he given it as the refult of an exail and particular analyfis of the 
 fubjeft. But this, as I have already obferved, was not his purpofe 
 in this place. 
 
 It is farther objedled by Dr. Campbell, that to fpeak of laughter 
 in general, " would have been foreign to Ariftotle's purpofe:" be- 
 caufe, " laughter is not his theme, but Comedy; and laughter 
 " only fo far as Comedy is concerned with it. Now the concern 
 " of Comedy reaches no farther than that kind of ridicule which 
 " relates to manners"'." — Undoubtedly it was this kind of ridicule 
 that Ariilotle had principally in view. But I apprehend, that the 
 Comedy here in queftion was concerned with the ridiculous or 
 laughable in general. For Ariftotle's notion of Comedy, as an 
 excellent writer has obferved, " was taken from the ftatc and prac- 
 " tice of the Athenian ftage ; that is, from the old or middle 
 *' Comedy, which anfvvers to his defcription. The great revo- 
 " lution which the introduction of xhQ /ic-d} Comedy made in the 
 " drama, did not happen till afterwards"." Now the old and 
 middle Comedy, as I have before obferved % were no other than 
 
 ' Lord Kaims, EI. of Crit. vol. i. ch. vii. Yet he, too, objects to Arillotle's 
 definition, as " obfcure and imperfe6l." — Ch. xii. 
 
 ■" Phil.o/Rhet. h. i. ch. m.ffif. r, 
 
 " Difc. on the Provinces of the Drama, p. 201. 
 
 " NoTB 28. 
 
 F f what
 
 2ig NOTES. 
 
 what we ihould call Farce. To raife a laugh was fo eminently 
 their objeft, that the ridiciihus {to ysXoiov) is frequently ufed by 
 Plato, as fynonymous to Comedy, and fubftituted for it ; as fity is 
 alfo for Tragedy \ Nor was it even very " foreign to Ariftotle's 
 " purpofe" to inftance in a ridiculous face; for that this alfo was 
 an eflabliihed fource oi fun in the Greek theatre, is well known 
 from the Citrious account of the comic mafks in Jul, Pollux; 
 who fays, particularly of thofe of the old Comedy, that they were 
 ridiculous caricaturas of the perfons reprefented : — sot to ysXowTB^ov 
 i(rx'^[/,ciTi;'o'^. The Athenians were certainly not more delicate than 
 Cicero, who thought, we know, that bodily deformities were 
 " fatis bella materies ad jocandum'." He, alfo, agrees perfedlly 
 with Ariftotle, or rather follows him, in his account of the ridi- 
 culous : *' Locus autem et regio quafi ridiculi turpitudine et 
 *' DEFORMiTATE QUADAM continetur\" 
 
 NOTE 29' -J 
 
 P. 73. Its Poets have been recorded. 
 
 The original is, 0; AEPOMENOI avTvjg 'Tra'.iTKt y.vr^fioveuovTut: the 
 only fair tranflation of which, I think, is, " they who are ca/kd 
 ** its Poets." But as it feems not eafy to find any reafonable meaning 
 
 P 'Ap «% auT©- ?.o7©- Kou wffi TOT TEAOIOT ;— meaning Comedy : and prefently 
 after, towtov ^toieij oTrea ev T0I2 EAE0I2, i. c. in Tragedy. De Rep. lib. x. p. 606. 
 ed. Serr.—See alfo De Leg. p. 816. where, in perfeiSt agreement with Ariftotle, 
 he ufes this expreflion: otcc (Uv hi IIEPl TEAflTA in wair^ia, a h KXlMIiiAIAN 
 
 1 Lib. iv. cap. xix. And fee Lucian, De Salt. p. 925. cd. Bened. He fay?, that 
 the ridiculoufnefs of the comic maflis was regarded as a part of the entertainment; 
 
 - De Or. lib. ii. tap, 59. 
 • Ibid. ii. 58. 
 
 for
 
 N O T e S. 219 
 
 for this, I have not tranflated the word at all. The text is probably 
 corrupt. ^Caflelvetro conjedlured, very ingenioufly, 'OAirOI MEN 
 '01 'ATTHZ TToiriToci. — But this Greek, oXiyot ot 7ro;7jTai, is, I fear, 
 what the critics call, Trovyi^a 7iof/,[^x.T©<'. I will venture to mention 
 another conje(Slure that has occurred to me. The learned reader 
 will difpofe of it as he pleafes. It feems not improbable that 
 Ariftotle wrote, HJV ^^ crx'-ll^ecra nvx dvrvig I%s;(r5j? 'OIA AErOMEN, 
 '01 a'urijj, &c. i. e. ** When it had acquired a certain form, fuc/j 
 " as ivejay," alluding to what he had faid of Homer's fuggefling, 
 by his Margites, the true form, or idea, of Comedy, in which the 
 ridiculous was fubftituted for the mere Invccilve of the old Iambic, 
 OV Satyric Jorm^. Tee. rrig KUf^uStxg ZXHMATA Tr^w-r©^ vTe^afev, a 
 T^oyov, uXXct. TO FEAOION ^o<x[Ji,aro7roi'^(ru;, [cap. iv.] See, alfo, what 
 he fays immediately after, of the forms [crxvy-ara.) of Tragedy and 
 Comedy being evnixore^x, in higher credit and efteem, than thofe 
 of the old fat ir leal and e^icomiajlic poems which preceded them : 
 for this feems to accord with what he here fays, that Comedy was 
 neglected till it attained fomething of this its proper form, and aimed 
 at its proper objedt, the ridiculous. The reader will fee the con- 
 nexion : 'H h KUf/,u^ix, Sioi TO MH SnOTAAZE20AI sr ci^x*l?> e'^a^^^". 
 
 HAH AE SXHMATA nvot duTfjg Ix^a-^ig 'OIA AEFOMEN, '01 uurr^g 
 
 'TToii/iTa.i {^vvifjLon\jovra.i. — This difters from the prefent reading only by 
 the infertion of a fingle letter. A, which might eafily liave been 
 omitted, from its refemblance to the A that follows. 
 
 NOTE 40. 
 
 P. 73. Prologues. 
 
 We are not, I think, to look for a fenfe of the word UooXoy'^, 
 as here applied to Comedy, different from that, in which it is ap- 
 plied, ch> xii. [Tranjl. Part II. Sc£f. 10.] to Tragedy. In both, it 
 
 F f a was
 
 220 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 was that mtrodudhry part of the drama, the bufinefs of which was, 
 to give the fpeftator, either diredly, in its very outfet, or, more 
 obliquely, in the courfe of it, fo much information relative to the 
 fubjeift of the piece, as would enable him to follow the ailion 
 without confufion\ This we learn clearly from the following 
 paflage in that part of Ariftotle's Rhetoric, where he explains and 
 illuftrates the oratorical exordium, by a comparifon of it with that 
 of the Epic Poem, and with the prologue of a drama. After 
 giving, as examples, the openings of the Iliad and Odyffey, he goes 
 on, Jiai c; T^KyiKoi ^yiXaa-i ■TTsat to S^xj^u, kkv p/j Bv9vg, ucnreji EvofTTtcy;;, 
 
 kX\ Iv TXli nPOAOrXl* ye IlOY ^^jAo*, ucrmo xai 'Zo(poy.\rtg- KAI 
 
 'H KXlMHiAIA 'n2ATTXli;\ — This clearly excludes the feparate 
 prologue, fuch as that of the Romaft Comedy; and it is, alfo, 
 irreconcilable with Dacier's idea, that by xht prologue, m the paffage 
 we are confidering, Ariflotle meant what was afterwards called the 
 Farabafis ; for this was merely an addrefs from the Poet to the 
 audience, through the mouth of the Chorus, occurring indiife- 
 rently in any part of the play, and even, fometimes, at the end 
 of it'. It feems to differ from the prologue of the Roinaji Comedy, 
 and of the modern drama, only in its being delivered by the 
 Chorus, and in the body of the pieced 
 
 " This piirpofe is well expreffed in the Rhet. lib, lii. cap. 14. — Ja; ixrTiti^ ii; tw 
 %itfx my a^x^v, "TTOist kx^/iBvov aiio>Jskiv to f^sya, 
 
 '' Rhet. iii. 14. The inftance there given from Sophocles, 'E/aoi jran^ i)v Uo7m^@-, 
 i'eems an interpolation ; for thofe words are not in any part of the wfo^oy®- of the 
 Ocilipus Tyr. even according to Ariftotle's own definition of the word, cap. xii. — 
 The fenfe too feems better without it; for he means, I think, to fay, that it was the 
 general pra'£lic3 of Sophocles to convey this information more indire^iy, and forne- 
 where in the Prologue, as it was the general pradlice of Euripides to do this profcjjedly, 
 and in the very opening. 
 
 ' As in the Y^ynom. oi Arijiophanei, which clofes with the ITafat^aio-i;.— See Sitidas^ 
 V. nia^a<^. and "Jul. Pollux. 
 
 ^ See the Parabafts of the Nuhes, v. 518, which, its indecency excepted, is 
 much of the fame call with the Prologues of Terence. 
 
 Tragedy,
 
 NOTES. 221 
 
 Tragedy, according to tlie ufual account of it, feems to have 
 confifled, ^Xjlrji, only oi two parts, the Xo^mov, and ETreta-o^iov' , and 
 to have iegun and ena'tJ with thofe choral longs, which were then 
 efteemed the eJJ'ential ^^xX. of Tragedy. But, afterwards, thefe 
 fcanty fables, pK^o* ^\)^o>, as Arillotle calls them, were drawn out 
 to their proper fize^ not only by introducing a greater variety of 
 epifodic incidents", but by prefixing to the. frjl choral fong, (or 
 to the firfl: fpecch of the entire chorus, according to Ariftotle's 
 account of the Parade, cap. xii.) the introductory part called 
 Yl^o\oy^, and adding, after the lajl, the concluding part called 
 E|o(5o?. The cafe was probably the fame with Comedy. The 
 P halHc iongs, from which it received its birth ^ were, I fuppofe, 
 regarded originally as the eflential part of the Comic drama, in the 
 fame manner as the Bacchic hymns were of the Tragic. Ari- 
 ftotle plainly fpeaks of Comedy, as having gradually received fimilar 
 additions and improvements to thofe of Tragedy" ; and, among 
 thefe, that of the T\^o\oy^. That fuch an introductory part, or 
 a5i, which fhould be, as Ariftotle expreffes it, ts^y^a, Xoyv, and 
 c^oTToi'^u-ig Tu sTriovri^, was indeed flill more necefTary t© Comedy 
 than to Tragedy, is obvious from the very nature of the former 
 drama'. 
 
 The nature and office of the Greek prologue, and its two different 
 manners, are, I obferve, very exadlly expreffed by Terence in the 
 conclufion of his feparate prologue to the Adelphi ; as they are alfo 
 very well exemplified in the two firft fcenes. 
 
 " Cap. xii. TranJI. Part II. Se^. 10. 
 ' Cap. W. 
 8 See Note 37. 
 •» Cap. iv. 
 
 ' wfotrwTra — Tr^o.oyn'; — laying umx^nm. — Afa^fks were ufed in Tragedy alfo. ^i- 
 ch3'lus was, " perfona — repertor honeft^," according to Horace. 
 
 ■t Rhet. uhlfupra. 
 
 ' See Note 59, and tlie paflage frpm Athensus, 
 
 Dehinc,
 
 i22 NOTES. 
 
 iDehinc, ne expefletis argumenta fabulae. 
 Senes qui prmi ven'ient, hi, partem aferient. 
 In agendo partem ojlendent. — '— 
 
 That is, as I underftand it, part of the plot they will open to you 
 in the way of diredl narration, like, the prologues of Euripides, (as, 
 in the foliloquy of Mitio,) and fart they will difcover in a more 
 oblique and dramatic way, in the fcene of adlion and dialogue that 
 follows : ** In agendo partem ojiendent." 
 
 I ventured, in a former note*, to fay, that the Greek Tragedy 
 appeared to me to have retained, with all its improvements, fome 
 traces of its origin . Sorrtething of this may be perceived, I think, 
 in the very opening of many of the Greek dramas : but efpecially 
 in thofe of Euripides, whofe inartificial prologues of explanatory 
 narration, addreffed diredly to the fpecftators, remind us of the 
 Hate of Tragedy previous to the introducflion of the dialogue j when 
 it confiiled only of a ftory told between the aBs, (if I may fo 
 fpeak,) of the Dithyrambic Chorus, which was then the main body 
 and fubflance of the entertainment. When I read the opening of 
 the Hecuba: 
 
 AfTTuv, Iv AoYjg %wp($' uKigui 6euv, 
 nOATAXIPOZ, Ejco;/?>jj Trizig yeyu; r^j KKT(Tiu^ 
 Ufiidf^^TS Trarp©^ — k. r. «X."'-— — — 
 
 —that of the Perfce of ^fchylus : 
 
 TAAE jttEi/ Yiiauodv tuiv ofxp^tvoiv 
 EXXscS' hg dioiv Triga xxXetTxi, — — - 
 
 — or, even the 
 
 AYTOS -uS' 'eX'^XvSoi 
 O nASI KAEINOZ OIAinOT2 KAA0TMEN02 
 
 * Note 33, p. 205. 
 
 " Almoft all the Tragedies of Euripides open in the fame manner. See, in par- 
 ticular, Jphig. in Taur. Bacchce^ and Phcenijfa. 
 
 10 — of
 
 NOTES. 223 
 
 —of Sophocles", I cannot help thinking of the fingle ador of 
 Thefpis, announcing his own name and family, and telling the 
 fimple tale of his achievements or misfortunes. 
 
 This fort oi direB explanation was afterwards, with much more 
 propriety, taken from the pcrfons of the dra?na, and configned to 
 the aciors in a detached prologue, fuch as thofe of Plaiitus and 
 Terence : a pradlice, which, if we did not know the attachment of 
 Ben Jonfon to every thing antient, we might fufpe6l he meant to 
 ridicule, by the pleafant ufe he has made of it in the prologue to 
 his puppet-fliew of Hero and Lea?idery in the Bartholornew Fair, 
 
 " Gentles, that no longer your expeftations may wander, 
 " Behold our chief aftor, amorous Leander, 
 " With a great deal of cloth lapp'd about him like a fcarf, 
 *' For he yet ferves his father, a dyer at Puddle-wharf," Sec. 
 
 The next, and the /ajl flep, in the hlllory of Prologues, was 
 again to leave the argiimmt, as it had been left by Sophocles, to the 
 oblique information and gradual development of the ad;ion itfelf, 
 and to make the feparate prologue fubfervient to other piirpofes, 
 unconnected with the fubjed of the drama. — The worft of thefe 
 purpofes, and the greateft polTible abufe of the term, is to be found 
 in what is called the Prologue of the French Opera ; which is 
 wholly compofed of two ingredients, almoft equally difgufling to 
 a jufl poetical, or moral tafle — allegory and adulation" . 
 
 " Oed. Tyr. v. 8, — Of all the openings of this Poet, that of the Trachinta refem- 
 bles moft the manner of Euripides. 
 
 " See Roufeau's account of it, D'lif. de Muf. art. Prologue. 
 
 NOTE
 
 224 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 41. 
 P. 73. Epicharmus and Phormis first invented 
 
 COMIC FABLES. ■ 
 
 Dacier, here, raifes unnecefTary difficulties. His pofitive affer- 
 tlon, that, in the old and middle Comedy, " II n'y avoit rien de 
 "feint," [Notes 10 and 13] is furprifing. The flighteft infpec- 
 tion of Ariilophanes will confute it. Was it, then, ^facf, that 
 Socrates ufed to be fufpended in a balket for the benefit of aerial 
 meditation ? and that Mfchyhis and Euripides weighed their 
 verfes in a pair of fcales, to decide, by that means, a conteft or 
 fuperiority, after they were dead" ? &c. Farther, it feems not 
 eafy to reconcile this affertion of Dacier's, to what he afterwards 
 fays, ch. ix. note 8. 
 
 Mu^K? TTOiSiv, is clearly to inve7it plots or fnhjeSls ; and whatever Is 
 invented, or feigned, is, in Ariftotle's language, jtaSoXj?, or general, 
 as oppofed to a ftridlly hijlorical plot, which is ytcS ejixg-ov, parti- 
 cular. See fi'. ix." which is the bell comment on this palTage ; 
 efpecially what is there faid of Comedy. The expreffion, there- 
 fore, which Ariflotle prefently after ufes, in fpeaking of Crates, 
 a(psuBv^ T'/j; lcify(.l3ncrig lSsa.g, icuSoXa ttoihv Xoyni ij jttufej, I und^rlland tO 
 be no more than the development of the flao. ter expreffion which 
 preceded, [/-vdag iroinv. He does not fay, that Crates was the firft 
 Poet, but only the firfl Athenian Poet, who invented fuch comic 
 fubje£ls. The diftindion feems clearly marked : to ^hv iv Vf uj^x^ig 
 Ik IIKEAIAE riXQ'c : TXIN AE AeHNH^SI, K^xrvjg ttput^ — k. t. «AA. 
 
 » Nubes, Aa I. Sc. \\\.—Rayi(€^ Aa V. Sc. III. 
 >» Tranjl. Part II. 5^.7. 6. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 225 
 
 NOTE 42. 
 
 P. 74. Epic Poetry agrees so far with Tragic, &c. 
 
 Of the corruption of this pafTage I have no doubt. It has been 
 propofed to ejedt the words, [/.stx Koya. My fufpicion rather falls 
 upon the word pr^a; which, as it adds nothing but embarrafT- 
 ment to the fcnfe, {xoyt^, fpeech, or words, being a general term, 
 and including metres as in ch. i%) I have omitted. It appears to 
 me, likewife, that the only meaning, which can reafonably be given 
 to the cxpreffion, jws^^* MONOT jttsr^sf, is — " as far as metre alone; 
 " i. e. without confidering the ot/jer meam of imitation, inelody and 
 " rhythm." And, accordingly, fome commentators, by jwerpoi* 
 'AITAOTN, underftand verfe alone, without 7nufic. But had this 
 been Ariftotle's meaning, he would probably have ufed the appro- 
 priated and clear word, ^ikov^ . The proper and obvious fenfe of 
 \itr^ov txTrXav, is, a Jhnple, or Jingle, kind of metres This fenfe 
 feems alfo fupported by what he fays of the 7mtrical difference 
 of the Epic and Tragic Poems, cap. xxiv. where melody and 
 rhythm are not taken into the comparifon, but the different kinds 
 of metre only, and their being one, or many : — \i yxp ng ev aXX« 
 Tivi ^irau otr,yrif^o!.TiKyiv jt4(jitij(r;!/ TrotoiTO, ri ev IIOAAOIS, avrpeTrsg uu <pou~ 
 voiTo. And farther, that Ariftotle did not mean to exprefs by 
 l^er^ov ktt\-6v, the exclufion of inelody and rhythm, appears the 
 more probable, becaufe he fufficientiy expreffes this prefently after- 
 wards, when lie fays, that fome of the parts of Tragedy were 
 peculiar to it. Now thefe parts are no other than the decoration, 
 {l-^iz), and the Melopceia, which included melody and rhythm, 
 
 " See NOTE V. p. 155, 
 
 " Ibid. 
 
 ' A7r^»^— MONOEIAH2— 5a;Vtf5. "Aw^'-AZTNGETON. Hef. So, aTXuvis op- 
 pofed by Ariftotle to Ttmuyntm-^ cap. x. et pajftm : and to J(7r?ay, cap. xiii. & Jcxi. 
 
 Gg On
 
 226 NOTES. 
 
 On the whole, it feems not improbable, that the paflage origi- 
 nally flood in fome fuch wzy as this : 'H f/.sv iv ETroTroi'ix t>) Tpxyu" 
 oiu i^s'xpi [^ova TOT jttEra Xoyu (/.ly/^ariH eivxt CTraocituv ^>coXiid^(rev, 
 
 NOTE 43. 
 
 P. 74. This, at first, was equally the case with 
 Tragedy itself. 
 
 It feems to have been taken for granted, without any founda- 
 tion, by Dacier, and other commentators, that the modern rule, 
 (for an antient rule it certainly is not,) of what is called the unity 
 ofthne, was flridtly adhered to in every period of the Greek drama: 
 and this has led them, in this paffage, to confound the length of 
 the a5iio?i, or fable, with that of the reprefentation ; for thefe, 
 where a flridl unity of time is obferved, are indeed the fame. But 
 Ariflotle here fiys plainly, that in the earliefl flate of Tragedy, no 
 rule at all, with refpedl to the time of the aftion, was obferved j 
 that it was not only allowed to exceed " a Jingle revolution of the 
 *' fun," but v/as ** indefiite" [ao^tg<^) like that of the Epic 
 Poem. This evidently cannot be applied, without abfurdity, to 
 the time of reprefentation. Yet fo it is applied by Dacier in his 
 note on this paffage, p. 70. 
 
 But it appears farther, I think, from what is faid, and plainly 
 faid, in this chapter, that, after all we have heard fo often about 
 this famous unity of time, the rule receives not the leail fupport 
 from Ariftotle's authority. Every one, who knows how much 
 ftrefs has been laid by modern critics on the three drainatic unitieSy 
 and happens not to be well acquainted with Ariflotle's treatife on 
 Poetry, would, I fuppofe, naturally take it for granted, that they 
 are all explicitly laid down, and enforced by him, as eflential and 
 indilpenfable laws, in that famous code of dramatic criticifm. 
 But the faft is, that, of thefe three rules, the only one that can be 
 6 called
 
 NOTES. 227 
 
 / 
 
 called important — that of the unity of aclion — is, indeed, clearly 
 laid down _ and explained, and, with great i-eafon, confidered by 
 him as indifpenfable. Of the two other unities, that of place is 
 not once mentioned, or even hinted, in the whole book j and all 
 that is faid, refpedting the thne of the aftion, is faid in this chap- 
 ter, and in thefe words : " Tragedy endeavours, as far as pojjible, 
 " to confine its aftion within the limits of a fingle revolution of 
 " the fun, or nearly f." Almoft all tlie commentators feem agreed 
 in underftanding the expreffion, ^jt-ioc. Trt^to^^ ^Xns, to mean only an 
 artificial day. But I own I could never yet perceive any good 
 reafon, why vve fhould not permit Ariftotle to mean what he 
 feems, in plain terms, to Jay. If he meant only twelve hours^ 
 why did he prefer an expreffion fo ambiguous, to fay the leaf of 
 it, as fiiciv TTipio^ov ifx<K, to the clear and obvious expreffion of ^.ixv 
 'HMEPAN ?• — But, to wave this queflion, the utmoft, which the 
 mofi: ftrenuous advocates for the unity of time can make of this 
 paffage, is this — that the Poet fhould endeavour, as far as poffble, 
 to confine the fuppofed time of the adlion to that of a fingle day, 
 or nearly fo. Now it feems allowed, that none of the Greek Tra- 
 gedies extant could have taken up, in the reprefentation, more than 
 three or four hours. What Ariftotle, therefore, here fays, is fo 
 far from being a rule for the unity of time, that, on the contrary, 
 it is faying as plainly as poffiible, that, in his view, it was no duty- 
 incumbent on the dramatic Poet even to aim at the obfervance of 
 fuch a rule : for, had he thought otherwife, his mode of expreffion 
 would, furely,' have been very different. He would have propofed 
 the fl:ridt unity of time — ^^the exai5l coincidence of the adual time 
 of reptefentation with the fuppofed time of the aSlion — as the 
 point of perfeftion, at wliich the Poet was to aim : he would have 
 faid, " Tragedy endeavours, as far as poflible, to confine its adlion 
 ** within the time of reprefentation, or nearly fo." 
 
 » — oTift«^ir« !rEi/!«T«r iTO |«i«v w-EjiioJov Jills' liV«i,^ /!«ixji(Hi e|aX>i«TTttv. Cap.v, 
 
 G g 2 It
 
 228 NOTES. 
 
 It Is certain, Indeed, that the nature of the Avz.vciZ,JlriSJ!y and 
 rlgoroujly confidered, would require, I will not fay, to the per- 
 fedtion, but to the clofenefs, of its imitation, the exad: coincidence 
 here mentioned ; and it is on this foundation only, that any rule at 
 all relative to time could be ncceffary, and that the dramatic 
 Poet could, with any reafon, be denied the privilege of the Epic. 
 All I contend for is, that Ariftotle has no where required fuch a co- 
 incidence ; that he has not even mentioned it; much lefs has he, 
 either here, or in any other part of his work, enjoined it as a rule. 
 His rule is, as generally underftood, " confine your adlion, as 
 " nearly as you can, to a fmgle day;" — or, as I think, in confor- 
 mity to his plain words, it fioiild be underfl-ood — " to a fingle 
 " revolution of the fun, or twenty-four hours'"." 
 
 It may, perhaps, be objedted, that Ariftotle has not delivered 
 this in the form of a rule ; that he only refers to foci, and to the 
 ufual pra6iice of the dramatic Poets of his time. " Tragedy en- 
 " deavours," &c. But, furely, to mention the general practice 
 of Poets with feeming approbation, or, at leaft, without a word 
 to the contrary, is, in fadt, to ere<5t that pradlice, (as he has done 
 on many other occafions throughout his treatife,) into a rule. — It 
 is fufficient for my purpofe, that, at leaft, he has given no other 
 rule. 
 
 Moreover, what he here fays of the pradllce of the Greek dra- 
 matifts, feems fomewhat adverfe to the language of thofe modern 
 critics, who fo often appeal, if I miilake not, to that very prac- 
 tice, for the fupport of their rigofous unity of time. For, if his 
 
 ' It is diverting to hear Caftelvetro gravely fctting forth the inconveniences of 
 being fliut up lot four and twenty hours in a theatre : — " II tcmpojfretto e quello, che 
 *' i veditori po/Tono a fuo agio dimorare fedendo in theatro; il quale io non veggo 
 " che poffa pafTare il giro del fole, fi come dice Ariftotcle, cio c, hore dodici : conciofia 
 ** cofa che per le ncceflita del corpo, come e, mangiare, here, dtporre t fuperjiui pcfidd 
 <' ventre et della vefica, dormire, ct per altre necenita, non poffa il popolo continuare 
 •* oltre il predetto termino cofi fwtta dimora in theatro." — p. 109. 
 
 expreflion
 
 N O 
 
 229 
 
 expreflloii does not prove, that he thought the rule of ^Jlnglc revo- 
 lution of the fim the only rule which the Poets ought to obfcrve, it 
 furely proves, becaufe it adtually fays, that he thought it the only 
 rule, which, in general, they did obferve. But what fays Dacier? 
 ** Une Tragedie, pour etre parfaite, ne doit occuper ni plus, ni 
 *' moins de terns, pour I'adion, que pour la reprefentation ; car 
 *' elle eft alors dans toute la vraifemblance. Les Tragiqiies Grccs 
 l'ont toujour s pratique'." What he adds, it feems not very 
 eafy to comprehend : " Et ils s'en font fait une loi fi indifpenfablc, 
 * ' que pour ne hi pas violcr, ils ont quclquefois violente leurs incidens, 
 ** d'une maniere que je ne confeillerois pas de fuivre:" /. e. in plain 
 Englifh, (for I can make nothing elfe of it,) " they have fo fcrupu- 
 " loaily adhered to the rule, that, fometimes, for the fake of ob- 
 *' ferving it, they have been obliged to break it." p. 118. 
 
 I believe, every reader, who, in perufing the Greek Tragedians, 
 has taken the pains to examine this matter, muft be fenfiblc, that 
 what Dacier fo confidently aOerts, of their confiant adherence to this 
 rule, is palpably flilfe. I Ihall only mention one remarkable in- 
 ftance of the utter negledl of it, and that in Sophocles ; who, in 
 this, as in other refpetfls, is ufually regarded, I think, as the mofl 
 corredt and regular of the three Greek Poets whofe Tragedies are in 
 our hands. In his Trachinia, v. 632, Lichas fets out to carry the 
 poifoned garment to Hercules, whom he finds upon the Cencean pro- 
 montory, which is faid" to be about fixty Italian miles from the 
 fcene of the aftion. At v. 734, Hyllus, who was prefent when his 
 father received the garment, arrives with the terrible relation of its 
 efFedls. Thus, during the performance of about a hundred lines, 
 a journey of about one hundred and twenty Italian miles is fuppofed 
 to have been taken. — For this, and other inflances of the fame 
 kind, I mufl content myfelf with referring the reader to the fenlible 
 and well written EJiratto della Poetica d'AriJiotilc, publiftied among 
 the pofthumous works of Metaftafio, and which did not fall into 
 
 « By Metaftafio, 
 
 my
 
 230 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 my hands till all my notes were written. It contains many inge- 
 nious and fagacious obfervations. The fubjedl of the dramatic 
 unities, in particular, is difcuffed at large, and, I think, in a very 
 mafrerly and fatisfaitory way. And, with refpedl to the flrift unities 
 oi time ixndi place, he feems perfedlly to have fucceeded in fliewing, 
 that no fuch rules were impofed on the Greek Poets by the critics, 
 or by theinfelvcs ; — nor are impofed on any Poet, either by the 
 nature, or the end, of the dramatic imitation itfelf '. 
 
 It would be inexcufable to quit this fubjedl without reminding 
 the reader, that the unities of time and place, were long ago power- 
 fully, and, in my opinion, unanfwerably combated, as far as their 
 principles are concerned, by Dr. Johnfon, in his preface to Shak- 
 fpeare, p. 20, &c. 
 
 NOTE 44. 
 P. j^. In the way, not of narration, but o? 
 
 ACTION. 
 
 It is furprifmg, that fo Grange a phrafe as h^uv — ^^uvtuv — 
 forrnis — agentibiis — fliould have palfed as genuine with any Greek 
 fcholar. It is Hill more fo, that the obvious oppofition of l^uvrm 
 to uTTayyiXiK, and the no kfs obvious abfiirdity of oppojing narra- 
 tion to pity and terror, {i II ot.Trvjyyt'kiaq, kKK^ V sXs'd zai (po(3is) 
 fhould have cfcaped the notice of any commentator". — I ihould 
 write the paflage thus j ftill confidcring it as imperfedl : — %&^(? 
 r^x^a Tbiv lioujv \v tc;; /xopioi; * * * [forte AIA] ooxvrsdv kcxi i it K-7Toey~ 
 
 ^ Ca^'Uolo 5. 
 
 ' See the beginning of cap. iii.' Tranjl. fe£}, 4.— I am glad to find myfclf well 
 Supported in thefe remarks by Mr. Winftanley's note on this pafTage. Ed. Ox. 1 780, 
 _». 278. — I cannot, however, but Hill regard the text as defective.
 
 NOTES. 231 
 
 yeXiag * * * * uWoc Si Ixsn kki (pol2n, k. t. uK. Thus the word 
 SouvTuv will retain its proper knic, and the a£live imitation of the 
 drama, which Ariilotle every where makes its charaderiftic dif- 
 tindtion, as oppofed to the Rpic, will be, as we might expedl to find 
 it, in ■Sl formal and exadl definition of Tragedy, diftindlly marked. 
 
 I will juft obferve, farther, that this mode of expreffion — ^mruv 
 KAI OT It ccTT. is familiar to Ariftotle. — Here however it may be 
 juflified by the neceffity of marking clearly the diflin<3:ion be- 
 tween Dramatic and Epic Poetry. In other inftances, as, ers^u; 
 
 KOU fit) TOV tXUTCV TpOTTOV. CUp . \.-—U3g TOV XUTOV XXt fiTj fjUBTOifoaXXoVTOi. Cap, 
 
 iii. — \iSuq V.UI fA,'*! dyvouv. Eth. Nic. V. 8. — it feems hardly to admit 
 of the fame excufe. In the Poets we are lefs furprifed to find it 
 frequent. Vidorius has pointed out Homer, II. Z. 333. 
 
 — cTTa |«s KocT uKTxv IvetKitTOig, ad' Xiireq MCav, 
 — and Sophocles : 
 
 yvuTX, K arc a/yvuTX ^01 
 
 U^ocT'yjXSsff If^et^ovreg. Oed. Tyr. 58, 
 
 If any man, in reading the antients, can perfuade himfelf to take 
 fuch things for beauties, there is certainly no harm in it. The 
 fadt I take to be, that compofition, even that of Poetry, was not 
 yet fo far improved and refined, as perfectly to exclude the inaccu- 
 racies and redundancies of popular and familiar fpeech. 
 
 NOTE 45. 
 P. j^. Effecting, through pity and terror, the 
 
 aORRECTION AND REFINEMENT OF SUCH PASSIONS. 
 
 A< iXiH Kut (po(^\i Trigocivacrcx. rriv ruu romruv '7rocQy]fji,<x,TUv KxdxoTtv.- — A 
 hiftory of the controverfies which this obfcure pafiage has excited 
 among critics and commentators, and an exadl ftatement and exa- 
 mination of the various explanations which have been given of it, 
 
 would
 
 232 
 
 NOTE 
 
 would almoll fill a volume. Among thefe, however, the opinions, 
 that are worth regarding, or that can, with any fliew of probabi- 
 lity, be deduced from ArLftotle's expreffion, are, I think, reducible 
 to t-wo. One is, that this purgation, or moderation, of the paffions, 
 is merely the effeft of having them frequently excited, and of 
 being familiarized with the occafions of them, in Tragic fidion ; 
 [uft as the paffions of pity and terror are adlually purged, or re- 
 duced to moderation, in a furgeon, a phyfician, or a foldier, by 
 their being accuftomed to thofe terrible or piteous objedts that occa- 
 fion them. — The otber interpretation attributes the effedt to the 
 7noral leffon and example of the drama : Tragedy purges the paffions 
 by the ftriking pictures it fets before us of the dreadful calamities 
 occalioned by the unreflrained indulgence of them ; by giving 
 ufeful warnings, and preparing us to bear the ills of life with pa- 
 tience. — One, or the other, or both, of thefe meanings, have, I 
 think, been attributed to Ariftotle by the beft commentators and 
 critics. For the firjl, the reader may fee Mr. Harris's Difc. on 
 Miijlc, Painti?ig, &c. ch, v. 7iote '. — Heinf. De Trag. Conji. cap. ii. 
 p. 22, 23. and Cajichetro, p. 117, 118. — For xho-fecond, Madius; 
 — D'Alembert in his letter to Roufleau, Melanges, torn. ii. p. 414. — 
 Dryden, Obf. on the ^Eneid. — Abbe Du Bos, Rc/i. fur la Poejie, 
 tom. i. fedl. '44, &c. — For an explanation compounded of the two, 
 Robortelli, Piccolomini, and Dacier, who, by the way, after de- 
 ^claring that a/l the explanations of former commentators " Jerved 
 " only to ohjitirc the pajTage," and that the true fenfe was not to he 
 found in any of them, proceeds to give us, as that true fenfe, and as 
 his own difcovery, exadtly Vvhat had been faid before him*. 
 
 Let us firfl fee what Ariftotley<Vyj-. He fays, that Tragedy, by 
 the means of pity and terror, effciils the purgation {ytoSa^o-iv) oi fuch 
 paffions : i. e. of pity and terror and other pafions of the fame 
 kind : for pity and terror feem clearly meant, by the expreffion, 
 to be included m the effeift. And tiiis, in my opinion, is fufficient 
 
 ' See his note 8. 
 
 to
 
 NOTES. 233 
 
 to overturn xhz fccoytd of the explanations jufl mentioned; for, 
 according to that, terror and pity are not both the fmans and the 
 ohje£i of die purgation, as Ariflotle, I think, afferts them to be, 
 but they are the mca?is only of purging otber pafiions — thofe 
 paffions, whatever they may be, which are fuppofed to produce the 
 calamitous events exhibited to our view. Indeed, according to 
 this idea, the objedt is rather the vice that arifes from paffion, 
 than the paffion itfclf which is the caufe of it. But, befidcs this 
 objeclion, I do not fee any reafon to think, that tlie moral lejfon of 
 the drama, and the effedls it might have in moderating our paf- 
 fions through the rcjiedlions it excites in us, were at all in Ariflotle's 
 thoughts*. T\\ejrrjl of the two explanations feems far more ad- 
 miffible. I believe it made a part of his idea, but I doubt whether 
 it was the whole of it. What was precifely his meaning, and the 
 whole of his meaning, v/ill never, I fear, be the fubjed: of a 
 perfed:. Stoical KocTaXvi^ig to any man. There is, however, one 
 paflage in Ariftotle's works, which throv/s fome little light upon 
 this ; enough, at leaft, to keep us from falfe interpretations, if not 
 to lead us to the true. It is in the feventh chapter of his eighth 
 book De Republicd. The Abbe Batteux is the only commentator 
 I know of, who has paid a proper attention to this paffage ; but 
 as I do not perfeftly agree with him, either as to the tranflation 
 he has given, or the ufe he makes of it, I fliall produce fo much 
 of the original as appears to be of any importance to our prefent 
 purpofe, and fubjoin a tranflation, with fome neceffary remarks. 
 
 The objedt of Ariftotle, in the chapter referred to, is, to examine 
 what kinds of Mujic (i. e. of melody and rhythm,) are proper to 
 be ufed in the education of youth. He mentions and approves 
 a divifion, made by fome philofophical writers of that time, of the 
 different kinds of melodies, into Moral, AcSlive, and Enthufiaftic : 
 rx f^Bv HeiKA, ra. Se DPAKTIKA, rx 0' ENBOTSIASTIKA. By the 
 firft of thefe we are to underfland a manly, grave, and funple 
 
 • See the concluding NOTE» 
 
 H h melody.
 
 254 NOTES. 
 
 melody. The fenfe of Tr^atcTMCi is lefs clear ; but I fuppofe it 
 means a more complicated and imitative fort of melody, adapted to 
 exprefs human aSiions ; for, in the 49th of the Harmonic Problems 
 [aS"."^. 19.] it is faid of the Hypo-Phrygian mode, that it had ^'^©^ 
 'K^ooc.Tiy.ov, and was, on that account, ufed only in the dialogue and 
 adtion of the drama, never in the choral part*". And the fame 
 epithet, Tr^axTiaov, is applied, in this treatife, to the Iambic meafure\ 
 As to enthiijiafiicy it wants no explanation. — Ariftotle then proceeds 
 to obferve, that " Mulic was to be ufed, not for one ufeful purpofc 
 " only, but for feveral," which he enumerates ; and one of them 
 is — KA0APSEX12 iviKot.: with refpedl to which he fays — t< Iz 
 XsycfiBv Triv Kcx.9oia(Tiv, vuv fx,ev, UTrXug' "ttoKiv Se, EN TOI£ IIEPI IIOIH- 
 TIKHS, i^^y-ev (racpe^e^ov : — " What I mean by KaSa^iris, or purga- 
 " tion, I fhall now explain only in a fhort and general way; but 
 ~ " hereafter, in the books concerning Poetry, more explicitly and 
 " clearly." — And this, I fuppofe, he had done, in that part of this 
 treatife which is loft. — He then proceeds thus : 
 
 — ^otvipov, oTi ^pyj^eoy ja.sv 7r«(r«jj rxig a.fif/,ovixig, a rov kvtov oe rpOTroit 
 7riX(rai; ^p'/j;-eoy' dxXu tt^oi; jksv tijv Trutdetocv, tuiq ^SiKUTUTiXig' vooi; h 
 unooua-iv [f. KAGAPXIN], STe^uv x^papy^ivruvy kki tkii; TTpaKTiKun;, kcci 
 Tuig IvQ^O'ixg'iKXig. yxp Trepi evixg cruf4,(2ocivei 7rocQ©~> v^vx^ki; layKipug, raro 
 IV TTKcroctg VTrup-xp" '"w 6b '/ittov Om<pipit kcj tu f/MXXov. otov, EAEOS KAI 
 
 Tiveg liirtv. \k ^e rcav Upcov fA.eXuv opui/,sv runsg, oruv ■x^-fiCuvTo.i roig \t,o^yia.t^ii(rt 
 Tv,v 4'u%i?i' iJ.BX£(ri,Kx9ig-x[^svisg,u(r7r£^lATFElAl, ruxovrxg zxtKAQAPZEfl'Z. 
 TKUTO Jij TUTo uvxyKatov TTXcrx^tv KXi Tag eXsvjiMVKg, x-cci Tug (pofi'^rty.ag, kxi 
 rag oXug -TruOririKag' r^g S' oAAa?, Kocff o(Tov e.7nf2ixXXH tuv toustoji/ Ikx-u,. 
 
 * He favs too — Kara. Se tuv iTroSwgii-i km y^of'fi/'yiri, IIPATTOMEN* a a« omuov In xo^a' 
 iu yap xof®- KnSVurnj ATIPAKTOS. — x. t. a. — The whole Problem, though muti- 
 lated, is cuiious, and throws fonie little glimmering of light upon the Greek drama, 
 as far as Mujic is concerned. 
 
 * Cap. xxiv. — TO ixiv [i. c. the Trochaic tetrameter,] o^x^nmv ro ?f, [the Limbic 
 Yerfe,i nPAKTIKO^. Whence Horace's,—" natum rd>us agindis," A. P. 83. 
 
 10 KCil
 
 NOTES. 235 
 
 *!«( TTar/ yiyvea-dxt TINA KA0AP2IN, km K^p.^^vrSat [x,Bff v^ovvig. [p. 458. 
 E^. Duva/.]* 
 
 In this paflage, for (x.>c^oa.(rw I have no doubt that we fhould read 
 K(x9a^a-w. The fimilitude of the words is fufficient to account for 
 the miflake of the tranfcriber; and the purport of the whole paf- 
 fage feems to require the corre6tion. For Ariftotle is here fliewing, 
 in what manner the th-ee different kinds of melody were to be ap- 
 plied to the difftrtnt purpo/es, which he had juft enumerated : Trpog 
 MEN TW riAIAEIAN, raig i$iK. ir^og AE ttjv KA0APSIN, — raig tt^uk- 
 TiKKtg, &c. The oppofition is clear. And fo, afterwards, a third 
 purpofe is mentioned — tt^o? ANAnATSIN. [p. 459.] The words 
 immediately following, erE^m x^^^^y^^ruv, probably contributed to 
 this miftake. They allude to his dodtrine, in the preceding 
 chapter, that boys Ihould not be allowed to practice or perform, 
 f hem/elves, any but the fnnpleft kind of Mufic, and upon the fim- 
 
 * This pafTage may be confidered, alone, as a complete refutation of an opinion 
 publiflied fome years ago by Piofeflbr Moor, of Glafgow, on the fubje£t difcuffed in 
 this note. He afferts, that by irahfixra Ariftotle does not mean paj/ions, hut fuffer- 
 iftgs, or calamities ; and that the fenfe of ?f' I^Es xai (po&is Trcpaasaa. tw tojv toistuv ■7talar,nanm 
 xa6ci^a-iv, is — eft'ecling, or endeavouring to effeft, " the removal of fuch calamities," 
 {i. e. as are reprefented in Tragedy,) " by means of exciting the paflions of pity and 
 " terror." But the fcnfe, both o( aaSa^a-i;, and of TraSn/xara, is fixed, beyond difpute^ 
 by the pafTage I have quoted, where pity, terror.) and other paJ/:ons, are clearly men- 
 tioned as the objeSis of the ««flaf(ri;, or purgation. The FrofelTor alfo afl'erts, that the 
 word, which Ariftotle uniformly ufes to exprefs the pajfwns, is n-a9«, and that by 
 waSji^ara is " always mea.nt.) fufftrings, or calamities." This is a miftake. ITaSt] is 
 continually ufed by Ariftotle in the fenfe dl fufferings ; and n-afofcara fonietimes, 
 t'hougli lefs frequently, in the fenfe of paffwns. So, Rhet. II. 22. p. 574. C. xax 
 Tti^i ruv ii6iiv, KM riAGHMATflN — " concerning manners and pajfwns," See alfo, 
 Moral. Eudem. II. 2. p. 205. B. where waStj and waSi)|itaT« are ufed fynonymoufly. 
 Many other inftances, I make no doubt, are to be found in Ariftotle's works. 
 
 I ihould add, that I take my account of this explanation, and the arguments by 
 which it is fupported, from the Monthly Revietv, vol. xxx. p. 65 ; not having been 
 able to procure the pamphlet itfelf, of which the title is—" On the end of Tragedy, 
 " according fo Jrijiotle : an EJfay^ in two parts, bj'c. — By James Afeor, LL.D. Prof, of 
 *' Greek in the Univ. of Glafgow." — It is mentioned again, with approbation, in the 
 614th vol. of the fame Review, p. 556. 
 
 H h 2 plefl
 
 236 NOTES. 
 
 pleft and eafieft inflruments, fuch as were not Ssoftevx xeiot;oyizr]i 
 l7r/s-i?jtt55f. [p. 457-] But this was not the charafter either of the 
 aBive and enthujiajlk melodies, of which he here fpeaks, or of the 
 injlrument ufed in the accompaniment of them"". 
 
 I fliall now give what I think a fair and literal verfion of the 
 pafTage. 
 
 " It is manifefl then, that all the different kinds of melodies arc 
 " to be made ufe of; not all, however, for the fame purpofe. For 
 " education, the mofl ;«5r^/ kind fliould be ufed : for purgation, 
 " both the a£iive, and the enthujiajiic ; — performed, however, by 
 ** others. For thofe paffions, which in fome minds are violent, 
 " exifl, more or lefs, in all ; fuch as pity, for example, and 
 ** TERROR : and, again, enthiijiafm j for with this paflion fome 
 " men are fubjedl to be poffeffed : but when the facred melodies, 
 ** intended to compofe the mind after the celebration of the orgic- 
 " rites, have been performed, we fee thofe men become calm and 
 *' fedate, as if they had undergone a kind of purgation, or cure. 
 " And the cafe muft neceffarily be the fame with thofe who are 
 " particularly liable to be moved by pity, or terror, or any 
 ♦* other paiiion ; and with other men, as Jar as they are under the 
 " influence of any fuch paffion ; all of them experiencing ajbrt of 
 " purgation, cW pleasurable relief." 
 
 From this palTage, though far enough, I am fenfible, from 
 being perfedly clear and explicit, two things,, at leaft, may, I 
 think, be confidently deduced. — i. That whatever be the mean- 
 ing of the term KoiStxpa-ig, or purgation, here, muft alfo be its 
 meaning in the treatife on Poetry ; fince to that work Ariftotle 
 refers for a fuller explanation of it. The only difference is, that 
 here, the term is applied to the effedl of imitative Mufic ; there, 
 to that of imitative Poetry j of that fpecies of it, however, which 
 depended, we know, upon Mujic, for a very confiderable part of 
 
 * The Ai*®-. See Ibid. p. 459 ajid 457. And above, p. 148, note •. 
 
 8 its
 
 NOTES. 
 
 237 
 
 its effedt. 2. It is plain, that, according to Ariflotle's idea, pity 
 was to be purged by pity, terror by terror, &c.j contrary to the 
 fecond of the two explanations above mentioned. For Ariflotle is 
 here exprefsly fpeaking of the ufe oi enthufiajlic Mufic applied tt^sj 
 xa^a^o-iv ; and he fays, that men, agitated by enthufiafm, were 
 purged or rclie'ved from that cathujiajhi by the liox fieXri, which were 
 plainly enthujiajlic melodies ; i. e. fuch as imitated, or expre[]cd, 
 that paffion, and were intended to calm the mind, which had 
 been violently agitated and inflamed ; not, as M. Batteux under- 
 ftands, by the fuddenoppofition oi Doric, grave, and ;«5r^/ ftrains, 
 \_p. 280, I.] but by pleafurable indulgence of the fame paffion in 
 imitative Mujic : Kii<pi^e<7Soci fjuff ri^ovr,^. Thefe melodies were, pro- 
 bably, fuch as thofe of Olympus, which had been mentioned 
 juft before [^cap.^."] and of which Ariflotle fays, that they, 'Oy.oKoya-' 
 yAvuig nOIEI TAS TTXAS ENeOTZIASTIKAS. Indeed, from the 
 manner, in which the Mufic of Olympus is fpoken of by Plato, 
 and Plutarch, there is great reafon to fuppofe, that thefe " facred 
 melodies" were no other, than the very melodies of that muiician^ 
 With refpeft to this Kcx.9a.^crig itfelf, Ariflotle by no means gives us 
 in this pafTage, nor, indeed, profefTes to give us, a full and fatis- 
 fadory explanation of it. Some light, however, he has flung upon 
 it by the expreffions, Ixr^ax, and xiKpi^iaSai ^eff rj^ovvig, which he ufes 
 as fynonymous to y,ci^u^(ng: " Purgation, cure, pleafurable relief." 
 The Abbe Batteux underftands Ariflotle to mean no more by this, 
 than that the paffions of terror or pity, which, when excited by real 
 objedls, are fmiply painful, or, at leafl, have a predominant mix- 
 ture of pain, are, by imitation, and the confcioufnefs oi fSiion, 
 purged or purified from this alloy of the difagreeable and painful, 
 
 * — raf vo/^s5 TS{ iipnovMH; c^sveyxev [fc. Olympus.] ei; nv EwoiSa, hi; vuv x?anat « 
 E^^l»!'£5 £v Toif EOfrai; Toiv Btoiv. Plut, de Muf. p. 2076. ed. H. S. See alfo Plato in the 
 Minos., p. 318. ed. Sen: where he fays of the melodies of Marfyas and Olympus, that 
 they are, 0EIOTATA, hm nova KJNEI. — Sec Dr. Bumey's ////?. 0/ Mufu, vcl. i. 
 p. 359, &c. 
 
 and
 
 238 NOTES. 
 
 and converted, on the whole, into an emotion of delight. His 
 meaning may be clearer in his own words. Ariftotle, he fays, had 
 eftabliflied it as a principle — " ^le ks objets defagriables plaifent 
 ** qitand Us font iviiies, me me lorfquils le foiit dans la plus grande 
 " vcrite ". En appliquant ce principe a la Tragedie, il s'enfuit, 
 " que c'efl I'imitation qui eft la caufe du plaifir qu'elle produit, et 
 *' non la nature des objets imites, puifque ces objets font par eux- 
 " memes defagreables. C'eft done I'imitation qui ote a la terreur 
 " et a la pitie I'acceflbire defagreable qu'elles ont dans la realite : 
 " c'eft Vinitation qui opere la purgation Tragique, en mettant les 
 " malheurs imites a la place des malheurs reels, et en feparant par 
 " ce moyen ce que la pitie et la terreur ont d'agreable, comme 
 " emotions, d'avec ce qu'elles ont de delagreable, quand elles font 
 *' jointes a I'idee de malheurs reels'*." This account, which is 
 exadly Fontenelle's folution of the pleafure arifmg from Tragic 
 emotion', is Hable to a difficulty not eafily, I think, furmounted. 
 It confines Arifto tie's meaning to the prefent pleafure of the emo- 
 tion ; it fuppofes all the purgation to conlift merely in rendering 
 the feeling of the paffion pleafurable ; — not in any good effect 
 which the habit of fuch emotion may produce, in corred;ing, re- 
 fining, or moderating, fuch paffions, when excited by real objedls. 
 Now, though it muft be confefled, that Ariftotle has not, in that 
 fhort znd. prqfejj'edly imperfeil explanation given of the y.xQo!.^(ng in 
 the paflage adduced, faid any thing diredlly pointing to fuch effedl, 
 yet, I think, the whole turn and caft of his expreffion is fuch, as 
 leads one naturally to conclude, that it was his meaning. The 
 phrafe, it-dp, 'Q-cr^xi f^sS" ■^Scv/i;, does indeed appear to exp'refs the 
 prefent effcdt only ; but I can fcarce conceive, that he would have 
 
 s Cap. iv. Tranfl. Part I, Sea. f. 
 
 * Principes de la Literature, torn. iii. p, 81. — I refer to that work, becaufe the 
 author appears to me to have explained himfelf there with more clearncfs and preci- 
 sion than in the note on his tranflation of Ariftotle in the ^tatre Poctlques, 
 
 ' Rcfleft. fur la Poetique, Se£l. 36. — Hume's Efiiiy on Tragedy, 
 
 ufed
 
 NOTES. 239 
 
 ufed fuch a word as Kcc9tz^(rtg, and flill Icfs, lATPEIA, without a view 
 to fomething beyond the pleafurable re/ief or vcfj( of the moment ; 
 efpecially, in a chapter, where he rs profelTedly enumerating and 
 examining the u/es of mufic''. Farther, tlie words, eXiyiy.ovag, 
 (pojSvjTiKnc, 7ra5>)T/KKf, confirm this idea ; being all words exprcffive 
 of habitual excefSi requiring correcflion and moderation'. 
 
 But, what ftill more flrongly oppofes the Abbe Batteux's idea, 
 is, that Ariftotle is here, as Heinfius and others have well ob- 
 ferved, evidently combating the dodlrine of Plato, whofe great 
 objeftion to Tragedy, was, that it feeds and injlames the pafllons"". 
 It could be no anfwer to this, to allege, that the feeling of paffion 
 excited by Tragic imitation is pleafurable ; for this is fo far from 
 being called in queflion by Plato, that it is the very foundation of 
 his objedlion. T\\t pkafure afforded by fuch Poetry is allowed by 
 him in its utmoft extent". " Let its advocates," he fays, " un- 
 ** dertake to {hew us that it is not 7nerely pleafurable y but useful 
 " alfo, and we will lend a favourable ear to their apology i for we 
 " fhall furely be gainers by the convitflion*." Now Ariilotle, if 
 I underftand him rightly, undertakes this apology, and points out 
 the utility required. And no one, I think, can reafonably doubt, 
 that fuch was his intention, Vv'ho has attended to the following 
 paffage of Plato : — XTroXxvav uvccyKf] 01.7:0 -m aXXoTpiuv iig tx otKSix' 
 ePEYANTA yx^ Iv keti'Dig ISXYPON TO EAEEINON, « '^cc^wv Iv roig 
 
 '^ —a fjitct; £V£«£v n^EAEIAS T.i (i-imm x^na&ai Jfiy. — Ub'i fupra. 
 
 ' The fame thing feems implied in the word nxraKux'^it.oi ; and in the expreflion— • 
 c yaf TTEfi Eviaj (tujjSmvci 7ra9&- -^--JX^^i ISXTPIIS . 
 
 ■" TPE<I>EI 7«f Taura, he %s, Lii his figurative language^ APAOTSA, hov ATX- 
 MEIN.— D^ Repuh. Ub. x. p. 606. D. 
 
 " Ibid. p. 607, C, D, et pajpm. 
 
 ' Aoi/x£v 0£ ye "jra av Mi.\ tci; TrooraTai; ai/nij — — Aoyov 'moi cujth; I'mnv, a? i fiov't 
 HAEIA aM.a nai Il^E^VIMH 'ZPO^ Totf TTOAiTEia; iiat tov (Sioi/ tov avS^nTTiVOv £n, xai Ev.uf.aJS axs~ 
 9oiAi9(C. KEfSavs/^Ev yaf tth, e«v /*» ^mvoy h^tKt (pxvri, «va ELAI i2$EAIMH. — Jbiil. 
 
 'ATTOT
 
 240 
 
 NO T E S. 
 
 'ATTOY riAGESI KATEXEIN''. For, to this objecPdon, there 
 cannot well be a more dired and pointed anfwer, than Ariilotle's 
 aflertion, as ufiially underflood — that the habit of indulghig the 
 emotions of pity, or terror, in the fidlitious reprefentations of 
 Tragedy, tends, on the contrary, to 7}2odcrate*^nd. refine thofe paf- 
 fions, when they occur in real life. 
 
 But though the Abbe Batteux's idea of this purgation appeaj-s to 
 me by no means to be the ivhole, it muft, I think, be admitted 
 as a part, and an effential part, of Ariftotle's meaning. For the 
 cfFedl depends, not merely, as fome commentators feem to fuppofe", 
 on the having our ^^ffiomfreqiiaitly and habitually excited, but, on 
 the having them fo excited by fictitious reprcfentation. Pity and 
 X.^nov frequently excited by fuch objed:s and fuch events in real life, 
 as the imitations of the Tragic fcene fet before us, would rather 
 tend to produce apathy than moderation. Nature would flruggle 
 againft fuch violent and painful agitation, and the heart would 
 become callous in its own defence. We mufl be infenfible, that 
 we might not be wretched. It is far otherwife wiih. Ji£l it ious 
 •pafTion. There, the emotion, though often violent in fpite of the 
 confcioufnefs of fidlion, is always, more or lefs, delightful. We 
 indulge it, as one of the firfl of pleafures; and the effed of that 
 indulgence, frequently repeated, is perhaps, that, while it moderates 
 real paflion by the frequency of funilar imprefiions, it, at the 
 fame time, cherijhes fuch fympathetic emotions, in their proper and 
 nfeful degree, by the delicious feelings which never fail to accom- 
 pany the indulgence of them in imitative reprcfentation. 
 
 The paflions of favages, or of men in the firfh rude ilages of 
 civilization, are ferocious and painful. They pity, or they J ear, 
 
 P Ibid. 606. B. — " The habit of indulging our paflions in the concerns of others, 
 *' will, of neceflity, bring on the fame habitual intlulgcnce in thofe which relate to 
 " ciirfclvcs : for lie, who has murijhed and ilrengthencd to excefs the paffion of pity, 
 " for example, by habitual fympathy, in the misfortunes of other men, will not find it 
 *' cafy to reftrain the fame kind of feelings in his own." 
 
 « Hcinfius De Trag. Conjiit. cap. ii.— .Harris On Mu/k, &c. ch. v. tiote •. 
 
 cither
 
 NOTES. 241 
 
 cither violently, or not at all. With them, there is hardly any 
 medium between ungovernable agitation, and abfolute infenfibility. 
 — Suppofe fuch a people to have accels, like the Athenians, to 
 theatrical reprefentations, and to have their paffions kept in fre- 
 quent and pleafurable exercife hv fi5litioiis diftrefs ; the confequence, 
 I think, would be, that, by degrees, they would come to have 
 move feelmg, and lei's perturbation. Inflead of fympathetic emo- 
 tions rarely excited, painfully feit, and foon extinguiflied, they, 
 would gradually acquire a calm, lafting, and ufeful habit of 
 general tendernefs and fenfibility. In polifhed fociety, where the 
 paffions are accullomed to be indulged in Jitlion, either in the 
 theatre, or by reading, and the pain is converted, on the whole, 
 into one flrong and delightful feeling, by the charms of imitation. 
 Poetry, Mufic, aided by the indiflind: confcioufnefs of fidlion — 
 thefe paffions, even when excited by real objefts, feem to retain, 
 (at leall:, in cafes where we are not too clofely touched,) fome tinc- 
 ture of the fame pleafurable emotion, which attended them, when 
 raifed by works of imagination ; they are more moderately and 
 agreeably felt, more eafily governed, and more gentle and poliffied 
 in their expreffions. 
 
 Such appears to me, on the whole, to be the moft probable ex- 
 planation of Ariflotle's meaning : I muft, at leaft, confefs it to be 
 the only reafonable meaning, that I am able to difcover. How 
 far it is true, and founded on folid obfervation, is another quef- 
 tion, which I vv^illingly fubmit to the philofophical and thinking 
 part of my readers. 
 
 I cannot omit to obferve, that the ffiort explanation given by 
 Milton, in the introduftion to his Saf7tfon Agonijles, appears to 
 coincide exaftly, as far as it goes, with my idea of the palTage. — 
 " Tragedy, as it was anciently compofed, hath been ever held the 
 ** graveft, moraleft, and mofl profitable of all other Poems : 
 ** therefore faid by Ariflotle to be of power, by raifmg pity, and 
 " fear or terror, to purge the mind of thofe and fuch like paffions j 
 
 I i ** that
 
 243 
 
 NOTE S. 
 
 ** that is, to temper and redzice them to jtiji jneafurc, with a kind of 
 *' delight, Jiir red up by reading or feeing thoje pajjions well imitated." 
 
 One thing (hould be added. Ariilotle's afiertion mufl be Gon- 
 fidered relatively to his own times, and nation.. He fpeaks of the 
 effedls of Tragedy on xh^ people of Athens, who, as reading was thea 
 no popular occupation ', had fcarce any opportunity of indulging 
 fMitioiis emotion, but at the Theatre, and who, we know, were 
 there accuflomed to indulge it perpetually. With us, the cafe is 
 widely different. The dodlrine, therefore, of Ariftotle, that " Tra- 
 " gedy purges the paffions," tranflated, if I may fo fpeak, into 
 7nodern truth, would perhaps amount only to this — that the habi- 
 tual exercife of the paffions by works of imagination in general, of 
 the ferious and pathetic kind, (fuch as Tragedies, Novels, 6cc.) 
 has a tendency to foften and refine thofe paffions, when excited by 
 real objects in common life. 
 
 N O T E 46. 
 P., 75. In some parts metre alone is employed, in 
 
 ©THERS r^fELODY. 
 
 A palTage of very tantalizing brevity. By liot. i*,zr^tav MONON, are 
 "we to underftand, according to the obvious and literal meaning 
 of the expreffiion, that in foine parts of Tragedy the verfe was 
 merely recited, fpoken, as in modern Tragedy ? — This contradi(5ls 
 what, by many writers, has been confidered as a fad: thoroughly 
 eftabliflied, that the Greek Tragedy was accompanied by mufical 
 inftruments, and was therefore ftridtly tnifcal, throughout : — for as 
 to the dreams of the Abbe Du Bos, Rouffeau, and others, about a 
 7ioted declamation, a declamation accompanied by Mafic, yet not 
 fuug — this is too manifefl an abfurdity to fland in need of con- 
 
 ' See Difl". I. p. 42. 
 
 futatlon.
 
 NOTES. £45 
 
 fiitation. If, as RoulTeau fays. It is " impofTible to underftand 
 *' what the antients have faid about their theatrical declamation, 
 *' without fuppofiiig this%" would it not be better to fay, at once, 
 that we do not underftand it, than to explain it into impoflibi- 
 lities? As for the fyftematic Abbe Du Bos, he was fet upon 
 proving his point; and he proves it like a man refolved to prove it, 
 by vv'refting all forts of authors to his purpofe, and tranllating 
 them as he pleafed ''. All we know clearly, is, that the antient 
 drama njaas accompanied, (in part, at leafl,) by mufical inftru- 
 ments. I conclude, confidently, that fmce the inflruments could 
 nox. /peak, the adlors mull //>z^- : that their declamation mufl: cer- 
 tainly have been, flridlly fpeaking, tnufical, however fimple j the 
 chanting of tiie limpleft plain chant, being as truly Mujic, i. e. 
 as eflentially diilin<ft iroin/peech, as the mofl refined melody of a 
 modern opera\ 
 
 If, then, the Greek Tragedy had a tnu/ical accompaniment 
 throughout, it muft have been fimg throughout. But here, Ari- 
 ftotle fiys, as plainly as words can fay it, that in foine parts of 
 Tragedy, " metre only" was employed : — ^m METPflN Ivix MO~ 
 NON : that is, as it is necelfarily implied, without the two other 
 '/j^ua-yMTci, or fea/om'ngs, of Tragic language, jufl mentioned, melody 
 and rhythm''. 
 
 Some commentators, I know, endeavour to evade the force of 
 this expreflion, by faying, that Ariftotle means, by ^ta i^bt^uv y^o-jov, 
 only the noted declamation, which, being a fort of recitative, was 
 not regarded as ftridly mufical, nor denominated jwsA©^". And in 
 
 » DiiS. de Mufique, Art. Opera. ' 
 
 * For a refutation of Du Bo^, the reader may fee Condillac's Ej/ki fur Vorig. 
 des cor.noh. hiimaims — tome iii. ch. 3. 
 « See Dill". II. p. 52. note ". 
 
 ^ Asyw 5s ii^ii7(/.iv!i)i ixiv hoyo:'-, Tov £X'"'T« fuO/xov-, xai a^|Uovi«Vj xxi j«eTf«v. To Jfj x^'i'^ '^*"' 
 
 |,?Bv, TO fia METPnN ENIA MONON m^MveaOM . 
 
 ■ « So M. Batteux. 
 
 I I 2 fupcort
 
 244 NOTES. 
 
 fupport of this. It Is alleged, that the word Xsf^?, fpeech, Is applied 
 by him afterwards In a limilar manner' ; as XsysaSoci is alfo by 
 Plutarch, who talks of " fome of the Iambics being fpoken with 
 " an accojnpaniment, and others, fung ^ : as we fometimes fay of a 
 finger, that ht /peaks recitative well. But all this, I confefs, does 
 not fatlsfy me. It is one thing, to apply occafionally the word 
 Xsltg or Kiyio-^oct, in this comparative way, to fuch kind of fmging 
 as moft refembles fpeech, and another, to fay roundly, that fome 
 parts of Tragedy made ufe of metre, or verfe, c?ily ; and that too. 
 Immediately after having^A-^^ the exclufive fenfe of f/,ovov, by enu- 
 merating the three vihirfJiKTot. of Tragic diftion, which he afferts to 
 h&feparatdy ufed in different parts, I. e. ^u0^©^, k^i^ovm, /j^st^ov ", — 
 RHYTHM, MELODY, and METRE. They who difpute this mean- 
 ing, muft at leaft, I think, allow that if it /jaJ been the meaning, 
 Ariftotle could not well have expreffed It with more precifion. How 
 can iu,sTpuv here be taken in the loofe and comparative fenfe contended 
 for, when, in the very words Immediately preceding, it is carefully 
 limited to its ftrid and proper fenfe, by being exprefsly difcriml- 
 nated from melody, as well as from rhythm ? 
 
 But after all, the fadt, that the Greek Tragedy was fung 
 throughout, though often afferted, has not yet \)tQT\. proved ; nor do 
 I think that it can be proved; at leaft, by any pallage of antient 
 authors, that I have feen adduced to prove It. 1 he Abbe Vatry, 
 in a differtation, Sur la recitation des Tragedies anciennes, undertook 
 to prove. In form, that the Greek Tragedies were fuftg, " d'un 
 " bout a I'autre," like our operas. But how does he prove this ? 
 
 ' See ch. xii.— AEHIS o7.8 XOPOT. 
 
 * Dial, de Muf. p. 2090. ed. H. S. — T« fxiv Uyia^M -napa tuv x^acnv, rcc h aSftrflai. 
 
 '' The reading in all the MSS. is, pv9i/.0Vf kou a^fxovtav, xai MEA02. On comparing 
 this pafTage with Ariftotle'S other enumerations of the three means of imitation in 
 cap. i. cfpecially at the end of it, where Tragedy is mentioned as ufing all thofe means, 
 HaTO. /«£f®", i. e. (;u9/*a, hou (/.O-u ("which is fynonymous to a^/MVM elfewhere,) xai ME- 
 Ti'fli, no one,I thinic, can entertain any degree of doubt, as to the truth of Viitorius's 
 emendation, km IVIETPON. 
 
 -by 
 
 t. 
 
 •4
 
 NOTES. 
 
 245 
 
 % 
 
 — by proving, what indeed is eafily proved ', that a pari of the 
 Iambics, or the dialogue, was fung, and then by taking it for 
 granted, that the antients could not poflibly have endured fo bar- 
 barous a cufhom, as the mixture of fpecch and Tinging in the fame 
 piece. " II ne paroit pas qu'on puille douter que ces cantiques ne 
 ■** fe chantaflent ; mais de cela meme je crois pouvoir conclurre, que 
 " tout le refte fe chantoit, quoique differemment ; car k bonfensy 
 ** et ce que les ancieas nous difent, nous conduit a penfer que leur 
 ** recitation etoit partout de meme nature, et qu'elle ne fe bigar- 
 ** roit point, tantotrd'une fimple declamation, et tantot a'un chant 
 " mufical'." 
 
 By the fame prefumptive mode of arguing, the Abbe might alfo 
 have proved, a priori, that the Greeks could not poflibly have been 
 guilty of the modern barbarous bigarrure of ferious and ludicrous, 
 in their Tragic drama. But the firft Greek Tragedy he had opened 
 would probably have overturned his reafoning'. 
 
 A thorough difcuflion of all the paflages of antient authors, that 
 throw any light upon this quefl:ion, relative to the dramatic repre- 
 fentations of the Greeks, would draw me much too far beyond my 
 bounds. I mufl content myfelf with pointing out (for I think it 
 has not been obferved,) the ftubborn difficulty which this pafl^age 
 of Ariftotle appears to me to throw in the way of the common 
 opinion upon this fubjeft ; and with hazarding a merely hypothe- 
 tical conjecflure, that, if, as Arifl:otle feems plainly to fay, fome 
 part of the Greek Tragedy was fpoken, like our Tragic declama- 
 tion, without any muflcal accompaniment, it was, moft probably, 
 that part of the dialogue, which, as I have before obferved, in 
 NOTE 33, is, in every Tragedy, eafily difl:inguiflied from the refti 
 by its being carried on in a fort of quick repartee of verfe to verfe. 
 
 ' The 30th and 4gth of Aiiftotle's Harmonic Prob. Secfk. ig. are, alone, fufficient 
 proofs of this point. 
 
 ^ Mem. de I'Acad. Roy. des Infcriptions, &c, tome II. p. 343, oilavo. 
 
 ' See NOTE 33. 
 
 3 As,
 
 246 -NOTE S. 
 
 As, in this part of the dialogue, we almoft conflantly find the 
 Tragic tone lowered to a more colloquial pitch, and even at>- 
 proaching frequently to the jocular and burlefque, it feeilis rea- 
 ibnable to think, that here, if anywhere, the mufical accompani- 
 ment, and the elevation of lengthened and chanting tones, were 
 withdrawn, and common cowverfation left to Qon\xx\ov\. fpeech. 
 
 But what, again, are we to underfland by — kc/a ttocXiv ersox ^ix 
 /[^eAfr-j ? — Are we to repeat jMciw, and underftand Melody alone, with- 
 out the two other vi^va-j^xToe., Rhythm and Metre? This cannot be. 
 For though we may ftrip the Tragic language of melody and of 
 rhythm, or, in other words, of Mufic, we cannot flrip it of metre. 
 The antients inoft" certainly did not admit fi-ofe into their Tra- 
 gedies ; and as little can we conceive them to have fet profe to 
 Mujic'^. 
 
 Dacier, and fome other commentators, underftand by jwsX©^ 
 here, Mujic, including rhythm. This fenfe of the word is cer- 
 tainly warrantable ; but it can hardly be the fenfe here : for, 
 furely, an inftance, in which all the three ^Ixjo-^xrx were ufed, (as 
 they muft be, if metre be indifpenfable, and ^eX©^ imply rhyth?ti 
 nnd fnelody,) would be but a ftrange iliuftration of the XD.VIZ 
 
 I do not fee what" remains, but, that we take jt*£X©o here in its 
 mofl reftrained fenfe, as diftindt from rhythm, or time, and fynony- 
 mous to xo^ovix ; that fenfe, in which Ariftotle had ufcd it before, 
 in his firfl chapter". And if we do this, we muft necelTarily, 
 
 I think, 
 
 " The reader will obferve that Ariftotle is exprefely fpeaking of the h^utruaTct of 
 TtTLgic f(>ecch or language : T^eya oi riha-fjievov ij,cv AOFON rov i%o;T« pVC|«cy, &c. — IFords, 
 therefore, are equally implied in all thefc hhirixxra, and, confequentl}', Alufic alone— 
 i. e. injlrumental MuJic, is here entirely out of the queftion. 
 
 " — iiuin-j kai iVlEARI nai iuetjjm, anfwering to his Jir/i divifion, p'i;S//ia) km xcyii xcu 
 APMONIAi. ' 
 
 The word NIEAOS, it may be ufcful to obferve, occurs in three uiftereiit mufical 
 fcnfes. I. Sometimes, as here, and in the Greek writers on Mufic, in the fane fenfe 
 aStfef(«ow«— i. c. melody^ abftraded from rhythm, or time. Thus, Ariftidcs Qin'ntilianu?, 
 
 P- 32,
 
 NOTES. 247 
 
 I think, underflandj that fome parts of the dialogue were fiuig 
 without rhythm : I mean, without mujical rhythm, or time, tho gh 
 certainly not without that poetical or profodic rhythm, by which 
 in reciting verfe, and, indeed, even in the mod famihar converfation, 
 the fyllabic quantity mufl have been relatively, at Icaft, obferved, 
 though not, I prefume, with the inflexibihty of mulical meafure,- 
 nor with fuch a rigorous equality oi long to long, zndjljort to Jl:ort, 
 as is ellential to the execution of what is properly called Mu/ic, 
 and as I fuppofe to have been obferved in the choral odes". Thus 
 the dialogue of the Greek Tragedy will appear to have been not 
 improperly compared to our recitative ; differing from the chorus, 
 as our recitative differs from the airs, both in the abfence of ftridt 
 time, and in the ki7id of melody, which was alfo, as mere melody, lefs 
 mtijical than the choral melody, and more imitative oljpeech, as well 
 as of ad:ion^. Whether the monologues, or long fpeeches — the 
 fiKz^oii pwasy as Plato calls them" — v/ere perfonred in the fame 
 way, as the reft of the dialogue, or, as it has been imagined, were 
 diftinguiftied by being more meafured and mufical, is a point not 
 eafily cleared up. The paffages commonly appealed to fof this 
 
 p. 32, and fee p. 7, his account of fxatfota, &c. 2. Sometimes, for air, or meafured 
 melody; as in the definition of Bacchius, p. 19. [Ed. Meib.) 3. Sometimes it is ufed 
 as equivalent to fong, including melody, rhythm, and words. Thus Plato— to MEAOS 
 £« Tfi!<jv In a-jyxHfiLi-jo:', >.T/-<i te, km a^ixovia;, xai fiuS/xn. Rep. iii. p. 398. D. In another 
 place, however, he ufes it in the JirJI and narroweft fenfe, for mere melody: MEA02 
 Vav KAI ftC.ooy avm fV-^^av, De Leg, ii. p. 669. — This third, and fulleft fenfe of the 
 word is what A. Quintil. exprelles by iu.K®- te^siov. p, 6. 
 
 " This has been well remarked by Dr. Burney, Hljh of Muf. vol. i. p. 161. " The 
 «' melody of antient declamation," &c.— -A/I. Bmette goes fo £ir as to fuppofe, that«o 
 ftrift rhythm was admitted even in the choral part of the antient Tragedy, His autho- 
 rity is the following paffage of Plutarch's Dial, de Muf. — to ij-tv x^'^l^^'^"^ 7i'-'-', km 
 FTQMfli, TfayaJia ixtviiSma kou -nii^ov Kfxprrai. p.. 2084. ed. H. S. But the text here is' 
 evidently corrupt. The name of fome particular j^i^aw of rhythm is probably omitted. 
 See Mem. de I' Acad, des Infcr'ip. tome xix. p. 427. oifavo. 
 
 * See Ariftotle's Problems, Scif. 19. ProL xv. and xlix, 
 1 Df Rep. X. />. 605. 
 
 S purpofe.
 
 248 NOTES. 
 
 purpofe, from the grammarians Dlomedes and Donatus, about 
 the Cantica of the Roman Comedy, I look upon as a very frail 
 foundation of any conclufion with refpedt to the Greek Tragedy'. 
 The paffage of Plutarch above quoted, 7iote ^, furnifhes the 
 ilrongelT: fupport I know of for fuch a diftindlion. For, if by 
 " fpoken or recited to an injlrumental accompaniment," {ju f^ev [fc. 
 Tuv Ixf^f^nuv'] AEFEIGAI ttccpoc rvjv K^aa-ii/) Plutarch meant, as I think 
 he muft mean, Jung in recitative, not literally fpoken, (for how 
 could that admit of a mufical accompaniment ?) then, a,^ecrScx.i, 
 which is oppofed to it, muft of courfe imply, not mere Jinging 
 as oppofed to fpeech, but a more miifical and meafured melody. 
 
 NOTE 47. 
 
 P. 76. The meaning of Melopoeia is obvious- 
 
 I have ventured to depart from the common interpretation, by 
 underflanding the word Iwa^^iq, here, to mean, not the power, and 
 effe£l, of the Melopoeia itfelf, but the power, i. e. the meanings 
 of the term. Ariftotle is here, as ufual, explaining the terms he 
 had made ufe of. It was diredlly to his purpofe to fay, as a reafon 
 for omitting a definition in this inftance, that the fueaning of the 
 word was well known; but not at all to his purpofe, to fay — '* I 
 *' need not explain the nvord, becaufe x}cit poiver and ^t'^'? of the thing 
 " fignified by it, (that is, of Miijic,) is well known." 
 
 Dacier is amufing here. He wonders what could induce the 
 Greeks to make Mufic a part of their drama ; and at laft, " apres 
 *' bien des recherches," he difcovers one principal caufe to have 
 been this — that they had very mufical cars ; but he does not dif- 
 
 ' See the Abbe Du Bos, Reflex, fur la Poef. &c. vol. iii. SeSi. 11, &c.— This 
 writer's explanation of the pafTage of Ariftotle that we have been coni^d(?ring, is 
 worth the reader's infpcition, as a perfect model of mifreprefentation, abfurdity, and 
 .blundering;. 
 
 cover
 
 NOTES. 24^ 
 
 cover the caufe of his own wonder, which, in all probability, 
 was, that he had not. 
 
 N O T E 48. 
 
 P. 76. Or delivering a general sentiment. 
 
 In the Rhetoric, Arillotle defines yvlo^yi by kocGcX^ d.7ro(pocvrt;. 
 [Lib. ii. cap. xxi. p. 572.] Thus below, in this chapter, for, 
 uTTocpxivovTxi yvufA.viVy his Jirjl expreflion, we have, kxSoKh uTropcavovTat. 
 — This has been loofely and inaccurately rendered in all the tranf- 
 lations I have feen, except thofe of Caflelvetro and Goulfton. 
 
 NOTE 49. 
 
 P. 76. These parts have been employed by most 
 
 Poets. 
 
 Locus, as the critics fay, conclamatiis . Time is too precious to 
 be wafled in the fupport, or refutation, of random conjedlures upon 
 a pafTage of fuch defperate corruption.- — How can k;c Ixtyoi, " not 
 " a feiv," be tortured into, " ail," or, " almojl all?" Yet fo 
 Dacier, Batteux, Goulfhon, &c. On the other liand, if fairly 
 tranilated, " Jiot a few Poets have made ufe of thefe parts," how 
 flrangely it will follow — "for every Tragedy has them all !" — 
 And how is the ug Iitthv, to be applied ? to itc cXiyoi, or, to h^sG-i ? 
 
 In the midft of thefe difficulties, all I could do was to make 
 my verfion confident with itfelf; faithful to the original, I could 
 not make it, without making it nonfenlical. 
 
 Thofe commentators, who apply the wj liTretv to the word li^ea-iy 
 feem favoured by ch. xii. where, fpeaking of the fame ellential 
 parts of Tragedy, Ariflotle fays — mg f^sv X12 EIAESI Su x^fiaScct. 
 
 K k NOTE
 
 250 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 50. 
 
 P. •j'j. The supreme good itself is action, not 
 
 QUALITY. 
 
 See Ethic. Nicom. I. 5, 7, 8. ed. Wilk. & Mag. Mofal. I. 4, 
 p. 149, 150, ed. Duval. 
 
 NOTE 51. 
 
 P, jj. The Tragedies of most modern Poets have 
 THIS defect. 
 
 This receives illuftration from what Ariftotle prefently after 
 fays, of " the rhetorical manner prevailing in the Poets of his 
 " time:" 0; Iz vw, '^vjro^iziv^. cap. vi : and from his obfervation, at 
 the clofe of cap. xxiv. [Tranjl. Part III. Se£f. 6.] that " the 
 " mafinej's and fentiments are only obfcured by too Jplendid a 
 ** diSlion." 
 
 What he has here fald of the recent Tragedies of his time, may 
 perhaps be faid, in general, of our modern Tragedies, compared 
 with thofe of Shakfpeare. The truth, I believe, is, that the Tra- 
 gedy of a refined and polifhed age will always have lefs ij6©- than 
 that of ruder times, becaufe it will have more dignity ; more of 
 that uniform and level elevation, which excludes ftrong traits of 
 charadter, and the fimple, unvarnifhed delineation of the manners. 
 Indeed, what the Greeks denominated ij(9©^, is the peculiar pro- 
 vince of Comedy'' , and is feldom to be found in Tragedy, except 
 in that ftage of its progrefs, when it is not yet thoroughly and 
 diilindly feparated from Comedy ; from the imitation of cornmon 
 
 ' lUud (W©-) Coma^Jia,hoc {"^raS®-) Tragcedta^ fimile. — ^uintll. p. 302, ed. Gib. 
 
 8 life.
 
 N O T E S. 251 
 
 life, and natural manners \ Such are the Tragedies of Shak- 
 fpeare ; and fuch, as I have before ventured to fuggell, are thofe 
 of Euripides in particular, which, in proportion as they have lefs 
 dignity, have more ijS©^, than the Tragedies of Sophocles. But in 
 neither of them, nor, probably, even in thofe very Poets here cen- 
 fured by Ariftotle, was the " language of Poets," fubftituted for 
 *' the language oimen"" as it is almoft conllantly in the French 
 Tragedy, and too, often, in our own Tragedies of the French 
 fchool. 
 
 NOTE 52. 
 
 P. yj. POLVGNOTUS EXCELS IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE 
 MANNERS. 
 
 I fee not the fmalleft reafon for the fubflitution of uyct^uv, for 
 aya5©b, which is the reading, we are told, of all the MSS. What 
 Ariftotle had faid before of Polygnotus, cap. ii. — In xoetTTug etrca^e 
 — feems not to afford the flighteft ground for alteration here. [Sec 
 Mr. Winflanley's ed. p. 281.] Painters are compared in very 
 different points of view, in thefe two palTages : t/jcrc, as imitating 
 good or bad, fer tons or ridiculous, elevated or low, objeils : here, only 
 as expreffing, or not expreffing, manners. It was diredtly to Ari- 
 ftotle's purpofe to fay, that Polygnotus was a " good manner- 
 '' painter ;" (ay«S©- ri^oy^ucp^) — not at all to his purpofe, (befides 
 the awkwardnefs of the expreffion itfelf,) to fay, that he was 
 ** a manner -painter of good men :" (dyocQuv ri9o'y^ci(p(^.) 
 
 '• — aTnjiv, fays Demetrius, km aTrcuiTOf, to r,&@-. Se£i. 28. — And fee Longinus, 
 Se£i. 9, where he very juftly calls the Odyffey, xU|tiwJia ti; ri6o>ayis/ji^mi, 
 
 * " Addifon," fays Dr. Johnfon in his admirable preface to Shakfpeare, " fpeaks 
 •' the language of Poets, and Shakfpeare, of me;i.— — The compofition refers us only 
 ** to the writer i we pronounce the name of Cato, but we think on Addifon." 
 
 Kkz NOTE
 
 252 NOTES. 
 
 N O T E 53. 
 
 P. j-j. Just as in Painting, &c. 
 
 I hope I iliall not much fliock even the mofl: confclentlous ad- 
 herents to the eflabhfhed inaccuracy and authentic bkinders of 
 antient manufcripts, by having ventured to adopt here the tranf- 
 pofition firft propofed, I believe, by Caflelvetro\ I can only 
 defire thofe i-eaders, who may be alarmed at my temerity, to read 
 the pafiage — Trci^xTrX'/ja-tcv yx^ Ig-i — x.. t. uXX. — to, hy.ova, — firft, where 
 it (lands in all the editions, and then, where I have placed it, im- 
 mediately after the words — l-x^^a-a, h fxu9ov xcti a-u^aa-iy Trpxyf/.xTuv. — 
 If this experiment alone be not fufficient to convince them of the 
 propriety, or, rather, the necelTity, of the tranfpofition, I defpair 
 of the fuccefs of any arguments I am able to produce in the fup- 
 port of it. To me, I confefs, it is among thofe things that are 
 too evident for proof. 
 
 N O T E 54. 
 
 P. yj. Adventurers in Tragic writing are sooner 
 
 ABLE, &C. 
 
 Ariflotle argues here upon a principle rather rhetorical and po- 
 pular, than philofophical — that, which infers fuperior wori/j from 
 
 * Poetics d'Jri/lsteky Sec. p. 142. Ed e da fapere, che di fotto fi tiuovano irt 
 luogo non convencvole quejie 'parole, 7rot^aw>.ri(7tov——eMova. Le quali parole dcbbono fegui- 
 tare projftmamente dopo Tr^ayixccrm, Sic. Heinfius, too, faw the neceffity of the tranf^ 
 pofuioii, but appears to me to have, in a great meafure, deftroyed the propriety of it, 
 by inferting the paflage, not immediately after •^r^ayijuxrav, but after avayva^iiriii, in the 
 next fentence. See his note, in Goulfton's ed. or the Ox. ed. 1780. 
 
 fuperior
 
 NOTES. 253 
 
 fuperior difficulty and rarity: — ro %«X67rwTe^ov ^ai a-Travture^ov, i^et'Cpv, 
 (fc. ocyxQov,) as he lays it down in his Rhetoric, lib. i. cap. vii. p, 529. 
 
 Lord Bacon, in his Effay On Gardens, ufes the fame argument, 
 and almoft in Ariftotle's M'ords, with refped to the faperiority of 
 gardening to architedure : " A man fhall ever fee, that when ages 
 •' grow to civiUty and elegancy, men come to build Jlately sooner 
 «' than to garden finely ; as if gar dealing were the greater peifeB ion." 
 
 The truth, however, of the f.i6t here afferted by Ariftotle, ap- 
 pears, not only from the earlier dramatic Poets of every nation, 
 but from the defefts of plots in general, whether Dramatic or 
 Epic ; and from the rarity of thofe dramatic fables, for which the 
 Poet has trufted entirely to his own invention, without recourfe to 
 hiftory, or novels, or the produdions of other dramatics". — " En 
 *' general, il y a plus de pieces bien dialoguees, que de pieces bien 
 " conduites. Le Genie qui difpofe les incidens, paroit plus rare 
 *\ que celui qui trouve les vrais difcours. Combien de belles fcenes 
 
 " dans Moliere ! — On compte fes denouemens heureux. On feroit 
 
 *' tente de croire qu'une drame devroit etre I'ouvrage dcdetix hommes 
 " de genie, I'un qui arrangeat, et I'autre qui fit parler." — Diderot, 
 de la Poef. Dram. />. 288. 
 
 NOTE 55. 
 
 P. 78. To THIS PART BELONGS, &:C.- 
 
 Ariflotle is not here defining Atixvaci, as his expreffion, mro 6s 
 ESTI, feems, at firft view, to imply : he is only explaining the fub- 
 fervience of the fentiments to the manners ; he is fhewing why 
 they are next in rank, and importance to the manners ; namely, be- 
 caufe manners or characters, are, in great part at leaft, manifelted 
 by the fentiments. Dacier's note here is good. " Ariftote fuit 
 
 See Harris's Philol, Jnq, p. i6c. 
 
 ♦*ici
 
 254 K O T E S. 
 
 *' ici I'ordre naturel. Les fentimens font pour les moeurs, ce que 
 *' les moeurs font pour I'adlion. Comme un Poete tragique nc 
 " peut bien imiter une aftion, qu'en employant les mcEurs, il ne 
 ** peut non plus bien inarquer les mceurs, que par le moyen des 
 ** fentimens ; & par coniequent les fentimens tiennent le troifiemc 
 ** rang dans la Tragedie." 
 
 NOTE 56. 
 
 P. 78. Which, in the dialogue, depends on thk 
 
 POLITICAL AND RHETORICAL ARTS. 
 
 — 'Ottso, BTTi Tuv T^oyuv, Tvjg TfoXiTiXTig zxi p'^Topijirig spyov eg'iv. — I have 
 
 not {ten the words, ett; tuv Xoyuv, fatisfadtorily explained. I can- 
 not agree with thofe commentators, who by Xoyoi, here, under- 
 Hand, oratory, profe eloqne?ice, as oppofed to Poetry : a fenfe, indeed, 
 very common, in Ariftotle and other writers; but if we adopt it 
 here, how follows — 0; PAP cc^-xaioi -TvoXiTiKicg EnOIOTN Xiyovrocg} 
 for here, Ariftotle evidently fpeaks of Poets; not of orators, as 
 Dacier renders it. The pafTage, then, fairly tranflated, would 
 fhand thus: — " which, (i. e. the choice of proper fentiments,) in 
 *' ORATORY, is the bufinefs of the political and rhetorical arts : 
 *' FOR the antient Tragic Poets made their charaders fpeak poli- 
 *• tically," ^c. Nothing can well be more incoherent. 
 
 Ett* tuv Xcyuv, means, I think, — in the Jpeeches, difcourjc, or 
 dialogue part of the drama, as dillinguifhed from the cJooral or 
 lyric part, which had nothing, or comparatively nothing, to do 
 with TjS©^ or charaBer, and in which the Poet was, of courfe, to 
 draw his Iiuvom, or thoughts, principally at leaft, from different 
 fources ; not from the ftores of civil wifdom, or rhetorical art, 
 but from thofe of Religion, Ethics, Mythology, and Poetry. The 
 word Xoyoi, is clearly ufed in .the fame fenfe, in a pafllage that 
 prefently follows : — owtte^ iy. exao'iv ijS©^ mot tuv AOFXiN — " fome 
 ** ©f the Jpeeches, or the dialogue." 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 255 
 
 N O T E 57. 
 
 P. 78. For the antients' made their characters 
 
 SPEAK IN THE STYLE OF POLITICAL AND POPULAR ELO- 
 QUENCE3 BUT NOW, THE RHETORICAL MANNER PREVAILS. 
 
 0< |U,£i/ yxp ap^xioi nOAITIKIlD eTTotav Xeycvrcn;, 01 ob vvv, L'/jrooix.ug.'—^ 
 So, R/jei. lib. ii. cap. xxii. p. 573, nOAITIKIl; cruXXoyicr[/M — a CivrV 
 or Oratorical fyllogifm, as oppofed to x\\Qjiri5i diale£lic fyllogifm: 
 a diftinftion which he prefently after expreffes by, xK^ilSe^eoov, and 
 MAAAKXITEPON, a-vXXoyt(^ea-9cii [ibid.] And thus, here, the fame 
 term, -rroXiTiKug, is ufed, to diftinguifh the popular, and lefs laboured, 
 though more folid, eloquence of the Senate or the Forum, from 
 the ftudied and declamatory compofition of the profclfed rhetori- 
 cians. A fimilar ufe of the word occurs in the palTage quoted in 
 NOTE 229, from the Euagoras of Ifocrates, where, ovof^ocij-i nOAI- 
 TIKOI£, is plainly fynonymous with mo^xa-i KTPIOIS. See alfo 
 Dion. Halicarn. De StruB. Orat.p. 4. ed. Upton, and Faber's note. 
 
 That Arlftotle, however, by Politics {y\ ■noX'.T.Y.'t]), means 072ly, as 
 Dacier aflerts, *' I'ufage commun, le laiigage ordinaire des pcuplcs,' 
 cannot, furely, be admitted. The force and extent of the term. 
 is well known\ " Civilis scientia," fays Quintilian, " idem 
 " quod sapientia eft''." It comprehended all the necelHiry 
 knowledge of the lioXiriv/^, the vir civilis, the public man. It 
 included, of courfe, eloquence, or the faculty of public fpeaking, 
 but that, of a kind very diiterent from the " umbratile genus," as 
 Cicero calls it, of the rhetorical fchools'. What Ariftotle fays of 
 
 the 
 
 » See Eth. Nkom. lib. i. cap. ii. and iii. and Mag. Moral, lib. i. cap. i. 
 * L!b.u. cap. XV. p. 106. ed. Gibf. 
 
 ' Cic. de Or. ii. 1510 ig. where iie traces the feparation of eloquence Uom phih- 
 fophy. The difference of the political and rhetorical ftyles may be well illuftrated, 
 
 I think,
 
 256 NOTES. 
 
 the old Tragic Poets, that they made their perfonages fpeak like 
 fuch a man, not like a Rhetoriciai?, cannot be better illuftrated 
 than by Quintilian's charadler oi Euripides. " lllud quidem nemo 
 *' non fateatur necefie eft, iis qui fe ad agaidum cotnparent, utili- 
 
 " orem longe Euripidem fore. Namque is, et in ferraone 
 
 " magis accedit oratorio generi, et Jententiis denfus ; et in iis qua; 
 *' zjdpieniih/s tradita funt, pene iplis par, et in dicendo ac relpon- 
 " dendo cuilibet corum qui fuerunt in foro diserti comparandus." 
 \lib. X. cap. i.] 
 
 That Dacier, with fo precife and clear an expreffion before his 
 eyes, as, EnOIOYN XiyovTu;, fhould underftand this of the antient 
 orators, and roundly pronounce Vidtorius to be miftaken in applying 
 it to the Poets, feems perfeftly unaccountable. 
 
 I do not fee in this paflage any foundation for the refinement 
 of Caftelvetro, Dacier, and other commentators, who refer the 
 IvovTCi to the political fcience, and the a^iA,or~ov-x to rhetoric. The 
 word a.pfA.oTTovTix, has, I think, the fame fenfe as in cap. xv. and 
 means, fuch fentiments, or thoughts, as, being adapted to the 
 perfon fpeaking, are expreffive of the manners: for it is in this 
 view, as I before remarked, that Ariftotle is here confidering the 
 fentiments, or Atuvoix. Tx vjovra, as Vidlorius has obferved, is 
 equivalent to tcx. uTraayovro!. ; and it was clearly the bufinefs of 
 rhetoric [Lr,TooiK'/;g eayov,) to teach both the uTra^^oira and the xmdt- 
 rovTK. See Rhet, lib. ii. cap. xxii. p. 573, E. and lib. iii. cap. vii. 
 p. 590, D. ed. Duval. 
 
 I think, by a comparifon of the ftylc of Cicero, (in his Orations^) with that of De- 
 mofthenes : for on this fubjc6l, I cannot but agree with the remarics of Lord Moii- 
 boddo, Orig. and Prog, of Lang. vol. iii. p. 184, and vol. ii. Dijf. III. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 257 
 
 N O T E 58. 
 P. 78. There are speeches, therefore, which are 
 
 WITHOUT MANNERS AS NOT CONTAINING, &C. 
 
 The reading I have followed is, I think, fully authorifed, by 
 MSS. and by common fenfe. — See Mr. Winflanley's note, p. 282. 
 — The Abbe Batteux has given the palTage thus, from a MS. 
 (N" 2 II 7,) in the King of France's library. Ef-' ^£ ij5©- pv to 
 Toi'iiTOv, OTjXoi rii]v 7rpoKipe(riv, ottoioc rig Igiv' ciorrep 'J« s^ii(riv ij5©j eviot ruv 
 AoyuVf ev oig »jc eg'i oyfkov on TrpoaipaTxi '/] (p^vyet Xsycev. 
 
 The common reading ftands thus: — Eg-t (5s '^5©^ f^sv to toihtov, 
 OTjKoi TTjv Tr^oM^eariv, ottckx. Tig eg-iv, ev oig ^k eg-i ^'/iXov, vj TrpoxipetTai, 
 7j (peuyH Keyuv' oiottbo mc f)Qi(nv fjd©^ evioi tuv Xoyuv. — Which is 
 thus rendered by Mr. Plarris : *' Manners or character 
 *' is that which difcovers what the determination [of a 
 " fpeaker] will be, in matters, where it is not yet manifest, 
 " whether he chnfes to do a thing, or to avoid it \" Now if this 
 were true, I do not fee how there could be any ijS©^, in any play, 
 after the firft difcovery of the fpeaker's charadler. In the Avare 
 of Moliere, for inftance, it is fufficiently fnanifeji from the very firft 
 fcene in which Harpagon appears, what his avarice v»'ill lead him to 
 chufe or to avoid, in any circumftance of the drama. Is there, for 
 that reafon, no :j3©-, no fentiments that mark his charafter, in any 
 thing he fiys during the reft of the play? — Nay, more ; according 
 to this reading, there can be no ^'5©- at all in any part of that 
 drama : for the Tr^oxi^scrtg or propenfity of the Mifer is completely 
 known to eveiy reader or fpedlator from the very title of the piece. 
 
 I know, indeed, that Le BolTu, and others, have given a mean- 
 ing to this paffage, by makijig Ariftotle fay, what he certainly does 
 
 * The words — tw wfoai^Eo-iv airoia. tij Iriv, are not, I think, rendered witli Mr. Harris's 
 ufual accuracy, — '■'■ ^\\a.x. x\iz detcrminaUoyi of a fpeaker w/// i^'." nooa;f£(nf, here, is 
 not particular determination^ but that habitual m^l general proptnfiiy which is the caiife 
 of particular determinations. 
 
 L 1 not
 
 258 NOTES. 
 
 7iot fay — viz. when it is not yet manifeft " ex indic'io dkentls,'* 
 what the will, or choice, of the fpeaker is \ But if the common 
 reading were right, we might, furely, expeft to find the words, 
 \v oig m eg-f S^yjKov, &c. fubjoined in other places where he defines 
 the '/f'S©-. Yet we have nothing like it in cap. xv. initio; nor in 
 the fecond book of his Rhetoric, where he fays only, ^5©^ T £%»(?■< 
 T^oyoi, Iv oa-oig (JtjXij 5; -Tr^occi^ecrig " : nor in other paflages of the fame 
 work, relative to the fame fubjedt. 
 
 Piccolomini's tranflation agrees with mine, and is exprefled 
 with his ufual accuracy. — " Ma il coftume nel parlar' e quello, 
 " il quale mofira fuora, e apparir fa il volere, et I'elettion di chi 
 " parla. Peroche alcuni parlari fi truovano, li quali non hanno 
 " coftume; come ch' in efli non appaia, et non fi manifefli, quello, 
 " che o elegga, 6 fugga, con la fua volonta, chi parla." 
 
 NOTE sg. 
 
 P. 78. A BEGINNING, IS THAT, &C. 
 
 See Harris, Philol. Inq. Fart II. ch. v. Thefe definitions muft 
 be underfiood wholly to refer to the wants, and expeftations, of the 
 fpeftator. He mufi: 'zcw// nothing before the beginning, nor f.v- 
 peSl any thing after the end. Nothing, however, is more com- 
 mon than both thefe defed:s ; than perplexed beginnings, and 
 unfatisfa6lory conclufions. Henry Fielding, we are told, ufed 
 " to execrate the man who invented fifth ad:s\" The inventor 
 ofJi?ift adls has not given dramatic Poets much lefs trouble. Moft 
 modern plays have, I think, more or lefs of this intricacy in 
 their beginnings ; but it is efpecially the cafe with Comedy. It 
 
 >> Heinfius De Trag. Conji. cap. xiv. Lc Boflu, Du Pocme Epiqu', livre iv. ch. 4. 
 
 * Cap. xxi. p. 572. E. 
 
 * Harris, Phil. Inq. p. 16 1» 
 
 fcems.
 
 •NOTES. 259 
 
 ■feems, indeed, by no means eafy for a modern comic writer, of whom 
 invention, novelty, variety of incidents, and ingenuity of contrivance, 
 are required, ^nvxt, as Ariftotle well exprefles it, utn-sp hg Tr,v x^'9^f 
 Tr,v ctox'/jv — i. e. to put the beginning fairly into the Jpedtator s hand.^' 
 The fpeftator, and even the reader, of a new Comedy, is generally 
 employed, during the firft fcenes, in guefllng an a;nigmaj and 
 when, at length, he comprehends what is going forward, his 
 attention, intereli, and fympathy, are difturbed and diftraded, by 
 looking back, to underftand what )x&JJ.iould have underftood at firft. 
 Hence the advantage which the Tragic Poet, from the notoriety of 
 his fubjedts, generally polTelles over the Comic ; and which is fo 
 pleafantly defcribed in the fragment preferved by Athenasus from 
 Antiphanes or Ariftophanes % that I fliall fave the reader the 
 trouble of turning to it. 
 
 MccKxpiCv e^w 5j TpxyuQKX, 
 
 TIoiififiK KoiTOi TTOiur ' eiy£ TTacoTOV 01 Xoyoi 
 
 Ttto tuv 9eoiruu eicrtv eyvcopKTfiSvoi 
 
 Ylptv KOii Tiv eiTTBii', ug \J7roiA,vyi(rcii f/,ovov 
 
 Aa rov ■7roiriTr,v. OidtTi'dv yap dv ys (pu. 
 
 Tec ocXXcc -Kavr i<Tcccriv' — ttcct'/jd Aai©^, 
 
 MijTJjp loKctg-Tj — Suyarepsg, Trtxiosg, rivsg' — 
 
 Ti TTeidsQ isT©o, n TTBTroirjycsv' — av 'irxXiv 
 
 'ElTTV Tig AXX.[/,CiiUVX, KXi TX TTXlOiX 
 
 TlxvT eu9ug eim-^sv — on [/.xviig x7!'S>CT0ve 
 Tiji/ fj.riTipx. — — — 
 
 Hp;' 0£ rxvT UK eg'iv' xXXx ttxvtx oh 
 EvpsiV, ovo^^xrx Kxwx, tx on^ycriusvx 
 
 JJporepOV, TX VUV TTXMVTX, T'^V KXTX^pO(p'^V, 
 
 Tiji/ ecrjSoA'ij!'" xv sv ti thtcov Tixoxkiir'n 
 Xpsi^Tjg Tig, Tj ^iitouv ti;, e'rCtruoiTTBTxi, 
 riHAEI ce TxvT llscrTt kxi TETKPXl; re;;:;. 
 
 »• See Note 40. ' Athen. lib. vi. See Ca/anbcii, in locum. 
 
 L 1 2 Thus
 
 26o NOTE S. 
 
 Thus rendered by Grotius"* — 
 
 — — Scilicet Tragoedia 
 Felix poema eft : nam principio cognitum 
 Argumentum omne fpedatori eft, antequam 
 Verbiim hifcat aliquis : nomen tantum dicere 
 Poetas fatis eft. Oedipuniprasfcripfero, 
 Jam reliqua per fe noruat ; pater eft Lai'us, 
 Jocafta mater i turn qui nati et filise, 
 Quid fecit, quid patietur. Si promiferit 
 Alcmasona alius, ipfi dicent pueruli, 
 *' Hie ille eft qui interfecit matrem infaniens."- 
 
 At nobis ifta non licent, fed omnia 
 Sunt invenienda, nomina imprimis nova. 
 Res antegeftse, res prsefentes, exitus, 
 Initia, Ex illis fiqua pars defecerit, 
 Exfibilatur Phido, five ille eft Chremes j 
 Ilia alia facere Peleo et Teucro licet. 
 
 When the middle of a drama is not fufficiently connedled with 
 what precedes, — that is, in Ariftotle's language, when it is not, 
 ci'jTo jttsT-' aXKo, — a new plot feems to begin: a fault not uncommon 
 in double and complicated fables'. If, on the other hand, it 
 wants the y.BT l^avo ers^ov, the piece feems finifhed before its time. 
 The Sampfon Agonijles of Milton, according to Dr. Johnfon, is 
 deficient in both requifites of a true, Ariftotellc middle. Its " in- 
 " termediate parts have neither caiife nor confequence, neither haften 
 *' nor retard the cataftrophe^" The criticifm appears to be juft. 
 
 <* Excerpta ex Trag. et Com. Gracis, p. 622. 
 
 • Qu'y a-t-il de plus adroit que la maniere dont Terence a entrelace les amours 
 de Pamphik et de Charinus dans I'Andrienne? Cependant I'a-t-il fait fans inconve- 
 nient? — Au comT.encemcnt du fecond a£tc, iie crolroit-on pas entrer dans une autre 
 piece? Diderot, De la Poef, Dram, p. 2"83. 
 
 ^ Life of Milton, 
 
 It
 
 NOTES. 261 
 
 It is feldom, however, that a beginning, a middle, or an end, is 
 defedlive in both the conditions required. A beginning, which, 
 ftridlly fpeaking, did not naturally require any thing to follow it, [jjnr 
 Ixetvo Ire^ov TreipvMiv hmi,) would put even the moft attentive fpedtator 
 into the lituation of Shakfpeare's drowiy tinker : 
 
 Sly. A goodly matter, fiirely. — Comes there any more of it ? 
 Page. My Lord, 'tis but begun^. 
 
 The moft ufual defe(5ls, and which, I fuppofe, Ariftotle had 
 principally in view, are thofe of beginnings which do not properly, 
 in his fenfe, begin, and of endings which do not end. The firfl 
 perplex us, by fuppofing fomething to have preceded, without 
 clearly telling us what ; the other leave us diiTatisfied, by difap- 
 pointing our natural expedtations of fomething more to follow. 
 Of this laft fault, inftances may be found in abundance; parti- 
 cularly in the conclufions of Shakfpeare\ In Plautus, and even 
 in Terence, we find this imperfection fupplied by a very fimple and 
 clumfy contrivance, that, of informing the audience that the play 
 was over, and telling them in what manner they were to fuppofe 
 the cataltrophe completed. 
 
 Spe£tatores, Fabula h^ec efi aHa : vos plaufum date. 
 
 Plant. MoJleL 
 Speftatores, quod futurum eft intus, hie memorabimus. 
 Hasc Cafina hujus reperietur filia eflfe e proxumoj 
 Eaque nubet Euthynico noftro herili filio. 
 
 Id. in fine Cafina, 
 Ne exfe5fetis dum exeant hue : intus defpondebitur j 
 Intus tranfigetur, Ji quid eft quod reft at. 
 
 Ter. Jf}d. 
 
 * Taming of the Shrew. 
 
 '' See Dr. Johnfon's Preface to Shakfpeare, p, 16. There cannot be a Wronger 
 proof of Shakfpeare's hafte in the conclufion of his plays, than his pafllng over in 
 total filence the interefting charader of old Adam, at the end of Js you like it ; a 
 defcd felt, I believe, by every fpettator and every reader of that charming comeJ-/. 
 
 The
 
 =i62 N O T E S. 
 
 The fault oppofite to this — that, of prolonging the piece be- 
 yond the point of fatisfaftory conclufion — has been attributed to 
 -the Oedipus Tyr annus of Sophocles. The criticifm is taflelefs, on 
 -every account. The reader may fee it well confuted by Brumoy. 
 Eut om of his anfwers is alone fufficient, on the principles of 
 Ariftotle: " Le fpeciateii?- en c^ctfei oh -il content s'il ignoroit le fort 
 *' de Jocafte,^'Oedipe, et de fa famille ?" &c.' *' Oedipus," fays 
 • Voltaire, " is fully acquainted with his fate at the end of the fourth 
 *' aft. Voila done la piece Jinie^." — He might have learned better 
 criticifm from a writer of far inferior abilities. " II faut aufli 
 *' prendre garde que la cataftrophe acheve pleinement le Poeme 
 " dramatique ; c'ell; a dire, qu'il ne refte rien apres, ou de ce que 
 " les fpeftateurs doivent ffavoir, ou qu'ils vueilient entendre ; car 
 " s'ils ont raifon de demander, ^lu'cji dcvefiu quelque perfonnage 
 *' interejje da7is les grandes hitrigues du Theatre, ou s'ils ont jufte 
 *< fujet de ffavoir, i>uels font les fentimens de quelq'un des principanx 
 " aSleurs apres le dernier evenemeiit qui fait cette catajlrophe, — la 
 "piece iiejl pas finie, il y manque encore un dernier trait'." 
 That is to fay, in Arijiotle's language, a drama fo concluded, (as 
 the Oedipus TyraJiniis would be, if it ended with th.t fourth a(5t,) 
 would want the true teXeut^j, or end — that, after which, aXXo v^bv 
 nEOTKEN hvcc:. 
 
 * Theatre des Grecs, i. 376. 
 
 '' Critique fur POedipe de Sophocle. 
 
 ' D'Aubignac, Pratique du Theatre, torn. i. p. 126. This author, though neither 
 a good writer, nor a deep fcholar, has colleiled in this book a good deal of curious 
 theatrical evM^iUon-y and made fome acute and judicious obfervations on the r-les of 
 ■dramatic writing. He was unfortunate when he attempted to put his theory into 
 pra£lice by writing a Tragedy. " Je f^ais bon gre," faid the great Conde, " a I'Abbe 
 " D'Aubignac d'avoir fuivi les regies d'Aridote, mais jc ne pardonne pas aux regies 
 ^ d'Arlftote, d'avoir f.iit foire une i\ mauvaife Tragcdie a I'Abbe D'Aubignac." 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES, z6i 
 
 NOTE 60. 
 
 P. 79. Whether it be an animal, &c.. 
 
 AXkci Tooe ys oii/,oii ct (pavcct »v oetv, itocvroc Xoyov 'nLIIEP ZXION^ 
 truvi^avat, cruyM rt t-)(pvTa. dvrov dura' ugs [A,riT6 AKE<l>AAON eivat f^fire 
 AnOTN, dxXix, MESA re ex^v, xxi AKPA, Trpe-rovrx aXXriXoig koci tu 
 
 "OAXl; . 
 
 Plato,, ifz Phadro, p. 264, ed. Ser. 
 
 NOTE 61. 
 
 P. 79. Beauty consists in magnitude and order. 
 
 There is fomething fingular, fomething, at leafl, not quite 
 conlbnant to modern ideas, in the great ftrefs which the antients 
 appear to have laid upon Jize, as a neceflary conflituent of beauty 
 in the human form. They feem, indeed, to have defpifed every 
 thing that was not large ; and to have eflimated beauty, not by 
 meafure only, but by weight alfo. " Magnanimity," fays the 
 Philofopher in his Ethics, " conlifts in greatnefs of foul, as 
 " beauty alfo confifls in greatnefs of body. Little men mav be 
 " called oigHoi, and (rvfjuiHT^ot, pretty, and well-JJoaped, but not KAAOI, 
 *' bandfome, or beaut fill "" ." 
 
 That magnitude ihould have entered, as effential, into their 
 idea of a handfome man, is not furprifing. The utility of 
 ftrength, and the connedlion between flrength and fize, is fufficient 
 to account for this. But what appears moft fmgular is, that they 
 infift no lefs upon the importance of magnitude lo female beauty,. 
 
 * Etbic., Nicom, lib. iv. cap, 3, 
 
 — 8HAEinN-
 
 264 NOTES. 
 
 — GPIAEiriN (5"= d^ert;, (Tui^otT©^ fj.ev, kuKX®- axt MErE0OS\ HoMER 
 feldom omits fize in his defcriptions of this kind. 
 
 K«X>? Ti MEFAAH re, kcci uyXocx ioy nouix. 
 
 Od. O. 416. 
 Nor let it be objedled, that this praile comes from a fwine-herd ; 
 for Eurymachus, a fuitor, and a courtier, comphments Penelope, 
 by telling her, that (lie was more accomplijljed in mvid, handfo?ncry 
 and LARGER, than other women : 
 
 ETTS* TTEptECriri yvvxfzuv 
 
 EiiJ'©o re, MEFEQOS te, loe (ppEvocq IvOov ll'trotg. 
 
 Od. S. 248. 
 And, indeed, when Minerva, that Penelope might fafcinate 
 the fuitors, anointed her with the cofmetic wafli of Venus, and 
 gave a fupernatural heightening to all her charms, at the fame 
 time that flie made her fkin " ivbiter than ivory," ilie made her 
 alfo " taller andjioiiter." 
 
 Ay.lBpora. ^wox oiia, Iva yjv &y]irxto!.T A%aiSi' 
 ¥LuXXei uev ot ttoojtx TroocnoTroc re xxXa Kx^vasv 
 AjjifSooiri'^, oiu) TTSp eug-epxv©-- Kv9spetx 
 
 XpiBTXl, BUT CO) t>? Xawrwi/ -/OpOV l^EpOiVTOC' 
 
 Yixi [Mv MAKPOTEPHN KAI HAZZONA 9'^ksv l^idQxi, 
 AsvKQTEmv S^apx fztv ^rjy.iv Trpig-a eXB(pxvr<^. 
 
 laid. 190. 
 Thus, too, of the daughters of Pandarus : 
 
 'Hei; 0" xMTWiv ttepi TrxiTiccv ouks yvvxiicuv 
 
 E(J'^ Kut TTiiVT'/.v, MHKOE Ittoo Aprsf^ic xyi/y;. 
 
 Od. c^. 6. 
 When Penelope, in the beginning of the twenty-firil book, 
 goes to fetch the key of the, repofitory, where the bow of Ulyiles 
 was kept. Homer defcribes her as taking hold of the key with 
 her *' Jlout hajid" 
 
 '' Rhct. i. cap. V. — Xenophon, defcribing Panihcc.y fays — Sinveyxt w^urov juei', 
 Ty MErE0EI, ezsnx h, -rn 'PilMHi, Sec. Cyropad. lib. v. initio. 
 
 9 'E/Aero
 
 NOTE S. i65 
 
 'EtXtro ^e HXyjiS' £LiJcajit7r«« XEIPI DAXEIH/. 
 
 Od. ^. 6. 
 — which Erneftus, who allows, that, " manu crafsa, non bene convcnit 
 *' femina pulchree et regince," would fain Ibften down into the main 
 pot elk of the French. 
 
 Quintilian obferves of Zeuxis, who drew the heads and limbs of 
 his figures very large, that, in this, he followed Homer, *' cut 
 *' validijfima quce que forma, etiam in fceminis, placet ;" and, that he 
 did this, *' id amplius atqtie augujiius ratiis" : and, indeed, thefe 
 ideas of the antients relative to beauty, both male and female, 
 feem to have been owing, in part, at leaft, to their ideas of that 
 majejly and dignity, which they confidered as efTential attributes of 
 their divinities, and which imply fuperior fize and ftrength. To 
 tell a lady that fhe was taller and ftouter than moft of her fex, 
 was a great compliment : it was comparing her to a goddefs. 
 
 It feems, then, that Shakfpeare, in the quarrel between Helena 
 and Hermia in his Midfiimmer Night's Dream, has, without know- 
 ing it, made Hermia perfedlly clajjical in her refcntment, and 
 Lyfander, in his reproaches : 
 
 Her. Puppet ! Why fo ? — Ay, that way goes the game. 
 Now I perceive that flie hath made compare 
 Between our flat ures ; flie hath urged her height. 
 And with her perfonage, her tall perfonage. 
 Her height, forfooth, flie hath prevail'd with him. 
 
 Her. Little again ? — nothing but low and little? 
 Why will you fuffer her to flout me thus ? 
 Let me come to her. 
 
 LyJ. Get you gone, you dwarf. 
 You minimus of hind'ring knot-grafs made. 
 You bead, you acorn 1— — j£i iii. Scene 8. 
 
 « XII. 10. 
 Mm NOTE
 
 266 NOTES. 
 
 N O T E 62. 
 
 P. 79. No VERY MINUTE ANIMAL CAN BE. BEAUTIFUL 
 
 NQR ONE OF A PRODIGIOUS SIZE. 
 
 I am by no means perfe<fHy fatisfied of the integrity of this 
 paffage ; but no better comment can, I think, be given upon it, as 
 it flands, than that of Beni. — "*' Non priora [i. e. qus valde 
 ** pufiUa,] quia eorum fpetSatio [^su^ioc] momento pene temporis 
 ** fiat, ac propterea fpeftatio ipfa confundatur -, — quod eft, tanta 
 " celeritate comprehendantur ac ■veluti abforbeontur partes omneSy 
 " ut non hceat partem a parte, ut caput a thorace, internofcere, 
 " atque adeo partes conferre mutuOy Jymmctriamquc ct proportlonem 
 " agnofcere et cejlimare. — Non pojleriora, [i. e. valde magna,] quia, 
 *' e contrario, in tarn ingenti mole ac magnitudine, partium mul- 
 ** titudo cognitionem impediat, qua; non ^o?vX Jimiil [a/^a] haberi : 
 *' dum enimfpcBatur una, propter dijiantiam deperit ct evanefcit [ot- 
 *' X^Tcci\ cognitio alterius j ita ut unum et totum non apparent animal^ 
 [Bem'i Comm. in Arijlot. Poet. p. 205.] 
 
 The reader may, after this, be amufed with feeing what ftrange 
 work Lord Shaftfbury has made witla this paffage in his explana- 
 tory tranflation of it. mj^^y <^'^ i^^ freedom of Wit and Humour. 
 Part IV. Se&. 3. 
 
 NOTE 63. 
 
 P. 80. Easily comprehended by the eye, &c. 
 
 ETITNOriTON — No words furnifh a more ftriking proof of 
 the richnefs, compreffion, force, and convenience, of the Greek 
 language,, thaa thofe which Ariftotle here ufesi — Iuovvotttov, lu-
 
 NOTES. 267 
 
 l/,v'/if/,oycurov, truv^yiX^. The reader needs only fee to what a feeble 
 length of periphraftic wire-drawing a tranOator is reduced, if he 
 would give their full value : Ea/ify comprehended by the eye. — " ^e 
 *' Vml pnijj'e comprendre et inefurer aifement et tout d'lm coup." 
 [Dacier.] " ^i puiffe etre faiji d'un meme coup d'cvil." [Batteux; 
 the mofl comprefTed of all Aiiflotle's tranllators.] *' U?i tout en~ 
 *^ Jemhlc oil la vue ne segare point." [Marmontcl, Poetique Fr. 
 Pref.] 
 
 Of the fame kind are the words, luiTra.y.o'kisQ'/irov — '' fuch as the 
 *' undeijldnding can eajily follotv and keep up with^:" bvxvxttvbvs^, — 
 of a period, " that does not put one out of breath"" ." 
 
 NOTE 64. 
 P. 80. If a hundred Tragedies &c. 
 
 The fuppofition of a hundred Tragedies performed in concur- 
 rence feems merely to be a fort of hyperbolical jiing at the known 
 intemperance of the Athenian people with refpedl to theatrical 
 exhibitions ; and Dacier has rightly, I think, accounted for this 
 *• exuberantia orationis, as Vidlorius calls it". 
 
 But Dacier, and the Abbe Batteux after him, make Ariflotle's 
 expreffiion too hyperbolical for hyperbole itfelf, when they tranflate, 
 ** S'il falloit jouer cent Tragedies en un jour." For if the Tra- 
 gedies were only half an hour long, and played without inter- 
 miffion, they would have required a day o^ fifty hours. We mufl 
 underftand, furely, with Beni, " Si centum Tragoedix, verbi gratia, 
 *' totis illis fpeBaculorum diebus recitandse proponerentur'' ;" which 
 will ftill leave hyperbole enough. 
 
 » Rhet. I. ii. p. 517. '' Ibid, III. ix. p. 592. 
 
 ■^ Quis enim non intelligit banc (i. e. ex«tov T^xyx^Mi) exubcrantiam orationis 
 efl'c ? VliU in locum, 
 *' Comment, p. 211. 
 
 M m 2 Dacier
 
 268 NOTES. 
 
 Dacier is alfo miflaken, I believe, in concluding, from what 
 Ariftotle fays, that it was once an ejlablijhed ciiftotii with the Greeks 
 to regulate the length of Tragedies by the clepfydra, or hour-glafs. 
 His expreflion feems to imply at leajl, that it had been rarely prac- 
 tifed, if it does not, as M. Batteux thinks, imply fome doubt, 
 whether it had been done at all : — wtnti^ Ttorz km kXXotb OAII. 
 
 Thus much, however, as to the limited length of thefe per- 
 formances, we may ealily conceive ; that when, to gratify the 
 immoderate fondnefs of the Athenians for the drama, an uncommon 
 number of Tragedies were exhibited in concurrence, and the con- 
 tending Poets were apt to encroach upon the patience of the au- 
 dience, by lengthening out their pieces in order tofheiu off them- 
 felves, or their aSlors", the Lord Chamberlain of thefe exhibitions 
 might be obliged, in compliance with the clamours of the people, 
 to confine the reprefentation of each drama to fome limited time. 
 
 N O T E 65. 
 
 P. 80. A Fable is not one merely because the 
 
 Hero of it is one. 
 
 Mr. Hume, in his Effay on the affbciation of ideas, reprefents 
 this paffage of Ariftotle as contrary to the doftrine he there lays 
 down, and which is unqueftionably true — that " in all produc- 
 "■' tions, as well as in the Epic and Tragic, a certain unity is re- 
 •' quired," &c. — and, " that the unity of adlion which is to be 
 " found in biography or hiftory, differs from that of Epic Poetry, 
 not in kind, but in degree" I fee here no contrariety at all. Ari- 
 Itotle certainly did not mean to fay, that a biographical Poem, if 
 I may fo term it, (a Poem Trs^i £!/«,) has no unity, no relation of 
 caufe and efFeft, &c. to connect the incidents; but only, that it has 
 not that degree of unity, which is requifite for the purpofe of 
 
 * See cap. ix. Tranjl. Part II. 5i(7. 7. 
 
 Tragic,
 
 NOTES. 269 
 
 Tragic, or even Epic, Poetry. Mr. Hume himfelf allows, that 
 Poetry "requires a flridler and cloler unity in the fablcj" and this 
 is all that Ariftotle appears to mean. The perfons cenfured by 
 him for concluding, that, " becaufe Hercules was one, fo alio 
 " mufl be the fable, of which he was the fubje(fl," were right 
 enough, as philofophers, but as poets, certainly wrong. 
 
 This chapter, in which Ariftotle confiders fo particularly the 
 unity of fable, as diftindl from its totality, led me once to think it 
 probable, that the word pa? was originally in the definition of 
 Tragedy, cap. vi. as we find it afterwards in cap. xxiii. — Treo; MIAN 
 TT^xriv oXrjv Koit TsXfMv. But perhaps the fuppofition is unneceflary, 
 and unity may be fufficiently implied in the words reXaoig zxi oXvig : 
 'OAOTHTOS, as he elfewhere fays, 'EN0THT02 TINOZ 'OTSH2. 
 Me tap /j. lib. v. cap. 26. 
 
 NOTE 65. 
 
 P. 80. Either FROiVi art, or genius. 
 
 Ht(!< ^m T£%nji/, H AIA <I)TZIN. — It appears from this, as well as 
 from other paflages of Ariftotle's treatife, that in the midft of all 
 t-he coldnefs of philofophical inveftigation and analyfis, he never 
 loft fight of the difference between that fpontaneous operation of 
 genius and feeling in the Poet, which produces poetic beauty, and 
 the flow and cautious procefs of calm examination and inquiry in 
 the Critic, whofe bufinefs it is to diicover its principles. It is not 
 every philofophical critic that avoids this error. Nothing is more 
 common, than to fuppofe tliat to have been produced by art and 
 refle<flion, about ivhich, when produced, art and refledtion have been- ' 
 employed\ Thus languages, we are told, muft have been origi- 
 x\2L\\y formed by art, becaufe they cannot be analyfed without art i 
 
 * See DifT. I. p. 7. note ''. 
 
 Grammarians;
 
 70 NOTE 
 
 Grammarians and Philofophers muft.have formed language, be- 
 caufe language has formed Grammarians and Philofopriers. 
 
 NOTE 67. 
 
 P. 81. But he comprehended those only which have 
 
 RELATION TO ONE ACTION, &C. 
 
 OS'jir(reia,v yxp ■jroiuv, i;i \'7roLr,(TcV a.7T<x.VTC<. ora. aura tuvsSo;' — AAA' 'A ttboi 
 [xixv TTpKpjv, oixv Xsyof/.ev rw Oou(r(rctciv, STNEXTHSAN. So the text 
 ftands. " Non cecinit omnia — -Jed qua; circa unam folam adlio- 
 " nem, qiiakin Odyjj'cam d'lcimus, conjiiteruiit." [Goul/io?i.'\ Vidtorius 
 reads, AAAA, and STNESTHSEN; but does injuilice, I think, to his 
 own reading, by his contraction and his verfion : tt;^/ jj^-mv TrpxPw— 
 c-uvBgy](riv : " circa unam aciionem — mansit." This is, furely, very 
 harfli. I fhould punftuate, and tranflate, thus: — «AXa tts^; pew; 
 irpoc'z^iv, oiccv Xiyo^sv, rviv Oou<r(rstxv cvvB^TjO-ev' oy^oiocg as km rvjv iXtxSx. [fc. 
 c-vvsg-TjtTsv]. " Sed circa unam a5lionem, quale?jt dic'tmus, OdyJJ'eatn con- 
 " Jliiuit ; pariterque Iliadem." — " But he planned his Odyffey, as 
 " he alfo did his Iliad, upon an adlion, that is o?ie, in the fenfe here 
 '* explained." — And that this is the true reading, and the true 
 fenfe, of the paffage, I was once thoroughly perfuaded. The con- 
 ftrud:ion of the whole is, thus, clear and natural. The circum- 
 flance of the plural verb a-wBgria-av with the plural neuter, «, is 
 avoided; and the word cwBg-ziriv retains its proper and ufual fenfe, 
 as applied, throughout, by Ariftotle, to the compofition, or con- 
 flru6tion, of the Fable. — So, cap. ix. j-us-Jio-ai/re? rov ij.u9ou. cap. xvii. 
 and xxiii. — raf jwu/^aj c-wigavx: — et pajjim. I will not, however, 
 diifcmble what is againft me. The reading xXk a, bcfides its 
 Aipport from MSS. anfwers better to the x',xxvtx cctx, which pre- 
 cedes: — cuK iTTOiVjO-iv AIIANTA og-x xuru (rvvs^-/;-' AAA' 'A 'jrem ^tt. tt. 
 
 6cc. But, if xxx x be retained, the paflage, I think, fhould ftand 
 thus : — xXX a ■Trepi Lttxv ttox^iv, [fc, £5-;,] oixv X(.yofJi.sv tyjv O^V(r(retxv, 
 
 7 ITNESTHSEN.
 
 NOTES. 271 
 
 lYNESTHSEN'. According to the conftrudlon of Piccolomini: — 
 quelle cofe accolfey ch' al corpo d'una attione, la qual chiamiamo 
 Odiffea, ferviffero : — and the Abbe Batteux — *' II a rapproche tout 
 ce qui tenoit a une feule adlion." — (7\}vzgr,(riv a, tts^i f/^iocv 7r^cx.^iv : i. e. 
 compojed his fable of thofe circumjlances only^ which relate to one 
 adion. Thus, immediately after — to, MEPH STNILTANAI rm 
 TrpcuyfMXTUu. 
 
 Unwilling to make alterations that do not appear abfolutely ne- 
 ceflary, I have followed this laft reading ; though with fome 
 remaining partiality to my firft conjefture. That the fenfe would 
 be clearer, and the coniirudlion lefs elliptical and embarrafled, is 
 certain. Bat I am afraid this is but a queflionable proof of cor- 
 ruption in the writings of ArLHotle.. 
 
 NOTE 68. 
 
 P. 81. The whole will be destroyed, or changed. 
 
 Deftroyed, if any part he lalicn aivay,. [u.((:cx.i^iiiJ.svH) — difturbed or 
 changed, if it be tranfpofed {y,iT(x.ri.^i.^i.v>i). In the firfl cafe it will 
 be no longCT a whole ; in the laft, not thefatm whole. This feems 
 the meaning, as it is well rendered by M. Batteux : " Que les 
 " parties en foient tellement liees entre elles, qu'une feule tran- 
 " fpofee, ou retranchee, ce ne fok plus un tout, ou le meme 
 
 * I cannot reconcile the commentary of Viflorius on this paflage with his text 
 and his vcrfion. His text llanJs thus : aMa tteji jj.ix'i Wfafiv, oiom ^E70|M.£l' tw- 01'jcitucx.v, 
 <ri/v£r>i<riv. His verficn is — " Verum circa unam actionem,. qualcm dicimus OdyfTeam 
 " manfttJ" — But, in his remarks, he tranflatcs exa^Iy as if he had read and under- 
 ftood the paffage in the way here propofed. " Verum quis circa unam aftionem, 
 *' qualem Odyfieam vocamus, ccnjiltuit.'" — And, " ^as circa unam, autem, ;<.fl:ionem 
 ♦' coagmentajji ir.quit Homerum." — Again. — " Qtiare vere dici poteft, ipfum com- 
 ^'^ p'.exumfidjje, qua circa illam aBionenu'" Nor does he give, in his commentary,. 
 arty other verficn, or explanation, or mention a word about the change of a??.' u. \:\X.o 
 i.VNXi which he had adopted in his text. 
 
 " tout."
 
 272 NOTES. 
 
 " tout." — But I cannot think SiKcpi^scrSxi right. It is rendered by 
 Goulilon, ^^ divei-fum reddattir, et moveatur, totum." So Picco- 
 
 lomini, " diverfo e mutato," &c. But, befides the manifeft 
 
 tautology, I doubt whether there be any good authority for this 
 fenfe of the verb Siccpe^£crQa.i — i. e. to be made different , or changed. 
 At lead I have not found any inftance of it in Ariftotle's writings. 
 If we retain ^ia.(ps^6(rSoit, it muft, I think, be taken in the fenfe of 
 difcerpi, dijirahi, iicc. But I am almoft perfuaded, that Ariftotle 
 wrote AIAO0EIPEE0AI, Jpoiled, or dejlroyed. So in his Topics, 
 4>0EIPEI0AI TO 'OAON. vol. i. p. 258. B. ed. Duval. 
 
 O 
 
 NOTE 69. 
 
 P. 82. Possible, according to probable, or neces- 
 sary, CONSEQUENCE, 
 
 Compare cap. xv. Xm ^e km Iv rotg i^icnv. z. r. cc\. — [Tranfl. Part 
 
 II. Sedl. 15. p. 93.] The expreffion, ^uvktu yMroc to cxvayKouov, 
 
 •' poliible— -according to neceffity," appears ftrange at the firil 
 glance : but in fidlion, events may be fuppofed to happen, as in 
 real life they do happen, not only probably, but neceflarily ; that 
 is, not only as they were likely to happen, but as, morally fpeaking, 
 they could not but happen. — " Puifque la fondion du vraifem- 
 " blable dans la Tragedie, eft d'empecher I'efprit de s'appercevoir 
 " de la feinte, le vraijemblable qui le trompe le mieux eft le plus 
 " parf\it, ct c'eft celui qui devient neceffaire. Un caradlere etant 
 " Jiippoje, il y a des effets qu'il doit necelfairement produire, et 
 ■" .d'autres qu'il pent produire, ou ne produire pas." Again — " La 
 " perfedtion eft de faire agir les perfonnages, de maniere qu'ils 
 ** nayent pas pu agir autremc?it, leur cara6tere fuppofe," &:c. Thus 
 Fontenelle, in his excellent Rejiexions fur la Poetique ; in feveral 
 parts of which, that clear and philolbphical writer has, I believe 
 
 ■f* without
 
 NOTES. 473 
 
 without any fuch intention, coincided with, and illuftrated, the 
 pofitions of Arillotle. — See particularly, Sefl. 58, to 65, inclu- 
 fively. 
 
 NOTE 70. 
 
 P. 82. A SPECIES OF HISTORY . 
 
 'l^o^iot TI£ — " -.xfort of hiftory." It is fingular, that almoft all 
 the tranflators fliould have neglected a word fo important as the 
 pronoun is in this pailage. May we not infer from this expreffion, 
 that if Ariftotle had been afked, whether an Epic imitation in 
 profe would be a Poem, or not, he would have allowed it to be, 
 7roi'/j[A,(x. TI, a kind oi Poem, as having the eflence of Poetry, invent 
 tion zn<l imitation ? See note v. p- 153. 
 
 NOTE 71. 
 
 P. 82. A MORE EXCELLENT THING THAN HISTORY. 
 
 l,7riiSxiore^ov. It means no more than, in plain Englifli, a l>etttT 
 thing. The word occurs frequently in Ariflotle's works, in this 
 general fenfe. So, R/jet. I. vii. p. 528, B. kxi tlv ki B7rig-yif/,cii KxXXm; 
 vj (TTTHOOCiOTipcci, Koci Toc -TT^ocy^xrct, KotXktcd Kxi CTTTisociiorBpx, — Aud, 2i>la. I. 
 ix. p. 53 1 J E. K«( di ruv (pucrs; (T7r-<ilxioTi^i^v (fuperior by nature) 
 uaBTtxi KxXKcd;, zxi toc iaya,' oisv ccvop©^ [ic. (rTr^oxiOTBpxi d.t txpirxt, &C.] 
 ^ yumijc©-. — See, alfo. Ethic. Nicom. lib. vi. cap. vii. p. 78, C. 
 ocTOTTov yotp ei rig ttjv ETTis-ijjttiji/ TToXtrtKiiiv — ■ — SnOTAAIOTATHN oisroct 
 livxi, li fJiii TO APISTON Tcav sv ~u KOiTfJuea dv9^u-w<^ zgu 
 
 Dacier tranflates the word, " morale ;'' Batteux, " inJiriiBive ;" 
 but this is rather giving the reafon ivhy it is a-sris^MOTeoov, or, a fu- 
 perior thing, 
 
 Nn NOTE
 
 27^ NOTE 
 
 N O T E 72. 
 
 P. 82. Is NOT, LIKE THE IaMBIC PoETS, PARTICULAR 
 AND PERSONAL. 
 
 . luf^f^o'sroioi. — Striiftly, the writers of the ^oya or fatirical inveiflives 
 that preceded Comedy. [See cap. iv. Tranjl. Part I. Sect. 6.] But 
 I believe Ariftotle meant here to include, at leaft, the authors of the 
 firft rude Comedy, " of the Iambic form — " tij? Ixi^jSiKvig l^exg. See 
 cap. V. Trarfl. Parti. Se£l. 8. 
 
 It appears, that the Poem called la.^(l@-, whatever it was, was 
 
 7~eprcfented, or atied, as well as Tragedy and the Epic : for, in his 
 
 feventh book De Rep. ccip. xvii. the philofopher forbids boys to be 
 
 fpediators of Iambi and Comedies : — rzq Iz veurs^ag ir lAMBIlN, 
 
 irB Kta^u^KZg 0EATA2 vo^ohrriTiov, 'ttow r,—K. T. uk. p. 448, E. 
 
 NOTE jT,. 
 ■ P. 82. What has never actually happened, we are 
 
 NOT APT TO REGARD AS POSSIBLE. 
 
 This muft be reftridled to thofe extraordinary anions and events, 
 of public and elevated perfonages, which iifually make the fubjedt 
 of Tragedy. The befl: comment I have ictn, or that, I think, 
 can be given, on this paflage, is that of Piccolomini; but it is fo 
 long, that I can only refer to it\ We have, however, the fubftance 
 of it in the following obfervation of Brumoy. — " La Tragedie ne 
 " s'eft point fous-divifee" (as Comedy, he obfei-ves, had been,) " en 
 ** Tragedie reelle, et Tragedie de pure imagination, Jc crois en 
 '* trouver la raifon dans la nature de I'efprit humain. II n'y a que 
 
 a Aniictation'i, &c. /. 141, &c. 
 
 "la
 
 NOTE 
 
 ■^7i 
 
 •' la vraifemblance dont il puifle etre touche. Or il n'eft pas vrai- 
 ** femblable que des faits aufll grands que ceux de la. Tragedie, des 
 ** faits qui n'arrivent que dans les maifons des rois, ou dans le fein 
 *' des empires, foient abfolument inconnus. Si done le Poete in- 
 ** vente tout fon fujet, jufq' aux noms, I'efprit du fpeftatcur fe 
 " revoke; tout lui paroit incroyable, et la piece manque fon effet, 
 ** faute de vraifemblance. Mais comme la Comedie ne touche que 
 ** la vie commune et fes ridicules, le fpedlateur peut fuppofer et 
 " fuppofe en effet, en fe laifllmt aller a I'enchantement du fpediacle, 
 " que le fujet qu'on lui prefente eft un fait reel, quoiqu' il ne le 
 " connoifTe pas. II nenferoit pas do meme,fi le fujet comique avoit 
 " du merveilleux^ ." 
 
 NOTE 74. 
 P. 83. A Poet should be a Poet or Maker of fables, 
 
 RATHER THAN OF VERSES. 
 
 So Plato, almoft in the fame words: — Iwovjcrocg on tov sroiyiTviv 
 Seat, etsrep f^eXXot 73-oiriTi^c hvat, woiav MT0OTS, ccXk a AOrOT2.— 
 Phcedon, p. 61, ed. Serr. 
 
 N O T E 75. 
 
 P. 83. Nor is he the less a Poet, though the inci- 
 dents OF his fable should chance to be such AS HAVE 
 REALLY HAPPENED, &C. 
 
 The original, as it ftands, (for I doubt of its integrity,) is very 
 ambiguous and obfcure. The fenfe I wijhed to give it, is this^: 
 " Nor will he be the lefs a Poet, though he {hoxxldijoiind his Poeip 
 
 ' Theatre des Grecs, i. p, 207. 
 . . N n 2 ~ ** upon
 
 276 NOTES. 
 
 " upon faifl : for nothing hinders, but that fonie real events may 
 '* be fuch, as to ndynit of Foctk probability; and he who gives 
 " them this probability, and ma/ces them fuch, as Poetry requires, 
 " is fo far entitled to the name of Poet, or In-ccntor.'' 
 
 And thus, indeed, the paflage is explained by Robortelli and 
 fome other commentators : and Cafaubon feems to have fo under- 
 ftood it ; for, quoting the words -icwj cc^oc a-ui/,Q,-n yivofx-eva ttcihv, k. r. 
 kX. — he fays, " ad ea folum dramata referendum, quorum hypo- 
 " thefis ab hiftoria efl ; ut Perfirum /Efchyli : fabul^ vero totiiis 
 " a-vAc-.c ab ino-enio Poeta;"." I do not, however, fee how this 
 fenfe can be fairly extracted from the words, as they now fland. 
 That which I have given in my tranllation, and which was firft 
 fuggefted to me by the word (rvf/,l3v, I was afterwards glad to find 
 fupported by the opinion of Vidlorius. 
 
 The expreffion — ay ITMBH* yevof^ivu Trciav, — " if he fliould 
 " happen" &c. is very ftrong, and hardly applicable to a Poet 
 chufing a true flory for the outline of his fable. It indicates acci- 
 dental coincidence with truth. The word uvea, alfo, is on the 
 fame fide : — " may be," does not fuit the fenfe above given, which 
 requires, " may become' — may be made fuch by the Poet; not, 
 " may be fuch," in themfelves, which is the obvious meaning of 
 TctocuTcx. EINAI. Farther; Ariftotle has juft told us, that probabi- 
 lity is the Poet's province, and yet, at the fame time, that Trage- 
 dies were ufually founded, and fiould, in general, be founded, on 
 hifloricaiyizi^. Now it would, furely, be rather ftrange, after all 
 this, to fay, " nothing hinders, but that fome real events may be 
 " made to have poetic probability :" — ilzv KXIATEI tomvto, limt 
 OM nv iu^ ysvsaSui, x.. r. u\. 
 
 But, to the interpretation which I have preferred, thefe expref- 
 fions are all exactly fuitable, and the meaning and connedtion of 
 the whole feems to be this : — Ariftotle had been oppofmg Poetry 
 Xojaii : he had faid exprefsly, that the yevof^em were the peculiar 
 
 * Df Satyrifa, Sic, p. 345. 
 
 province
 
 NOTES. 277 
 
 province of the hlftorlan ; the oix dv yzvoixo, and the \iv.^y of the 
 Poet. An objcdtor, mifipprehending, or mifreprefenting, his 
 meaning, might have urged — " the incidents of this or that Poet 
 " have adually happened ; they are yivoY-^va. ; and therefore, ac- 
 " cording to your ouon docTtrine, not proper for Poetry, nor the 
 " work of a Pct"/."— To this Ariflotle anfwers, that, though the 
 objed: of the Poet be not truths yet his invented probabihties may 
 coincide with truth : and real events, even of the Tragic and ex- 
 traordinary kind, 7nay have happened as probably and naturally as 
 he has fuppofed them to happen. He is llill, therefore, no lefs a 
 Toet ; not only as having actually invented the incidents, but as 
 having invented them with true Poetic probability. — And thus 
 Vi<ftorius : — " Non omnes eos — c^\ fortiiito incidmit in res qux 
 " exitum jam habuerint, in culpa efle ; quia fieri poflit, ut res 
 " aliquaey^^^^?, ita fadl^ fmt, ut verifimile fit illas fadtas effe ; et 
 ** efle denique ejufmodi, ut effici potuerint ; quo nomine (inquit,) 
 ** ille Poeta eorum aliquo modo eft : officium enim Poetce eft, ve- 
 *' rifimile feclari, et ea quse effici poll'unt fumere : quod in illis 
 *' rebus illo modo Ja^is non defideratur. Retinet igitur, hac de 
 caufa, nomen Poetze." I confefs, indeed, that the paffage is, in 
 this way, nothing more than an anfwer to a fenfelefs cavil. But 
 fuch cavils, we know, the fophifts of thofe times '' did not difdain 
 to make, nor Ariftotle always difdain to anfwer. See caj>. xxv. 
 TnwJ. Part IV. 
 
 N O T E 76. 
 
 P. 83. Of simple Fables, the Episodic are the 
 
 "WORST. 
 
 Why, 0I fimple fables — a-urXtdv ^\)^uv ? as if the fault here noticed 
 were peculiar to the Jimple fable ; that is, as the term is defined in 
 
 •• Such as Protagoras^ Euclid^ ArifhradtSy mentioned hereafter in this treatife, 
 
 the
 
 %-]% NOTES. 
 
 the following chapter, the fable that is without revolution or dif~ 
 covery. But furely this could not be Ariilotle's meaning. Some- 
 thing, I am perfuaded, is wrong : but I have no probable con- 
 jefture to offer ; unlefs it may be thought probable, that AIIAN- 
 TUN, abbreviated perhaps by the tranfcriber, might be miilaken 
 for AnAIiN. What Dacier fays in his note is ingenious and 
 true ; but by no means, I think, fully accounts for Ariflotle's 
 expreflion, which implies more, than that thefe unconnected Epi- 
 fodes, " fe Ytr\conti-&i\t. plus ordhtairemeJit dans les fables fimples." 
 
 Viftorius ftates the difficulty fairly, and only afks, with a 
 modefty which inferior critics often want, " An valet quicquam 
 **adeum (fcrupulum) evellendum, quod Tragoedia fimplex fua 
 ** fponte non valde elegans eft ; cui ft acceflerit hoc vitium, me- 
 " rito deterrima vocari poteft ?" — For my own part, I muft 
 atifwer in the negative. This idea has been adopted by Goulfton, 
 and Le Boftu, They make Ariftotle fay — " Simple fables are not 
 " fo good as complex, and ftmple fables that are Epifodic, are the 
 " worft of all." — This is to fupply a meaning, not to find one. 
 
 For the fenfe of Epifodes here, fee note ^J- 
 
 NOTE jy. 
 P. 83. In order to accommodate their pieces to 
 
 THE purposes OF RIVAL PERFORMERS, &C. 
 
 That adlors, as well as Poets, contended for the prize in thefe 
 Tragic games, or aymn;, might be fufficiently proved by a ftngle 
 paflage in the Ethics of Ariftotle, where, explaining the difference 
 between Ts-^oxi^scng, and (^nXvia-ig, he fays, " we may will, or de/ire, 
 " things not at all in our own power to effed: ; as, that fuch a 
 *' particular a£lor may gain the prize :" — vTu-oxpiryiv rtva, vDca.v, ^ 
 a&XriT7iv \ The reader may alfo fee a paffage in the Rbetoriqy lib, iii, 
 
 * Ethic. Nicom. III. iv. ed. Duval, p. 30. 
 
 Aywirai— '01 TnOKPITAI, Hefych, 
 
 z cap.
 
 NOTES. 279 
 
 cap. i. which throws fome illuflration upon this paflagc, by 
 ihevving the great importance of the players at that time, and the 
 dependance of the Poets upon them : for Ariflotle there fays of 
 thefe dramatic contefts, that, last f/,^^ov ^uuxvtm NTN tuv itcihtoov m 
 vTsrojcmTxi : " the a^orsf^now, have greater power — are more re- 
 '* garded, and of more importance to the fuccefs of the dramas — 
 " than the Poets." A revokition fomewhat finiilar is recorded by 
 Plutarch to have happened between the later Dithyrambic Poets 
 and their ctvXtjnxi, or flute -players : — ro ycta ■sru.'Kxiov, lug Itg MBXx'vnff~ 
 •stiStiv tov tu)V o.Svpcii^puv ■srot'^ri^v, (rv[ji,l2£l2'yiica, rug ATAHTAS Tsrocoa. tuv 
 TirotviTUV Kocfi(2xvni/ rug w<r9isg, nPXlTArXlNISTOYSHS ^vjXovori TH2 
 nOIHZEXlS, TUV ^' oivX'.]Tuv YnHPETOTNTXlN Totg UairxxXoig- 
 xjgeoov h [i. e. when, as he fays, the mufic of the flute became 
 more complicated, refined, and difficult,] koh tuto ^ts(p9x^v!^. But 
 nil this is nothing, to what we have heard of the modern defpotifin 
 fometimes exercifed by great opera fingers over the compofers. 
 
 The efFed: which this influence of the players might have, in 
 lengthening and difuniting the ad:ion, according to Arifl:otle's com- 
 plaint here, may be eafily imagined. Caflelvetro obferves, v/ith 
 great probability, of thefe ill-connedled e-arao-oiJ'/a, — ** Et, peraven- 
 ** tura, quefte digreiTioni fatte per compiacere i rapprefentatori, 
 " riguardavano piu a qtiello che i rapprefentatori fapevano bene con- 
 " trafare, che alia materia naturale della favola ; accioche efli 
 *' moftrafl^ro quello che valefl'ero, in quelle dove erano piu efl*er- 
 »* citati, et percio piu agevolmente otteneflero la vittoria'." Here, 
 too, the mujical reader, will be again reminded of the privilege fo 
 
 ^ De Muftca. ed. H. St. p. 2091. 
 
 "= Poet. d'Arl/}. p. 220. — " Suuni igltur quifque," lays Cicero, nofcat Ingenium, 
 *' acremque fe etbonorum et vitiorum fuorum judlcem prcebeat; ne fcanici plus quam 
 " nos videantur habere prudentis : illi enim, non optimas, fed fibi accommodatiffimas 
 " fabulas eligunt ; qui voce freti funt, Epigonos, Medumque; qui ge/lu, Menalippam, 
 " Clytaemneftram ; femper Rutilius, quern ego memini, Antiopam ; non faspe 
 " yEfopus Ajacem. Ergo hiftrio hoc videbit in fcsna, non videbit vir fapiens in 
 «« vita?"— Z)^ OJJc. I. 3r. 
 
 intemperately
 
 tSo N> O t E S. 
 
 intemperately exerelfed by modern Itialian fingers — the lineal de- 
 fcendants, according to fome, of the vwok^itm of the Greek Opera 
 — that of fetting alide^ whenever they pleafe, both the Poet, and 
 the compofer, by the introdudlion of fuch fongs, from other operas, 
 as they think moft favourable to the difplay of their peculiar ta- 
 lents. 
 
 The influence of modern adlors upon the produdtions of the 
 Poet, is, perhaps, not lefs than that of the antient ; but it feems 
 to be exerted moft frequently in a contrary way, though one full as 
 likely to fpoil the £|;s|^j of the piece — that of lopping. The 
 diftrefs of a Poet on fuch occafions is reprefented with true comic 
 force by Mr. Sheridan in his Critic : 
 
 Und. Prompter. 
 Sir, the carpenter lays it is impoffible you can go to tlie park fcene 
 yet. 
 
 Puff. 
 The park fcene ! no— I mean the defcription fcene here, in the wood. 
 
 Untd. Prompt. 
 Sir, the performers have cut it out, &c. End of Aft II. 
 
 NOTE 78. 
 P. 83. Beyond their powers — — . 
 
 I cannot agree with the commentators, who render Tra^a 7r,v 
 tiwdf^iv, *' fupra id- quod Jerat: — referring ^weti^iv to the fable itfelf. 
 I think it means ultra vires ^ beyond the powers of the Poets. 
 And fo the Abbe Batteux — " audela dtfaportee," 
 
 The greater the length of the fable, the greater, evidently, is 
 the difficulty of filling it up with confiftent probability j without 
 violating that clofe connexion of incidents, and unity of adlion, 
 which the rules of Ariflotle, and the nature of the drama, require. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. a8i 
 
 NOTE 79. 
 
 P. 83. That purpose is best answered by such 
 
 EVENTS AS ARE NOT ONLY UNEXPECTED, BUT UNEXPECTED 
 CONSEQUENCES OF EACH OTHER. 
 
 Taura ob yiveroa ^aXt^x toixutoc, km fiaXkov otooi yevvirat vapx rriv oo^xv 
 ^i aXXijXa. — This is certainly corrupt; nor does it fecm eafy to form 
 any probable conjedure, how it flood, as Ariftotle left it. Whe- 
 ther the words, km f^xXXov, be right or not, they fcrve, as the text 
 at prefent flands, only to embarrafs a pafTage, which, if we omit 
 them, feems clear enough, both in conftru6lion and meaning. In 
 this I perfectly agree with the lafl Oxford editor ; though I think 
 they llaould not be haflily ejedled from the text\ 
 
 The connexion and drift of the whole pafTage feems to me to 
 be this. Ariftotle is here recommending the clofe connexion of 
 incidents, arifing probably or Jieccjfarily from each other, in a new 
 point of view — as being of great importance, not only to the imity 
 of fable, but to the principal objeft of Tragedy, the produdtion of 
 terror and pity. For events are beft adapted to this purpofe, moft 
 Jlrik'ing and affe£ling, when they happen, not only Tra^a rvp lo}^cx.Vy but 
 Tra^K rviv h'ioLv Al' AAAHAA : when the wonder arifes, not only from 
 their happening unexpedledly, but from their being the coiifeqiiences 
 of events from which no one could have expedted them to follow. 
 Thus connedled, as caufe and effedt, they will be more furpriling, 
 and confequently more affedling, more terrible or piteous *, than if 
 they appear to happen by chance — u'uyo ra ax)TO(jt.ixTv km tyi? tu^'/;?"-— 
 liKTi — met' «XAijX« only, not Al' «AX^Xa, according to the diflinc- 
 
 » Mr. Winftanley's edit. p. 287. 
 
 * The efFeiS of furprife, when combined v/ith pity or terror, is, to add force to 
 thefe latter paflion?, which necefiarily predominate in the combination, and to raife 
 the uiheh' feeling to a higher pitch. See Hume's Eflay on Tragedy. 
 
 O o tion
 
 2g2 NOTES. 
 
 tion In the next chapter". To illuftrate this, Ariftotle obferves, 
 that even events merely fortuitous, are more wonderful and ftrik- 
 ing, when they are fuch, as in any degree fuggeft to the fpeftator 
 an idea of purpofe and defign j like the accident he mentions of 
 the ftatue that fell upon the murderer of the perfon reprefented by 
 it. — And all this is connected with what follows, as well as with 
 what precedes ; evidently pointing to his dodtrine about the vb^i- 
 -TTBTeiu in the next chapters. 
 
 NOTE 80. 
 
 P. 84. The statue of Mitys, &c. 
 
 In Plutarch, thus : — xou to MiT<a t» Apyan, xxra fao'iv avdioE^ivr©^, 
 KvdpixvTd ^ccXkhv tv Kyogoc, Qeai; ^(rrjg, IfmrecreiV tu KTBtvccvri tov Mitiov, VMt 
 aviXm. [riE^j rcov fi^ahcaq, ficc. p. 9 80, ed. H. aS/.] 
 
 NOTE 81. 
 
 P. 84. Fables — simple, and complicated. 
 
 It is high time to difcard the technical jargon of implex fables, 
 ufed by Addifon% and others, after the French writers. If any 
 authority were requifite for fpeaking Englifh, I have that of Mr. 
 Harris, who renders Ariftotle's a-rrXoi, and TrsTrXeytiem, by Jimp/e, 
 and complicated. — Phil. Inq. p. 146. 
 
 * C»p,x, Ai«f ijei TTo^u. K.r.M,. » Spc(5tator, N" 297. 
 
 NOTE
 
 N O T E SL -{jS3 
 
 NOTE 82. 
 P. 84. When its catastrophe is produced v/ithout 
 
 EITHER REVOLUTION OR DISCOVERY. 
 
 Aviv Tiri^csrereiixg >; onvccyvu^nrj^iii ij iJ.STa,j3oi(rii 'ywBTCii.—Mera.f2oi<riCf IS 
 the change of fortune which conflitutes the cataftroplie of the 
 piece. This, which is common to all Tragedy, muil: not be con- 
 founded with the n£fc5r£r?(«, whicli, however important, is not 
 effential. Le BoiTu, Dacier, and others, by not attending to this 
 diftindlion, have introduced much confufion into one of the 
 cleareil parts of Ariftotle's work. Thus, Dacier fays — " II ap- 
 *' pelle ishXzfimpk, celle ou il n'y a ni changemmt d'etat, ni re- 
 " connoilance, et dont le denouement n'eft qu'un fimple pojfage 
 " de I'agitatioJi et dii trouble au repos et a la tranqiidlite." — He 
 adopts the language of Le Bollu'. Undoubtedly, there are Tra- 
 gedies without ■Ol fudden and unexpeSled reverfe of fortune; but 
 where is the Tragedy, antient or modern, in which there is no 
 ** changement d'etat V This would be no other than a Tragedy 
 without a cataftrophe. Thus, thefe writers take i^zTOL^ounq to 
 fignify the mere palfage, progrefs, oxfiilte, of the piece * : whereas 
 it clearly fignifies a change ; a tranfition from profperous to ad- 
 verfe, or at leaft from adverfe to 7nore adverfe, fortune, or the con- 
 trary; as Beni has well obferved\ The fenfe of the word is 
 clearly fixed by other paflages ; and in cap, xviii. he exprefsly 
 makes the i^BTajSua-tg, fuch a change of fortune as is common to 
 every 'Tragedy. Ej-; (5s EfALHS rpxyu^ixg, ro [/,ev, htrig, to ^e, Kua-ig.— 
 
 * Du Poeme Ep. IL 16. 
 
 '' " Non fi prende i/.tra$aa-ii in quefto luogo per mutattom, come credono alcunij 
 " ma per lo procejfo dell' attione dal principio al fine." Caftelvctro, />. 242. 
 
 * Comment, p. 255. 
 
 O O 2 AJyw
 
 284 NOTES. 
 
 \syu ^e Seriv fiev livctt rviv arsr' u^X'Jg u-iyj^t tittk rtf /tteosf? IcT'xoiTov Ij-if, 
 «£ » METABAINEI hg Iutux'xv' Xvtrtv Se, rT,v a-sro rvjg cxpxv; TH2 ME- 
 
 Mr. Harris, in his Fhilol. Inquiries y p. 145, &c. feems to have 
 deferted Ariftotle for Le Boffu, who, with little reafon, in my 
 opinion, pafTed with him, as well as with Lord Shaftfbury, for 
 *' Arijlotle's bejl interpreter^ .'' Throughout his chapter on this 
 fubjedl, above referred to, he appears to me to confound the /^sra- 
 /Sao-/?, or change, which Ariftotle makes eflential to all Tragedy, 
 with that particular kind of change which he denominates Ts-eomre-^ 
 race : for he ufes, repeatedly, ths v/ord revolution, (his tranflation 
 of 'mi^mzTSio.,) to exprefs what Arlilotie means by /^£ra/3«o-;j, jwera:- 
 (cutveiv, [/,sTa.l3ixXXsiv. He fpeaks of Othello, and Lear, as complicated 
 fables, and having revolutions . And fo, indeed, they have, if we 
 take the word in Ariftotle's itrsk. of [^STocfScting ; I do not fee that 
 they have, in his fenfe of •arsfrzreTaa. In neither of t-iofe Tragedies 
 can it, I think, be faid, that the catajlrophe is produced by afudden 
 change, to the reverfe of what is expeBed, by the JpeBator, from the 
 _ circiimjlances of the aJlion. At leaft, with refpedl to Othello, this 
 feems to admit of no difpute. [See the next note.] 
 
 The Abbe Batteux gives, I think very properly, the PolieuSle 
 of Corneille, as an example of thsfimple fable. " La fable y/w- 
 " pie, qui n' a ni ve:vo\\\t\onfubite, ni reconnoifance ; qui commence, 
 " continue, s'acheve, fans fcou//es, ni retours inatte?idHs. Ainfi Poli- 
 " eudle re9oit le bapteme, fon zele lui fait renverfer les autels des 
 " payens, il eft arrete, juge, mis a mort : c'eft une fable fimple%" 
 
 Vi(5lorius, Beni, Piccolomini, and Goulfton, agree with me in 
 my idea of this pafTage, where the words, a-uvexag ^ou fy.ixg, are not 
 put to charadlerize thejimple fable, as Vi(ftorius well obferves, but 
 refer merely to that unity and continuity of adioa, which had been 
 eftablifhed as neceffary to Tragedy in general. 
 
 "* Treatife On Mnjic, Painting, Sic. p. 83, NqU. 
 * Principes de la Lit. tomt iii. p. 84. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. a8s 
 
 NOTE 83. 
 
 P. 84. A REVOLUTION IS A CHANGE INTO THE RE- 
 VERSE OF WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES 
 OF THE ACTION. 
 
 Ep ^S "STBOfWiTeitX. l^BV, 5J £<J TO IvXVTiOV TCilV 'Wpoe.TTOjJ.EVUV j^iTxfio'Sll, KX— 
 
 The fenfe of thefe v^^ords has not, I think, been exactly given ia 
 any tranflation I have yet feen, except that of the accurate and 
 judicious Piccolomini : " La Peripetia intendo io eflere una muta- 
 " tion di fortuna, che (fatta nel modo che fi e detto,) accafchi al 
 *' contrario di qiiello che dalle coje ordite afpcttar Ji potejje." In li- 
 teral Englifh — " When the things that are doing {joi, -m-^otTro^ivoi^, 
 *• have an effecl the very reverfe of what is expeded from them." 
 That this is the meaning, appears plainly from the inftance imme- 
 diately fubjoincd : uc-uTb^ Iv tm Oi^tsroh, eX9uv flS ETtI)PANnN tou 
 'OtSiSrav, xcti cz-uraX'A^.i^cov ra ■zzr^of ttjv y.viTi^oe, (po^-d, ^-tiXucrccg og-ig 5jy T OT- 
 NANTION EnOIHIE. As the words — yj ig to evavrwv tuv -sr^air, 
 uBT. are rendered by Dacier, and others — •* changement de for turn 
 " en une fortune contraire" — they exprqfs nothing but what is- 
 common to Tragedy in general ; and 'wi^miTetoc is confounded with 
 usTxf^xcng. [See laft notf,] But, it is well obferved by Piccolo- 
 mini, " Non s' ha, parimente, da intendere, quando diciamo la 
 " peripetia efler mutation di fortuna, ogni forte di miitatione da una 
 " conditione et Jlato di fortuna ad im altro ; non potendo effer Tra~ 
 *' gedia alciina in cui qualche cosl fatta mutatione non fi ritrovt." 
 [p. 167.] In the ufual way of tranflating the paflage, a circum- 
 ftance effential to the •s-g^cz.rgTaa is entirely omitted in the definition ^ 
 its being furprifngy and contrary to expectation \ This, it is true,: 
 
 * nffiTTETtiai Si ^£yo^Ta;l ra IlAP' EATUAA af/x^iac/Swora wavro, km cyrw; "Ka^a TPAFI-" 
 K0I2 £Ti KisiWiVTai.— Sf/W. Nicand. quoted by Robortelli, p. 1 06, 
 
 * Dacier
 
 ^86 r? p T IS 6-. 
 
 Dacier has expreiTed in his verfion, by the words, *' contrc ce quon 
 *' avoit attejidu,'' But this is, profefledly, his own fupplement 
 of Ariftotle's text. And indeed I once thought the text defedlive, 
 and that Ariftotle had probably written it — [^erxf^oXyi, riAPA THN 
 AOHAN, KxSciTTB^ It^Tcu : alluding to the latter part of cap. ix. 
 But, as I now underfland the palTage, this idea is fufficiently im- 
 plied. The words, KaSscTri^ It^yirxi, have puzzled and divided the 
 commentators, by their obfcurity of reference. Upon the whole 
 I am inclined to think, they point to what he had faid cap. ix. 
 [Tranjl. Part II. SeSl. 7.] which, as I before obferved, [note 
 3o,] feems manifeftly to be a preparation for this chapter ; and 
 in which the words, "srupot, tiji/ ^o^ccv ^i" aXXrjXx — events that are 
 ** tinexpeSled conjeqiiences of each other" — anfwer to the definition of 
 "TrspiTTBTitx, as here explained. 
 
 That this is the meanmg of Ariflotle's words, I have no doubt. 
 But, perhaps, even the words themfelves have been inaccurately 
 rendered, and 'Tr^oc.rroix.emv fliould be conflru<fled, not with ^stuISoXtj, 
 but with evccvTiov : — hg ro Ivxvtwv tuv 7rp(x,TTO[ji,sticou : i. e. ifi contrarium 
 eorum qnce aguntur. This v/as fuggefted to me by the literal ver- 
 fion which the accurate Mr. Harris has given of the words in his 
 Philol. Inq. p. 148. — " A revolution is, as has been already 
 *' faid, a change into the reverfe of what is doing." The definition, 
 I think, though its fenfe be the fame in either way, would thus be 
 more clear, and would anfwer more exadly to what follows. 
 
 NOTE 84. 
 
 P. 84. Thus in the Oedipus, the messenger, &c. 
 
 ipc^-d. Alluding, probably, to the very words of the meflenger in 
 Sophocles ; 
 
 JO Ti
 
 NOTE S. 287 
 
 T< hr lyuy i TOYAE TOT 4)OBOT <r', avcc^, 
 E-sreiUi^ ETN0T2 HAGON, ESEAT2AMHN; 
 
 V. 1 01 2. 
 
 NOTE 85. 
 
 P. 86. These then are two ;parts of the fable- 
 revolution AND DISCOVERY. 
 
 Au9 fi£v av TV [mSh fjiipy] ITEPI TATTA 6f/, -rrspiTriTaa text avocyvcopitrt^. 
 *' Circa hcec." About ivhat ? What are we to underfland by 
 Touras?. — Vidlorius fays, t« rrpxTTOf^evx ; and Dacier, after him, 
 "Qui regardent le Jujet." I cannot be fatisfied with this. Ta 
 ■sr^xTTOfisvoc, the fuhjcSl, the aSlion, are fufficiently exprefled by the 
 word (mQh. Would Ariftotle have faid, " Thefe are two parts of 
 " the fable relative to th.^ fable?" I have, therefore, neglefted the 
 word -zB-g^i in my tranflation, in conformity to the probable con- 
 jedlure of Madius. Every reader fees how eafily it might get 
 into the text from the word lirs^mreTetx which prefently follows, 
 I rather think, however, that, retaining tss^i, we ihoivld read, -za-gaj 
 T' ATTA : — " circa eafdem res ;" — to point out the clofe connec- 
 tion of thefe two parts of the fable, as things of t\\cfame kind,. 
 and counterparts, as it were, to each other, co-operating to the 
 fame effedl — the produdlion of terror, pity, furprile, &c. And 
 thus they are afterwards mentioned together, as conjfiituting o?ie 
 fpecies of Tragedy : vj pv yx^, -nn-nrXeyiievri, ^g to oXov Ig-t nEPIFIETEIA 
 KAI ANArNXlPISII. [cap. xviii. Tranil. Part II. Sed:. 19.] The 
 fame mode of expreffion occurs in the 'Ethics ad Nicom. lib. iv.- 
 cap. 13. riEPI TA ATTA ^£ (rx^lov EITI y.x^ ^ xXx^omx^- lua-oT^? : 
 *' in iifdem vertitur" That is, as appears from tlie context, the 
 virtue, of which be is there fpeaking, was of ihofame kind, or clafs,. 
 with that, which was the fubjedt of the foregoing chapter. Both 
 were among the u^iTxt ciA,iX-fiTrAxt. So, in the conclulion of the 
 
 fubfequeiit
 
 288 NOT E S. 
 
 fubfequent chapter — rr^as .iv ui h^fjcimi ev tu pnu j^e<roTtjrei* ET2I h 
 'STa.crou IlEPI Xoyuv rivuiv kki -BrpxPiuv kotvunixv. 
 
 NOTE 86. 
 
 P. 86. Disasters, comprehend all painful or de- 
 structive ACTIONS, &C. 
 
 It feems hardly reconcilable with philofophical accuracy, to ufe 
 fuch an expreflion as riAGOS er' nPAHIL — defining the Juf'ermg 
 to BE the a^ion that caufes the. fuffering. 
 
 In his Metaphyjics he puts it thus : — ra peyeSij tuv o-u^tpo^wi/ xai 
 Xv-sr-yipuv nA9H XiyETxi \ , 
 
 This word, ts-xSQ^, in the fenfe here ufed, is very embarrafling 
 to a tranllator. The word pq//ion, in this fenfe, oi fujfering, is, 
 with us, appropriated to a fubjeft, from which it cannot, without 
 a fort of profanation, be transferred to any other. The French, 
 however, have done this without fcruple, though the word, when 
 fo applied, muft be explained before it can be underftood. Upon 
 the whole, I could find no Jingle words that feemed to me to an- 
 fwer fo nearly to ■srafi©^, and its adjedtive, ■sra.QyiTintiv, in the fenfe in 
 which they arc ufed here, and in cap. xviii. as difaficr, and its 
 correfpondent adjedlive, difajirous. Their original, defajlre, is ex- 
 plained in the Did. of the French Academy, by " accident fumjie." 
 
 " Wherein I fpoke of moft difajirous chances, 
 " Of nwymg accidents [TraOn] by flood, and field." 
 
 Othello, Aa I. Sc. III. 
 
 • V. 21. 
 
 MOTE
 
 NOTES. 2S9 
 
 N O T E 87. 
 
 P. 86. The exhibition of death, 6cc. 
 
 Ev Tu (poius^u QccvxToi. — A plain paffage, which the commentators 
 feem to have taken great pains to perplex with difficulties of their 
 own invention. The plain meaning of the expreffion is, exhibited 
 on the Jlage : ev o(pSx>^iA,oig (pocmixeva TOT riAGOTS, as it is exprefled 
 in the Rhetoric, iib. ii. cap. viii. p. 560. 
 
 Ariftotle is here only explaining the term ttxQ^ ; not laying 
 down a rule, nor deciding concerning the propriety, or impro- 
 priety, of fuch exhibitions. Nothing is more evidently abfurd, 
 than the attempts of Dacier and other French critics to transfer 
 the delicacy of their theatre to that of the antients. The fcru- 
 pulous delicacy of French Tragedy was, I believe, as unknown to 
 the Athenian ftage, as its rigid and ftrutting dignity. A fingle 
 paffage, and that, from the moll: polilhed of the three Greek Tragic 
 Poets whofe works are extant, may fufficiently prove this ; I 
 mean the defcription of Oedipus tearing out his own eyes, in So- 
 phocles. 
 
 ToioajT BCpvf^vuv, ttoXXcczic TS >£0U% (ZTToP 
 
 Hpxcrcr , ivectpuv I^Xapccacx: (poivixi oj^'d 
 
 TXrivcct yivei enyyov' id avisirxv 
 
 ■fpouis ^voutTug gocyovocg' aXk of^a f/,sXcig ,- 
 
 Oj04/3f©j •)(jx.X(x.'Qfig ouyMTog ersyyero *. 
 
 Oed. Tyr. v. 12S4. 
 " Thus oft exclaiming, he his eyelids raifed, 
 " And rent the orbs of fight 5 the bleeding balls 
 " Imbath'd his cheeks, nor ceafed the gufliing drops, 
 " But rain'd a fhower of black and ftreaming gore." 
 
 Potter's Tranflation. 
 
 * This line is, undoubtedly, faulty. The beft emendation I have fsen propofed 
 appears to me to be that of Mr. Heath, who would read, wjuwroeij — i. e. contracted, 
 
 P p But
 
 290 NOTES. 
 
 But Sophocles did not confine himfelf to defcripfion. Oedipus 
 hinafelf immediately appears upon the ftage, and exhibits the 
 fliocking fpeilacle of his bloody eyes to the audience. Certainly, 
 the French rule, " de ne pas enfanglanter le Theatre," was not 
 much inore ftricSly obferved here by Sophocles, than it was by 
 Shakfpeare in his Lear, where Glofler's eyes are trodden out, \v 
 ^xve^u, upon the ftage. 
 
 I cannot quit this inftance from Sophocles, without diverting 
 the reader, (for I am perfuaded it will divert him,) with Pere Bru- 
 moy's apology, or, rather, with the joint apology of him, M. 
 Dacier, and Boileau. " Le grand Corneille et fes fuccefleurs 
 *' Tragiques, ont cru que ce feroit une chofe horrible d'expofer 
 ** Oedipe aveugle et fanglant aux yeux des fpedlateurs. M, Dacier 
 *' leur repond tris-bien par ces vers de Despreaux, Art Poet. 
 ** chant ii. 
 
 " II n'eft point de ferpent, ni de monftre odieux, 
 
 " Qui par I'art imite ne puifle plaire aux yeux. 
 
 *« D'un pinceau deli cat l' artifice agr cable 
 
 " Du plus afFreux objet fait un obj'et aimable ! 
 
 " Ainfi^o«r nous charmer, la Trageciie en pleurs 
 
 " D'Oedipe tout Jmglant fit parler les douleurs "." 
 
 This is pufhing Ariftotle's principle, of the pleafure we 
 receive from the imitation even of difagreeable objedls', rather 
 farther tharv, I believe, he thought of. A critic of much more 
 tafte and much lefs prejudice, fpeaking of the PhitoBetes of Sopho- 
 cles", has obferved, " that the antients thought bodily pains and 
 ** wounds, &c. {TrBpiuSvvioii Kxt Toacreig) proper objedts to be repre- 
 
 » Theatre des Grecs, i. 345^ 
 
 •" Above, cap. iv. Trajifl. Part I. Se£t. 5. 
 
 * See V. 749, &c. particularly, 796,7 : and the defcription of the bleeding.wound^ 
 V. 845. 
 
 7 - *' fented
 
 NOTES. 291 
 
 ** fented on the ftage. See alfo the Trachinice of Sophocles, and 
 ** tlie lamentitians, of Hercules in if"." 
 
 Hippolj lus, after having been dragged over the rocks, and 
 almoft i-orn to pieces, by his fiery courfers, appears upon the ftage 
 with his mangled and bleeding limbs'. — But, according to Boileau, 
 Dacier, &c. thefe are all " objets aimables.^' 
 
 NOTE 88. 
 
 P. 86. The Commoi are found in some only. 
 
 The Gi"eek fays — \Im ^e, to, uts-o (ncTjurj; KAI ko^jli^o;. Here, the 
 KCjXfi©^, and the ra u-sro c-avfu^gy are reprefented as diftinft things. 
 But in the definition afterv/ards, Ko^t^f^ appears to be the name 
 given to xhejoijit lamentation of the chorus and the adlors. Ko^- 
 /*©- J'g, 6^'/jv(^ Koiv^ x°^^ ^'^^ "■^° (ncvivv]!;. Vidtorius ftates this diffi- 
 culty, but without giving any fatisfa£tory folution. And indeed 
 I fee no way of reconciling thefe pafiages, uniefs we fuppofe Ari- 
 ftotle to have expreffed himfelf very loofely and inaccurately, and 
 to have meant, that v.o[/,f*<^ was the name appropriated to tl}at part 
 of the Xo^ixov which joined or alternated with one or more of the 
 uTiro (TKrivrii — i. e. the aSiors \ fo that by, Yio^©^ h, 6priv<^ kow©^ 
 •Xp^v Kou a-sro o-k'/ivvj;, we are to underftand only, that KcftfzB- was that 
 fi^ijv©- or lamentation oft/je chorus, in which the aclors, alternately, 
 took part; as if the Greek had been thus : — ^viv<^ yjia-d 'OT KOI- 
 NUNOTEIN o< a.-no ctojjvi;?. And fo, -rot. u.iro (rK.r,vrjg KAI KOfjt,fji.oi would: 
 only mean, the ko[xij.oi of the chorus with the utto a-x.yjvvii; — that is, 
 mixed with the lamentation of the adors, or perfons of tlie 
 drama. 
 
 * Dr. Warton's EfTay on Pope, vol. i. 73, Note. 
 
 « Hippcl. Eurip. V. 12365 &c.— and 1348. In Mr. Potter's tranflation, v. 1318, 
 19, 20; and 1438, &c. 
 
 P p 2 But,
 
 292 NOTES. 
 
 But it feems more for the credit of our philofophical critic, to give 
 up thzfrji of thefe paflages as corrupt, and to adhere to the plain 
 icnit of the definition. I have, therefore, taken no notice of the 
 v/ords, TC4 a-aro (7zv\v7\(;, in my veriion. Nothing is loft by the fup- 
 preflion. The fenfe of the word ycofjifJiJ^ is left, like that of the 
 other terms, to be fixed by its definition. 
 
 NOTE 89. 
 
 P. 86. Between entire choral odes. 
 
 I confefs myfelf not iatisfied as to the meaning of this expref- 
 fion, 'OAXIN %o^(}cwi/ fjLBXuv. I have therefore adhered to the 
 fair and literal tranflation of the 'words. — But what is an entire 
 choral ode or fong ? Is it that, which is in the regular lyric 
 form, in ftrophe and antiftrophe ? So it feems moft natural to 
 underftand it. But a difficulty meets us. For when the ria^o^©-, 
 as it often, and indeed almoft always, happens, is not fuch a re- 
 gular Antiftrophic Ode, what itame is to be given to that part of 
 the Tragedy, which lies between the -aya.^ol'^ and the firft Anti- 
 ftrophic Ode ? It cannot make a part of the n^oXoy©^, for that 
 ends with the ITa^ooiS'®-. The £x(?rt'f is out of the queftion. There 
 remains only the Epifodc ; and to that it cannot belong, confift- 
 ently with Ariftotle's definition of E-wa<roSiov, becaufe it will not 
 be, according to this fenfe of oXuv, " between entire choral Odes." 
 If we take entire to mean, all choral, i. e. not broken and inter- 
 rupted by the «Vo a-Kvivvjg, or the perfons of tlie drama, we fhall ftill 
 be embarraffed with the fame difficulty : for, whenever the -urx^o^®^ 
 is not, in this fenfe, entire, which is frequently the cafe ", the part 
 between that and the firft entire Ode, will be without a name. 
 
 » As in the riajoJi^ of the Ortjies of Euripides, the EleSJra of Sophocles, &c. 
 5 Shall
 
 NOTE S. 295 
 
 SJiaUvvc, then, with fome commentators, fuppofe Ariftotle by 
 eXuv ^opiKuv jAiXuv, to have meant only, cKm %op» [jteXuv — i. e. melo- 
 dies fung by the ivho/e chorus^? This removes the difficulty. 
 Yet I can hardly conceive, that he would have exprefied him- 
 felf in a manner fo wantonly ambiguous, when the clear and, 
 decifive expreffion — oX» %<'f«> which he prefently after ufes, was fo . 
 obvious. 
 
 From an accurate and philofophical writer, one would naturally 
 expedl a chapter of definitions to be clear. But whoever exped:s it 
 here will certainly be difappointed. Almofh every definition, to 
 be perfectly intelligible, wants other definitions, which are not 
 given, and which the obfcure and imperfedl information to be 
 found in other antient authors will not enable us to fupply. 
 
 NOTE 90. 
 
 P. 86. The Parode is the fiji5T speech of tht 
 WHOLE Chorus. 
 
 Tlcc^ot'^ ^iv v\ TT^uTTj AEHIE cX^ %«f^- — Though XsPig, in its proper 
 lignification, is mere Jpeec/j, yet it appears to have been occafion- 
 aVly extended to fuch melody as imitated fpeech, and to have an- 
 fwered nearly to the modern term, recitative. [See note 46, :>.xid 
 particularly the paflage from Plutarch at the end of it.] And fuch, 
 I have no doubt, is the fenfe in which it is here ufed, to dillin- 
 guifh the melody of the Parodos from that of the regular choral 
 odes ; which I fuppofe to have been a more varied, meafured, 
 and, as we may, not improperly, term it, a more miifical melody. 
 For want of underftanding this diftindlion, the commentators have ' 
 made ftrange confufion, by taking Xe|<f, either in its literal fenfe 
 
 '' So Goulfton — " Inter /)/c«w choricos cantiis ; qui fed. ab univerfo Jiebant choro.''' 
 Vifl. '■'■ Pleni Intcgrlque cantus." So Piccol. '■'■ Intierl cant'i." Hcinllus, Dacicr, and 
 Batteux, avoid the difficulty by omitting the word cMdv in their tranflations. 
 
 of
 
 294. NOTE S. 
 
 of mere fteaking, or in a fenfe abfolutely fynonymous with ^\<^, 
 as Dacier does. But it is hardly to be iuiagined, that Ariftotle 
 would uie the word Ae|(j without any reafon j and, that the Ilafo^©^ 
 could not be mei-e fpeech, or declamation, fuch as that of our 
 ftage, feenis evident eiwugh from the expreffion, x=|ij 'OAOT %ofy. 
 A number rmy fmg together, in- a kind of meafured- recitative, or 
 fimple chanting; but they cannot \vq)\ Jpeak together, without 
 intolerable confudon. This would be that very %of©- SiccXsjcnic^, 
 which Demetrius mentions as a thing abfurd and unheard of. 
 
 There is a fingular paffage in Dionyfius of HalicarnafTus, which 
 affords, I think, a ftrong confirmation, both of the fenfe v/hich 
 I have here given to the word Xi^ig, and of the propriety of its 
 application in that fenfe to the choral riiz^o^©-. In the 1 1 th fecflion 
 of his treatife De StruSl. Orat. in order to fhew, how little 
 profody was regarded by the compofers of the Tragic melo- 
 dies, he criticifes the melody of the following lines from the 
 Qrejles of Euripides : 
 
 ^lya, ciyx, Xbukov ix^oi; uofSuXr;^ 
 
 A7f07rpo(2o(.T ixaa- , uTTOTrpoSt Kcercci, V. 140. 
 
 Now it is remarkable, i . that he calls this, MEAOZ, and yet 
 reprefents it zb /aid by Eleftra : 'Ev^milv MEAflN, « 'n-eTroirjx.e tviv 
 
 HXizT^xv AEFOTIAN Tr^og rov %ofloi'. — 2. That the melody, to 
 
 which thefe words were fet, was the fmipleft poffible ; a kind of 
 
 ' Demet. ^tpi E^/x, Sc£l. 168, where fpeaking of fome poems of Sappho, that 
 defcended beneath the Lyric dignity and elegance, both in fubjeil and ft)Ic, he fays, 
 '■ they v.ere fitter to be recited, than fiing, and were ill adapted to be performed by 
 " a choru':, or accompanied by the lyre; unlefs," fays he, " there were fuch a thing 
 " as a fpeaking chorus :" — ii /^n rif im x^®' ^'a^E^TiA©". 
 
 Choral recitative, indeed, judicioufly introduced, and not continued too long, I 
 have often thought, might occafionally be fo managed as to produce a ftriking efFefl. 
 An example of it, and a very fine one, is to be found in an Oratorio of that admir- 
 able compofer, Enian. Bach, of which the title, in Englifli, is, The Ifraelltes in the 
 
 fViUlenufs 
 
 chanting
 
 3^ O T E S. 295 
 
 chanting redtathe. The three firfl words, for inftance, were fet 
 
 to one note ". 
 
 ^ 
 
 g 
 
 —and in other words too, the fame tone, as this author clearly in- 
 forms us, was frequently repeated. Tliis may be regarded as fome- 
 what of a mufical curiofity. For it is an authciidc, though indeed 
 a very fcanty and iniperfedt fpecimen, of one part of the dramatic 
 choral mufic of the Greeks. 3dly> This very melody was proba- 
 bly that of the nx^oS^ of this Tragedy. Dionyfius, indeed, gives 
 thefe words to Eledlra' ; but in all the editions of Euripides which 
 I have feen, the two firfl lines are given to the chorus; with more 
 propriety, I think, if we attend to what goes before. Eledra had 
 juil faid to the chorus, on their coming in while Oreftes was 
 fleeping j 
 
 XcoparSf jt*^ i^o<petT£, jiaij^' l^u ktxj-^^ 11. 134.. 
 
 The words, tlierefore, which Dionyfius, ciuoting probably by me- 
 mory, attributes to Eledtra, would feem to come more naturally 
 from the mouths of the .choral virgins, repeating to each other 
 the caution fhe had given them. But whether this- be fo or not, 
 yet, that this was xhG.JjrJi entry of the chorn 5 upon tlie flage, is clear 
 from the preceding fpeech of Eleftra : and the Lyric part, which 
 follows that fpeech, if it does not begin with, probably contains y at 
 leaft, the ttouttiv Xe^iv oXn %o^ii ; being all in the regular choral form 
 of Strophe and Antiflrophe, and, in all probability, fet throughout 
 to melody of tlie lame kind. Perhaps the ivJjok chorus might 
 not begin to fing, till the third Strophe, Uotvix, •Trorvia. m^. — If, 
 
 * Et 7af S>i TiiToif, TO, liya,. aiya, Tium; 2(p 'ENDS «l*0OrrOT MEAflAEITAI. 
 
 ' So does the author of one of the tjrguments prefixed to the Tragedy : uj (pr\7iv 
 
 as
 
 296 NOTES. 
 
 as Viciorlus contends, this be not the Parodos, it Cannot "begin 
 before, v. 316. , 
 
 Aly At, 
 
 Appjzaos^ wf — K. r, aX.-— 
 
 But, the very appHcatlon of the word 7r«jio^©<, which properly iig- 
 nifies the entry, or arrival of the chorus'', to the ttputti Xe^i?, or 
 firii/pL'^c/j of the whole chorus, fhev/s, I think, fufficiently, the 
 clofe connexion of the two things ; and that v/e are never -to look 
 for thd.t Jirl/^Jpeec/y, at fuch a diftance from the jirji entrance, of the 
 chorus. 
 
 But, it may, perhaps, be objetted to the diftindlion I underfland 
 here between X£|(f and f^eX^, that it will expofe us to the very dif- 
 ficulty mentioned in the lafl Note : it will make Ariftotle's enume- 
 ration of the parts into which Tragedy is divided, incomplete; 
 becaufe, if we admit it, the part between the TLx^oS^ and the firfl 
 ZTxa-if-iov or regular Ode, will want a name. For, if any thing, it 
 mud: be Y-TTstG-ohov ; but this, it may be faid, it cannot be, becaufe 
 it will not be, according to Ariftotle's definition, f^ira^v x,°^t>iuv 
 MEAHN:; the Parade being not [^eX©^, but Xe^ig. — It feems a fuffi- 
 cient anfwer to this objection, to obferve, that Xs^ig, here, is not 
 oppofed to i^ex@- in general, but only to a particulary/'awj- oi ^zx'^-. 
 Stridly fpeaking, the fimpleft chant, or even fuch recitative, as 
 approaches the neareft to common fpeech, is yet as much ^tX^^, 
 melody, mufic, as the moft refined Opera fong^ It is called X£|<?, 
 only comparatively. Nay, the word jt*£X©o is fometimes, in a wider 
 {^wiz, applied even to fpeech itfelf ^ And fo, above, we have XiKTtxri 
 
 * — h i-av EII0A02 T8 x^fa, IIAPOAOI. JuL Poll.— And fo the fcholiall on 
 Hcphsftion : kiu nuhinou n tt^uti] tojv %0f4iv Iti thi/ anrivrw ektoJ©-. Ec/, de Pauw. p. 74. 
 
 ' See DifT. II. p. 52, note ', and the paflage of Arifloxenus, concerning the 
 effentlal diftindlion between all fpeech, and allfmg'ing; i. e. that in the one, the voice 
 moves hj flides, in the other, by intervals, or Jkips. ' 
 
 ' Dilllrt. II. p. 51. note ": and Dion. Hal, £g£I. XI. 
 
 'APMONIA.
 
 NOTES. 297 
 
 'APMONIA^ Ariftotle, therefore, in the cxprefTion xo^'^^^'-' AIEAXIN,. 
 may be fuppofed, without any inconfiftence, to include, what, af- 
 terwards, in the particular definition of ituqoI'^, where diflindlion 
 was neceflary, he denominates Xe|(?. 
 
 It muft be owned, that Ariilotle's parfimonious brevity has 
 left fome confufion in this fubjedi; but, in the illuftrations of his 
 commentators, it is " confiijion loorj'e confounded." And this has 
 arifen from their applying to the Greek drama, without the flighteft 
 foundation, the Roman divifion intoyA;^' a^s. It is now, I believe, 
 pretty well underftood, that fuch an idea is totally inapplicable to 
 the Greek Tragedy \ If we mufc talk of adls, it would be more 
 proper to fay they had three ; forming our divifion upon the three 
 parts, which, according to Arifi:otle, were eflential to every drama, 
 the U^oXoy©^, the Etthcto^iov, and the eIcJ'©^ -, not upon the number 
 of choral odes, which is different in difi:erent dramas. In the 
 "Trachinice, for example, there are not fewer than fix choral odes. 
 If thefe are to determine the number of adls, as Dacier contends, 
 this Tragedy will confift oi /even. Brumoy, to divide this piece 
 into five a6ts, is reduced to admit an entire ode in the middle of 
 his firfi: a6t ; fo that the Epifode, which Arifi:otle defines to be that 
 part which is f/,sTa.hj oXuv ^o^i^caj/ [/.eXuv, begins in the Tl^oXoy'B--, and 
 before the Ua^oS®^, which, according to Brumoy, mufi: be the Jccond 
 ode. Another ode he is obliged to admit in the middle of his lafl 
 adlj contrary to Arifi:otle's definition of E^o^'^. — Dacier makes the 
 prologue of the Oedipus Coloneus confift of 700 verfes'. Nothing 
 can be more improbable, or more inconfiftent with Ariftotle's idea 
 of its purpofe. [See note 4c.] But he was forced into this abfurdity, 
 
 s Cap. 4. 
 
 '' This was proved long ago in a diflertation by the Abbe Vatry, in the nth 
 vol. of the Mem. de I'Jcad^ Roy, &c. — See alfo the preface to Franklin's Sophocles. 
 — Yet Lord Kaims fays, pofitively, of the Greek Tragedies — " than are five ails ia 
 " <'fl(:/&."— El. of Crit. ii. 414. 
 
 ' Note on Ariftot. p. 177. 
 
 Q^q only
 
 29^ NOT E S. 
 
 only by the fuppofed neceffity of reducing the intervals between the 
 odes to three, and, confequently, the aSls, (adding the prologue and 
 exode,) to Jive. For if the true far ode be at v. 1 18, ('O^a- nq a^ 
 ■^v; X. r ccX.) as I doubt not it is, there will then be four fuch 
 intervals, and, confequently, fix adts. He repeats the fame mif- 
 takes in dividing the Fhcemja, in which there are five regular odes, 
 as in niany other of the Greek. Tragedies. In the Oedipus 'Tyran- 
 nus he makes the ode, Eitts^ \yu y.uvrn; hf/.i, {v. 1096,) come in the 
 middle of an ad: ; and then, ^ecau/e he chofe to place it fo, is 
 forced to deny that it was fufig, though it is in the moft regular 
 Lyric form"". 
 
 The expreffion, nPnTH XeI*? oXh x°?^> fccma to imply, that 
 otJ^er choral parts, befide the Parade, were alfo Xs|if j /. e. were 
 fung by the whole chorus in the fame fort of chanting and fimple 
 melody. But who will undertake to diftinguifli thefe parts, and 
 to tell us, exadlly, what was Air, and what Recitative? what 
 was fung by the whole choir, and what was, a voce fola^ f — I will 
 not bewilder my reader and myfelf in. a labyrinth without a clue. 
 
 The fcholiaft upon the Phceniffce (v. 212.) fays, that the lla^J©,- 
 was fung by the chorus, ** as they entered upon thejiage." — Uot^o^©^ 
 ti, eg-tv u^ri %of>« (2a,^i^ovr@-', aSofievrj af^ct, t»] iitroou, Ciq to — Ttyoc, <riycc, 
 &c. And, indeed, in the example he here gives from the Orejies^ 
 the entrance of the choral troop is clearly marked by what pre- 
 cedes. Eleftra fays 
 
 * Remarquesjur VOedipe, at the end of his tranflation of that Tragedy. 
 
 1 The learned reader knows that this cannot'be determined by their fpeaking of 
 themfelves in xh^fingulcir number, for this they do almoft conftantly, in all the Odes. 
 So, Ew£f ErXl ittavTi; Ei/ii, juft referred to, &c. — Neither can we fajf, what at firft 
 -view, indeed, feems probable, that whatever appears in the regular Lyric form of 
 Strophe and Jntijlrophe, was air, as oppofcd to recitative, or mere chant : for in fome 
 Tragedies the n«co?©- itfelf is in this regular Lyric form; as, in the Trachiniaznd 
 Ekiira of Sophocles ; Iphig, in Aul, of Euripides, &c.
 
 NOTES. 299 
 
 'A(^' av nAPEIKI TOic liMig dfir,iy;ix,X(rt 
 
 <S?iXM (Tvi'uSoi. 1'. 132. 
 
 And this is frequently the cafe. Thus, in the P/jiem/Zi", that 
 the Tv^iou oi^[A.a. XiTTHj — V. 212, (not, K(55(5)m,^ liMKi — V, 651, as 
 Dacier makes it,) is the tine Parode, as, indeed, it is exprefsly called 
 by the author of the Greek argument prefixed to the Pcrfce of 
 i^ifchylus, is confirmed by this paflage, announcing the entry of 
 the choral virgins, in the preceding Iambics, where the old attend- 
 ant defires Antigone to retire : 
 
 XXIPEI [/V Co?}ling\ ywjKtiCuv rr^og Sof^m rv^KwiKng. 
 
 V. 206. 
 
 Thus too, in the Oedipus Cohneiis, the firft appearance of the 
 chorus is thus announced by Antigone : 
 
 "Liyx- nOPEYONTAI yx^ 'flAE ^ rmg 
 
 XpOVU TTXXXIOI 1\ III. 
 
 And the Tlx^oS©^ immediately follows, v. 117. 
 
 In the Ipbigenia in Tauris, the arrival of the choral women is 
 marked by themfelves: 
 
 Xo. — EMOAON' r< veov J 6cc. V. 1 37. 
 
 See alfo, v. 65. 'Outtw Trxgeta-w . 
 
 The Parode is not lefs diftindly marked in the Medea, v. 131. 
 Xo. EnXvov (pmxv — k. r. dx. — in the Heraclid^e, where the chorus 
 is called in by lolaus, v. 69 : — in ih.Q Hekiiaj v. 179 : — in the Her- 
 cules, V. 107, &c. 
 
 When the attendant fpirit, in Com us, ** opens the bufinefs of 
 *' the drama to a folitary forefi:, without an audience," he does no 
 more than Venus"', and the ghoft of Polydorus", and Iphigenia', 
 and many others, in the Tragedies of Euripides, had done before 
 him. The learned and ingenious editor of Milton's Occafional 
 Poems fays, that, *' in a Greek Tragedy, this objection would 
 
 •" In the Hlppolytus. " Hecuba, " Iph'tg. in Jul. 
 
 Qjl 2 " have
 
 300 NOTES. 
 
 " have been obviated by the chorus, which was always prefent ■" 
 but I am afraid the w^ant of " recolkSlion" mufl: be transferred from 
 Milton to himfelf''. There are not, I think, more than three 
 or four Greek Tragedies, in which the chorus is prefent from the 
 beginning''. 
 
 This Ylot^o^!^, or entry of the chorus, probably made one of the 
 moft fplendid and popular parts of the OTIE, or JJoew, of the an- 
 tient Tragedy. It is mentioned by Ariftotle, in his Nicomachean 
 'Ethics, as a cuftom of the Megarians, who were a luxurious and 
 oftentatious people, to be at the expence of furnifliing purple 
 dreffes for the Xlcc^ol'^ even of their comic flage'. It appears, 
 however, from a curious fragment of Menander, to have been a 
 practice, not uncommon with the Greek Managers, to place mutes 
 among their choral fmgers, in order to complete the vijible number 
 requifite: 
 
 — — — tdffinp Tuv ^oOTi/ 
 
 'H Tf«j Tra^e^riKua-i, nANTflN ESXATOI, 
 
 Eig Tov KDiQi^oV — KKt T'dff o[jt.otag vrug £%«* 
 Xupav K.ocTi'Xpf^sv, (^CiKTi (J'' cig Ig'iv /3;©-'. 
 
 As in a chorus 
 
 jdll do not fing, but, in the h'mdmoft ranks. 
 Some two or three ftand mute to make a number. 
 So is it here ; — we ferve to fill a place j 
 l!hey only live, who have the means of living. 
 
 » Mr. Warton's edit, of Milton's Occ. Poems, p. 129. "Milton did not re- 
 ** colIecEt, that the Spirit was opening the bufuiefs of the drama to a folitary foreft, 
 " without an audience." 
 
 9 See Dacicr, />. 170, note 5. 
 
 •. m/k. 
 
 • Menand. and Philcm. Reliq. td. Clericiy p. 221. 
 
 Ox. JVilk. 
 
 NOTE
 
 N: O T E S. 301 
 
 NOTE 91. 
 
 P. 86. The Stasimon includes all those choral 
 Odes that are without Anap^sts and Trochees. 
 
 1,Tex.(TifjiOv OS, ijlb\<^ XP^^ '^° ^"^^ a.vocTTXig'ii kou too^ouh. — If we are to 
 underftand this ftridtly, as exprefllng the exdujion of thofe feet 
 from the regular odes, I cannot perceive it to be true. Dacier, 
 therefore, underflands only, that thofe feet were 'very rarely ufed 
 in thofe Odes, compared with the Wa^ol<^, which he calls " pre- 
 " mier chant du choeuri" in which, he fays, and very truly, that 
 
 xhs,y prevail. — " Ces deux pieds regnent" &c. p. 179. — It is 
 
 pofTible that Ariftotle might i7iean this ; but it is not what \\&fdys. 
 He fays, " that fA,sK<^ — that lyric part, of the chorus, which is 
 *' without anapajls and trochees." I rather think, he means only 
 thofe Odes, the xtgwXdir Jianzas of which are not broken and in- 
 terrupted by an intermixture of anapasftic or trochaic verjes kccto. 
 avs^fix, (according to the metrical language,) like the Parodos, as 
 I take it to be, of the Antigone, — Kkti? aeA^K — v. 100 — that of 
 the PhiloSletes — T< %^-,j — v. 136, and of the Prometheus of ^Efchy- 
 lus. And this, I believe, will, in general, be found true of the 
 regular Odes fubfequent to the IVa.^ol'^. For, in the Xlotao^'^ itfelf, 
 the general prevalence of the anapaeftic meafure muft be evident 
 to every one who turns over the Greek Tragedians. 
 
 NOTE 92. 
 
 P. 86. The Commos, &c. 
 
 Ko^^©j— — " 'Hyaro yMvodiKm [/.v^ix TrXij^uf, [/.erx KOMMOT KAl 
 *' 'OAOATrHL"— -T»T£f(, yon koh o^v^jah, — Suidas, 
 
 The
 
 302 NOTES. 
 
 The phrafe, utto c-K'/jv^g, is commonly ufed by Ariflotle to denote 
 the aSfors, as diftinguiflied from the chorus ; becaufe, as Jul. Pol- 
 lux tells us, SKHNH jmev TnOKPITXiN l^m, vi ^s c^X'^;-^(x. tis %opsf\ 
 Thus, Prcl\ xlix. of Sccf. 19, fpeaking of the Dorian and HypopLny- 
 gian modes, he f^ys, they were both, -xp^os y,sv cxva^f^og-x, rotg ^s ktto 
 ir^;^y/;g eiKstoTspx. — So, Prob. XXX. and Prob. xv. rx «7ro <rxvjvi;g, (the 
 dlalogney) is oppoled to roc ra %o^a — the chorits. I was much 
 furprifed, therefore, to find the meaning of this phrafe fo widely 
 miftaken, in the late Camb. edit, where utto a-y.riv'/ig is thus explained: 
 " id ell, KT£x^'^ — ad choragi fiuoiiis, iion Poeta:, pertinens\" 
 
 An example of the ILo^^^-, pointed out by Vidorius, may be 
 found in the ^//'/(//w;/,^r/6c' of Euripides, v. 1197. 
 
 I know not why fume of the commentators confine thefe joint 
 lamentations of chorus and adlors to the Exode, or what ibey call 
 the lalt act. They are often, I think, to be found in other parts 
 of the drama ; ** dans le corns dcs aSies," as Dacier rightly ob- 
 ferves. We have an example of this between Tecmefla and the 
 
 chorus, in the j^jax, v. 901. Iw, po; ,0.0; . Another occurs 
 
 very early in the Iphigen'ia in 'Tauris, v. 143, 6cc. where Iphigenia, 
 aflilled by the choral virgins, her attendants, performs the funereal 
 libation to the manes of her brother, whom flie fuppofes to be 
 dead, and fings a funereal dirge. The chorus, indeed, have fo 
 fmall a part in this lamentation, that it may be thought hardly to 
 anfwer Ariftotle's definition of 5^iji/(^ kohj^ Sec. But this, in fadt, 
 feems no objedtion, becaufe the lamentation of Iphigenia is broken 
 off abruptly, as Mr. Markland has well obferved, at v. 235, by 
 the arrival of the fliepherd. I confider it, therefore, only as an 
 unfinhhed KO|tt|W(S>-, But, that it anfwers to that idea, appears, 
 I think, from the whole caft of it ; from the frequent occurrence 
 of the interjedions, <p£u, cpeu — J, e — xi, «< — 0; (xoi. Sec. — and of the 
 very word, d^riv^, throughout', and, from the anfwer of the chorus: 
 
 • IV. 19. ^ Ed. Cantab. 1785, p. 125. 
 
 £li SfJii'oij eymfMU. V. 143. Xop.
 
 NOTES. 503 
 
 Xop. — ANTlf AAMOYE u^ccg 
 Yfjivov T AcrnjTxv irci 
 
 "Tccv ev 0PHNOI2I y,iS!rav 
 
 To thee thy faithful train 
 
 The Afiatic hymn will raife, 
 
 A doleful, a barbaric rtrain, 
 
 Refponfive to thy lays. 
 
 And fteep in tears the ixiournful fong. 
 
 Notes which to i\ic dead belong; 
 
 Difmal notes attun'd to woe 
 
 By Pluto in the realms below. — — 
 
 Potter's Eurip. v. 106., 
 
 NOTE 93. 
 
 P. 87. This raises disgust, rather than terror 
 OR compassion. 
 
 Literally, — " for this is neither terrible, nor piteous, hwljfjock- 
 ** ing." 8 yup (pol3epov, aJe Ixeeivov thto, dxXu y.iupov \^tv.—Qnt We 
 certainly muft not underftand Ariftotle to aflert, that no pity is 
 
 <• " Mortuis miferam." " Quid hoc fit, nefcio," fays Mr. Markland. But, per- 
 haps, it fhould be rendered, " Mortuis vanarriy mutilem," in the Homeric fenfe of 
 ^E^E©-. See II. "¥. 795 — ixi>£@- aiv@- — ufelefs, unavailing praife. So, in Virgil— 
 " inani munere." JEn, vi. 886, — And, ^n. xi. 51. 
 
 Nos juvenem exanimum 
 
 vano moefti comitamur honore. 
 
 ME^e®-— MATAIOS. Suid. and Hejych So, Apoll. Rhod. i. J 249. MEAEH 
 
 2t 01 mu^<) ^wvx.^" Fantfs ei erat clamor." 
 
 2 excited
 
 '3°4- 
 
 B O T IE S. 
 
 excited by the fufFerlngs of- an exemplary charad:er. This would 
 be directly contrary to his own account of pity: EAe©^ f^Bv, tt^i rov 
 uvcc^iov^. He muft mean only, that. they are rather fhocking, than 
 afFedling; as it is well rendered by Piceolomini; " un cosi fattocafo 
 " non ha, ne del terrible, .(per dir <:psr,) ne' del compaflionevole ; 
 " ma fiii tojlo ha dell' abominevole, et dello fcellerato." That is, 
 as this clear and exadl, though prolix, writer has explained it in his 
 fubfequent atuiotation, — " quello affetto dell' odio et dell' abomi- 
 " n^Ltionc, Jopra'vatiza in mpdo I'affetto del timore, et quel della 
 " compaflione, che gli rkuQpre, et gli ajecnde, et fupera, in modo 
 " che quaji non fi fan fentire." 
 
 M/aooi/ — -JIdocking, difgujiingi ice, becaufe contrary to our efla- 
 bliflied ideas of julliee^ ^aad to every rnoral fentiment of our na- 
 ture. Hiilory, indeed; muft reprefent facSts as. they are ; without 
 anv regard to the fentimcnts they m^ay excite. But the cafe is 
 far otherwife with the ficflions of the Poet. We think he ought 
 not to make fuch a reprefentation of things'". We confider it as 
 difcouraging to virtue, as immoral, — even, in fome degree, as irre- 
 ligious. What reader of CLARissA-does not find the pity, the 
 pleajurable pity, at leaft, which it is the objed: of fuch a work to 
 excite, frequently counteracted, and diminifhed, to fay no more, 
 by fome indignant feelings of this kind ? The flory of Sidney 
 Biddidphi though ^ work of confiderable merit in the execution, is 
 liable to the fame obj.edion. The mind of a reader is harra^fTedand 
 revolted throughout by. the moft improbable and determined ^tr- 
 verfenefs of unfortunate combinations; and fliocked, at laft, by the 
 wanton produdlion of mifery, neither deferved, nor likely.— :-Ou 
 cpojSspov, a^e sXsetvov tuto, aXXa. ■ yjix^ov. Fontenelle lays, in perfedl 
 conformity with Ariftotle, " Plusie heros eft aime, plus il eft 
 
 » And fee Rhet. II. 8. 
 
 ^ " Cum hiftoria vera fuccefTus rerutn minlmc pro mentis virtutum et fcelerum 
 ** narret ; corrigit earn Piejis, ct exitus et fortunes, fecundum meri'ta, et ex lege 
 •' Nemcfcos, exhibet." - Bacon, De Augr ^c. Ub. ii. c. .13.' 
 
 .:■ '* convenablc
 
 NOTES. 305 
 
 '* convenable tie le rendre heureux a la fin. II ne faut point ren- 
 ** voyer le fpedlateur avec la douleur de plaindre la deftinee d'un 
 " homme verteux." Reflex, fui- la Poet. Se£}. 52. 
 
 To do juftice to the author's meaning, two other things (hould 
 be kept in mind : i. That, by his BTrmycriq, he here means a cha- 
 rader of confummate virtue, whofe misfortunes were not drawn 
 upon him by any fault of his own. This is evident from what 
 follows. The itn^Q. of the word is fufliciently fixed by its oppo- 
 fite, LOOAPA TTovyi^ov, as well as by the equivalent exprelilon, 
 a.^sTYi AIA^EPXIN zcci hzxiocrwr, in his defcription of the proper 
 charadler for Tragedy". 2. That he prefently afterwards foftens 
 a little the rigour of his precept as here delivered, by faying, that 
 the character fliould be either fuch as he had prefcribed, " or better 
 ** rather than worfe :" fiiXrtov^^ i^otXkov ^ ^a^uv©^'. 
 
 N O T E 94. 
 
 P. 87. For it is neither gratifying in a. moral 
 VIEW, 6cc. 
 
 OuTE yci^ <I>IAAN0PnnON — , Without entering into a long 
 difcuflion of all that has been urged by the commentators in fa- 
 vour of the different fenfes they have afTigned to the word (piXxv-' 
 O^coTTov here, I fliall only fay, that, upon the moft attentive compa- 
 rifon of this paffage with another, in cap. xviii. where the term 
 again occurs, it appears to me, that xht full meaning of it is, 
 gratfying to philanthropy j pleafuig by its conformity to our natural 
 fenfe of juflice, by its moral tendency . Indeed this feems to follow 
 from the wordpa^oi/, to which ipiXxvd^uTrcv is oppofed. The reprefen- 
 tation of a good man (iTriaKTig) made miferable is fy.iu^ov — di/gtfing, 
 
 ' For Ariftotle's account of iTntrntia^ the reader may confult Eth. Kuofn. V. 10. 
 ed. Wilk. 
 
 R r flocking.
 
 3o6 NOTES. 
 
 jhockmg. Why? Plainly, on account of its evident injuftice, and 
 immoral tendency. The reprefentation of a very bad man ((r(f)o^^a 
 TToj-ijo©-) puniflied by calamity, is (piKoM^^u-nov ; — that is, plealing to 
 the fpedator, on the fame principle, from its oppofite tendency. 
 
 A fingular, but fomewhat fimilar, ufe is made of the fame word 
 in Plutarch's dialogue Tn^i Maa-iKrir -, where, fpeaking of the wicked 
 innovations of the more modern muficians, Timotheus, Philoxenus, 
 Sec. he fays of them — cpiXcxccivoi ytyovcca-i, rov $IAAN0PnnON xxt 
 6si^ciTiKov NYN 'ONOMAZOMENON Siu^avrB?. M. Burette's note 
 upon this is perfectly unfatisfadlory ^. I believe we fhould read — 
 TO (piXavO^uTTov Kcii eEATPIKON — k. t. aX. — i. e. " being lovers of 
 " novelty, they afFed: what is now termed the pleajmg and thea* 
 " trical ftyle." The Theatre, we know, was confidered by the 
 ■purijls of that time, as the great fource of corruption in Mufic. 
 The reader may fee how Plutarch rails, on this fubjed:, p. 2081, 
 and 2089 ; where he laments — %u.vra,q T-<iq ^>i(Tiy.y\q ctTrroi^eva^ Trpog 
 T/lv GEATPIKHN Tr^otnce^u^riycevxt fxiSTav. — It a^ppears, from his ex- 
 preffion, NTN ovo^xZ,oia.svov, that this was a new -and fafliionable ufe 
 of the word (ptXavO^aTrov ; which, from the fenfe oi pleajing to natural 
 benevolence, (as in the paflage of Ariftotle,) feems to have been ex- 
 tended to fignify, v/hat was pleajing, and grateful, to the popular 
 tafle, in general', in oppofition to thofe more chafle and fevere 
 produdions of the artifl, which aimed only at the gratification of 
 the critical, and the learned. And, indeed, no fort q^ philanthropy 
 is more common, in all times, and in every art, than that of accom- 
 modation to the public tafle. 
 
 » Mem. de I'Acad. des Infcrip. vol. xix. p. 325, oEi. cd. — In H. Stephens's ed. of 
 I'lut. p. 2080. 
 
 NOTE
 
 j^ ^ ir '§ s. 307 
 
 N O T E 95. 
 
 P. 87. Our terror, by some resemblance between 
 
 THE SUFFERER AND OURSELVES. 
 
 Thus, In the Rhetoric, it Is recommended to the Orator, as one 
 method of exciting terror in his hearers, r^g 'OMOIOTE ^nxvwxt 
 vourxovrxi;, vj Tn^ov^Tocq '. Ariflotle's do'dlrine concerning the im- 
 portance of this refembhmce to oiirfehes in the objedt of the paf- 
 fion to be excited, and the extent he gives to the word o^oiog, may 
 be feen in the paflages of his Rhetoric referred to in the margin''. 
 The refemblance, however, here particularly naeant, is undoubt- 
 edly refemblance of ckaraSfer. This is well explained by M. 
 Batteux in few words : *' Un crime atroce, un horreur As.fceleraf, 
 *' revoke le fpedlateur, et par cette revoke ineme, le raflure contre 
 ** la crainte ; parcequ'il fe fent auffi eloigne du malheur, qu'il 
 '* reft du crime." \_^atre Poetiqties, torn, i, p. 307.] Or, as it is 
 more fully developed by Piccolomini, " Riputando, per il piu, 
 " gl' uomini fe ftefli buoni, o almeno non cattivi, ed in fomma, 
 ** non degni di male; e, per confegucnte, diJJimiU a quelle perfone 
 *' imque, in cui veggon il male, et in quefto differenti da effe, cheelle 
 *< lo meritano, ed effi non lo meritano : non vengon' a dubitar di 
 *•■ cadere in tai mall, et, confeguentemente, non ne nafce timore in 
 ** loro." p. 194. 
 
 » II. 5. 
 
 '' Ubifupra. Cap, vjii. p. 559, E,-~Cap. x. /«//, 
 
 R r 2 NOTE
 
 3o8 NOT E S. 
 
 NOTE 96. 
 
 P. 87. Nor yet involved in misfortune by delibe- 
 rate VICE, OR VILLAINY; BUT BY SOME ERROR OF HUMAN 
 FRAILTY. 
 
 Mjjte oicx, KOMtxu Koct ^O'xPmiot.v f/,eTxl3uWuv hg ttjv ^ug^u^^xv, aAXos Si 
 
 uf^x^riav Tiva . Thus, in the Ethic. Nicom. V. 10. p. 69. he 
 
 ufes fzoxS'/j^ix, 2.nd xxztx, as fynonymous : and, VII. g; where he 
 fays of f^oxSrj^'O', that it is STNEXHL 'Trovvi^ta. — a vitious cbaraBert 
 difpofition, habit , &c.— ItaLfo implies deliberate choice and inteation, 
 ( — orocv oi eye TTfiOxspBO-ecag, jW5%5^p;fl(, V. 8.) in oppofition to cif/,cipTicXf 
 which excludes ■rr.^oxi^Btrtg, and is aveu KAKIAZ. (ibid.) 
 
 To underftand rightly what the philofopher fays in this part of 
 his work on Poetry, and efpecially his application of his dodlrlne 
 to fuch charadlers as Oedipus and Thyefles, we ought carefully to 
 take his own fenfe of his own words. . For want of this, Dacier * 
 confounds hiinfelf and his readers in his note about Thyejles. He 
 miftakes Ariflotle's fenfe of aiJLoc^Tix. Dacier's ** invo/ontaire" 
 includes both uK^triov, and aTr^of^aXsuTov, which Ariftotle diflin- 
 
 =" A fine writer, M. Marmontel, has fi\llen into tliis and feveral other nilftakes, 
 by following Dacier and other tranflators, (for we are none of us to be depended 011,) 
 inftead of taking the meaning of Ariftotle from Ariftotle himfelf. — See his Poetique 
 Fran9oife, torn. ii. p. 109, where he adopts Dacier's " iiivolontaire." In another 
 place he fays, " Dans Sopbode, Oedipe voyant arriver les enfans qu'il a eu de fa 
 " mere, ii leur tend les bras et leur dit : approchez, embrajfe-z, votre - ■ II tCacheve 
 "pas, et lefublime eft dans la reticence." Now the fa£l is, that this reticence is 
 folely the property of the good father Brumoy,-with refpe6l to whom we may apply 
 to M. Marmontel the words of Ariftotle, quoted below, — iJix®- /xiv ix en, cc^mu Si. 
 
 Brumoy tranflates — ** approchez, et embrafl'ez votre frere," dec. — Sophocks 
 
 wrote— 
 
 — •— huf iV, ixkrt 
 
 guiflies ;
 
 NOTES. 
 
 309 
 
 gulfhes ; his ctf^x^Trii^xTcx. being not involuntary, but only, iiot Ik 
 TT^ooii^sa-eu;. See the whole cap. x, of ii^. 5, as above. One paf- 
 fage, in cap. ix. of lib. 7, will particularly illuftrate Ariftotle's 
 examples. 'O; AKPATEIS (fuch were Oedipus and Thyeftes, men 
 of ungovernable paffion,) AAIKOI [a,sv ^k h<Tt, (i. e. are not unjujl 
 men — not ■k.o.v.oi, [^ox^'yi^oi, of bad difpojitions, &c.) AAIKOTZI Jk — yet 
 they commit tranfient and occafional wrong, ^ix iroc^^o, as he fays 
 elfewhere\ 
 
 The objedlions made by Corneille, Fontenelle, and other critics, 
 to fuch fubjedts as that of the Oedipus, which they hold to be 
 improper for Tragedy on account of the fuppofed fatality of the 
 crimes committed, are well and folidly anfwered in an excellent 
 note of the Abbe Batteux upon this paflage. 
 
 NOTE 97. 
 
 P. 88. Upon the stage and in the dramatic con- 
 tests. 
 
 — Eot tu\> a-KYivciiv KM Tuv ciymuv — /. e. merely, in the reprefent- 
 ation. There feems to be no more foundation for the diftindlion 
 which Dacier here fuppofes, between (rY.i\)iyi, and uym, than for the 
 fame diflindlion between ^yuv, and viroyc^iTMy in the fimilar expref- 
 fion, uyuv'^ xa; wroK^iruv, in cap, vi. 
 
 NOTE 98. 
 
 P. 88. Euripides — the most tragic of all Poets. 
 
 — More, however, it has been obferved, with refpedl to the emo- 
 tion of pity, than that of terror. And fo, Quintilian : " In affec- 
 
 1" "O ft£V «Xf«T)lJ, £(5wj «T( f«V^«, Wf«TTei 5(« 7r«6©-. VII. 2. p. 86. 
 
 ** tibus
 
 3IO N o T ;e &♦ 
 
 " tibus cum omnibus niirus, turn in iis qui miseratione con- 
 " fcant, fa.ci\c praa'puus." \_lil?. x. c. i.] Yet the powers of this 
 admirable, though unequal, genius, were by no means confined to 
 emotions of tendernefs and pity. He, too, as one of " Nature s 
 " darlings" pofleffed that " golden key," which can not only " ope 
 *' the Jhcred fource of fyjnpathetic tears," but can ^'unlock" alfo# 
 and at the ilunc time, the " gates of horror," and of " thrilling 
 *' fears." As proofs of this, I am tempted to produce two palTages 
 of this Poet, which I could never read without Ihuddering. 
 
 In that fcene between Medea and Jafon, in which, previous to 
 the execution of her horrid vengeance, fhe deludes him with 
 feigned reconciliation and fubmiffion, when Jafon, addrefling the 
 children, fays, 
 
 MoXovrxg, s^Spuv ruv bj^ui/ VTrsprsaa^^ . 
 
 — Medea turns away her face and weeps : and when Jafon afks 
 the reafon of her tears, (he anfwers, 
 
 Ov^ev'—TBX'.'uv Tuvo ivvoaf^evYi Treoi . 
 
 " And why," fays Jafon again, " lament thus over thefe children?" 
 —Medea, then, knowing, but veiling in ambiguity, her dreadful 
 purpofe of deftroying them, replies, 
 
 Er^KTov auT^?-— ZHN A' 'OT' 'EEHYXOY TEKNA, 
 EIIHA0E M' OIKTOS, EI TENHSETAI TAAE ! 
 
 V. 930. , 
 
 " I am their mother: — when thy wifh was breath'd 
 
 " That they might live, a piteous thought arofe, 
 
 « If that might be!" Potter's Eurip. v. 1000. 
 
 » " O may I fee you blooming in the prime 
 " Of manhood, and to every virtue train'd, 
 "Superior to my foes!" [Mr. Potter's Tranfl. v. 989. j 
 
 * " Nothing :— I was but thinking of my fons.". 
 
 The
 
 NOTES. 311 
 
 The other pafTage is in the EleStra. In the fine fcene between 
 Oreftes and Eledra, immediately after the murder of their mother, 
 Oreftes aflis his fifler, 
 
 Kocraoeg oiov a. roCKotiv \uv TmrXuv 
 
 EfSoiXev, eoet^s, f^ccgov Iv (povuig;— v, I2o6. 
 
 Mark'd you not, how my mother, e'er I flruck her. 
 Withdrew her robe, and to our view expos'd 
 The bread that nourifli'd us" !— 
 
 I know not what more can be faid to the praife of Euripides, than, 
 that no one, I believe, can read this f( 
 of the Macbeth of Shakspeare. 
 
 that no one, I believe, can read this fcene without being reminded 
 
 NOTE 
 
 99. 
 
 P. 88. That which is of a double construction, 
 
 AND ALSO ENDS IN TWO OPPOSITE EVENTS TO THE GOOD, 
 AND TO THE BAD, CHARACTERS. 
 
 LT2TA2I2, ^ EYSTASIN l;;t;5f(ra— /. e. "That conjiruaion 
 
 *' which has a double conJiruBm2."-—Q^n this be as the author 
 left it? I cannot but fiifped ih^Jitjl (rufoc<rig to be an interpola- 
 tion. Without it, all will go on well. — 'H [/.ev iv — KxXXtg-x Tpxyu^tx 
 Ik TccvT'/ig TYig (TU(rra,<TZug egt. — — — Aeureaoi Ss, [fc, Tpoi'yu^ix,!^ 
 7] TTDurvj Xiyofx,iv>i VTTo Ttvuv i^i' I} omXyjv re Tr,v avg'oiiTiv £%s;(7«,— JC«; re- 
 XeuTCtxra 6cc. 
 
 • The excellent tranflator of Euripides will pardon my having recourfc here to a 
 verfion of my own, merely for the faite of pointing out more diltinftly to the EngUJh 
 reader that particular circwii/iance of the original, which ftrikes me moft. Mr. Potter's 
 lines are, 
 
 " Didft thou fee her, when flie drew 
 " Her vefts afide, and bared her brenfls— v. 1338. 
 
 6 The
 
 312 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 The particle, TE, here, is negleded by moft of the commen- 
 tators and tranilators, who, accordingly, of tisoo diftind: things 
 make one onlyj underftanding Ariftotle, by his htt^-^ a-us'xa-ii, to 
 mean only a fable that has a double catajlrophe, ending oppofitely 
 to oppofite charadters. Bat the expreffion is, ** that has both a 
 " double canJhiSio72, and a double catajlrophe." ^mX'^v TE tjjv 
 a-ug-cccriv. KAI rBXevruirx — jc. t. «X. We muft not, however, confound 
 this double conjlruclion with duplicity of aSlion, and what we call 
 double plots. I believe Caftelvetro, who did not let the te efcape him, 
 has explained it rightly. " Dice, che quefta conflitutione di favola 
 " e doppia, percioche ha due ?na7iiere di perfone, I'una di buone, o 
 " di mezzane, et I'altra di fcelerate." {p. 293.) An explanation 
 that will come ftill better recommended to the reader by the coin- 
 •cident opinion of the learned and accurate author of Critical Ob- 
 fervations on Books, antient and modern ; who has given the fol- 
 lowing explanatory verfion of this paflage" : " That conftitution 
 *' of an Epic tale'', which is reckoned the firft by fome, is in reality 
 " but the fecond in point of excellence, namely, tliat which, like 
 " the Odyfley, has a double fet of charaSlers, one virtuous, and one 
 •' vitious, and wherein the aftion alfo ends contrarywife to the 
 *' virtuous and vitious agents, fo that the former terminate in 
 ** profperity, and the latter in adverfity." — Thefe two things, 
 though clofely connefted, are evidently diflincH:. There may be 
 a double fet of charafterSj where yet there is no contrariety of 
 cataftrophe, but all ends well to all. — Such a fable, as Arillotle 
 defcribes, though a very different thing from oxxx plot and imder-ploty 
 yet, as it confifts of oppofite charafters, oppofite interefls, and op- 
 pofite events, may well enough be confidered as of a double con- 
 flrudion — Im^viq avg'aca-eug. Unity of aElion, indeed, upon Ariflotle's 
 
 * Number I. p. 3. 
 
 * I do not fee the learned writer's reafon for inferting the word Efic. Ariftotle 
 is here plainly fpcaking of the Tragic fable, though he draws his illuftration, indeed, 
 from an Epic Poem. 
 
 principles.
 
 NO T E S. 313 
 
 principles, was eflentlal both to thc/mgle and to the double fable ; 
 yet that unity aduiits of degrees, and the double fable was lefs 
 JiriSlly one adtion than the fingle. The fmgle fable might be 
 compared to a fingle ftreani : the plot and under -plot, to two 
 feparate, though contiguous, and now and then intermingling, 
 flreams : Ariftotle's fable of double cojzJlruBion, to two oppofite 
 collateral currents, (if fuch a thing may be imagined,) in the 
 fame channel.' 
 
 NOTE 100. 
 P. 89. This kind of pleasure is not the proper 
 
 PLEASURE OF TrAGEDY, BUT BELONGS RATHER TO Co- 
 MEDV, &C. 
 
 What is the proper pleafure to be expefted from Tragedy, wc 
 have already been told, and we are told again, more plainly, if pof- 
 fible, in the next chapter. It is — ^ aTTo eXea y.m (po/3a 'HAONH : 
 *' the pleafure that arifes from pity and terror\ The double fable 
 Ariflotle feems to have confidered as not giving this pleafure, or at 
 leaft, as giving it weakly and imperfedlly, becaufe all the unhappi- 
 nefs of the catajirophe falls on the odious charadlers, the a-cpo^^x tto- 
 vvj^^g. In the room of this pleafure, which Tragedy ought to give, 
 the double fable fubftitutes that of a fatisfadory conclufion ; a 
 cataftrophe accommodated to the wifhes of the fpedlator. But 
 this, fays Ariflotle, is a pleafure that j-ather belongs to Comedy 
 than to Tragedy : MAAAON r>?5- Ku^uhag ouhx. For he is not here 
 rejeding this double plan, but only fliewing why it is not, as fome 
 held it to be, the beji, tt^u-t;. Such Tragedies, he fays, afford a 
 pleafure of the fame land, at leaft, with that which Comedy affords ; 
 though Comedy indeed goes farther ; for there, ?A\ muft end well ; 
 enemies, as inveterate as Oreiles and ^Egifthus, .uufl fliake hands 
 
 = Tranfl. Se^. 13, 
 
 Ss £lt
 
 3H 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 at laft, and tne fpedtator muft be difmiffed with no impreffion upon 
 his mind, but that of pure and unmixed pleafure. 
 
 If we underiland the paffage in this way, it will not, I think, 
 be neceflary to fuppofe, what, I own, I was once much inclined t<> 
 fuppofe with Heinfius, that the text is defedlive ; and that, after 
 the word hurou?, Ariftotle had, originally, mentioned the third 
 and nvorji kind of fable, terminating in a happy event to all the 
 charadters; to which, and not to th.Q fecond fpecies, what fellow's 
 about Comedy was meant to be applied. Very fpecious reafons- 
 might certainly be produced in fupport of fuch a conjedlure, if it 
 were neceflary. But we have no encouragement from MSS. to 
 fufpedl: any omiflion, and the paflage, as here explained, feems to- 
 have little, or no, difficulty. The chief objedlion is, that what is 
 here faid of Comedy is not applicable to the double Tragic fable, 
 in which there is no reconciliation of enemies'", &c. But it was 
 not, I think, intended to be fo clofely applicable. All that Ari- 
 flotle meant muft have beeil, to fliew, that the pleafure arifing 
 from \iisfecond fpecies of fable, differed only in degree from that of 
 Comedy; that the circumftance o£ ending fatisfaSiorily was commoa 
 to both *. 
 
 Chaucer's Monk had the true Ariflotelic idea of Tragedy : -» 
 
 'Tragedie is to fayn a certain ftorie. 
 As olde Vjookes maken us memorie. 
 Of him that flood in gret profperiteey 
 And is y fallen out of high degree 
 In to miferiey and endeth wretchedly^ . 
 
 But 
 
 '• See the note of Heinfius. — Caflelvetro fuppofes Ariftode to be anfwering a tacit 
 objeiSlion — " Why not a happy termination for all the charadters, good and bad ?" 
 p. 294. 
 
 * The author of one of the arguments to the Ortjlei of Euripides, fays, to h ^^a/jux 
 KilMIKHTEPAN ix^i mv xara^^otfrn. 
 
 ' Canterbury tales, v. 13979. ^''' Tyrwhitt's cd.— Chaucer, however, ufcs the 
 word Tragely in a loofc fenib, (as Dr. Burney has obferved, Hift. of Muf. vol. ii.. 
 p. 320,) for a tragical ftor^. And for this he fecms to have Plato's authority: — tk{ te 
 
 TPAriiais
 
 NOTES. 315 
 
 But the knight, and the hoft, were among the Qexreci A£0E- 
 NEI2 : 
 
 Ho! quod the knight, good fire, no more of this: 
 
 That ye han faid is nght ytioiigh ywis, 
 
 And mochel more ; for litel hevineffe 
 
 Is right ynough to mochel folk, I gefle. 
 
 I fay for me, it is a gret i^i/efe, [uneafinefs'\ 
 
 Wher as men have ben in gret welth and efe. 
 
 To heren of hir foden fall, alas ! 
 
 And the contrary is joye and gret folas. 
 
 As whan a man hath ben in poure eftat. 
 
 And climbeth up, and wexeth fortunat. 
 
 And ther abideth in profperitee : 
 
 Swiche thing is gladfom, as it thinketh me. 
 
 And of fwiche thing were goodly for to telle*. 
 
 •NOTE loi. 
 
 P. 89. Who make use of the decoration to pro- 
 duce, NOT THE TERRIBLE, BUT THE MARVELLOUS ONLY . 
 
 One would think, that commentators on Ariftotle might find 
 enough in this work to fatlsfy the keenefl appetite for difficulties, 
 without any affiftance from their own invention. Yet here, they 
 have contrived to perplex one of the plaineft: pafTages that can be 
 found. Nothing can well be clearer than Ariflotle's expreffion: 
 — li Se MH TO OOBEPON, ^itx. rvsg c^Bcog, uXXa TO TEPATXIAES 
 MONON, '7rcc^x(rKBux(^ovTeg, — He is not, as fome critics have fup- 
 pofed", examining here three different ways of raifing terror y but 
 
 TPAriKHS ffomo-Eu; awTOiUEva;, h lixi/.Peioi;, KAI EN EIIESI. Rep. x. — And fo prefently 
 after,— 'OMHPOT, « «ai «^^« tiv©- TilN TPAmiAIOnOinN : and he calls Homer 
 
 TTf aiTov T£i)i/ Tfaywoiowojw. See, alfo, p. 152, E. ed. Sen; vol. I. 
 
 * V. i4773> ^«' 
 
 * Robortelli, Caftelvetro, Piccolomini, Beni. 
 
 S S 2 tlVf
 
 3i6 NOTE S. 
 
 two only; — by the plot Itfelf, which he juftly pronounces to be 
 the beil way, and by the o^ig, the fpeftacle, fcenes, drefTes, Scc^ 
 As for t^ofe Poets, hs continues, who make ufe of the c^i;, for 
 the purpofe of exciting, not ten-or, but ivoiider only, they are out 
 of the queftion; this *' has nothing to do wit!.^ 7iagedy," &c. If 
 Ariftotle, by Tsparoj^si;, had meant only, as has been underflood, a 
 monjirous degree of the terrible — ** mojlruofoy foprano fpavento," as 
 Caftelvetro calls it'', he furely would not have ufed fo ftrong an 
 expreffion as— OTAEN Tri T^xyula. KOINXINOTSIN. He does not 
 here exclude even the re^xru^eg, abfolutely, and in general ^ but 
 the mere naaru^eg ; rs^aru^ig MONON — " only the wonderful ; " 
 and that, hx Tv,g l^^ug. The marvellous and fupernatural, may, 
 we know, in the hands of a Poet of genius, be made a powerful 
 inftrument of Tragic terror. Ariftotle would hardly, I imagine,, 
 have cenfured a drama like that of Macbeth, as having " nothing 
 *' in common with 'Tragedy." 
 
 The difficulty, indeed, of managing the 'vijible n^xru^tg, fo as to 
 produce znyferious effedl, is fufficiently great. We have, I think, 
 but one dramatic Poet who could walk, though others may have 
 dared to walk, " within that circle." The decoration of the 
 Fjumenides of ^fchylus,^ and his chorus oi fifty furies, with their 
 (/.vyf^ot, and their uyf/.ol % their. fnor if igs, their fcreams, and their 
 torches, may very well be conceived to have put women and chil- 
 dren in a real fright ;, but whether it produced any fympathetic, 
 illufive, and pleafurable, terror — the only terror in queftion'' — I 
 fliould much doubt. Yet Dacier, very gravely, produces this 
 ftory of children fainting away, and Women mifcarrying, with the 
 fright, as an example of Tragic terror excited by the cif/.j % Ac- 
 
 ^ P. 298. M. Batteux follows this interpretation. He tranllatcs TffaruJ'e;, " ^ 
 '■^ frayant.^' 
 
 ' See V. 116, &c. 
 
 ■" See Dr. Campbell's Ph'ihf. of Rhetoric, book I. ch. ii. p. 323. 
 
 • P. 213, and 47, 7iote 36. — The ftory is told by the anonymous writer of the iife 
 of ./^fchylus :— ir£ t» ^£v mnci ExJ/vlai, t« Je efji,fi^u» e|«|«j3Ai)(!i]v«i, 
 
 cordino:
 
 NOTES. 317 
 
 cording to Dacler's account, the allegorical perfonage of Avra-Uj or 
 Madnefs, in the Hercules Furens of Euripides, appears in her aerial- 
 car, ** with a hundred heads, round which hifs a thoujand ferpents'^ !" ■ 
 It is rather difficult to conceive how this could have been manaeed„ 
 Thefe hundred heads, in the paffage of the chorus alluded to, 
 V. 884, certainly belong to the ferpents, not to Auo-a-a. herfclfj 
 and the emendation of Reiflce feems probable; — Bzxroyze'pcXoig 
 0(peuv Iccxyjf^cta-i. — ** centicipitibus ferpentum Jibitis'^ .'' Even fo, I can 
 fcarce imagine an Afheni.m audience to have received this exhi- 
 bition with countenances perfedlly Tragic. The arrival of old 
 Ocean mounted upon his Grijin, in t\\t Prometheus of i^fchylus, 
 muft, one would fuppole, have had as ridiculous an efFedl, as I 
 remember the entrance of the Minotaur to have had upon the au- 
 dience, fome years ago, in the opera of Tefeo. 
 
 If fuch a dramatic entertainment as our Pa?itomime had exilted 
 in the days of Ariltotle, he would probably have reprefented the 
 Tragic Poets, whom he here cenfures, as encroaching on that 
 province : for, indeed, the n^KTu^n; f^ovov ^ix rri; o'lj/sw? TrxoacrKiuxro- 
 f.uvov, would accurately enough exprefs the vi^ovvtv oiKsixv of the pan- 
 tomime. — But, what would the philofopher have faid to a fpecies 
 of the drama, of which the O^^'j, which he places at the very bot- 
 tom of his fcale \_cap. vi.], is the v&vy foul — oi^x,'^ kcci otov i^/uxv : and 
 where the a-Ksvomt©-', or the carpenter, takes the lead of the Poet ? 
 —To do it juflice, however, it has its Mu5®-, its fable, fuch as it 
 is, with its beginning, its ?niddle, and its end; though a fpedator 
 may be often puzzled to make, as v/e commonly fay, head or t.iil 
 of its plot. It has alfo its ^aff-a? and its Xwag, its nceuds and its 
 denouemens, in great abundance ; being, indeed, from beginning to 
 end, a continued feries of biots, tied by love, and cut by magic. 
 Here are alfo TrepnrsTeixi and avacym^io-etg, revolutions, and difcove- 
 
 " P. 215. 
 
 • See the Ox. Euripides, 
 
 lies.
 
 3i8 NOTES- 
 
 ries, in plenty; though the chief revolution, indeed, be in the 
 fccnevy ; — ^ lig to Ivav-iov rm 'OPXlMENflN yATxi^ioXvj. And with 
 refpeft to difcoveries, the pantomime may be chara(3:erized as 
 Ariflotle chara6lerizes the OdyfTey, — amym^iirag yx^ ^ioXa — 
 *' it abounds throughout with difcoveries'' ;" for the poor hero 
 is perpetually difcovered, and veiy feldom !<; ^iXtav '. Then 
 there are Ila^jj too, difajiers — the Tr^x^ag oSvjvi^ki ^ at leaft, 
 which, to the upper gallery, make the merrieft part of the en- 
 tertainment. An efTential charafter, the clown, is even appro- 
 priated to this purpofe oi fuffering, and his clothes well wadded 
 for the reception of blows, kicks, and falls ^ But Ariftotle little 
 forefaw, I fuppofe, when he wrote his firft chapter, that a fpecies 
 .of drama iinthout words would one day be invented : flill lefs, pro- 
 bably, could he have imagined, what to the antients would have 
 appeared the flrangeil part of this bufmefs, that, though accom- 
 panied throughout by MUSIC, yet it would not imitate " by geflicu- 
 ** lated rhythm' — Im tyxv\iixTil!!p^ivm PY0MX1N; the geftures of the 
 adlors in pantomime, being not at all regulated by the meafures of 
 the mulic, or only occafionally, and accidentally, according to the 
 ear, and inclination, of the performer\ 
 
 ■> Cap. xxtv. Tranfl. Part III, Sed. i. 
 
 * Cap. xi. 
 
 ' Cap. xii. hut. 
 
 ^ The Germans, not many years ago, were, it feems, fo fond of this fort o^ hu- 
 mour^ that Dr. Burney tells us, " bills were regularly brought in to the managers at 
 •*' the end of each week, in which the comic aiSlors ufed to charge ; " So much for 
 " a flap on the face," — " So much for a broken head," &c. — See vol. ii. of Dr. 
 'Qurnty'' &ci\\.e.nMn\ngyourJial of a Tour through Germany, Sic, p. 223. 
 
 '' The pantomimic exhibitions of the Romans, fpoken of in note 4, and de- 
 fcribed pretty fully by Lucian, De Salt, were widely different. They were a fpecies 
 of dance, and the geftures of the performers were ftriclly governed by the rhythm 
 of the mufic ; the words, which it was the bufmefs of the dancer to exprefs by thofe 
 geftures, being Jung, at the fame time, by a chorus. 
 
 * NOTE
 
 NOTES. J19 
 
 NOTE 102. 
 P. 90. Most terrible, or piteous . 
 
 After having eftabliflied, that the terrible and piteous fhouid 
 arife from the circuinilances of the adlioa itfelf, Ariftotle proceeds 
 to examine w/jat are the circumflances that will produce the higheft 
 degree of terror and pity, within the proper limits y that is, fo as 
 to avoid what he calls the jw;«^oi/, the fhocking, and difgufting. 
 And this, perhaps, led him here to ufe the words ^^ivx, and oncr^Xy 
 as being, if I miftake not, rather flronger than (pojSi^x, and eXeetm. 
 For the fubjeft of this chapter feems, in fhort, to be, the proper 
 management of the ncJrj or dijhjirotis incidents: " Comment," as 
 Dacier has rightly obferved, " on doit fe conduire dans Ics aBions 
 " atroces," p. 236. Without this leading idea it would be difficult 
 to explain fatisfadorily fome palfages that follow. 
 
 NOTE 103. 
 P. 90. Between friends. 
 
 Ev Touq (piXixt;. — For the wide fenfe in which Arlftotle here ufes 
 the word (p<A(a, fee Ethic. Nicom. VIII. i, and 7, ed. Ox. 1716, 
 and the paflage quoted in note 276, 
 
 NOTE
 
 320 NOTE 
 
 NOTE 104. 
 
 P. 90. But it is his province to invent other sub- 
 jects, AND TO MAKE A SKILFUL USE OF THOSE WHICH HE 
 FINDS ALREADY ESTABLISHED. 
 
 AvTOV OS BV^KTzav oei, axi Toic 7rcipudeoojj,Bvot; ymfT^oLi kocXu^. The ex- 
 preffion is too fliort and general to be clear. It is fairly capable 
 of not lefs than t/jree different meanings. Eupia-tcBiv, may mean, to 
 invent a fubjedl from pure imagination, as Agatho invented his 
 AN0OL ^ : or it may mean only, to Jind out a new hiflorical fub- 
 jc6t; or, lailly, to invent, not a fubjedl, but only circwnjlances and 
 incidetits, by which the old fubjedts may be varied j which is 
 Dacier's idea: — " Le Poete doit inventer lui-meme, e7i Js fer- 
 " vani covime il faiit des fables receues." — I fhall only fay, that, 
 on the whole, I prefer the fecond of thefe explanations. Ariftotle, 
 it is true, had allowed "", that a Poet ought not to be chained down 
 to the oM traditional Jlories ; and even, that it would be ridiculous 
 [yiKoiov) to fuppofe fubjedts of pure invention abfolutely prohibited. 
 But this is delivered as a permiffion, not as a precept ; and he 
 would hardly have enforced a permiffion by fuch an expreffion as 
 he here ufes — Iu^;j-k6/i/ AEI. Again — ot.\)TQv EYPILKEIN, (againfl 
 Dacier's explanation,) feems plainly oppofed to roti; 7rx^xMo[/.etioig 
 XPHI0AI — " to 7/fe o\di fuhjeSls properly, and to invent ov find 
 " out ntw ful^jcBs: not new incidents for an old fubjedl. This 
 may, perhaps, receive fome illuftration and fupport from a fimilar 
 pafTage in the Rhetoric"'. In the /cV(j;?^/ chapter of the firft book, 
 he divides the proofs of the orator into two kinds — the uTi-xvot, and 
 
 " Cap. ix. Trann, Part 11. Seft. 6. 
 
 " Ibid. 
 
 * It is quoted, I fee, by Robortelli. 
 
 the
 
 NOTE S. 
 
 321 
 
 tlie IvTsx^oi' The ktcxvoi are the external proofs j witnefles, the 
 torture, writings, and all fuch proofs as are ready provided to the 
 pleader s hand — haot. psj li ■^f/.cov TreTrooi^xt, aXXct TrodJTnjp^Bv. The lv~ 
 Tsxvot he defines to be thofe argumentative proofs which depend on 
 the art and invention of the orator himfelf. He then concludes — 
 &Ve ^ii' raruv, rotg i^ev XPHEASeAI, ra, ^b ETPEIN : — "of thefe 
 " proofs, the firft fort we have only to make a proper ufe of; the 
 •' other we muft invent" 
 
 NOTE 105. 
 P. 91. But of all these ways, &c. 
 
 ^Vr. 
 
 All this is not a little embroiiille. — Arlftotle defcribes three ways 
 only. Then he fays, or feems to fay, — " There is 710 other way :" 
 — Tva^cc rocuTo, in, Igiv dxKug. And to prove this, he enumerates all 
 the ways poffible ; which, at laft, turn out to he four. Hence the 
 text has been fuppofed defective. [See Cartel vetro; and Goulfton's 
 fupplemental tranllation.] Perhaps there is no occafion to fuppofe 
 this. That, at leaft, there is no accidental omiffion of a fourth 
 cafe, (that of purpofing without executing,) feems pretty clear 
 from the exprefllon, ETI Iz r^irav ttu^x tocutx : " there is /?/// a third 
 *' way be/ide thefe" It would have been rather ftrange, if, im- 
 mediately after this, he had proceeded to mention z. fourth way. — 
 Taking then the pallage as perfect, we muft underfland, I think, 
 by «K ESTIN aXkug, not— ^ there is no other way pofible — but, 
 . there is no other proper, admijjible way : non licet aliter — it mujl not 
 be done in any other way. For, he proceeds, there are hntfour 
 ways poflible ; but of all thefe, {j^rm h — /. e. thefe four pffible 
 ways,) that of being *' ready to execute, knowifigly, and yet not exe- 
 ** cuting," is the worft, and not to be enumerated by a critic 
 among thofe ways which a Poet may be allowed to ufe. 
 
 T t Thus
 
 322 NOTES. 
 
 Thus Dacier appears to have underftood the pafl-ige, by his 
 tranllation, which, I think, is right, as to the fenfe. But I thought 
 Ariflotle's meaning might be clearly enough exprefled without 
 periphrafis, or fupplement. 
 
 NOTE io6. 
 
 P. 92. But the best of all these ways is the last. 
 
 In the 13th chapter (Tranfl. SeSl. 12.) Ariflotle had pronounced 
 that to be the befl conftituted Tragedy, vi'hich terminates unhap- 
 pily; and had reprefented that fpecies, which gratifies, by its ca- 
 taflrophe, the fympathetic wiihes of the audience, as inferior, and 
 affording a kind of pleafure rathe?- appropriated to Comedy. Yet 
 here, he appears to give the preference to a plan calculated to afford 
 that very pleafure in the higheft degree. This feeming inconfift- 
 ence has given the commentators- much trouble. It is rather 
 furprifing, that Dacier fliould have perceived what had efcaped the 
 fuperior acutenefs of the Italian annotators, viz. that Ariflotle is 
 not, in this chapter, inquiring what is the beft conftitution of a 
 Tragic fable in general ^ but, what is the befl method of managing 
 the moft difaftrous and atrocious incidents of Tragic ffory, fo as 
 to produce the higheft poffible degree of Tragical emotion in the 
 fpedlator, without producing horror and difguft*. With this view 
 of the fubjedt, the reader, perhaps, will not fee much difficulty in 
 reconciling Ariftotle to himfelf. He might furely fay, without 
 inconfiftence, " Tragedy, to be perfefl, iliould terminate unhap- 
 ■" pily. Yet there may be particular exceptions to this general 
 " rule. The end of Tragedy is, to cxxite terror and pity ; and 
 *' that end is moft effcilually anfwered, when thofe emotions are 
 " not only excited in the coiirfe of the drama, (as they undoubt- 
 
 * See NOTE 102. 
 
 " edly
 
 NOTE S. 323 
 
 " edly may be, and to a high degree, even in fuch pieces as end 
 " fortunately,) but are left imprelTed upon the mind of tli'j fpec- 
 *' tator by the cataftrophe itfelf. Yet this Tragic terror is not to 
 *' be puflied to abfolute horror, nor the r^xyixov to be confounded 
 " with the fMupov : and I allow, that where the circumftances of 
 " the traditional flory, from which the Poet takes his plot, are 
 ** fuch, as leave him only the alternative, either of difgufting and 
 " fliocking the fpedtator, or of gratifying his willies, the latter is 
 " clearly to be preferred ^ and the StTrXyj (r\};u(rig, the double fable, 
 ** to which I affigned only ihcfecond place -f-, will, in that parti- 
 " cular cafe, deferve i\\cjirji." 
 
 Nothing feems more juft, or more accurately expre/Ted, than 
 Ariftotle's idea of the end of Tragedy; that it is, " to give that 
 *' pleafure which arifes from pity a^id terror through imitation :" — Tr,v 
 
 UTTO iXiMg KM (pofSiS OIX ^t^fiCiUq TjOOVTlV 'TrcCpOUTiCiXJOC^eiV Cap. xlv. (Tranll. 
 
 P. II. Sedt. 13.) But the Greek Tragedians will be thought, 
 I believe, by moll modern readers, to have fometimes pufhed this 
 principle rather too far, and to have excited a degree of horror, 
 which even the charms of imitation cannot well be conceived to 
 have foftencd into pleafurable emotion; and it appears to me, that 
 Arillotle himfelf inclined to this opinion, and that he intended 
 this chapter as a lellbn of caution to the Poets againft this excefs. 
 He feems plainly to have confidered the aSiual murder of a mother, 
 a fon, a brother, and the like, as incidents rather too horrible to be 
 exhibited in any way. If the deed muf be done, let it, he fays, if 
 poffible — if the flory will permit it — be done ignorantly. But it will 
 be ftill better, if you can avoid doing it, entirely; if you can con- 
 trive to make the expeElation, combined" with the atrociotfnefs of 
 the event expeded, anfwer your purpofe, by raifmg as much an- 
 xiety, commiferation, and terror in the fpedator, as may confift v/ith 
 that pleafure which is the end of Tragedy, and then relieving him 
 at lall, by prevention at the very moment of execution. That 
 
 t Tranll. p. 88. 
 
 T t 2 Ariflotle
 
 324 NOTES. 
 
 Ariflotle thought the end of Tragedy might be fufficieiitly an- 
 fvvered by the mere cxpeSlation of fuch events, properly managed, 
 appears from his expreffion above : — h a,hx(p@^ a.hx(pov, ij u;©^ •»•«- 
 
 Tipx, Vj jXYiTm V.OVt 7j Ji©-- fMlTiOX, aTTOKTeiVV, H MEAAH< ~X'J--i ^VlTfl- 
 
 rtov. " When a brother kills, or is going to kill," £zc. 
 
 For this purpofe, not only the expedation mufc be fuch, that 
 the adlion (hall appear imminent and inevitable, but the aftion 
 itfelf expedled muft be fuch-^ as, had it taken place, would have* 
 been dreadful, " intokrdbk". 8cc, — r< ruv ANHKESTnN% as Ari- 
 ftotle exprefles himfelf in defcribing thefe prevented TraS??. By 
 thefe means, the emotion of terror is brought as near as pof- 
 fible to that Vi^hich would arife from the adlual perpetration''. 
 
 If the purport of this chapter has been here rightly explained, 
 the reader will fee how Ariftotle has been mifreprefented by many 
 modern critics, who have underftood him to recommend the Cref- 
 phontes of Euripides as a model of the befl poffible conftrudlion 
 of a Tragic fable in general. Thus Maftei, in the dedication of 
 his Merope — " Park di effa Ariftotele nella Poetica, dove trattando 
 " de' rnodi di hen comporre la favola, da per efanpio dell' ottimo il 
 " Cresfonfe d^Eiiripide, in cui I'atrocita veniva dalla ricognizione 
 *' impedita."-^And Voltaire, in his letter to Maffei, prefixed to 
 the French Merope: " Ariftotc, dans fa Poetique immortelle, ne 
 
 * I find the fame thing otferved by Robortelli, whofe fiiort comment is wortli ~ 
 tranfcribing. " Addit vera A'riftoteles — ti tcov awKsny.'-. grave cnim atroxque fa£lum 
 " illud in TragCEdiis effe oportet, quod aliquis patraturus fcrtne fuerit, quia max- 
 " imum afFert aiiditoribus terrorem, qui proprius Tragcediae eft, et admirationcni 
 .*' incredibilem. Aiunt en'tm, ^lid ft mailajfet? — quam parum ab fuit a cade V* 
 p. 1 60. 
 
 '' This is well obferved, and well exprefled, by Piccolomini, (p. 215, &c.) who, 
 with Viftorius and other commentators, confciles himfelf cmbarrafled by the fecming 
 inconfiftence of the author in this pafTage, and gives the imminence of tiie perpetra- 
 tion as the only folution that occurs to him. His comment is excellent, but too long 
 for tranfcription. I had not feen it when my remarks were written; but 1 was 
 glad to find them fo fupported. 
 
 ** balance
 
 NOTES. 325 
 
 " balance pas a dire, que la reconnoiflance de Merope et de fon 
 *' fils, etoit le moment le plus intercflant de toute la fcene Grecque. 
 " II donnoit a ce coup de Theatre la preference y^rr tons les autres" 
 
 NOTE 107. 
 
 P. 92. Merope, &c. 
 
 Plutarch's account of the effedl of this coup de Theatre upon the 
 audience, is worth tranfcribing, though apparently incorredl. 
 
 TLytOTTii iJs TIJI/ \v rr Tguyulut MEPOriHN, 67r< rov \)iOV dvrov, u; cpovex 
 
 'OcricoTBpoiv O'yj nji/o syu oiouf^i cot 
 IlX7jy>iv 
 
 C(rOV Iv TCp QbUTOU KIVVj^X 'TTOISI, (TVVi^Op&lOc'C^iTX (pOViS' [an, (f)C|Qw ?1 ^CCl 
 
 ^£©- l^v) <p8ci(rri Tcv e7rtXocf/,l3a-vofxsvou yspovra, Kxi raucri to ^apaxwi/,— 
 [Us^i I.<x^Ko(p. p. 1837, ed. H. St.] 
 
 For other fragments of this Tragedy, the reader may fee the 
 Ox. Euripides. 
 
 NOTE 108. 
 P. 92. The manners should be good. 
 
 Good, in the ufual fenfe of mora/ goodnefs ; the only fenfe which 
 X^rs'otf applied to manners, will bear, and which, even though the 
 word would admit of other fenfes, would here be fixed, beyond a 
 doubt, by the plain, unequivocal expreffion of the whole paffage. 
 Dacier admires and follows the nonfenfe of Le BolTu, who makes 
 ;^^iis-a ii^ij mfun poetically good i that is, well marked by the Poeti 
 in which fenfe, the rule is equally well obfervecj by Milton in his 
 Satan, and by Richardfon in his Crandifon, ♦* There are," ac- 
 
 1, cording
 
 326 NOTES. 
 
 cording to this " bejl interpreter of Arijlotk'' " " deux fortes de bontc 
 *' dans les mmirs; Tune que Ton peut appeller morale, et qui eft 
 " propre a la vertu: et I'autre eft la poetique, a laquelle les hommes 
 *' les phis vicieux 07it aiitant de part que les gens de bten^." How 
 could Mr. Harris, with his thorough knowledge of the Greek 
 language, and his clear and exadl turn of thinking in general, re- 
 commend all this, as " 2iji?ie and copious commentary on this part 
 " of Arillotle's Poetics'?" I fhall not wafte time in confuting, 
 what has been fufticiently confuted long ago\ — Ttg ccXkti, tov &«.- 
 vovT sTTiKTxveiv; — Dacier's note is a curious fpecimen of abfurd in- 
 terpretation fupported by falfe tranflation'. 
 
 The bcft comment I have feen on this paflage is that of 'Hein- 
 fius ; which I fhall therefere give entire. 
 
 " Csterum, in moribus, quatuor tenenda effe docet Ariftoteles ; 
 '• quorum primum eft, ut fint botii. Quod eft exponendum plu- . 
 ** ribus. — Inter ea quae quam maxime in Tragcedia reprehendebat 
 " Plato ^, vel prscipuum hoc erat; — quod nimirum varia, non 
 " uniformis, fit illius imitatio ; et occafione oblata, probos juxta 
 ** improbojqiie imitetur ; nonnunquam autem improbos tantum : 
 " quo facillime animum, quod fupra monebamus, decipi human um, 
 " qui dum folum refpicit decorum, quod propofitum eft illi, bono^ 
 ** mm Cxpe, et maloriim, difcrimen non agnofcit, et, ut ipfe Poeta, 
 
 » Harris, On Mufic, &c. p. 83, note. 
 '' Traite du Poeme Ep. lib, iv. c. 4. 
 
 ' See Philol. Inquiries, p. 166; and Le Boflu, lib. iv. c. 4, 5, &c. to which he 
 refers. 
 
 '' By Mr. Dc la Barre. See Mem. de I' Acad. &c. his fecund Dijf. Sur le Poeme 
 Epiqiie. See alfo M. Batteux's fatisfatSlory note on this paflage. 
 
 • Ariftotle fays plainly, the W®- will be xf^"} '^ the Tr^oM^ea-i; is xfuni, and the 
 contrary : — (pau>.ov jixev, [fc. ^lO©- Uei,] iav (J>auMv [fj. TrfoaifEfl-ii/ worn ^ai/ffav,] xf>irov 3V, 
 Ewv xf^rw. See, now, Dacier's verfion of this : " II y a des moeurs dans un difcours, 
 " ou dans une aftion, lorfque I'un et Taiitre font connoitre I'inclination ou la refo- 
 " lution telle qu'elle eft, mauvaije ft elk efl mauvaifc, bonne fi elk ejl bonne." 
 
 * See De Rep, iii. p. 394, 395, &c. (Ed. Serr.)— the palTages here alluded to. 
 
 ** utrofque
 
 NOTES. 327 
 
 " utrofque mores iinitatur ; quo nihil magis in republica perni- 
 ** tiofilni excogitari poteft. Quippe ratione ifta fcholam vitiorum, 
 " non virtutum, fieri theatrum ; et quidem quanto magis hanc 
 ** in partem inclinamus omnes. Prasterea, interpretes Platonis — 
 " alium admitti ab eo negant Poetani, quam qui oinni varietate 
 " fublata, Deum et bononim virorum aBiones imitetur*; cstera 
 " enim deledtare quidem, non autem docere; plerumque vero 
 ** mores vitiare ac corrumpere, ideoque nocere magis quam pro- 
 ** defle. Huic itt occitrreret Philofophus, primum hoc cle moribus 
 *' prceccptum ejfe 'uoluit, prob't ut eff'ent ; tales enim efle in Tragoe- 
 " dia non modo pofle, quod negabat Plato, fed et, quantum ratio 
 " poematis permit terct, dehere. Confirmant hoc exempla tragico- 
 ** rum ; qui fine ulla lege hanc tamen legem funt fecuti. Etiam 
 ** pofteriores critici, qui nonnuUas veterum hoc nomine notarunt, 
 *' quod aiit omnes, aut plerafque, pejjime moratas haberent perfonas, 
 " Qualis eft, ex. grat. Euripids Orcjles; in quo, practer Pyladen, 
 ** improbi omnium funt mores ^. Neque enim hasc mens Arifto- 
 ** telis, aut non alios quam optime moratos, efle inducendos, aut, 
 *' li alii inducantur, quos faille improbos conftat, probos iis tribu- 
 • *• endos efle mores : fed, ut, quantwn ratio permittit, plures optime 
 *' morati in eodem inducantur dramate. Quamvis enim et utrique 
 ** requiruntur, et tarn horum quam illorum ratione conftet decorum, 
 " probos tanto effe prsferendos, quanto plus conducunt cum 
 " fpeftantur'." 
 
 To do full juftice to Arillotle's meaning, it mufh be obferved, 
 I . That what he lays Ihould be underflood chief y, though by no 
 
 * Plato fays, the Poets fliould be obliged, mv ts ayafe hicova, ijSx; enTromv roi; ■jro:r,ixa7r.\, 
 9 /xn Tra^' hi/.«i ttwciv — " to imitate gocd charaifers, or not to imitate at all." — Rep. ii;. 
 p. 401. B. 
 
 s He alludes, I fuppofe, to the cenfure paffed upon that Tragedy in one of the 
 arguments prefixed : to ^^aua tov Im tr^Jivn; euhxijA-a-jTuv, XEIPISTON ilE T0I2 H0ESI- 
 WMii 7«f IlyAaJaj 9ravT£{ gau\oi mav, 
 
 * De Trag. conjlit. cap. xlv. 
 
 means.
 
 328 NOTES. 
 
 means yS/f^', as fome have explained it', of i\\t principal characters. 
 2. That the word X^ij?-©- does not imply a charafter of high and 
 exemplary virtue. It feems to anfvver to our popular expreflion, 
 a good fort of man; and it excludes abfolutdy, only habitual vice, 
 bad difpofition, ttov/i^ix, MOX0HPIA, as it is expreffed in a paflage 
 that fliould be compared with this ". 3 . That the rule, even with 
 refpedt to fic/j charadlers, is not abfoiute -, as is evident from 
 Ariftotle's expreffion, when he gives an example of the violation of 
 it, TTcc^oi.^eiyyM TTovij^iag MH ANAPKAION : and, again, in cap. xxv. 
 orccv MH ANAFKHS 'OYIHi:, x. t. «X. — 4. That what he prefently 
 adds, eg-t Se Iv lyiocgu ysvei ', is a necelTary modification of the precept, 
 and (hews, that he did not mean, as Heinfius well obferves, to ex- 
 clude comparative badnefs of manners, but meant only — as good as 
 may be, confiftently with the obfervance of the other requifites 
 mentioned — the a.^^oTrov, and the ofj-oiov. 
 
 The reafon of the precept, Ariftotle has not given us. But, it 
 appears, I think, clearly, from his fubftituting the word BAA- 
 BEPA (hurtful, pernicious^) for f^ox^v^ot; or Trovyi^x, in his enume- 
 ration of the greateft faults of Poetry at the end of cap. xxv'". 
 that, however he might differ from Plato as to the hurtful ten- 
 dency of Tragedy, and of imitative Poetry in general, he fo far at 
 leaft agreed with him, as to admit the danger of thofe poetical, 
 embelliilied, and flattering, exhibitions of vice, in which, as one 
 
 ' So M. Batteux; and Marmontcl, Poet, Fran^oife, ii. 181, who defends the true 
 fenfe of xfiira kS», but fays, that " the interejling perfonage of the piece is the only one 
 *' whom Ar'ifiotle bad in view." But, Ariftotle inftances in Mcnelaus, who certainly 
 is not" le perfonnage interejfant" m the Orejles. His inftance oi Jlaves, too, fliews 
 the precept to be general. 
 
 ^ Cap. xxv. at the end, where this fault in the manners is expreflcd thus — Ojifl)] ?£ 
 
 ETriTi/ino-is MOX0HPIA' ha-i tm avxyxv; irn;, h, t. aA. — See, Tranfl. Part IV. 
 
 Sea. 7. 
 
 ' What he means by ysv©-, is explained in the Rhet. II. 7. — >sy:i Js, TENOS /xsv, 
 HoS itXiHiar OiOK Traif li «v>ip, >i ys^m.-^nai yvm xai avYt^'^xat A*kwv, h Qettj;?©", &C. 
 
 " TranH. Part IV, Sc^. 7,— See, note 260. 
 
 of
 
 N O T E. S. 
 
 329 
 
 of the moft eloquent, and I might add, the mofl Platonic ", of mo- 
 dern writers exprelfes it, — " L'auteur, pour faire parler chacun 
 *' felon fon caradtere, eft force de mettre dans la bouche des me- 
 *' chants leurs maximes, et leurs principes, revetus de tout Tcclat 
 ** des beaux vers, et debites d'un ton impofant et fententieux, pour 
 *' rinftrudion du parterre"." With refpedt to charadlers of atro- 
 cious villainy, fuch as that of Glenalvon in Douglas, which cau 
 excite only pure deteftation, I believe the ideas of Plato, and 
 perhaps of Ariftotle, were very nearly, if not exadtly, the fame, 
 which this admirable v/riter has exprelTed in the concluding note 
 of his Nouvelle Eloife. — *' En achevant de relire ce recueil, je croi^ 
 '* voir pourquoi I'interet, tout foible qu'il eft, ra en eft fi agrcable, 
 *' et le fera, je penfe, a tout ledleur d'un bbn naturel. C'eft qu'au 
 " moins ce foible interet eft pur et fans melange de peine ; qu'il 
 *• n'eft point excite par des noirceurs, par des crimes, ni mele du 
 *' tourtnent de hair. Je ne ffaurois concevoir quel plailir on pent 
 " prendre a imaginer et compofer le perfonnage d'un fcelerat, afe 
 " mettre a fa place tandis qii'on le reprefente'^ , a lui preter i'eclat le 
 " plus impofant. Je plains beaucoup les auteurs de tant de 
 " Tragedies pleines d'horreurs, lefquels paffent leur vie a faire agir 
 " et parler des gens qu'on ne pent ecouter ni voir fans fouffrir," &c. 
 
 " On this fubje£l efpecially. See his whole letter to M. D'Alembert againfl: the 
 eftablifliment of a Theatre at Geneva. 
 
 " Lettre a D'Alembert, p. 54. — Plato, after citing fome verfes of Homer which 
 he conceived to have a pernicious tendency, fays, that he reprobates them — kx ij k 
 5roi)iTix« HM y^ia. Toij TTo^^oif «x8£(i', aw" "Olil: nOIHTIKflTEPA, TOIOTTHi HTTON 
 'AK0T2TE0N Traitri km avSfawi, &c. — De Repub. iii. circ. init. 
 
 * In Plato's figurative and expreflive l*iguage — lavrov sKiJuxTtm re xat biravou itf 
 T8; T«v HOKiovuv TWOTf. Rep, iii. p. 396.— And fee before, p. 395, C. D. 
 
 Uu NOTE
 
 "^jO N O T B' S/-- 
 
 • ■- * '-"^' ' t ■']' ■■■' 
 
 N Q T E log. . 
 
 Pi 92. Im general, W^MEN''AftE'^^'{'£lkffA''^S^Rlt^rrEK 
 BAD THAN GOOD. . \ 
 
 " Ariftote," fays M. Batteux^'^ ne pixii' pzi^iti^cs jeihn'ics e'ti'^t- 
 *' ncral, mais feulemen^. dfe- celles • j'^ift' ies'I'&ife/'pht'mifes'fi'tr^'h 
 " Theatre, felles que M^dee, Clyterrineftre," &;c.' ' This rs'poKtc; 
 but it will not niake^ Arjftotlq pylite'.' He fpeuks plainly ; and 
 what he fays is, I ;fHar,\'but, too*^ conforfnaj^re'to'tlle rhanilei- in 
 which the antiehts ufually fpealc of t^Vlex'?>/^i?«^r^/,*'' 'Atr.ldarf, 
 he is certainly confiftent with himfelf : ' witnefs' the following very 
 curious charadter of Ayomen in his Hijiofj of A'ni/hah', which "I" give 
 the reader, by no means for nis, aflenf, but for his wonder, or his 
 diverlion. ■ -v 
 
 Tuvvi, civ^^<^ IXv^iMVigspov Kxt api^ccz^u fiatT^Xov' In oe (pSovspuire^ov re kcu 
 [/.efA:uo;ooTS^ov, Kui (PIAOAOIAOPON [Ji.oi.XKov, Ka; TtAnKTrKaTE- 
 PON'. £T* Je yuii ^u<r9vf/.ov fjcuXXov — '■ — jcoa SvcreXuri, kxi ANAIAESTEPON 
 KAI YETAE2TEP0>T, Ivxi^-ktyitotsiiov' ts, -^xi (a.vvijlovikootb^ov* eri '^e,. 
 ArPYUNOTEPON* KAI 'qKNHPOTEPON xmi oXug . axtvriroTi^ov — 
 K. T. xX. — [De Hi/i. Anhnal. lib. ix. cap, 1.] 
 
 To make the reader amends for the pain which this cool and 
 ferious inventive of the philofopher and the naluralift may have 
 given him, I cannot refill the temptation- of -prefe'nting him with 
 a fpecimen of more fportive fatire on this fubjed', in ai very plea- 
 
 » ri?.>iKTixuTEfov (i. e.) TBPI2TIKX2TEPON, fays Hefychius. I am afraid the word 
 mems what it fays. Jul. Pollux gives it as one of the cpitliets of a boxer. We 
 might tranflate it, with weJl-bred ambiguity — " moxe. Jliiking" 
 
 " i. e. — " more able to hep lati hoursy and^ at the fame time, more lazy, than 
 « men," 
 
 iant
 
 NOTES. 331 
 
 fant fragment, preferved by Athenacus, from a Comedy of Eu- 
 bulus. 
 
 UoiVTuu owigov itrvjixxTuv. aid eysvero 
 
 K-CM'/j yvvvj M'-jaaa, HyiveXovetx oe 
 
 Msyx "TTpxyi/,'. — ep« t(j wj KXvrccif/,vv!g'oa Ketavi j— 
 
 ^ociO'MV Bf-^e xxKug Tij' — ocXXo,, VVi Atoc, 
 
 Xm^c■^ Tig '/V fA,evTct Ttg; — oif^oi, oeiXoii®~> — 
 
 Tcix^^u>g y£ (t*' ■-'' XPHSTAI rTNAIKES IttbXittou. 
 Tuvh civ nONHPXiN In Xsystv TtoXXa; e;n^«. 
 
 If cvci againft woman-kind I rail. 
 
 Great Jupiter confound me! — for of all 
 
 The good things of this world, they are the beft. 
 
 Medea, you will fay, was bad : — agreed ; 
 
 But, what a jewel was Penelope! 
 
 Urge you the wicked Clytenmeftra ? — I,' 
 
 Oppofe xht good Alceftis. — If you tell me 
 
 Of Phadra, — I remind you of the goodt 
 
 i — Stay, let me fee — the good Alas ! how foon 
 
 My memory fails me there ; while, of the bad. 
 Examples in abundance ftill occur.——. 
 
 See Athen. p. 559, or the Excerpta ex Trag. &c. of 
 Grotius, p. 657. 
 
 NOTE no. 
 
 P. 93. Resemblance a different thing, &c. 
 
 ■ The words, uo-vb^ h^YiTo,!, are embarraffingj for the difference here 
 ipoken of had not been mentioned before, as the expreffion, in its 
 moft obvious fenfe, implies. The only meaning I can find is 
 
 U u 2 this.
 
 332 
 
 NOT E S-. 
 
 this. The two requifites, the dof^oTTov and the cfzowv, propriety,: 
 and refefnhlance, might eafily be confounded ; the o^jiom being 
 indeed only the apf^orrov in another point of view. The violence 
 and fiercenefs of Medea^ for example, which form her hijlorical, 
 or traditional character, and, therefore, the likenejs of the Poet's 
 pidture, may be faid to be a^^orrovra,, proper ox fait able , with refpedt 
 to the individual, though KTr^g-rr-zj %ou pij K^^orrovrxy improper and 
 unfvitabls, to the general charadler of the fex. — And thus Picco- 
 lominl: — " la terza conditione che affegna Ariftotele a i coftumi, 
 " la qual confiile in t&x Jimile, non difFerifce della feconda^ pofta 
 " neli' effer convmevoli, in altro, fe non che la conditione del con- 
 " venevole riguarda V univerfale :, com' a dire, che quel coflume 
 '* co7ivenga ad un principe, quello ad un fuddito, quello a ruomo 
 *' &c. — fenza confiderar qucfla particolar perfona, 6 quella : et la 
 " conditione Ac\ Jimile riguarda il particolare ; come a dire, qual 
 " coftume convenga di porre in uno che habbia da rapprefentar' 
 ** Achille ; qual in quello che habbia da reprefentare Orejie," Sec 
 
 (p. 220.) 
 
 Indeed, Ariflo tie would hardly have thought of admonifhing 
 the reader not to confound the two things, had he not feen that 
 they were liable to be confounded. He w^ould not have remarked, 
 that they were different, had they been perfecftly, and obvioufly, 
 dijiin^. I think then, that the words, coa-in^ lt^r;rui,. muft refer 
 only to the up^oTTm, and the meaning muft be, that, to make tlie 
 manners like, is a different thing 72ot oJily from making them, good, 
 but even from making them proper, injuch a way as had been /aid 
 — in that fenfe, in which the word u^ixottovtcx, had juft been ufed^ 
 and explained by his in fiance. But if we underftand the paffage 
 thus, there fhould be no flop after TroiviorM '» 
 
 > By Piccolomini's verfion, (for he fays nothing about this difficulty in his com- 
 mentary,) it appears that he underftood the paffage as I do : " — eflendo cofi fatta 
 " conditione diverfa dall' effer' i coftumi formati buoni, et ancora convenevoU net msdo 
 " (be gla ft e detto." 
 
 But,
 
 NOTES. 333 
 
 But, why does Ariftotle mention at ally a difference fo very 
 obvious as that between refemblancc, and goodjiefs, of manners ? — 
 thcji two requifites could not eafily be confounded, any more than 
 Itkenefs and beauty in a portrait. There was more danger of a 
 reader's thinking the oy.om too different from the ^c/jroi', and, as a 
 general precept, incompatible with it. And fo indeed he feems to 
 have apprehended liimfelf, by what he prefently after fays" about 
 the pju.»j(rif ^ik-rmuivy and his rule, that the Poet, in imitation of 
 the painter, ihould exhibit his characters as much better than 
 they were, or are fuppofed to have been, as is confillent with the 
 prefervation of the likenefs^ 
 
 NOTE III. 
 P. 93. Though the model of the Poet's imitation 
 
 BE SOME PERSON OF UNUNIFORM MANNERS, STILL THAT 
 PERSON MUST BE REPRESENTED AS UNIFORMLT UNUNIFORM. 
 
 TeroiPTov oe, to oijmXov' ytav ya.^ a.vcjyf/,xX<^ riq r, tiji/ f^iy,ri(Tiv Toipe^ojv 
 xa* rciHTCV ^fl©^ VTroTiSei;, c^u^- of/,xXug uvu^otXov ^c-t livxi. " which 
 
 *' laft words," fays an eminent writer, " having been not at all 
 *' underftood, have kept his interpreters from feeing the true fenfe 
 " and fcope of the precept. For they have been explained of fuch 
 " charadlers as that of Tigellius in Horace j which, however proper 
 *' for fatyr, or for farcical Comedy, are of too fantaftic and whim- 
 " fical a nature to be admitted into Tragedy ; of which Ariflotle 
 ** muft there be chiefly underftood to fpeak, and to which Horace, 
 " in this place, alone confines himfelf. 'Tis true, indeed, it may 
 ** be faid, that ** though a 'whimfical or fantajlic character be 
 " improper for Tragedy, an irrefolute one is not. Nothing is 
 " finer than a ftruggle between different paffions ; and it is per- 
 
 ^ At the end of this Sed, of the tranflation ; and of cap. xv. of the original. 
 
 *' fedly
 
 JJ> 
 
 34 NOTES. 
 
 *' fedly natunil, that in fuch a circumftance, each ilioiild prevail 
 "^^ by turns." — But then there is the wideft difference between the 
 *' two cafes. ■Tigellhis, with all his fantaftic irrefolution, is as 
 " uniform a charader, as that of Mitio. If the expreilion may be 
 ** allowed, its very inconjijlency is of the effence of its uniformity. 
 " On the other hand, Eledlra, torn with fundry conflitSing paffions, 
 " is moft apparently, and in the propereft notion of the word, 
 *' imiiniform. One of the flrongefl touches in her charafter is 
 " tJiat of a high, heroic fpirit, fenfible to her own, and her fa- 
 " mily's injuries, and determined, at any rate, to revenge them. 
 " Yet no fooner is this revenge perpetrated, than fhe foftens, re- 
 " lents, and pities. Here is a manifeft iiniiniformity , which can, 
 *' in no proper fenfe of the expreffion, lay claim to the critic's 
 " oiLcikov, but may be fo managed, by the Poet's fkill, as to become 
 " confiftent with the bafis or foundation of her character, that is, 
 " to be ci^xXug oivuu,«.Xo))c And that this, in fad:, was the meaning 
 *' of the critic, is plain from the fimilar example to his own rule, 
 " given in the cafe of Iphigenia: which he fpecifies (how juftly, 
 ** will be coniidered hereafter) as an inflance of the a^w^aXa, 
 << irregular^ or ununiform, charader, ill-expreffed, or made inco?i~ 
 '\/iJicnt. So that the genuine fenfe of the precept is, *' Let the 
 ** manners .be uniform ; or, if ununiform, yet coniifl:ently fo, or 
 " uniformly ununiform:" exadly copied, according to the reading 
 *' here given, by Horace. Whereas in the other way, it ftands 
 " thus : " Let your charaders be uniform, or unchanged; or, if 
 ** you paint an ununiform charader (fuch as Tigellius) let it be 
 ** ununiform all the way ; /, e. fuch an irregular charader to the 
 ** end of the play, as it was at the beginning ; which is, in effed, 
 '* to fay, let it be uniform:" which apparently deflroys the latter 
 ** part of the precept, and makes it an unmeaning tautology with 
 " the former \" 
 
 » Comment, on the Ep. to the Pifos, &c. vol. i. />, 104, &c. 
 
 I I have
 
 NOTE 
 
 OJ 
 
 I have given this pafliige entire, that the reader may have it 
 fully in his poM^er to judge, for himfelf, whether I miflake or mif- 
 reprefcnt the meaning of any part of it. I fhould be forry to be 
 thought capahle of a perfett confidence in my own opinion, how- 
 ever carefully and deli!)cri:tely formed, when it is oppofed by that 
 of f:ich a writer. But, after having repeatedly confidered this 
 cdhitiReat, as it certainly deferves to be confidered', with all the at- 
 tehtiGin'*iri'hiy" power, I am obliged to confefs, that it does not fa- 
 tisfy me, and that the common interpretation ftill appears to me 
 to ftand its ground.— My reafons are thefe : 
 
 I. I cannot think, that fiu-o change, irrefolution, and tcmp07-ary 
 inConfiflence a& arifes from " conflicting pq/Jions," comes under 
 the meaning of Ariftotle's ^RQOZ, Moif.fkx.'kov. — H6©-, is the prevail- 
 ing (iifpofitiotjy the habitual Tr^ui^srig, or fettled charaSier. *' Elec- 
 "'tra'," it is- faid, " torn with fundi-y conflicting pajjions, is mofl 
 ** apparently, and in the propereji fenfe of the word,, iinuniform." 
 Not foj I think, in •jirijioiles .{ewic of the word M'uf^xX©^^ as ex- 
 pi'efsly applied by hi'u^ hereto i»'9ij, or manners. Tne irregularities 
 of eonthdly. or of fentiment and fpeech, arifing from p(iffi:on,itc\n to 
 be a diftind: thing from Itrch as imply a change of the fixed, pre- 
 vailing :jiv©^, or charad:eriflic itianners of the perfon. When fuch 
 phJ/imat'C unimiformify a& that above defcribed in Eleiflra^ is fo ma- 
 naged by the Poet's ikill, *' as to become conjijlent witB.ihe' hq/is. or 
 *^ foundation of her charaSrer" that characfter is ;/<?/, therf,,.! think, 
 as the ingenious critic confiders it to be,. hiJiotXtdq k^jw^olKov, \. e. (as 
 it is exprefied in the beginning of the following note, p. 127.) "an 
 ''* nntiniform chwa^er juftly fuftaincd, or, uniformly unu;iiiorm :" 
 it is not, if I underftand Ariftotle rightly, amf/^Xov at all, in his 
 fenfe ; for he fpeaks only of anomalous manners ; and anomalous 
 manners, plainly,, cannot be made " confident with die bafis or 
 *' foundation of a character," in any other fenle, than as that very 
 anomaly itfelf c^njtitutes the character. And this I take to be 
 Ariilotle's meaning,: for he is fpeaking of that anomaly, in which 
 
 diifereat
 
 336 NOTE S. 
 
 ' different charadtcrs, not, in which " diiFerent pnJ]ions, prevail 
 " by turns." 
 
 2. The very expreffion, — ^av ya.^ ANXIMAAOS TI£ v o rijv 
 f/.if^y;(riv TraoE^tor, xm TOIOTTON H0O£ VTroriditg, feems plainly tO 
 indicate an ununiform charaStery fuch as he explains by the o^xKui; 
 dvujjAocXDv that follows. — «i/«/*aA©o TI2 — an amma/ous person: 
 i. e. a perfon of inconfiftent manners, or charaSicr. This ex- 
 preflion feems hardly applicable, without violence, to fuch cafual 
 and merely apparent inconfiilence, as arifes from conlii<fting paf- 
 iions, and is reconcilable with *' the balls or foundation of a cha- 
 ^' rader." 
 
 3. " The genuine fenie of the precept," we are told, " is. Let 
 " the manners be uniform j or, if ununiform, yet confifiently fo» 
 " or uniformly ununiform." But, confijiently, and uniformly , feem 
 to prefent different ideas. Arillotle's word, ojnaXw?, prefents only 
 the latter of thefe : — uniformly — that is, more literally, equally *, 
 evenly, &c. it does not, I think, anfwer at all to confijiently, in the 
 fenfe in which it is evidently applied, in this explanation, to what 
 is not incongruous — not unaccountable, &c ". Had this, therefore, 
 been Ariftotle's meaning, he would, probably, have tifed, either 
 liKOTu;, or IvXaycog, or fome other fuch word appropriated to that 
 meaning j not o^oiKug, which is never, as far as I know, ufed in 
 the fenfe of confifiently. 
 
 4. But it is objeded, that if we take cfjixXug amfixkov to mean 
 «* taiifortn all the 'way, i. e. fuch an irregular charader to the end 
 " of the play, as it was at the beginning," this, " is, in effed: 
 " to fay, let it be uniform ; which apparently deftroys the latter 
 
 * In Horace's charafler of TigcUht^ lib. \.fat. 3. « Nil iEQUALE," ISj^Jev 'OMA- 
 AON. And fo, " Vixit injequalis" — aiw/uaxO, \n fat. 7. //*. ii. of Priscus, 
 another charafter of the fame ftamp, " Vertumnis, quotquot funt, natus iniquis." 
 V. 14. 
 
 >■ Thus, in the next note—" All thefe confiderations put together, Ele£lra might 
 « aflift at the afiaflin; tion of her mother, confijiently with the ftrongeH feelings of 
 *' pitty and afFedion." Notes on the Ep. to tlie Pifos, p. ri2. 
 
 o ** part
 
 NOTES. 
 
 337 
 
 ** part of the precept, and makes It an unmeaning tautology with 
 " the former," — The firfl part of the precept, I think, is. Let 
 the manners be uniform ; or, as we fay, of a piece. Now to 
 this an objedlor might fay, — " This cannot be an indifpenfable 
 " rule J uniformity cannot be effentially requifite to the manners : 
 *' for, what, if the Poet fhould take for the fubjedt of his imita- 
 *' tion a perfon whofe manners are not uniform ?" — The anfvver, 
 or " fecond part of the precept," is, — " then, that want of uni- 
 *' formity muft be fuch as conllitutes the very charaiter itfelf ; for 
 •* this falls within the rule ; the ** very inconfiftency" of the cha- 
 ** rafter (to ufe the ingenious critic's own words,) being, in this 
 cafe, *' of the elTence of its uniformity." I confefs I do not here 
 perceive any thing that can properly be called tautology ; for though 
 the philofopher fays, indeed, in the fecond part of the precept no 
 more than he meant to fay in ihtfrji; yet he plainly apprehended 
 it was more than he might be iinderftood to fay, and therefore he 
 fubjoined this neceflary explanation. What he fays is, in fhort, 
 only this — " Let the manners be uniform : an ununiform charaSler 
 *' is no exception to this rule\" 
 
 The Tigellius of Horace offered himfelf naturally enough, upon 
 'this occafion, to the commentators, as an illullration. We need 
 not, however, fuppofe Ariftotle to have thought of fo very fan- 
 taflic and comic a fpecies of incoherence. Mutability and caprice 
 are fometimes found in higher charafters, where they are lefs 
 ludicrous in their appearance, and, fometimes, very ferious in their 
 eifedls. And though, perhaps, a?zy charader of the kind may 
 
 * Le BofTu obfervep, very well, in explaining this rule, that whenever the Poet 
 admits this inequality of manners, " il doit bien faire remarquer aux auditeurs, que 
 " cette inegalite eft un caraSlere qu'il donne expres a un perfonnagc,^' Livre iv. ch. 7. 
 The following comparifon is no unhappy illuftration of Arifcotle's precept. " II 
 "arrive quelquefois qu'une meme perfonne eft egale et inegale (ofAa^.aj avw/^ax©- ) (.11 
 '" meme tems. Parceque le caraftere, qui dans la pluf-part des hommes refrembte 
 '•^ au foleil, dont I'egalite confifte a paroitre tojours le meme, en d'autre* refiemhle a le 
 ** lune, <lont I'egalite n'cft qu' a changer quatre fois de faces crt uivmois — /i-, p. 4501 
 
 X X Ivive
 
 3, 
 
 ;8 NOTES. 
 
 have too much of a comic cart: to accord with our ideas of Tragkr 
 dignity, we have no reafon to coiiclude,. that it would have found 
 the fame difficulty of admittance upon the Greek ftage, where the 
 Tragic mufe did, not unfrec^uently,- condefcend to be {^^n,. " Aas- 
 V.OVQVJ yeXcca'xa'oc^ 
 
 I fliall only add to this note the following pafllige from the 
 commentary of \^i(ftorius, which appears- to me to explain well", 
 in few words, the meaning, and the fpirit, of Ariftotle's precept.. 
 " Studens ofiiendere quantopere hoc praeceptum cuftodiendum 
 
 ' fit, affirmat, fi quis forte varius dilTimilifque fibi indudlus 
 
 ' /me/ fit, eum, talem in. omni fa<5lo totius fabuliE fervandum efic, 
 ' tit eequabilitas a Poetd cnjiodiatur in Jiatura Hid incequahili ojien- 
 ' dendd : quod non fieret, fi aliquis levis^ nee in eodem propofito 
 ' permanens, indadus, paulo poflea firmus et obflinati animj 
 ' i.ngerctur. Si morum igitur inaequalitas natur^que inconjlmitia 
 ' conflanter fervanda eft, quanta tnagis natura indokj'que JlabiUs^ 
 ' par Jibl acjugis ad extremumfervari debet " 
 
 NOTE 112. 
 
 P. 9"^. We have an example of manners unneces- 
 sarily BAD, IN THE CHARACTER OF MeNELAUS, 6cc. 
 
 Mr. Potter, in the introdudion to his tranflation of the Oreftes, 
 fays of this pafTage, that it " may be confidered as a myfterious 
 *' oracular ferrtence, which wants an expounder." I can only fay, 
 that I think the commentators would have reafon to congratulate 
 themfelves, if nojyitence of tliis mangled work wanted an expo- 
 fitor more than this. Whether we read uvocyKoitov, or uvxyKoun y—^ 
 an unnecejfary example of bad manners, or an example of unne- 
 ceJJ'ary badnefs of manners; the fenfe feems evidently the fame: 
 and that Ariftotle could not mean, what the excellent tranflator of 
 j^fchylus and Euripides feems to think he might mean — to 
 '" excufe the Poet upon the neceflity" — fufficiently appears from 
 
 7 another
 
 NOTES. 339 
 
 another paffage, at the end of the 25 th chapter, [Tranfl. Part IV. 
 Se(5l. 7.] where this charadlcr is again mentioned as an inftance 
 ofvitious manners, excufed by no nccejjity — ^^17 ava.'yi(.yi(; aV'/jj.— Mr. 
 Potter complains of ** the little light which the palHige derives 
 from the connexion:" I think without reafon. For as the other 
 examples given are examples of the 'violation of his other prec<;pts, 
 relative to propriety, and unifonnlty, of manners, the connexion 
 plainly indicates this to be an example of the fimilar vio!utio?i ot his 
 firft rule — that the manners fhould be good. So fir, then, feems to 
 be clear. In what particular view Ariftotle thought the badnefs of 
 the charadter not neceffary, may be, indeed, lefs clear. I Hiould fup- 
 pofe him to mean, that the hillorical, or traditional, charader of 
 Menelaus, and the obfervance of the o\*.om, by no means obliged 
 Euripides to paint him in fuch colours. With refpevft to the plei, 
 that it was neceflary, becaufe " the drama could not," otberwife, 
 *' have been worked up to this terrible height of Tragic dillrefs," 
 Ariftotle's anfwer would, perhaps, have been fimilar to that which 
 he makes upon another occafion : — ;'. e. the Poet fhould not, ori- 
 ginally, have fo conftrudled his plan, as to bring upon himfclf the 
 ueceility of committing fo great a fuilt: — \^ a'^%»)? 7«f « ^^^ cri/wj-aKr- 
 Q«,t ToinTng. [fc. i^vSag]. cap. xxiv. 
 
 NOTE 113. 
 
 P. 93. Of UNUNIFORM MANNERS, IN TH^ IpHlGENIA AT 
 AULIS, &C. 
 
 " How does this appear, independently of the name of this 
 ** great critic ? Iphigenia is drawn indeed at firft, fearful and 
 " fuppliant : and furely with the greateft obfervance of nature. 
 " The account of her deftination to the altar was fudden, and 
 ** without the leafh preparation : and, as Lucretius well obferves^ 
 ** in commenting her cafe, nubendi tempore in ipso; whea 
 
 X X 2 " her
 
 340 I^ O T E S. 
 
 " her thoughts were all employed, and, according to the fimpli- 
 " city of thole times, confefled to be fo, on her promifed nuptials. 
 " The caule of fuch deftination too, as appeared at iirft, was the 
 *' private family intereft of Menelaus. All this juflifies, or rather 
 ** demands, the flrongefl expreffion of female fear and vveaknefs. 
 ** But ilie afterwards recants and voluntarily devotes herfelf to 
 ** the altar." And this, with the fame ftridr attention to proba- 
 '•' bility. She had now informed herfelf of the importance of 
 " the cafe. Her devotement was the demand of Apollo, and the 
 *' joint petition of all Greece. The glory of her country, the 
 " dignity and intereft of her family, the life of the generous 
 *' Achilles, and her own future fame, were, all, nearly concerned 
 '' in it. All this confidered, together with the high, heroic 
 ** fentiments of thofe times, and the fuperior merit, as was be- 
 " lieved, of voluntary devotement, Iphigenia's chara<fler mufl 
 " have been very unfit for the diftrefs of a whole Tragedy to turn 
 *' upon, if flie had not, in the end, difcovered the readieft fub- 
 " mifTion to her appointment. But, to fliew with what won- 
 ** derful propriety the Poet knew to fuftain his charadters, we 
 *^ find her, after all, and notwithflanding the heroifm of the 
 *' change, in a ftrong and paflionate apoftrophe to her native 
 *' Mycenze, confeffing fome involuntaiy apprehenfions and regrets, 
 " the remains of that inftindlive abhorrence of death, which had. 
 " before ib ilrongly pofTeffed her. 
 
 E^crJ-w? EXX«i5/ fx,eyoi (fia©-— — — 
 
 Qccvao-cx, ' i*K oivKivo^at, 
 
 Once the brigilt ftar of Greece 
 
 But I fubmit to die, 
 
 «* This, I take to be not only a full vindication of the confiftency 
 *♦ of Iphigenia's charader, but as delicate a flroke of nature as is, 
 *' perhaps, to be found in any writer." [Comme?7tary on the Ep. to 
 tbe Pifos, &c. vol. i. p. 113, &c.] 
 
 If all I knew of the Tragedy in quejftion was from this inge- 
 nious
 
 NOTES. 341 
 
 nious defence, I fhould certainly acquit Euripides. I cannot acquit 
 him, or can only partially acquit him, when I read the Tragedy 
 itfeif. The fadl perhaps is, that the quellion, whether the critic's 
 cenfure be juft or not, cannot poflibly be decided by any general 
 ilatement of the cafe. That Iphigenia, fo circumftanced as fhe is 
 here, and very juftly, defcrlbed to be, 7night at firft be timid and 
 fuppliant, and, at laft, meet death with refolution, and this, 
 without any inconfiftence, or duplicity of character, will hardly 
 be difputed. But the queflion is, whether Euripides has aftually 
 fo drawn this timidity, and this refolution, as to preferve the 
 unity of character. To determine this fairly, we muft, at laft, 
 have recourfe to the detail of the Poet's execution, and the aftual 
 imprejjion which, on the whole, it leaves upon the reader's mind. 
 All depends here upon degree and manner. A fingle nuance in the 
 colouring, ^a flight depreffion or elevation of tone, in the- fuppliant, 
 or the heroine, may be fufficient to determine the impreflion this 
 way, or that. What this impreflion was upon Ariflotle's mind, 
 it may be obferved that he has marked very precifely and clearly 
 by the expreffion, 'OTAEN EOIKEN 'H 'IKETET0T£A TH; TS- 
 TEPH< : — " the Jupplicating-Iphigenia is nothing like the Iphi^ 
 *' genia of the conclufion." The expreflion, I think, does not 
 imply, that he thought the mere circumftance of her fupplicating 
 at firft for life, and recanting afterwards, was,, of itfeif, necelTarily 
 inconfiftent, but, that the manner in which ftie fupplicated was 
 ilich, as to make her, in that part, appear to be a different cha- 
 raSleVy another perfon, from what {he appears to be when flie 
 recants. 
 
 My own opinion I confefs to be, that though the confideratlons 
 fuggefted in this ingenious defence of Euripides may prove the 
 cenfure of Ariftotle to be too ftrongly, or, at leaft, too generally^ 
 expreffed, yet they do- not prove it to be without foundation. I 
 fay, too generally, becauJ^'^^rhaps there is but one pafiage in the 
 fpeech of ih& fuppliant Jphigenia, to which the OTAEN Uiy-iv is 
 
 6- ixmlff
 
 342 NOTES. 
 
 fairly applicable, In its full force. Her fpeech, E« [j.(v tov O^^fa?, 
 &c. V. 121 1, which, on the whole, is highly pathetic, ends with 
 thefe unhappy lines : 
 
 eamv KAKaZ ZHN KPEI2SON H 0ANEIN KAAHE*. 
 
 v. 1249. — 
 
 I leave it to the reader to determine, whether atty intervening 
 circumftances, that can be imagined, will make it at all conceiv- 
 able, that the fame Iphigenia, iLould, /« the Jlxjrt Jpace of time taken 
 np by the recital of, at mojt, only 35 lines of dialogue "", experience fuch 
 a total change of fcntlments, as to exprefs the mofl heroic refolu- 
 tion, and the utmofl fenfibility to the glory of dying for her 
 country ; as to fay, — 
 
 — •— oiouf/^ <rcj)fx,x T Hfiov EXXocai, 
 
 Aia. i^ocKp^, Kdi TTxiOBg irot, Kui yx^oi, jcxi (J'of ei^ii. V. 1 397'. 
 
 » This is foftened in Mr. Potter's verfion: 
 
 • — " of his fenfes is he reft, 
 
 " Who liath a wifli to die ; for life, though ill, 
 " Excells whate'er there is of good in death. v. 1365. 
 
 '' The reader of Euripides will obferve, that Iphigenia continues the fame flrain of 
 confternation and lamentation after the fpeech of her father in reply to her fupplica- 
 tion; (v. 1255, &c.) and even at v. 1317, ftie fays fhe dies, " imp'ioujly murdered bj 
 "• an impious father :" 
 
 Avoaui %XT^f^. 
 
 From the end of this monoftrophic lamentation to her heroic fpeech v. 1368, there 
 are, I think, but 35 lines. 
 
 ' — — * For Greece I give my life. 
 " Slay me, dcmolilli Troy: for thefe fliall lie' 
 " Long time my monuments, my^g^'iiiyren thv.'fe, 
 " My nuptials, and my glory."— ^j?-- .' 
 
 f otter's Eurip. v. 1549. 
 
 It
 
 NOTES. 3f3 
 
 It feems probable, that Ariftotle had chiefly in view the particular 
 lines I have quoted ; and had he any way pointed his ccnfure to 
 that paffage — had he faid, i^ev Baacev ^ 'OTTIiS iKBTSuacrci, &c. 
 quoting, or referring to, the verfes, I think there could have 
 been no obje<flion to the juftice of his criticifm, 
 
 Gravina, who has alfo defended Euripides in his book Def/a 
 ^Tragcdia, lays great flrefs upon a circumftance, which docs, indeed, 
 feem to be of confiderable moment in the Poet's juftification ; I 
 mean, the eife<fl of nectjpty in producing courage and refolution. 
 ** Non e maraviglia, fe Ifigenia, quantunque per naturalezza del 
 ** feflb, timida, ed amorofa della v'lt^, Jinche la poteva fperare ; poi 
 ** refa forte dalla necejjita, madre fpeflb anche delle virtu morali, 
 *' come anima generofamente educata, difprezza la morte, e can- 
 ** gia I'amor della vita in compiacenza di gloria. II che alia 
 ** giornata anche oflefviamo in perfone di nafcita e d'animo vile, 
 *' che condotte alia morte, arditamente I'abbracciano, quantunque 
 ** al primo avvifo coflernate rimanelTero ; perche I'idea della necef- 
 *■* Jita non avea ufata ancor lafuaforza," [Se5f. 19.] 
 
 This feems much to the purpofe ,- and it is fupported by its 
 agreement with what we find in the Tragedy itfelf. For the 
 change in the fentiments and language of Iphigenia is not, as we 
 have feen, produced before the fcene in Trochaics between Cly- 
 taemneftra and Achilles j the very fcene in which the inevitable 
 neceffity of the facrifice is fiirft made clearly apparent. The effedl 
 cf this on the refolution of Iphigenia. is vifible alfb in her fpeech : 
 
 AXXx Kut (re rnQ' o^xv ypri, ^v[ tia^'Kti%q g-aoiTU, 
 KAI HAEON nPAHIlRIEN OYAEN. 
 
 AAA' AMHXANON* — Si^ufA-i <ru^(n rn^iov EXXctSi, 6cc. 
 
 -v. 1372. 
 
 The
 
 344 NOTES. 
 
 The learned Mr. Markland, in his excellent edition of the two 
 Ipbigeniasy defends Euripides upon very different ground. He 
 admits the inconfiftence, not only in the charader of Iphigenia, 
 but in all the characters of the play, except Clytaemneflra ; and 
 even in the chorus. But all this he fuppofes to have been in- 
 tended by the Poet, as a moral leflbn — a ftriking pidure of the 
 " levity and ineonjlancy of the human mind.'' And he wonders, 
 which I cannot fay I do, that this fliould have efcaped the aryxivoiot, 
 of Ariflotle'. 
 
 NOTE 114. 
 
 P. 94. Hence it is evident that the development 
 ALSO, 6cc.' 
 
 Heinfius pronounces this whole pafTage, to the words, tv ru 0;J. 
 r» To(p. — inclufively, to be certainly out of its proper place °. And 
 I fliould be of his opinion, if fuch digrellive and parenthetical 
 inlertions were not very ufual with Ariftotle. The expreflion, how- 
 ever, flaould be obferved : — (pocvi^ov iv on KAI ra? Xvasig, &c. that 
 " the development a/fo," &c. /. e. as well as the other incidents 
 of the fable, juft mentioned. Moft of the verfions negledt the 
 word xxt, which is important, and greatly helps the connection. 
 This digreffion, however, tliough not unrelated, is but flightly and 
 obliquely related, to his prefent fubjeCl ; and feems introduced 
 rather aVo [^yix'^vr;;, and in violation of his own rule — nsro f^sTot 
 r-6To VI dvayKccwv ij ha®^. It interrupts the connexion, and obfcures 
 the purport, of the chapter ; and though we allow it to be where 
 the author placed it, wc may fairly queflion, whether he has placed 
 it where it Jijou/d be. 
 
 ^ P. 190, Note on v. 1375. 
 " De Trag. cap. xii. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 34; 
 
 NOTE 115. 
 P. 94. Machinery. 
 
 Atto fzvjxocvvjc. — It appears from Jul. Pollux, lib. iv. cap. 19. 
 that the term, |W57%ai/ij, was not applied indifcriminately to the ma- 
 chinery of the play-houfe in genera/, but was appropriated to that 
 particular machine, in which Gods and Heroes made their appear- 
 ance in the air. Mi;%acij oe, ^sag oaamcri ycca yipuxg rag Iv dipt. — I hope 
 it was fomething better than the Mij%avi? of the French opera, fo 
 pleafantly defcribed by Roufleau : — 
 
 " Les chars des Dieux et des Deefles font compofes de quatre 
 " folives encadrees et fufpendues a une grolTe corde en forme d'efcar- 
 ** polette ; entre ces folives eft une planche en travers, fur laquelle 
 *' le Dieu s'afTeye, et fur le devant pend un morceau dc grofTe toile 
 ** barbouillee, qui fert de nuage a ce magnifique char. On voit 
 ** vers le bas de la machine I'illumination de deux ou trois chan- 
 ** delles puantes et mal mouchees, qui, tandis que le perfonnage le 
 ** demene et crie en branlant dans fon efcarpolette, I'enfument 
 " tout a fon aife. Encens digne de la divinite \ 
 
 The account of the machinery of a Greek Theatre, in the 
 chapter of Jul. Pollux above referred to, is curious, and amufmg, 
 as far as it is intelligible. 
 
 NOTE 116. 
 
 P. 94. Or the return of the Greeks in the Iliad. 
 
 K.OU Iv TH( lAIAAI rot, ttb^i tov d-n-oTrX^v. It has been difputed, 
 whether Ariftotle here fpeaks of the Iliad of Homer, or .of fome 
 
 » Nouvelle Elolfe, Part II. Let, xxiii, 
 
 Y y Tragedy
 
 346 NOTES. 
 
 Tragedy called The Iliad. See Dacier's note. — But, if we fuppofe 
 the text to be right here, I fee not how we can reafonably rejed: 
 the firfl of thefe interpretations. 'H lAIAS, as Beni has well ob- 
 ferved, can only be, the Iliad, — i. e. Homer's Iliad. Dacier fup- 
 pofes the Tragedy to have been called, " The Iliad, or. The return 
 " of tic Greeks \' and to be that mentioned by Longinus, Seif!:. 15, 
 and attributed to Sophocles. But, even fuppofing a Tragedy to be 
 meant, it feems very clear from Ariftotle's expreffion, that the title 
 muH: have been, 'H ix<af, only ; for he fays, EN ry Wioi^i TA IlEPI 
 Toi/ ccttottXisv — /. e. " the circumflances, or incidents, relative to the 
 " return of the Greeks, in [the Tragedy of j The Iliad." — So, cap. 
 xxiv. — \v Tt? O^va-treio. — to, tteoi rviv Ikihtiv. — Indeed, The Iliad, taken 
 alone, feems an improbable title for a Tragedy ; but Dacier's 
 jundllon is ftill more improbable. He might as well have ima- 
 gined a Tragedy with this title — H OJ'uff-o-aa, 'H, 'H EK0EIIS. — 
 As to the Tragedy of Sophocles mentioned by Longinus, it feems 
 clearly to have been his Polyxena*. 
 
 Suppofing, then, the text not to be defedive, we cannot, I think, 
 avoid underflanding Ariflotle to fpeak of the machinery f (to ufe the 
 word in his general fenfe,) in the fecond book of the Iliad, where 
 Minerva defcends to prevent the return of the Greeks ". It is true 
 indeed, as has been objeded, that an inftance drawn from an 
 Epic Poem is not what one would expedt here, where the fubjedl 
 is Tragedy; and, that though there be, in this instance, a dif- 
 ficulty folved — a knot cut — yet this Xva-tg, is not, properly, Xva-ig 
 l^udis, in that fenfe. In which Ariftotle applies the term in cap. xviii'. 
 to the fnal denouement of a Tragic fable. — We muft therefore 
 fuppofe him to have produced this, merely as an obvious and 
 well known example of the Jort of fupernatural interpofition, or 
 
 » See the note of Ruhnkenius in Toup's LonginuSi 
 
 » II. B. 155, &c. 
 
 « Traiafl. Part II. Sed, 18, 
 
 machinery.
 
 .NOTES. '247 
 
 machinery, that would be improper in the Xva-tg of a Tragedy. 
 For, that he intended to cenfure the ** mhiijleria Deorum," fo 
 neceffiry to the Epic Poem, and fo frequent in the great model of 
 all Epic Poems, cannot be imagined without abfurdity, and is by 
 no means neceflarily implied, as Dacier feems to think, in this' in- 
 terpretation. 
 
 Such appears to me to be the only meaning, and the beft apology, 
 which the pafllxgc will bear, taking for granted the integrity of the 
 'original. But of this, I confefs, I doubt. M. Batteux tranf- 
 lates — ** la petite Iliade." But if we admit that fenfe, as Ari- 
 ilotle certainly would not have called that Poem the I/iad, without 
 dill;ind:ion, we mull neceflarily fuppofe the text defective, and the 
 word MIKPAi to be omitted" ; and it feems veiy probable that this 
 was the cafe. The illuftration, indeed, will ilill be drawn from 
 an Epic Poem ', but from one of an irregular and hifiork ftrudiure, 
 confifling of a firing of ill-united {lories', and which feems to 
 have been confidered as a fort 0^ feed-plot y or mirfery, of fubjedfs 
 for the ufe of the Tragic Poets : fo that in referring to it, Ariftotle 
 niay be urlderflood to refer to fuch Tragedies as' M'ere founded on 
 it } of which he enumerates himfelf no fewer than eight, and one 
 of thefe was called AnoriAOTSi taken, I fuppofe, like the Po- 
 ly kind oi Sophocles mentioned by Longimis, from that part of 
 ih^ Mttle Iliad, \v\nch. related the detention of. thd Greeks in the 
 Thr'acian Cherfonefe, and the appearance of the gholl of Achilles 
 demanding the facrilice of Polyxena. See the Hecuba of Euripides,- 
 y. 35, &c. and 104, &c. — and the fine defcription of the facriBte^ 
 y; 519, &c.— In Mr. Potter's tranHation, v. 36—^102 — 50^, '^'' " 
 
 ■Jl:. 
 
 * — Tf,i/ MHvP^^N I^iaJi* — and, « m; MIKPAS iMaJ©^. cap. xxiii. 
 
 • See Ariftotle's account of it, cap, xxiii. Tranfl. Part III. Sect, i. 
 
 Yy2 NOTE
 
 34^ NOTES, 
 
 NOTE 11^. 
 P. 95. Or of indolent — . 
 
 Pa5t;^©>. : — indolent — nonchalant. Hefychius explains Yol^u^^, — 
 'O MH nONHTIKOZ aAX' EKATTOS. It is improperly rendered, 
 *' timide," by M. Batteux, and *• inajifuetOt'.hy the Italian tranf- 
 lators. 
 
 NOTE 118. 
 
 P. 95. Should draw an example approaching ra- 
 ther TO A GOOD, THAN TO A HARD AND FEROCIOUS, CHA- 
 RACTER. 
 
 The original is — Ourca km tov ttoivitviv, iJi,ifi^fjLivav kou ooyiXx? km pa- 
 
 GvfiHC, KM TOcXXoi TO. TOiUVTOi i')(pVTXq BTTl TUV ^duV, eTTietKetOig "TTOtSiV TTOCpOi- 
 
 cayfx.a yj crKXmoTii;T<^ oh : oiov tov A^iXXex Ayuduv km 'Of^m®^. — A 
 paflixge that has much perplexed and divided the commentators. 
 Of all the explanations which this perplexity has produced, that 
 of Dacier is the moft improbable and ill-founded. He forces 
 pxOuf/.<^ into the fenfe of, emporte, furieiix, and makes it " encherir 
 " fur o^ytX^Sh." Emaxaa, he wrenches from the obvious and proper 
 fenfe in which it is continually ufed by Ariftotle, into that of 
 frobability. And the rcfult of this violent operation upon the 
 paflkge, is the following flrange verfion : — " II faut tout de meme, 
 ** qu'un Pocte qui veut imiter un homme colere et cmportey ou 
 ** quelqu' autre caradlere femblable, fe remette bien plus devant 
 *' les yeux ce que la colere doit fair e iiraljhnblablcment (i. e. sTnetKetus) 
 " que ce quelle a fait fi. e. ^ <r«:Xi;^0TijT©^ ! ) et c'eft ainfi," &c. 
 I may venture to leave all this to the learned reader's rejedlion, 
 
 without
 
 NOTES. 349 
 
 without any farther comment, I fliall only jufl obferve, that the 
 expreffion, KAI o^. KAI ^*5i evidently marks different charadlers j 
 piot, as Dacier makes it, different degrees only of the fame cha- 
 racter. 
 
 Heinfius firfl; fuggefted, that the phrafe £7r;aK£<af ^ cr^XijaoTijT-®', 
 was elliptical, and [/.xXXov to be underftood. But in fpite of the 
 ** Attica venujias," I am much more inclined to fufpeit an omif~ 
 Jion of the word. Ariftotle would hardly have ufed a mode of 
 expreffion fo unavoidably ambiguous — or rather, that would, 
 almoft unavoidably, lead to a wrong fenfc j for, the fadl is, that 
 all the commentators, : before Heinfius, underftood the tj, as 
 indeed every rcadeirv I believe, would at firft naturally underftand 
 it, in the disjiinftive. fenfe of, or. Belidcs this, I doubt whether 
 any example of this elliptic phrafe occurs in Ariftotle's works. 
 That it may., I will not take upon me to deny; but it feems, at 
 leaft, very unufual. An inftance of it i have not found -, but the 
 reader may find many inftances of the full phrafe, iaoXXov vj, even in 
 this^-treatife". However, one, or the other, of thefe fuppofitions, 
 it feems neceflary to adopt. The paffage will then, without 
 forcing the words BTrietKBia, and a-KX'/iporyjg from their ufual and 
 proper fignification, afford a clear and confiftent meaning. E-7rm~ 
 iuiot. is ufed, I think, here, as it is in cap. xiii. in the general (cn^Q 
 oi good^., ZaXyi^oryig plainly relates only to his firft inftance, of 
 the o^ytX©^, the angry character, of which it feems to exprefs the 
 extreme degree. In the Ethics ad Nicom. we have — AFPIOI x-ai 
 ZKAHPOI, as fynonymous, or very nearly fo'. A paffage of 
 Plato may ferve to illuftrate and confirm this fenfe of the word. 
 
 » Cap. i. <puno>.oyov MAAAON H woi)!!^.— cap. ix. MAAAON rav /xuSav H 
 
 Twv fitr^av. — cap xxiv. Tr^ocu^surQai te a^uvara km hxora, MAAAON H hvxTot xai amOava. 
 
 So, in the Rhet. lib. i. cap. 5« emencm is plainly ufed as fynonymous with xfrir®". 
 For, defining the word x^^o<pi>jce, he fays — a h mt EIllEIKEIL av^^sg, [fc. 9l^ol em'] 
 XTHSTO^IAOI. 
 
 « Lib. iv. cap. 8. eJ. miL. 
 
 Speaking
 
 350 N O T E F. 
 
 Speaking of the (tufioahg, or irafcibk nature, he fays, it may produce 
 the ary^iov : — km o^6w; jiaei/ T^«!f)£», oail^uov av Itvi' MAAAON A' EniTA^ 
 ©EN TOT AEONTOS, EKAHPOTEPON rs. >icci ;^aXsrroi' yiymr. uv, 
 ug TO sire®-. — And juft before — ArPIOTHTOS re km SKAHPOTH- 
 TO£, x«i au ff.BcXcac.tag tb km jfjitefOTTjr©* v. 
 
 The fenfe of the paflage, then, will be, that, in order to recon- 
 cile thejirji precept, of the %^'^s-ov, with the ihh'd, of the; oiwwov, the 
 charadler Ihould be brought as near to a good one, as ia confiftent 
 with the circumftance. of V^i^d'^^j'. Thus, if fuch a character as 
 that of Achilles is to. be, drawn, its ftriking features are to be pre^* 
 ferved, but, at the fame time, to be rather improved and foftened, 
 than exaggerated. For the cxpreffiou muft be obferved. .. Ariftotle 
 does not fay abfolutely, according to the IJbnfe of Heinfius:, that 
 Achilles ought to be drawn, or was drawn, itd^ai&.'yji.a. iTTiimuocgi 
 but rather fb than othei-wiie ; — MAAAON if (n<iXi7jtfr^T@^-r:-*f -Loia 
 ** de charger encore le defaut, il le rapprocbera'. de. la\n.rertn •^'^^ aa 
 M. Batteux has very well expreifed the j(^?>/f of tlie Alley though 
 he has generalized it, and made it refer to all that precedes — ^kou 
 eoytXag, KM 'ox9uf.tng, &c. — whereas it appears plaiilly, from what has 
 been faid of the force of c-jcXtjoor*)?, that the words, ■eTrniKita.g -rrotnv 
 vxpciL y] <TK\ri^. can be applied only to the o^yiXot ; for as to thd 
 octQvi^^, ^""*^^^ ^ charafter may, indeed, be flattered into the f?r<>i^ 
 KBiKiig, but cannot well, by any^ diflortion, be mad6 t© j^pjear* 
 
 Still, however, Avhat every one, I believ^6; natunvlly expe<5ts'at' 
 the firft reading of this pafiage, as it 71010 ftands, is^ that aftef 
 having mentioned two inftances ol faulty chara<S;ei-5,- the c^yAm, and- 
 the px9v[.<.ci, Ariftotle fhould mention two correfponding inftances 
 of goscl qualities bordering upon, or connefted with, each, and 
 of which the Poet might avail himfelf, to give to each a favour- 
 able turn. But, inflead of this, we have a good, and a bad qua-; 
 lity, {iTTiBiKiM, and (ncAijfOTijf,) both of which, as we have feen,. 
 
 * De Repub. lib. iii. cd. Mcfs. p. 228. 
 
 can
 
 NOTES. 351 
 
 can be made to relate only to hhfirji inflance, the o^yiX'2^- ; fo that 
 all the reft, between the words o^yi.\Mq, and ETr/^ocaaf, mufh be paren- 
 thetical. The harflmcfs and embarraffnicnt of fuch a conRruc- 
 tion, led me formerly to fufpe(n: an error in one of the words, stt^- 
 aycitotq, or <Tx.\vi^oTr,r©^ ; and a conjefture was fuggefted to me by a 
 paflage in the Rbctoric, which, I hope, will at leaft be thought 
 plauiible enough to excufe my laying it before the reader. The 
 fufpicion feemed to fall upon crKXvi^orviT©- ; for the iTrmx.ax would 
 anfwer well enough as a foftening, or improvement, of '^xOvf^ixi 
 as an indolent man, who concerns himfelf about nothing, and 
 cares only for his own eafe, is often fpoken of as a quiet, good kind 
 of man. Inflead of (TvX^orypr<^, then, I thought it not impro- 
 bable, that Arillotlc might have written ot.7t'Korv\r^. The pafTage 
 of Ariftotle himfelf which fuggefted this to me, is in the fii-ft book 
 of his Rhetoric^ cap. ix. where, delivering the ufual precepts re- 
 lative to the art of encomiaftic mifreprefentation, he fays, — AviTrreov 
 
 de sKotg-ov, Ik tuv TrapaxoXadavTuv oat, kxtu to BEATISTON* oiov, 
 
 TON 'OPriAON Kou Tov [^ccvucv, 'AIIAOTN' noci rov auQu^y;, [^ByxXo- 
 ^^evij x,xt crei/.vor k. t. aXX. The whole pafTage is much to the 
 pUrpofe of this place ; and is, plainly, not more applicable to the 
 Rhetorician, with refpedl to the hero of his oration, than it is to 
 the Poet, with refpedl to the hero of his poem. A palTage of 
 Euripides will add, perhaps, fome probability to this conjeClure. 
 In the Iphigenia at AuUs, Achilles thus draws his own character: 
 Y.yca 6 Iv ccvop'^ njcrsfie^oiTis rpxip^i^, 
 Xsipuv'^, ii^xdov Tug TDOTTisg 'AnAOTS e%£/v. 
 K«/ TOtq Atouocch;, rjv f^sv y^ycovTM KOiXocg, 
 TliKTofiiff. oTocv 06 [ATI KocXcog, i ':riKro^'.i(i\ ij. 926. 
 
 Where the meaning of T^crtug dTrX^g, is very well fixed by the two 
 fubfequent lines, and by the expreflion, sXsuSb^xv cpva-tv, in the verfe 
 that foliovv's them. 
 
 Plato, alfo, in the Hippias, talks much of the fimplicity, truth, 
 and iincerity, of Achilles j as if, in his view, they were the pro- 
 
 * minent
 
 352 NOTES. 
 
 niinent features of what was good in the Homeric charader of 
 that hero. When Socrates afks Hippias, whether Achilles is not 
 i-eprefented by Homer as an artful, defigning charad:er, Hippias 
 anfwers — Uzifcc, ys, u LuK^ccreg, aAX' "AEIAOTZTATOS. And, again, 
 ug f^Bv A^iXXBug eivi uKviQvjg re km 'AIIAOTS' o os Oou(T(revg ttoXwoott^ t£ 
 Ktxi i^iev^rig'. And the following lines are there quoted, in which 
 Homer has made Achilles ftronglj mark this feature of his own 
 character : 
 
 Aioyeveg AxsptikSt], "TroXvf^cvj^ix.v Oova-crev, 
 Xeij f4,ev Stj rov [4,v9ov uTT'i^Xeysug aTroinrav, 
 ■ 'Hi Trep &y; (ppoviu re, kxi ug TereXecriAevov e^oci' 
 E%6i©j yap jjcoi }csiv<^ of/,ug atooiO TruXvKriv, 
 'Of X 'iT^Pov fisv KSuSet Ivi (ppsa-tv, uXXo ^e (ioc^ei-. 
 
 II. rx. 308. 
 
 The fenfe, then, of the pafTage before us, accordirig to ^his con- 
 jeilure, would be this : — If the Poet chufe for the fubje'ct of his 
 imitation a pqf/jonate, or an indolent man, he fhould give to the 
 former the Caft of plain fincerity, and honeft franknefs ; and to 
 the other, (the fla9u;x©o) that of moderation, gentlenefs *^, good- 
 nature, and what the French, by an expreffive word which our 
 
 language wants, term, bonhomifiie. But I dwell too long upon 
 
 a mere conjedlure. The evident propriety of the word a-zXTjcorTjg, 
 as applicable to the unfoftcncd and tatflattered charaBer of Achilles, 
 may juftly, perhaps, proteft it from fufpicion ; though, on the 
 other hand, the pafTages I have adduced, added to the improbabi- 
 lity of the ellipfr' fuppofed by Heinfms, the embarraffment of the 
 parenthefis, and the advantage of leaving the vi to its mofl obvious, 
 disjunBhc, fenfe, prevent me from a total rejedtion of this idea. 
 
 The word ■n-a.^a^siyfAx, here, is taken by moft of the commen- 
 tators to mean ^perfect ideal jnodel^ — " fu/mnum exemplar." For 
 
 • Tom. i. p. 364. ed. Sot. 
 
 ' E5r;£w«5— nPAOI, METP10I..~-SuUt/s. 
 
 « Robortelli, Vidlorius, Piccol. Bcni, Goulllon. this
 
 NOTES. 353 
 
 this I fee no reafon, I take it to be ufed here, as it is generally, 
 I believe, if not always, ufed by Ariflotle, merely for an example. 
 Of this the reader may eafily fatisfy himfelf by confulting the 
 ufeful index to Mr. Winflanley's edition. 
 
 NOTE 119. 
 
 - P. 95. As Achilles is drawn by Agatho and by 
 Homer, 
 
 Plato, in the third book of his Republic, gives a very different 
 view of the Homeric Achilles, He makes him a mere compound 
 of extreme /t/^^ and extreme 7neannefs: ugz l^av ev aurw vocr-^yMroi 
 ovo IvocvTica oiXkviKoiv, anXiv^spiav [a-stch (piXoxprji^KTicig, Kxt <xu VTrBari^avtav 
 6buv t£ xoit a,vd^co7nov^. To which we may add, as a companion. Dr. 
 Jortin's portrait of Achilles : *' A boijlerousy rapacious, mercenary , 
 *' cruel, and unrelenting brute', and the reader pities none of his 
 " calamities, and is pleafed with none of his fucceffes'' 1" This 
 is far enough from the nroL^a^Hy^oi. iTriazBixg. But for a jufter ac- 
 count of this matter, and for the befl illulliration of this paflage 
 of Ariflotle that can be given, I refer the reader to Dr. Beattie's 
 analyfis of the charadler of this hero, as drawn by Homer; 
 EfTay on Poetry, Sec. Part I. ch. iv. 
 
 » *' So that he united in himfelf two vices the mofl oppofite to each other ; ava- 
 *< ricious meannefs on the one hand, and, on the other, an infolent contempt both of 
 ^' Gods and men." — P. 174, ed. Majfey, 
 
 ^ Six Diflertations, p. 214, 
 
 Z 2 NOTE
 
 354 NOTE S. 
 
 NOTE 120. 
 P. 95. And besides these, whatever relates to 
 
 THOSE SENSES WHICH HAVE A NECESSARY CONNECTION 
 
 WITH Poetry. 
 
 Here are two readings : raj iruacc to, l^ avayK'/);- tx;co?<^Gi:<ra<; aitr^'ij- 
 cret^ T'/? TTOivjTizvi : and, r<x Trxooc rccg e^ uvxynvig, &c. but in both, the 
 objecS, and general {enfe of the paflage, feem to be the fame, though 
 in both, the expreffion, it muft be confeffed, is fufficiently em- 
 barrafled and obfcure. I have prefefred the latter, (which is that 
 of Vidtorius,) as being, on the whole, the cleareft*. 
 
 The Jl'fzjes that belong to, accompany, or are coniieSled ivkh, Poetry, 
 are, plainly, the Jight, and the bearing, as relative to the o4';f, or 
 fpeSIacle, in the whole extent of that term, and to the MeXo7ro/«a or 
 Mujlc. When thefe are faid to be IJ ocvayx-vig ccjioXaQaa-ai tv '^oiriTiz'^, 
 it cannot be meant that the parts relative to them are ejfential to 
 the Tragic Poem, like iht fable, tnamzers. Sec. but only, that they 
 are neceffary appendages of the drama in its complete Jlate, as de- 
 figned for reprefentation. This is perfeftly conformable to what 
 was before laid of the Oi|^/;; that, though confefledly, in one view, 
 viKii^cc oiKcicv Trig 'TToiyiTMviq' % yet, ■ In another view, EH ANArKHS civ 
 £i'^ Ti fA.oaicv Trig Ypot-ymiocg -r,g O^/Siijg koctia.©^ . 
 
 The drift of the precept is obvious. The decoration fliould be 
 fuch as to agree with the rules juft laid down for the mannersi 
 
 * In the treatife Ue^i aio-flwEuj, the fame exprcfllon occurs: — h f^;v a^n xai yivini 
 AKOAOT0EI Ttatxiv Ea ANArKHZ. " Ta>Slus et guftus animalia omnia nccejfaria 
 comitantur." Tom. i. p. 6 '.3. ed. Duval. 
 
 ' Cap. vi. — " is moj} foreign to the art." — Tranll. Part II. Se£t. 3. 
 
 '' Jbid. init. " The DECORATION muft necejj'arily be one of its parts." Part II.. 
 Sea. 2. 
 
 The
 
 NOTES. 25S 
 
 The fcenery, drefles, acfllon, 6cc. mufl be a^f/.oTTovTx, ofioix — pro- 
 bability, nature, and the cojiumc^ iiiufl be obferved. Even the 
 ^i^iyiiTiq (iiXrmoiv, the improved mitatio?!, has here, too, its obvious 
 appHcation. The Tquahd hair, and ragged drefs, of Eleftra % 
 muft, as well as the o-^cAijoot-,?? of Achilles, be a little flattered in 
 the reprefentation, and not too Uki\ 6cc. 
 
 The rule extends, alfo, to the Mdoptxla, or the Mujic ; which, 
 from other paffages of Ariftotle's works, we may fuipe6t to have 
 been fometimes fuch, as facrificed propriety, and juft expreflion — 
 the Ti^'^iy the tt^ettoi', 6cc. to the depraved tafle of what he calls the 
 (pooTMoi fpe<3:a tors'*. 
 
 It is probable that Ariftotle alludes, alfo, to cap. xvii. and to 
 the miftakes, which the Poet is liable to commit, who compoies 
 without keeping the^age, and the efFefts. of reprefentation, in his 
 eye'. 
 
 Though the Poet neither painted the fccnesy nor made the 
 drejfcs, yet all this formed one of the fix conftituent parts of Tra- 
 gedy; fell, of courfe, under the direftion and controul of the 
 Poet, and was of the utmoft importance to the fuccefs of his 
 piece, at a time w^en reprefentcttion was almoft efi'ential to the idea 
 of dramatic poetry". 
 
 "^ £«E4.ai j«s niNAPAN KOMAN, 
 
 K«i TPTXH TAA' ifiav mnrKxi. Eurip. EleSlra, 184. 
 
 * See, De Rcpuh. lib. viii. cap. 6, and 7, p. 457, E. 459, A. ed. Duval. The 
 contcfii (jiyavfj), indeed, of which he fpeaks in thefe paflages, feem to have been 
 merely muftcal. But the known influence of the fame popular audience in the dra- 
 matic contefts, and the caution given by Ariftotle in the pafiage we are confidering, 
 m.ike'it prob.ibl'-, that even in the mufic of Tragedy^ efi'eci--dly in the inflrumcntal 
 part of it, fomething of the fame accommodation mi^ht prevail. 
 
 ' Tranil. Part II. Seel. 17. 
 
 ^ See Diir. J. Tart II. at the end. 
 
 % z 2 NOTE
 
 ;j6 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 121. 
 P. 96. All those discoveries in which the sign is 
 
 PRODUCED BY WAY OF PROOF. 
 
 'Ai TTi^Eug mxa. Well explained by Dacler after the Italian 
 commentators. Indeed, the very words of Homer, in the paffage 
 alluded to, fufficlently illuftrate the meaning of the expreffion, 
 
 E; ^^ccyB ^Tj KM ZHMA dpi(ppoco£i; aXko Ti osi^co, 
 '0?)^flj jW£ ev yjcoTOVy mSTXlGHTON t Ivt GufjLu, 
 'OTAHN— — , 6cc. Od. <p. 217. 
 
 *' To give yovi firmer faith, now trull your eye : 
 *' Lo ! the broad /(T^r indented on my thigh." 
 
 Pope, xxi. 226. 
 
 Other inflances o? Jigjis thus ufed, not for the purpofe of acci- 
 dental difcovery, but as confirmations of a volu?itary difcovery pre- 
 vioufly made, may eafily be found. Thus, in the ElcSira of So- 
 phocles, when Eledlra afks her brother, 'H ycx.^ av kuv'^-, — he 
 anfwers 
 
 ^^(pBsi'yiSx' TTXTo®^, e}c[/,xO' £1 (7a(prj Xeyu. 
 
 NOTE 122. 
 
 P. 96. Those which happen suddenly and ca- 
 sually, ARE BETTER. 
 
 Ex. -Tri^fTTBreixg. — ** Non valet hic vs^iTTBTBix, mutatlonem illam 
 *• ingentem fortunarum, fed, Ik Tre^meTeiccs, fignificat, cafu, fortuito, 
 " et ^uia ita cccidit." — Vitlorius. 
 
 4, So
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ZS7 
 
 So in the pafTage from Polybius quoted by Suidas, under the 
 words Ylz^nrniict,, and Y.v^zvr^q : — s tu%»? to ttXhov (rvi/soyu ^f^puf/Av^, i;(5" 
 EK riEPinETEIAS, «AXa J/a ryji; ayxLvoiaq. v.. t. X. 
 
 Ariflotle's ufing the word thus, adverbially, after having hi- 
 therto ufed it only in its technical, or dramatic, fenfe, of a fudden 
 change of fortune, produces fome ambiguity ; and the more fo, as 
 the adverbial phrafe, Ik Trs^iTrersixg, feems not to be of very common 
 occurrence. Heinfius, taking Tre^nrereix in the dramatic fenfe, 
 tranflates — " qua; e mutatiotitbus in contrarhim orhmtiir ;" which, 
 indeed, is the obvious meaning of the expreflion, if not underflood 
 adverbially. But it cannot be Ariflotle's meaning, becaufe the 
 difcovery of the fear of Ulyfles was not the confequence of any 
 fuch -TrepiTriTBix. Indeed, it was neither the confequence, nor the 
 caufe, of any reverie of fortune. 
 
 I have fometimes fufpedted that Ariflotle might write it, k 
 nPOriETEIAE, by which all ambiguity would have been avoided. 
 But, perhaps, after all, the phrafe had no ambiguity to Greek ears, 
 and the palfage may be right as it {lands. 
 
 NO T E 123. 
 
 P. 96. Discoveries invented, at pleasure, by the 
 Poet, and, on that account, still inartificial. 
 
 AevTspui OS, at "TTBTToivji^evxi vtto th TTOi'/iTis, Oio oiTZ'/yoi.. — The expref- 
 (ion, 7r£7rciyj[A,ivcii utto th 7roiviT-<i, mufl neceffarily, I think, be under- 
 ftood emphatically, and mull mean, not merely invented, (for fo are 
 the other difcoveries alfo, which follow,) but arbitrarily invented by 
 the Poet, and obvioiijly fo, " upon the fpur of the occafion ;" in 
 oppofition to fuch means of difcovery and recognition, as, though 
 ilill indeed of the Poet's invention, are artfully prepared in the 
 very texture of his plot, and appear to arife, neceffarily or pro- 
 bably.
 
 3s3 NOTES. 
 
 bably, from the adlion itfelf. And thus I find it well explained 
 by Piccolomini : — " Chiama Ariflotele quefta feconda fpetie 
 " di riconofcimento, fatto dal Foetc : e cofi lo chiama, non 
 " perc/je in tiitte k fpetie il Poet a non fta que Ho che It riconofcimcnti , 
 " ficcome le altre parti dell' attione e della favola ponga e formi 
 *' coi verjifuoi ', ma ha dato a qiiejia fpetie piu ch' all' altre quefto 
 " nome, perche in efla, non fondahdofi il Poeta, ne nello fteflo 
 " connettimento delle cofe, e nella ftefla favola, ne in fegno al- 
 *' cuno che la perfona llelfa, che s'ha da riconofcere, gli ofterifca 
 *' iaanzi ; egli, per quefto, come libero divenuto, eifuo mero (quafi) 
 ** arbitrio, reca, finge, e pone in hocca della perfona a "joglia Jiia, 
 " quella occafione di riconofcimento che piii gli place ^' &c. \_p. 230.] 
 — Yet, as this fenfe is rather inferred from the explanation fub- 
 joined, {ja.\)-a, iv at;-©- Xeysj 'A BOTAETAI 'O nOlHTHS, uXK ix 
 MT0OS) than exprefled by the words themfelves, I am much 
 inclined to fuppofe fome omillion in the text. 
 
 The other i^eading, 'OYK a,Ti-xyoi, is very plaulibly fupported by 
 the Abbe Batteux, from a paflage of Ariftotle's Rhetoric, which 
 has been already mentioned in note io4\ I doubt, however, 
 , whether that paffage be fairly applicable to this \ But though it 
 were, the fenfe above given, and which I think miiji be given, to 
 the expreffion 7re7!-oi'>jusvcii vtto tm FT. feems hardly reconcilable with 
 this reading. For can we conceive that Ariftotle would affio-n 
 as a" reajhn why fuch difcoveries are not inai'tifcial, that they are 
 arbitrarily (and therefore eafily,) invented by the Poet ? — AIO ax 
 
 I muft obferve, however, that though thefe two readings are 
 diametrically oppofite, — aT£%i/<3<— ix. KTsyyoi — yet, it is fome com- 
 fort, that whichever we adopt, the general fenfe of the pafliige 
 
 " Rhct. I, c. ii. Twv Je mrtsJi'j ii iixi a-riyyii Eiffiv— x. t. \. 
 
 *> In that pafTage, a.-nx'm, is oppofed to ENTEXNA, and mean', fuch things as arc 
 foreign to the urator's art. — Here, the word means, not foreign to the Poet's art, but 
 only — requiring little^ or no art, or ingenuity of invention, in the Poet. 
 
 7 will
 
 NOTES. 359 
 
 will be the fame. As fuch difcoverics are of the Poet's invention, 
 they are not un'/yot, in the rhetorical kn(Q : as they require very 
 little invention, compared with thofe which arife from the adlion 
 itfelf, they may, in this view, be denominated, aTi->(yiJi. In either 
 reading, therefore, Ariftotle will be found to fay the fame thing j 
 i.e. that the difcoveries of this ytVi^/Zi^/ fpecies are, in point of art 
 and ingenuity, fuperior to die f^rjl fpecies, and inferior to all the 
 reji. 
 
 NOTE 124. 
 P. 96. Orestes, AFTER having discovered his sister, 
 
 DISCOVERS himself TO HER. 
 
 The Greek is — cx.vByvuoi(rs rvjv a.oeXtp'yiv, oLVByvupitrQuq vtt hcsivrig : — 
 this, as Vidorius has obferved, feems to fiy the reverfe ; i.e. that 
 Oreftes difcovered his fifter qfter having been difcovered by her :. 
 which is not the fadt. One would rather have expected — uvay- 
 
 vupi(rag tv;u ix,SsX<pi^v, KVsyvupitrQyj vtt e^ceivr,;: which would alfo have 
 
 been clearer, and not have given occafion to the commentators to^ 
 fuppofe, that the difcovery of Iphigenia by the letter was meant to. 
 be included in ihisfccond zn^L faulty fpecies of difcoveryj whereas the 
 expreffion 'OION O^. ANEFNIIPISE Trp a^£X^i;v, leads very naturally 
 to that idea. But it is eafy to fee, upon the leaft refledtion, that 
 the difcovery of Orejles only is the example here intended. This 
 is fufficiently explained by Dacier after Vid:orius. It was natural- 
 enough, however, for Ariftotle to mention the i)^/6d7- difcovery, in 
 pafling, as being the counterpart of a double Kvccyvu^itng in the fame 
 drama. [See cap. xi. at the end. Tranfl. Part II. Sect. 9.] — But 
 this whole paflage, I may fay, this whole chapter, has undoubt- 
 edly been moft miferably mangled in tranfcription. 
 
 NOTR
 
 360 NOTE S. 
 
 NOTE 125. 
 P. 96. But Orestes, by [verbal proofs] &c. 
 The reading which Vidlorius regarded as moft authentic is 
 
 this : — EKeiy'^ ^. ***** ■* rcuvTO. 4v auT©^ Xs-yii a, f^'tsXerxi 
 •Troivirr,^, aXX ix ^ /^"^©^- — But four Medicean manufcripts, and, it 
 feems, a// thofe in the King of France's library, agree in reading— 
 hisiv^ Se a.vT<^ XeyBi, k. t. a/, and, in the latter, we are told, the 
 words are written without any hiatus. This lafl reading, however, 
 appears to me fliort and deficient. I cannot but think that the 
 author, after the words ly.m'^ Js, — had exprefled the means of the 
 difcovery, and by them denominated this fpecies, as he has all the 
 others : — hx <rr,i^eiu]/ — Sta [^vyjf/,'/ii — Ik (ruXXoyi<rf/.ii — . But how the 
 vacancy was filled, it is impofilble to determine ; and it is of the. 
 lefs confequence to determine, as we are in pollefiion of the Tra- 
 gedy itfelf. A<a (Tvif^icdv, which Viftorius found in one MS. or, 
 ^<« reai^wMv, as Dacier ingenioufly conjedlured from the words of 
 Euripides himfelf, feem mofi: probable. In point of meaning, it is 
 indifferent by which of thefe appellations thefe difcoveries were 
 diftinguiflied ; Tsn[^-/i^tov being, according to Ariftotle's own defini- 
 tion in his Rhetoric, only a i^ecies of a-vifAUov. Taruu Je (i. e. tuv 
 (r?;u,eiuv,) to [x.ev oiva.yy.cx.iov, rezf.t.viotov'' . l,rif4.Biov is a Jign, or token: 
 Tiy-iaiPiov, a certain, decijive fign, fuch as puts an e}id to all doubt, 
 according to the derivation of the word given by Ariftotle in the 
 paiTage juft referred to. We fee, therefore, with what flrid pro- 
 priety the word is ufed by Euripides, when Iphigenia demands, 
 and Orefles profefies to give, a deci/ive proof: 
 
 * See edit. Ox. 1780, and Batteux's trandation, note 3. — But M. Batteux is 
 miftakcn in faying that FiSiorius omits the words javTo. iv. — he gives them in his text, 
 and tranflates them in his commentary. He rejedls only the fupplemcnt, Si« <miAewv. 
 
 * Lib. i. cap, ii. p. 517. ed. Duval, 
 
 Iphig:
 
 NOTES. 361 
 
 Iphig. — Ixii? ri ruv^e [/.ot TEKMHPION ; 
 And Oreftes, prefently after, when he produces his laft and 
 flrongefl proof, fays 
 
 'aS' It^ov a'ur©^, rcc^e (p^x(ru TEKMHPIA' 
 It is, indeed, fome objedlion to ^lu a-yif/.auv, in this pafTage of 
 Ariflotle, that it would appear to confound t/ji's difcovery with the 
 ^r/f, by giving it the fame denomination. But this, perhaps, 
 would be fufficiently obviated by the explanation immediately fub- 
 joined : — Six a-rifietuV TAYTA [^sv iv auT©o AEFEI a ^-.sKztm, &C. 
 Zfjfiao!/, in the Jirjl fpecies of difcovery, is ufed for 'vifible, external 
 proofs : here, it would be ufed for verbal, argumentative proofs j 
 as it is ufed, continually, in this treatife. And it may alfo be 
 obferved, that Ariiftotle himfelf, at the end of this chapter, (if the 
 integrity of the text be admitted,) refers to this fort of difcovery, 
 among others, under the denomination of 7re7roiYii/,svx I^HMEIA. 
 
 NOTE 126. 
 P. 96. For some of the things, from which those 
 
 PROOFS ARE DRAWN, ARE EVEN SUCH AS MIGHT HAVE BEEN 
 PRODUCED AS VISIBLE SIGNS. 
 
 — Efi;:/ yx^ kv Ivix jcai Ive-yKeiv. — In the fenfe which I have given 
 to this obfcure fentence, the only fenfe that I thought could fairly 
 be extradled from the words, I am glad to find myfelf fupported by 
 the judgment of Vidtorius. — " !=heare prope diSlwn peccatiim eft: [Si 
 " lyyvg TTig si^rji^svvig xi/.a,^ritx.i; s^iv.) quia fi ilia quibus ufus eft Oreftes 
 " non omnin6y%;?^ fueruntj — neque cnim oflrendi potueruntj — 
 " prope tamen ilia accelferunt ; atque ita prope ut qusdam ex 
 " ipfis illius projus generis fuerint, quamvis ita ipfis ille ufus non 
 
 •= Iphig:. in Taur. — from v. 808 — to 826. — In the Eleftra of Sophoc]e«, SA^H 
 XHMEIA is ufed, v. 892, as equivalent to tw,w>ioiov which occurs afterwards, v. 910. 
 
 3 A . " fit.
 
 j^i NOTES. 
 
 ** fit. Hoc enlrti arbitror valere, " Vtcehat enhn qiKe^am ctiam par- 
 *' tare" — id eft, manu tenure, et jubereut ipfa vidcret ac reminif- 
 ** ceretur," &c. 
 
 "EvM, becaufe all the proofs of Oreftes were not of this kind, 
 but only Ekdra's work, and the lance. 
 
 NOTE 127. 
 P. q6. The discovery by the sound of the shuttle. 
 
 'H T5j; KEo>£;^®o (piivyj — Dacier, after fome other commentators, 
 makes ^ /peaking pmttle of this; and wonders, as, indeed, he v*-eli 
 might, that the great critic Ihould let fo monftrous an abfurdity 
 pafs without a feverer cenfure than that of its "ODant'mg ^rrt. 
 Others underftand, much more reafonably, not the literal, but the 
 metaphorical, i)oke of the fhuttle, in the epiftolary web by which 
 Philomela is faid to have conveyed to her fifter the difmal tale of 
 her fufferings, 
 
 — *V^ 'TTOix.iXf^oecr; DTOMATI x^yi<7a.f/.evyi, 
 
 in the language of that moft curious of all Poets, Jo/j^i T'tefzes". 
 
 But as this feems to have been the current traditional ftory, I do 
 not fee how it could be adduced as a circumflance mvefited at plea- 
 fure by the Poet. I fliould rather fuppofe, that tlie difcovery in 
 queflion, whatever it might be, was effeded by the Jbtmd of the 
 lliuttle, which Ariftotle calls, cpwuj, voice, not, probably, in his 
 own language, but in the poetical language of the Tragedy itfelf 
 to which he alludes. For thcfe Ki^xi^eg, it feems, were a very vocal 
 fort of things, nothing like the fliuttles of " thefe degenerate 
 ** days." Every one recolledls the *' arguto peBine" of Virgil. 
 But this is nothing to the amplification of fome Greek epigram- 
 matifts, who fcruple not to compare them to fwallows, and even 
 to nightingales ; 
 
 » ChiU vij. 142.— See Ovid's Melam, lib. vi. 572, &c. 
 % KeMtdxs
 
 Jf T E S. 363 
 
 KecjtiSx^ ood^oXocXoia-i XEAIAOSIN liycBXopuviSi — 
 And, KsMtSx S' evTTotvjTov AHAONA — *". 
 
 Hence the ridiculous fancy of Jofeph Scaliger, that the meta- 
 morphofis of Procne into a fwallow was exhibited in the Tereus 
 of Sophocles, and that a jhuttk was made ufe of, iiiflead of a 
 wbi/ile or bird-pipe, to imitate the fwallow's voice !— — 
 
 NOTE 128. 
 Pi 96. Thus in the Cyprians of DiciEOGENEs- 
 
 That this was a diftindl Poem from the YLvrr^ioe. mentioned after- 
 wards in cap. xxiii. feems clear from this lingle circumftance, 
 obferved by Vidtorius, that the Epic Poem called The Cypriacs, — 
 Ta Ku7r^(a £71-17,— is mentioned there by Ariftotle, as it is, generally, 
 by other antient writers, in terms that imply a doubt of its au- 
 thor " : whereas here the author is named, without any expreflion 
 of uncertainty. 
 
 Whether the Poem was Epic, or Tragic y cannot be determined; 
 
 nor, from the ambiguity of the cafe, roig KuTr^iag, whether the 
 title of it was Ta Kutt^ix, or, Ot Kwowt — The Cypriacs, or. The 
 Cyprians. The latter is, certainly, the moft probable title for a 
 Tragedy, and therefore, as Dicaeogenes is recorded only as a Tragic 
 and Dithyrambic Poet, I have ventured to adopt it. 
 
 '' Jnthol. lib. vi. cap. 8. 
 
 3A2 NOTE
 
 SH NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 129. 
 
 P. 96. In the tale of Alcinous.- 
 
 See Od. VIII. 521. — There is another dtfcovery of the fame 
 kind in the 4th book, where Mcnelaus recognizes Telemachus 
 by the tears he fheds at the mention of his father. There is 
 not, I think, either in Homer, ,or in- any other Poet, a more 
 natural and affeding pidtiire of friendly regret on the one hand, 
 and filial affedlion on the other. — " Of all the friends I have loft," 
 fays Menelaus, addrefling himfelf to Telemachus without know- 
 ing who he was-7~*^ i?;?^; there is, whom I lament more than all 
 *' the reft:^^f^^^:^- 
 
 — '■ oj-e jwo; virvov uTriy^ocipH koci e^uS'/iv 
 
 Mi'iocif/,Bvit)' STrei arig h.yjx.iuv ro<r<r ef^oyi^crev 
 0<r<r Ooucsug e^^eyy](rB y,ct,i vioczro' — rw 6 cto sf^sKXev 
 AvTu y,yjdi ecTBcGat, lfA.01 o «%©-> anv a'Kccgov 
 KafSf, OTToog oy} omov an'oiyerar Q&b rt lof^ev, * '"' ' 
 Z&'a oy , r; re^vrjKBV. OSvpovtxi vu tth ccxitov 
 Aae^Tijj fi yepuVy km syBCpouu TiTjuiXoTretcx., 
 --• - TyjXsfjicty^ 6, ov iXefTTi vscv ysyotur ein ciKu. 
 
 Xlf (pxTO' — Tw 6 oioa, -TTdTp®^ vp Ifiipcv UMTS yooto. 
 AoiKcv 0' 0.170 lSXs<pxpuv yoc^ocoiq f^xXs, ttxtp®^ uKUcroii, 
 
 XXoiivav TTOpipVpSTjV ai/T C(p9uX[A.CItV CiVOCO'yUV 
 
 AiJi.(porepri(ri %sf(3"(' vo7i(rs Ss f^civ MsveXu^.- 
 
 Od. A, 105—". 
 
 That the title, AXkivcv, or AXkivh, u7roXoy<^, was underflood to 
 refer chuifiy to the long narration of Ulyffes, which occupies four 
 books of the Odyffey, feems clear, even from the proverbial 
 
 • Not ill tranflatcd by Fcnton, in Popc'% Odyfley, book iv. 131. 
 
 application
 
 NOTES. 365 
 
 application of the exprefiion. A-n-oXoyf^ h.\Y.no-i. — gm ru>v <i->\-)a.~ 
 pgvTuv, Kxi f^xKoov KTTOTeivovTuv Xoyov .—-Siucias . And fo Jul. Pollux : 
 — BTTi i^o!.K^uv pyiTBu'/, But a paffiigc in Ariftotlc's Rhetoric leaves 
 no doubt. He there exprefsly mentions Homer's accou7it of the 
 fpeech of Ulyfles to Penelo|>e, Od. xxiii. 310, 6cc. as being the 
 AXKiVB aiTtyKoy'^ comprefled into an abridgment of thirty verfcs. — 
 T\<xp'x,6ii.y^o(. AXkivh arroXoy'^, on ttoo^ tv;v Il'.jysXoTnji' ev rpiUKoi/Ta eTTSn 
 ■mTTotyirat' . Now thofe verfes are, in fad:, a mere ta/^/c' of' contents 
 to the 9th, loth, iith, and 12th books, which contain the nar- 
 rative of Ulyffes at the court of Alcinous. — This title, therefore, 
 {AXkiv^ ATTsXoy'^) muft af leajl have extended to thofe /owr books. 
 But the paffage which is the fub)e(3: of this note, feems to prove 
 that it extended flill farther ; for here we are referred to the eighth 
 book under that title ; though the fpeech, the ^a^pa o^jo-;,- of 
 Ulyfles, does not commence till the ninth. The editions prefix the 
 title, AX%tvv: aTTcAorOI, only to the eighth book. — The ixQi feems 
 to be, that the titles, by which the different parts of Homer's 
 Poems were firft diftinguifhed, were applied to parts of verv un- 
 equal lengths ; fo that afterwards, when the equal, or nearly equal, 
 divifion into books took place, it would not always coincide ex- 
 adlly with the other divifion, formed by the different diJiinSl fub- 
 jeds or epifodes of the Poemj but one title would fometimes 
 comprehend feveral books, and different parts of \X\Q,fame book, 
 would fometimes be diflinguifhed by differenr titles. Thus, for 
 example, ihz.fffh book of the OdyfTey had two titles, K«Aui|y8j 
 Avrpov, and L^eoix, or Tx vrepi r-^v a-^eSixv : and the laf^ book three, 
 'Nexvioi.v — Tec eu Aaepra — and, Zttov^xi'^ . And thus, on the other 
 hand, the title, AXkivh ATroXoy®^, is not, I apprehend, to be confi- 
 dered as appropriated to any one book, but, probably, compre- 
 hended /"w books — from the eiglith to the twelfth, inclufively; 
 
 " II. 4. and VI. 26. 
 
 ' III. 16. p. 603. ed. Duval. 
 
 * See Julian V. H:jh lib. xiii, ic!\ 14, .-ind the notes of Pciizonius. 
 
 perhips.
 
 366 NOTES. 
 
 perhaps, was underftood to refer, generally, to the whole Epifode 
 jof Alcinous -y as indeed the expreffion AAKINOT a.-iro'Koy'^ — " the 
 ** ilory OF Alcinous" — feems rather to iinply. And the different 
 parts of this long Epifode were, again, fubdillinguifhed by other 
 titles ; fuch as, Ku^A^'TTia, Nejcwot, Ta K/^Kijf, 6cc. Indeed, the 
 title, AAjiivy A-TroXoyoi, though prefixed only to the eighth book, 
 feems evidently extended beyond that book by the title fubjoined 
 as its equivalent, — ^tly ra. m oSucnriug 'ira^x AXkivu. But how the 
 word KTroKoy®^ got into the plural number here, I do not well 
 underftand. This circumftance, however, together with the idea 
 of its being confined to this fingle book, has, I think, led Peri- 
 zonius and other learned men into miftakes concerning the reafon 
 of the appellation. Perizonius (ubijiip.) thinks the eighth book 
 was fo called, " becanfe there are fcveral fpceche.s of Alcinous in it ;" 
 and others fuppofe., that the title alludes to the fongs of Demo- 
 docus'. 
 
 NOTE 130. 
 P. 96. The discovery occasioned by reasoning, or 
 
 INFERENCE^ SUCH AS THAT IN THE ChOEPHOR^ . 
 
 Here is much obfcurity and confufion. — One thing, however, 
 lecms clear ; that I-a a-v^Xoyicri^a, cannot mean as fome interpreters 
 have underflood it to mean, ** by reafoning or inference in the 
 " mind of the perfon who makes the difcoveryj" becaufe this is 
 common to a// the modes of difcovery. When Eledlra recognizes 
 her brother, does fhe not infer, or, in the philofopher's language, 
 fyllogize ? " This man has feen the lance — nobody could fee it 
 ** but Oreftes — This is Orefles." — And the fame may be faid of 
 all the other recognitions. Difcovery by inference , therefore, .c« 
 
 * Schmidius, in fiiid. Ncm. p. 34.
 
 NOTE S. 367 
 
 the part of the difcovero'-, cannot he made a diil:inct Ipecies. The 
 difcovery Ariftotle means, is plainly a difcovery, not -niadcy but 
 occajivnecf, by inference. Throughout all his inftances, he confix 
 ders only the means, or occafion, of difcovery, as furniflied, in 
 fome way or other, by the perfon difcovered. With refpedl to 
 bodily marks, bracelets, &c. the letter of Iphigenia, and the ver- 
 bal reay^mix of Orefles, this is obvious enough. But the cafe is- 
 the fame with the difcovery ^y memory: in both the examples of 
 that fpecies, the perfons are difcovered, not by recolled;ion in the 
 difcoverers, but by the ejf'eSls of it in themfelves. And fo here 
 too, in the three lajl examples of difcovery \y. o-vXXoynxf.cii, however 
 obfcure in other refpedls, t/jis at leafl feems clearly enough ex- 
 preffed, that the perfons are difcovered by their owfi reafoning, or 
 inference ; that is, by fomething which it leads them to Jay^. 
 
 But, the difficulty is, that Ariftotle's yfr/? example, appears not 
 to accord with this idea, and with the other examples. The ///- 
 ference here, appears to be, even from the words themfelves \ and, 
 if the Chocphorfe of ^fchylus be intended, as the commentators 
 fuppofe, certainly is, — inference in the mind of the perfon who 
 jnakes the difcovery. But as this, for the reafons already given, 
 cannot, I think, be admitted, we muft either leave this k?jot as it 
 is, or folve it by fuppofmg fome other Tragedy, not extant, to be 
 meant, in which the conchijion mentioned was, as in all the other 
 in fiances that follow, the occafioji only of the difcovery". Nor 
 will this appear a very improbable fuppofition, if we recoiled: th« 
 
 * Some time after thefe remarks were written, I found them coincide exactly with 
 thofe of Piccolomini, whofe comment on this pafiage is, as ufual, exadl and clear. 
 See alfoBenius, who follows him. 
 
 ' So, Beni : " Itaque primum exemplum lie intelligendum crediderim, ut EleS!ra 
 " agnita fit, non Oreftes : ita, nimirum, ut cum Oreftes eo 7nodo ratiocinantein audiret 
 " puellam, dtim Orejlem fibi fimiUm dictrtt, inde ElcSJram agnofctii." Paiili Btuii, in 
 Ar. Poet. Comment, p. 348. 
 
 fvvarm
 
 ^568 NOTES. 
 
 fvTarm of Tragic Poets who were continually exercifing their 
 invention upon a few popular fubjedts, and the number of dif- 
 ferent Tragedies which, in confequence, we find recorded, not 
 only on the £.ime Ju/'jeJl, but even with the fame tkle ; often with 
 fome flight variation only, in the moiie of a difcovery, and other 
 epifodic incidents of the plot, which would ftill leave a general 
 refemblance, a fort oi family likenefs, between them, fuch as, in 
 faft, we find in Tragedies on the fame fubjedt now extant ; in the 
 EltBra of Sophocles, and that of Euripides, and the Choepborce of 
 /Efchylus. 
 
 But we may fay, farther, that this fuppofition feems to be fa- 
 voured by the Tragedy of Efchylus, itfelf j with which, what 
 Arifiiotle here fays, appears to me by no means exactly to corref- 
 pond. The readei-, who will take the trouble to examine the 
 whole paflage fuppofed to be here alluded to, from v. i66, to 
 V. 233*, will, I believe, think with me, that the difcovery, in that 
 play, cannot with propriety be denominated a difcovery made by 
 inference fro 'u refemblance. The circumftances of the lock of hair, 
 and the footfieps, produce in Eledra's mind no more than a glim- 
 mering of hope — a-xivoy.a.1 S'vir eXTTiS®^ [v. 1 92.] — and <he is fo 
 far from difcoveriiig Orcftes by them, that even when he appears 
 before her, fhe is not convinced till he produces the 'jtoca-ixa — the 
 veil, or veil. This is juftly remarked by Brumoy j " Tout cela 
 " (i. e. the hair, &c.) ne fait que la rendre plus in quiet e : EUe de- 
 •* meure done dans ce trouble jufqu' a ce qu' Oreile paroiffe -a fes 
 " yeux. II fe montre tout a coup, tt fe fait reconnoitre pour fan 
 " frere, en lui prefentant :tn voile quelle a tijjli elle-meme" ." This 
 I take to be the true oavaym^Krig of this drama ; and it belongs 
 
 * Ir» Mr. Potter's /Efchylus, from p. 329, to 334. ^/arto. 
 
 ' Theat. des Grecs, ii. p. 6. — Mr, Potter is of the fime opinion : — " ATo rlijcovrry 
 *< is from hi-nce raifcd : but the mind of Elodra is deeply ftruck; flae reafons and 
 •' conjefturcs, and fo is finely /r^^arr^/ for the difcovery which fooii follows." Notes 
 •n tlvj Chorphorw. 
 
 * rather
 
 NOTES. 369 
 
 rather to Ariflotle'sy&y? clafs — Jia c-^yMuv ; if not even to the worll 
 fort of that clafs, where the fign is produced 7r<s-£wf Ivbkoi., — by way 
 of proof . Indeed, even admitting that Eleftra may be confidered 
 as recognizing her brother by inference from the refemblance of 
 the lock of hair and the footfleps only, ftill, as Piccolomini acutely 
 and folidly obferves, this inftance would belong to thzfrji fpecies 
 of difcovery by fgns. ** Quefto riconofcimento non e della quarta 
 *'Jpecie, ma della prima ; nato, non da fUogifino, ma dafgno: pof- 
 •' ciache Elettra, prefo ^^x fegno d'Orefte la capigUatura, fopra tal 
 " fegno, quafi fopra mezzo termine, fabrica il fillogifmo che ella fa 
 •* in fe fteffa, argomentando, che colui fufle Orefte : havendo io 
 " gia detto, ch' in ogni riconofcimento fuol' inter-venir fllogifmo ed 
 "■ argomentatione dentro all' animo della perfona riconofcente.'' p. 236. 
 
 NOTE 131. 
 P. 97. "He came to find his son, and he himselp 
 
 ** MUST PERISH." 
 
 It is not- very obvious, how thefe words are to be brought to 
 any thilig WkQ 'reafo?2ing, .or inference .—But all here is darknefs. 
 The far-fetched explanation which Dacier has condefcended to 
 borrow, without notice, from Caflelvetro,. for whom, in his preface, 
 he exprefies fo much contempt, only ferves to make the " dark- 
 *' nefs" more " vifible." 
 
 I. know not v/hether it be worth while to remark a mere refem- 
 bUnce of expreffion, but a very clofe one, in Homer : 
 
 M-^ TraxE^' avWfeoi'.AIZ.HMENOS, ATTOS 'OAaMAL 
 
 Od. O. 90. 
 
 B NOTE
 
 270 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 132. 
 
 P. 97. There is also a compound sort, &cc. 
 
 When the /.'leaning of an author cannot be fatisfadlorily ex- 
 plained, all that a tranilator can do, is, to be particularly careful to 
 render faithfully his loords. This I have endeavoured to do here: 
 but whether I have done even this, the manifell: corruption of 
 the text mufh leave uncertain. Whatever fenfe may be enveloped 
 in the Greek, I hope remains enveloped in the Englifli. But 
 what that is, I will not undertake to fay. — With refpetfl to 
 the title of the drama, oha-crB-jg fsuSxyyeX©^, if I have not given 
 it its on]y poj/w/e fenfe, I have, fu rely, given it itS'moft natural 
 and obvious lenfe : — UlyfTes in the difgiiife of a melTenger. For 
 I am really not able to fee, how the words, without violent 
 tu'ifring, can be made to fignify pajjively, as Caflelvetro would 
 have it, " UlifTe di cui fono recate falfe novelle ;" though Vic- 
 torius has pronounced a man to be a fool, who pretends to 
 determine which of thefe two meanings is the right one\ Had 
 'S.fo/fe UlyJJes been meant, it feems probable, that the word TeuJ'o- 
 tivtrasvi would rather have been ufed ; as YeuJVfajiXijj, The falfe Her- 
 cules, was the title of a Comedy of .Menander. 
 
 kvu.yvuDivvT'^ — fc. Tn GeaT^^ : I fee no other conftruction, as the 
 text flands. And fo Vidorius : — " SpeSlatorcs ita accepifle illam 
 *' vocem, tanquamfi ipfi, rei illius auxilio, ipfiim agnitiiri ejfent." 
 
 UlyfTes feems to have been a rich and valuable refource to the 
 dramatic writers. His hiftory furniflied the fubjedts of many 
 Comedies, as well as Tragedies. See Cafaubon upon Athenceus, 
 p. 297.^^There were, Ulyjfes Wounded — Uiyjes Mad — U/yfs the 
 Deferter — Vlyfes Shipwrecked — Vlyfjes Weaving, 6cc. — The fubjedl 
 
 " " Ha-x enim ita incerta funt, utjlultum cfle viJcatur aliqiiiU ipforum affirm.ire." 
 
 7 of
 
 NOTE 
 
 371 
 
 of the play here mentioned feems to have been fuggefted by Homer, 
 Od. H. 120. But, ivhatiX. was — how this difcovery was compound 
 ((Tuv^er©") — or how, indeed, it was a difcovery at all — what the 
 precife paralogifm was, &c. I confefs myfelf totally unable, from 
 the fhort, - perplexed, and probably corrupt words of the text, to 
 make out. The reader may fee, however, a great variety of dif- 
 ferent conjedlures in the commentators ; and I believe when he has 
 read them all he will find himfelf juft where he was. For my 
 part, I leave this bow of Ulyfles to be bent by flronger arms than 
 mine : 
 
 NOTE 13 
 
 -7. 
 
 P. 97. But of all discoveries, the best is that 
 
 WHICH arises from THE ACTION ITSELF . 
 
 I agree with thofe commentators, who underfland this to be 
 given by Ariftotle as a fpecies of avayvu^ta-ig diftindt from any of 
 the preceding. This appears, i. From his examples,, which are 
 very different from all thofe before produced, and hot reducible, 
 I think, to any of his claffes. The difcovery of Iphigenia by the 
 letter, is, indeed, mentioned under his fecond clafs,. but not- as an 
 injiance of that fpecies. — See note 124. • 2dly, and principally, 
 from his faying, " After thefe, the ticxt bell are tlie difcoveries 
 " hy inference' — naming an entire fpecies ; which he. would: not, 
 furely, have done, had his hefi of all difcoveries been fuch, us might 
 be found equally in the other fpecies j, ; had he been' fpea king, as 
 fome underftand him, only of the befl way of iifing the difcoveries 
 already enumerated. 
 
 3B2 NOTE
 
 3?2 N O: T; E $ 
 
 NOTE 134. 
 P. 9B. StUch discoveries are the best, becattse they 
 
 ALONE ARE EFFECTED WITHOUT INVENTED PROOFS^ OR 
 B-RACELETS, &C. NeXT TO THESE ARE THE DISCOVERIES 
 BY INFERENCE. 
 
 If the words, 7rB7roi'^[j,evuv (r',]i.i.;iuv, refer, as it is generally under- 
 ftood, to the fcco}td fort of difcoveries excliifively, it is not eafy 
 to fee how it can be true, that t\\Q fifth and bell: fort of difcoveries, 
 that £5c 'Ti-aoi.yi^aruv, is the oa/j one that is efFedted Avithout mvented 
 Jigns, bracelets, &c. — for, on this fuppofition, the fame may evi- 
 dently be faid of the third ^r\A fourth clafTes, thofe by memory, and 
 by inference, which are exprefsly diftinguiflied from the two firfl 
 clalTes. 
 
 This inconfiftence is not, I think, to be removed, but by under- 
 ftanding the words TrsTror/iusvx a-Tific-tx, here, to be ufed in a wider 
 fenfe, as including the third and fourth fpecies, and, in general, all 
 difcoveries that have any degree of the defe(fl which Ariftotle means 
 to point out by the expreflion Tre-rroiri^svxi k-tto th tto.tith, ufed in 
 defcribing the fecond fpecies, as oppofed to what he calls, el auroii/ 
 'TTpuy^oiTuv ; though tlrxtfecond fpecies only is exprefsly fo denomi- 
 nated, becaufe it had this fault in the mofl glaring degree. 
 
 Any incident, or fingle adion, of that combination of adlions 
 that compofe a fable, is faid, I think, to be \z ccuruv Tr^xyj^ciTuv, 
 when it is prepared in the texture of the plot, and appears to fol- 
 low fo naturally and of courfe (jc«ra to uvxyKonov ■^ to hx.©^ — ) from 
 the incidents which precede it, that the fpedlator does not fee how 
 it could have been otherwife*. On the contrary, thofe incidents 
 
 are 
 
 » What is here cxpreflcJ by, i| iuroiv Tr^ay^Twv, U more fully exprefTed, cnp. x. 
 
 v/htre
 
 NOTES. 373 
 
 are not Jl omtuv Tr^a.yy.ccruv, which are not thus gradually prepared, 
 but have, more or lefs, the appearance of expedients brought in to 
 anfwer the purpofe of the moment ; which fuggefl: the idea of 
 occafional and eafy contrivance j which, though not, perhaps, 
 improbable, yet have not Jac/j a degree of probability, as anfwers 
 fully the purpofe of dramatic illufion, by adling upon the mind of 
 the fpedlator as nece//7ty^, and keeping his attention rivetted to the 
 adlion, without fufFering him, as it were, to turn his eyes a mo- 
 ment from it, to the refources of the Poet's invention. 
 
 Now the t/jird and fourth forts of difcovery appear, when we 
 examine them, to be of this kind. They are not prepared and 
 brought on gradually by the previous circumftances of the fable, 
 as in the examples given from the Oedipus, and Iphige?iia in Tauris, 
 but effecfted by contrivances, more or lefs naturally introduced by 
 the Poet, at the moment when they are wanted; by tears fuddenly 
 fhed at the fight of a pidure, by an exclamation fuddenly uttered. 
 Thefe, therefore, are not improperly included under the denomi- 
 nation of TTBTTOiri^ivct, {uTTo TbT TTorijra) ; and they are, alfo, m the 
 proper and logical fenfe of the word, o-^jwaa j the tears, in the one 
 cafe, and the illative reflexion, or exclamation, in the other, being 
 Jigns or tokens, by which the perfons are recognized. And thus, 
 what Ariftotle here fays feems true— that the difcovery which 
 arij'es out of the aStion itfelf, is the only fort that is entirely effefted 
 Diviv ruv 'rreTToiti^^vuv irri[A,eiuv Kcct 'TTSoi^ioxiuiv ; by '/reoidspaicc, meaning the 
 frji clafs of difcoveries, and under ttstt. a-^[^. comprehending the 
 three other clafies. 
 
 where he fays of the difcovery and revolution, that they fliould arife t^ aur^i thj o-ura- 
 rsu; TK fju/Ss' ifE EK TXIN nPOrErENHMENflN (ruix^aiviiv, ii i^avaymi t, xara to eix©-, 
 •yiyve<r6ai rc.tna, Tranf.. Part II. Sii^. 8. 
 
 " " Puifque la fonfllon dii vraifemblable dans la Tragedie, eft d'cmpccher dc 
 *' s'appercevoir de la feinte, le vraifemblable qui trompe le mieux efl: le plus parfait, 
 et c'eft celui qui devicnt iiHeJJalrc.'" Fontencllc, Refl. fur la Poetlqua, SiCl. 63. 
 
 10 He
 
 374 NOTES. 
 
 lie has, plainly, arranged his modes of difcovery, as he had 
 before arranged the modes of managing the ■^«5'«7, or difajlrous in- 
 cidents, of Tragedy {cap. xiv.) — in the order of their comparative 
 excellence ; beginning with the avorji, and proceeding gradually to 
 the beft. When he tells us, that the difcoveries by inferaice are 
 the next bejl, he evidently confiders them, as not being, ftridlly 
 at leaft, e^ mrm 'rrqot.y^ocruv ; and fo far, I think, is intelligible : 
 but, in isbat refpeSl they are better than the preceding fpecies, lio, 
 y.vi]iJA\qy he has not' told us. The difcovery by recoUeSlion may, 
 perhaps, in this refpedl be regarded as lefs s? ^mtuv Trpocy^arcov, or, 
 mo7'e of the " Poet's makmg," as it feems to require the introduc- 
 tion of fomething' accidental and extraneous, fuch as the pi£iw-e 
 in his firft inflance, and the Bard and his performance, in the 
 fecond J circumilances, which have more the appearance of expe- 
 dients than the refledtion of Oreftes, for example, in the Tragedy 
 of Polyides. For that refleilion arofe, at leafl:, naturally, and 
 folely, from his Jituation, and that fituation was elTential to the 
 fable. — But it is time to releafe the reader, and myfelf, from the 
 embarraflments of one of the mofl corrupt, confufed, and ambi- 
 guous chapters of this mutilated and disfigured work. 
 
 NOTE 135. 
 
 P. 98. This, the Poet, &c. 
 
 'O jwij opuvTcx. Tov GeccTTiv IxotvQoivsv. Dacier has, at leaft, I think,, 
 fatisfaftorily proved, that this paflage wants fame emendation, and, 
 that the fcnfe muft: be — " efcaped the Poet, [not the fpeBator,) 
 " for want of his feeing, or co7icei'ving himfelf to fee, the adtion." 
 He might have added to his other reafons, that the word X«v5a- 
 voiTo, applied juft before to the Poet, feems to fix the fame appli- 
 cation of Ixotv^ocvz here. The oppofition, as he has obferved, is 
 flrongly ir,arked : — it efcaped the Poet; em AE tjjj SKHNHE, &c. 
 
 l)ia
 
 NOTES. 
 
 375 
 
 but upon \\\Qjlagc, &c. Caftelvetro had feen this before Dacler, 
 and conjedlured, o jw»?, l^uura, nZ rov Qixrfiv, eXavdanv AN. " La 
 ** qual contrarieta non farebbe potato eflere celata a Carcino, fe 
 ** avefTe riguardata la fua Tragedia non come Poeta, ma come vedi- 
 " tore""." The ingenuity of the conjetlure may be allowed; not 
 fo, I fear, the accuracy of the Greek. 
 
 NOTE 136. 
 
 P. 98. In cOxMPosing, the Poet should also, as much 
 AS possible, be an actor. 
 
 — Totg (r%ij/xo;cr< avvotTrspyoc^of^Bvcu ttoiuv. — The fame exprefTion occurs 
 in the T^hetoric III. 8. — avocyxyi th; (rvvocTVipyocZpiAivisg <t)(yii^cx.(ti, km 
 (pciivdi^, Koct sirdriTt, Koci oXug tv VTTOKOicrei, iXmvoreo'dg etvxu But there, 
 this is mentioned only as the means, by which the Orator may 
 excite greater emotion in the hearer, immediately : here, as the 
 means, by which the Poet may excite a flronger emotion, a greater 
 reality of imagination and feeling, and a mere perfedl alienation 
 of perfon, if I may venture fo to call it, in himfeify immediately ; 
 in order to produce afterwards a correfpondent efFedl upon the 
 fpedlator, by the force and truth of his imitation. 
 
 ** I have often obferved," fays the admirable author of the Inquiry 
 co7iccrning the Sublime a7id Beautiful, " that on mimicking the looks 
 " and geftures of angry, or placid, or frighted, or daring men, I 
 *' have involuntarily found my mind turned to that paffion whofe 
 " appearance I endeavoured to imitate ; nay, I am convinced it 
 " is hard to avoid it, though one ftrove to feparate the paflicn 
 ** from its correfpondent gefl;ures\" I believe, however, it is 
 hardly pofTible to put on the bodily appearance of any paffion, 
 
 * P- 371- 
 
 '' Part IV. Se£t. IV.— See alfo the curious account there given of Campaiiclla. 
 
 without
 
 375 NOTES. 
 
 'VfithoM.t previoiijly turning the mind, In fome degree, to that paffioii. 
 But it is certain, that the efFedt, in this cafe, will readt upon the 
 caufe, and convert a flight and nafcent emotion into a more ileady, 
 ftrong, and real feeling of the palTion. 
 
 A fmgular inftance of the praftice of this rule of Ariflotle — 
 cyri^a<Ti <Tma,TtipajCoyizvov TToieiv — in a fifter art, is given in the follow- 
 ing curious account, from Felibien, of Domenichino, a painter 
 remarkable for exprejjion. 
 
 " II ne pouvoit comprendre qu'il y cut des peintres qui travail- 
 ** laflent a des ouvrages confiderables avec fi peu d'application, 
 " que pendant leur travail ils ne laiflaffent pas de s'entretenir avec 
 " Tears amis. II les regardoit comme des ouvriers qui n'avoient 
 *' que la pratique, et nulle intelligence de I'art ; etant perfuade 
 " qu'un Peintre, pour bien reiiffir, doit entrer dans une parfaite 
 *' connoifTance des affeftions de I'efprit et des paflions de I'ame j 
 " qu'il doit les fentir en lui meme, et s'il faut ainfi dire, faire les 
 ** memes aBions et fouffrir les manes mouvemens qu'il veut repre- 
 " fenter : ce qui ne fe peut au milieu des difVi-adlions. Auffi on 
 *• I'entendoit quelquefois parler en travail lant, avec une voix lan- 
 " guiffante et pleine de douleur, ou tenir des difcours agreables et 
 *' joyeux, felon les divers fentimens qu'il avoit intention d'expri- 
 " mer. Mais pour cela, il s'enfermoit dans un lieu fort retire,. 
 •• pour n'etre pas apper9u dans ces differens etats,.ni par fes eleves,, 
 " ni par ceux de fa famille ; parcequ'il, lul etoit arrive quelquefois, 
 " que des gens qui I'avoient vu dans ces tranfports, I'avoient foup- 
 " ^onne de folic. Lorfque dans fa jeuneiTe il travailloit au Tableau^ 
 " du Martyre de S. Andre qui eft a S. Gregoire, Annibal Carrache 
 " etant alle pour le voir, il le furprit comme il etoit dans une aul'ton 
 " de coUre et mena^anie. Apre's I'avoir obferve quelque temps, il, 
 " connut qu'il reprcfentoit un Ibldat qui menace le S. Apotre^. 
 ** Alors ne pouvant plus fc tenir cache, il s'approcha du Dome- 
 ** niquin, et en I'embraffant, lui avoiia qu'il avoit danscemoment- 
 ** la beaucoup appris de lui''." 
 
 * Felibien, — Entrethns fur Us vies des Pdntres, &c. tome iii. p. 379. _ ...
 
 NOTES. 377 
 
 I will juft obferve, farther, that this precept, or rather counfd, 
 of Ariftotle, would appear the lefs itrange to the Poets of his time, 
 becaufe, as he himfelf tells us, the earlier Tragic Poets were alfo 
 colors: VTTSxotvoi'To yxp oojtoi IToxyuoixi; a TTotyirxi to ttouito'j. — Rhet. III. 
 I . — But, indeed, I am fo fir from feeing any thing ftrange or im- 
 probable in this advice, that, on the contrary, if it be liable to any 
 objedlion at all, it is, perhaps, -rather to that of being unnecefTary : 
 for I fcarce believe, that any Poet of genius, antient or modern, ever 
 yet compofed a Tragedy without praftifing involuntarily, \n fome 
 degree or other, what the critic here recommends. No dramatic 
 Poetry, I think, can be lefs chargeable with the y.xviKov, than that 
 of the French. Yet M. Marmontel fees no difficulty in this pre- 
 cept. In his account of this part of Ariftotle's work, he fays, *' II 
 " recommande que Ton foit prefent a I'adlion que Ton veut peindre, 
 " que Ton fe penetre foi-meme des fentimens que Ton doit exprimer^ 
 " et qu'on imite, en compofant, I'aftion des perfonnages qu'on 
 ** met fur la fcene : methode qui contribue reellement a donner au, 
 *' ftyle plus de chaleur et de verite. [Poirt. Franc I. p. 15.] Mr-* 
 Mafon fays of the late ingenious and amiable Mr. Whitehead, whofe 
 dramatic compofitions, whatever other merit may juftly be allowed 
 them, certainly bear no marks of any unmanageable phrenfy in 
 the Poet, — that " he is apt to believe, that he always a^ed, or at 
 ** leaft declaimed, while he was compofing for the ftage." If, 
 then, even the modern Tragic Poet is, almofl necefiarily, more or 
 lefs, " an adlor in compofing," there can furely be little ditliculty 
 in conceiving an yEfchylus, or a Sophocles, in their free, folitary, 
 and unwritten meditations, to have given ftill greater fcope to their 
 imaginations, and, 'OEA ATNATON, at leaft, (r%»;/*«o-< c-wsiTre^ya- 
 cour^M. We muft, for once, diveft ourfelvespf modern ideas, and 
 think, not of a fpruce Poet of " thefe degenerate days," ihut up 
 in his ftudy, with his pen in his hand, and his writing-table before 
 him — but of Euripides, retired into that lonely, dark, and fliaggy 
 cavern, which is faid to have been the favourite fcene of his 
 
 3 C Tragic
 
 378 NOTES. 
 
 Tragic meditations. *' Philochorus refert, in infula Salamine 
 " fpehmcam ejje tetram et hon-idam, quam nos vidimus, in qua Rwi- 
 *' pides 'Tragoedias fcriptitarit" — Aid. Ge/l. xv. 20. 
 
 NOTE 137, 
 P. 98. For by natural sympathy, 6cc. 
 
 Tli^avuTUTOt yap arro TVjg avTr,q (pvirsug ot ev TrccSsiTiv li(rt. — Nothing, 
 I think, can be inore forced and improbable, than the fenfe given 
 to the words, aVo tjjj auTijj (pucrsu?, by Vid;orius, and, after him, 
 by Goulfton and Dacier : " eorum qui pari naturd ingenioque prce- 
 *' difi, &c. — De deux hommes qui feront d'un e gal genie, celui qui fe 
 ** mettra dans la paffion fera toujours plus perfuafif." 
 
 If the text be right, the only fenfe I fee is that given by Hein- 
 fius : — ^' propter Jimilitudijiefn ejufdem 7U!tura:" — i. e. "from nci~ 
 " tural fympathy ." — But I am much difpofed to fufpedl, that we 
 fhould read, <zV' ATTHZ THS qimzuq — ab ipja naturd ; — Ipfa tia- 
 turd comparatum ejl, ut, &c. — A fimilar, but contrary, tranfpofi- 
 tion, of the fame words, occurred at the end of the fecond chap- 
 ter : \v auT*! h TV ^ioi<po^K — plainly, as Vidlorius obferves, inftead of 
 11/ TH< AYTHj — . And, indeed, this fenfe is fo obvious, that 
 Robortelli, Caftelvetro, and Piccolomini, have all given it in their 
 tranflations, though certainly not warranted by the text. How- 
 ever, as the other reading feems to exprefs, though fomewhat ob- 
 fcurely, the fame idea, I have not departed from it any farther, 
 than by adopting the explanatory verfion of Heinfius, which takes 
 the meaning, and leaves the obfcurity. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTE S. 379 
 
 NOTE 138. 
 
 P. 98. We share the agitation of those who ap- 
 pear TO BE TRULY AGITATED THE ANGER OF THOSE 
 
 WHO APPEAR TO BE TRULY ANGRY. 
 
 'Kaif^awsi ^£i^K^ofj(,sv<^, Koct ^oiXSTToctvet ogyi^oiJiSvf^ aXTjStvcoroiTX. I 
 have given that {en(e of this paffage, in which all the commen- 
 tators I have feen are perfectly agreed. But I cannot diflemble a 
 difficulty which has always occurred to me in this interpretation, 
 though, to my furprife, I have not found it any where taken notice 
 of. I mean, that it gives a tranjitive fenfe to the verbs, '/zi^'^ivay 
 and ;:^;a;A£7ra;!'e;. With refped, particularly, to the verb x'^'^^^°^^~ 
 viiv, (for the other occurs but feldoin,) the difficulty from the 
 general, if not the conflant, ufe of it, as a verb neuter, feems not 
 eafily to be overcome. This ufe of it, by Ariftotle himfelf, and. 
 by other profe writers, is fo common and well known, that it 
 would be mere trifling to produce inftances. That it is never 
 ufed by them tranfitively, it would be raffi, perhaps, even in thofe, 
 whofe Greek reading is much more extenlive than my own, to 
 affirm. I can only fay, that I have never feen a clear inftance of 
 it, either in profe, or verfe. The lexicographers, indeed, fend us 
 to Homer : but without giving any inftance that appears to me to 
 be at all decifive\ And, on the other hand, the word occurs 
 clearly in its ufual and intranfitive fenfe in other pafTages: as, //. 
 S. 256. n. 386. S. 103, &c. But even admitting the verb to 
 be now and then ufed by Komer in a fenfe indifputably tranfitive, 
 it feems very ualikely, that Ariftotle fliould tranfplant fo rare, and 
 poetical, a ufe of the word, into plain and philofophical profe j 
 efpecially as other verbs were probably at hand, if he meant what 
 
 » See II. T. 183, 
 
 3 C 2 ht
 
 380 NOTES. 
 
 he is fuppofed to mean, which would not have been Hable to this 
 ambiguity. 
 
 This difficulty has fometimes led me to fufpedl, that the paflage 
 may poflibly, after all, admit of a different fenfe ; and that 
 Ariflotle may have meant only to fay this : — " The Poet fliould 
 " work himfelf, as far as may be, into the paffion he is to reprefent^ 
 " by even affuming the countenance, and the geftures, whicli are 
 *' its natural exprelTions. For they, of courfe, have moil probabi- 
 " lity and truth in their imitation, who adlually feel, in fome 
 ** degree, the paffion : and no one exprejjh agitation of mind [x^^ 
 ** ^umt) fo naturally, (aA'.jSu'WTaTa,)' as he who is. really agitated, 
 *' (%£'/Ma^s/«ev©-,) or exprejfes anger [x^'kz'rrouvst) fo naturally, as he 
 ** who is really angry (ofy<^OjWsv@-.)" — Thus, the forms, ;^^£/|M,a<^£;, 
 XixXiTCMvUf will retain their neuter lignificatlon, ; referring to the 
 Poet's expj-cjjion of the paJTion in his compofition ; as, )(iiiA,oitp^iv<^, 
 and oqyt'Cpi/.zv'^, refer to the- internal feeling of the paffion, which 
 he has excited in his own mind. Xei[4,x^ea-Scci — -to be violently agi- 
 tated, in mind : — XsifMciysiv — to exprefs that agitation by ivords or 
 adlions^ : opyt^ecrda.i — to be angry: %aX£7raij'£<i'-^-to exprefs that anger 
 by v/ords or aftions. — It will, perhaps^ be objedted, that x»'><^'^'^^-' 
 mv, ufed as a verb neuter, appears to be fynonymous with o^yi^ea--' 
 &xi. That It may be often fo, I will not take upon me to deny : but 
 numerous Inftances may certainly be produced, where it is not fo— 
 where it clearly denotes fomething. beyond the mere internal 
 paffion. In, this line of Homer, for example; 
 
 Zevi, m ^17 ^' ai'^^ecnj-i KOTEXSAMENOX XAAEnH;NK«. 
 
 I/, n. 326. 
 — " iratus Jieviat i" — where the anger of Jupiter is expreffied by 
 icoTia-a-a^sv®^ ; but %aXe«-w>? goes on to the external demonltratioa 
 of it, on XoippOTUTov %ea uJia^. V. 385. 
 
 ^ This verb feems to be rare. I neither recollecl, nor can, at prefent, find, any 
 Other inftance of it, than in the 9th Pafloral of Theocritus, v. 20, where it is ufed 
 impcrfonally : x^'f^"'^'^^'^®'} '• c. when it is winter. An inftance, which, as far as it 
 goes, is in favour of the fenfe I would give to the word here. 
 
 So,
 
 NOTE S. 381 
 
 So, too, Od. T. V. 83. 
 
 Mij TT^s TOt h^TTOivoi K0Te7<r(XfiSVYi XAAEITHtNHi' 
 < — which, in vulgar language, would be fairly rendered, ** left your 
 •* miftrefs ihould^^e angry, -mdfcold." 
 • Thus-,. again, II. H. 256, of Jupiter : 
 
 — 5" iTTsypoi^sv'^ XAAEHAINE 
 PinXAZXlN KATA AXIMA GEOYS. — 
 
 . In the very paffage adduced to exemplify . the tranfithe ,n^t. of 
 this verb, //. T. 183, it appears to have the fame rf^nfe: , for the: 
 words, ore r^q TT^oTE^^ %«X67rw*?, allude to Agamemnon's own 
 words, //. B. 378. 
 
 K«« yap tyuv k^iXcvq re iJia,'xiir(r<xfii^\ ewsKx zn^vj^,. 
 AvTi0toig_EnEELUN- eyu l". HPXON XAAEnAINfiN. 
 
 XuXe'ffaimv Is. here, I' thlhlcV put . as iynonymous with' (^ex.'xia-dot.t 
 B7r£B(r<nv. Agamemnon cohfelTes, that he himfelf gave the firft' 
 verbai provocation ; alluding, I think, to his fpeech, v. 131,, 
 where he firft hints at the feizure of Brifeis. For though Achilles 
 fpeaks. Indeed, fomewhat roughly lo the king In the preceding 
 Ipeech, yet hxs- wrath cannot properly be faid to commence before 
 the fubfequent fpeech, CL {zoi, dvui^etriv, &c. v. 149. 
 
 I (hall add only an inftance or two more. — In the firft book of 
 Plato's Repiib. Socrates fays to Thrafymachus, — lxs6tiTQa.t iv ■vijj.tx.g 
 TToXv [xocXXcv ejji©^ Ifi Truf vvo vf^mi rm hivcov, ^. XAAEIlAINESQAI — • 
 7. e. ** we defer ve rather to be pitied by you wife men, than to be 
 " Jco/ikd 3.t."'—In the paflage quoted note 22, p. 188, Pkto fays 
 of a dog,r — cv jttgy u'j l^v xyvuTX, XAAEYIAINEI' — ov S' dv. yvu^if^ov, 
 AtUAXETAl : "fawns on thofe he knows, and barks at ftrangers." 
 In the Memorabilia of Xenophon, II. 2, we likve — AtcrQoi^vj^ Js Trore . 
 Aci[Ji/!3'PCKXBoi, rov itr'ps(rf2'ura.Tcv Viov la-xms; ZTpog rvpj y.riTioa XAAEIIAINON- 
 TA: /. e. " when hth.'^di- beard him Jpeaking angrily to his mother." 
 
 It feems, then, that the paffage will fairly admit of the meaning 
 I -have prxjpofed. And whether that meaning would not be more • 
 
 to
 
 382 NOT E S. 
 
 to Ariflotle's purpofe, than the other, I v/illlngly fubmit to the 
 reader's confideration. For ivhy recommend it to the Poet to help 
 his imagination by oclmi, when he compofes ? — plainly, for the 
 fake of the efFed: of this method upon his poetry ; that his expref- 
 fion of paffion may have more of truth and nature ; that his cha- 
 radlers may ■xBi'fA.'x.wetv, or yjx.'Kiira.iveiv , a,\y\^vmTa.rtx.* . Now it feems 
 more confonant to this purpofe, that the words which follow as 
 the reafon of the advice, iliould refer to this immediate efFedl upon 
 the Poet's work, which is the object of the advice, than to the 
 more remote and implied effedl of the work upon the fped:ator. It 
 feems, indeed, to have been this reference to the audience, in the 
 ufual way of underftanding the palTage, that led Madius into the 
 mift:ake of fuppofmg this precept intended, not for the Poet, but 
 for the Player. 
 
 Such are my objedions to the fenfe hitherto given to this pafiage, 
 and my reafons for thinking, that its meaning may have been mif- 
 taken. I abandon them, without referve, to the judgment of the 
 learned reader: in my own, it is impoflible for me to confide, when 
 I refled:, that the whole band of commentators, who have pre- 
 ceded me, have acquiefced, without doubt or fcruple, in that inter- 
 pretation which to me appears fo unfatisfadory. 
 
 NOTE 139. 
 
 P, 98. Great natural quickness of parts . 
 
 Eu!pu»? 17 'TTOiTiTtKfi l^iv-——. Evcput'cc — OHTTHD. Hefy chilis. See 
 ^Ifo Cafaub. upon Athenaeus, p. 454, and Suidas, voc, Eufpua;, and 
 Eu(pt;ia, where the pafiage he quotes from Alex. Aphrod. fliews 
 
 * It is fomewhat in favour of this interpretation, that it gives the adverb, aXwflj- 
 vwT«T«, its moft natural and obvious conftrudion, with the verbs, xuiimvn and xafs- 
 •xx,'m. As the pafiage is commonly undcrftood, it muft be joined with the partldpUs. 
 
 what
 
 NOTES. 383 
 
 what was the common idea of lupvi'tx., though its propriety is difputed. 
 The lu(pvii? were generally underftood to be 01 '^cc^iug — [u-avdavovrs^, 
 cfiotug Se Ixovreg Tr^og travToi. tcc iA,oi.Bif]fjuBt,roi, ficc. The pafliige fecms to 
 allude to Ethic. Nicom. III. 5. p. 113. ed. Wilk. 
 
 No epithet can be more exadlly adapted to the eutpuijf, than that 
 of £U7rA«s-©o, which follows ; a man of quick, mimetic parts, who 
 can turn bimfelf, as we fay, to every thing with equal facility, and 
 mould himfelf, without effort, to every form. But the word had. 
 confiderable latitude, and would have been applied by the antients,, 
 to the genius of a Shakfpeare, the talents of a Foote %, or the doci-^ 
 lity of a fchool-boy\ 
 
 NOTE i4Q. 
 
 P. 98. Or, an enthusiasm allied to madness .. 
 
 'H (zctviKH. — My tranflation here will, I fear, be thouo-ht too 
 paraphraftical. But this is one among many paflages, that have 
 occurred, where I have found it impoffible to give, at the fame 
 time, laord for word, and idea for idea. This, indeed, is the great, 
 misfortune of tranflation j for; what Mr. Harris has obferved is 
 too true, — that " much of the force of the original will necef- 
 " farily be loft in the tranflation, where 7?/;^/^ words in one lan- 
 " guage cannot be found correfponding to Jingk words in the • 
 « other\" 
 
 * Philip of Macedon would have carefled fuch a man as Foote. He delighted, we 
 are told, w^uwoif T0I2 ETOTESI ««^s/*£to,', *«( TA FEAOIA AErOTII KAE 
 nOIOTZI. Men. 260. 
 
 »> nap TOv ET$TnN, fays Ifocrates, fpeaking of fcholars, Jei /xiyxn Xx/iPavtiv f^LiaSoy, 
 oTi no AAA MAN0ANOT2I- ^rafa h t«v'A$TX1N, m mK^s^wms vrKfExs-^'.— An ad- 
 mirable infcription for a fchool door. 
 
 * Philof, Arrang. p. 211, note..
 
 384 • NOT E S. 
 
 The word, (zavM^, wanted no explanation to Greelz readers, to 
 whom, from the writings of Plato, in particular, it was familiar 
 to Gonfider entJmftafm of every kind, as a fpecies of madnrfs^.' 
 They would underftand no more,- from Ariftotle's expreffion, than 
 that co?nparattve infanity which Cicero has fo exaftly exprdfed : — 
 
 ** Poetam bonum neminem fine injlammatiom anmorum exiftere 
 
 •* pofTe, et fine quodam afflatu qnali furoris^" — But what can a 
 mere modern reader think;> when he is told, in Dacier's tranflation, 
 that, to fucceed in Poetryi-"**^ 9 'fwl avoir tin' genie excellent, ou 
 ** ctre FURiEux ?" 
 
 Nor could I, without danger of confounding .the philofopher's 
 diftind:ion, have rendered lucfuio; by the fingle word^OTzV/j-j which, 
 as we ufually apply it to the fine arts, implies much of that very 
 warmth, and illufive .power, of imagination, that " i72jla7)i77iati« 
 ** a77i77ioru7?i" which Ariftotle meant to exprefs by the other word, 
 
 I muft not omit, that this whole paflager,eceives confiderable 
 illuHratign from another, in the Proble77iSy pointed out by Mr- 
 Winflanley in his edition, p. 292''. 
 
 If Ariiftotle liad given any inftance of the ftxvM^ among the 
 Tragic Poets, it would, in all probabihty, have been ^fchylus. 
 It is pleafant to obferve the appearance which the wild invention 
 and ferocious fublimity of his Promethet/s, had to the eye of a 
 French critic, of admirable good ienfe, indeed, but, ku^^ux. mj^ovt©^. 
 " Je crois," fays Fontenellc, " qu' Efchile etoit une maniere 
 
 *> See, particularly, the Phadrus, p. 244, 245, ed. Scrr. — Ariftotle himfelf, too, 
 in his Rhetoric, fays — ^"ENQEON yaf « womcrij, III. 7. ed. Duval. — I cannot help juft 
 reminding the reader of the admirable humour with which Horace ridicules the prec' 
 tied abufc of this idea, in his Art of Poetry, v. 295 — 304. 
 
 e De Or. II. 46. 
 
 ■• P. 817, B. ed. Duval. 'Ojci; oi Mar &c. — to kufam, C. The reading, £Kr«TJx©-, 
 inftead of e^ETarw®-, if it ftood in need of any confirmation, would be confirmed by 
 this fingle pafiage beyond all doubt. 
 
 ** DE
 
 NOTES. 385 
 
 " DE Fou, qui avoit rimaginatlon tres-vlve, et pas trop reglee'." 
 He would probably have fliid much the fame of Shakfpeare. The 
 charge certainly cannot be retorted upon the French Tragic 
 writers. It is related of the unfortunate Nat Lee, that, when he 
 was in Bedlam, fomebody had the inhumanity to tell him, it was 
 a veiy eafy thing to write like a madman. " No," replied the 
 Poet, " it is not an eafy thing to write like a madman ; but it is a 
 *' very eafy thing to write like a fool." I believe thefe two things 
 are almofl equally difficult to our ingenious neighbours. It would 
 be hard to deteft Racine writing like a fool. But I confefs I never 
 read him without wifliing he had written a little more like a 
 madman. We muft allow him much merit j — but he never 
 *' rolled his eye" in the " ^fie phrenjy' of the Poet j he knew 
 little of " thi tricks" of " Jlrong imagination" The charadler 
 given of him by Lord Kaims appears to me perfcftly exa<fl and 
 juft ; that ** he is always fenfible, generally correct, never falls low, 
 ** maintains a moderate degree of dignity without reaching the 
 ** fublime, paints delicately the tender paffions, but is a flranger 
 *' to the genuine language of enthufiafUc or fervid paffion ^" 
 
 I have often wondered, what it was that could attach Mr. Gray 
 fo flrongly to a Poet whofe genius was fo little analogous to his 
 own^. I muft confefs I cannot, even in the dramatic fragment 
 given us by Mr. Mafon, difcover any other refemblance to Racine, 
 than in the length of the fpcechcs. Its fault, indeed, is Racine's ; 
 its beauties are, furely, of a higher order. What pity, that a work 
 of genius, fliould have been fmothered in its birth, by a little cold 
 and trifling criticifm ! — We have, indeed, been told, that " it 
 *'' was certainly no iofs to the Englifli ftage, that Agrippina was 
 
 ' Tome ix. p. 415,-—" II me femble," fays this agreeable writer, " qu'il ne fau- 
 " droit donner dans le fublime, ju' a fin corps defendant." [Preface t(T his Hiji. das 
 Oracles.'] No wonder then, that be could not relifh ^fcUylus. 
 
 ' Elements of Crit. w/. i. />. 488. 
 
 » See Letter xvi. Seel. 4, of the Memoirs of Mr, Gray. 
 
 3 D never
 
 386 NOTES. 
 
 " never finifhed:" but we have been told it by the flime critic 
 ■who has pronounced, alfo, that the Bard of Gray, only " en- 
 *' deavours at fublimity ; " who faw in the juvenile Poems of 
 Milton " no promife of Paradife Loftj" and who has admitted, 
 with feeming complacence, into the catalogue of Englifli Poets, 
 fuch names as Bhichnore, Talden, and Pomfret — 
 
 *•* Alcandi-umque Haliumque Noemonaque Prytanlmque!"-— 
 
 NOTE 141, 
 
 P. 98. When the Poet invents a subject . 
 
 Here is a confufion of various readings, none of them, I think, 
 free from fufpicion. Plow the fenfe given to the paflage by Vic- 
 torius, and almoll all the commentators, is fairly to be obtained 
 from any of them, I confefs, I never could fee. I follow the 
 common, and, in my opinion, the leaft fufpicious, reading — to; te" 
 yKoyaq Tdi TTBTroiTiiA.Bviig — . And I underfland Ariftotle to fpeak of 
 fubjedts, either wholly invented by the Poet, like the AvO^ of 
 Agatho, or, having only fome very flight and general foundation 
 in hiftory or tradition. — Aoy©^ — the general Jiory, or argument. — 
 (Aoy©o — 'h tot APAMATOS YnO0E2;i2:. Hefydnus.) — KAI 
 uMTov TTOinvTu, — bccaufc, I fuppofc, fuch arguments were commonly 
 drawn up by others, probably in the AiJWo-jiaA/a;, and, perhaps, 
 prefixed to the copies of the play. But here, Ariilotle — " poetam 
 " eiiam ipjiim hoc facere jubet; quod novum erat, et inufita- 
 " turn :" — as the force of KAI ATTON feems rightly explained by 
 Vidtorlus. 
 
 • TSf AE ?i07«f, which, according to Victorius has MS. authority, would, per- 
 haps, be preferable. 
 
 MOTE
 
 NOTES, ^^j 
 
 NOTE 142. 
 
 P. 99. When he has given names to his charac- 
 ters . 
 
 This feems to (licw plainly, that by Xoyag 7ri7rotfi[j,svi!g the critic 
 means only fuch fubjedls as were of the Poet's own invention '. 
 For he i:\yi— frjl, form a general fketch of your fable; then, give 
 names to your charadlers. This manifeftly implies, that the 
 names were not already fixed by hiflory or tradition, but were at 
 the Poet's choice. To avoid this difficulty, the Abbe Batteux 
 tranflates, " on retizet les noms ''." But this, certainly, is not 
 what AriflotleyS/j-j and it is too trifling, furely, to be what he 
 means. If the names are given by the particular hiilory which 
 the Poet follows, what purpofe will it anfwer to omit them in his 
 plan ? — They will certainly be in his mind ; they may as well be 
 upon his paper. In fliort, the method here recommended by 
 Ariftotle feems perfectly abfurd and nugatory, upon any other 
 fuppofition than that of a ftory, either wholly invented by the Poet, 
 or, of which, at leafl, he owes only fome flight hint to faft, and 
 real life. In this cafe, and in this only, it is, that the fubjedl^?^^ 
 prefents itfelf to the Poet's mind in a general and abftradied view, 
 which he afterwards circumftantiates by time, place, and names, 
 and fills up by the detail of particular epifodes and fcenes. 
 
 That this is^ the meaning, will appear, I think, ftill more 
 clearly from the 9 th chapter, with which this palTage {hould be 
 compared. What is here faid of the method to be purfued by 
 
 =■ As, itimciiviiivm Svoixcty cap. xxi. " a u'orJ of the Poet's invention." — miTtoiYiixivix 
 {TD/Mia — TTtTToitj/.tEi'ai avfltyvucicTEir, cap. xvi. and, T£7roin,«£va ovo/iaTO, cap. ix. " riames in- 
 *' vented by the Poet," 
 
 '' And, fee his note, N° 3, upon chap. xvi. — It is the explanation of Beni : — "jam 
 " nomina imponi jubet, non tain ilia fingendo, quam reddendo." 
 
 3 D 2 Tragic
 
 388 NOTES. 
 
 Tragic Poets, anfwers exaftly to what is there faid of the Comic : 
 <TVg-'/}crxvTsg yap tov [a,vQov om tcov bikotuv, OTTH TA TTXONTA 
 'ONOMATA EniTIGEAZI ; — with this difference, indeed, that the 
 Comic writer may give whatever names he pleafes ; while the 
 Tragic generally adopts hijlorical names, even when his fubjedl is 
 feigned. Yet Ariftotle, there, not only allows that Tragedy, as 
 well as Comedy, may be all invention, both plot and names, but 
 even fays, that it would be " ridkukus" to think otherwife : yeXotov 
 TUTo ^rirsiv. And he immediately adds, that it is the invention or 
 making of his fable, (not of his rerfe only,) that truly conflitutes 
 the Poet". 
 
 NOTE 143. 
 P. 99. That the Episodes belong properly to the 
 
 SUBJECT . 
 
 See NOTE 37. — Flere are two inftances given by Arlflotle of 
 what he means by Imia-o^tcc in dramatic Poetry. They confirm, 
 I think, what was faid in that note. That Orefles fliould be taken, 
 by Jome tnea^is or other, and fliould, by fome means or other, be 
 faved, were eilential parts of the Poet's fable. Thefe were not 
 epifodes, in Ariftotle's view j for he exprefsly includes them 
 both in that general fketch of the ftory, which is previous to the 
 intertexture of the epifodes : — \\^uv It noa AH<P0EIi; — and, IvTsuQev 
 ^B y; SXITHPIA. The epifodes are the circumftances by which the 
 Poet chofe to effedl this capture, and this ejcape ; i. e. the madnefs 
 of Orcftes, and tlie ablution of the flatue ; or rather, thefe fadls 
 drawn out into fomc particularity of defcriptive narration, fo as to 
 form diflindl, though fubordinate, parts of the adion ; for this, 
 perhaps, made a part of Ariftotle's idea of eTntcrediov.' — And the 
 
 « Cap. Ix.— Tranfl. Part II. Sefl. 6. 
 
 examples
 
 NOTES. 389 
 
 examples here given feem to confirm this. See the Iphig. m Tauris, 
 V. 260, to 340. — V. 1 153, &c. — And, particularly, the narration 
 of the uyyiX©^, v. 1327, &c. 
 
 From the very obfervation, that thefe epifodes fhould he properly 
 related to the fubjetl'', and from what he adds of the difference 
 of dramatic and epic epifodes in point of length, it clearly appears, 
 that, as I obferved in the note referred to, the word is not applied 
 to Tragedy in a different fenfe from that in which it is applied to 
 the Epic Poem. 
 
 NOTE 144. 
 P. 99. But in the Epic thet are the means of 
 
 DRAWING out the PoEM TO ITS PROPER LENGTH. 
 
 *H 5" l-rroTTOi'tcc THToig f^TiKuveTon. — Compare cap. xxiv. Exst Jis Tirpog 
 TO enTBKTitvsa-Qcii, K. T. «A. — to, luTBKro^toig. 
 
 NOTE 145. 
 
 p. 99. The GENERAL STORY OF THE OdYSSEY — LIES IN 
 A SMALL COMPASS. 
 
 Mwf©-, (infteadof pax^©-,) has now the fupport of a manufcrlpt. 
 See, ed. Ox. 1780, with the learned editor of which 1 perfedlly 
 agree. Aoyf^ is plainly ufed here in the fame fenfe as before, for 
 the general argument, or fummary, of the Poem : whereas, if we 
 read jm,««^©^, it can mean only the entire ftory at full length, with 
 all its epifodes. Farther; the epitome of the Odyffey which fol- 
 
 * They could not therefore be confidered by Ariftotle as ^^ parties neceffa'ins de 
 " Taction," according to Le BolTu's definition, lib. ii. ch, 6. 
 
 ]qws.
 
 390 MOTE S. 
 
 lows, is evidently the exemplification of the preceding aflertion, 
 that the ftory of the Odyffey, ilripped of its epifodes, is very 
 P:ort. 
 
 Homer himfelf has given us a ftill more general outline of the 
 Poem in two lines and a half; — (mvo^iv wa.(Tv\q Tv\q oSva-cretocj;, as the 
 fcholiafl has obferved upon it : 
 
 Ojjf, xana -sroXXot, ■wadovT , o\i<Ta.vT oouTO "sroaiTag eraipisgf 
 
 Ayvus'ov 'wa,vT£(r(riv , eeixog'u ivtoairu, 
 
 OikkT iXiva-ta-Qat. O^/. B. 174. 
 
 •—where, oXicrxiiT [ccTiro -sravrx; erxi^ag, is equivalent to Ariftotle's 
 
 NOTE 146. 
 P. 99. Persecuted by Neptune—— 
 
 nAPA<I)TAATTOMENOT u-wo ns lIoa-BiSm©^. — The fame idea is 
 
 thus expreffed by Virgil : 
 
 — — nee Teucris addita Juno 
 UJqwam aberit. JEn. VI. 90. 
 
 upon which paflage the reader will find an excellent and ufeful 
 
 note in the beft of all editions of this Poet, that of Heyne. 
 Horace comes ftill nearer to the word ■zirx^a.<puKcirTe(r9xi : 
 
 Incontinentis riec Tityi'jecur 
 
 Relinquit ales, nequitis additus 
 
 Gustos. Lib. III. Ode \v. 
 
 * NOTE
 
 NOTES. 394 
 
 NOTE 147. 
 P. 99. And making himself known to some of his 
 
 FAMILY . 
 
 Avctyvu^ia-ocj; rivat;, avratg i.TsSsi^&v'^ . This is all Very ftrange, 
 
 and, probably, very corrupt j as may appear, merely from the awk- 
 ward and cacophonous repetition of the pronoun — ATTOS cc(pty.^ 
 j/e;Ta;— -ATTOIS innQif^zv®^, AYTOE pi/ £0-w5i/. 
 
 And what is, uvocyvu^itrxg rtvxg} — Certainly, not what one expefts, 
 UlyfTes, we know, was difcoveredhy the nurfe, and difcovered him- 
 felf to Euma:us, and the herdfman, and to Telemachus ; but I do 
 not recoiled: that he difcovers any one. Caftelvetro faw this j and 
 he fays, that " omutav is to be underftood j and that the fignification. 
 " of the word uvxyvu^io-ag here muft be obferved, which is, not 
 " that UlyfTes difcovered any of his friends, but that he made him- 
 *^ felf known to them''." But we have no authority, that I know 
 of, for this ufe of (xvci'yvu^itj:iv with an accuiative cafe. Piccolo- 
 mini, too, underftands this palTage as Caftelvetro did — " datqfi 
 *' a conofcere ad alcimi." And the Abbe Batteux — " fe fait recon- 
 '* noitre," &c. 
 
 But what, again, is, uvrotg l^uridsi^ev©^ ? — Does avroi; refer to the 
 friends, or to the enetnies, of UlylTes ? — Is eTs-tSsfzsv®^, deceiving, im- 
 pofng on, as it is rendered by Viftorius, and others after him, or, 
 as others underftand it, attacking ? for it will bear either of thefe' 
 fenfes. I have preferred the latter as moft obvious, and, on the 
 whole, moft to the purpofe. E-wtTiQei^evoi is ufed by Ariftotle in 
 this fenfe, Rhet. II. 5. It generally, I believe, implies an attack 
 more or lefs i?7fdioiis, fuch as that of UlylTes upon the fuitors. 
 The fcholiafl upon Homer, Od. T. 156, obferves, that a day of 
 
 » P. 382. 
 
 feflivity
 
 392 NOTES, 
 
 feilivity was made choice of, as furniflaing a favourable opportunity 
 5)f attacking the fuitors : li/a. tuv uvS^cov "sn^t tvjv eootijv xuTcnyivofievuv, 
 
 BVKcci^ov Ixv '"« EniTieE^eAi toi£ mnhsthpsi. 
 
 NOTE 14S. 
 
 P. 100. I CALL COMPLICATION, ALL THAT IS BETWEEN 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE PIECE, AND THE LAST PART, 6CC. 
 
 Ariftotle is here, as ulual, very fhort and dry in the information 
 he beflows upon us concerning this oi(fig and hwi^. I wifh he had 
 given us a definition of their meanings, inflead of a mere defignation 
 of xkvivi places. One would fufpedl, on the firil view, from the 
 mention of a change g;? rjT-up^iw onljt (in which reading all the 
 MSS. I think, agree,) from his injiance, (if it be the fame Tra- 
 gedy as he before cited, cap, xi.) \nd from the commoji acceptation 
 of the word Xya-ij itfelf, that he was fpeaking only of thofe Tra- 
 gedies in which the principal characters are extricated from the 
 difficulties they were involved in, and the end is happy. And, 
 indeed, the way in which Le BofTu, and others after him, explain 
 this nceud and denouement, leads naturally to this idea, and feems 
 hardly confiftent with their allowing, as they do, that the denoue^ 
 vient may be either calamitous or profperous *. For they explain 
 the nceud, or hfnq, by " objlacks a vainer e^ "- — *' efforts contr aires — ■ 
 ** /. e. aux efforts du heros pour V execution de fon dejfein\" — ** Les 
 " objlacles prefentes s'appellent nceuds, et la maniere dont on les 
 *' force, fe nomme, denouement^." — This will do very well for 
 ;£neas, or Ulylfes. But when Oedipus finds himfelf guilty of 
 
 • Le BoiTii, Traitc du Poeme, Ep. II, 16. 
 
 * Batteux's note on this paflage. 
 « Lc BofTu, II. 13. 
 
 '' Batteux, Principcs dc la Lit. tome ii. p, 226. 
 
 parricide
 
 NOTES. 393 
 
 parricide and incefi:, and, from a flate of regal dignity and happi- 
 nefs, becomes a wretched, blind, and banlHied vagabond — this is 
 but a flrange way ol fiinnountmg objiaclcs. 
 
 The truth is, that the obftacles of the lt(rtq, or the knot, are thofe 
 which are prefented to tlVe mind of t\iQ fpeSiator ; the difficulty 
 overcome is that o^ feeing hoiv the piece ivill terminate. And thus, 
 indeed, the Abbe Batteux more accurately exprefles himfelf elfc- 
 where : — " Le noeud dans le Cinna eft, de fgavoir Ji Cinna tuera 
 *■' Augiijie" &c\ The Xi/o-;; is, to the fpeilator, the folution of 
 the problem, '• How will all this end?" And we may add, the 
 more difficult the problem, the greater the pleafure of the folution. 
 
 It may be objefted, that this is applicable only to thofe Trage- 
 dies, the fubjefts of which are totally unknov/n to the fpectatorj 
 and it may be afked, " Where is the problem to be folved, in thofe 
 *' dramas, which we have repeatedly feen and read, and of v/hich 
 " we are perfeftly acquainted Math the cataftrophe, and every 
 " incident that leads to it ?" To this I can onlyanfvver, that it is 
 a fadl, and certainly a curious fa(fl, that it makes little difference, 
 or none at all, in the fympathetic intereft which a fpedlator feels 
 during the courfe of the ad:ion, whether he knows, or does not 
 know, beforehand, how the piece will end. " Quelque prevenu 
 " que Ton foit de la maniere dont tout va fe refoudre, la marche de 
 ** I'aSlion en ecarte la reminifcence : rijnprejjion de ce que Von voit 
 '• empeche de reflechir a ce que Von fcait ; et c'eft par ce preftige 
 *' que les fpedlateurs qui fe lalfTent toucher, pleurent vingt fois au 
 *' meme fpedlacle. — [Marmontel, Poet. Fraiic. ii. 220.] 
 
 The term Xvatq, therefore, is as applicable to the calamitous 
 cataftrophe of the Oedipus, as to the fatisfadlory conclufion of the 
 Iphigenia in Taiiris. For Ariftotle exprefsly gives thefe parts, 
 
 • Princip. de la Lit. tome iii. p. 51. Andfo, too, Le Boflu, where he fays of the 
 nceud, that it lafts " autant de temps que Pejprit dulcBeur ejl p<fpendu fur Teventmcnt 
 " de ces efforts contraires," &c. ch. xiii. Dacier, too, talks in the fame equivocal 
 language. See his notes, i, 2, and 3. 
 
 3 E 'as
 
 394 NOTES. 
 
 as parts of every ^Tragedy. £?< Je IIAEHr T^ccyu^tug, to fA,iv, SeiTts, 
 ro Se, Xvingt 
 
 NOTE 149. 
 P. 100. The Lynceus of Theodectes . 
 
 Caftelvetro has guejfed, with feme ingenuity, the fubjedl and 
 plot of this Tragedy, from Hyginus, Fab. 45. See Goulfton's 
 fupplemental verfion, which is taken from him. It feems, how- 
 ever, very improbable, that a Tragedy fhould be denominated 
 from a perfon who had no other fliare in the adtion, than that it 
 palTed under his roof. 
 
 Dacier underftands this to be the Lynceus mentioned before, cap. 
 xi. All I fee is, that his application of the word, ■nailiov) to Lyn- 
 ceiis the hiijhand of Hypermneftra, cannot be admitted. The di- 
 minutive itKilm, is, I believe, never ufed but to fignify a child. 
 In this refpedl, certainly, Caftelvetro's conjedlure has greatly the 
 advantage ; as it has, alfo, in the explanation of a,tTtx<rsus ra Gxvccth, 
 which, in Dacier, is terribly forced. See his verfion. 
 
 NOTE 150. 
 P. 100. There are four kinds of Tragedy, dedu- 
 
 CIBLE from so MANY PARTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MEN- 
 TIONED. 
 
 It is incumbent on a commentator to flate, as clearly as he can, 
 the difficulties of his author, whether he be able to remove them, 
 or not. This has not been done with refpedl to this palTage, in 
 any of the comments that I have feen, 
 
 Ariftotle
 
 NOTES. 39 r 
 
 J 
 
 Ariftotle fays, T^xycfliag ^s gijjj Ikti TS(rcrxax' TotTOiura, PAP zm to, 
 IxB^ri lxsx^'1- " There are four fpecics of Tragedy; for fo many 
 ** alfo are the parts which have been mentioned." This is faying, 
 as exprefsly as words can fay it, that the four different ^y^t'aVj of 
 Tragedy correfpond to, and, of courfe, arife from, four different 
 parts already mentioned. Now what are thofe parts ? Four parts 
 of quantity have indeed been mentioned; (cap. xii.) but thefe are 
 quite out of the queftion. If we have recourfe to what arc called the 
 parts of quality^, thefe 2.vQ.fix ; and if, with Dacier, v/e reduce them 
 to four, by throwing out the decoration and the 7mi/ic, the four that 
 refnain, i. e. fable, manners, fentimeiits, and di^ion, will furnifli 
 out, among them, only one of the fpecies of Tragedy enumerated 
 : — that which is denominated vi^M-q. Thefe, then, cannot be the 
 four parts pointed at as the foundation of the four fpecies. There 
 remain only the parts which Ariftptle calls p^i? MT0OT: the 
 parts, not of Tragedy, but of one of the efential parts of Tragedy 
 — the Fable. Thefe he enumerated in the nth chapter "", and to 
 thefe, the commentators, in general, are agreed in underffanding 
 Ariflotle to allude. 
 
 But the difficulty here is, that he refers X.o four parts mentioned^ 
 and here are only three — i. e. Trs^fTrsraa, dvayviapta-ig, (which he 
 exprefsly calls Juo p,ii5a ^i^vi,) and, thirdly, ircaQ^ : TPITON J^s, 7ra5©^. 
 — There is no mention of H5^, to furnilli his third fpecies, the 
 moral Tragedy ; nor, indeed, was it, by any means, to be expeded. 
 there, where he is profeffedly enumerating the parts of the Fable. 
 Uot.Qyi, in the fenfe in which the word is there ufed% may, unquef- 
 tionably, be confidered as parts of thei^^<!;/f ; jJSi?, or manners, cannot. 
 
 » Cap. vi. Tranfl. Part II. Sed. 2. 
 '' Tranfl. Part II. Sed. 9, at the end. 
 
 * ITafl©-, in its ufual fenfe, of fojfion, is a part, not of the )/.ub®-, but of the Aia- 
 mct. (See cap. xix. Tranfl. Part II. Seft. 22.) But, in the fenfe defined cap. xi. 
 (Tranfl. Part II. Seft. 9.) it is an a£lion — riPAHII ipSafTiw, he. and, therefore, part 
 of the ^lot, or <:rwh<nc, '^r^ayinoiriiiv, as much as the revolution, and difcovery. 
 
 3 E 2 The
 
 396 NOTE S. 
 
 The Abbe Batteux thinks tlie ethic fpecies is tacitly implied, as 
 the oppofite, or negative, of the pathetic. The three parts of the 
 fable, TrBo.-Trs-ax, ava-yvu^KTi;, TraS©^, give, direSlly, only two fpecies 
 of Tragedy; the two firft conflituting, (one, or both of them,) 
 the complicated, {jvz-nXzy^ivtiv^ and the third, the pathetic^ or difaf- 
 trous. Tragedy. The two other fpecies are only the negatives of 
 thefe. If the fable is without revolution or difcovery'*,. die Tra- 
 gedy \%Jimple, as oppofed to complicated ; if, without Tru^ri, or dif- 
 ailers, it is ij^.jcij, as oppofed to -TrxSyiTixy!. — Such is the explanation 
 of this ingenious writer'; which feems to be much favoured by 
 the manner in which thefe fpecies are arranged afterwards, when 
 applied to Epic Poetry in cap. xxiv.; where we have — ij yot^ 
 'AHAHN '-5 nEnAEFMENHN, — t^ HOIKHN ■^ nAQHTIKHN, Set hvcciy 
 and, alfo, by the frequent oppofition of '/ra^©^ and i&®^, TraSyj-iKov 
 and i^iKov, in antient writers ^ — It may, indeed, be objefted, that 
 this cannot be reconciled to Ariftotle's words — roa-avTcc ya^ zxi rx 
 f/.io'/] 'EAEXOH; which feem to refer clearly to four parts that had 
 been all exprefsly mentioned. But, if v/e fhould fuppofe Ariftotla 
 here" to confider that as faid, which was only implied, and as ex- 
 plained, which was only hinted, we fhould, perhaps, take no 
 liberty that is not warranted by the magifterial and elliptic brevity 
 of his general ftyle, and eveiijby iimilar inftances in his writings^. 
 But even this will not entirely remove the difficulty, while, by tlie 
 
 "^ 'ANET w£fwET£W5 h avayvu^Wf^Hy as he fa)?s above, in defining the fimple 
 
 fable. Cap. X. 
 
 " See his note ; and his Prlnc'tpes de la- Lit, tome iii. p. 84. 
 
 ^ See, for inftance, Rhet. III. 17. Quintil. VI. 2, p. 299, 300, ed. Gibf. kc.—l am 
 aw;-.re, indeed, that in tliis oppontion, ■Trafl©- is not taken in the dramatic fenfe, of 
 blood- fhedydifafters, &c. but: in the uiual kn(&ofpaffion.. But as thiS:fenfe is,. in ftK^:,, 
 involved in the former, (for we can fcarce conceive a difadrous, or, as we call it, a 
 ele/:p. Tragedy, that-is not alfo h\gh\y pathetic, or paffioiiate,) this is jiot, perhaps, any 
 material objection.. 
 
 *s- His references are frecjuently obfcure, or ambiguous. So, the laxSaTri^ eLfmai^ 
 cap. xi. itii SOTE &3. And the, aaTre^ k^r.Tat, cap. xv. fte note ho. — An cmbar- 
 r. nir.t.-it of 'numeration fomewhat fimilar to that of this pallagc has occurJ'cd in 
 
 jTE 105. 
 
 3 parts:
 
 NOTES. 397 
 
 parts alluded to, we underftand Ariftotle to mean only the p^sij 
 f^vQ-a of the I ith chapter : becaufe ij^©^,.as I before obfervcd, could 
 be neither mentioned, nor implied, as a part of t\\Q fable. Per- 
 haps, therefore, he meant to ufe the word jcae^ij in a general fcnfe, as 
 he clearly does ufe it, cap. xxiv. kch tx MEPH, e£iM (/.zX. km oi|/£«t)j, 
 TuuTOi' KM TAP Tre^iTTBTauv Set, x.. r. uX. — where the km TAP fhews, 
 that the parfs he had jufl mentioned included hi/j the hx confli- 
 tuent parts of Tragedy, and the three parts of the fable which he 
 enumerates. If we underftand jcte^i? in this way, the meaning will 
 only be, that fo many different j)^r/j-, (of one kind or other,) have 
 been mentioned (eXe^Sij,) from which thefe fpecies maybe deduced : 
 thefe are, the three f^s^ri [/.vda, which furnilh the complicated, the 
 fimple, and the pathetic, fpecies ; and the fecond of the effential 
 parts of 'Tragedy, '^8<^, v^hich, though indeed it be a part of' every 
 Tragedy, admits, according to Ariftotle's own account, of more ox, 
 lefs*", and, when predominant, may be charadleriftic of another 
 fpecies, the ethic, or fnoral Tragedy, naturally enough oppofed to, 
 the pathetic. 
 
 I confefs I fee no other pofTible confiftent fenfe that can be given 
 to this paiTage, as we now read it: for four parts are here men- 
 tioned; and Jour parts cannot be made out, if we confine ourfelvcs. 
 to the f/.s^T) MY0OT in cap. xi. 
 
 Dacier feems to. have perceived tKis; and his explanation agreeS: 
 fo far with mine, that he, alfo, makes " la peripetie, la recon- 
 " noifance, la paffion, et les mf^urs," the four parts that produce 
 the four forts of Tragedy. But when,, in order to reduce thefven 
 parts, (i.e. fable, manners, diftion,, fentiments, difcov.eryj revolu.-- 
 tion, diiafters,) to. the yi^^zr which he wants, he rejeds three, i. e.. 
 fable, diilion, and fentiments, becaufe they are common to all 'Tra- 
 gedy, he makes a diftiriddon for which there feems to be no founda- 
 tion ; the manners h€\w^ eqilally included by Ariftotle arflong thofe 
 parts whiqh are exprefbly IIAZHS rpxyuSiocg /^e^ij '.. But, though alt 
 
 * Cap. vj,— »vw $iMav VEVotT* «y (fc. T^ayf^m^ &c±. ''Cap. vi. , 
 
 tHefs:
 
 398 NOTE S, 
 
 thefe parts necefiarily belong, in fome degree or other, to every 
 Tragedy, any one of them may be fo predominant, as to charade - 
 rize a Tragedy, and give it, if we pleafe, a fpcciilc denomination. 
 Thus, there may be, and there is, fuch a fpecies as xhtj'entimental 
 Tragedy, of which, in the critic's language, ro oXov i) Atavoix : — 
 another, of which the language may be the m.oll ftriking charadrer 
 — 57J TO oXov VI Aal/j" j and he himfelf fpeaks of a fort of Tragedy 
 that might very well be denominated, ^ OTrrm?)', of which exam- 
 ples are not wanting on the modern ftage. The Italian opera is a 
 Tragedy, '^?' to oXov eg-iv -^ MeXoTroii'oi. — But Ariftotle's bufmefs was 
 not to enumerate all the different fpecies which want of tafte or 
 judgment might produce, but thofe only which were confidered as 
 legitimate, and fuch as found criticifm would approve. Hence, 
 he has recourfe, for the formation of the Jbur regular and autho- 
 rifed fpecies, only to the tv\^o yfr// and moft important of the fix 
 conftituent parts of Tragedy — the fable, and the manners. 
 
 But after all, when we have made the beft we can of the text 
 in this paffage, we mull allow, I believe, that it is more for the 
 credit of Ariftotle to fuppofe it faulty. And that it is {o, T am the 
 rather inclined to think, as one difficulty ftill rernaiiis. The ex- 
 preffion — " there -xxt four forts of Tragedy j for yo many parts 
 " have been mentioned" — feems clearly to imply, not merely, 
 that thofe four forts are deduciole, in fome 'way or other, trom thofe 
 parts, but, as I at firfl obferved, that they, refpettively, arife from 
 thofe parts, each of which produces its corrfpondent fpecies of 
 Tragedy. But this, as we have feen, is by no means the cafe. 
 Of the four parts, only TraS©-, and vfi®--, produce diredly their 
 correfpondent fpecies, the ■7rci9'^Ttx,7;, and the '^Sikti. The other two 
 
 ^ Of the firft, Mr. Harris gives Meafure for Meafure as an inflancc ; of the laft-, 
 Cato. — Pbilol, Inq. p. i6i. — But Cato feems rather a compound of the two fpecies. 
 Dr. Johnfon, in his life of Addifon, has more juftly characterized it by — " jn&fenti- 
 " merits in elegant language." 
 
 ' See cap. xiv. Tranfl. Part II. Sect. 13. 
 
 parts,
 
 NOTE S. 
 
 399 
 
 parts, ire^mireiUt and avayvu^KTig, denominate ojie fpecies from their 
 frefence, (the 'irtirXiy^ivvi,) and another, (the uttXvi,) from their 
 iibfence. 
 
 NOTE 151. 
 P. 100. Another, the moral 
 
 n^iycvj. — " Videant ftudiofi hujus libri, an Intelllgl debeant, et 
 *' tanquam uttq kcivh repeti, et hie et infra, verba ilia quas in expli- 
 ** catione fabulaj implex(^ pofuit : intelligo, inquam, hsc — ij? to oKov 
 " Ig-iv : et quod praeterea utroque loco convenit, inde fumptum, 
 *' [i. e. TTdS®^ — '/;9©o] ut, quemadmodum inquit in defcribenda ilia 
 ** perplexa — --?? to oXov tgi, Tre^nreTax kdu ccvayvu^iin?, — ita, in patheticdy 
 *' riq TO oXov Is-t TTOi^v] ; et in moratd, -^g to oXov e;-iv 5j^5j." So Vifto- 
 
 rius; and the obfervation feems jufl and important. 
 
 By '^6i>c7i, I cannot think, that the mere abfence of TraQvi is meant, 
 as M. Batteux fuppofes % or, as Dacier and others take it, the mere 
 moral tendency of the example. I underfland the TDouyulia. vfityjti to 
 be, in the moil obvious and ufual fenfe of the word, that kind of 
 Tragedy, ^q to oXou Ig-iv -^dn — of which the manners are the predomi- 
 nant part ; which feems fufficiently to imply the abfence of that 
 violent perturbation, deep diftrefs, and terrible cataftrophe, which 
 diftinguifli \\\q pathetic fpecies. This obvious fenfe ol rfii-^y\ is con- 
 firmed by Ariflotle's exemplification in cap. xxiv. For there, he 
 plainly oppofes it to the vrxQ-yiTMov of the Iliad, and applies it to the 
 Odyffey; a poem eminently characterized as a pidure of life and 
 manners^. The word is alfo ufed, evidently, in the fame fenfe m 
 the Rhetoric ; where the two fpecies of the drama, ^'ft^w, and iroc,^-,]- 
 
 » " La fable morale^ oppofee a la Pathetique, doit etre celle ou il n' y a point defang 
 " repandti; telles font le Cinnade Corneille, et la Berenice de Racine." — Primipes 
 fl( la Lit. iii. p. 85, 
 
 * See Longinus, Se£}, 9, adjincm, 
 
 2 TIKOTi
 
 400 NOTE S. 
 
 TMov, Jirc mentioned, as being, each of them, accommodated to 
 ■aciim, and preferred, on that account, by the players, as pecuH- 
 arly favourable to the difplay of their mimetic powers ^ Now 
 this would not be the cafe, if by rfiiKvi nothing more than a moral 
 lelTon and a virtuous example were intended. Yet this idea is by no 
 means excluded by the other ; and Victorias feems to have rightly 
 adjufled this matter. " Animadvertendum autem Tragoediam illam 
 " vocari moratam, quis non foliim accurate mores exprimitf fed cos 
 " etiam indncit prodos ; quod ipfe fignificavit fupra, ubi de moribus 
 *' difieruit ; primum enim prscepit ut %fijra ']h fingerentur." 
 
 If it be obje<5ted, that, the delineation of ma?i}iers being the 
 peculiar province of Comedy, this account of the T^xyuhcc ■^Smv 
 confounds the limits of thefe two oppofite fpecies of the drasna ; 
 we may anfwer, that the mora/, or rather manfiered Trzgedy, (for we 
 feem to want a word here,) though allowed by Ariflotle, was cer- 
 tainly not that which he himfelf confidered as the beft, or the moft 
 Tragic '' : yet, that even this was fufficiently diftinguiflied from 
 Comedy by the iwoi of manners which it imitated. They were 
 to be, if pofTible, goot:/, (%p5js-«,) — at all events they were to be, 
 on the whole, ferious — o-tt^Imoi. : whereas the objeil of Comedy, 
 with refpedl to manners, as to every thing elfe, was the ridiculous. 
 We mull remember too, that, as I have before obferved, the two 
 dramas were by no means, in Ariftotle's time, fo rigoroufly feparated 
 as they now are. There were, then, but two dramatic mufes, 
 the mufe of Tragedy, and the mufe of Farce. Yet there is fome- 
 thing between a flood of tears and a broad laugh; and as Farce 
 obftinately refufed to put any degree of reftraint upon her mufcles. 
 Tragedy, who, as we have feen, was fo accommodating, as even, 
 occafionally, to approach to the very laugh of Farce, frequently 
 
 « __ aysjvifiKu Si, [fc. 7ie;?ij — oratorical dliflionj n uTroK^niHi^TXTn' TauT»; h 5Vo iiSii* n 
 ptv 70f, H0IKH, ^ Jf, nAGHTIKH. Sio xai k Imn^ncu ra TOIATTA THN APAMA- 
 TilN Siuxacri, Kxi hiTroiviJM tc; TOiarsf. [fc. u7roafiT«{.j Rhet. III. 12. 
 
 * Sec caj>. xii'i. Tranjl. Part II. Scd. 12. 
 
 condefcended
 
 NOTES. 401 
 
 condefcended to dry her tears, and to put on, without fcruple, the 
 intermediate y/«/7i?, which Comedy fhould havefupplied. 
 
 NOTE 152. 
 P. 100. And, fourthly, the simple, such as— — 
 
 AND ALL THOSE TRAGEDIES, THE SCENE OF WHICH IS LAID 
 .IN THE INFERNAL REGIONS. 
 
 To ^£ TiTOi^TOV, OiOV, XITS ^O^Ki^Bg, KXI Yl^O^Yi'^tvg, KCU OiTCl iV (4(?a— 
 
 The enumeration of thefe fpecies in cap. xxiv. leaves no room to 
 doubt the omiflion of the word 'AOAOTN here. To ^= Tera^Tov, 
 
 UTrXvv, otov, tec. 
 
 The commentators have been much puzzled to difcover, why all 
 thofe Tragedies, that have for their fubjedl r« h a.h, (hould be of the 
 Jimple conllrudtion ; and I have, indeed, been fometimes ftrongly 
 inclined to believe, that the words, vMioffa. h a^a, were out of their 
 place, and belonged to t\icft'co?id fpecies ; thus : ^' h UaQyiTMr^, oiov, o< 
 Ti AiavTig, Koit ci I^wvsg, Kcii o(rx Iv u^-n. Why fuch fubje£ls fhould 
 belong to the difajirous clafs, no one can want a reafon ; and the 
 words follow naturally, and pertinently, in this view, after the 
 inftance of Ixion. I have been furprifed not to find fo obvious a 
 conjedlure in any of the comments. Piccolomini, indeed, glances 
 at it: — " Non lb vedere, perche piu toflo in eflempio delle Tra- 
 " gcdie fathetiche, che delle femplici, non le habbia pofte ; ha- 
 " vendo riguardo in cio alle piinhion, e fnppi'icn dell' inferno." p. 
 255. And it is very fingular, that Dacier's note (N° to.) is ex- 
 adtly fuch, as if he had himfelf made this conjediure ; of which, 
 however, he fays nothing. But, after ail, it is obvious enough, 
 as Beni has obferved, that, In thefe infernal Tragedies, no ivz^ntiTaM, 
 Tiofudden reverfe of circumftances, could well have place. The 
 comment of that acute Italian upon this palTage, is the befl I have 
 feen, and will, perhaps, fatisfy the reader, that no fuch conjedture is 
 
 3. F wanted.
 
 402 NOTE S. 
 
 wanted. — *' Clanfula haec fit ; — ex iftiulmodi fabulis exempluin 
 ** duxiffe Ariftotelem ad i\luilra.nd-3.m JimJ?h'ccm fabulam, quod cum 
 " illi [fc. Tantalus, Sifyphus, &c.] in eas pcenas atque tormenta, 
 " non a profperltate, quemadmodum Oedipus et alii plerique, 
 " devolverentur, fed ab initio ad finem ufque illis jadlarentur, 
 " per:pet:a aherat qucim longij/imc. Imo verb, non modo repente 
 " fortunae commutatio baud fiebat, quod eft proprium peripetiae, 
 ** veruin etiam tjiutatlo in deciirj'u toto Jiebat levijjima ac prope nulla i 
 " ita ut ab initio ad finem ufque, mira fitnplicitate flueret fabula. 
 *' Ex quo fiebat, ut commodius ex aliis, in quibus repent} vulnera, 
 " cruciatus, et casdes contingebant, patheticce duceretur exemplum, 
 ** quam ex iis, quibus nullus repente cruciatus infligebatur, et tamen 
 '* limplicitas de qua dicebam mirifice apparebat." — Be}in Comment. 
 
 P- 372- 
 
 As to the reading itfelf, \v a^a, it feems to be fufficiently con- 
 firmed even by a collation of blunders ^ for the MSS. exhibit, ev 
 oudoi — Bv Kid — iv cctda — ev ccoa, 
 
 Vidlorius feems to doubt, I know not why, whether there exifted 
 any fuch Tragedies. The 'Li(ru(p^ TliT^oy-vXtgrig of iEfchylus muft, 
 clearly, have been of this kind ; and probably his Yuxot-yuyot. His 
 Prometheus may be conceived to come the nearefi of any Greek 
 Tragedy extant to a fpecimen of this kind of drama. — Dacier 
 has very properly reminded us here of what Ariftotle had faid, 
 cap, xiii. of the old Poets — that raj ru^oi/raj jwu^jfj oi.-nvi^i^^yiv — i. e. 
 they took, as we fay, any fubjedl that came uppermoft. 
 
 NOTE 153. 
 p. 102. But in the I>rama, the effect of such a 
 
 PLAN IS FAR DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IS EXPECTED. 
 
 T\oK\) -noL^a, tjjv uttoXjjiJ/;!/ aVo/3a(j/a ; — literally, *' it turns out very 
 " diff'erently from what was expelled, orfuppojcd, by the Poet," 
 
 The
 
 ^? (5 T B s. 
 
 403 
 
 Tlie vTToXTi^ig, the view, and expe^Ttatioii of the Poet, when he 
 crowds fo many incidents into his piece, is, that he fliall make it 
 interefting and pleafing by its variety. But the contrary happens. 
 The neceffity of not exceeding the ufual length, and time of repre- 
 fentation, reduces the propofed variety to a confufed and huddled 
 mafs of incidents, not long enough dwelt on, or fufficiently detailed, 
 to be either interefting, or clear. His Poem will be KocTocTvmMy- 
 f/,svov TYi ttoikiXm, as the critic well exprefles it in another paflage 
 that fhould be compared with this". Thus, the Poet, in this 
 ni-judged attempt, is difappointed in the fame manner as the archi- 
 tedl, who aims at a beautiful variety by a multitude of fmall and 
 crowded ornaments, which fpoil the geiicral effedt, and, at the 
 fame time, are too many, and too minute, to afford pleafure by 
 feparale infpedlion. And thus, ttcXu 'Tva.qa. rijy j7rcXij4'"' uTrofSocn/ei ; 
 or, as the ingenious author of' the Analyfis of Beauty has exprefTed 
 the fame idea, in a chapter which affords no bad illuftration of 
 this paffage from a fifter art, " variety, ivhcn overdone, is a check 
 *' upon itjelfr 
 
 Such appears to me to be the meaning of this paffige, which, 
 I think, has not been fully feen by any of the commentators. 
 
 * Cap. xxiii, Tranfl. Part III. Se£l. i. '■^ perplexed hy its variety." 
 
 •• Hogarth's Anal, of Beauty, cap. viii. — a work, to which, with all its imperfec- 
 tions, I think it may fairly be faid, that the public have not done full juftice ; perhaps, 
 through the author's own fault, who did it more than juftice himfelf, by his preten- 
 fions. When Hogarth attempted to philofophize, he was loft. His meaning is often 
 obfcured by awkward expreflion, and fometimes feems, pretty plainly, not to have 
 been well known even to himfelf. fSee particuhrly his chap, on Proportion.) Yet the 
 book abounds, I think, with fenfible, ufeful, and, at the time it was written, J believe, 
 uncommon, obfervations. The ideas of e.minent artifts, relative to their own arts, 
 muft always be, more or lefs, valuable and ufeful ; and they ought not to be difcou- 
 raged from communicating thofe ideas to the public, by criticifm too feverely cxer- 
 cifed upon the manner in which th^y do it, A few ideas, even roughly throv/n out, 
 from an artift of genius,' v/iil often be of more utility to the progrefs of the art, than 
 whole pa^es of fine writing and refined fpeculation from the unpra«5lifed amateur. 
 
 3 F 2 NOTE
 
 404 NOTES, 
 
 NOTE 154. 
 
 P. 102. As Euripides, but not ^schylus, has done^ 
 &c. 
 
 This paflage affords a good fpecimen of the diftreffing ambiguity- 
 that prevails fo remarkably throughout this work. It fairly ad- 
 mits of two different conftrudlions, and two different fcnfes*. 
 It niay be thus: oaoi 'rrcprw IX<k cXijv eTroiTjcrciv kui ju.57 jcmto, [/.e^®^, {^ucrTrep 
 Evpi'jTi^vjg l^iol3%v, ^ M-yj^etoiv, Kxt ^vj coarTTB^ A;cr;:^^uX©o,) if iKiriTTTHa-iv — 
 K. T. tt,X. Or thus : oa-ot vepcnv iKm oXvjv STroirja-av, — kch jW/j koctk f^i^oi;- 
 (ua-TTSP Eup. N. '»j M. [fc. kpctoc. |W£^©^ eTToiyiire,'] kxi piTj ccinre^ Aia-^. [^fc, 
 cXfiv iTroivia-e.]) vi Ikvitt. k. t. dx. — In the firff of thefe v.'ays, the cen- 
 fure will fall on Euripides; in the other, on ^fchylus. Vidlorius 
 contends. for the firft, but his reafons, though plaufible, feem not 
 decifive. The whole, as he obferves, turns upon this — whether 
 the wcTTTsp refers to the lahole fentence— oA^jv iTrci'/icrxv kui jM'«j hutoc 
 jt*ep©-, — or, only to the words immediately preceding, i. e. Koira. 
 f^ia<^. On the whole, the laff conffrudtion, I think, offers itfelf 
 mofl naturally ; and it feems rather favoured, too, by the fimilar 
 application of (1*1} ucnre^, to the Poet ccnfured, prelently after ^ where,, 
 fpeaking of the Chorus, he fays it ihould o-uvaywi/i^E^^a;, MH 'XlZnEP 
 Trap' ^v^tTi^'/i, dx\' 'ilSIlEP ttoc^cx. "Lo'potcXet. — But this, after all, is one 
 of thofe paflages, where the " ceqiiato examine lances" are fo nicely 
 balanced, that a commentator might continue in fufpence for 
 ever, if the neceffity of going on did not obhge him to turn the 
 fcald by a touch of his own hand. 
 
 *-' Dacfer's interpretation [note 19.) I pafs over as pjrfcc^ly inafiiniflib!c. Tb:? 
 torfccvl conftruftion he borrowed from Caftelvetro, p. 398. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 405 
 
 NOTE 155. 
 P. 102. For, in revolutions, and in actions of the 
 
 SIMPLE KIND, THESE PoETS SUCCEED WONDERFULLY IN 
 WHAT-THEY AIM AT; AND THAT IS, .THE UNION OF TRAGIC 
 EFFECT WITH MORAL TENDENCY, &C. 
 
 Thofe annotators who make the words, 'Ey ^s rem; Tn^miTnocig — 
 the beginning of a feparate precept' relative to tlie ufe of the ivo?i- 
 derfiil, have the natural confhrudlion of the text, and the uniform 
 reading of all the MSS. againfl: them. The natural and obvious 
 conftrudlion, furely, is, Jv rarw ^ovu' \v AE ra/j tte^. — x. r. «A. And 
 this is alfo confirmed by the mention of Agatho again, prefently 
 afterwards. All the MSS. too, it feems, give ^m^ocguq, which can 
 never be forced into the fenfe of " per admirabile \" The altera- 
 tion propofed by Heinfius — ffro-x,ci^^rtx,t, and f^aXerxi — in order to 
 make this refer exclufively to Agatho, feems unneceffary. ^roya- 
 ^ovTut refers, very naturally, to Agatho in conjundlion with the 
 other Poets jufl mentioned, whofe miftake, and whofe failure, 
 were the fame. 
 
 I have ventured to render this pailage in a manner fomewhat 
 different from any tranflator or commentator that I have feen ''. 
 TpayMov ycco raro, xat (ptXacv^puiTrov. The queftion is, to what nsro 
 refers ? The commentators are divided. It appears to me, that 
 it refers to the pirpofe, at which thefe Poets are faid to have 
 aimed', and the r\iTo, which follows, explains the r^ayitcov zott (piXxv- 
 " 6^umv. — Taro TAP — "for this (i. e. which they aim at,) is both 
 Tragic and Moral." The reader will fee how exactly what 
 
 » Yet fo Mr. Winftanley feems to unJerftand it. See his note, p. 294. If there 
 are any examples of the adverb Qau/xarui fo ufed, I could wifh he had produced them. 
 
 * The beft comment is that of Benius, p. 379. 
 
 follows
 
 4o6 -N O T 'E S. 
 
 follows fuits this fcnfc ; and how this paiTage helps to confirm 
 the fenfe given to the word (piXccv^co'Trov, in cap. xiii. [See 
 NOTE 94.] where, sX^stjov kch <pg(2s^ov, is^ plainly equivalent to 
 r^xyt'Mv here. The difficulty was, to reconcile thefe two efFedts. 
 Ariflotle's exprefhon, a-rox'X^ovrcci ©ATMASTXIS — '^ furprifingly 
 ** well" — implies this difficulty, and, that he does not fpeak 
 of the pradiice as perfedly agreeable to his own theory of the 
 Tragic drama. — In the fubjedls here- inidanced, there was tlie 
 (piXxi/Q^uTToVf becaufe the d^MM and ttovvidik were puniflied : and, at 
 the fame time, the r^ayMov, though not amounting to what tlae 
 critic required, was not wanting, becaufe there was the un- 
 expected reverfe of fortune, a calamitous event, TraSij, &c'. The 
 perfons fuffcring, too, wei-e diftinguifhed by eminent 'wifdom and 
 courage i and though fuch charadlers are not what Arifto tie re- 
 commends as the fittefl for 'Ti-agic purpofes \ yet," by the fubflitu- 
 tion of admirable and fplendid, for moral and eftimable, qualities, 
 they are made to produce, in fome degree, a fimilar effeif upon the 
 fpedator. 
 
 This appears to me to be the fenfe of the pafTage; arid it leads 
 me ftrongly to fufped:, that, inftead of Iv to;? 'AnAOIS iv^otypicun, we 
 fhould read — \v roiq AinAOir -/r^. How eafily the miftake might 
 happen, is obvious to the eye. My reafons are thefe: i. The 
 (piXcaiQ^u77ov — moral tendency — poetical juftice, &c. was the very 
 charadleriflic of the double fable, {^mXyi a-v^ocG-ti;) and the i;«j 
 reafon, probably, why the Platonic critics, as well as the good- 
 natured audiences, preferred it as \h^hcjl plan\ 2. The inftances 
 here given fecm to accord exaftly with this idea. They are 
 plainly examples of the 6m\'/i Vug-afrif, not of thcfmple fiible — i. e. 
 ihe fable luithout reijolutmi or dfcovery. The expreffion, r^aytKov 
 
 ' a Tfa'/woK, AriAQES yaf, cap. xiv. " tiot Tragic^ becaufe it exhibits no difajirout 
 « event." Tranrt. Part II. Seil. 14. 
 
 '' See cap. xiii. utralv. Sec. Tranfl. Part II. Soft. 11. 
 
 • See cap. xiii. Tranfl. Part II. Seil. 12. lajl pdfag.
 
 N Q T E S. 407 
 
 ya^ TUTo Kxt <piXxvS.oco7rov, implies, that the Tragic and Mor-al were 
 aimed at, and effedled, by thefe Poets, both in the 7r£^<7reraa(, and in 
 ]the other actions mentioned, whatever they were — \v tok; Trspnr. >txt 
 
 ev Toig '-Tf^ayf^aa-i : and, confcquently, his fubfequent examples 
 
 of the T^xyiKov Kcii (piXavS^uTTov mufl equally accord with both. But, 
 if we read drrXoig, this will not be the cafe; for thofe examples 
 are fuch as necellarlly imply revolutions, and afudden and imexpecfed 
 turn of events, which fuit very well with AinAOIS -n-^xyizcicn, but 
 are incompatible with uTrXon;; the Jimp k .^ahlc being defined by this 
 very circumdance, that it is aVeu 'n-s^iTnTetag, &cc. (cap. x.) 
 
 NOTE 156. 
 P. 102. Such events, as Agatho says, &c. 
 This alludes to thefe two lines of Agatho : 
 
 T«% KV rig Eijc©^ ocuTo TUT aivxi Xeyoi, 
 BpoTOitri TToXXx T\iy)(pt.ve,v az eiKOTu. 
 
 Even this, it may be faid, is probable. 
 That many things improbable Ihould happen. 
 In human life. 
 
 See Rhet. 11. 24, p. 581, cd. Duval. — And Bayle's Art. Aga- 
 THON, note [f], who mentions a fimilar maxim of St. Bernard's : 
 ** Ordinatiflimum eft, minus interdum ordinate fieri." " II eft 
 ** tout a fait de I'ordre, que de terns en terns il fe fafi!e quelque 
 " chofe contre I'ordre." 
 
 This general, and, if I may call it fo, pojjible fort of probability, 
 ' may be termed, the probability of romance ; and thefe lines of Agatho 
 furnifti a good apologetical motto for the novel writer. It might 
 be prefixed, perhaps, without impropriety, even to the beft pro- 
 ductions of the kind — to a Clarissa, or a Cecilia. Nothing is 
 fo commonly complained of in fuch works, as their itn probability j 
 
 and
 
 4oS ?!• 6 T E S: 
 
 and often, no doubt, the complaint is well founded : often, how- 
 ever, the criticifm means nothing more, than that the events are 
 uncommon, and proves nothing more, than tlie-want of fancy, and 
 an extended view of human life, in the reader. If the events 
 were not uncommon, where would the book find readers ? 
 
 " Si la nature ne combinoit jamais des evenemens d'une ma- 
 ** niere extraordinaire, tout ce que le Poete imagineroit au-dela de 
 " la fimple et froide uniformite des ehofes commimes, "ferQit ih- 
 " croyable. Mais il n'en eft pas ainfi. Qufe 'fait dond le Poete ? 
 " — Ou il s'empare de ces combinaifohsexti-aordinaires, ou it en 
 " imagine de femblables. Mais au lieu que la liaifon des evene- 
 " mens nous echappe fouvent dans la nature, et que, faute de con- 
 *' noitre I'enfemble des chofe§, nqus ne voyons qu'une concomi- 
 *' tance fatale dans> les faits ; le Poet veut lui qu'il regne dans toute 
 *' la texture 'de fon cuvrage un8 liaifon apparente et fenffble ; ea 
 " forte qu'il eft moins vrat, et plus vraifemblahle que Vhijhrien" — ■ 
 Diderot, De la Poef. Dram, at the end of his Pcre de Familky 
 p. 306. 
 
 NOTE 157. 
 P. 102. The Chorus shoulp be considered as one of 
 
 THE PERSONS IN THE DRAMA -— AND A SHARER IN THE 
 ACTION. 
 
 This is not, I think, contradicted, but only properly limited 
 and explained, by what the author fays elfewhere — that, to aB, is, 
 ix. oiy.etov %ofw* s;-i yxa %£)f©^ KHAEYTHIC AflPAKTOL' tuvoixv ' yap 
 f/,cvov 7rx^s;x,^Txi oig TToi^Bg-i % He is, tiiere, comparing the Chorus with 
 the perjons of the drama. In that view, the Chorus might be laid, 
 comparatively, to have no JJmre in the aBion. — But here, he is 
 comparing thofe Chorules whofe fongs are properly conneded 
 
 " Prob. 49, of Sen. 19. 
 
 with
 
 N 6 t E S. 409 
 
 with the ad:iori, and who arc interefted In its event, with fuch as 
 appear to have no concern with it, and to be, not merely inaftive, 
 Ijut indiffermtj fpeftators. In this view, it was as natural to fay — 
 the Chorus fhould be regarded as a perfon of the drama, and a 
 fiiarer in the acflion : a fliarer, that is, not by the aSlive part, but 
 by the warm intereft, which it takes, and exprefles, in that aftion. 
 However, the word aTr^xxr©- muil not be taken in its {lri(5le{l 
 fenfe. We find the Chorus, in the Greek Tragedies, frequently 
 contributing, in fome little degree, to the progrefs of the acftion, 
 by aSlive offices of friendly attention and affiilance ; as, for exam- 
 ple, in the PhiloSletes^ and the ^jax of Sophocles. 
 
 NOTE 158. 
 
 P. 103. Their Choral Songs, &c. 
 
 There cannot, furely, be the leaft doubt, that, for AIAOMENA, 
 we fhould read, AiAOMENA: an emendation • fo obvious, that it 
 occurred to me the firft time I ever read the pafTage. But I 
 afterwards found, that it had occurred, long ago, to Madius ; a 
 circumftance, which, to my great aftonifliment, has been pafTed 
 over in utter filence by all the fubfequent commentators that 
 I have feen. The words of Madius are — " Mendum igitur in 
 " verbis omnino efTe cenfeo ; ac primum in voce ^iSof^evx, qiics in 
 ** locum vocis alo^tva. irrepjit: nam verbum oauv, quod paulo poil 
 ** ponitur, aperte i?idicat, locum, ut nos fecimiis, cajiigandum." — 
 I can attribute it only to fome inadvertence, or miftake, that Mr. 
 Winftanley, in his note, p. 294, has omitted to take notice of this 
 mod material part of Madius's comment on the paflage. The 
 emendation is confirmed by the nha-t, and asTai/, which follow ; by 
 the extreme facility of the miflake, and by the difficulty of giving 
 any reafonable explanation of the other reading. AiSo[^bvx, fays 
 Viftorius, " quia magiftratus eos (fc. choros) dabat." But he 
 
 3 G agrees
 
 4IO 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 agrees that /meai? is underftood ; and though we read, often, of the 
 magiftrate's giving a Chorus, (Jwcci x°^°^y) *^^^^t is, furnlfhing the 
 expence of the choral dreffes, &c. we no where read, I believe, 
 of their giving the Choral Odes. 
 
 NOTE 159. 
 P. 103. But it is evident, that, with respect to 
 
 THE THINGS THEMSELVES ALSO, 6cc. 
 
 K«< \v Toig TTpxyi^ua-tv. The alteration of Heinfius, ^^(H[A.c(,(riVy 
 appears to me, not only to be unneceflary, but to pervert Ariflotle's 
 meaning. To. Tr^ccyi^cx.rcc, here, are, I think, the things themfclves — 
 the circumftances and incidents of the aftion or fable, as oppofed 
 to !\iu.voM, the fentiments, or thoughts, and to hdo. uVo r» AOrOT 
 «. T. aX. He had referred to the rhetorical treatifes for what 
 concerns the Imvoicc; he goes on, (after a fliort explanation of 
 ^Mvoio. and its various branches,) — " But it is plain, that, not only 
 " for the hccvcM, or fentiments, but alfo for the things themfelvest 
 " (KAI \v rotg Tr^ayfx.xiTw,) how they are to be made terrible, piteous, 
 " &c. the Poet fliould draw from the fame fources, and may be 
 " referred to the fame treatifes." — Thus, for example, in the 
 fecond book of Arifhotle's Rhetoric, he may learn what fort of 
 things, perfons, and events, are proper to raife terror, or pity *, the 
 peculiar objefts of Tragic imitation. After which obfervation, he 
 goes on, very naturally and properly, to remark, as Dacier has 
 well obferved, " la difference entre les chofes que traitent les Ora- 
 " teurs, et celles que traitent les Poetes." — For the reft, my idea 
 of this paflage accords with that of Dacier, (note 3); but he does 
 not appear to have feen the force of the expreffion, KAI \v roig Tr^xy. 
 Indeed, he entirely drops the conjundlion, which is here of great 
 
 * See particularly cap. V. and vili. cd. Duval. 
 
 importance;
 
 NOTES. 411 
 
 importance; for it feems to fix the fenfe of Tr^os.yiJ.eiTiv, and to point 
 its oppolition to Siccvoia. : — Ta jw-ev ^v ttb^i ttjv AIANOIAN bv toi; ^?jr. 
 KHffQu' — — — IriKov h, OTi KAI ev Toig nPAPMAIIN «Vo tuv 
 oaiTuv iiouv OH %p)jcr9a<— — . 
 
 In Goulfton's verfion, which follows Caftelvetro, this oppofitlon 
 is rightly exprefTed ; but in what follows, Ariftotle's meaning is, 
 I think, miftaken : for the difference he is fhewing, (ttXiji/ too-htov 
 SiKipeaei, &c.) is not, I apprehend, the difference between the things 
 and the fentiments, in Tragedy, but, between the things them/elves 
 only, conlidered in different views, as the fubjedt of the Orator, or 
 of the Poet. — Thefe commentators underfland the expreffions, eV 
 Tw Xoyuf and, T» KeyovT'^, of the dramatic fpeech, and fpeaker. 
 
 NOTE i6o. 
 P. 103. Must draw from the same sources — . 
 
 — Atto tuv avTuv hduv Ja %flij(r5«;. — The exprefTion, xcyjcrOcn AHO, 
 is, I believe, uncommon. It feems rightly explained by Vidorius 
 *' —to iporrowjf'om:"-—" quaji iitendum iUinc fumcre at que tnutuari" 
 
 NOTE 161, 
 P. 103. Without being shewn to be such. — 
 
 — Avixj Si^aa-KKXiag. " Senza che fi dica e che s'injegni die fian 
 ** tali." — Piccolomini : — I believe, very exadlly. The reader may 
 compare Rhet. I. 2. p. 514, B. — and III. i. p. 584, B. and, 
 [SiSoca-KOiXiKyi,) 1. 2. p. 515, A. 
 
 The truth of what the philofopher here obferves, may appear 
 from this fingle confideration. Suppole two Tragedies written by 
 two Poets on the fime fubjed, and of which the plot and princi- 
 
 3 G 2 pal
 
 412 NOTES. 
 
 pal Incidents are the fame^: and iuppofe two pleadings of the 
 fame caiife, by two fpeakers. It feems very plain, that the dif- 
 ference of the effed; upon an audience in the former cafe, would 
 bear much lefs proportion to the difference between the Paets^ than 
 if would, in the other cafe, to the difference between the Speakers. 
 
 NOTE 162. 
 
 P. 104. If THEr ALREADY APPEAR SO IN THEMSELVES. 
 
 — E< (pouvoiTo "4^scc. — That yi^sx, is wrong, I have no doubt. For 
 if we admit it, we mufl take it, as Vidlorius does, for a fmgle 
 injiance; as if Ariflotle had faid, " aiit jucundce, aut trifles, aut 
 
 ' atroces, &c. — : quamvis enim nunc unum horum ponat, i. e. 
 
 ' jucunda, reliqua tamen audienda funt." — But how improbable it 
 is, that he fhould not chufe his fingle inftance, if he meant to give 
 one, out of thofe which had juft been mentioned? — that he fhould 
 not rather have faid, \i (pxivoiro Ixeava,, or ^en/x, than riSsx, jucunda j 
 which, befides, is evidently not at all to his purpofe. I cannot, 
 therefore, help thinking it fomething more than probable, that 
 Ariftctle wrote this, (pcavoiTo HAH [Jc. tommtcx, — that is, eXfiava, (Java, 
 &c.) — " If they appear already fo ; — in themfehes." The elliptic 
 brevity of the exprefTion will hardly be objedled to, in a writer 
 who abounds with inftances much more harfh and obfcure than 
 this. In the fame manner, rotxvTo, is underflood with <paiV£o-5«« 
 juft before :— ra jtisv ^£< <pxivi<r^oci (fc. romuTcx!) uvsu moa.(r:taXtix,g. 
 
 The fame conjefture had, I find, occurred, long ago, to Caflcl- 
 vetro, but, which I think fomewhat fingular, has not been taken 
 
 ' For example, the Merope of Voltaire, and that of Aaron Hill. As pccrns^ there 
 can be no comparifon between thefe two produf^ions. But I doubt whether, in 
 both, the (zmz fable has not always produced much the fame efFedt upon the audience. 
 This fliews the truth and propriety of the rank which Ariftotle aiEgns to the fable^ 
 as the "ySw/ of Tragedy." 
 
 notice
 
 NOTES. 
 
 413 
 
 notice of by any of the commentators I have feen. He fays — " h 
 ** (pMvoiTo vjha : colore, li quali non riconofcono che qui lia errore, 
 ** afTegnino a quefle parole, fe poflbno, fenfo degno e cenveniento. 
 *' ad Ariflotele. Adunque io crederei che non fofle male a leg- 
 ** gere iJJ>;, in luogo d' y]ha, e'l fenfo farebbe convenevole." [p. 406.] 
 The reader may fee a veiy different explanation of this whole 
 pafTage in the Abbe Batteux's notes ; but an explanation which 
 cannot, in my opinion, be reconciled to the text. His cenfure of 
 Dacier and others, that they have rendered this chapter " a con" 
 *' trefens," feems to me to recoil upon himfelf. 
 
 NOTE 163. 
 P. 104. Figures of speech — — . 
 
 — Tas <rxvf^oirec t)j? Xe'^eui; — . Dacier, Batteux, and indeed almoft 
 all the commentators, feem to take o-^^^jMara, here, for the gej^ures, 
 modifications of countenance, and tones of voice, that accompany 
 fpeech*. But, Jirjly I much doubt whether the Greek will fairly 
 admit of fuch a fenf^. Ariftotle fays, (rxvf^«-rcc AEHEIIS, .figures, 
 or forms, 0/' the fpeech itjelf', not of thefpeaker. . The fame.expref- 
 fion occurs feveral times in the Rhetoric, and always means the 
 form of the diiSion itfelf ; never the gefture with which it is deli- 
 vered \ — 2. Ariftotle explains himfelf by — om, TI ivToXij koh TI 
 t\)X»i) &c. i. e. what they are, not, what a£lion or tone of voice they 
 require''; '* avec quel ton et quel gefte on ordonne," as M. Batteux 
 
 * " Sxi^aTa vocat habitus quofdam, conformationefque oris, frantis, oculoriim, 
 vultus, gejiiculat'ionis rnanuum" Sec. Rcbortelli, p. 227. 
 
 * Rhet. II. 24, p. 579. III. 8, p. 591, B. and 10, p. 594, B. — And De Soph. 
 Elench. p. 284, D, 
 
 * Had this been his meaning, he would rather have faid ti ENTOAHS— n ETXHS," 
 &c. 
 
 8 unwarrantably
 
 4'i4 NOTES, 
 
 unwarrantably tranflates it.— 3. Ariftotle fays, that no blame, or 
 none worth regarding, {xPwv o-TraJV?,) can fall upon t/je Poetry, («? 
 T9J1/ TToiTiTtKyjv,) in confcquencc of the Poet's ignorance of thefe 
 matters, or of his not knowing them technically. A remark, 
 furely, very unneceflary, if mere aftion and pronunciation were 
 intended by a-xv^ccrx. — But, 4. The thing feems evident from the 
 inflance given of a criticifm of this kind. Protagoras plainly 
 charged Homer with ignorance, or inaccuracy, with refpe(fl to 
 thefe crx'^i^oiTK Xe'^eu^, whatever they were. Now, according to the 
 common explanation, the criticifm could fall only on Homer's 
 prominciation or aBion : but, of this, Protagoras knew nothing ; 
 all he appears to have meant, is, that Homer had made an im- 
 proper ufe of the imperative mood ; that is, had ufed one a'x'^i^x 
 Xe^eui;, where he JJjouId hzve ufed another. 
 
 But w/jat, then, are we to underftand by thefe a-x^f^oirx XePsu; ? 
 — The learned reader will immediately fee, that, as Vidlorius has 
 obferved, they are not to be confounded with thofe cr^vf^nTK Xe'fsug, 
 of which we hear fo much from Cicero, Quintilian, Dion. Hal. 
 &c. — thofe " figurae verboriim" which are oppofed to the (tx^iiji-octx 
 Stocvoixg, the " figuras mentis, fentejitiarum," &c. Indeed, no fuch 
 divilion of ctx-^i^xtx is, I believe, to be found in Ariftotle. It 
 feems to have been the invention of the later Rhetoricians ; and 
 how little they were agreed, as to the number and the fpecies of 
 thefe crxyii^xra, the propriety of the divifion itfelf, and even the 
 precife fenfc of the word (rx'ii^xy may be feen in Quintilian IX. i. — 
 The (Tx;^fA.a.rx Xe^su^ of Ariftotle, in this place, are plainly fuch, as 
 would have been denominated by later writers, trxvi^xTx hxvotxi — 
 figures of the thought or fenfe. Indeed we find them adually enu- 
 merated among the figures of that clafs. See Dionyf. Halicam. 
 de Strubi. Sec. tictl. 8. — So Quintilian ; " Figuras quoque mentis, 
 " qua; axrf^xTx ^icivctag dicuntur, res eadem recipit omncs, in quas 
 ■" nonnulli divifcrunt fpecies didlorum, (i. e. oi jokes ^ bons mots. J 
 
 7 " Nam
 
 NOTES. 
 
 4^5 
 
 " Nam et inferrogamus, et dubitamus, et affirmamus, et m'mamur, 
 *' et optamus" y 
 
 I fee, therefore, not the leaft reafon, why the expreffion (r;/t;,«,a; 
 "Kil^iiaq fliould not be rendered here, exaftly as in the other paffages 
 above referred to, " ^gtira orationis" — form, or configuration, of 
 " fpeech. For Aer/j, it muft be obferved, is here ufed, not in the 
 particular fenfe of diolion, ox Jlyle and tnanner of expreffion, (as 
 it is ufed RBet. III. 8.) but in the general fenfe of \oy'^, fpeech, 
 as we find it ufed in the beginning of the next chapter. 
 
 But though I cannot admit, that cr^rif/.ciTix. means " confip-ura- 
 *' tiones oris," &c. or, Ihould be fo rendered, yet I certainly admit, 
 that Ariftotle appears plainly to confider thefe different forms of 
 fpeech, or fentences, with a view to adlion, or delivery ; and, pof- 
 fibly, the obfervation of Victorias may be well founded, that — 
 " vocatEB has fgiirtx ita videntur, quia aliter atque aliter vultus, 
 ** totumque corpus, cum lariantiir ill(t, conformantur ; ut merito 
 ** hac de caula, (ryr,jA.ara, figurae, ipfs appellatos fmt." — I find the 
 fame thing in the following paffage of Arijlides SlntntiUanus, which 
 feems evidently to allude to this very part of Ariftotle's treatife, 
 and may be thought to afford fome illuftration. — Ileo; li rr,;; ruv 
 EXHMATXIN (pva-euq, oig Troocrxyciv yp'^ ra voti^xto., i iroWa. Xeyav Satv 
 r,y^^xi. 'IKANH TAP 'H 'TnOKPIIIE TAYTA AHAnZAI. K«; yx^ 
 TUTcov e^ioi^ov \i. e. each of thefe o-^yifyLXTo. ^ixvom;, or vo'-^fzxTuv,'\ vj 
 CM^sXKei TTug, u<; cct -TTxputTriirsiq, 7} KViiij(riv, uq at cuy)(upri(retg, ttiv otxvotxv' 
 xat i]TOi f^iKaoTTpsTrag, cog at dtopQua-ag, vj {jbiyxketag, ug at yvufA.oXoyiai kxi 
 d(py;yYi<reig, xiripyxCpvTxt. oiv VA.xg-d ti^v ivipyaxv EK TriN TTITUN 
 APIIT' an AIArNOIHMEN, 'ON [leg.' forte 'OYS] 'EKASTON, 
 KATA TON THE YnOKPIZEnZ KAIPON, TOI£ SXIMAZIN EN- 
 TIGHII- nAP' 'O KAI SXHMASIN AYTOIS SYNEBH KAH0HNAI'. 
 
 I rather fufped:, we fbould read nPOAFEIN, in the beginning of ■ 
 this paffage ; in the fenfe of ly.(pe^av, 7r^o<pi^av, &c. Meibomius 
 
 ' De Injllt. Or. VI. 3, p. 316. ed. Glhf. 
 
 * Ariftid. Quimil. '-'■ De Mufica," ^^86,. ed. Meiliomii. 
 
 renders
 
 416 NOTES.. 
 
 renders trxv^^ixTuv, " ge/luwj2," which cannot be the meaning ; for 
 by the tutuv sxag-ov, and the exemphfication which follows, (ttix^xi- 
 TTitrsig, <Tvyxi^^Wii?y &c.), and, indeed, by all the reft of the paflage, 
 it is clear, that he fpeaks of the configurations of the fpecch or 
 fentence, of which he goes on to defcribe the different a^tGtSjJirJi 
 on the ;;«W, and, ultimately, on. the aSiion, of the fpeaker. The 
 verfion fhould, therefore, have been thus : — " Tic Jigiir arum natura 
 " quibus animi notiones proferend^e," &c. Or, if ■n^arot.ye.v be 
 right, the meaning, I think, muft be — *' to which thofe vovjy.a.rct 
 *' are to be referred-— tinder which they are to be clajjed." See the 
 paffage above, from Quintilian, and that of Dion. Hal. Sed:. 8. 
 which is much to the purpofe. 
 
 Why Ariftotle fliould difmifs this fubjed, as of much more 
 concern, to the Ad;or, than to the Poet, requires no explanation. 
 There could fcarce, indeed, be any other occafion for the ftudy of 
 thefe crx>i<^^Toc, but in order to learn, or to teach, in what manner, 
 with what variations of tone, countenance, and gefture, propriety 
 required them to be pronounced. — At the fame time, it will not 
 appear ftrange that he fliould mention them, if we recollect, that 
 the Poets themfelves were, at firft, adtors alfo, in their own pieces, 
 and, afterwards, no doubt, inftrufted their adtors ; and hence per- 
 haps, after all — not, as is commonly underftood, from the moral 
 teaching of the drama itfelf * — the well known phrafes, SiSxa-Keiv 
 Tpctyu^Mv, docerefabulam, &c. may, moft naturally, be accounted for. 
 Nor was this practice peculiar to antient times. We know 
 with what eagernefs and anitnation Voltaire taught his 'Tragedies, 
 almoft to his lateft hour. During his laft vifit to Paris, where he 
 died, " II n'y vit rien, ne fongea a y rien voir j il n'y vecut que 
 " pour des Comediens, qu'il fatiguoit, en "voulant Icur dcnner des 
 **• lemons -de declamation'," 
 
 NOTE 
 
 • See Cafaub. in Allien, p. 413. and De Satyr. Poef. p. 113. 
 
 •• Tableau de Paris, tomt viii. p, 20.— Since this note was written, I have had the 
 
 fatisfadioa
 
 NOTES. 417 
 
 N. O T E 164, 
 
 P. 104. The professed masters of that kind — . 
 
 -—Ta Tvjv TOMVTviv £%WT©- 'APXITEKTONIKHN. — For this word, 
 fee Eth. Nicom. I. i, 2. — Thus, here, it feems to mean that tnajier 
 art, which teaches the principles of elocution, the art of public 
 /peaking, in general. 
 
 NOTE 165. 
 P. 104. The cavil of Protagoras- 
 
 See Hermes, I. 8, p. 144. 
 
 This, it feems, was his ufual flyle of criticifm j for, iMvaiccv cx,<paq, 
 TT^o; x'avo^a ^eXex^rj, as Diog. Laertius fays of him% He feems, 
 indeed, to have been the inventor of thefe a-xyif^aTcc Xi^Bug. At 
 leaft the fame writer fays, SinXs rov Xoyov nPflTOS h; Teo-o-aaa* 
 'ETXriAHN, 'EPnTHIIN, 'AnOKPIIIN, 'ENTOAHN" {oi h, hg eVro— 
 K. r. uX.) 4; Koci ■7rv8[^evxg Inn Xoyuv : — ** the Jhundatiofis of fpeech""." 
 
 There is fomething amufing in the hiftory of this man. He 
 was originally ^ /'cr/^r ; and might have continued fo, if his ex- 
 traordinary genius for tying up wood had not attratSled the notice 
 of Democritus, by whofe inftrudlions and encouragement, from 
 an eminent porter, he became as eminent a fophift. The reader 
 
 fatisfaiTHon to find the above explanation of the phrafe S"iJ':!cr«£iv T^ayj^Jijev, &:c. fup- 
 ported by Heyne: " Ai?airKaA©- eft poeta, qui fabulam committit, in theatrum pro- 
 " ducit ; quia earn a£lores docet." — In Epideti Enchir. cap. xvii. 
 
 » IX. 52. ed. Meib. 
 
 •" IX. 54.— See Hennesy as above, about the different fpecies of fentences; and . 
 
 3 H may
 
 4iS NOTES. 
 
 may fee the ftory in Aulus Gellius, V. 3. —The public was, cer- 
 tainly, not much obliged to Democritus. Protagoras was of 
 more ufe to mankind when he invented porter's knots'^, than when 
 he invented the (rxKi^i>^rx Xs^eiag, and undertook to teach, at the 
 price of a hundred mina'^t the art of Belial—— 
 
 ■ ' " to make the worfe 
 
 *' Appear the better reafon :"— — . 
 
 -—TOV VjTTOV "KoyOV KpSiTTOV TTOlllV ', 
 
 " If a cobler" fays Socrates in the Meno of Plato, " or a taylor^ 
 " fliould return the fhoes, or the clothes, he undertook to mend, in 
 " a worfe condition than that, in which he received them, he would 
 " foon lofe his bufmefs, and be ftarved for want of work. But it 
 ** is not fo with thtfophijis. Protagoras was able to carry on, 
 " for forty years together, without detection, and with great credit, 
 *' the trade of fpoiling all thofe who became his difciples, and 
 •' fending them back much worfe than he found them^" 
 
 NOTE 166. 
 
 P. 104. To ALL DICTION BELONG, &C.— — 
 
 See Diir. I. p. 37. — After having difcufled three of the confli- 
 tuent parts of Tragedy, the fable, the manners, and the fentiments, 
 Ariftotle now comes to the diBion (A£|<?), upon which he beflows 
 three chapters. His fubjedl plainly required him to fpeak of the 
 
 * — TTii; xaTJSfjLimi TTAKN, tip' «; ra ipcfTia ^arafscri, \v^tv, if f wiv A^irmtMi, Dt 
 Laert. IX. 53. 
 
 * Above ;^.300. — D. Laert. ibid, and Suidas. Ariftotle, however, gives 3 
 different account of the way in which he was paid, Ethi(, Nicom, IX. i. 
 
 « See Rhet. II. 24, p. 581, D. 
 
 ' Ed. Serr. torn, ii. p. 91. 
 
 ^ did ion
 
 NOTES. 
 
 419 
 
 di^Ion oi Tragedy^, not of poetic didlon in general; much Icfs, to 
 defcend to the grammatical elements of language in general. Yet, 
 of his three chapters on didlion, the firil is merely grammatical, 
 and fuch, as even in a rhetorical treatife would appear mifplaced ; 
 and even the two following chapters relate to poetic language in 
 general, without any thing applicable to the didion of Tragedy in 
 particular — -his proper fubjed: — except a fingle obfervation, or, 
 rather, hint, at the end of the third chapter "". 
 
 Dacier, who difcharged, with as much fidelity as any commen- 
 tator ever did, the duty of feeing nothing amifs in his author, has 
 zealoufly defended the propriety of this grammatical chapter: but 
 all he fays amounts, I think, to little more than this — that the 
 chapter fliould be there, becaufe it is there. No man is nice about 
 reafons, when the point to be proved has been determined before 
 be looks for them. 
 
 NOTE 167. 
 P. 104. Discourse or speech—. 
 
 AOrOI. — Mr. Harris, in the Hermes, p. 19, has rendered the 
 word, fentence. He took that part of the idea, that fuited his 
 fubjefl j but, that this is not the whole fenfe of the word, but only 
 a fenfc included in the word, is evident from what is faid below, in 
 the definition of Xoy<^, where the entire Iliad is comprehended 
 under that term. Had I here rendered Xoy<^ hy fentence, I muft, 
 to have been confiftent in my tranflation, have there called the 
 Iliad a fentence. 
 
 The word Koy^ here plainly anfvvers — not to fentence, exclu- 
 fively, nor yet, exclufively, to what Mr. Harris calls " Oration or 
 
 • See the conclufion of cap. xxli. IlEfi fttv »v TfayjiSj^*;, w. t. «?w 
 
 * See NOTB 209. 
 
 3 H 2 «* Difcourfe,"
 
 420 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ** Difcourfe^," as compofed o^ feveral fentences -, but, it is a general 
 term, comprehending both thefe, and applicable, like the Latin 
 word oratio, or the Engli(h,j(^if^<r/', to cwtvy fignijicant combination 
 of words, whether confifling of a fingle fentence, or of many ; 
 as, indeed, appears from Ariflotle's definition itfelf. Nay, the 
 word appears not even to have been limited to a complete ajj'ertive 
 fentence ; for the philofopher, in the treatife tteo; 'E^^^jvE/a?, gives 
 the denomination of Xo-/©^ to thefe tivo words — x«Xof iVTr©-. He 
 fays, \v Tili AOrxl/, (in hac oratione,) y.xkog l-Tnr©^. It was what 
 he calls a merely JigJiificant Koy®^, as diftinguiflied from an ajfcrtive 
 XoyO^, or fropofition, fuch as, >caX©^ ESTIN \tt7:<^. 
 
 I was unable to find any Englifli word, that would exprefs 
 Xoy©o adequately, and clearly. And it fecms fomewhat remark- 
 able, that the Greek language, rich and copious as it is, fhould 
 not afford — at leafl; I am not aware tliat it does — any fingle word 
 perfeBly jynonymoiis to our v^oxdii fentence. Aoy®^, as I have obferved, 
 is too tviile ', it ferves equally to exprefs a fingle fentence, or a 
 whole Jpeec/j, or even /e/s than a fentence. It is applied by Ari- 
 ilotle to a combination of two words — a fubflantive and an ad- 
 jedive, without a verb — and, to the 7//W. rie^wS^ was only 
 one particular izW, ox form, of fentence \ KwXoj/ did not necef- 
 farily contain a complete y^w/t", or thought, which is efl*ential to 
 our WQxdi, fentence" . 
 
 * Hernu!, p. 324. 
 
 •> See Rhft. III. 9. p. 592, 
 
 ' Demet. de Eke. Se6l, 2. 
 
 NOTE
 
 « - 
 
 N O J E S. 421 
 
 NOTE 168. 
 P. 105. In different parts of the mouth -. 
 
 ToTToii. — Clearly right ; nor can I conceive, what fhould have 
 induced any critic to fufpedl this reading. — See Dionyjl Halicarn, 
 SeSi. 14. — his curious and accurate analyfis of articulation: and 
 Arijiides ^hitil. p, 89, ed. Meib. — where, in defcribing the form- 
 ation of the letters, thefe expreflions occur : — \y. ruv ire^i rsf? q^ovtx? 
 TOnfIN — and, Ik f^icns rts (pmyiTMn TOnOT. See, alfo, Hermes, III. 
 2, p. 322. — TONOIS, which had occurred to Mr. Winftanley*, 
 would be mere tautology j for that idea \s> fully exprefled afterwards^ 
 by cl\jTy\ri x,oii (3ctovrriri. Thus, R/jet. III. I . Toii TONOIS, 'OION 
 
 NOTE 169. 
 
 p. 105. As THEIR TONE IS ACUTE, GRAVE, OR INTER- 
 MEDIATE. 
 
 — OfuTojT;, p,u^vTtiTt, xai tu f/.e(ru. — All the commentators feem 
 agreed, that by ru [/,s<tu is meant the circiwijJex. Mr. Foftcr, in 
 his EJJ'ay on Accent, &c. exprefles fome degree of doubt about this^'j. 
 and, I confefs, it appears to me to be fomewhat more than doubt- 
 ful. Certainly, the only obvious and proper fenfe of the word mean,. 
 or middle, thus applied to the pitch of found, is, that which is 
 between oPv and /Sa^u; not, that which is compyujided o£ the two, as 
 the circumflex is always reprefented to be. At leaft the expreffion, 
 in this latter fenfe, would not be very accurate and philofophicaL 
 A circumflexed fyllable is defcribed to be, a fyllable that has botB 
 
 * Ed. Ox. 1780, p. 296. * P. 22, — See the >iot,\. 
 
 artsi 
 
 V
 
 422 NOTES. 
 
 an acute and a grave accent ; — uixtpore^xi raj ro(,<ni<;, as it is ex- 
 preiled by Dion. Halicarn. Se^. 1 1 . The voice firft rifes, and 
 then falls, on the Jhme fyllable. A man would be thought to 
 fpeak very Ilrangely, who -fliouid defcribe any objedt painted half 
 white and half black, by faying, that it was of a colour between 
 black and white. 
 
 But, farther, I obferve, that in other paflliges of Ariftotle's 
 •works, where he fpeaks of accents, the word iA.B<rcv no where occurs. 
 Indeed, he ufes neither this, nor any other word, to denote the 
 circumfySx accent. H-e mentions only o^v, and jSa^u, acute, and 
 grave. See De Soph. Elench. p. 284, C. — 288, E. — 304, A.— 
 306, A. ed. Duval. In the laft of thefe palTages efpecially, his 
 expreffion is remarkable : li Trccax Trpoa-uhxv o^bmv, 'H BAPEIA ttooo-u- 
 Six Xva-ig' It Se ttu^x f^^sixv, 'h OEEIA. That is — " If the fophifm 
 ■*' fuppofes the acute accent, the anfwer is — it is the grave accent', 
 *' and vice verja." Here are no traces of the triple divifion of 
 accents, given by later writers, into acute, grave, and circumflex. 
 Nay more ; he fpeaks in the fame way, even when the very ambi- 
 guity in queftion lies between an acute, and a circuniflex, accent ; 
 as, i, (non,) and 'i fubij. See the palTage, p. 304, A : where 
 the circumflexed 'a is exprefled by the word (Bxpvre^ov^. — This, 
 I confefs, much increafes my doubt with refpedl to the word f/,eara 
 in the paflage before us. For, had that been Ariftotle's term for 
 the circumjiex accent, as the common explanation fuppofes, we 
 probably fhould have found the expreffion in fome of the paffages 
 referred to ; at leaft, in that laft mentioned. 
 
 I cannot, furely, be mifunderftood, as meaning to infer, from 
 thefe paffages, that the flexure itfelf of the voice upon a Angle 
 fyllable, which was afterwards denominated by Grammarians, 
 'jvi^icr-nuy.iYt], was unknown to Ariftotle and the earlier writers. 
 Tlie thing, undoubtedly, has always exifted, and tnujl exift, more 
 
 ' A marginal note in Duval's ed. fays—*' Semper enim Arifloteles ^a^ucn vocat 
 
 or
 
 NOTES. 423 
 
 or lefs, in every language. But thefe paffages do, I think, afFord 
 a pretty ftrong prefumption, that the circumflex hjd tiien no ap- 
 propriated term% and, confequently, that, in this paiTiige, the 
 word fJLi(Tov has a different, and its tifual and proper, meaning ; that, 
 in which it is ufed coathiually by the writers on Harmonics'*. 
 
 But, farther, it appears to be fo ufed by Ariilotle himfelf, in a 
 fimilar pafTage of his Rhetoric. In the beginning of the third 
 book, fpeaking of oratorical action or delivery, {u7roy.^i(rig) as far as 
 it relates to the voice, he fays, Ig-i ^e uutt] [/.bv Iv rr cpuvv, ttu; ciuT-n ^« 
 ^pvjcrdoci TTDcg lyiugov ttoc^©^' otov, ttotb f/,ByuX;i, Kxi ttotb fn>Cdu, KXi -ttots 
 uscv' Kxi TTccg Toig TovDtg, otov, o^eix, Kxt f^xpetx, XXI ]VIE£H<. Now, 
 even fuppofmg this to relate to descents, it feems, that [ua-v, here, 
 Ihould naturally have the fatne meaning, with relpe£t to o^^ix, and 
 ^xpBioi, as it has when applied immediately before to fiByxXr and 
 H*(Kf«, where it plainly means the medium between loud and foft. — 
 But I think the paflage clearly does not relate to the mere fyllabic 
 accent: for he is there profefTedly fpeaking of the accommodation 
 of the voice to the exprefHon of different pajjions > he muft there- 
 fore mean fuch variation of tone or pitch, as depends upon the 
 fpeaker's choice ; not that of the accentual acutenefs and gravity ; 
 for this is always fpoken of as a fixed and invariable thing". Ari- 
 flotle therefore means, I believe, exadtly what Cicero has expreffed 
 in the following words ; and, from the fimilitude of the expref- 
 
 ' Mr. Fofter, who had undoubtedly examined this matter more thoroughly than. 
 I pretend to have done, does not, I think, produce any fuch clearly appropriated term,, 
 from Ariftotle, Plato, Ariftoxenus, or any other writer of that age. See ch. v. 
 p. 140, &c. of his very learned EJfay on Accent end ^lanthyy Sec. 
 
 * See the paflage from Euclid, belovy. Thus too Bacchius: T^OTrag rn; fmiroj 
 
 wo<785 >£-/oi/.t)i Eivai V TjEij' o|w,, MESON, ^afw. p. 10. ed. Me'ih. — meaning, by 
 
 //Etroi', the Phrygian mode or key, which was between the Dorian and the Lydian, as 
 D is between C and E. — So Arijh ^nntil. mrav, f^Tv J'c-'oi©-, Trpoi rx 0a^uT£^a -nij- 
 ^aiviij ivffy))ji«tT« xfwiiM.©-' 3s ^:/Jl©-, Trfoj rot o'luTffa' Se Pfuyi©", crjo; ra MEZA. p. 25. 
 
 • See Mr, Fofter's Effay, p. 23, 24, 25, 
 
 fion.
 
 424 N O T E S. 
 
 Tion, It feems probable, that he had this very paflage of Arlflotle 
 before him,, or in his memory. — " Nam voces, ut chordae, funt 
 *' intentce, quae ad quemque tadum refpondeant, acuta, gravis ; 
 *' cita, tarda; magna, parva^ quas tamen inter omnes eft fua quo- 
 *' que in genere fneJiocn's." — That is, as it feems rightly explained 
 by Dr. Pearce, every one of thefe differences of voice, high and 
 low, loud and foft, &c. has its medium — [A.s<rov\ To this paffage 
 of Cicero, I fliall add one from Quintilian to the fame purpofe, and 
 which aifords a ftill clearer commentary upon that in the Rhetoric 
 of Ariflotle. — " Vtendi voce multiplex ratio. Nam prater illam 
 " differcntiam qiice ejl tripartita, acuta, gravis, jiexa, — turn intentis, 
 *' turn remiiTis — tum elatis, tum inferioribus modis, opus eil,^ 
 " fpatiis quoque lentioribus aut citatioribus. Sed iis iplis media 
 ■*' interjacent multa^." If the reader compares this with the 
 paifage of AriHiotle, he will fee how exa(5tly it anfi^'ers to the 
 Greek. Here are three differences of voice correfponding plainly 
 to the three mentioned by Ariflotle. The difference oi intentis and 
 remijjis (loud zx\.d.foft) exprefles his [^eyaXri xai {^ix^n; that of, elatis y 
 et inferioribus modis, (acuter, or graver, tones or pitches,) his o^uc/. 
 xxi (2ai^sioi. ; and ths-t o[ Jpatiis lentioribus, &c. (quicker or flower 
 times] his gv9i/,oi; ri<ri, 6cc. And, that Quintilian did not understand, 
 by o|£.« and f^apsix, the acute and gx-x\t Jyllabic accetit, is clear from 
 his exprefsly faying, that there are thofe three differences befides that 
 of the different accents — ^'prater illam differentiam," &c. — 
 Lajlly, the " media interjacent multa," plainly alludes to the 
 yA(T-A of Ariftotle. 
 
 The following paff ige, from the clear and accurate mufical treatife 
 of Euclid, will ferve to illuftrate, at the fame time, both the terms 
 of Ariftotle, rovoig^ and jmso-'/i. Enumerating the different accep- 
 
 ' Cic. dc Or. III. 57. p. 4:7, (d. Pearce, 
 
 8 II. 3. 
 
 ■'' Whenever Ariftotle clearly fpeaks o( accents, he always, as far as I have obfcrved, 
 «fed the word 7r^o<r:'ioiai, not tovoi. See the paOages above referred to, in the treatife 
 JDc SfJ)/}. Blench. . Ani, in this work, cap. xxv. 
 
 tations
 
 NOTES. 
 
 425 
 
 tations of the word rov©^, one of which is Ta.(ng, tenfwn or pitch, 
 his inflance of that fenfe of the word, is, J'e, ug rota-ig, tov®- Xe~ 
 yerxi, aa-ff o (pu/^ev o^uroveiv nvcc, ■^ fictauTovsiv, ^ MEZX1< Til* THS 
 OXINHS TONIlf Ksx^w^oi-^ '• i- ^- a middling pitch of voice\ 
 
 On the whole, then, I fee no reafon why we fhould not under- 
 ftand the word (aso-ui to be ufed in the fame fenfe in the paffage 
 which is the fubjedt of this note. For though, indeed, Arillotle 
 is there fpeaking o^ Jingle letters, and therefore can only mean fyl~ 
 tabic accents or tones, yet it is plain, that thefe accents muft have 
 admitted of the diftindlion of high, loiv, and inteiinediate, even in 
 Jingle words, when of more than two fyllables''; much more, in 
 •wholtjentences or periods, where what Mr. Fofter calls the oratorial 
 accent, (ij, indeed, it be compatible v/ith ^. Jxed iyllabic accentu- 
 ation of fmgle words, of which I profefs mylelf not yet convinced,) 
 mufl: neceflarily have varied the tone or pitch of xh^Jame nominal 
 Iyllabic accent, from word to word. 
 
 But whatever fenfe of the word jweo-w we adopt, there is a diffi- 
 culty, in this paflage, which I murt leave as I find it. The men- 
 tion of tone or pitch of voice here, feems to me to be flrano-ely 
 mifplaced. Accent, or tone, belongs X.Q Jyllables, not to letters, of 
 which Ariftotle is here fpeaking. The vowels, indeed, may be 
 acute or grave ; but as fyllables making a part of words, not as 
 letters, Jcparately confidered, as they here are. — Belides ; the other 
 differences mentioned are fixed, eJJ'ential difi^erences. Of thefe ' 
 letters, he (xySfJome are formed in this manner, and others, in that: 
 fome are afplrated, and others fmogth — fome long, others fliort. 
 But, can it be faid, with any propriety^ thaty3;;/t' are acute, and 
 
 * P. 20, ed. Meib. 
 
 ^ Let any man pronounce a word of many fylL.bles — p.tya^o'n-^tTtka.Ta, f ■ r exan-.ple 
 —having one acute fyllablc, as D. Halk. fays, amon^ many grave — b .myho-.i 0a^,ciai;. 
 Sen. II. He will hear plainly, if he has any ear, tiiat the acute fylhible is only the 
 aftttij}; and that i'ac grave fyllables are of difFerent degrees of elevation, and lome of 
 them of courfe, ^to-«i— intermediate, between the mofl acute and the moji grave. 
 
 3 I others
 
 426 NOTES. 
 
 others grave ? Are there vowels that are always acute, as there are 
 vowels that are always long f — This feems not more accurate, than 
 ft would be to conclude an enumeration of the diiFerences of words, 
 by adding that fome 3.ve faid, and fome ?irt Jung: — or rather, it 
 icems juf!: the fame, as if a man, defcribing the different forts of 
 bricks that are made, fliould conclude with telling us, that fome 
 are put at the top of a wall, fome at bottom, and fome in the 
 middle. 
 
 NOTE 170. 
 
 105. A CONJUNCTION IS A SOUND, 6CC. 
 
 The whole of thisjirji definition of the conjundlion appears to 
 me to be corrupt beyond all hope of reftoration from conjedlure. 
 Mr. Harris plainly pafTes it over as inexplicable, and takes the 
 fecond definition only". I may well, therefore, be excufed for not 
 attempting to tranflate, what I confefs myfelf totally unable to 
 comprehend. J do, indeed, understand very well, that a conjunc- 
 tion, " neither binders nor conjlkiites — neither gives nor takes away 
 " — the meaning of the fentence in which it ftands." But how 
 this can be regarded as a definition of a conjunftion, I do not un- 
 derftand. To define a thing only by what it does ?iot do, (for it is 
 here given as a feparate and complete definition,) is hardly recon- 
 cileable with Ariflotle's logical accuracy ^ Dacier, in his tranfla- 
 tion, has obviated this objcdlion, by uniting the two definitions -, 
 but without any authority from the text. 
 
 I muft, again, confefs, that what follows, about the fituation of 
 the conjundtion in different parts of a fentence, has not been 
 
 * Hermes, II. 2. note {a), 
 
 ^ Sec Topic, lib. vi. cap. 6. Seii. 5. — where he rcprcft-nts a definition as vitious, 
 iotv amfccffu fiaifji to ycv@- — x. e. if the fpecific difFerence be exprefled by a negation. 
 He excepts the definition of mere privatiam, (as hliiidnefs,) which can be defined no 
 otherwife. SeCt, 7. 
 
 I made
 
 NOTES. 427 
 
 made intelligible to me, by any explication I have feen ; particu- 
 cularly, the expreffion, kk^' aurw, which M. Batteux, after Cartel-, 
 vetro, renders, ** by its fiature :" — " a moins que par elle-mme 
 ** elk ne foit faite pour etre au commencement." Bat this fenfe 
 cannot be admitted j nor, I think, any other, than — *' by itfelf—- 
 " alo?ie." This Mr. Winflanley explains by avi\j avrccTro^orreu?: but 
 I cannot fee how his tranilation — " modo eas conjundliones exci- 
 *' pias qu£e in initio periodi, Kxff uvrni, — rite ftare nan pofTunt," 
 &c. — accords with Ariftotle's words — jji' [^,7; cc^[-wtt^ ev a^xv ^°y^ 
 Ti$evo!,i ycaff axiTov — i. e. " unlefs they are fuch as Jloould be placed in 
 ** the beginning, by themfelves." — To make thefe words corre- 
 ipond to Mr. Winflanley's verfion, another negative feems wanting. 
 
 NOTE 171. 
 P. 105. An article marks the beginning or. 
 
 THE END OF A SENTENCE. 
 
 The commentators all tell us, that this means \\\q. prepofitivet 
 and ihc fuhjiincfjvc article; but none of them have clearly and 
 fairly fliewn us, hoiv the one, becaufe it is .placed before a ivordy 
 marks the beginning of z.fentence or difconrfe, (AOFOT ccpx^v ;) or, 
 how tb.e other marks the end of it, becaufe it follows the ivord 
 to which it belongs. In the very fentence before us, for example, 
 Ao9fiov 0: £-i (puvyj K(T'/;jjt,'^ 'H Koya ccp^KV 7} rgA©-, ri SiopKT^ov, ^yjXoi — in 
 what fenfe does the fubjund:ive article, -^, mark the e^wi of the fen- 
 tence — reX©- Xoya ? " L'article fubjondif," fays Dacier, " eft 
 ** celui qui marque la fin du difcvurs : ceji-a~dire, qu'il fuit la chofe 
 ** qu'il dejigne, comme, qui, Icquel." — It is eaiy to explain things in 
 this manner. 
 
 For my part, I fee not what is to be made of "this, unlefs we 
 may underfland Ariflotle to mean only that power of the article, 
 
 3 I 2 by
 
 428 NOTES. 
 
 by which, in the Greek language, it diftinguifhes the fubjedl from 
 the predicate, in certain prcpofitions, and determines the order of 
 conftrudlion. See Hermes, II. i. p. 230. — But, then, this is no 
 other than a fpecies of Sw^iirf^®^, and is, indeed, given by Mr. 
 Harris as one example of the definitive or afcertaining power of the 
 article. 
 
 Tht Jecond definition of the article, ( — (ptcvvi ao-ij^©- to 
 
 <ruvr;Se(r9oci) I have omitted. It is the firft definition of the con- 
 junction repeated "verbatim. It may, indeed, be true of both ; 
 but if fo, it muft inevitably follow, I think, either that the two 
 things muft be the fame, or, that the words are not truly a defini- 
 tion of either. Yet this paffes fmoothly with all the commenta- 
 tors I have feen, except Madius and Piccolomini. 
 
 NOTE 172. 
 
 P. 105. For even in double words, &c. 
 
 Compare cap. ii. and iv. of Ariftotle's treatife He^t 'E^i^t^vBix;. 
 This is rendered by Piccolomini, with his ufual accuracy, " pe- 
 " roche nei nomi doppij [6 ver compofti] non ufiamo le parti d'effi, 
 " fecondo che, da per fe prefe, hanno fig^zijicatione : come, (per elfem- 
 " pio) in quefto nome Theodoro, quella parte fdoroj non e figni- 
 " iicante." p. 286. 
 
 NOTE 173. 
 
 P. 106. Indication of time is not included, &c. — 
 
 'Ou nPOISHMAINEI to ttote. See Hermes, I. 6, note (dj, p. 96. 
 Ariftotle has given a fuller definition of the verb, in the book 
 'iti^t 'E^/^. cap. iii. 
 
 o NOTE
 
 K O T E S. 429 
 
 NOTE 174. 
 P. 106. Others relate to action or pronuncia- 
 
 tion- 
 
 'H Se, zuTot Tx v-sroK^iTixx — ic. (rx;yj[j.xTci : meaning the a-xvf^o^Ti^ 
 Ae^ewj mentioned juft before, cap, xix. with which thele modes 
 plainly coincide ; for the tttuo-u; pt^fiocTuv here mentioned are no 
 other than the 'EytcXia-eig, ffiodes, or moods, of the Grammarians. — 
 [See Her?nes, I. 8, p. 144, and particularly the notes there.] Ka< 
 KUTX TTOiocg lyytXia-sig, a; ^y) TivBg nTXlSEI£ PH1VIATIKA2 kkX^kti. 
 Dion. Hal. de Striibl. &c. SeB. 6. — But he fpeaks of the term as 
 applied only to the modes; for the tenfes, ho(.(po^ix.i -xpovuv, are imme- 
 diately after mentioned by him, as not included in that term. 
 But Ariflotle, in the tte^; l^y^viv. exprefsly mentions the tenfes alfo, as 
 •n'TCixretg '^yifjiUTuv. See cap. iii. Se£}. 5. 
 
 NOTE 175. 
 
 P. 106. For all discourse is not composed of Verbs 
 AND Nouns : — the definition of man, for instance-—. 
 
 — Oil yocp uTTxg Xoy®-> ex, pt/jfytxTuv x.xt cvoi/,xtuv avynuTxi' otpv, ra 
 ccvQ^uTTti o^iCfA.'^' aXX' evSe^erxi xvw crif^xruv hvxi Xoyov. This is very 
 ambiguoufly expreffed. We are left to make out, as well as we 
 can, whether the " definition of man," is referred to as an inftance 
 of a fentence without a verb, or of a fentence with both noun and 
 verb. — The conjlruSlion feems, indeed, to lead more naturally to 
 the latter interpretation. But the other, I think, is more to Ari- 
 ftotle's purpofe, (for, an example of a fentence with both noun and 
 verb, it was hardly neceffary to produce,) and is confirmed by the 
 following pafTage in his book ttej* 'Y.w.yivuxq : 
 
 kvxyv.1^
 
 430 NOT E S^ 
 
 Avxyzy] ^e Truvrat. Xoyov MTToipavrDiov (every ajfertive fentence or 
 fpeech) \% cyj[/.xT!B^ livui, 7J ax, 7rru<TSCt)g c'ljjwaT©-' kui yap ra av^auTra 
 Xoy^ (i. e. j(5^;(r^w!^, defitiitiojt ; for fb Xoy©^ is continually ufed by 
 Ariftotle,) lav y.vi to, \giv, '^, eg-ai, ^ t; toustov HPOLTEGHi, uttci) Xoy<^ 
 a,7ro<pxvTr/.(^\ The definition itfelf, (the fame, probably, to which 
 he alludes in the pafTage before us,) follows ; it is, (^ojov tb^cv ^nrav^. 
 Now thefe three words alone conllitute the definition, and it is of 
 this only that Ariflotle here fpeal<:s. In the full, affertive fentence, 
 Af5fW7r©-£p t^mv TTs^ov^iTTnv, the two firfl words are no part of the defi- 
 nition itfelf, but, as Vid:orius has well obferved, only indicate the thing 
 defined. And accordingly, the philofopher, we fee, in the above 
 quotation, confiders the verb as fuperadded to the definition. 
 
 However, this fenfe would be fo much more clearly expreffed, 
 if the words — o.w, ns avSpcoTra oiifTfji'^ — followed, inflead of pre- 
 ceding, the words ■aXX* Ei'iJ'e%£rai ai'so pi^jj.ocruv hvxi Xoyov, that I 
 fhould hardly doubt of their being mifplaced, if this fort of em- 
 barraffinent were lefs frequent than it is in Arifliotle's writings. 
 
 This whole paffage receives much illufl:ration from that part of 
 the treatife 77^0; sW. to which I have referred, A fentence without 
 a verb is what Ariflotle calls a fignijicant fentence, but not an 
 ajfertive fentence, or propofition ; /". e. that affirms or denies fome- 
 thing, and of which it may be predicated, that it is true, or falfe". 
 Such only, in that logical work, it Was to his purpofe to confider j 
 the other, the in&VQly Jignijicafit fentence'', he difmifies, as belong- 
 ing'*ather to rhetoric and poetry. .'0( fd-iv iv ccXXot [Xoyoi], a.^ii(r~ 
 (!u(J\a.v' pYiTcptKTig yccp, ^ IIOIHTIKHI, cusiOTe^a, r, (Ty.eTl>.g. ^i KTro^oivrix^^ 
 Ttig vvv Ssiapiug". 
 
 ' P. 38, c. 
 
 * The fame definition occurs in otlier parts of his \TOrks ; vol, i. p. 167, B. — 
 237, D.— vol. ii. 920, gar. 
 
 ' See -Gap. iv. f&^. 4 and 5. p. 3S. 
 
 "* He inftances in precatory fcntcnces or fpeeches ; — wWj-« euxn, ^ey©• /mv, aw," St» , 
 «?.»/•)){, KTE -ij/EfOnj. Jhid, 
 
 * JbiJ, 
 
 NOTE
 
 ^ Q T E, S. 431 
 
 NOTE 176. 
 P. 106. Significant, as the word Cleon is, &£c. ■ ■ 
 
 It has. been obferved, tha+the fenfe feemed to require an inftance 
 of a fentenee with only one fignificant word; at leaft, not coin- 
 pofed of both verb and noun, as- (^a^i^er KKsuv is. But I rather 
 beheve, that Ariftotle did not intend this as an inftance of fuch a 
 fentenee, but merely as an explanation of the <rrii/,ccivei, and Tcoiff 
 uvTo. (Tvjf/.xtvBi rt, that precede. " It is not," fays he, " effential to 
 '* what I call Xoy^, oratio, that it fhould contain both a noun and 
 ** a verb, i. e. that it fliould be a complete propq/ition : hxxtfome 
 " fignificant part it jm/Ji have ; fignificant, I mean, as a whole 
 '* word, feparately taken, as Cleon is, for example, in the fentenee, 
 *' Cleon walks ; not as making a part of a word, like ^unov in the 
 " compound name 0£o<L^ooi/, which has, indeed, a meaning, but not 
 *' Kxff ccvro — icix.'^^^'^iA.svov — hy itjelf — as a word in the fentenee." 
 
 That this is the meaning, feems probable from the chapter in, 
 which Ao>©- is defined in the book tts^* Y.^^yivnccq. For there, as 
 
 foon as he has given the definition, {^Koy<^ Ss l^i (puvvi a-Yii/^ocvTiKyi • 
 
 ■tjg Tuv ^e^uv TI crri[A,ciVTi}iov \gi KEXX1PI2MENON,) he immediately 
 proceeds to explain the expreflions ; declaring what fort oi Jigni^ 
 jicant part he means. " Significant," he fays, " as the word m- 
 ** 6^u7r<^ is j that is, Kixu^io-iisvov, by itfelf ; not as, a.v^aun:'^ sp, or 
 " iy. Xgi, which Jignify as ajjertive fentences, nor yet, as a lyllable, 
 •• or part of a fimple word, (like uj in ^ug,) or, even as a word 
 *' making part of a compound word'." 
 
 Now, what Ariftotle there expreiles fully, he meant, I think,, 
 to fay, more briefly, in the words, MEPOS fA-ivroi uh TI (rr,i^xivoj 
 l^W oiov Iv rUf Bx^i^et KXeuv, KAewv. [fc. a-tifiottvu .~\ 
 
 See Hennes, I. 2, p. 21, note (d), 
 
 * Gap, iv. p. 38. 
 
 NOTE
 
 432 
 
 N O T R s: 
 
 NOTE 177. 
 
 ■ P. 107. A DISCOURSE MAY BE ONE, IN TWO SENSES, &C. 
 
 : Compare, tts^i E^jwiji/. cap. v. p. 38. — Analyt. Port. //A ii. cap. 
 ID. p. 169, E. — Metaphyf. VII. 4. p. 910, D. (where he ufes 
 Tu avvsx^f ^s equivalent to (T\jvh(r[A.u) and VIII. 6, p. 931, C. 
 
 NOTE 178. 
 P. 107. Like many of those used bv the Mega- 
 
 LIOT^ . 
 
 I have read, in feme ludicrous book, of a country that was 
 ** loji hy the ignorance of geographers " This Icems to have been 
 the cafe of thefe Megaliotce, if fuch a people ever exifted. They 
 are nowhere recorded. — Dacier reads, [^sya^i^oi'ruv — " ceiix qui 
 ** di/ent de grandes chafes : and cites Hejychiiis — M.iya.^il^ovTc; — inyaXot, 
 Xs-yovTsg. But this is too diftant from the prefent reading, Msycc- 
 Xiuruv. Mr, Winftan ley's conjedlure — fisyxXauv, ug", is fomewhat 
 nearer, and, in other refpedls, preferable : but it is, I think, a 
 ftrong prefumption againfi: its truth, that ArifVotle conftantly ufes 
 oiov, when he gives an inftance; never, as far as I recoiled:, ug. 
 
 I have fometimes thought it not very improbable, that the 
 pafTage might originally have flood thus : tuv [/.ifyxXA AiuKONrcov : 
 i. e. of thofc who a^'e^^, aim at, i&x^fondof, grandeur and pomp 
 of exprefiionj who love bard words, as we fay. Nothing more 
 common than this fenfe of Siuxen/. They who are verfed in emen- 
 datory criticifm, and the theory of tranfcriptive blunders, know it 
 to have been one fource of corruption in antient manufcripts, that 
 
 • Ed. Ox. 178c, p. 298. 
 
 the
 
 NOTES. 433 
 
 die tranfcribers, when they found vacuities and lacunce which they 
 could not fill up, rather than reduce the price of their copy by 
 vifible imperfedlion, often chofe to write the paflage as if there 
 had been no fuch chafms ; efpecially when that could be done, as 
 in this cafe, with fome palTable appearance of a meaning*". And 
 thus, here, if we fuppofe the letters I have diflinguifhed by capi- 
 tals to have been deftroyed, or rendered illegible, in the original 
 MS. uTTo voTiccq y.M (TTiTuv \ thcy would leave exaftly the letters we 
 now have — y,s'yxX**iu***Tuv. 
 
 If a commentator, harraffed by obfcurity and perplexity, can 
 now and then relieve his labour by treating a pafFage of defperate 
 corruption as a riddle, and can amufe himfelf by gueffing the mean- 
 ing, when he cannot inform his readers by difcovering it, who 
 will envy him this harmlefs privilege ? I have here hazarded my 
 guefs with others ; but I give it for what it is. None of us, I 
 believe, have yet deprived our fucceffors of the fame amufement. 
 The riddle, probably, ftill remains, and will remain, till the arrival 
 of thofe " codices expeBaiidi'' of which the critics talk fo much; 
 thofe precious manufcripts, that are always to be %vaited for, and 
 never to be expeSled. 
 
 NOTE 179. 
 
 P. 107. Bv COMMON WORDS, I MEAN &C. 
 
 Yiv^iov. — I have tranflated this, cominoti, not proper, becaufe this 
 laft term would convey a wrong idea ; for m^iov here is plainly 
 oppofed, not to f/,BTK:po^cx. only, but to all the other fpecies of words 
 juft enumerated : not to what is figuratrce only, as the Latin 
 proprhim is, but to whatever is umijual. This appears indeed from 
 
 '' See Le Clerc's Ars Cr'nka, P. III. S. I. C.XVI. farag. 7. 
 ' See the paffage from Strabo, given in the preface. 
 
 3 K the
 
 434 NOT E S. 
 
 the definition — ** a ijoord that every body ufes." What we call 
 proper words are only one fort of the y.u^i(x, ovo^aTx of Ariftotle. 
 The expreffion muft even include all thofe words, which, though 
 originally metaphorical, are, as Mr. Harris fays, *' fo naturalized" 
 by common ufe, " that ceafing to be metaphors, they are become, 
 " (as it were,) the proper words"." That is, as an excellent 
 writer has expreffed it, " they have nothing of the effeSi of me- 
 " taphor upon the hearer. On the contrary, like proper terms, 
 " they fuggefl diredlly to his mind, without the intervention of 
 " any image, the ideas which the fpeaker propofed to convey by 
 «' them\" 
 
 The fame clear oppofition of vjo^m to whatever is uncommon in 
 fpeech appears throughout the next chapter, where yXuTTx, f^Bra- 
 (po^cc, &c. are all faid to be IIAPA ~o kv^iov, and included under one 
 common term of ^ewjia. — See alfo i^/6^/. III. 2. p. 585, A. 
 
 NOTE 180. 
 
 P. 107. So THAT THE SAME WORD MAY BE BOTH COM- 
 MON AND FOREIGN, &C. 
 
 If jiupfoi/ here meant only native, in oppofition to foreign, {y'kcjTTCi) 
 as fonie commentators have fuppofed% it would be arrant trifling 
 to obferve, that the fame word might be, at the lame time, yXoiTrcc 
 and Kvpiov, i. t. foreign and native, to different nations. For it 
 could not pofTibly be otherwife ; as Robortelli obferves, and calls 
 the obfervation, which he explains as Ai'iftotle's, *' fnagnopere adno-' 
 *' tandum, et pulchrum scitu." p. 246. Dacier follows him: 
 
 » Phil. Inq. p. I98. He gives for inftances — the foot of a mountain — the l/ed of 
 a river. He, alfo, has rendered icv^m by common, p.-jgi, «»/(.•• 
 
 *> Pljilof. of Rhet. vol. i. p, 185, 186. See Deinet. Yii^i Ef/nwEia;, Se(£J:. 88. 
 
 •■ Robortelli, and Caflelvctro after him. 
 
 7 " Cela
 
 NOTE S. 435 
 
 *' Cela nefgauroit etre autrement, le memc mot qui eft etrangcr pour 
 ** celui qui I'emprunte, ne peitt quetre propre pour celui qui Ic 
 " prete." — But, if it muji be fo, why does Ariftotle fay it may be 
 fo ? — hvM hvoiTov ? — The truth is, that a foreign word is not vcaf- 
 farily a common word, in his fenfe of Y.\j^m, among the people to 
 whom it is native j it may, or may not, be fo ; it cannot, indeed, 
 be to them yXooTTo., but it may be a metaphorical word, or a word 
 of any of the other fpecies enumerated as riAPA ro -^u^iov^. — x^riftotle 
 feems to have added this obfervation on purpofe to prevent the 
 very miftake which tliefe expofitors have made : to prevent xv^-ioi' 
 from being taken merely as the oppofite to yXurru, 
 
 NOTE i8i. 
 
 P. loS. A THOUSAND IS A CERTAIN DEFINITE MANY. 
 
 To yu^ [A.v^iov, TToAu Ig-i. — Here, I may venture, I believe, for once, 
 to adopt the pofitive tOne of emendatory criticifm. Legendiim 
 omnino, -ttoXu TI Igt. The fenfe, indeed, no one can miftake : but 
 the text, as it ftands, does r^ot exprefs that fenfe. It fays only, 
 " for a thoufmd is many, which he now ufes inftead of many" 
 There can be no doubt, that Ariftotle added TI here, as in all the 
 other inftances, \gctvoti, TI — KtpeXetv TI. But, to put the matter 
 beyond all doubt, he afterwards, fpeaking of the fame fort of me- 
 taphor, fays, TO yap YlctvTSg avrt m TloXXci, Karat f^erx^pogav, hs'^Taci' 
 TO yct^ Uuv, nOAT TI. Cap. xxv. — I am furprifed that fo very 
 obvious an error ftiould have efcaped the notice of all the com- 
 mentators I am acquainted with. 
 
 *> Cap. xxii. 
 
 K 2 NOTE
 
 436 NOTE S-, 
 
 NOTE 182. 
 P. 108. For here, the Poet uses Ta.[j.av — instead of^ 
 
 Here a commentator is not perplexed by a little glimmering of 
 light, that promifes to fliew him fomething, and fliews him no- 
 thing ; but is relieved at once from all trouble by a total and com- 
 fortable obfcurity. The quotations are fo fliort, and, in all proba- 
 bility, fo incorredl, that it feems impoflible to apply to them 
 Ariftotle's definition of this metaphor, or to fee /jow, where the 
 Poet has ufed rxi^av, a^uo-a; would have been the proper word, and 
 vice verfa. Yet the commentators Hide over this difficulty. Vic- 
 torius, however, has noticed it, and, giving up the quotations as 
 inexplicable and incorrigible, propofes a more intelligible example 
 from the Rhetoric, III. 2. — to (pxvxi, rov ^bv nTTu-x^mvTcc, luxBirdact' 
 Tov Se luxoy-^vov, '^Ta>xiU£iu' on a}ji.(pta aiT'/jiTE*?. Dacier has entirely 
 omitted the paflage, and fubftituted another from the Rhet. III. 
 II. p. 597, B. — Not, however, that he did not widerjland the 
 paflage ; it was an inviolable rule with him always to underftand 
 his author : but only, it feems, becaufe the example could not 
 conveniently be exprejfed m French — " il ne peut etre tradiiit en 
 " notre langue." 
 
 Caftelvetro gives a very pleafant illuflration. He does not pre-^ 
 tend to fee how tol^kav and a'^uo-a; are put for each other in the 
 Greek examples : but he fays, that, to draw, and to cut off, might 
 be thus metaphorically put for each other ; if, for example, 
 we (hould fay, " Take this pruning hook, and draw fome 
 "branches from the olive-tree: or. Take this pail, and cut off 
 " fome water from the fountain"." — Undoubtedly any man may 
 fpeak in this way, who chufes it. 
 
 ' " Prendi quclla falce, e att'igni de'rami dell' ulivoj o vero, Prendi quella fecchia, 
 " e tuglm deir acqua del fonte." p. 453, 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 437 
 
 NOTE 183. 
 P. 108. In the way of analogy, when of four 
 
 TERMS, &C. 
 
 The difficulty here is, to diftinguifh clearly this, which Ariflotle 
 calls the analogical or proportional metaphor, from the metaphor 
 which precedes it — xh'a.t Jrotn fpecies to fpccies : for as to the two 
 firft: forts, that from genus to /pedes, and vice "verfa, they plainly 
 belong, as has been obferved, to the trope fmce denominated Synec- 
 doche ; the word f^eTix.(po^cx. being clearly ufed by Ariftotle in its 
 mofl general fenfe, including all the tropes — all the ways in which 
 a word is transferred to a meaning different from its proper mean- 
 ing. See Cic. Or. cap. xxvii. Of the four fpecies of jx.£Tex.<pooxi 
 here mentioned, only the two laft feem to anfwer to our meta- 
 phor — the metaphor founded on fome refemblance between the 
 iit\m^ from which, and that to which, the term is transferred. 
 
 The difference between thefe two forts of metaphors, as far as 
 I am able to comprehend it, appears to me to be only this. Each 
 of them is founded on fome refemblance ; but in the firft, the 
 refemblance perceived is between the two things themfelvcs ; in 
 the other, between the relations which they, refpedlively, bear to 
 two other things '. Thofe are metaphors aV li^aq em hS©^, where 
 the likenefs is perceived, as Ariftotle elfewhere expreffes it, " l>j the 
 *' gertus ;" that is, where the common quality, which conftitutes 
 the likenefs, immediately occurs, and it is, therefore, fufficient 
 limply to fubftitute the one word for the other. Thofe are meta- 
 phors jca-' civoiXoyiuv, where the refemblance is not thus perceived 
 by the common quality, but by the common relation, of the two 
 
 » n 7«? ANAAOriA tVoT>j? ki ac-/«, KAI EN TETTAPZIN EAAXISTOIS. i. e. 
 " Analogy, ox proportion^ is equality of ratio, or relation, and requires ^cz/r terms at 
 »« leaji." Ethic. Nicom, V. 3. 
 
 things ;
 
 43S .NOTE S. 
 
 things J where, therefore, that relation muft be pointed out, more 
 or lefs exprefsly. Thus, to take Ariftotle's own examples, when 
 old age, or rather, an old man, is called " Jlubble" the refemblance 
 is fufficiently perceived, by a comparifon of the things themfelves; 
 in Arillotle's language, we perceive it " by the gmus : — crav ya.^ 
 \nT'i\ ['Op-ja©^] TO yvpo!,; KAAAMHN, iTTotvjire fj,oe.Q^<nv km yvucrtv Six. ra 
 yevHi' AM^a.yx^ AnHNGHKOTA'. But when old age is called 
 •' evening," what flrikes us is the refemblance with rej'pecl to two 
 other things, life, and day ; a refemblance of relation. 
 
 In this idea, of the analogical metaphor I have the concurrence 
 of Piccolomini. " La metafora di proportione e quella, che fopra 
 *' la fomigUanza dei rifpetti che hanno I'une cofe con raltrc,farafon- 
 " data;'" &c. See his annotations, p. 305, and his clear and ufeful, 
 though prolix, Parafrafe della Retor. d'AriJl. torn. iii. p. 52, &c. 
 In the rell: of his explanation he does not fatisfy me. 
 
 NOTE 184. 
 P. 108. And, sometimes, the proper term is also 
 
 INTRODUCED, BESIDES ITS RELATIVE TERM. 
 
 — Koci IvioTS TTPOcrriSioca-iv uvff .i Xiyet TT^oq Igt, — No words can well be 
 more obfcure and perplexing. Taking them as they are, they feem 
 to admit, fairly, of only one fenfe — that which Vidorius gives 
 them. " Et quandoque apponunt, pro quo dicit ad quod eft." 
 That is, as he explains this literal and obfcure verfion, they add, 
 " ad quod refertur illud nomen quod omittunt, et pro quo aliud 
 •' vocabulum ufurpant." n^ss-i^eao-i, it^oq £$■; [fc. ti^to] o^vS a Xiyei-. 
 i. e. they add, to the fubjiituted word (cup J, the word to which 
 
 * Rhet. III. 10. p. 59'3. The pafTage of Homer alluded to is in Od. s. 214, 215. 
 See Harris's Pbilol. Inq. p. 191. For the force of the cxpreflioii, ettoiwe na&i\atY., 
 fee NOTJE 22. 
 
 the
 
 NOTES. 439 
 
 the proper word (JJiield) relates ; i. e. Mars. They not only name 
 cup, inftcad oi Jl.neld, but call it the cup of Mars. 
 
 My objedtion to this fenfe of the pafTage is, that it feems to con- 
 found tlie analogical metaphor with thzX from fpecies to fpecies, in 
 which one word is fimply put in the room of the other, as Ka.XujA.-/i 
 is ufed in the paffiige of iriomer, referred to by Ariftotle as an ex- 
 ample of that fort of metaphor" : 
 
 AAA £/^7njj •^xXoif/.v^v ys cr ot'of-ioit BiTocouvret 
 
 Ttvaxncc-tv. — — — — Od. |. 2 1 4. 
 
 For If, " fometmes," Iviore, this addition is made, it is implied, that 
 not only fomeiimes, but generally, and for the mojl part, the analo- 
 gical metaphor is ufed in the fame manner as that «V \it-dq &c. 
 and cup is merely called jhield, and old age, cjening. But, if I un- 
 derftand the matter rightly, it is eflentlal to this kind of metaphor 
 to exprefs tivo terms, at leafr, of the four which conftitute the an- 
 alogy ; i. e. to exprefs loitb the metaphorical word, either the 
 thing to which the proper word belongs, (as, evening of life,) or, 
 as Ariftotle prefently after fays, a Jiegative epithet. See note 180. 
 And the philofopher himfelf y?^/;w to have faid this, ^for I con- 
 fefs the pafTage is not perfedly clear,) in the follovvino- words: 
 AIEI yot,^ EK ATOIN Xsycvrott [fc. a; liy.cvig, comparijons^ XISIIEP 'H 
 ANAAOrON META4>OPA- oiov, tj dlt'ttis, (puf^sv, s^i <J>IAAH APEOS 
 Kociy Tolov, OjOPMIPH AXOPAOI- ^tu y.sv «V Xeyna-iv, OTX' 'AIIAOTN- 
 TO ^' uireiv TO to^ov " (po^fA-iyyup" vj rrv d(nn$ix " (pioiXr^v," 'AITAOTN ''. 
 Thus " capitis ftives'," for gray hairs ; evening oi life ; morning o£ 
 ih&year; eye of day ; and, among many inftances in the Rhetoric 
 
 » He does not, indeed, exprefsly call it, aw ii^^ni 'iTCi, iil@- ; but that it is fo, fcems 
 fufficiently clear from his expreflions, otoivjo-s ixa^nv ^la. ts TENOTi; — and, AM^'il yix? 
 a'TfrnSmoTiX, which anfwers to d/xpu ya§ d(pi7.eiv ti en, here, 
 
 " Rhet. III. II. p. 596. E. 
 
 * Quintil. VIII. 6. 
 
 Sr/fAH
 
 440 NOTES. 
 
 05j|«K poTTxXov — Xyjl^v ■'■** TlapoLiBui; — oq@^ tuv Xoyuv, &C . — The fail, 
 indeed, feems to be, that this analogical metaphor is only a way of 
 ftating metaphors founded on refemblance *, when that refem- 
 blance, dependuig wholly, or chiefly, on relation^ would not bs 
 obvious, and the metaphor, confequently, would be harfli and 
 obfcure, unlefs the relation were, by fome means or other, pointed 
 out. — Viftorius himfelf allows, that, in Ariftotle's own examples, 
 the mere fubftitution of cup for JJneld, and of evening for old age, 
 would be " ni/nis durum." 
 
 I think, then, that Ariftotle 77ieant to fay, and, in fome way or 
 other, /W faid, " And fometimes ," {Ivi'jn,) now and then, for the 
 fake of clearnefs, ** they add the proper word, (the word, civff 4 — 
 "Jor which, the metaphorical word is put,) to, or befides, the tt^o? 
 <' \gi — /, e. that to 'which the proper word relates." They not 
 only call the Ihield, the cup of Mars, but they mention yZ'/VA/ alfo, 
 and fay, thcjhield is the cup of Mars : or, taking the other inilance, 
 old age is the evc?ii?ig of life^. Thus all will follow naturally: 
 KAI \vioTs — And, fometimes, they add the proper term, &c. 
 E^iOij tf£, sj;i er'" o-'O'Jioi, — xnaXoyov . — But, in fome analogical meta- 
 phors, there is no proper term j in that cafe, therefore, the meta- 
 
 ■• Rhet. III. 10. — Inftances abound in Homer: — Whoy^ vu©- — s9«f d^n^vii — Troifieva 
 >.x'jiv — crTTEpixa TTuf©- — z feed o( fire, for a fpark. (Oci. E. 490.) &c. — See the Life of 
 Hovier, commonly attributed to Dion. Hal'ic. and given in vol. v. of the ed. of Homer 
 by Erneftus, p. 162. 
 
 * It feems, that any inilance of the metaphora a fpecie he. may be ftated analogi- 
 cally : thus, " old age, we may fay, is to >riein, •w\\sxjlul>bh is to corn," &c. And, on 
 the other hand, converting an analogical metaphor into a metaphor from fpecies to 
 Jfecics, we may fay, evening and old age are, both of them, ends of certain portions of time. 
 — It was, perhaps, the vicinity of thefe two fpecies of metaphor,and their convertibility, 
 that induced later writers to drop the diftin6tion, though they made many other dif- 
 tindlions which Ariftotle did not. 
 
 ' Thus Homer ufcs the analogical metaphor in the following line : 
 
 'OyO"' ii/nfE eper/Aa, ra re iTTffiz v»i«ri TTEAovrai. Od. A, 124. 
 
 " Oars, which arc the wings of fiiips," 
 
 phor
 
 NOTES. 
 
 
 phor cannot be fo ufed : yet It may be ufed in the firjl^ and mod 
 common way, as well as if fuch proper term fubiifted ; it is ftill 
 an analogical metaphor, and may be ufed as fuch : — -ahv ^ttov, o[x,oiui; 
 [i. e. dvxXoyug, as Caflelvetro rightly explains it,] Xex^yicreTon. 
 Thus, in the metaphor exemplified, o^foiving, applied to t\\&fujt, 
 we may fay the fun fows his rays, though we cannot allign any 
 proper term, for which ySzcj' is put — any word appropriarid to the 
 difperfion of light from the fun, as, to fow, is appropriated to the 
 difperfion oifeed. — Such appears to me to be the connexion of this 
 palfage. 
 
 It will, undoubtedly, be objected, that the fenfe I would give 
 the words 7r^og-tSia,(ri &c. cannot be fairly obtained from them as 
 they now ftand : and I confefs it cannot j unlefs we might be al- 
 lowed to render the words thus, taking vr^og as a repetition of the 
 prepofition in Tr^oa-nSsxtrn' : " they add the word, for which they ufe, 
 '' or fay, the metaphorical word, (ai-S' a AErEI,) to o ESTI — fa 
 " what it is — to the word which is ufed : they add the word that 
 " fjoi/ld he. to the word that is." But this appears to me fo harfli 
 and improbable a conftrudlion, that I would rather fuppofe the 
 paffage to be defedlive. Perhaps it might originally be thus : — 
 Kou euioTB TrpocTTiO. uvS" 4 Xsyet, li^PA [tij] ■Traog o Ifi — i. e. bcfldes 
 adding the thing to which the proper term relates'' . But there 
 feems to be ftill another fault in the paffage. I cannot reconcile 
 the plural Tr^ocrnkaa-iv, with the fingular, Xzyu. Goulfton renders 
 *' apponit;" and I am furprifed that no MS. fhould exhibit Traso-- 
 ri^y](riv. That Xzyet is right, is highly probable, from the fmgular 
 verb l^ii, repeatedly ufed here, and the itTTos, afterwards : h ryp/ 
 atTTriocx, EinOI- — ;c. t. aXX. 
 
 ' The tranfcribers, feeing two prepofition?, Tta^a Trpof, unufually put together, and 
 not underftanding the relative fenfe of wfoj o, might rejeft the firft as redundant. 
 
 ^ I. NOTE
 
 442 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 185. 
 P. 108. The shield, the cup of Mars, Sec. 
 
 <^iciXriv ApBcoi; — . The (pixXfi feems to have been a large, expanded, 
 {Ix-n-eTctXov,) kind of veflel, like a ewer. See I/, ij;. 270, and the 
 notes. Hefvrh. v. Aij.(Pi9bt®^. — It had alfo, fometimes, an ciz<p«\og, 
 or umh. See Athen. p. 501. It had probably, therefore, y^/w^ 
 refemblance to a fliield, which makes the metaphor appear lefs 
 ilrange ; as Piccolomini has remarked, p, 306 : who alfo obferves, 
 very well, that this kind of metaphor is then mofi: clear and per- 
 fect, when the refemblance of relation is aided by fome degree of 
 refemblance between the things themfelves : and that here, for 
 example, if /<z;zr£' were ufed inflead oi JJneld, the metaphor would 
 be fpoiled, though the common relation would ilill fubfift. 
 
 This feems to have been a favourite inflance of this fort of me- 
 taphor ; for it occurs feveral times in the Rhetoric. See III. 4, 
 p. 588, and II, p. 596, E. In the former of thefe paffages Ari- 
 ftotle fays, that an analogical metaphor ought to admit of inverfion : 
 thus, fays he, if we may call the cup the Jloield of Bacchus, we 
 may, with equal propriety, call the fliield the cup of Mars. But 
 Demetrius obferves, alluding to that paffage of the Rhetoric, that 
 this is not the cafe of every fuch metaphor: Itvn ti\v vTru^nuv fzev r^g 
 iJvjff, Tfo^a. e^ri'j eiTretu tov ttoiijt^v^, tov at ra dvdpoj'rr^ ttoopc, vxert VTTupeiuv 
 tmnv. SeB. 79. 
 
 » IK B. 83.4. 
 
 KOTE
 
 NOTES, 443 
 
 NOTE i86. 
 P. io8. Or as Empedocles has expressed it. Life's 
 
 SETTING SUN. 
 
 Auo-jtta? I3f<i. — Vidlcwlus has pointed out this expreflion in Plato's 
 fixth book De Legibus, where the Athenian fliys, 7if/.ug J" Iv ^ua-fXMg 
 T» /S(5f, oi Ss, ug TTpoq ■t}[/,x;, veoi^ : probably alluding, in Plato's ufual 
 manner, to the very paflage of Empedocles. See alfo iEIian, Far. 
 Hijl. tl. 34. — £7r< ho-fji^xig liTf^Bv : where, as the metaphor was fuffi- 
 ciently explained by the fubjeft of the converfation, the word (im 
 is not added. Vidtorius remarks, alfo, the /3<sf ATNTOE uwycag of 
 T^fchylus, Agamem. v. 11 32. The reft of that paflage is very 
 obfcure'' ; but this expreflion feems, clearly enough, to defcribe the 
 dying eye, that opens, for the lafl; time, upon the light : 
 
 BXEvf/a* "TTDog ATFAS {c^'Kstcx.i rccg ijA/», 
 
 ilj BTTOT av9ig, ciXXa, vw Trxvug-tzrov, 
 
 Aktivx, KUtcXovS", -^Xiis 'Tr^oa-o^eToct. Eurip. Alceji. 20? . 
 
 or. In the finefl: pidlure of the kind, I think, that Poetry affords, 
 
 — — — oculifque errantibus, alto 
 Qnsefivic ccelo lucem, ingemuitque reperta. Jlv. IV. 691. 
 
 — The poetical reader, I believe, will pardon me, if I wander fo 
 much farther from my fubjed, as to take occafion, from thefe beau- 
 tiful paflages, to point out three lines of Petrarch, which fhew, 
 
 * Ed. Serr. torn. ii. p. 770. 
 
 * I am inclined to read, and point the paiTage thus : 
 
 — — — aTE KM Sbfi 7rTa(riMO"CT, 
 
 i. e. " fuch as deftroys, difpauhes (as we fay,) thofc who fall by the fpear, in the lajl 
 
 "■ gleanu of Jetting Ufe.''^ 
 
 3 L 2 tha^
 
 444 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 that his powers were not confined to the expreflion of amorous 
 tendernefs, but were capable of rifing, on occafion, to the true 
 fubhme. In the fonnet, *• aS"^ lamentar augelH," &c^ written after 
 the death of Laura, he imagines himfelf to hear her voice, in his- 
 fohtude, confoHng him for his lofs, in tbefe lines : 
 
 Di me non pianger tu ; ch' i miei di ferfi 
 Morendo eterni; e, nel eterno lume, 
 Quando moftrai di chiuder gli' occhi, apersi !■ — 
 
 NOTE 187. 
 P. 108. There is no proper analogous term, &c. 
 
 Ovofx,ci Ket[^ivov.—Kafji.ivov, here, is equivalent to kv^wv ; a word 
 ejlablijlied by comtnon ujage. — Et(, e< MH KEIMENOIE ovof^ourt x^'K^'^'t 
 ciou nXa,Tuv, o!pPVO(rKiov, tov o^dxXf^ov. — — — -ttxi/ yoto <x(rx(ps; 
 TO MH EIIIQOZ. — To^ic. VI. 2. p. 242. — See alfo, CaUg. c. vii» 
 p. 23, C. 
 
 NOTE 188. 
 
 P. 109. ■ SOWING ABROAD 
 
 ( His HEAVEN-CREATED FLAME. 
 
 Zttbduv Q£OKTig-»v (pXayoi^ — Part of an Iambic verfe,. and probably 
 from fome Tragic Poet. The commentators quote Virgil's 
 ♦*• Spargebat lumine terras." This, however, is not exadly appli- 
 cable, becaufey/)<7r^t'r^ does not, I think, appear to have been the 
 proper, fpecijic word, for foivi?ig, as cnrei^eiv was. The paflage of. 
 Lucretius is more appofite : 
 
 « Ed. di Gefualdo, p. 288. 
 
 Sol
 
 NOTES. 445 
 
 Sol etiam fummo de vertice diflfupat omnes 
 
 Ardorem in partes, et liimine conserit arva. II. 211. 
 
 Every reader will recoiled Milton's beautiful application of this 
 metaphor to the flars : 
 
 And/ow'i with ftars the heav'n, thick as a field. — 
 
 P. L. VII. 358. 
 • — and to the dew-drops, metaphorized into pearls, V. i. 
 
 But the idea of pouring, applied to the great fountain of light, 
 feems both a more juft, and a more elevated, metaphor. It is hap- 
 pily touched by Virgil in this line :■ — 
 
 Jam fole infufo, jam rebus luce reteftis. JEn. IX. 461. 
 
 — z. (ketch which Thomfon has finely filled up, and finifhed :. 
 — — young day pours in apace. 
 And opens all the lawny profpe^t wide : 
 The dripping rock, the mountain's mifty top. 
 Swell on the fight, and brighten with the dawn ; 
 Blue, thro' the duflc, the fimoaking currents fhine. 
 
 Summer, 5a, 
 
 In his fymn, he has taken up the metaphor in a fublimer tone: 
 Great fource of day! beft image here below 
 Of thy Creator, ever pouring wide, 
 From world to world, the vital ocean round! v. G6. 
 
 —•To which I cannot reftrain myfelf from adding a fine paffage of 
 the fame kind in the hymn of Dionyfms to the fun : 
 
 hiCTivct TToXvg'pKpov u^irXsycuVf 
 'AiyXct^ TToXv^emeci'' nAPAN 
 Tiepi yciiocv a.iTot,(7oi,v iki(T<ruv. 
 
 noTAMOi li (Tikv nrpos ambpotot 
 
 TiKTii(riV iltmOLTOV Uf^SpXV, 
 
 NOTE 
 
 * M. Burette prefers woxuxtpJeo, a reading of a French MS. ; and he tranflates it, 
 " line riche fource." He Piould have faid, " a cunning fource;" for I do not believe 
 there is good authority for any other fenfe of ?rc?iW£ff)v.— See Jlu'cm. de I'Jcad. des 
 
 Jn/cripT.
 
 44^ NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 1S9. 
 
 109. The wineless cup.- 
 
 Koi'j'jv. This emendation of Viilorius, (inflead of uWol oivis, the 
 reading of all the editions and MSS,) feems confirmed, beyond all 
 doubt, hy Rhet. III. 6, p. 590, A. and 11, p. 597, A. 
 
 Metaphors, from their nature, are in danger of being obfcure, 
 or forceii, though it is eflential to their beauty and tKcGt, that they 
 Ihould be clear and appofite. For this purpofe, a metaphor may 
 be guarded in various ways. If the fimple fubilitution of the 
 improper, for the proper, term, would be obfcure, or harfli, 
 the metaphor may be converted into an mage, or compari- 
 Jon ^ ; it may be ufed analogically, and we may fay, (piccXvi APEOS, 
 or (ptKXyi ACXIKOS ; or, if that be not fufficient for perfpicuity 
 — that is, if the meaning be not fufficiently pointed out by the 
 manner, or circumftances, in which the expreflion is introduced, 
 we may join thefe, {(pMKyi A^o£©^ aotv©^,) or even add to either of 
 them the proper word itfelf "". 
 
 There is a fine inftance of this negative mode of explaining a 
 metaphor, in Ifaiah, li. 21. " Thou drunken, but 7iot iclth w'me*." 
 
 hfcnpt. feme vii. D'ljpyt. fur la MelopeCy &c. — The reader may fee the hymn, at the 
 end of the Ox. Jratus-, and in Dr. Burney's Hift. of Mufic, vol. i. p. go, with a 
 tranflation. There is, a!fo, a tranflation in Dodilcy's Mifcellany, vol. v. But, how- 
 ever partial I may be thought, I muft give the bays on this occafion to my friend. 
 He is no profefled Poet ; but his verfion has, furely, far more of the animation, en- 
 thufiafm, and folcmnity of the original. No Perfian, indeed, could hjve entered 
 more thoroughly into the fpirit of folar adoration. 
 
 » Sec Demct. Sc6t. 80. — And, again, Sed. 86, of the negative epithet ufed for 
 the fame purpofe. 
 
 * See above, note 184. 
 
 * See Dp. Lowth's Comm, on Jfalah. 
 
 I The
 
 NOTES. 447 
 
 The fatne end is often anlwered by an epithet, affirming of the 
 thing exprcffcd fome quahty belonging to the x\\\'a.^JigHijled ; thus, 
 iliips are " Jloating bulwarks"," and the lyre a " chorded fliell," 
 where Dryden has made the fame ufe of the affirmative epithet, 
 chorded, that Theognis did of the negative, dx"^^^) i^^ his meta- 
 phorical expreffion for a bow — (po^f^ty'S, d.x,oo^'^\ Sometimes the 
 explanatory epithet is itfelf a metaphor ; as in the TrrepoTOig xMan 
 of Euripides; — " winged chariots." Here we have a double me- 
 taphor; chariot ?or JJjipy and wing iox faiL 
 
 It ihould be remembered, that thefe negative epithets are very 
 common in the Greek Poets. Vidlorius points out many inflances: 
 as, x,coiA,ov dvocuKoTXTov, Eurip. PhceniJJ. 8l8. — Qioctrov (xl3cxxx,^urov, Oreji, 
 
 319. ^■tiVMTVi^'^ d'P^iyy.rMf JRjch. Eufnen. 245. UTTTBaotg TTUTTl^OCa-W, 
 
 ibid. 250, Sec. 
 
 NOTE 190. 
 
 P. 109. AN INVENTED WORD, t<,C. 
 
 Between thig and the preceding definition Ariflotle muft have 
 placed that of Koo-ft©^ — the ornament, or ornamental word. That 
 it was purpofely paffed over by him is hardly credible. This 
 is, moft probably, one of the lamentable ^iafS^uj^MTx. that Strabo- 
 talks of". 
 
 The commentators differ widely as to the meaning of koo-u^. 
 Caflelvetro fays, the word admits, here, of five different fenfes, 
 which he fets up, like nine-pins, for the pleafure of knocking 
 them all down. — The only reafonable account of the matter feems 
 to be that given by Dacier from Vidorius. It feems clear enough-^ 
 
 ' Mr. Mafon's Ode to the Naval Officers. 
 
 •" Demet. SeA. 86 Arift. Rhet. lil. 11, p. 597. 
 
 » See the paflage in the Preface, 
 
 that
 
 44S NOTE 
 
 S. 
 
 that what: Ariftotle here calls y.oa-yJ^, is included, at leall:, under 
 what he calls cusm in the Rhetoric. For he fays, at the end of 
 the next chapter [cap. xxii.) fpeaking of thofe fpecies o? words that 
 are ufed in profe, that they are thefe three, to av^m, km fA,Brx(po^x, 
 aai KOiMOE : and in the Rhetoric, after referring to the very enu- 
 meration of words in this chapter, and fetting afide fuch as he calls 
 poettcal, (i. e. yXurrxi, Cittacc ovcyMTo., &:c.) he lays, to os kvoiov, tcou 
 TO OIKEION, y.oii fXETK^opcct, jxovcct ^yjcnfjiOi ttoo^ ti^v tuiv •^t'Kuv Xoyuv 
 a;'z V' TTKVTSg yua i/,£roc(pooaig liocXiyovrat, xxi tsi; OIKEIOIE, >:xi rotg 
 y.vpioig^ . And thefe o(Jcs<a cV!3|t*«ra, again, feem plainly fynonymous 
 with iTrSiTx, mentioned prefently after :—cii h kxi rx eTnl^erx kxi txq 
 [/.sra(p. y.. r. X. — By oiKnx and b.tti^s.tx, Ariflotle feetns to have ex- 
 prefTed the gmus, of which, y.oa-fi(^, the ornamental or embellijhing 
 epithet, was a fpecies. But as he has not, by any means, explained 
 himfelt fully, nor given any definition either of oiv.im or \7v1hT0vy 
 the mid which he has left upon this fubjedl mufl remain. I Ihall 
 only remark, that the word y.otr^'^ is once, (and I think but once,) 
 ufed by him in his Rhetoric, apparently in the fame fenfe as in this 
 chapter. For, fpeaking of the propriety of didlion, and its corref- 
 .pondence to the fubjecTt, he obferves, that " an ornament fhould not 
 " be applied to a mean word ; for this," fays he, " has the appear- 
 " ance of burlefque ; which is the cafe with Cleophon, who has 
 " ul'ed expreffions of this fort as ridiculous, as it would be to 
 *' talk of an " KXiGM^t Jig-tree" " The word Koa-f^©^ here, and 
 the example by which he explains it, feem to prove, that Koa-[^(^, 
 in the treatife on Poetry, means fuch an epithet as embclli/Jjes or 
 elevates the thing to which it is applied. For I do not imagine 
 that the term includes what the Grammarians call perpetual epithets, 
 fuch as " humida vina," yxXx Xbvkov, &c. becaufe Ariflotle .ex- 
 prefsly fays, that the x.o(r[/.<^ is ufed in common fpeech : now thefe 
 
 " Rhet.III. 2. 585. 
 
 ' — /ii>)T' £7ri Tw euro^ci Smixan BTrn KOXMOZ' h h /^n, xufiu^ia ^aivnar otov Tt'oiti Kaeo- 
 g>uv' oiAOiuf. y«f £W« iXEyf, xai ei eweiev dv, IIOTNIA 2YKH. — HI. 7, p. 59O. 
 
 ^ redundant
 
 NOTES. 449 
 
 redundant epithets are banlfhed, both by him, and by Qaintilian\ 
 even from oratory ; much more from ordinary difcourfe. 
 
 It may be objedted, as it /jas been objeded by Piccolomini 
 (p. 337), that, as an epithet may, at the fame time, be z foreign 
 word, a jnetaphorical, an extended, or of any of the other forts, it 
 could not be enumerated by Ariflotle as a dijlhidi Jpecies of words 
 among the reil. But the truth is, that he is not there enumerating 
 fo many diftind: /pedes of words, which exclude each other, but 
 only a number of dijlinct properties of words, feveral of which may 
 fubfift: together in t\\t fame word. Thus, an extended word may, 
 manifeflly, be, at the fame time, a metaphorical, or z. foreign word, 
 or both : a metaphorical word may be, alfo, an invented, extetided, 
 altered word, &c. But none of thefe words can be, at the fame 
 time, Ku^tot, common words ; and the only exclufive diflincflion that 
 Ai-iftotle intended, is between the common word, and the others; 
 ell of which are words, on fome account or other, uncommon. 
 
 NOTE 191. 
 P. no. Nouns are divided, 5cc. 
 
 In paffages where great corruption and little importance meet, 
 a commentator may be reafonably indulged in filence, or brevity. * 
 What all this has to do in the midft of an analyfis of poetical lan- 
 guage, as diflinguilLed from that of profe, I confefs myfelf totally 
 unable to fee. 
 
 The defedls of the paffage have been fully pointed out by almofl 
 all the annotator-3. See Mr. Winftanley's note, p. 300, ed. Ox. 
 1780. — But we have lately been told, that all the commentators 
 have entirely miftaken the fenfe of the paflage, and fuppofed it, 
 without reafon, to be imperfedt, merely becaufe they did not fee, 
 
 •; Rhet. III. 3, p. 587, C— Quintil. De Irjlit. Or. Mill. 6. 
 
 3 M that
 
 450 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 that Ariftotle here fpeaks, not as a Grammarian, but as a Phllofb- 
 pher, and is confidering, not the conventional gender of verbal 
 inflexion, but the real gender of the things figJiified. Thus, it is 
 admitted, indeed, that all isoords ending in v, and ^^ are not mafculine; 
 yet, if we examine the nature of the things denoted by words of 
 thofe terminations, we fhall find, it feems, that they are mafculine,. 
 though the words themfelves are regarded as feminine *. Let us 
 try, then. Mi?-*;^, for example, ends in ^. Did Ariftotle's philo- 
 fophy lead him to confider a mother as of the mafculine gender ? 
 
 NOTE 192. 
 P. no. The excellence of diction consists in being 
 
 PERSPICUOUS, WITHOUT BEIIJG MEAN. 
 
 A£^£toj ao£T57 — i. e. of diftion, or language, in general ; not, 
 *' elocutionis Poetic^y" as Goulllon and others render it. For Ari- 
 ftotle gives the Jame definition of the excellence of oratorical dic- 
 tion, in his Rhetoric j adding, only, with refpe(ft to the degree of 
 elevation, fuch a reftridion as his fubjedl there required \ Now 
 had he intended here a definition of the language of Poetry, as 
 difcriminatedfrom that of Profe, he would hardly have confined, 
 himfelf to two characfters common to both; viz, that it ihould 
 be perfpiaious, and yet not mean, or low, like colloquial language, 
 confifting only of common and proper woi"ds, without meta- 
 phors, or any of the other ornamental words which he enumerates; 
 feme of which he makes effential to the excellence (a^eriji/) and 
 proper elevation, even of profe elocution ''. For, that this is the 
 force of TocTreivri, is clear from his own explanation. 
 
 * " Non enini orraiia quae definunt in v et p fuiit mafculina ; niji adfenfum earuin- 
 " rerum qua: denotant refpicias, qui mas 5/?, licet ipfa mmina faminina habeantur." 
 
 Ed. Cantab. 1785, p. 156. 
 » Rhct. in. ?., p. 584. " Sec Rliet. III. a, p. 585. 
 
 2. Still,
 
 NOTES, 
 
 45 » 
 
 Still, It Is obvious to aflc, why the philofopher, when his fubjeft 
 was the excellence of poetic diftion, ihould thus fet out with a 
 general definition, inftead of giving us, at once, the definition of 
 t\iQ /pedes. — The reafon, I fuppofe, was, that he conceived the 
 poetic to differ from the rhetorical language, only in the degree of 
 elevation above ordinary fpeecli"; and to define degrees is not eafy. 
 Nor, indeed, was even this difference common to all Poetry. If 
 the diftion of the Dithyrambic and other Lyric kinds, and the 
 Heroic, with their pompous apparatus of compound epithets, 
 foreign and antiquated words, and boldnefs of metaphor, rofe far 
 above the higheft elevation of profe diftion ; on the other hand, 
 that of Tragedy, we know, frequently defcended, in its loweft 
 parts, even below what Ariflotle affigns as the proper level of 
 rhetorical fpeech, to a flyle differing from common fpeech in no 
 other circumftance but that of metre^ — Dacier, with the fliffand 
 inflexible dignity of French Tragedy before his eyes, appears to 
 have been fhocked at the exprefTion, ^vi txttsiwi ; for he tranflates, 
 not the words only, but the ideas, of his author, into French: 
 " La vertu de I'exprefilon confifle dans Ja nettete et dans la 
 
 ** NOBLESSE." 
 
 NOTE 193. 
 
 P. no. Such is the Poetry of Cleophon . 
 
 See note 14. From what Ariftotle fays of this Poet In the 
 Rhetoric", it appears, that he fometimes variegated his vulgarity with 
 a dafh of bombaflo He gave fine epithets to low words. The 
 kiTEXeg ovo^jLcc, there, agrees vv^ith what is faid of him here. 
 
 ' See the ch. of the Rhet. laft referred to. 
 
 * See what is faid at the end of this chapter, (cap, xxii.) about the Tragic and 
 other fpecies ; and note 209. 
 
 * III. 7. — See NOTE 19O3 p. 448, 
 
 3 M 2 What
 
 45 : 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 What is there faid of Cleophon, La Motte fays of Hower 
 himfelf. — " Homere emploie quelquefois les jnots les phis vils, et 
 " il les releve aulhtot par des epithetes magnifiques^ ." It muft, 
 indeed, be confefTed, that, after all the apologies of critics and 
 commentators, Homer's A;©- u(pop/S©o — '■'■ divine fwmeherd"—\\^% 
 not, to our ears, a much better etFedl than ttotvux. o-uktj. The only 
 reafonable way of defending Homer, is, furely, to content our- 
 felves with fiiying, in general, that the expreffion cou/d not have the 
 fame incongruous appearance in Homer's time; as, in that cafe, 
 he certainly would not have ufed it. At leaft, this would be a 
 better apology, than to affert, with Boileau, that cru/Gwrijj is one of 
 the /if7e/i words in the Greek language'." 
 
 NOTE 194. 
 
 P. no. And that of Sthenelus. 
 
 This feems to explain a fragment of Ariftophanes, in which 
 the Poet, alluding probably to the flatnefs and infipidity of the 
 didlion of Sthenelus, as wanting the poetic feafoning of metaphor, 
 &c. introduces fome hungry fellow faying, that " he could make 
 " fliift to eat even fome of the words of Sthenelus, z/" tky were 
 ** iiut dipped in fait, or vinegar" 
 
 •• Difc. furl'Iliade. 
 
 ' Reflex. 9, fur Longin. — " II n'y a peut-etre pas dans le Grec deux plus beaux 
 " moti que ffu^n-rri; Si paxoA®-." — Le Eoffii, the admired Le B'Jfu, apologizes in a dif- 
 ferent way. The pafllige is a morfcl of fuch rare ;uid cxquifite abfurdity, that I cannot 
 withhold it from the reader. " Nous trouvons de grandes baflTefles dans les tcrmes 
 " de chaudrons h dc marmites, dans le fang, dans les graiffes, dans les inteftins & 
 •' autres panics des animaux; parceque tout cela n'eH: plus que dans nos cuifines & 
 " dans nos boucheries, & que ces chofes nous font bondir le coeur, Et nous ne pre- 
 " nons pas garde, que tout ccla, au temps d'Homere et de Virji,ile, eto'it au gout du S. 
 " Efprit menh--, qui n'a ja/nals pit I'avoir mauvais; que Dicu avoit tres-foigneufenient 
 " ordonne loutcs ccs chofes a Moife," &c. Traiti du Pmwe Epiqtte, VI. 8. 
 
 I Koii
 
 NOTES. 453 
 
 • Kx: Vug eyu HSbvbX^ (pxyotf^ av ovjf^x ti, 
 
 E'f 0^0? e[^f2x'/rToi/.ev.ov v^ XixiK^g xXocg. At hen. IX. /;«/. 
 
 NOTE 195. 
 
 P. 1 10. An ^Enigma, if composed of metaphors — . 
 
 " Ut modicus autem atque opportunus ejus ufiis illuftrat ora- 
 *' tionem, ita, frequens et obfcurat et tasdio complet ; continnus 
 " verb in alkgoriam et cenigma exit" — Squint il. VIII. 6. 
 
 NOTE 196. 
 P. no. The essence of an ^^nigma consists, &c. 
 
 I can neither afient to the emendation propofed by Mr. Win- 
 ftanley, nor fee the leaft want of any emendation. The palfage 
 appears to me perfedlly clear and unexceptionable, as it is. T« 
 vTroeo-xovrot muft, by no means, be joined with xSwxtx. It evidently 
 means here, in a fenfe very ufual, things that adlually exi/i — i. e. 
 
 are true. As, Rhet. II. 25, XveTxi Se km tx a-rj/^ax, y,\xv v VTrxp- 
 
 xovrx: where, vttx^x'"^'^'^ i^ fynonymous with dX'/jdsg, in /i^. i. caj). 
 ii. p. 517— XuToi/ Sb, kxv AAH©EE 57. 
 
 The paffage is accurately and clofely rendered by Piccolomini. 
 *' La forma e reffentia dell' enigma confifle in quefto, che ne/ dir 
 ** cofe, che veramente si ano, Ji congitmghino mjieme cofe ch' ap- 
 *■' paiano impoJjibiU a Jlar infieme." — And this is an exadt definition 
 of an JEnigma — fuch an asnigma, at leaft, as Ariftotle means. But 
 in the other way of conllrudting the pafllige, which is that of 
 Caftelvetro, and fome other interpreters, it is no definition at all. 
 For if the ejjence of a riddle confifls merely m " putting together 
 " things that are incompatible and impoj/ible," — tx v-rrupx^vrx x^wxrct
 
 454 
 
 "NO T E S. 
 
 avva^xi — then the Italian Poet made a riddle, when he defcribed a 
 man fighting after he was cut in two: 
 
 — — — del colpo non accorto, 
 Andava combattendo, ed era morto *. 
 
 NOTE 197. 
 
 P. 110. Now THIS CANNOT BE EFFECTED BY THE MERE 
 ARRANGEMENT OF THE WORDS, &C. 
 
 Kara u,iv iv tyiV tuv cvofjMTuv <ruiide(Tiv. — HeniflUS — r^j^ tuv KTPIHN 
 cvouocTccv — . Bat the ku^iov ovoj^x, as I have already obferved, is, 
 throughout, oppofed by Ariftotle, not to fj-sroctpo^a only, but to a// the 
 other words. He would hardly, therefore, have ufed it here in a dif- 
 ferent fenfe, as oppofed X.o rmtapbor only. If any emendation were 
 neceflary, I Ihould think AAAIIN Ivoixocrm more probable'. But 
 perhaps no word is wanting. Ariftotle had ufed the expreffion, 
 ahvocTO!. 2:TNATAI — " to put together things impoflible." This 
 might lead to fuppofe, that an enigma might be made by the 
 mere o-b^Setrij ovo^ccrm — by a certain arrangement or confiruSlion of 
 the words only. Therefore he adds — " this cannot be done by the 
 " mere arrangement of the words ; by the metaphorical ufe of 
 ♦* them it may," 
 
 As this fenfe feems fufficiently clear*", fuppofes no defeft in the 
 text, and, after all, coincides, in the main, with that of Heinlius, 
 (for we muft neceffarily underftand, an arrangement of words Jiot 
 metaphorical — ) I have adopted it in my tranflation, after Dacier, 
 and Batteux. 
 
 * Bernt, Orlando Innamorato, lib. ii. canto 24, Jlatts^a 60. 
 
 a So, I find, Piccolomini tranflates: — " dell' altre parole." 
 
 '' It fcems alfo to refult, moft naturally, from Ariftotle's exprcflSon; -in which, nar-x 
 TW w; 'ONOMATiiN IITNOESIN, and, «ara META4>0PAN, fcem oppofed,':—" by 
 *' conjiruiiion—hy metaphor." — If he had written Hara n-.v tuv AAAilN (or KTPliiN) 
 •Kjf*. <rw9. he would probably have written alfo— ««t« Je 'n'nm iMTcupo^ilN (fc. cinkviv.) 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 455 
 
 NOTE 198. 
 
 F. no. A MAN I ONCE BEHELD, &C. 
 
 See R&ef. III. 2, p. 586, where this is called an approved, or 
 admired, riddle: — Iv tu utvt'y[ji,ciTi ru IvSoKif^^vn — • 1 wifh it may eu- 
 ioKi[/,siv with a modern reader. In Athenaeus another line appears : 
 
 AvSp hoov TTUpt 'xptKv.ov £7r oaizpi KoXXyicravrcc, 
 
 'OvTca (rvyzoXXug wj-e crvvcuf^x votetv. Lib. ix. p. 45^° 
 
 But Cafaubon feems right in fuppofing this pentameter to have 
 been a modern addition ; for it is not found, I believe, in any more 
 antient writer. Even in Plutarch, I obferve, that the hexameter 
 not only appears by itfelf, as in Ariflotle, but is plainly given as 
 the whole. See his Sympofium, p. 267, ed. H. St. It appears from 
 that paffage to have been the produdlion of a lady, Eianetis. I 
 doubt whether, in thefe ** degenerate days," it would have gained 
 her a prize in the Lady's Diary. 
 
 The Greeks were fond of thefe puzzles. The reader may find 
 fome curious fpecimens of this fort of wit in Athenceus, X. 448, 6cc. 
 
 NOTE 199. 
 P. in. As OLD Euclid did, objecting, &c. 
 
 Fontenelle talks in the fame way. " Du tems d'Homere c'etoit 
 " une grande merveille qu'un homme put alTujettir fon difcours a 
 " des mefures, a des fillabes longues et breves, & faire en meme 
 ** tems quelque chofe de raifonnable. On donnoit done aux Poetes 
 ** des licences infinies, & on fe tenoit encore trop heureux d'avoir 
 *' des -vers. Homer e poiivoit parler dans tin feul vers cinq langues 
 
 ** differ entes 5
 
 4s6 NOTE S. 
 
 *' differentcs ; prendre le dialede Dorique quand I'lonique ne I'ac- 
 *• commodoit pas ; au defaut de tous les deux, prendre I'Attique, 
 ** I'Eolique, on le commun j cejl-a-dire, parler en meme terns, 
 " Ficard, Gafcon, Normandy Breton, ^ Francois commun. II pou- 
 *' voit allonger im mot sil etoit trop court, I'accourcir s'll ctoit trap 
 ** long ; perfonne n'y trouvoit a redire\" 
 
 But, could this ingenious and fenfible writer ferioujly fuppofe, 
 that the language of Homer's poems had at all the fame effedl to 
 a hearer, or reader, of his time, that an Englilli poem would now 
 have, if compofed of all the provincial dialedls of Great Britain ? 
 — We are always told, how Homer enriched his language by 
 " vifiting all the principal nations of Greece, and learning the 
 " peculiarities of their fpeech\" Jufl as if an Englifli poet, 
 becaufe he had refided fome time in YorkOiire, or Lancafhire, 
 might, in his next poem, put neet for night, loife for lofe, or a hal- 
 Hblafi), a ver)' well- founding Lancafhire word, for a blaze. 
 
 This account makes the language of Homer no other than the 
 Kotvio-f/,©" which Quintilian reprobates, among the vitta orationis': 
 fomething worfe than the " Babylonifli dialed" of Hudibras; 
 
 — — <« a party-colour'd drefs 
 " Of patch'd and piebald languages. 
 
 c( _ — ._ — . 
 
 " It had an odd promifcuous tone, 
 
 " As if he'd talk'd three parts in onej 
 
 * Digrt'Jpcn fur les Anc. et les Mod. 
 
 * Blackwell's Enquiry, &c, p. 292.— And fo, indeed, the author of the treatife 
 De Horn. Poef. — AeIei Je 'homiM KExfii/«Ev^, tx; ctTro 7rai7»{ Jia^ExTii twv Ewju'mv xafffltTof j:; 
 
 ' " Koivij-ft©- quoque appellatur quzdam mifta ex varia rationc linguarum oratio; 
 *' ut ft Atticis Dorica, lon'ua, JEol'ua ctiayn dkla confundas. C\x\ fimile vitium cil apud 
 *' nos, fi quis fublimia humilibus, Vetera novis, poctica vulgaribus mifceat." 
 
 De In/}. Or. VIII. 3, p. 396. ed. Gibf 
 Quintilian certainly did not intend this for a dcfcription of Ilomcr'i language. 
 
 <' Which
 
 NOTES. 457 
 
 «< Which made fome think, when he did gabble, 
 " They had heard three labourers of Babel ; 
 " Or Cerberus himfelf pronounce 
 " A Icafh of languages at once." 
 
 With fuch an idea of Homer's language, Fontenelle might well 
 add — " Cette etrange confulion de langues, cet affemblage bifarre 
 ** de mots tout defigures, etoit la langue des dieux ; du moins il 
 " ejl bicn fur que ce Ji etoit pas celle des hommes." — And, indeed, I 
 firmly believe with Lord Monboddo, that " fuch a mongrel dia- 
 *' left was never written by any man;" and that " Homer wrote, 
 ** either the language that was fpoken in the country where he 
 *' was born and educated, or that was ufed by the poets that had 
 *' written before him, and was the eflablilhed language of Poetry''." 
 
 jjii.i iJiii I 
 NOTE 200. 
 
 P. III. And then giving a burlesque example of 
 
 THAT SORT OF DICTION. 
 
 'lajM/3o7r(3<i)(raj \v kutyi rrj Xs^st. — Two fenfes have been given to 
 the word lxiA,(3o7!-oirja-cig ; both of them, I think, far from fatisfac- 
 tory. Some render it — making Iambic verfes : " lamh's ufus eji" 
 \Vi6l.'\ But, is it likely, that Euclid, meaning to ridicule Homer's 
 hexameters, fliould do it in Iambic verfe ? — Befides that the lines 
 ihemfelves, fuch as we find them, have not the leaft air of 
 Iambics, but fall eafily enough, with a little help, into hexame- 
 ters. In this I perfedly agree with Dacier; though I fee no 
 reafon to fuppofe with him, that Euclid had compofed — " un 
 '* ouvrage en vers heroiques." 
 
 «• Orig, and Prog, of Lang. vol. iii. p. rg.— And fee the rational account given of 
 this matter, and of the progrefs and intermixture of the Greek dialefts in general, by 
 Mr, Burgefs, in his valuable edition of the Mlfcell. Crit. of Dawes, Pref. xxi. and 
 p, 405. 
 
 3 N Others.
 
 45^ NOTES. 
 
 Others, and Madius in particular, underftand the word to mean, 
 fatirizing, ridiculing, the Poet; — " fe moqiic de lui." \_Dac.^ A 
 meaning that, undoubtedly, fuits the pqff'agc better ; whether it 
 fuits the wo7-d itfelf I much doubt, but will not venture to decide. 
 As Arillotle ufes iXf^(2o7rciag, in the fenfe of zjhllrlc Poet" — a maker 
 of the lxj^!3oc, or fatlrlc poe^n, he vuv/ pojjihly have ufed the verb, 
 Iccj^f^oTrotm, here, in the correfpondent fenfe of making afatire upon^ 
 or burlefqulng :- — \oc^^oTtoi'/\<Ta.i; sv uvrvj ti:^ Xs^ei—^" having ridiculed blni 
 " in that fort of dl^loji," in the following manner, &c. — As this 
 fenle appears to me, on the whole, far more eligible than the 
 other, I have followed it: for I fee no third fenfe that can, with 
 ^ny fhew of probability, be extrad:ed from the prefent text. But 
 that it is defedlive, and that lay^lSoTrciyja-a; is an error, I have very 
 little doubt. If conjedlure might be indulged, I fliould be inclined 
 to fuppofe, tiiat iv/jat Ariflotle had faid was this ; — " that it is an 
 " eafy matter to verfify, even in common fpeech, (si/ mri] t>? XsPei,) 'f 
 *• one may be allowed to extend fyllables and words at pleafure, 
 " fo as to convert, for inftance, an Iambic foot, which is continu- 
 ** ally occurring in common converfation '', into an Heroic or 
 *' Spondee," And the examples that follow, were probably two 
 prsfe fentences fo converted, or convertible, into hexameters. 
 •But as to the tnanner in which Ariflotle had expreffed this in the 
 text, I have no conjedlure to offer that is fatisfadlory, even to 
 myfelf. — Of the mangled lines which follow, with their perplexing 
 variety of indeterminable readings, I fhall fay with Viflorius, 
 •' veritate defperata, nihil amplius cur^e de hac re fufcipere volui." 
 It is fome comfort however, as M. Batteux has obferved, that 
 both the ohjeBion of Euclid, and Ariflotle's anfwery are clear 
 enough, independently of the examples. 
 
 J ought to mention, that Caflelvetro has explained this pafTage, 
 'without iM'pY^ofiw^ the text wrong, in a manner different from any 
 
 ' See cap. ix. 
 
 ' Cap.lv. — ^^^lr« y«f ?if«Tww, &c. 
 
 7 • Other
 
 NOTES. 459 
 
 other interpreter, and which. In part, accords with my Idea, By 
 ia.[^{io7roittv he underilands neither fatirizmg, nor making Iambic 
 •verfes; but, making l-xixiQic feet injlead of fpondees, in hexatneter 
 verfe. And the fenfe he gives the whole paflage is this : " It 
 ** would be a \txy eafy thing to write heroic verfe, if this liberty 
 " oi extenfion were allowed; for then, a Poet might put Iambic 
 *' feet in the room of Spondees, and commit no fault, becaufe the 
 " fliort fyllables might be lengthened at pleafure." And the lines 
 that follow he fuppofes to be exampks of fuch defective hexa- 
 meters. ■ '''■'. ■_'•■- 
 
 There is fomewhat ingenious in this explanation, as there Is in 
 many others of this acute writer ; but it has likewife the fault, 
 ■which many of his explanations have; that of being by no 
 means reconcileable with the original. -r-S^e his comment, p. 481. 
 
 NOTE 201. 
 P. III. When these licences appear to be thus 
 
 PURPOSELY USED . 
 
 — To ^iv iv <I>AINE£0AI ntoiq "xj^u^ZMav, jc. t. oix.— -The force, both 
 of <^ouvz(T^oLi, which I underftand to be emphatic here, and of ttw?, 
 feems perfetftly well explained by Caftelvetro. *' Non fo perche 
 " alcuni vogliano rimuovere di queflo teilo, r^ui;, eflendoci ftato 
 *' pofto per dimoflrafe, che allora il vitio fi fcopre, e' 1 rifo fi 
 " muove, quando fi comincia in aJcun modo a riconofcere, che il 
 " poeta ha iifata ajludio, e ricercata qitejla tnanicra di parole." p. 482. 
 
 So, too, Piccolomini's tranflation — " i'^Jfcr •veduto — iifar cofi 
 '* fatto modo di locutione." — For tt^j, I once fufpe6ted we fhould 
 read AnPETrw?; as prefently after — >^jw/^£>©- ciTr^iTrag. But I believe 
 Tug is right : — a/iquo modo. 
 
 3N2 NOTE
 
 46o NOTE S- 
 
 NOTE 202. 
 
 P. III. How GREAT A DIFFERENCE IS MADE, &C. 
 
 'OiTov Sta^e^Ei — » Not " quantum exce//at," as Goulfton an«i 
 others tranflate; but, " iv&at a difference the proper ufe of fuch. 
 words makes" — " how dfferent the e'ffedl is." As, above, cap. x. 
 AIAOEPEI ya,^ ttoXu — " it makes a great difference:" and, cap. xviii^ 
 Ti AIA3)EPEI. — Nothing more common than this ufe of the word. 
 The dr^erence here exprefTed, is, plainly, between the k^^ottov, and 
 the uTT^sTTug, in the ufe of fuch words : x^uf/.iv'^ AliPEnxlS — to auT» 
 cat a-Trs^yxcrouTQ' TO AE 'APMOTTON. qitov ^ixcpepei — x. r. A. 
 
 N O T E : 203. 
 
 • P; III. AND TEMPERATE USE OF SUCH WOR'tJfS' — >1 
 
 — EvTi9ei/-svuv ruv ovoiachtuv hg to [xet^ov : — literally, " t&e words- 
 ** i>ehij put into the metre :" 1. e. as Vidtoriu-s and others explain 
 it, " taking care, that, in changing the words, you do it " faho 
 *' metro." ' A very unneceflary caution ilirelyj. befides that the 
 Greek hardly fays that, whatever it may ?nean. Let us try its 
 meaning by the faireft teft, that of flridt and literal tranflation ; 
 for we can fometimes fee nonfenfe in . TLngUfiy which we cannot 
 fee in Greek, ** But what difference is made hy ■3, proper ufe of 
 ** fuch words, may beobferved in hexameter verfe, niohen the' words 
 " are put into (i. e. as it is explained, adapted to — ) the metre."— 
 What words ? — Metaphorical, foreign, extended, &c. of which 
 he had jufh been fpeaking.. Very well. But how — put in, or 
 adapted to, the metre? — for not a word has yet been laid about 
 changing the words. Goulftou undcrftands, putting in thefe poe- 
 S tical
 
 NOTES. 461 
 
 tical words injl cad of the proper and common words*. I lee nothing 
 of this in the original. 
 
 In fliort, it appears to me, that nothing tolerable can be made 
 of the phrafe, e<j to [xer^ov, taken in this fenfe. If it might be 
 taken, as fome have taken it *■, adverbially, for (j,eT^tug'—fo a vxdc-' 
 7'ate degree — all would be well. " Let it be coniidered in heroic 
 ** verfe, what a difference is made by fuch words, when properly 
 *' ufed, and nol infcrted, or introduced, too frequently." But I 
 cannot think that the exprefhon will admit of this fenfe, though 
 fomewhat favoured, perhaps, by the circumflance of i^^raov having 
 been juft before ufed in the fenfe of ?nodtration : ro Se ^troov, koivov 
 UTTocvTuv, &c. If the article to were omitted, the adverbial fenfe 
 would be lefs improbable;, but. In; TO fxiT^ov, can only, I think, 
 mean — iiito the 7}tetre. Still,, however, I incline to think this was 
 Ariftotle's meaning, and that he probably wrote h; to METPION. 
 A fmgle letter makes all the difference. The word [/.st^wv, as fir 
 as that may add any probability to my conjecflure, occurs in that 
 part of the Rhetoric where he is treating of the very /ame fubjeft— ^ 
 tlie proper and moderate ufe- of metaphors, epitliets, and other 
 tropical and ornamental words, in oratory. Thus, III. 2, p. 586,. 
 fpeaking of epithets and diminutives, he fays, hXaf^staSxi ^z Ssi, 
 jcxt Tra^ccTvi^uv Iv a.fA.(paa> TO METPION. And again, of epithets— 
 hi <rToxoc'(s(r9cci TOT METPIOT. />. 587. 
 
 As this was die only f.itisfad:ory fenfe I could make of the- 
 words, I. have ventured to give it in my verfion.. 
 
 * See the- notes on his Latin verfion. 
 
 '• Caftelvetro— Dacier~C" »ii/t'i" flWf OT{/«rf."j and the editor of the unaccented- 
 Oji. ed. of 1760.. 
 
 note:
 
 462 N O T .E S. 
 
 NOTE 204. 
 
 P. 112. For a common and usual word . 
 
 Kvoiis hoSsT®^. As yjj^iov, in Ariftotle's fenfe, is common, the ad- 
 dition of liw^or©-, (ujual), feems, at firfl view, to be mere tautology. 
 But the cafe, as it is very well explained by Vidorius, appears to 
 have been this. The word \(y^t&., which he here calls tcM^m \iu>^<^^ 
 was not JlriBly kuoiov, but only a commo?i metaphor ; that is, a word 
 which, though originally metaphorical, had acquired, by conftant 
 ufe as a chirurgical term*, the efff£f of a proper word. [See note 
 179.1 As kumv, therefore, in Ariftotle's enumeration, was oppofed 
 to f^sTKfooct, as well as to yXurroc, and the rell of the poetical words, 
 the application of it here, to a word that was evidently met.iphorical 
 in its original ufe, might feem inconfiftent : the word hed6oT<^ was 
 therefore, probably, added, to obviate, in his fbort way, this 
 
 objeftion. 
 
 I cannot guefs what induced Dacier to render yXurrxv, here, by 
 *" mot mefapborique ;" or Caftelvetro to aflert, that Ariftotle calls 
 OoivccTint a foreign word, only on account of the boldncfs of the 
 metaphor. By yXmrra., I think, we are to underlland, any word 
 that belongs either to another language, or another dialeSt of the 
 fime language, and that is not naturalized by common and po- 
 pular ife. For foreign words, by long ufage, become common and 
 popular words ; like entire, dame, and a great number of other 
 French words in our language, which were yXwrroti when firft 
 introduced, and for a confiderable time afterwards ; but have now, 
 for many years, ceafed to be conlidered -2.% foreign words. Such 
 words in the Greek language Ariftotle, I apprehend, did not com- 
 
 • Ariftotle, probably, would not have given the denomination of x^flOl', at all, to 
 the fame wocd in this line of Homer ; 
 
 Ttj 'a{>a, <r<n •Jtatjai Wff itkst,—~ II. "V, 1 82. 
 
 prehend
 
 NOTES. 463 
 
 prehend under the term yXumxi, as not being Jlrangc, uncommon^ 
 ^evDcx. This is evident from a pafllige in his Rhetoric: m [a,bv sV 
 rAflTTAI, ArNHTES- ra Sb KTPIA, ISMEN '. 
 
 There is, however, one fort of poetic words not diftindlly pro- 
 vided for in Ariflotle's enumeration ; I mean, ohfolete words. Yet 
 thefe make fo confiderable a part of the privileged language of 
 verfe, that we can hardly fuppofe him to have overlooked them. 
 VkuTTOLi feems the only clafs to which they can poflibly be referred: 
 yet his definition of yXurra. is, " a word, u x^u^'^a.i ETEPOI ; 
 which is not applicable to an obfolete word, ufed by tiobody. Per- 
 haps he did not think it worth while to diiHnguifli between words 
 belonging to atiother language, or dialed, and words that once be- 
 longed to the native language, but which, having long fallen into 
 difufe, have, when occafionally revived, the eff'cSi oi foreign words. 
 
 NOTE 205. 
 
 P. 112. The cankerous wound that eats my flesh. 
 
 •—'(^a.yi^utvx ij fxa <roi^xa.; l(rdiet ttoJi^.— We fhould read, probably, 
 for the fake of the metre, either ^ctyeSuivx y ^, as it is correfted in 
 the Oxford Euripides, or, which feems ftill better, (pxyi^xnot, <5V, 
 which is Du Pauw's emendation. And crot^Kxq, for the fame rea- 
 fon, muft have been altered to (roi^xx, in the verfe of Euripides, as, 
 I fee, it is given in the Oxford edition. 
 
 Had Ariftotle told us no more about thefe two lines, than that 
 one of them was of ^fchylus, and the other of Euripides, what 
 critic would not have confidently given the deivarou to v^fchylus ? 
 
 * Rhtt. III. 10. init. 
 
 NOTE
 
 464 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE £o6. 
 P. 112. tJvv Se /*' Icov OAirOS re zai OTTIAANOS Kxt AKIKY2. 
 
 Od. IX. 515. — In the ..a/f^r^i/ line, thus: 
 
 ^uv J'e /*' luv MIKPOX re text AIGENIKOI km AEIAHI. 
 
 Among thefe fubftituted terms, that yM^'^ anfwers to cXiy^^ is 
 clear enough ; but how uetSrig anfwers to uy.acu?, it is not eafy to 
 make out. This difficulty ftruck me, long before I had feen the 
 comment of Vidtorius, who makes the fame remark; and I had 
 accounted for the miftake in the fame way that he does : for, 
 if aKiy.vg be the true reading, ' the commentators muft, probably, 
 have been milled by taking it for granted, that the fubftitutcd 
 words muft neceffarily correfpond, in order^ a-s well as 7}ieanj-ng, to 
 the original words \ • iBut it is eafy to fee, that dv^yig, 7igly, or de- 
 formed, cannot anfwer to ay-img, which is weak ; and that aa-Qsviyt.^ 
 does exaftly anfwer to it. 'AKty.vg — *AieENHE, u^vmr^. Hefych. — 
 But my difficulty goes ftill ..farther.. I do not fee how ae^iJVf can 
 correfpond, in meaning, to irilot.v<^-. I once thought it fhould be 
 AEIKHE. — OwTrtfl!!/©- — iliv'^ alt^. Hijych. AuK^Xmi; — suTsXBtg, 
 OYAENOI ASIOTS: and, AEIKEL — ETKATAOPONHTON. Id. 
 5o Suidas; Aet}ieXi©-—o hKocTcfp^or^T©-.. But, notwithftanding the 
 authority of lexicographers, and the common derivation of the 
 two words, di'ctzyig and «e;)c£X/©-, I queftion whether the former is 
 ever ufcd by Homer in the feni'e of iTi^xv®^, contemptible, mean, 
 &^. though ksmO^i^^ is. A£»c5j5 feems always to mean, mdignus, 
 iinwortby,Jdd, jhocking, pameful, &c. ] t is a word oijerious itidig- 
 
 « __« Ariftotelem, ordincm Honiericorum verboruni in immutatione eotum non 
 '■'■fervafe ; atque hifecijfey ut metrtim fervaret ; et, quum inquit, atrfltiix©-, quod fecun- 
 *' dum apudipfum e/I, tertium apudpoetam exprtmcre voluijfe." Vi£l. Camment. p. 237. 
 
 nation.
 
 NOTES. 465 
 
 nation^. AsucbXiov feems to be ufed fometimes in //jaf fenfe% and 
 fbmetimes in the contemptuous i<t\\i.Q.^ , as in the line of Homer which 
 Ariftotle next produces. The only paflages that I have found in 
 Homer, where Mkwiq will admit well of this fenfe, are Od. n. 199, 
 and Od. Vi. 249, in the expreffions, amuot ea-a-c, and, usDcsa e<r<ra.i : 
 yet even there, it is not neceflary to render it *' meanly clad ;" it 
 may be, as in other ^\xzt%,Jadly, unbecomingly, indigney &cc. 
 
 With refpedl to the word ^tiSxv©^, Hefychius gives ciiyhvrig as 
 one of its meanings ; and ao-kviK'^ might well enough anfwer to 
 it here, were it not for the flronger claim of the word uxMvg ; 
 which, however, after all, may pojlibly be a miftake. We know 
 how varioufly Homer was read and quoted by the antients. Three 
 Medicean manufcripts here give anliiq, inftead of a-KMug" ; and fo, the 
 ed. Aid. and the verfion of Valla. This reading is alfo mentioned 
 by Eujlathhcs. Perhaps, then, a'sjij??? might be the reading of Ari- 
 flotle's copy — the precious copy l)c vcc^9y]7c©^, of which we hear fo 
 much ; and he might mean to exemplify his propofed experiment 
 of fubftituting common, for poetical, expreffion, only in the two 
 Jirji words ; repeating the laft, mi^vii;, merely to complete his verfe. 
 But whatever becomes of this conjecture, one thing I cannot help 
 juft obferving — that this reading, as/Jijf, is favoured by the prece- 
 ding lines in Homer. Polyphemus fays — 
 
 AXX' osfa Tivx (puTX MEPAN Kxt KAAON l^Byi^TjV 
 
 EfSaiJ' lxeu(re(r9(zi, i^iyxXr^v s7riUf/.Bvov AAKHN. 
 
 Nw ^e /*', SUV OAirOS ts km OTTIAANOZ km AKIKYE, &c. 
 
 One would expert the three words in this lail line to anfwer, as op- 
 pofites, to great, handfome, •s.nA Jlrong, in the two firfl : which they 
 
 ^ Vide indices Homericos. 
 
 * As Od. A. 244. |. 32. fl. 23 r. 
 
 * Ind. Homer. 
 
 ' See Mr. Winftanley's edition. 
 
 3 O will
 
 466 U O . T E S. 
 
 will not do, if wie^read a,kKvg i for iTi^(xi/<^, thou*a it may very 
 well'be oppofed to f^syxXr,]/ eTriUf^evov kakvjv, cannot be, with any pro- 
 priety, oppofed to KixXov. Whereas, if «s/(5Vj befubftituted for muxu;, 
 all will anfwer exadtly j cXty©^, to f/^iyav, iTi^xv^, to fj.eya.Xrjv Ittibi- 
 f^Bvov ccXky/V, and aeidijf, to kkXov. 
 
 In thefe examples, it is not always eafy to afcertain the particular 
 clafs, to which Ariflotle would have referred the words which he 
 changes. We learn, however, that all thefe Homeric words were 
 '^evMot., uncommon t and poetical; and that all the fubflituted words 
 were xuwa — words in commomssA familiar ufe. 
 
 NOTE 207. 
 
 P. 113. For it is this alone, which cannot be ac- 
 quired, Sec. 
 
 Well tranflated, though very freely, by M. Batteux. *' C'eft la 
 M feule chofe qu'on ne puifTe emprunter d'ailleurs. C'eft la pro- 
 '" dudlion du genie, le coup-d'ceil d'un efprit qui voit ks rapports." 
 Compare Rhet. III. 2, p. 585, D. and 11, p. 595, E. where it is 
 obferved, that, km Iv (piXoa-opu, ro 'OMOION, KM EN 110 AY AIE- 
 XOTII, ku^uv, Ivgox^' — See Mr. Harris's Philol. Inq. p. 186, 187, 
 where all thefe paffages are quoted and tranflated. 
 
 NOTE 208. 
 
 P. 113. The DOUBLE ARE BEST SUITED TODITHYRAI^- 
 
 Bic Poetry, &c. 
 
 — Xfijcr<|WaTaTij VI St-rrXti Xe^ig Toig oi8vpui/,!3oig' ourct yap i^o(puosig' a; 
 Jk yXuTTcci, roig eTTOTroiOts' (re[/.vou yua kki mSuSig' ij i/.iTOi(poaa os, Toig 
 »ajit/?£(0(j. Rbct. III. 3, p. 587. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES, 467 
 
 NOTE 209. 
 P. 113. But to iambic verse, which h, as much as 
 
 MAY BE, AN IMITATION OF COMMON SPEECH . 
 
 This, as I have already obferved% is the only pafTage in thefc 
 three chapters concerning the diSiion, that ftridlly relates to the 
 fubjedi — the didlion of Tragedy ^ as diftinguifhed from that of the 
 Epic, and other fpecies. It is a hint only ; but a pregnant hint, 
 aud one that might furnifh matter for a dillertation of fome length. 
 How frequently, even in the beil Tragedies, do we fee the Poet, as 
 it were, through the a<5tori hear him indulging himfelf in his own 
 language, inftead of imitating that of his charadters ; fubflituting 
 declamation for pafllon, dcfcrihiJig when he fliould cxprefs ^ ; and, 
 in the unreflrained and epic elevation of his didlion, loiing all 
 fight of that natura/ language, of which, undoubtedly, the language 
 of Tragedy fliould be, according to the precept here implied by Ari- 
 ftotle, only an improved imitatio7i. This improvement, indeed, 
 admits of more, or lefs, but fliould, at leaft, bear always the fame 
 proportion to what we conceive would be the natural language* of 
 
 the 
 
 » Note 166. 
 
 " See Dljf. I. p. i8, 
 
 * What I here call natural language is, by no means, confined Xo fimple and 
 familiar language. See note 226, and Dr. Hurd's note on v. 94 of the Ep. 
 to the Pifos, there referred to. To which I muft add the judicious obfervations 
 communicated to the public, long after this note was written, by Mr. Mafon, in 
 his memoirs of Mr. Whitehead, p. 58, 59, 60. I perfedly agree with what is 
 there faid — that the Tragic ftyle not only admits, but demand?, " the ufe of flrong 
 '* images, metaphors, and figures;" that " it cannot, indeed, be truly impaffioned 
 "without them;" and that "while it dil'cards unmeaning epithets, it ihould be 
 " liberal of thofe, that add force and vigour to the fentiment." Nor is all this in 
 any degree incompatible with fuch imitation, fuch improved imitation, of common 
 
 3 O 2 fpeech.
 
 468 NOTE S. 
 
 the perfons who fpeak. In the fituation, whatever It may be, of the 
 fcene before us. For this laft circumftance makes a great differ- 
 ence. Tragedy has its a.^yci y-i^v,, its comparatively " idle parts," 
 as well as the Epic Poem' ; and, confidering how rare the talent is 
 of true poetic fancy, and poetic expreffion, the critic, who would 
 rigoroufly exclude them from every part of Tragedy, muft be an 
 Ariphrades, or a Euclid. — The firft fpeech of Caradlacus, in Mr. 
 Mafon's exquifite drama, is highly poetical. Poiribly, a fevere 
 critic niight wifli it fomewhat lefs fo ; — but we have fo little of 
 fuch Poetry ! — No Poet, however, knows better than Mr. Mafon, 
 when the fimpler tone of nature and paffion fliould take place. 
 When Caradacus is exhorted by the Druids to " bethink him"— 
 
 — — if ought on this vain earth 
 Still holds too firm an union with his foulj 
 Eftranging it from peace 
 
 — he anfwers, 
 
 — — — I had a Queen : — 
 Bear with my weaknefs, Druid ! — This tough bread 
 Muft heave a figh — for flie is unreveng'd. 
 And can I tafte true peace, Ihe unreveng'd ? 
 — So chafte, fo lov'd a queen ! — ah, Evelina, 
 Hang not thus weeping on the feeble arm 
 That could not fave thy mother. 
 
 The reader will find fome excellent obfervatlons on this fubjedl 
 In Dr. Beattie's Effay on Poetry, &c. Part II. chap. i. Sedt. i, 
 p. 224, &c. and Sedl. 3, p. 267, 268, where a charming example 
 of fimple Tragic language is given from Othello ^ 
 
 fpeech, ('OTIMAAISTA ^£|iv /iu/xei(T9ai,) as Arlftotle attributes to Tragic di£tion, which 
 he does not require to be confined to common and ordinary exprefllon, («yfia,) but ex- 
 prefsly allows it to ufe alfo metaphors^ and epithets : to xt/jiov, xai META$OPA, Htut 
 KOIM02. cap. xxii, 
 
 « Cap. xxlv. Tranjl. Part III. Se£}. 6. 
 
 * In his note, Dr. Bcattie has " tranflated it into the finical ftyle." But we fee 
 plainly, that he is by much too good a Poet to fucceed well in fpoiling good Poetry. 
 
 With
 
 NOTES. 469 
 
 With refpe£t to the Greek Tragedy, its earhefl language appears 
 to have been of a low and burlefque kind — the Xefi? yiMM of its 
 fatyric origin, conveyed in the fuitable vehicle of the dancing te^ 
 trametei'" . When it was reformed and dignified, (a7r£(rej!«!/wS»;,) 
 Homer was the model; and tEschylus, with a conception natu- 
 rally fublime, and the Iliad before him, raifed the tone of Tragedy 
 above its proper pitch, not only to the pomp of the E/)/c, but 
 even, frequently, to the wild, and tumid, and dark audacity of the 
 Dithyram/)ic : fo that, fometimes, as extremes will meet, the Xi^tq 
 yiXoM, which he took fo much pains to avoid, came round and met 
 him, in the fliape of bombaft, at the very moment when he 
 thought himfelf at the greateft diftance from it. There could not 
 well be any thing in the theatrical cart of Thefpis more laughable, 
 than to call fmoke " the brother of Jire," and duft, the '* brother 
 *' of mud\" 
 
 Sophocles reduced the general language of his dialogue to a 
 more equable and fober dignity, but ftill. Homer, we know, was 
 his great model ° ; and of his didlion it may, perhaps, be faid, 
 that it is often Epic, though his meafure is Iambic. Mofh modern 
 
 « Cap. iv. Tranjl. Part I. SeSf. 7. 
 
 f Iluf©- Kaaiv. Sept, contra lloeb. v. 500. — naa:; tthXs kw;. Agam. 503. — The 
 
 commentators are very amufing, when they admire thi?, and tell us, it is the fame 
 thing as the beautiful expreffion of xfi^t^Ea? Trnvov fxmJ®-, applied to the Oracle, in the 
 Oedipus oi Sophocles, [v. 161 J, the TrafyL^po^a yaiai; rucva of ^fchylus, applied to flow- 
 ers [Per/. 620.] or the " Sylvts fiUa nobiUs" of Horace. [See Burton's Pentalogiay 
 and Stanley's notes on yEfchylus.] De Pauw, indeed, finds fault ; but he is equally 
 diverting in another way. His note upon Kaa-ij wn^a, is — " Inepte : pulvis iile eft 
 «» ipfum lutum arefa£lum et commim/tum: oculati viiknt Jiatiin." — It is to be obferved, 
 that both thefe metaphors of yEfchylus are in the dialogue part. Dante has a riddling 
 metaphorical expreffion of the fame kind, but much more poetical. He calls a hoar 
 froft, the Jijler of f now. 
 
 Qiiando la brina in fu la terra aflempra 
 
 L'imaginc Aifuaforella bianca. Inferno.^ Canto xx'iv. v. 4, 5. 
 
 S "O/ivifov //EV, loipoHMa. Ittimv, lopohXia 5e, 'O/jLyi^ov Tfasyixov. Suidas, v. PoLEMGN, 
 Diog, Laert, IV. 20. — to ^m "O/xn^ww; wvo^Je. Au^or Fita Sophqclis. 
 
 readers.
 
 47° 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 readers, however, will, I believe, think It, (as we are told many 
 antient readers did ",) more adapted to the genius of Tragedy than 
 that of Euripides; who feems to have been regarded by the 
 antients as the firfl who brought down the language of Tragedy 
 into unifon with the meafure, fo that the one bore the fame degree 
 of refemblance to common fpeech in its exprejjmis, as the other 
 did in its rhythm. At leaft, this appears tc have been Ariftotle's 
 opinion, from a paffage in his Rhetoric, >/here, after having ex- 
 plained the difference between the didlion of Oratory and that of 
 Poetry, and the foundation of that difference, he obferves, that fuch 
 a de-^ree of embellifliment as forces on the hearer the idea of art, 
 and labour, and preparation, is to be avoided, not only by the 
 Orator, but even by the Poet, if he would be natural and affeding: 
 and he compares fuch evidently artijicial language to the voices of 
 the generality of aftors, as oppofed to the voice of 'Theodorus, 
 which always appeared to be the real voice of the character he 
 perfonated ; whereas their voices were evidently feigned '. He 
 then adds — "The befl way to conceal artifice, and make your 
 *' language appear eafy and natural, is, by forming it, chiefly, of 
 ** the words and phrafes of cuflomary fpeech, ^ro^Qvly feleSled ; as 
 ** Euripides does, who Jirji fet the example^." 
 
 A paffage, that precedes this, deferves to be given entire, from 
 its clofe connexion with the fubjedt of this part of the treatife on 
 Poetry, and the curious, though fliort, Iketch it contains of the 
 hijlory of Tragic diftion. 
 
 •' Namque is, ( Eurlp'tihs,) et in fermone (quod ipfum reprehendunt quibus gra^ 
 vitas et cothurnus et Jotius Sopbodis videtur cfle fublimior,) magis accedit oratorio 
 generi.— ^«;«///. X. i. 
 
 ' See Dijf. I. p. 41. in the note. 
 
 fCV EKEIVO 3"t, TUVaVTlOl" , Kai itOV f| 0£oJaJf3 ^4)!/»l ^TETTOvSe TTfOJ TJll" TIOV a^XWV i/TTOK^iTUV h 
 
 (KEV yoip., Til ^E70^T©" toixiv sivM, ai o'aMoTfiai. a^E7rT£Tal o'tu., iav ti; ek Tui Eiuflt/iaj Jia^EKTU 
 WM70IV crOTTi9vi- cTTEf EvpiwiSris woiEf, KAI 'THEAEIHE nPXlTOS. Jihei. III. 2. p. 585. B. 
 
 «* As
 
 NOTES. 471 
 
 ** As the -Poets appeared to owe their reputation to their lan- 
 *' guage, which never failed to be admired, however fooUfh and 
 ** abfurd the matter it conveyed ; on this account, even profe 
 *' didtion was, at firft, poetical, like that of Gorgias. And even 
 ** now, they, who ufe fuch language, are looked upon, by illite- 
 ** rate people, as the fined fpeakers ; which is far from being 
 " true; for oratorical diftion, and poetical didlion, are different 
 *• things. And as a proof of this, we fee what has acftually hap- 
 ** pened : for now, even among the Poets themfelves, thofe who 
 *' write Tragedy no longer make ufe of that fort of language; 
 •' but, as they had exchanged the Trochaic verfe for the Iambic, 
 ** becau'fe this, of all metres, approaches the neareft to common 
 " fpeech ; fo now, they have alfo difcarded all thofe words and 
 *' phraies, fo remote from common fpeech, with which the earlier 
 " Tragic Poets ufed to embellifli their didiion, and which are fi:ill 
 '* employed by thofe who write Hexameters. It would be ridi- 
 ** culous, therefore, to imitate the Poets in a language, which 
 ** they themfelves have abandoned as improper'." 
 
 The Abbe Batteux, by underflanding Ixf^lSeioi; here to mean 
 Iambic, or fatirical. Poems, has, unluckily, thrown away the only 
 paflage in thefe three chapters, that was flriftly to Ariftotle's pur- 
 pofe. He has, alfo, with Dacier, mifreprefented his meaning, by 
 rendering — *' ne pent recevoir que ce qui eft employe dans la con- 
 ** verfation." We are, undoubtedly, to underfland, MAAIDTA 
 a^l^otTii, as before : for that Ariftotle did not mean abfolutely to 
 
 mo, 'nsotnTMn ts^tiiTn kyimo Xe|ij, itov h To^yia' aai vuv eti 01 'so>Mi ruv d-^suhujuv raj roiinni 
 owvTM d'ia>^sy£a8a.i xaMira. Tsto Je »k Eriv, «Wv' ete^oc ^^7s km woiriaEi'; Xe&i; srt. AuKoi'Je to 
 (rvix^cuvov hJe yap 01 raj TfajyuSia; otoisvtej en xi^mjai tov dunv t^oztov aWv" iiaissp km ix 
 TETfa/^ETfuv £i; TO iaix^im f^ire^wav, Sice to ra Txoy^i tsto rav /HETfav huoioraxov man xm ctAMiT" 
 ZTU KM Tuv 6vo/ji,ar!iiv a<pr\Katriv, b(ra 'ssa^a, xw Jia^£XTOv Inv oij S"'oi 'm^axov iacri^'iv, km eti wv 01 
 xa i^ai/.Ex^a ■zjoiavTEj, a^woo-j. [The repetition of aipwao-i, here, has much the appearance 
 of error. I fufpeft we fliould read thus : stw hm xm ovo/xaxav, oaa wapa tw SiaxsxTov 
 trir, 01; T 61 OTfuToy sxoiruav km — otoisvte;, apmavi,'} Jio ysWiov fxifxeta^eei tktsj, 01 «'fTOi ix eti 
 Xfwvrai ixEiva xu x^ozaa. Rhet. III. I, p. 584. 
 
 I exclude
 
 472 NOTES. 
 
 exclude the other Poetic words — the double, the foreign, &c. 
 from every part of the Tragic dialogue, is plain from his allowing 
 the occafional ufe of them even in profe, Rhet. II f. 2, p. 585, 
 C. 7. p. 590, E. 591, A. 
 
 NOTE 210. 
 
 P. 115. Even IN THIS, therefore, &c. 
 
 U^yi y.cit TciVTv. — H^r; — already' — even in the JirJI operation of his 
 genius — the very choice of his fubjeft, and formation of his plan. 
 Such appears to me to be the force of ojiSV in this paflage, which, 
 I think, is injured by thofe commentators who pundluate — uo-tts^ 
 J(7r5jM,ev )jj»i — '* as we have already f aid,'' 
 
 NOTE 211. 
 
 P. 115. He has, from the rest, introduced many 
 Episodes — . 
 
 Nuy Je, h jWEfl©^ xTroXafiuv, eTracrooiotg «£;^^?)ra( ATTXIN 'TToWoig.—^ 
 I. e. as the commentators explain it, of the other parts of the 
 war. But, what {hould we think of this Englifh — ** Seleding 
 ** one part of the war, he introduces many epifodes of them ?" If 
 Ariftotle meant the other parts of the war, oivruv muft, furely, be 
 wrong : if uuruv be right, I confefs I cannot fee ivhat he meant. 
 I wiih we had manufcript authority for the aurOT of Heinjius, 
 which is adopted and explained by Le BolTu, II. 5, and 6. — But 
 a learned friend has fuggefted to me a conjedlure ftill more pro- 
 bable; that Ariftotle wrote AAAXIN. Nuv ^£, 'EN jue^©- uTToXaQuvy 
 tTreia-oSioii x.e^'^rM AAAXIN [fc /^e^wv] ttoXXoi?. " Selecting one part 
 " only of the war, he has, from other parts, introduced many 
 
 Epifodes," 6cc. 
 
 *( 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 473 
 
 NOTE 212. 
 
 P. 115. The author of the Cypriacs, and of the 
 LITTLE Iliad. 
 
 To the authors ufually referred to on the fubjedl of thefe Poems, 
 it may now be ufeful to add Heyne, Excurfu prima ad JEn. II. 
 p. 228, 229 — a very learned and curious diflertation concerning 
 the writers on the Trojan war. 
 
 NOTE 213. 
 P. 116. The fall of Troy. 
 See Heyne, Excurfu prima ad JEn. II. p. 230, 231. 
 
 NOTE 214. 
 P. 116. Homer gave both the first, and the most 
 
 PERFECT, example. 
 
 , 'Oig u'TTccciv OjWW©j x£%cijTa<, KAI •TTpuT'^, KAI Ikxvuc.——" Nequc 
 *' quemquam ahum, cujus operis primus audlor fuerit, in co per- 
 " feStiJJimum, praeter Home rum, et Archilochiun, reperienius.'* 
 Veil. Pater cuius, I- 5. 
 
 Vi<florius, and other commentators, have, I think, done fome 
 injuftice to the force of Arifto tie's expreffion here, by taking the 
 adverb, liccaiuq, too literally. They render it — " ita nt fatis putari 
 *' debeat." fViSf.J — " accurate _/??//>." (Govljhn.) &c, — This gives 
 the ivordy indeed, but falls fliort of the meaning, which Caftel- 
 
 3 P vetro
 
 474 N O- T E S. 
 
 vetro alone has, according to my idea, adequately exprefTed : 
 " Gran lode e quella, che e data da Ariftotele ad Homero, che 
 " egli lia Unto il primOy che abbia uflxte tutte e quattro le fpetie 
 " deir Epopea, &c. — e le habbia ufate bene & perfettamcntc'* 
 And. his tranflation is, — " Le quali cofe tutte Homero uso, e pri- 
 " miero, e perfettamefite." Undoubtedly, the literal meaning of 
 ly.xvug '\%,fuffic'iently well ; but in Poetry nothing hfiifficiently well, 
 »that is not as- well, or nearly as. well, as pojjible: and, farther, if 
 lam not miftaken, the Greek writers, not unfrequently, ufe \i<.a,v<^^ 
 and /xaiaf, as the Italians ufe the word njjlii -,. fometlmes for aiough^ 
 (which, I fuppofe, is the primary fignification of ajfai,j and fome- 
 times for much, a great deal, very, &c» 'iKavr^v — ugK^croiv,, nOAAHN. 
 Hejych.. 
 
 NOTE 215. 
 P.. 117. If the Epic Poem were reduced from its- 
 
 ANTIENT LENGTH, SO AS NOT TO EXCEED THAT OF SUCH A 
 NUMBER OF TRAGEDIES AS ARE PERFORMED SUCCESSIVEXY 
 AT ONE HEARING- 
 
 If we knew certainly, how many Tragedies- were performed at 
 one hearing, (L? fjnuv ax^ox(j-iv,) we fhould know,, with, equal cer- 
 tainty, to what length Ai-iftotle thought the Epic Poem ought ta 
 be reduced,, in order to be perfe<!:T:Ly, or fufficiently, lua-uvoirrov. But> 
 unfortujiately, the premifes here are not lefs obfcure than the con- 
 elufioii; the information to be picked up in. antient authors, rela- 
 tive to the Tragic conteils and the Tetralogice, being extremely, 
 imperfedt and unfatisfadtory. Let us however try, what little 
 gliinmering of light may be thrown- upon this fubjedt, from thofe 
 authors, or from the nature of the thing itfelf. 
 
 The general principle, upon which Ariftotle here fixes the 
 length of aa Epic Poem, is the fame witli that, upon which he- 
 
 ■*■ fixes
 
 NOTES- 475 
 
 fixes the length of a Tragedy : viz. " that it fhould be fuch as to 
 ** admit of our comprehending, at one view, the beginning and 
 *' the end. And this," he goes on, " would be the cafe, were it 
 ** reduced from its antient length, fo as not to exceed that of fuch 
 ** a number of Tragedies, as are performed fucceflively at one 
 *' hearing." Here then is a rule, which, at the time he wrote it, 
 was as clear and determinate, as if he had exprefsly faid, that an 
 Epic Poem ought not to exceed a certain number of verfes. But* 
 as an ingenious friend has fuggefled to me, " he probably chofe to 
 *' put his rule in the way he has put it, rather than in this latter 
 ** way, as wifliing to convey an intimation, that the length of aa 
 ** Epic Poem fliould be fuch, as would admit of its being fiiirljr 
 " recited, or read, in" a fingle day." 
 
 It feems to have been a commonly received opinion, that the 
 four dramas of each Poet, which compofed the 'Tetralogies, were 
 always performed at one hearing — in one day*. In this cafe, if 
 one Poet only produced his Tetralogia, there could be but four 
 Tragedies; if tivo, there muft be eight; if /Zr^c, twelve, and fo 
 on : there could be no intermediate numbers. In fo obfcure a 
 fubjedl, I certainly ihall not take upon me to decide. The pafTage, 
 however, commonly adduced, I believe, as the principal authority 
 in this matter, from Diogejies Laertius, appears to me to be againfl: 
 this fuppofition. The words arethefe: 'Eicmot [fc. Tragicil rerpxa-i 
 cpu^Kcrw TiyuvtQivTO, Aimvirioii;, ATivxicii, Y\otvo(,Qviv(x,iOn;, Xvtoo^s, Civ to te- 
 TKDTov ^v crocTVpiKov' TO, OS Timocc oaoii^aTot, eaxXetTO TerpccXayicc^. — Here 
 are four feftivals, and /i^r dramas; and the moft obvious meaning 
 of the paifage, furely, is, that each contending Poet produced, not 
 his entire Tetralogia at the J<ime feftival, but one Tragedy only at 
 e^cS different feflival. And fo If. Cafaubon appears to have un- 
 iierftood it. " ^of Athenis Liberalia agitabantur, tot fabiiJas di~^ 
 
 * Sec Dacier, p. 1 18, 
 » Diog. Lacrt. III. 56. 
 
 3 P 2 " -v erf as
 
 476 NOTE S. 
 
 '* verfas a Tragicis Poetis doceri folitas legimus''." But it feems 
 difficult to reconcile this account with what is generally, I think, 
 faid, and what Cafaubon himfelf has elfewhere , faid, of the fatyric 
 piece; viz. that it was played between, or ^2tT,- the ferious Tra- 
 gedies, on each fefiival, by way of relaxation and rehef '. For, to 
 fay, that of the four dramas exhibited by each Poet on the four 
 differe72t feftivals, t\\Q fourth was a fatyric drama, {uv to TETAP- 
 TON r'v (roi-u^ix.ov,) is to fay, pretty plainly, that al/ the fatyric pieces 
 were performed together at the fourth and laft fefiival, the Xvr^ou 
 And fo indeed fome commentators feem to have underflood if*. 
 Perhaps the matter might, not unreafonably, be compromifed, by 
 fuppofing the rule, in fadt, to have been, that, of the difterent 
 Poets contending on each day, one fliould always produce the fatyric 
 drama of his Tetralogia, and that drama always clofe the exhibi- 
 tion of the day. — But I forbear to indulge conjedlure farther upon 
 this dark fubjedt. Let us return to Ariftotle and his rule. 
 
 Dacier tells us, very gravely, that twelve, and fometimesyjAr/^t";?, 
 Tragedies were performed in one day ' : an account, which, upon 
 the very face of it, exceeds all bounds of probability. It is rather 
 difficult to conceive, that the reprefentation of a fingle Tragedy 
 could take up lefs time than three hours. If however we fuppofe 
 it to have taken up only tiao, and alfo, what could hardly be the 
 cafe, that Tragedy fucceeded Tragedy without any intermiflion, jufl 
 
 •" De Satyr. Graec. Poef. lih. i. cap. 5. 
 ' lb. cap. iii. p. 128. 
 
 ^ Chytris] Genus hoc ccrtaminisfatyrici fuit, ut ex Laertii verbis apparet, in quo, 
 dramatefatyrorumpioprlocertaretur. D'lo. Lacrt. eel. Meib.Wl. 56, note 205. 
 
 ' P. 118, 7iotc 15. — This reminds one of the account given of Chinefe plays, 
 •' dont la reprefentation dure dix ou douze jours de fuitc, en y comprenant la.nuit, 
 " jufqu' a CO que les fpeftateurs & les aiStcurs las de fe fucccdcr etcrncllement, en 
 " allant boirc, manger, dormir, & continuer la piece, ou affifter au fpedacle, fans que 
 " rien y foit interrompu, fe retirent enfin tous,comme dc concert." Brunioy, Theatre 
 lies Grtcs, I. 53. 
 
 10 .MS
 
 NOTES. 
 
 477 
 
 as fcene fucceeded fcene in the fame piece, the whole exhibition 
 of the day, according to Dacier's loweft flatement, would have 
 taken up 24, and according to his highefl, 32 hours. But is it 
 conceivable, that any audience, hovs^ever intemperate their. fond- 
 nefs for this amufement, could fit fo many hours together to hear 
 Tragedies, and to hear them attentively, fo as to judge of, and 
 decide upon, their comparative merits ? — This account, therefore, 
 of Dacier, that the number of Tragedies performed ** at one 
 " hearing," and to the fame audience, (for that is implied,) 
 amounted to twelve, we may venture at once to fejeft as the moft 
 palpable impoiTibility. Shall we then fuppofe eight, the next 
 loweft number polTible, on the fuppofition, that the four dramas 
 . of the %etralogia vyere exhibited in one day ? The reprefentation of 
 eight Tragedies, \\q may venture to fay, could not poffibly take 
 up lefs time than fixteen hours. Let .any man conceive himfelf 
 fitting in a Theatre, and hearing Tragedy after Tragedy, from fix 
 o'clock in the morning till ten at night, and then pronounce as to 
 the probability of even this fuppofition. If we rejedl this num- 
 ber, and ilill adhere to the common. notion of thefe exhibitions, 
 we fhall be reduced to a ftngle Tetralogia ; in which cafe there can 
 have been no n'ya/ exhibition on the far/ie day.. It feems. therefore 
 impoiTible to adjuft this matter in any reafonable way, without 
 fuppofmg, that the fbqr. dramas of the Tetralogia; were exhibited 
 on different feilivals : a fuppofition, I think, fairly deducible from 
 the paflage of Diog. Laertius above quoted. A fuppofition too, 
 which feems to be rendered more probable from the- very nature of 
 rival exhibitions ; as each contending Poet would, then produce 
 his drama at the fame hearing, each hearing, would be a diftindt" 
 day of conteft, and there would be, at each conteft, a fufficient 
 ground of judgment upon the comparative merits of each perform- 
 ance. This idea will allow us to aflign about twelve hours, as 
 the utmoft time taken up by the whole exhibition of the day; and 
 the great difference of length, which we obferve in the Greek" Tra- 
 
 gedies
 
 478 NOTES. 
 
 gedies that arc extant, will alfo allow us to conclude, that, occa- 
 fionally, five, or poffibly even fix Tragedies, might be brought 
 within that compafs, or nearly fo^ On this ground, then, it 
 will appear, I believe, that the extent, to which Ariflotle propofed 
 to limit the Epic Poem, could hardly exceed that of about 7000 
 lines. 
 
 But, if we admit this, we muft of courfe admit, that he meant 
 to inchide the Poems of flomer in the number of thofe which he 
 regarded as too long. And that he did fo mean, however unwil- 
 ling Dacier and other commentators are to allow it, I have no 
 doubts For, i. The adlual length of thofe Poems feems fuffi- 
 ciently to prove this. The number of lines in the Iliad is nearly 
 15,0005 in the Odyfley, nearly 12,000. Now whoever can be- 
 lieve it pofTible, that an audience could fit, and make a common 
 practice of fitting, 22, or even 18 hours together, to hear Tra- 
 gedies, (which, at the loweft allowance, of two hours only for 
 the performance of each piece, mufl have been the cafe, if Homer's 
 Poenas fell within Ariftotle's rule,) may believe, that he thought 
 thofe Poems of a proper length. Dacier, indeed, tells us, that 
 even the Iliad may be read through in a fingle day\ For a wager, 
 indeed, I will not fay what might be done, if we had reading races 
 
 ' See NOTE 64, p. 268. There are not iioo vcrfes in any cf the fcven Trage- 
 dies of jEfchylus, except the Agamemnon. Some of thofe of Euripides fill fhort of 
 1200 lines : e. ^.— the Akejlis^ Heratliia, Rhefus. Several are within 1300. It 
 fhould alfo be confidercd, that the fatyric drama?, which probably clofed th-; enter- 
 tainment of the day, were, perhaps, confiderably fhortcr than the ferious Tragedies, 
 as is the cafe with our farces ; at leaft, if we may judge from the only drama extant of 
 the kind, the Cyclops of Euripides, in which there are but 709 verf.s. 
 
 t Beni and PiccolominI are of my opinion. See their commentaries. Viiftorius, 
 too, though by afx"'"" be undcrflands the Poets before Homer's time, yet, by his 
 explanation .of Ariftotle's lulc, plainly fuppofes Homer to be glanced at; for he 
 makes the time, allowed by the critic for the recitation of an Epic Poem, to be only 
 eight hours. P. 250. 
 
 k _" L'lliade, TOdyfTee, .& I'Eneidc, font entierement conformes a la regie 
 " d'Ariflote: dies peuvent ctre leucs chacune dans un feul jour." P. 415* 
 
 at
 
 NOTES. 479. 
 
 at Ne^vnlarket. But, 2. Had Ariflotle meant to except Homer, 
 why not exprefsly except liim ? Gladly as he appears to feize 
 every opportunity of giving the Poet his jull praife, would he not, 
 here alio, have oppofed his condudl to that of other Poets, as he 
 has done in fo many other inftances ^ Or why, indeed, refer us to 
 the number of Tragedies fucceflively performed in one day, when 
 he might as well have referred at once to the Iliad, or the Odyfley ?~ 
 All this fecms to leave no doubt, that he thought thofc Poems 
 drawn out to too great a length. And this is alfo conformable to 
 what he afterwards fays, of the advantage which the Tragic has 
 above the Epic Poem in this circumftance, that it efteds its 
 purpofe " in a jldorter compafs" — \v eXxTrovi fzyix^'. I do not forget 
 what he had faid in the preceding chapter — that if Homer had 
 taken the whole war for his fubjedt, his Poem would not have been.: 
 Iva-vvoTTTDv : which, it may be urged, implies, that he thought it 
 was BucruvoTrTov as Homer had managed it, and therefore not too 
 long. But the contradidlion here is merely apparent. The e-jo-ui/- 
 cTTTov admits of degrees ; and all that Arifhotle appears to mean, 
 in the paflage before us, is, that the Poems of Homer would have 
 been wore ha-vvaTrra, and,, in that refpeft, more perfed:, had they 
 been fhorter. 
 
 But, to return once more to the dramatic exhibitions — the time 
 of tiaelve hours feems \o\z the very utmoft that can reafonably 
 be allowed, and is more, I believe, than will readily be allowed, 
 without confidering the particular charadler of the Athenians, and 
 the circumftances attending thele theatrical exliibitions. The 
 intemperate fondnefs of that people for thefe amufements is well 
 known; and Arillotle himfelf gives us a pretty flrono- picture of 
 it, when he fays, though only in the way of hyperbolical fuppo- 
 fition, " if A HUNDRED Tragedies were to be exhibited in con- 
 currence"." We muft, alfo, conlider the variety of fubjedls in the 
 
 » Cap. lilt. — The proverbial expreffion, imk^ot^ov l>j,al^, is well- known. 
 ^ jPsri II. 5tY7. 4. — Orlg. cap..\'\\. See note 64. 
 
 dilTerent
 
 4-8o N O 1* E S. 
 
 different Tragedies performed, and, indeed, the variety refulting 
 from the veiy nature of the Greek drama, with its choral troop, 
 its odes, its accompaniments of mufic and dance : the relief, alfo, 
 of the y^*^i^r;l: drama, which clofed the performance by way of 
 Farce; the pleafure of cojnparmg the rival Poets and aftors, the 
 zeal of party in fivour of this, or that, particular Poet or per- 
 former, &c. — And we may add to all this a curious circumftance 
 in the dramatic hiftory of the Greeks ; that the people never fate 
 uc-i-oi. hu^'dvriq, but eat, and drank, and regaled themfelves with 
 cakeSi and nuts, and wine, during the performance, like an Englifli 
 audience at Sadler's Wells, or Bartholomew Fair'. 
 
 In the whole theatrical fyftem of the antients, and eveiy thing re- 
 lating to it, all feems to have been proportionably vaft, extravagant, 
 and gigantic. Their immenfe theatres, their cololfal drelles, the 
 ftilts, bufkins, or heroic pattejis, on which the adtor was mounted"', 
 their. mafks that covered the whole head, their loud, chanting, and 
 fpeaking-triimpet declamation" — all this is upon the fame fcale 
 with the intemperate eagerhefs of the people for thefe amufements, 
 the number of Tragedies exhibited in one day, and, we may add, the 
 almoft incredible number faid to have been written even by their 
 beft Poets. — Would not this laft circumftance alone, fuppofing 
 not a fingle drama to have been preferved, have furnifhed a rea- 
 fonable proof, a prw?-i, or, at leafl, a ftrong prefumption, that the 
 Greek Tragedy mtiji have been, in many refpefts, a fimple, une- 
 qual, imperfedl thing, jull fuch as, in fad:, and prejudice apart, we 
 
 ' See Athcn. p. 464, F, and Cajauh. .Auhnadverf. p. 779, and the paflage there 
 cited from Ariftotle's Ethic. Nicom. 
 
 '" The reader will find, a curious dcfcriptlon of the drefs and figure of the antient 
 Tragic a£lors in Lucian's treatife De Salt. p. 924. eil. Ben. and De Gymnas, p. 406, 
 415. But he will allow fomething for the exaggerations of a man of humour. See, 
 alfo, the Gal/us, p. 263. 
 
 " Sec Dr. Burney's Hi/?. o/Afu/Jc, I. p. 154, and PI. IV. F!^. i, 2, 3. 
 
 find
 
 NOTES. 481 
 
 find it to be° ? Sophocles, confeiredly the moffc correift and po- 
 lidied of the three great Tragic Poets, is laid to have written above 
 an hundred Tragedies *". 
 
 NOTE 216. 
 P. 117. For, in this respect also, the narrative 
 
 IMITATION IS ABUNDANT, AND VARIOUS, BEYOND THE REST. 
 
 TL^piTTVj yap •x.cx.i, % oi'/iyyj[^a,Tizvi fji,ifA,Yi<ri^ tuv ixXKuv. — TTipiTTy] is rendered, 
 by almoft all the commentators, eximla, frcejlantior, more excel- 
 lent, than the other imitations ; which makes Ariftotle directly 
 contradid: himfelf. And this Viilorius allows, at the ilime time 
 that he adheres to that fenfe : — " prcejiantiorem effe [banc poeiin] 
 *' inter casteras, et altiorem locum tenere^ How this can be re- 
 conciled with the critic's decided preference of Tragedy in the laft 
 chapter, I do not fee. I believe Dacier is right, in giving to 
 .iTipj.TTi], in this paflage, the fenfe of, more abundant — la plus excef- 
 five de toutes\ The text, however, appears to me to be defedlive: 
 for what becomes of the y.ou, which Dacier, and other tranflators, 
 have been forced to negledl ? The only fair verfion of the paffagej, 
 as we now read it, is this : — ** for the narrative imitation also, 
 is more abundant, &c. KAI 4 ^'ry- P/^- — of which I can make 
 no reafonable fenfe. — Farther, fome word feems wanting, to ex- 
 prefs in what the Epic is irip^irryi; and this Dacier found himfelf 
 obliged to fupply in his tranflation and note : en cela la plus ex- 
 ceffive — . I cannot, therefore, help fufpeding, that ruToig [fc. 
 ^BviKoi; ovoi^otiri], or rather t«u7T7, has been omitted ; and that we 
 fliould read thus — tts^ittti yx^, yMi TATTH*,, ■^ Siviyrji^XTtari pp;^-/^ tuv 
 
 ° See NOTE 33. 
 
 •• 123 : See Stiidas, Fabric. Bib. Grac. — Cafaub. in Athen. p. 496. 
 
 » The fame fenfe is given to the word by RobortelU ; but he undeiftands Ti^nm 
 •tuv oMw — abundant in other things alfo: a fenfe which, I believe, the phrafe will not 
 !_ bear; befides that, for this purpofe, the nat {hould be otherwife placed— »ai t«v ow^v. 
 
 3 Q^ cihXuv,,
 
 482 NOTES. 
 
 ccXkcov^. " In this refpeSi too" — alluding to the feveral other 
 relpedis mentioned in this chapter, in which the Epic imitation 
 was TTB^irrvt Tuv KkXtxiv. as, in the time of its a6lion, and the length 
 of the Poem itfelf j in its Epijbdes, and the variety and ^,£>/«X&7r^£- 
 -TTeioc arifmg from them, and from the admiffion of contemporary 
 events ; in the degree, alfo, to which it admits of the wonderful, 
 and even the incredible". This, alfo, agrees perfedlly with what 
 he had faid, cap. xxii. y.xt ev [/,ev rag ri^uiKoig AIIANTA ■)(m]<riy.ot, tcc 
 iicriiAivu. 
 
 NOTE 217. 
 P. 117, Have more motion. 
 
 Ktvvjtycot.. The fcruple of VicStorius, who propofed to read 
 KivvTx, from a doubt, whether kivyitikx would admit of a pajjive 
 ienfe, feems to have been ill-founded. The pafiage in Plutarch, 
 Tie primo frigido, referred to by Goulfton in his note, is this : w; 
 (SeaSeix ncci STAIIMOS [ocvTiKeiroci] Tr^og o^uf^crrov Kca KINHTIKON. 
 p. 1755, cd. H. S. But the word is ufed in the fame fenfe by 
 Ariftotle himfelf, in the 50th of the Harmonic Problems, p. 770, 
 where kivvjtik^ is applied to the acuter found of a concord, on 
 account of the velocity of its vibrations, and oppofed to ^'^e^wa;©^, 
 by which he charadterizes the graver found. 
 
 NOTE 218. 
 
 P. 117. The other, adapted to action and busi- 
 ness. 
 
 U^xKTiKov. — See note 45, p. 234. 
 
 * So above, cap. xxiii. — KAI TATTHi SEff-TrEtn©- av tpavein Oja^^®- wa^a tsj a7>Jij. 
 ' See what prcfcntly follows in this chapter: Part IIJ. Sal. 4. of the tranllation. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 483 
 
 NOTE 219. 
 
 P. 118. The Poet, in his own person, &c. 
 
 The reader may compare Plato's account of Homer, De Rep. 
 lib. iii. p. 393, ed. Serr. p. 178, ed. Ma/fey. 
 
 NOTE 220. 
 
 P. 118. But Epic Poetrv admits even the impro- 
 bable AND incredible, FROM WHICH THE HIGHEST DEGREE 
 OF THE SURPRISING RESULTS, BECAUSE, THERE, THE ACTION 
 IS NOT SEEN. 
 
 Ae; «£!/ ijy iv Txig Taat-yuoiizig ttoihv to Stx.Vf/.xs'ov' fx,xkXov evoB^eroci ev 
 Tti ZTroTTOiia, TO oO\oyov, 01 trufipxtva fjuxXig-oc to Qauf^xgov, otct to ^yi oprcv 
 hg Tov Tv^TTovTx. — Such is the reading which I have followed. 
 The fenfe, which I have given it, accords very nearly, if not ex- 
 adlly, with that given by Vidlorius and Goulfton, and adopted by 
 Dacier and M. Batteux\ Vi^Itorius fupports his emendation — : 
 AAOrON, inftead of uvaXoyov — by reafons of confiderable cogency: 
 •vi-z. the difficulty, or, rather, the impoflibility, of making anv 
 fatisfadory fenfe of to xvxXoyov, as the rejl of the paflage flands '' ; 
 
 the 
 
 * — "Mais encore plus dans I'Epopee, qui va ci cela jufq' au deraifonnable ; car, 
 *' comine dans I'Epopee on ne voit pas les perfonnes qui agifTent, tout ce qui pafle les 
 " bornes de la raifon eft tres propre a y produire radmirable 5i le merveillcux." 
 Dacier. — " L'Epopee, pour etonner encore plus., va jufq' a rincroyable ; parce que ce 
 " qui fe fait chez elle n'eft point juge par les yeux." — Batteux. 
 
 b If avaAcycv be right, it can be underftood no otherwife, I believe, than adver- 
 bially — «vjiro7i;f — in proportion; as it has been underftood by thofe commentitors who 
 have adhejed to that reading. But, in proportion to what? Cajhlvctro explains it 
 
 3 Q.2 thus :
 
 484 NOTES. 
 
 the explanatory injlance itfelf, which immediately follows, and Is, 
 plainly, an inftance of the aXoyov, and even exprefsly called yzKom, 
 ridiculonjly improbable j and the fimilar inftance, prefently after 
 given, of the landing of Ulyjfes in the OdyiTey, which he exprefsly 
 calls, rot. \v OSva-a-ettx, AAOFA, &c. 
 
 But, though I think the fenfe of the paiTage, thus read, and thus 
 explained, is, in itfelf, unexceptionable, yet I can by no means 
 rely with perfedl confidence upon the reading from which it is 
 obtained, y^ll the 7nanujcripts, it feems, give, with one confent, 
 ANAAOrON. This circumftance, in a paflage not free, in other 
 refpeds, from fufpicion, fliould be futiicient to prevent our admit- 
 ting the emendation of Vicftorius, however probable, without fome 
 referve — *' expeSiandi codices." I fliould perhaps, therefore, have 
 done better, had I omitted the doubtful part of the paflage — the 
 words, TO ccvoiKoyov, ao ^a\iga, (ru[^!3xtvBt to Oocvi^xg-ov : for the omiflioii 
 will leave a clear and complete fenfe ; and, moreover, a fenfe, in 
 which the only meaning that can well be given to the words 
 omitted, feems, in fadt, to be implied. As* [jcsv iv Iv tch; r^ocyuhxii 
 
 "TTOiBiV TO Sxvf/.ag'ov' f/.ciXXcv d ivdB^iTOci ev tv eTTOTTon'cc, —oioe. to fiy[ opoiv 
 
 It; Tov ■xdo.ttovtx. " The furprifing is necefl^ary in Tragedy: but 
 
 *• the Epic Poem admits of it to a greater degree, becaufe, ' 
 
 ** there, the adlion is hotjmi." 
 
 thus : " Ma, fc fi conviene fare la maraviglia nella Tragedia, molto p'm fi conviene, 
 " ed e licito, a farla neli' epopea ylr sWa proportione. ^iq/i dica — fe in una attioiie 
 *' riftretta al termino d'un giorno, & alio fputio d'un palco, [of ay?()g-(?,] fi fa mara~ 
 " viglia, chej'ta d'un grado, fi dovra fare in attione che fia, pogniamo, di trcntafette 
 " giorni, e avenuta in mare & in terra, quale e I'attione comprefa nell' Odifica,y?««a''9 
 " proportions, di trenta h ptte gradi : — &, to dvahoyov, e detto averbialmcnte, come fe 
 " foffe, aya?.c>i)$. p. 54q. — I know not how the reader will relifh this Rule of Three 
 explanation. — But what is to be made of the Jio, which follows ?— *' Wherefore [i. e. 
 becavfe the Epic is more capable of the furprifing than Tragedy] trufx^aau iji.a>.ira to 
 (av/j-ccrA — " the furprifing occurs, or is to be found, moji in the Epic Poem, becaufe 
 " there the action is not feen." — i fte no othcry<»/>- traiiflation of the paflage, accord- 
 ing to the old reading. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 485 
 
 NOTE 221. 
 
 P. 119. Achilles making signs, &c.- 
 
 The pafiage Is this : 
 
 Aaota-iv ^'ANENEYE KAPHATI «5"«©- Ax'XKiu;, 
 
 Ovo not If^ivoci iTTt 'Enroot ttikocx. f3eXsuvci, 
 
 Mvj Tig Kvo^ apoiTo f^xXuv, Ss ^ivnp©^ e\9oi, 
 
 IL 22. 205. 
 
 NOTE 222. 
 P. 119. It consists in a sort of sophism, &c. 
 
 In the words, (?/ ^vi av — to Tr^ou-Qeivxi, inclulively, the text feems 
 evidently mangled beyond all hope of conjedlural reftoration. 
 This ulcus infaiiabik I prefume not to touch, either as commen- 
 tator, or as trandator. I can make nothing confiftent of it myfelf: 
 I have feen nothing confident made of it by others. 
 
 The words, T\iTo h ij-< ^i\il^, are ambiguous. Vidlorius doubts, 
 whether they mean, *' this pofleriory^zt,'? is falfe," (the toIi yivzrai,) 
 or, " this conclufion is falfe" — namely, h to xigipov \gi, v.m to ■n-poreoov 
 hvxt. What follows, had it been tolerably clear, would, probably, 
 have fixed the fenfe of t^/bvS'^. As this is not the cafe, I have 
 given it that fenfe which appears to me mofl obvious ; and I think 
 I am warranted by the very lame expreffion ufed in the fame fenfe, 
 in the Rhetoric, II. 23, p. 579, A, where, Igi (Js mro ■^iu^'^, clearly 
 means, this is a falfe conclujmi. 
 
 But the moft important queflion is, in what manner Ariilotle 
 meant to apply this logical paralogifm to Homer's management 
 of fidlion. None of the commentators, whom I have feen, ap- 
 pear to me to have given any fatisfadory explanation. 
 
 I The
 
 4% NOTES. 
 
 The paralogifm ttcx.^ i7rof/,Bvov, a confequentit here alluded to, the 
 reader will find clearly explained in feveral parts of the philofo- 
 pher's other works'. It confifts in taking a propofition as con- 
 vertible, that is not fo. Becaufe rain wets the ground, we con- 
 clude, when we fee the ground wet, that it muft have rained. 
 Becaufe every man in a fever is hot, we conclude, that a perfon 
 who is hot muA be in a fever : a.voi.yY.yi KAI tqv 9epfx.ov ttvpstteiv . 
 Thefe are fome of Ariftotle's own explanatory inftances. — Now, 
 he tells us here, that Homer's art of fying — t^evS'/j Xsyeiv &'? ca — 
 confifts in impofing his marvellous fidlions upon the reader's 
 imagination by a fort of poetic fophifm, fimilar to this logical 
 fophifm. And this is all he fays. He has left us to make out 
 the fimilitude as well as we can. No writer, I believe, ever paid 
 more frequent compliments of this kind to the fagacily of his 
 
 readers. 
 
 Dacier, with other commentators, feems to underfland nothing 
 more, than that artful intermixture of hillorical, or acknowledged, 
 truth, which, by throwing the mind, as it were, into a poflure of 
 belief and convidion, has its effect even upon what we know to 
 be feigned, and makes the falfe pafs glibly with the true. But I 
 cannot think, that this comes up to Ariftotle's meaning, nor that 
 his obfervation, here, amounts only to that ofStrabo: — I'x. ^r^tv^ 
 <k,Xri8iii; Kvocrrretv nxivrjV ri^ocToKoytav, i^ Oj^rj^tKOV, •/.. r. aX". For no one 
 has attempted to fliev/, and I believe no one can fliew, /}o'w that, 
 which Ariflotle fays of the particular paralogifm denominated 'ttoc^' 
 t7rc[.'.svov, is applicable to the iiitermixture — the 7ncre juxtapojhion, of 
 fadt and fidion. 
 
 The fmiilitude of the logical and poetic fophifm appears to me to 
 be this. It is liot merely, that, where there is a mixture of hiftory 
 
 » Tom. I. p. 286, A, and B. Seft. 6, 7, S.—Rhtt. II. 24, p. 580, E. ed. Duval. 
 
 •" Tan. I. ubifupra. 
 
 « Lib. I. — And fee Dacici's note, p. 427. 
 
 and
 
 NOTES. 487 
 
 and fidion, the truth makes the fidion pafs ; but the comparifon, 
 I think, relates to the connexion between th^JiiJio/is of the Poet, 
 confidered as caufe and cfFedl, as antecedent and confequent. Tho 
 Poet invents certain extraordinary charafters, incidents, and fitu- 
 ations. When the adtions, and the language, of thofe charadlers, 
 and, in general, the confcqiiences of thofe events, or fituations, as 
 drawn out into detail by the Poet, are fuch as we know, or think, 
 to be true — that is to fay, poetically true, or natural ; fuch, as we 
 are fatisfied muft neceflarily, or would probably, follow, if fuch 
 charadlers and fituations ad:ually exifted; this probability, nature, 
 or trutio, of reprefentation, impofes on us, fufficiently for the 
 purpofes of Poetry. It induces us to believe, with hypothetic and 
 voluntary faith, the exiftence of thofe falfe events, and imagiiiary 
 perfonages, thofe (x.hvxra,, aXoyot, ^c\)ln — thofe marvellous and in- 
 credible fidions, which, otherwife managed, v/e flK)uld have 
 rejefted : that is, their improbability, or impolhbility, would have 
 fo forced themfelves upon our notice, as to deflroy, or dillurb, even 
 the flight and willing illufion of the moment. 
 
 Whenever, fays the philofopher, fuppojing fuch a thing to be^ 
 it would certainly be followed by fuch efFedls ; if we fee thole 
 effeBs, we are difpofed to infer the exiftence of that caufe. And 
 thus, in Poetry, and all fidion, this is the logic of that temporary 
 impofition on which depends our pleafure. The reader of a plav, 
 or a novel, does not, indeed, fyllogize, andy?jy to himfelf — " Such 
 ♦' beings as are here fuppofcd, had they exifted, mujl have adled 
 " and fpoken exactly in this manner; therefore, I believe they 
 '* ^/'yc exifted:" — but \\z feels the truth of the premifes, and he 
 confents to feel the truth of the conclufion; he does not revolt 
 from the imagination of fiich beings. Every thing follows fo 
 naturally, and, even, as it feems, fo necelTarily, that the probability 
 and truth of nature, in the confeqiiences, fleals, in a manner, from 
 our view, even the impofibility of the caife, and flings an air of 
 truth over the whole. With refped to fad, indeed, all is equally
 
 488 NOTE S. 
 
 4'cU(^©o; for if the caufes exlft not, neither can the effects. But the 
 conj'eqnent lies are fo told> as to impofe on us, for the moment, the 
 belief of the antecedent, or fundamental lie'^. 
 
 For infcances of this art, no reader can be at a lofs. He will 
 find them, not only in ahno(1; all the '* J'peciofa miracuhi" of 
 Homer, but even in the wilder and more abfurd miracles of Ari- 
 oflo; whofe poem is, indeed, a ftriking example of the moft impro- 
 bable, and, in themfelves, revolting lies", to which, however,, 
 every poetical reader willingly throws open his imagination; prin- 
 cipally, I believe, from the eafy charm of his language and ver- 
 fification, and the remarkable diflinftnefs of his painting ; but^ 
 partly too, from the truth and ?iatitre which he has contrived to 
 fling into the detail of his defcription. But were I to chufe, from 
 the produftions of poetic genius at large, an example, which 
 would, fingly, illuftrate this paflage of Ariftotle, more than any 
 other that I recoiled, it fliould be the Caliban of Shakfpeare. 
 
 I fliall only add, without troubling the reader with any com- 
 ment of mine, one pafTage of the Rhetoric, which may ferve, both 
 to illuflrate the paralogilin itfelf, here alluded to, and to confinn 
 the application which I have given it. In that paflage, Ariftotle 
 applies the paralogifm -Tra^ k7rofjt.emv, to the effctfl of oratorical 
 elocution, in producing perfuafion and convi<flion in the hearers^ 
 
 Uidavoi (Jfi TO TToayjtia:, km ^ oixetx Xi^tg' IlAPAAOriZETAI yup ^ 
 
 iyuxVi ^V ccX'/jQajg Xeyovr©^, on, Itti Toig Tomrotg, irug e^aa-iv' co^e oiavTuiy 
 it KOit i^vi VTcag sx^'* ^'^ ° Xsyuiv, ra. ■naocy^oi.Tu, irug \x^v . — " What 
 " the Orator fays, is, likewife, rendered probable and credible by 
 
 "^ Hobbes, witk. his ufual acutenefsyobferves, that '■'■probable JiSl Ion is fimilar to rea- 
 " fulling rightly from a falfe principle." p. 13, of his works, Seii. 9. 
 
 ' It may be laid of this Poet, in the language of ShakQieare's Coriolanus, that he 
 
 MurderM impoJfihUily, to make 
 
 What cannot be, flight work. ji£I v. Sc. 3. 
 
 ' Rhet. III. 7, p. 590. — Sec alfo, ibid. cap. xvi. p. 603, E. eti, £« "zm waSnTixuv, &c.. 
 a pafiagcj which Vidorius cites as illuftrating the words— ^w 7«f to eiSifjn, &c. 
 
 " a fuitiible
 
 NOTES. 489 
 
 *' a fultable diftion and elocution. For we are cheated Into the 
 " perfuafion, that the orator fpeaks truly, merely becaufe we know 
 " that men, ib circumftanced as he affumes to be, are adtually 
 •' affedled m that manner: fo that we take it for gi-anted, that 
 " things are really as the fpcaker reprefents them to be, when, in 
 *' fadV, thev are not fo." 
 
 The art here pointed out by Arillotle, as eminent in Homer's 
 poetry, evidently extends to fidlion in general; but, by i|/£uJV, 
 I underftand him to allude, chiefly, to fi£tions of the extraordinary, 
 marvellous, and improbable kind-^fuch as require the utmofl art 
 and management of the Poet to make them pafs. Tlie connec- 
 tion of the whole paffage, if I am not miftaken, fliews this to be 
 the author's meaning ; the application of -^/su^'/i being fixed, both 
 by the terms Oxu^uxs-ov, and uXoyov, in what precedes, and by the 
 a^wccTo, Koii BiKOTo. which follow, and which I take to be, or, at 
 leaft, to include, thofe very 4^£u^57 XeyoiArSyx wg Ja, of which he had, 
 immediately before, been fpeaking. 
 
 NOTE 223. 
 
 P. 120. If, however, any thing of this kind, &c. 
 
 I much doubt of the integrity of the text. The fenfe I have 
 given feems to be the only one, which the paffiige, as it now 
 ftands, will reafonably bear. Dacier, after Vidlorius, underftands 
 — " if the admilTion of one improbable circumftance be the means 
 " of giving more probability to the rt^." I do not well compre- 
 hend this : I am fure it is not what Ariflotle h^sfaid. His words 
 are, dv Se 6yi, kxi (pcavyiTxi evXoyuTs^ov — i. e. *' if he /jas introduced 
 " fuch a circumftance, or incident, and // (not the rejl, the nvbole) 
 *• has fome appearance of probability," 6cc. 
 
 3 R I fuppofe
 
 490 NOTES. 
 
 I fuppofe Ariftotle meant to fay, that, though improbabiUties/ 
 are certainly faults, and ought to be carefully avoided in the firft 
 choice and ftru6lure of a fable, yet, they might be fo well ma- 
 naged by a Poet of genius, (efpecially in the Epic, which is 
 here the fubjeit,) as to appear rather probable — luXoyurs^ov; — to 
 pafs with fome fhew of probability ; and, in this cafe, fhould be 
 admitted, or tolerated, even though puflied to the utottov, or abfard. 
 This fenfe accords perfedlly with what immediately follows, 
 which is precifely an inftance of fuch management ; of abfurdity, 
 or, at leafl, improbability, (ra. ev oSua-craa, aXoyx — ) veiled by 
 the charms of poetry, and finding almofl as ready an admiffion 
 into the imagination of the reader, under the paflport of the 
 beauties by which it is accompanied, as if it were, in itfelf, ever 
 fo confonant to nature and experience. With refped: to the words 
 — Iv^sx^o-Ooci y.at ktottov — it feems neceffary to adopt one or the 
 other of the two manufcript readings — eyJe'^ea-Qcci, or ccTrohx^o-Oixi. 
 The former of thefe verbs Mr. Winilanley takes in the fenfe of 
 uTretoyeiv, KuXvav, upon the authority of Suidas. But in the very 
 paflage adduced by that lexicographer, the immediate fenfe of ln^e- 
 '/io-Bcti is, to receive. Te^^a re 7ra.^ocT&rocyf/,ivx -^v, Itg to EKAEXEZ0AI 
 TO. TO)v (3otpl3u^Ci}v ro^£vy,oirx. i. e. to receive them; and ^ receiving 
 them to keep them off from their bodies. Arcere, here, is only 
 what we may call the confequential meaning of the word. I do 
 not fee, that it may not, in this place, very well bear the fenfe of 
 receiving, admitting, or, rather, tolerating : but of this I would not 
 be underflood to fpeak pofitively. This feems, at leafl, to be the 
 fenfe, which the purport of the pafTage requires ; and it refers, 
 I think, not to the Poet himjel/', as fome underfland it, but to the 
 audience, or the reader. When Arifhotle has juft faid, ccv ^e dv — 
 i. e. " but if he has introduced, or admitted it," how can he 
 be undcrftood to add, " he Jhould o.dmit it?" Farther, the 
 word KVBXTcc, (tolcrabilia,) which, in the inftance immediately fub- 
 joincd, clearly relates to the hearer, or reader, feems fufficiently to 
 
 fix
 
 NO T E S. 
 
 491 
 
 fix the fame reference of the correfpondent word, \\(.^iyj^^a.i, or 
 a-Trotcyjcr^Kii here. 
 
 Mr. Harris, in his Pbilol. Inquiries y p. 220, though he has not 
 quoted, or tranflated, this particular paflage, appears, pretty clearly, 
 to allude to it, and to have underftood the verb as here explained. 
 He fays, fpcaking of iiiiprobabilities in the drama — " 'Tis true, 
 ** indeed, didfuch plays exijl," [civ h % — ] " and were their other 
 *• dramatic requifites good, thefe improbabilities might be endured, 
 *' and the plays be ilill admired." 
 
 The verfion of Piccolomini agrees with mine : — " Ma fe, po- 
 " nendovifi poi qualche cofa, che in fe habbia del non ragionevole, 
 *'Ji adornera, & Ji trattera, in majtiera, ch'ella apparir poffd ragio- 
 ** nevole, potra, in tal cafo, trovarvi luogo." p. 392. 
 
 NOTE 224. 
 
 P. 121. The absurdity is concealed under the va- 
 rious BEAUTIES, &C. 
 
 In the language of Pindar,—^ 
 
 K«< TTM ri Kui J3^oTuv cp^Bvoig, 
 
 VTrep Tov «Xtj5)j KoyoVf 
 
 l^XTTXTUVTi [JivSoi. 
 
 XAPI2 y, UTTE^ aTTccvra, reu- 
 
 -yei TO. fji,eiXtya. QvocTOig, 
 
 eTrtCpeooKTci ti[^xv, 
 
 KAI AniSTON 'EMHSATO nilTON 
 
 EMMENAI O/ymp. h 
 
 • " L'homme eft de glace aux verites, 
 « U eft de feu pour les menfonges.'* t,a Fontaine^ Fab. 174. 
 
 3 R 2 The
 
 492 NOTES. 
 
 The reader, I believe, will be pleafed with the comparifon of 
 2i poetical pz.iTa.ge fo remarkably appofite to this obfervation of the 
 phihfopher -y and, indeed, to all this part of his treatife, relative to 
 the management of fi(flion. 
 
 On account of the fame general relation to the fubjeft, I may 
 be excufed for adding thefe agreeable lines of Plautus :■ 
 
 Sed quafi Poeta, tabulas cum cepit fibi, 
 
 Qusrit quod nufquam eft gentium, reperit tamen, 
 
 Facit illtid verifimile qucd mendacium eft, — • 
 
 Nunc ego Poeta fiam. PJeiid. A£l I. Sc. 4. 
 
 NOTE 225. 
 P. 121. The idle parts of the Poem — . 
 
 'APrA ^t-m' The expreffion is beft explained, according to my 
 
 idea of it, by Cajichetro. — " Dobbiamo intendere per parti 
 
 " otiofe, quelle, nelle quali il poeta parla' di fua perfina^ & con 
 ** favellajiia ci fa vedere quello oJie fi fa : le quali percio fi do- 
 ** mandano, f^im a.^yx, che non fono in atto, ed operanti, come fono 
 ** quelle, le quali fono rapprefentate in palco, & quelle, nelle quali 
 ** per gli poeti epopei fono introdotte le pcrfone afnvellare ; le quali 
 " parti, perche paiono preffoche montare in palco, ed operare, fi 
 *' contrapon^^ono alle parti otiofe, e contengono, principalmente, 
 *' Icfententie, ed, acceflbriamente, i cojiumi," p. 578. 
 
 Dacier's ** parties foibles" in which he is followed by M. 
 Batteux, prefents a different, and, I think, a wrong idea. 
 
 NOTE
 
 N a T E S. 493 
 
 NOTE 226, 
 P. 121. In which neither manners nor sentiments 
 
 PREVAIL. 
 
 It has bcea inquired, why Ariftotle here pafles over in filence 
 Xht pajjionate parts of the Poem ; to which a laboured and fplendid 
 diftiori feems as ill fuited, as it is to the expreflion of manners and 
 fentiments. This inquiry has produced another; whether he did, 
 or did not, mean to include the pajjionate parts in ^ixvotitikoi;. 
 Madhis contends that he did: ViSiorius, that he did not. I be- 
 lieve the latter is right. For if we take ^lavoiot,, here, in that wide 
 fenfe which is given it in cap. xix% it will include ** whatever is 
 •" the object of J'peech ;" — " every thing," as Mr. Harris has ex- 
 plained it, " for which men employ language''." If, therefore, 
 the jtteo'ij ^Mvo'/\TMay here, comprehend thofe thoughts which exprefs 
 pqjjiony they will alfo comprehend fuch as exprefs 'manners, or 
 charaBer ; from which Ariftotle exprefsly diftinguiflies them : 
 
 But, whether he did, or did not, mean to include the pajjionate 
 parts of the Poem, it feems true, and he would probably have 
 allowed it, that fuch a didlion as he here defcribes is improper for 
 the expreffion oi pajfion: nor is this at all inconfiftent, as, on a fu- 
 periicial view, it may feem to be, v/ith the following paiTage in his 
 Rhetoric. — T« oe cvoix,xtcc, tx liri^sTa, kxi oiirXx TrXetco, xcti roc ^svoty 
 uaXii'x oiMOTTn Xsyovrt IIAGHTIKXIS^' (rvyyvMf/.yi ycco coytt^o^ivu, kxxov 
 '^cviixi " MayCjUijxcf, -^ TTsXcopiov" eiTrem'^, &c. The ftrong and figu- 
 rative language, and, what may be called, the natural Poetry of 
 
 • TranJJ. p. 103. 
 
 '^ Philolog. Inquiries, p. I '7 3, &c. 
 
 * Rhet. III. 7, p. 590, E. 
 
 V . , paiTion — '
 
 494 NOTES. 
 
 paflion — a fort* of Poetry which we every day hear from the 
 mouths of thofe, who never made, and fcarce, perhaps, ever read, 
 a verfe — this is a very different thing from the AIAnONEIN Xe|«, 
 the AIAN AAMnPA Xgfjj, of which the philofopher here fpeaks.— 
 But, for an exaft, though fliort, difcuflion of this fubjed, with 
 its proper diftindlions and limitations, I mufl refer the reader to 
 an excellent note on v. 94, of Horace's Epijlle to the Pifos^. It 
 will be found, I think, perfectly confiftent with both the paffages 
 of Ariflotle here confidered, and will afford the befl fupport to 
 the above remarks. — See note 209. 
 
 NOTE 227. 
 P. 121. Obscured by too splendid a diction. 
 
 AnOKPTHTEI yap iioCkiM ij Xiav Koifjf.iraoc Xs/^i^ rx '^dr, x.xi rag Stavoidf, 
 — In the fame fenfe, in which eyz^VTrTerixi is ufed, in a fimilar 
 paflage of Lo/igmus, Sed:. 15. — where, fpeaking of the effedl of 
 lively imagery, in ftealing one's attention from m-gument, he fays, 
 <[iuo'a Js "Tttoq, ev roig Totarot; u'TTuinv, an rts KaeiTTOv<^ dxaof^ev' odeVf 
 R.7ro ra a-TroSetKriK^ TrepuXKoixsQx Bt; to kcctu, (poivTutnocv IxTrXi^tcTsiCov, u to 
 ff^a.yiA,a.Tiy.ov ErKPYnTETAI nEPIAAMnOA^IENON. — So alfo, SeSf, 
 
 ly. — ADEKPTYE to crxvi^x tu OflTI AYTri*. — And again— 
 
 ^la. AAMnPOTHTA tjjv t^x^'^v AnOSKIAZEI, kou oiov Iv KATA- 
 
 KAATTEI T'/i^eu 
 
 The following paffage of the Rhetoric, concerning the mixture 
 of the argumentative with th^ pathetic, will alfo help to illuflrate 
 that before us. — Kai oto-v va^f^ '!^oti\q, jKj; Xtyz evSv[/.i^fix' »j yap eyMpacru 
 TO 7ru9(^, ri fAKTfjv lipyj^evov Igoa, to evBufivifix' iKtcp^asiri yotp at Ktntitretg aX- 
 ?.viXccg, M Ki^a' kki, iJ A<I>A NIZOTSIN, iJ Ci(r9emg TTOiiKriv, Rhet. III. 
 
 17. p. 604, E. 
 
 In the fame manner the exprefBon of Ariflotle is well explained 
 by Ficcolomini, in his commentary, p. 394. 
 
 '' Dr. Kurd's Horace, vol. i. See, particularly, p. 79, 80. 
 
 .2 NOTE
 
 NOTES.. 495 
 
 NOTE 228. 
 
 P. 123. In words, either common, or foreign, &c. 
 
 As^et VI jtat '^uttxi; — . Hcinf. KTPIA< Ae^a, ^ ■x.a.i yXuTTuig,' 
 The infertion feems neceflary, but would, perhaps, be better thus : 
 Xi^ei, H KYPIA(, v) ycai -yXuTTxig, &c. Vidlorius and Other com- 
 mentators fuppofe Kv^ia to be underftood. But this I cannot con- 
 ceive. Ae^ig appears clearly to be ufed here, as in cap. xxii. for 
 didlion in general, including, as in that chapter, every fori of 
 words. 
 
 NOTE 229. 
 
 P. 123. Which are the privilege of Poets. 
 
 AIAOMEN ya^ raura toi; TToiviTxiq, The fame expreflion is made 
 ufe of by Ijbcrates, in the following paflage, to which I referred 
 in NOTE 5, p. 158, and in which the privileges and advantages 
 of the Poet are well fet forth, and the importance of verfe to the 
 efFe(ft of even the beft poetry, is flrongly infifted on. 
 
 Ton; fjbiv 'yap Troti^raig ttoXXoi AEAONTAI -/.oirfiot. Ka< yxo 'TrX'tio'ix- 
 ^ovTocg Totg avSpuTrotg rag Ssag oiovr auroig i^i TroiVjorut, Koct OixXeyousvag, 
 '•Hat (rvvaycovi^of^eviig, otg uv f^aXTiScixrt' km Trept rarcov oriXucrcUy f/,"!!! uouov roiQ 
 TeTuyfA,evotg ^ ovc^aa-iv, aXXcc, rot, jttej/, ^svoig, rot, Is, KOiivoig, to, Je, ^gra- 
 (popoiig' KXi [zyjoev TrccpczXiTTeiV, dxXoi ttxcti rag £idsi7i OiXTrotaiXai toji/ 'ttohiitiv^ 
 Toig OB 7re^< r^g Xoyvg idiv I'^efi ruv roiaruv' dXX UTTorofzcag, xat ruv ovo- 
 [xarcov rotg TroXiriKoig , k«< ruv ivQuf^rif^ccruv roig ttboi uuTxg rag OTafaf, 
 
 » TfTay^evoi?, here, is equivalent to Ariftotle's nv^mn as, x«ivc(j, to liis mmmi*mi;t 
 and ^evoif, to his 7XuTT«i{, 
 
 * See note 57, p. 255, 
 
 avccyKeitov
 
 496 NOTE S. 
 
 avctyKXiov sgt ^p'/jcrScti, Flpog 6$ tutoi;, ot [Jt.zv fJt.iTc<. yATouv km cu^ix,uiv 
 ccTTccyrac Troiiurt' oi ds idcv'^ tutcov koivojvuo'ii'' « Tocaurijv i^a %ap'V, u/, dv 
 XXI ryi X£??f, Jia;; roig ev[lv[A'y]f/M(riVf zyji v.o(,VMq, oj^ug rutg ye svpu9[A(Kig kui 
 TKig cruy,ixBTptciig v^-j-)(jxyuyH(Ti rag aycaovrxg. KxTxf^xSoi odv rig eKetdsv 
 ry\v'^wufjLiv ditrtcv' %v yap rig ruv TToiviyMTUv tuv evdoKt^avrciiv rx (jlsv 
 oyouxra y.xi Txg OMvaxg kxtxXitt'^, to 0= METPON oixXu/X'/i,' (pxvyjatTXi 
 •ffoXi) x.xrxSiSg-£pa tijj ooPrjc, rig vvv \-)(p^sv irepi ccutuv' , See' NOTE ^, 
 
 p. 1^8, the pallage from Plato. 
 
 N O i-.iTzr. E 230. 
 P. 123. What is right in the poetic art, is a 
 
 DISTINCT CONSIDERATION FROM WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE 
 POLITICAL, OR ANY OTHER ART. 
 
 This is one of thofe pafliiges, which the commentators appear 
 to me to have darkened by illuftration. See, particularly, Daa'er's 
 note. His account of the difference between Poetry and a// other 
 arts, feems evidently falfe. What Ariftotle fays of Poetry — that 
 It has two kinds of faults,- effential, and incidental — is, at leaft, 
 true of all other imitative arts. It is even true, as Beni has ihewn, 
 of Rhetoric and Logic\ Ariflotle only fays, (to give the paflage 
 literally,) " the rightnefs of the poetic, and the rightnefs of the 
 " political art, are not the fimc; nor of any. other art and the 
 " poetic art." The plain meaning of which appears to me to bq 
 that which I have given — that the o^^o-yig, or reditude, of Poetry 
 itfelf, is not to be confounded with that of Politics, nor of any 
 
 * Euag. c'irc. in'tt. 
 
 » " Nam Rhetorica & Diale(SHca fuos egrcdi fines folent, & in alienos campos 
 " excurrere, per'uidc fere ac nos de Poetica doccmus. Tcmerii igitur Ariftotelef, 
 *' quod inter Poctlcam & Politic.im notavit difcrimen, idem, inter Poeticam, rurfus» 
 " ac caeteras artes, notaflct : nam Rhetorica & Dialedlica cjufdem videri pofTunt rec- 
 " titudiiiis cum Poetica." Benii Comm. in Arljl, Poet. p. 45a. 
 
 other
 
 NOTES. 497 
 
 other art that niay be the incidental fubjeSi of the Poetry, which, 
 in itfelf, may be good, and even excellent, though it may deliver 
 things falfe or inaccurate in Politics, Natural Miftory, Navigation, 
 Geography, &c. This {itn(c of the paflage feems clear of all the 
 dirticulties with which the common explanation is embarrafled, 
 and leads naturally to the - following diviiion of the faults of 
 Poetry, into eflential and incidental. — Caftdvctro is the only one, 
 of the commentators I have confidted, who appears to agree 
 with me, if I underlland him rightly, in this explanation of the 
 pafTage \ 
 
 The allufion, here, to the fevere objedtions of Plato, who 
 would allow of Poetry no farther than as it could be made to 
 coincide with the views of his own ilridl and moral legiflation, 
 has been fufficiently pointed out. The reader may fee, particu.- 
 larly, a fine paflage to this purpofe in the feventh book of his 
 Laws, [p. 817, ed. Serr."] where, addrefling the Tragic Poets, he 
 refufes to admit them into his republic, till the magifl:rates have 
 fatisfied themfelves, by infpeftion of their poems, that they con- 
 tain nothing but what is in perfedl unifon with the laws and moral 
 difcipline ot the ftate. — M-^ Ji; J'o^ijTe ^^taj px^tu^ yi irui u^uxg -TTore 
 fTxo r;i^tv Ixo'Siv, iTKVivxc T6 mj^avToig kxt etyoaocv, Kxt KxXKipuvug vtzokditx^ 
 tKTxyo^ivug, ]Wa^oy (p^iyyoj^iviiq tj^uv, iTrtrpiVjiHV ufttv dr,fjbriyopstv ttoo; rrat^xg 
 T£ Kat yuvxtKccq xxi rov 'jroaiTx O'/T^ovy tuv xvtcov Keyovrag iTriTHjSiUf^XTuv Treat 
 Liy; Tx aUTX cctreo r,^^, uXX , wq to ttoXu, kxi bvocvtix tx TrXsig-x. ^^bSou 
 yaa rot k xv f>i,xi>oi[/,s6x reXeug 5?ja«j tb kxi x-ttxitx »j ttoXk;, viTig iv vuiv eyrt- 
 rocTTot ociocv TX VMV Xeyofjcsvx, Tfmv y.otvxi Txq xpy^x^y sits pyjTX y.xt e7r<r»;daa 
 'Tmroi-ii>cxTi Keynv ng to jjatov, sits f/.r,. Nuv av, u ■7Tx&/; fjuxKxy,o:v fma-uv 
 sKyovoi, iTTiOetPxvTei; TOig u^-^onn irauTOV tx^ vyATipxg -TTxpx^Tx; r/f^BTeoxg 
 cioocg, XV ^iv TX KVTx ys, y] KXI (ieXTiu, tx TTxp Cuuv (bXlVriTXi XByOj^BVX, 
 d'jo<ro^Bv vjjLtv yopov' ii de ^wij, u (piXoi, ^k xv ttotb duvxi^s^u. — De Leg. VII. 
 p. 817. — To this way of talking it was a plain and dired anfwer, 
 
 ^ See p, 592, and 599, of his commentary. 
 
 3S to.
 
 498 NOTES. 
 
 to fay — 0'j%' '^ a.vT'/i coSoT7ig' Igi T'^g ITOAITIKHS KOii tij; IIOIFI* 
 TIKHS. 
 
 In what is added — i^i uKXti; rex^''!? ^i^^ voiviTimtq — Ariilotle may, 
 I think, be fuppofed to glance more particularly at that part of 
 the tenth book oi Plato's Republic, where he expofes the idle no- 
 tion, ' current among the rhapfodifts, that Homer was a perfedi 
 inafler of all arts and fciences. And with refped: to the abfurdity 
 of this notion, Ariftotle undoubtedly agreed with him. But there 
 was danger, left the credit of Homer fliould fuffer from the manner 
 in which Plato combated this idea. For thofe extravagant ad- 
 mirers of Homer not only afferted tht faci, that he had an accu- 
 rate knowledge of every art and fcisnce on which he touched, but 
 they went farther, and maintained, that fuch accuracy was eifential 
 to a good Poet : Kvayy.r, yap, they, urged, tov ayocQov TToiyjTtiv, ei fisKXet 
 >7ript av a.v ttoiv, KaXwj -TTCiiicreiV-, liOOTX dox 'rroiav,. tj jttoj ciovrs hvcui Troietv . 
 Now Plato, whofe objedl here is to vindicate his rigid exclufioa 
 of all mimetic poetry, and that of Homer in particular, from his 
 republic, confutes the fa^,. without confuting the genera/ poli- 
 tion. While he fhews the pretenfions of the Homerifts to be falfe, 
 hcjeems, at leaft, to allow, that they ought to be true. For he 
 flings in no favings ; he no where fays, what Ariilotle has here 
 faid for him — that the want of this fuppofed accurate knowledge 
 of arts and fciences no way affeds the charadter of Homer as. a 
 Poet. By denying that he had that knowledge, and, at the fame 
 time, not denying, or not exprefsly denying, that he ought to have 
 it, he leaves the reader to underiland, that he meant to detradl, on 
 this account, from his merit as an hnitator. And this, indeed, is 
 
 ' This very word, ofSoTti?, is often- ufed by Plato ; and, particularly, in this palTagCy 
 wliich perhaps Ariflotle had in his view — KajToi ^Eyxcri yi ot 7r^e^rol, /jmaixni 'OP0O- 
 TUTA iiv^i Tuv riJcvw Taij ij/i^xaij wcfifKcrav Jwa/iiv.— An idea which he rejects with ab- 
 horrence. The word /j-nffixn here is ufed in its wideft acceptation, including Poetrj\ 
 Dc Leg. ii. 655. 
 
 •' R.p. X. p. 598, E. td. San 
 
 perfedly
 
 NOTES. 499 
 
 perfedly confonant to the whole defign of this part of his work, 
 which was, to difcredit poetic imitation in general, by fhewing the 
 dijlance of its reprefcntations from truth". 
 
 NOTE 231. 
 
 P. 123. The faults of Poetry, &c. 
 
 The original is — ATTHZ Iz rii\q 'TroiVjTix.vig Sittti ij a.i/,x^7iu. The 
 word auTTji appears to me to make ftrange confiifion. For Ari- 
 ftotle is here diflinguiHiing two forts of faults in Poetry, ejfential 
 and accidental; and his expreffion, prefently after, for. the former, 
 is AYTHS n uyM^TKx, — " a fault of the Poetry itfclf" As the text 
 flands, therefore, it is juft as if he had faid — " There are two 
 ** faults of the Poetry itfef: one, of the Poetry itfef, and the 
 *' other, incidcfital." — Accordingly Dacier, Batteux, and almofl: 
 all the tranflators, negledl the word aur>?f. Poffibly it might, 
 originally, have ftood thus : — zh oixkyn 7-e%i/ij$-, kxi, ttoiyitmyh auTvig, 
 Trig AE ttxujjtjxi??, 6cc. « 
 
 * This fanciful argument is thus fliortly and clearly ftated in the Comment, on the Ep, 
 to the Pifos, &c. vol. i. p. 254. " Poetical expreffion," fays the phtlofopher [Phito'ly 
 " is the copy of the Poet's own conceptions ; the Poet's conception, of things, and 
 " things, of the {landing archetype, as exifting in the divine mind. Thus the Poet's 
 " expreffion is a copy at third hand, from the primary, original truth," — See Plato 
 De Rep. 10. p. 597, 598. — To prove his point the better, he fliews, that the Poet's 
 conceptions are diftant even from the truth of things, becaufe his knowledge of thofe 
 things is imperfect and inaccurate, p. 598, 599. 
 
 3 S 2 NOTE
 
 500 NOTES, 
 
 NOTE 232. 
 P, 123. If the Poet has undertaken to imitate 
 
 WITHOUT talents FOR IMITATION . 
 
 E< u£v yap TrpoetXeTO f/.ifA.yt'Tatr^ea umvotLLiotv.^ — So, the MSS. But 
 a^wuf^M never, I believe, means impqffibility, but inattt of power ^ 
 incapacity^. This was, long ago, futiiciently proved by Vidorius. 
 If the word be right, fome prepofition muft be wanting. Hein- 
 fius lupplies — KAT' oclwa^iccv. The credit of the conje^Slure is 
 due to Caflelvetro''. Still the phrafe, [/.if^r^a-xa^M Kar u^wcc^icai, for 
 imitating without ability, or talents, for imitation, is harfli, and, as 
 far as I know, unfupported by any other example. It feems not 
 improbable, that Ariftotle might have written it — DAPA AYNA- 
 MIN. Suppofing the three firft letters of the prepofition to have 
 been deftroyed, the pafTage would fland thus — /xijtti5<rao-5at**AAT- 
 NAMIN : which it was obvious enough for the tranfcriber to viif- 
 correSi into alwunikv. The phrafe, Tr^oetXeTo f^iiJi,-/i(rix<r9on -rroc^x h~ 
 i/df^ivy would be clear and unexceptionable. So, cap. ix. — ttuocc 
 Tijy Svvuuiv TTxpartiva.vrig [^v9ov. 
 
 Vi(florius remarks, and, I think, juftly, that Horace probably 
 had his eye upon this paflage, in the lines 
 
 Sumite materiam veftris, qui fcribitis, asquam 
 
 Viribus ; et veriate diu, quid ferre recufent, 
 
 Qiiid valeant, humeri. Cui leda patenter erit resj &:c. 
 
 Epiji. ad Pif. V. 38, &c. 
 
 — where Arlftotle's v^oui^eta-Goci, he thinks, is exprelfed by " fumit^; 
 " materiam," and, /e3la res :" and koct aSvvociJ.Kx.v glanced at in the 
 other exprefTions, but, particularly, in the adverb—" patenter." 
 
 » AJwaf^iaJt In ITEPHSIS AYNAMEilS. Metaph, V, 12. p. 893,0. 
 * P. 602, of his commentary. 
 
 J NOTE
 
 NOTES, 
 
 501 
 
 NOTE 233. 
 
 P. 123. To HAVE REPRESENTED THINGS IMPOSSIBLE 
 WITH RESPECT TO SOME OTHER ART, &C. 
 
 No interpretation that I have feen, or been able to devile, of 
 this whole ambiguous, perplexed, and, probably, mangled paffage, 
 is without its difficulties. All I could do was, to chufe that, 
 which, after the clofell attention to the original, and to the befl 
 comments, appeared to me " minimis urgeri." I will not at- 
 tempt to drag the reader after me, through the detail of my own 
 doubts and embarralTments. But left my verfion, from that degree 
 of cloienefs, to which, in all paffages where the meaning is doubt- 
 ful, I have thought it right to confine myfelf, iliould retain, in 
 fome degree, the ambiguity, or obfcurity, of the original, fome 
 explanation may be neceffary. 
 
 By the various expreflions, ^(^wsjo-atrSa; jtar' ocluva^ioai — uf^xarix ^ 
 tcuff auTviv — OMTvii — x;a5' suuryju, and, above all, by KAKOMIMHTXIJ^ 
 ly^oi-^B, which feems to fix clearly the fenfe of the reft, Ariftotle 
 means, I think, to indicate all fuch fxults as are incompatible with 
 good imitation — that is, in bis view, with good Poetry. All other 
 faults he denominates, y.a.Ta, a-vix,f3ei37iK©- — incidental. Faults he 
 allows them to be ; but fmaller, and more pardonable, fiults : 
 EAATTON yc(^, £< ft>; -aIh, Sec. In this clafs he reckons, to. cc^u- 
 varu — things impoffible. The expreffion is unhappily ambiguous : 
 for we may underftand either a,l\)va.T(x. in general, or, a^uvatra kxt 
 locT^tjifiv ri uXXtiv n-xyyiv. The commentators are divided. I (.-annot 
 be of their party, who adopt the firft of thefe fenfes. I lee not 
 how impofllbilities, or abfurdities*, in general, could, confift- 
 
 * That the c^wata. here meant are not what he afterwards calls wi^asa aJwara, 
 probable impoJfiblUties^ but fuch as he denominates «A3>^, is plain from his inflance^ 
 crafaJfiv/ixa, n ra 'Ekto^o; Jiwlij, which he had, in the preceding chapter, e.^prefily given 
 as an inftance of the a^oyov. See Tranf.. p. 118, 119. 
 
 ently
 
 5Q2 NOTES. 
 
 ently with Aiiilotle's principles, be admitted by him into the 
 number of merely mcidental faults" — Kura au^fcef^riK^ — fuch as 
 affedled not the Poetry itjelf. We mufl, I think, underftand — 
 xxiAM^Tzi^ciTix r] ocSui/xTcx. — things hiaccu>vJc, or, what is worfe, impof- 
 Jible, naff lKO!.gY,v TB^vijv — upon the principles of fome olfber art ''. 
 
 x'^riftotle then e;oes on, and applies his folution, founded on the 
 foregoing diftincftion, to the worj^ fpecies of fuch incidental faults — 
 to things alxivocTDi.. Take, he fays, the worft: fuppofe the Poet to 
 have reprefented fomething itHpofjibki with refpedl to fome particu- 
 lar art, as that of medicine, geography, &c. This, itridlly fpeak- 
 ing, is a fault ; but it is a fault that may even htjiijiijied, {o^Sag Ix'^i,) 
 if, by means of it, the Poet has anfwered, better than he could have 
 done without it, the end of his own art, &c. — Still, he continues, 
 fuppoiing this not to be the cafe, we are to conlider, whether the 
 fault, admitting it to ^e a fault, be ruv kkto, rr^v nyQi'/jv, ^ kkt aXXo 
 <rufA!3s0-/iK@^, Sec. — If the purfuit of HeSior cannot be abfolutely 
 jujlijied by the 6uv[x.a.s-ov, the tKTrX-^hi; which is produced by it, ftil'l 
 it is not y.ay.oi/.iixr,Tug yiyaxi^fjLivov ; the Poetry is good, and the end 
 of Poetry, the pleafure ariiing from the wonderful and the ftriking, 
 is aftually attained, though it be true, that it might have been 
 attained without the fault in queftion. 
 
 By the exprefTion, tx wpos aurijv ttjv rex"'^" ot-^uvaTo., I underftand— 
 with refpedl to the art of which the Poet fpeaks ; not, with refpeil 
 to the art of Poetry itfelf : though I confefs the latter fenfe to be 
 that, which the words, oivryiv ttju rexvvv, the art itjelf, moft natu- 
 turally prefent. But this fenfe of the expreffion feems to me to be 
 utterly irreconcilable with the itwiz of the ivhok pafliige. In 
 rejedling it I have the concurrence of Viftorius, Piccolomini, and 
 M. Batteux. — Befides, that the exprefllon itfelf feems to be jargon. 
 
 » In recapitulating the clifFcrent critical objciSlions to which Poets were expofcd, 
 he exprefsly fcleds improbalUlty, and vitious manners, as the jujie/i grounds of cen- 
 fure. Of6)i h iTriTi/tKo-ij, km AAOFIA xai fxox^^'a. Cap. penult, 
 
 " So M. Batteux : fee his note on the pafl'uge. 
 
 For,
 
 NOTES* 503 
 
 For, what are " things 'vnpojjible to, (or, with refpeSi to, J the art of 
 *< Poetry itfdf'^" — The only reafonable meaning of the phrafe is — 
 things, which it is beyond the power of the art to reprefent or 
 imitate; as it is beyond the power of painting to imitate founds". 
 But how can the phrafe be appHed, as Datier appHes it, to the 
 akoyov, *' deraifonnable — tout ce qui ejl abfurde F" Is it not jufl: as 
 pojjibk for Poetry to reprefent a horfe flying, as a fhip failing ? — 
 The fenfe, which I have given, feems alfo fupported by the anti- 
 thetic expreffion that follows — teX©^ to 'ATTHS — " its own pur- 
 ** pofe;" and ftill more by the clearer phrafe which he prefently 
 after ufes — r-nv riEPI TOTTflN r^xn^ — ** the art to which theje 
 ** things belong!' 
 
 I muft, however, repeat my confeffion, that no palTage of this 
 treatife appears to me to be of more defperate perplexity than this; 
 nor is there any of the numerous and llubborn difficulties I have 
 had to encounter, of which I wifli to be underflood to olFer my 
 folution with lefs confidence. Here, as in many other places, had 
 1 waited for perfe(5t fatisfadtion, I might have ftood ftill for ever: — 
 
 — £;K£A©o ocvtoi 
 
 K.eivu, og ev TpwooKTi TroXuroiTTTOiO'i Kvorjirxi 
 Eg-Tj &<pop^aLvuv' KoxOiT; oe ci aXXoTS >.xi7;v, 
 AXXoTi osPiTipTiv £7r;/3«AA£r«< Big ooov ekdetv. 
 TIoiTTTocivet exoiTepGe' vo©j oe 01 ■^ijre KUfjtx 
 "EiXeiTOii, — |M,aX« S' oi|/£ [JiiTjg caps^xro fiaXvjg^.. 
 
 * Plato ufes— a^uvara EN -ni texw), in this fenfe:— Ki/|3£fi'/iT«5 «Kf(^, h lato^^, to, ts. 
 AATNATA EN THi TEXNHi, wxi t« ^wonix, ^im(rOa:niit, Rep. II. p. 360. ed. S(rr.. 
 
 "* Oppian, 'A>..isuT. III. 501, &c. 
 
 NOTE
 
 504 NOTE 
 
 NOTE 234. 
 P. 123. According to what has been already said 
 
 OF THAT END. 
 
 To yuc TeX®- EIPHTAI. This reading has been queftioned j but, 
 I think, without fufficient reafon. It may very well be underftood 
 to refer to all that Ariftotle had faid, or, at leait, hinted, about the 
 end of the art — the Otxvf^xsrov, ch. xxiv. — ly.7rX-/i^i:;, cap. xiv. and xvi. 
 &c. This is not the only inftance in this treatife, of reference to 
 fomething implied, as if it had been expreCsly /aid. — See note 
 150, p. 396, Siindnofe ^g.) 
 
 Vidlorius illuftrates IxttXitiktikutb^ov by an apt quotation from 
 Ariflotle himfelf: Aoksl h sj EKHAHHIS GAYMAIIOTHS hvai 
 rnEPBAAAOYSA. Top. lib. iv. 
 
 Sfrabo fays— Mu^» TEAOS, ^W ««' EKHAHHIN. p. 25. ed. Caf, 
 
 NOTE 21,^, 
 P. 124. Whether a fault be, &c. 
 
 lloTBpu)/ lj-< TO ufjtaprr;[/,x' ruv kxtol ttji' n^Wf V ''^'' ocXXo <rv[A,l3i~ 
 firjKi^. — I cannot perceive, that this wants any emendation ; much 
 lefs, that it is, as Mr. Winftanley fays, " Jiullo Jtmfu." He con- 
 tends for the certainty of ATOnriTEPON — a reading, which Ro- 
 bortelli fays he found in all the manufcripts he conlultcd. I would 
 only afk, whether Ariflotle can be conceived to have written fuch 
 a fentence as this ? — " A fault in the Poetry itfelf is a more ahfiird 
 " thing than a fault in fome other incidental matter; for it is 
 f* z kfs fault," &c. Yet this, I think, is the plain Englifh of the 
 
 Greek—
 
 NOTES. 505 
 
 Greek En, UTOTTUTBDOV £J-< to UjlCCpTVIflX TUV KXTOi TViV TiyytlV, 1J KOCT 
 
 •aXXo (rvfyi,l3el3yifc^' eXxttov PAP — k. t. X. 
 
 Viiflorius contends ftrongly, and, I think, with much better reafon, 
 for -TTon^uv. He fays well — " Nam quce adjimguntur videntur fig- 
 " nificare ita prorfus legi debere : duo enim genera peccatorum 
 ** contraria inter fe indicant. Utroriim igitur peccatorum id, cujus 
 *• arguitur poeta, videndum effe prscipit : altcrum enim eorum 
 " genus faciliorem excufationem habet." p. 274. 
 
 NOTE 236. 
 P. 124. Has not represented things conformably 
 
 TO TRUTH . 
 
 'Oujc o!,\y\^-t\. — An eTTmiJifiing very frequent in the mouth of Plato, 
 to whom, undoubtedly, Ariftotle here alludes. *• The Poets ought 
 " not," fays Plato, fpeaking of the reprefentations of Hefiod and 
 Homer, ** to be permitted to tell us — uq 6eoi diotg ttoXejiako-/ re, xxi 
 tTrtfinXeuna-t Kxt fA.x-xpvTxi' OTAE yx^ AAHQH^." — They ought not, 
 Xoi^opeiv xTfXui iru tx Iv uSa, dxXx, f^xXXov, sTrxwav' ug OTT' AAH0H 
 Xsyovrxg, ar CiXpsXifjix Toig jWEXXko"; i^x^if^oig e(r£(r9xi . — So again, of 
 Homer's account of the cruel treatment of the body of Hedtor 
 by Achilles, and of his facrificing twelve Trojan captives to the 
 manes of Patroclus [//. if/.] : ^ui^ttxvtx txutx OT <pvi(rof^Bv AAH9H 
 h^vjtrOui. — And again, prefently after — mff oa-ix txutx, OTT' AAH0H'. 
 To all which objedlions, as appears from what follows, Ariftotle 's 
 anfwer would have been — on iru ^ASIN. 
 
 » De Rep. II. p. 142. ed. Majf. 
 
 *" Ibid. III. p. 160. — He alludes particularly to the famous declaration of Achilles, 
 Od, A. 487, which he immediately quotes ; with other paflages of the fame kind. 
 * Ibid. p. 174. 
 
 3 T NOTE
 
 5o6 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 237. 
 
 P. 124. Sophocles — drew men, such as they should 
 BE3 Euripides, such as they are. 
 
 The difference here intended, between the two great Tragic 
 Poets, feems to me to be rightly explained by Dacier in few 
 words : *' Sophocle tachoit de rendre fes imitations parfaites, en 
 " fuivant toujours bien plus ce qu' une belle nature etoit capable 
 *' de faire, que ce qu'elle faifoit. Au lieu qu' Euripide ne tra- 
 ** vailoit qu' a les rendre femblables, en confultant davantage ce 
 " que cette meme nature faifoit, que ce qu'elle etoit capable de 
 " faire." p. 458. — It is thus indeed, that, by comparing diffe- 
 rent paffages, we fhall find Ariflotle clearly explain himfelf. 
 What he here means by aAij^ij, is fufhciently clear from the fyno- 
 nymous exprefTions, om ha-i — oix vjv, ^ efw, in this chapter, and 
 oj/,oiisi — KoiO' riijt,ccg — and, o« mv, in chapter ii. where he explains the 
 different ohjeBs of poetic imitation \ To thefe expreflions are 
 oppofed another fet of exprefTions, which I take to be fynony- 
 mous with each other — o(« e'va* hi — c<»j ^«, here ; to fisXTtov, and 
 •the TTcc-aoi^etyi^oc ij7r£p6%oi/, prefently after j KaXXiag, cap. xv *". — f^sXTiovxg 
 r) y.aS ^f^cci — (^iXnovcii; tcov mv, cap. ii". All thefe exprefhons cor- 
 refpond to the various exprefTions of, improved nature — la belle 
 nature — ideal beauty, &cc. in modern writers. 
 
 The objedlion then, to which Ariflotle here points out the be/i 
 anfwer, I underfland to be this — " Your imitation is not true; it 
 " is not an cxadt copy of fuch nature as we fee about us." — The 
 anfwer is — " No : but it is an improved copy. If I have not 
 " reprefented things as they.^r^, I have reprefented them as they 
 " oug&t to be." 
 
 » Tran/J. Part I. Se^. 3. ' TmnJI. p. 94. ' Pttrt I. Se£I. 3. 
 
 A very
 
 NOTES. 507 
 
 A very different explanation of this paffage has been given by 
 an eminent critic ; but, I confefs, it appears to me to be irrecon- 
 cilable vv^ith Ariftotle's expreffions, clearly interpreted, as I think 
 they are, by comparifon with each other. According to that ex- 
 planation, the anfwer of Sophocles to the objedtion — a« aXij^?;, and 
 indeed the ftnfe of the objection itfelf, are very different from 
 w^hat Dacier, and, I believe, all the commentators, have repre- 
 fented them to be. — The explanation is this : 
 
 " And this will further explain an eflential difference, as we are 
 *' told, between the two great rivals of the Greek flage. Sopho- 
 *• cles, in return to fuch as objedted a want of truth in his cha- 
 ** rafters, ufed to plead, t/jat he drew men fuch as they ought to be^ 
 *' Euripides fuch as they were. £o(po«Xij? i<prt, a.uT<^ [A.ev onsg Set ttoihv, 
 " Ev^iTTiS'^g Ss, oioi iiri. The meaning of which is, Sophocles, from 
 " his more extended commerce with mankind, had enlarged and 
 ** widened the narrow, partial conception, arifing from the conteni- 
 •* plation of particular charadlers, into a complete comprehenfion 
 ** of the kind. Whereas the philofophic Euripides, having been 
 •* moflly converfant in the academy, when he came to look into 
 " life, keeping his eye too intent on fmgle, really exifling perfon- 
 ages, funk the kind in the individual ; and fo painted his cha- 
 radlers naturally indeed, and tridy, with regard to the objedls 
 in view, but fometimes without that general and univerfally 
 " flriking likenefs, which is demanded to the full exhibition of 
 " poetical truth''." — Again — after an illuflration of this meaning, 
 by a comparative examination of the Eledtra of Sophocles with 
 that of Euripides, the conclufion is — " Whether this reprefent- 
 ** ation of Sophocles be not more agreeable to truth, as colledled 
 " from wide obfervation, /. e. from human nature at large, than that 
 ** of Euripides, the capable reader will judge. If it be, the reafon 
 ** I fuppofe to have been, that Sophocles painted his charaSiers, fuch 
 *^ as, from attending to numerous inftances of the fame kind, he would 
 
 ^ Cotmr.mt, on the Ep. to the P'fis^ />. 255. 
 
 3 T 2 " conclude 
 
 n 
 
 <e
 
 5o8 NOTES. 
 
 ** conclude they ought to be ; Euripides, fuch, as a narrower fphere of 
 ** obfervation had perjuaded him they were'" 
 
 From thefe two pafTages compared, it appears, I think, that by 
 c<a ^« ItvKi — fuch as they ought to be — the learned commentator 
 underftands, fuch as they ought to be in order to pojfefs " that ge- 
 *' neral and univerfally Jlriking likejiefs, which is demanded to the full 
 *' exhibition of poetical truth." But a comparifon of Ariftotle with 
 himfelf, in the feveral paffages above referred to, feems to fix the 
 fenfe clearly to that ideal perfe<ftion, that poetic elevation and im- 
 provement of nature, which may be faid, rather, to exclude fuch 
 *' general and univerfally y?r//{7;?^ likenefs" of " human nature at 
 ** large:" and this, I think, was the very obje<flion made to So- 
 phocles by the patrons of his rival. 
 
 According to the interpretation which I am taking the liberty 
 to examine, Sophocles is made to anfwer the charge by denying its 
 truth : for the anfwer, as here flated, will be this — You fay, my 
 reprefentations are ?iot true, and thofe of Euripides are true, 1 deny 
 this. You ufe the term improperly. My reprefentations are 
 " agreeable to truth," becaufe they are " colleSled from wide cbfer- 
 ** vation, i. e.from human 7iature at large '," thofe of Euripides are 
 not agreeable to truth, becaufe they are reprefentations, not of the 
 kind, but of individuals. — The anfwer, as I underfland Ariftotle, 
 is very different. The charge is not denied \ or explained away,- 
 but admitted and jufifed. Sophocles fays, " If you would have 
 " men reprefented as they are — lici hin — you muft, indeed, go tt> 
 '* Euripides. I have not drawn them fo — I never intended to- 
 " draw them fo. I have done better — I have delineated mankind,, 
 *• not fuch as they really are, but liich. as they ought to be." Eu- 
 
 • Ibid. p. 259. 
 
 * The reader will obferve, that in all the objeiSlions, drawn from this fouice, the- 
 truth of the objedtions— the fafls — " this is not true" — " this is neither true, nor 
 "as h ought to be," &c. are all admitted. Oux d>.r,(k' AAA" oia Jei. — Ei o£ MHii- 
 ETEPI12, OTl 8TW facriV. Ifil; Jt OT /Sj?.ticv ^Ef, AAA' o/rwf £»xf» 
 
 ripides
 
 NOTES. 509 
 
 npldes does not appear to have been charged, by thofe objeftors, 
 with what may be termed individual improbability of imitation, but 
 with too clofe and portrait-like deHneation of general nature. In 
 fhort, the difference, which I understand to be here intended, be- 
 tween the two Poets, cannot be more exactly expreffed, than it is 
 by the ingenious commentator himfelf, in the beginning of the 
 note to which I refer ; where it is obferved, [p. 253] that *' truth 
 ** may be followed too clofely in works of imitation, as is evident 
 "in two refpedts. For, i. the artift, when he would give a 
 *' copy of nature, may confine himfelf too fcrupuloufly to the 
 " exhibition of particulars, and fo fail of reprefenting the general 
 ** idea of the kind. Or, 2 . in applying himfelf to give the general 
 " idea, he may colleft it from an enlarged view of real life, 
 *' whereas it were ftill better taken from the nobler conception of* 
 •* it as fubfifting only in the mind." Now, if we apply the latter 
 of thefe differences to the two Poets in queffion — if we fay, " In 
 ** applying himfelf to give the general idea, 'Euripides colle(5led. it? 
 " from an enlarged view of real life ; whereas Sophocles took it from' 
 ** the nobler conception of it, as fubfifling only in the mind" — 
 this will exprefs exadly what I take to be the fenfe of Ariftotle. 
 
 To the fupport, which the common interpretation of this paffage 
 receives from Ariftotle himfelf, may be added that which it 
 receives, and, I believe, is generally acknowledged to receive, from 
 the Tragedies themfelvcs, which are extant, of the. two Poets irr 
 queftion. That Euripides is, in general, liable to the cenfure of 
 particular imitation — of " finking the kind in the individual," I 
 cannot fay I have obferved. But who can read this Poet without 
 obferving the examples, with which he every where abounds, o£ 
 that very " getieral and univerfally Jiriking lihencfs,. which is demanded 
 " to the J'ull exhibition of poetical truth f In Sophocles, we find more 
 elevation, more dignity, more of that improved likenefs, and ideal 
 perfeftion, which the philofopher expreffes by his oia. Ss; — mog to jSeX- 
 rwvt.&cc. In Euripides, we find more of the ahrfiig, the o^oiov, &c, — • 
 
 we
 
 510 NOT E S. 
 
 we are oftener reminded of the common nature and common life, 
 which v/e all fee around us. And if this, in conjundtion with 
 other caufes'', be fometimes found to lower the imitations of this 
 Poet, beneath the proper level of Tragic dignity, and to produce 
 foraething of the yucfiu^ta. ng '/i9oXoyi{f^sr,]f which Longiaus ' attributes 
 to the Odyffey, the fault is amply redeemed, perhaps in thofe very 
 parts, by the pleafure which refults from the clolenefs and obvi- 
 oufnefs of the imitation ; certainly, in many others, by thofe pre- 
 cious touches of nature, which muft, at once, firike every indi- 
 vidual of every audience ; fuch, if I miflake not, as are much 
 more rarely to be found in Sophocles, and fuch, perhaps, as, after 
 all that we have heard about the beau ideal and improved nature, 
 can only be produced by an exadl tranfcript of nature, as it is j 
 of what the Poet has adually felt himfelf, and adtually feen in 
 others. 
 
 The trutii feems to be, that both in Poetry, and in Painting, if 
 ^^Jiibllme be aimed at, the Poet, and the Artift, muil look up to 
 the oia. AEI £ji/«< : their eyes may " glance from earth to heaven," 
 and they may ** body forth the form of things unknown." But, 
 if emotion and the pathetic be their objedt, they will, neither of 
 them, attain their end, unlefs they fubmit to defcend a little to- 
 wards earthy and to copy with fome clofenefs that nature which is 
 before their eyes. We are told of Michael Angela, that *' his 
 " people are a fuperior order of beings;" that " there is nothing 
 *' about them, nothing in the air of their adions, or their attitudes, 
 *' or the ftyle and call of their very limbs or features, that puts one 
 " in mind of their belonging to our oivn fpecies^ ." If this be the 
 charadter of that painter's works, I muft confefs, for my own 
 part, that I fhould be difpofed to turn from them to thofe of the 
 charming artift, whofe words I quote, where we fee human nature 
 
 ■^ Such as vyere mentioned in note 33. 
 
 ' Se£}. 9. 
 
 *■ Sir Jof. Reynolds's Difcourfes, &c. p. 170. 
 
 8 i?npro'ved.
 
 N O T E 5. pi 
 
 improved, but not forgotten. I am very well content to be re- 
 minded of my own fpecies, as he reminds me of them. But this, 
 at leaf!:, is certain, that fuch a charadler, applied to a Tragic Poet, 
 would be the fevereft cenfure that criticifm could pronounce*. 
 
 NOTE 238. 
 
 P. 124. But, as Xenophanes says, &c. 
 
 AXA' ery^sv, ua-rrs^ SsvopxvTjg' uX\ a ^AZl ruSe. Thus all the 
 MSS. and editions. ViBorius propofed — aXK a 2A0H tuIz-. and 
 fupported his conjecture by the following fragment of Xenophanes, 
 preferved in Sext. Empiricus, to which he fuppofes Ariflotle to 
 allude : 
 
 Ka< TO fJt-Bv iv ZA<&EE arig avw I^bv, Ki5e ti; eg'xt 
 Kwug, ci[/,<pi deuv re, km oit(Tx Xsyio Treoi 'ttxvtmv. 
 E< yecp KM TO, fjLotXigu TTXOI TiTiXicrfjuniov iiircav, 
 AuT©^ o^ug ^K Olds, ook©^ S' btti "naxri rBTvzTXt*. 
 
 Few conjedtural emendations invite aflent by a more remark- 
 able union of ingenuity and probability : and, as it appears to me, 
 that, without Jbme emendation, nothing confiftent or fatisfad:ory 
 can be made of the pafTage, we need, I think, have little fcruple 
 in admitting the reading of Vidtorius as true, till manufcript au- 
 thority produces fomething better. 
 
 Xenophanes is here introduced, probably, hecaufe he had 
 written againft; the theology of Homer and Hesiod\ The fol- 
 lowing lines are quoted from him by Sextus Empiricus: 
 
 * The writer juft quoted,- among other excellent obfcrvations on this fubjeit, in 
 his notes on Du Frefnoy, allows, that, even in painting, " a dafh of individuality is 
 *' fometimes necelTary to give an inter eji." 
 
 » The fenfe is — ." Concerning the nature of the Gods, and of the unlverfe, no- 
 •• thing ever has been, or ever can be, clearly known by man. For fliould we even 
 « chance to guefs the truth,, wc cannot know it to be the truth. . ;AJ1 IS mere ppiniftt" 
 
 "» Diog, Laert.lX. 18, 
 
 HxvTci
 
 512 NOTE S. 
 
 noiVTX Qioiq aveSi/iKKV '0[/,y]^©^ff 'R<rtoS'^ re, 
 0(r(Toc, TTup av9p!>)7roi(riv ovetSsx nut i|/oy©o jf ;, 
 
 KAEHTEIN, MOIXEYEIN ts, koci AAAHAOTI AnATEYEIN'. 
 By alluding to thofe other verfes, where he defcants on the un- 
 certainty and obfcurity of all inquiries relative to the nature of the 
 Gods, and afferts, that all, on that fubjedt, is mere conjecture and 
 opinion, Ariftotle feems, flily enough, to have intended to make 
 Xenophanes anfwer himfelf j and to excufe Homer's theology, even 
 by the teftimony of one who had been moil: forward to condemn 
 it. " Thefe may be opinions taken up at random, as Xenophanes 
 " fays; and h's reprefentation of the Gods may be the true: — but, 
 ** as he himfelf owns, thefe are matters not clearly known.-^KKK 
 *' i (Turpri Txh. — Homer was therefore right, as a Poet, in follow- 
 *' ing popular tradition and belief." 
 
 Ariftotle alfo alludes here, without doubt, to the objections of 
 V-LA.To,De Repub. II. p. 150, &c. ed. Majfey. 
 
 I cannot forbear to mention one curious maxim of Xenophanes 
 about drinking, which we find in fome pleafant elegiac lines pre- 
 served in Athmceus. It was his opinion, it feems, that no man 
 had drunk too much, provided he was able to 'walk home without 
 a guide, 
 
 'Oll%' tJ/Sp'? IViViV) 6 OTTOtroV fJLiV £%WI/ a<ptK0iO 
 
 '0;W ANEY nPOnOAOY. Athen. p. /s^dz. 
 
 And what fays i\\Q fcvere and moral Plato on this fubjedl ? — 
 He kxhiils young men this indulgence, but allows it to old: — iiB^r^g 
 2b, Kxt TToXvoiVixg TOTTccQccTrtzv TON NEON uTTi-^i(r(}oi.i. Till the age of 
 1 8, he allows no winej for, to drink it at that time of life, he fays, 
 as ." adding fire to Jire, both in body and mind." — ttli^ \-m. ttv^ ox^Tiunv, 
 hi Ts TO a-ufj-x, Kxi TYjv ip^X'?"- From 18 to "^o, a moderate ufe of 
 wine might be allowed : — own yevsa-Qxi ra METPIOY. At 40, and 
 after, it might be ufed in a Jolly kind of way — us ttohSmv' wg-s 
 
 « See the Poefis Pbilofophha of Hen. Stephens, p. 36, where other fragments of 
 this philolbpher arc coUedted. 
 
 aivQuv
 
 NOTES. 513 
 
 a: 
 
 Ivt^l^av ■^i^ui, x,cii SvcSuiUia^ AH0HN yiyvioSoci, (jt-xXuKureoov en, (rKKworep^ 
 TO rvjq '.['u%t|j ^9©^, Ko.'^tx.Tnp h; ttuo (Ti^voov evTBSevr/x, yiyvofA-svov' Kxt irug 
 ejTTXas'OTB^ov hvxi. For wine, fays he, was given to tnan, as — cpx^- 
 
 fjt,xKov iTTUispov TY,c Tn rHPflS auj-jj^orijT©^. — De Ll'g. II. p. 666. 
 
 ed, Serr. 
 
 NOTE 239. 
 P. 125. Whether what is said, or done, &c. 
 
 I believe ViSlorius is right in referring this to the accufation, or 
 £7riTt[A.y!(Tic, which Ariftotle, at the end of the chapter, exprefles by 
 ug (3X(x,(3s^a. " Arbitror autem rationem banc pertinere ad for- 
 " mam earn, quam vocavit, cog (Sxaf^e^x. Docet enim nunc, fi 
 ** poeta arguitur, quod perfonam aliquam induxerit, quae quippiam 
 •* dixerit aut fecerit, quod merito repj-ehendi poflit, aut fpeciem 
 ** habeat 7zoc<'W/, quomodo illud defendipurgariquedebeat."/. 278. 
 It is true, the word l3xx!3spov does not here occur : but Ariftotle 
 ufes ot/jer words, as fynonymous, at the conclufion of the chapter ; 
 as, fzox^v^txt TTovvi^tx: and here, the fame thing is fufficiently indi- 
 cated by the moral exprefHons, y.ri x,xXcog, and cpxuXov. And though 
 this folution cannot, that I fee, be confidered as arifing from the 
 application of any of the i/jree principles laid down at the begin- 
 ning of the chapter, yet it feems plainly conneBedi as I have ob- 
 ferved in the notes on the tranflation, with what precedes. 
 
 -NOTE 240. 
 ' P. 125. For the solution of some objections, we 
 
 MUST HAVE RECOURSE TO THE DICTION. 
 
 Tx ti, TTao<; t'/jv Xe^iv opuvTX tin SixXuf.v. So, undoubtedly, tllC 
 
 paffage iliould be pundluated; not, as in fome editions, very abfurdl}'-, 
 
 7 U TX
 
 5f4 NOTES. 
 
 tot, es TTooi ir^v Xb^iv, couvTtx ^et oixXvetv : of which the fair, and only 
 fair, tranflation would be — " Thofc objections, which relate to the 
 *' didlion, we muft iblve ^y /oozing nt them^'V' Goulfton, who 
 a-dopts this perverfe confti'U(flion, is forced to fupply : — " his modis 
 " iiituentem:" and Heinfius has inferted irug in his text; on 
 what authority, I know not. But the true conflrudlion certainly 
 is, opmra. tt^sj Tr,v XsPiv — 7. c by having an eye to, or, confidering, 
 •' the diftion." And fo the paffage was, long ago, well explained 
 by Vidlorius ; who was followed by Caflelvetro, Piccolomini, and 
 Beni.— -Dacier, though he tranflates rightly, miftakes the fenfe 
 with thofe, whofe tranflation is wrong. He fuppofes Ariftotle 
 here to be fuggefling anfwers to objecfions againjl the diSiion. But 
 the inflances might hav^e fet him right; none of them appearing 
 to be criticifms on the diftion, but, all of them, objedions to the 
 fe7ife, though the anfivers are drawn from the diBion. Indeed 
 Dacier feems to have feen this, and is therefore forced to make the 
 diSlion, Ae|;?, i?iclude the thoughts, Smvoiuv ; thus confounding Ari- 
 ftotle's clear diftindlion \ 
 
 In this whole chapter, ivords are confidered no farther, than as 
 they afford the means of obviating objedions againft the Jmje. 
 
 NOTE 241. 
 P. 126. When on the Trojan plain his anxious 
 
 EYE, Sec. 
 
 The cenfure, here, is generally fuppofed to have fallen on the 
 word «^f))(r«£, and the abfurdity of making Agamemnon Ji'e the 
 Trojan camp, and the Grecian fleet, by night, and when he was 
 
 » "Quae verb ad didlionem pertinent, oportet intuentem folvere." Ed, Cantab, 
 1785. 
 
 •■ " La di£lion a deux parties; cnr ellc comprcnd ordinairemcnt les pcn/ies & I'ex- 
 •* preflion." p, 468, note 27. 
 
 J}:ut
 
 NOTE 
 
 5^5 
 
 jlnit up in his tent. To this, Ariftotle is underftood to reply, that 
 the word is metaphorical ; he faw with his m'md's eye. — For my 
 part, I would much rather confefs, that I do not underftand the 
 inilance at all, than fuppofe the philofopher capable of thus ex- 
 plaining away one of the fineft defcriptive touches in the whole 
 Iliad. The entire pafflige is this : 
 
 Htoj or eg Tnoicv to Touikov c(,9p7;crets, 
 Gctuf^oc^sv Trupa, ttoXXx, rot, Kocisro I\w9t ttoo, 
 AvXuv cuaiyyuv r evoTfyiv, o^ocdov r oivQponrm. 
 
 11. K. V. II. 
 
 I can hardly think it poiTible for any man, of the leaft tafte, to 
 read thefe lines, and underftand them to exprefs merely the thoughts 
 of Agamemnon. Mr. Pope, who has fhewn fo much tafle in 
 making the moft of all Homer's piSlurcfque defcriptions% has, in 
 his tranllation, done ample juftice to this. Yet, in the note^, this 
 cruel metaphorical Jpo?2ge is applied, without compund;ion, upon 
 the fuppofed authority of Ariftotle ; though, after ail, the evident 
 corruption and deficiency of this whole palfage leaves it dubious, 
 whether this, or, indeed, any other meaning, affigned, or affign- 
 able, be the true one. 
 
 All, in this defcription, feems clearly literal. The verb, u^aricroii, 
 is no where in Homer, I believe, applied to mental vifion. Still 
 lefs is ^ctM^oCQiv applicable to mere thought, or recolleSiion. And 
 what, after all, is Agamemnon made to fee ? Only what he might 
 eafily fee, even as he lay on his couch — the fires of the Trojan 
 camp. Add to this, the fenfe flill more evidently literal of what fol- 
 
 » See Dif. I. p. 31, &c. 
 
 '' //. X. V. 13. where, in the note, this explanation by tnctnphor is given with 
 feeming acquiefcence. In Clarke's Homer, too, it is adopted, and kA^vij-eie is explained, 
 " amino videret : fccum circumfpeflaret. KaTct ixna'^o^av eifr.rai, Jri/iot. Poetic. 
 " cap. XXV." 
 
 T U 2 lows—
 
 NOTES. 
 
 lows — of his hearing the militaiy mufic% and " the bufy hum cf 
 *' men" 
 
 There are few defcriptions in Homer, that, to me, appear more 
 beautiful than this little military night-fcene- Whatever may be 
 fuppofed with refpedl to Agamemnon, we, who read, are made iofeey 
 and hear. But, taice away the literal fenfe, and you take away, 
 with it, the whole beauty of the paffage. — And, after all, what is 
 the difficulty ? Agamemnon, though retired to his tent, was kept 
 awake by his anxiety. The enemy was not far off; and he appre- 
 hended the defign of fome nodlurnal incurfion''. In this fituation, 
 is it difficult to imagine, that he might frequently rife, and look 
 with an anxious eye towards the Trojan camp, and towards the 
 fliips ? — for this is all which the expreflions, E£ vs-liov aS^ria-eiB — ES 
 i/'ijaj? Idoi — here imply. Nor is it at all improbable, that he might 
 have thefe views as he lay upon his bed, through windows, or 
 apertures, made perhaps for that very purpofe. The commenta- 
 tors feem to have thought only of a modern officer, fnugly fhut up 
 in a clofe and comfortable tent, and diflurbed by no fear, but that 
 of a fore throat, or the rheumatifm. The tents of the antients 
 were mere huts, or hovels % The marquee of Achilles himfelf, 
 as it is minutely defcribed by Homer *^, feems to have been little 
 better than a cow-houfe. 
 
 As I have given the paffage from Homer, the reader may not 
 be difpleafed to compare that fketch with a far more finiflied and 
 cxquifite night-piece, but of the fame kind, by our own great Poet. 
 
 *- Pope has exprefled this, I think, in a very happy line :■ 
 " Hears in the paffing wind their niuUc blow." 
 
 '' Ai/(r/x£V££5 J' avJfEj (TX^^ov harxi, sSe ti i^/j-a/y 
 M>i TTJii Kai ?ia vuKTCc liivomiTuiTi juapjEirflai. v. 100, lOI. 
 
 ' " Trojanis temporibus, tentorta nondum erant Untea. Achivorum M>.i(TiM Jl'ipt~ 
 " tihus Ugiiifjue confahunt^ vhn'ine intt-rtcxto, htimoque aggejla ; adeoque tuguria potius." 
 Jleyne ad Virgil. JEn. I. Exiuij. lb. 
 
 * //, il. 449. Pope's tranfl. XXIV. 553, and the note. 
 
 From
 
 NOTE S. 517 
 
 From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night. 
 
 The hujn of either army ftilly founds, 
 
 That the fix'd centinels ahnoft receive 
 
 The fecret whifpers of each other's watch : 
 
 Fire anfv/eis^re -, and through their paly flames 
 
 Each battle fees the other's umber'd face : 
 
 Steed threatens (teed, in hic;h and boaftful neighs, 
 
 Piercing the night's dull ear ; and from the tents. 
 
 The armourers, accomplifhing the knights, 
 
 "With bufy hammers clofing rivets up. 
 
 Give dreadful note of preparation, Henry V. ^^f? iv« 
 
 NOTE 242. 
 
 P. 127. AvXuv (TV^iyyuvff o/j-uSov.*—!/. K. v, 13. 
 
 -. —So Ariftotle. In our editions of Homer, the whole line is— 
 
 AvXuv (Tvptyyav r tvoTrrjV, o[za.oov t avdpuiruv. 
 
 I cannot agree with thofe commentators who take the objedtion 
 .here to fall upon the word tivn-viv, which means, voice, " & ne fe 
 *' dit proprement," fays Dacier, " que des hommes." This would 
 be a mere verbal objection; for the meatiing is plain enough. But 
 Ariflotle, as I have already obferved, is not here confidering cri- 
 ticifms on the didion, but, fuch criticifms on the Sixvoiix, or 
 thoughts, as may be obviated by means of the didtion. 
 
 Farther J he is here iliewing, how objeftions may be removed 
 by having recourfe to metaphor — by faying, " the exprefTion is 
 ** not to be taken in its proper, but, in its metaphorical fenle." 
 But Dacier's explanation makes the objeSlion to be, not the im- 
 propriety of the literal fenfe, (for that was out of the queftion 
 here), but only the impropriety, or haiihnefs, of the metaphor ; and 
 the anjhaer, according to him, is no other, than a denial of the 
 charge, and a juftification of the metaphor. And this will be 
 
 equally
 
 5i8 NOTES. 
 
 equally the cafe, whether we take Ariftotle's quotation as It 
 ftands — (Tuoiyycoi/ 9' ofA-aoov — or fuppofe him to mean, auptyyuv t Ivottviv, 
 as we read it in our editions: except, that the former would be 
 much the bolder and harflier metaphor of the two. 
 
 So much then for, what the criticifm was not. What it ivas, 
 muft always, I fear, in the prefent condition of the text, remain a 
 problem. One conjedlure only occurs to me, and that, fuch as I 
 cannot take upon me to oifer with any degree of confidence. Per- 
 haps Ariftotle had, originally, quoted, or meant, at leaft, to refer 
 -to, the ivholc verfe, as we read it; and the cenfure might be pointed 
 at the expreffion — 'OMAAON r av^^uTruv. The proper and deriva- 
 tive fenfe of of/.cx.S'^ feems to be that of a crowd, a multitude, a heap^ i 
 its fecondary fenfe, by a common metonymy of caufe for effeSf, the 
 jnurmur, or tumult, occafioned by a multitude. So Hejychius : 
 'Ojwa,?©^— (l.) A©POm?, (2.) GOPTBOZ. (i.) 0XA02, (2.) 
 TAPAXOr. — ZTPATOS, a-rro ra, OjU«. — Perhaps, then, fome hyper- 
 critic might take, or chife to take, the word here in its primary 
 fenfe, of multitude, and afk, how Agamemnon could, by night, 
 perceive, and " laoiidcr at," the multitude of mefi? daui^cc^ev — cfAx- 
 2ov a,v9pco-7ruv. To this it would be a proper anfwer, to fay — you, 
 miftake the meaning of the word oy,oc^cv : it is not ufed here in its 
 proper fenfe, of a multitude, but, in its metaphorical fenfe, for the 
 effeSl produced by the voices and the buftle of a multitude. The 
 criticifm, I confefs, would be frivolous enough -, yet not more fo 
 than many others, to which Ariftotle has condefcended to furnidi 
 anfwers. It will perhaps be thought a more folid objedtion to my 
 conjedlure, that the word, o^waJ'©-, feems to be conftantly ufed by 
 Homer in ih& fecondary fenfe. So, //, M. 471. — B. 96. — Od. K. 
 556 : YLmiA-ivtov ^' 'btu^uv OMAAON KAI AOTOON AKOTSAS. Nor 
 can I fay, that I have found any inftance in Homer, of this word 
 ufed in its primary fenfe. The otljer fcnCe may, therefore, appear 
 
 * In the Orphean Argonauttcs, v. IT2, 4"^iJuxSis'OMAA0'Z, occurs, for " a heap of 
 *' land." Jpollon, Rhodius ufcs the word in the fame fenfe as, I. 347. IV'. 198. 
 
 too
 
 K O T E S. 519 
 
 too common and eftablifhed to have admitted of any difficulty. 
 But to this circumftance, a critic, difpofed to cavil, and furnifhed 
 with fufficient authorities for tlie primary {^\\{z from other authors, 
 may eafily be imagined to have paid no regard. 
 
 NOTE 243. 
 
 P. 127. All, is put for many — . 
 
 TO yoca riANTEZ, airt tk YIoWm, kxto. fA,BTX(poptxv uovirxt. The 
 word, 'TTxvTii;, does not occur in any of the preceding examples. 
 But, fays M. Batteux, it is virtually contained in the firil example — 
 AAAOI ^wei/ ^a 6eo< re km ctve^eg, 6cc. — for a'XAo; means EfANTES uXXoi. 
 " Ariflote traduit ridee, & non le mot." Dacier underftands the 
 pafTage in the fame manner. This explanation appears to me forced 
 
 and improbable. Ariftotle fays plainly, TO ituvtzi; It^'^Tcci — /. e. 
 
 *' the word TTuvTBi ;" and I believe, with Viftorius, Piccolomini, 
 and Heinfius, that fome correfponding example is lofl, as the expla- 
 nations of the other examples appear to be likewife. 
 
 NOTE 244. 
 
 P. 127. AIAOMEN h 01 lux'^ cc^i^Qcit. 
 
 Ka; TO Tfi^i TO iWTtvtov Tn Ayuf/.Bf^voi/©^, on 'OTK ATTOS Zeug hinv— 
 otoo^iv OB 01 £U%(^ doe(rdcci. 
 
 uXXoc Tflt ENYONiri/ ENETEAAETO Uomt.—De Soph. Elench. 
 p. 284, ed. Duval. — This clearly confirms the common explana- 
 tion, which makes Hippias fubftitute h^ofjuv, the infinitive, (for 
 St^oi^svoii,) ufed imperatively, ij;iftead of Si^oi^ev, the firft perfoii plural 
 of the prefent tenfe. 
 
 5 A very
 
 520 NOTES. 
 
 A very curious folution this. Jupiter tells no lie. He only 
 orders the dream to lie for him : " Ce qui eft tres differenty' fays 
 Dacier; " car alors le menfonge ne vient pas de Jupiter, il vient 
 *' du fonge." — Dacier tells us alfo, that this hemiftich, which does 
 not appear in our copies of Homer% was altered, " par nncfraude 
 ** pieufe." I cannot fee any great piety in the fraud ; becaufe no- 
 thing appears to be added to the impiety of the paflage by the 
 words objected to, or to be taken from it, by the fuppreffion of 
 them. If the words were in AriJiotle% Homer, they were pro- 
 bably in Plato % alfo. Yet, in the palfage at the end of the fecond 
 book of his Repiiblicy where he alludes to this part of Homer, he, 
 very properly, takes no notice of thefe words, but cenfures the 
 toZi^Z? circumftance, of Jupiter's being reprefented 2ls fendifig fuch 
 a deceitful dream: — tviv m ivuTrvtn nOMIlHN vrro Ai©^ tu Ayoif/.sy.- 
 vovi^. — The theology, indeed, of this charming writer, was of a 
 very different complexion from that of Hippias, or of Dacier. — 
 K-cf^i^'^ apa ©EOS ccvXav zui coKvj^ig, ev tb spyu, kui av Xoyu' xai are 
 ftUT©^ j/.sQis'a.Toci, ^T£ aXXag e^ocTTxra, »t£ xara (pocvTaTiag, aT6 KoiTu Xoyni, 
 »r£ KdTX (rt][/,auv TToi^TToig, iff vttkp, id ovoca'. 
 
 NOTE 245. 
 
 P. 127. To |wey OT kutocwuSstui o[ji.(2^u. 
 
 This correftion, alfo, of Hippias, is fomewhat more explicitly 
 mentioned, De Soph. Elench. p. 284. The paflage was cenfured 
 as ahfurd, (wV uro-rrug h^nora) by thofe critics who read £. But 
 what the abfurdity was, we are not told by Ariflotle. His com- 
 
 » Inftead of it, wc read— Tfw£r»-i 5'e Knh' s<fmT<xi, Il> B. 15.— See Clarke's note. 
 
 <» P. 154, ed. MaJJ. 
 ' Ihld, 
 
 anentators
 
 NOTE S. 
 
 J2l 
 
 mentators tell us, that it confifted in iirft calling the pofl " dry^' 
 duov % and then faying — " where it was rotted by rain." I cannot 
 fay I comprehend this. Are rottennefs and drynefs, as Beni very 
 well afks, incompatible? — Nor is it clear, what conftruilion, or 
 what fenfe, was given to the palTage, by thofe who read S, inflead 
 of ». — But the reader will hardly thank me for detaining him 
 with a diflertation upon a rotten poll. 
 
 NOTE 246. 
 P. 128. And mix'd before itnmix'd. 
 
 7.upx T£ TO, TT^iv AKPHTA, \_^ix\K(x,rrovTa. KsXevda?: for fo the verfe 
 is completed, in SimpUcius and Athencsus.'] This feenis the bell 
 and moft authentic reading, and Dacier's the moft reafonable ex- 
 planation. The meaning of the words, t^u^ov, ^u^ore^ov, was matter 
 of great difpute among the antients themfelves. See Plutarch's 
 Sympof. Prob. V. 4. — M. Batteux, taking it to mean pure, unmixed, 
 reads, confiftently with that idea, for xK^rjTcx., KEKPATO. But, that 
 this word, whatever it was, meant unmixed, feems plain from the 
 pafTage of Athenceus, p. 423, 424, about Theophrafius ; who, it 
 feems, in a treatife on drunkennefs, adduced thefe very lines of 
 Empedocles to prove, that the meaning of Z,u^oTi^ov was, not pure 
 wine, but ume mixed with water. 
 
 The expreflion, ^mXXxttovtix, KeXeuSui, feems to prove, as Dacier 
 has explained, it, that the fecond verfe was not intended merely as 
 explanatory repetition, in other terms, of the change defcribed in 
 the firft, but as defcriptive of a contrary change ; an interpretation 
 which is fomewhat fupported by the two following lines of the 
 fame Poet, on the lame fubjeifl;: 
 
 " The lines are 
 
 ErnKE Ji/^oi/ auoi', lew -i o^ym, vTTt^ cur,;, 
 
 H Sovl^, >i TTf «;<!-,', TO /MEv a Kara7ivSeT»t ou-^^a. II, •^. 327. 
 
 3 X AAAOTE
 
 522 NOTES. 
 
 AAAOTE y.Bv, (piXori/iTi (n)vea^o[/,Bv tig tv ccTravTa, 
 AAAOTE ^'AT, Six 'atagoe, (po^Bvizevot, vetKB©^ l-xfia^.- 
 — and, perhaps, ftill better, by the lines quoted by Arifliotle, Phyf. 
 Aufcult. VIII. p. 408. The expreflion — MA0ON a.^oi.va.T ivoct — is 
 well explained by Cafaubon, upon Athenzeus, p. 718, — " i^k9ov, 
 " pro etuSttcroiv, aut e7re(pux,ei(ra.v : — didicerant effky pro erant, vtXfole- 
 " banty effe," &c. See alfo the verfes juft referred to, in the 
 Phyf. Aufcult. where the fame expreflion occurs — MEMA0HKE 
 (pvscrSixi. 
 
 Of Sicti^Bo-tg and c-w&itng, and the ambiguity of punSiuation, as 
 a fource of fophiftical argumentation, more may be feen, if it be 
 thought worth feeing, Rhet. II. 24, p. 580. De Soph. Eknch^ 
 p. 284, 288, 303, ed. Duval. 
 
 NOTE 247. 
 
 P. 128. To AMBIGUITY-—. 
 
 Ajit(p<iQoXi«. /. e. 'fuch ambiguity, as does not depend on the dif- 
 ferent fenfes oi fmgle words, (which Ariftotle calls o[/.invv[^ioi,) but 
 on the different fenfes, of which two or more words are capable, 
 independently of their punctuation. See, De Soph. Elench. I. cap. iv. 
 which clears up his diftindlions, between Smi^ijig, df^pf^oXnx,, o//.mvu- 
 jiwos, 6cc, 
 
 NOTE 248. 
 P. 128. Whatever is poured out to drink as wine. 
 
 Upon Vj 363 of Od. XI. ( — KEouvToig ocidoTToi owov — ) Euftathlus 
 fays— rares-i;', IfifSocXXovTug hg x^otT^xg : and Gataker remarks, on 
 
 » Poef. Philof, H. Suph. p. 21. 
 
 occafion
 
 NOTES. 523 
 
 occafion of the fame paffage — " to ke^uv, five k^oktm, licet mi/cere 
 " proprie fignificet, ufurpatur tamen fimpliciter uvti th, lyx^etv, kcu 
 " Si^ovxi mvsiV pro infwidere, in calicem fcil. five cyathum, et diSen- 
 " dumporrigc7'e*r As a proof that the verb was fo ufed, without 
 the idea of inlxing, we meet with it apphed to neStar : 
 
 — KEPAIEE (Te vtMTCc^ eovdpov,. Od. E. 93. 
 
 The Gods hardly drank fieBar and water. — But it is even applied 
 to pure water itfelf : 
 
 6viAV}^eg KEPA2ASA Kara Jioar©^ re Kcct Uf^uv, 
 i. e. pouring it over my head and flioulders. Od. K. 362. 
 
 NOTE 249. 
 P. 128. Hence Ganymede, &c. 
 
 I have adhered, without fcruple, to the tranfpofition mentioned 
 in Mr. Winftanley's note ^ ; which had been propofed, I know not 
 by whom, before Vi<Sorius publiflied his commentary, Vidlorius 
 oppofes it; but, I think, without futhcient reafon. Piccolomini 
 faw, and has well defended, the neceflity of it, which appears to me 
 to be obvious. I would read the whole paffage thus : Ta h, Kura 
 TO IQ^ Tt]/; Xe^eug' otov, tov \_fortej TO] KiKcxfifievov, civov (paa-tv hvou' o9sv 
 hpriToci Tocvvi.(,*j07jg, 
 
 Ait oivoxoivav, 
 
 a vivovTuv civov, Eit; kv tuto yt kxi k&tx f^iTctipopuv, Kat, XccXKiKg, 
 
 TiSi TOV (Ttdmov epyciZpjjt,ivvg' odev TreTToojTa;, 
 
 Kvrifjiiq VSOTiUKTU KaxrCiTipOiO , 
 
 This differs from Mr. Winftanley's arrangement, only with refpedt 
 to the words — hri S' av tuto ye, &c. which appear to me to be- 
 
 * See Clarke's Homer. 
 » Ed. Ox. 1780, p. 307. 
 
 3X2 lonp:
 
 524 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 long to the fingle example immediately preceding them in the edi- 
 tions. The commentators agree, I think, in making them refer to 
 all the examples. But I cannot be perfuaded, that Ariftotle, after 
 formally propofing the £^0. Xs^eu?, as a diJiinB folution, would im- 
 mediately fay, that all the inftances he gives might as well be de- 
 fended Kot-rix. \ji.ira.<popotM. I underfland him to fay — " though this 
 -' example, indeed, may al/o be defended by metaphor." The ex- 
 preffion confirms this : — lit] ^' uv TOTTO FE km kxtx (/.STonpo^oiv. 
 
 Befides, there feems to be a pretty plain reafon, why this inftance 
 might be confidered as a metaphor, and the others not fo. NeSiar 
 was Ihe wine of the Gods; and the refemblance was fufficiently 
 obvious, to make the fubftitution of the one for the other an eafy 
 metaphor. With the other examples the cafe is different. Brafs 
 and iron are indeed, each of them, /pedes of metals. But the 
 common gemis is too general to conftitute that obvious refem- 
 blance which is requifite to a metaphor. Their likenefs, to ufe 
 the philofopher's own language, is not perceived by the genus^. 
 Oil and vinegar are both liquids ; yet the fubftitution of the one 
 for the other would make a very ftrange fort of metaphor; be- 
 caufe they have no other refemblance to each other, but as liquids. 
 Hence, Ariftotle denominates fuch fubftitutions not metaphorsy 
 but cujlomary fnodes of fpeech ; both becaufe the refemblance is not 
 obvious enough for metaphor, and becaufe, as the name implies, 
 they are common and eftabliflied expreffions, {ku^m^ however, in 
 themfelves, improper. 
 
 *• See NOTE 183. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTE S. 525 
 
 NOTE 250. 
 
 P. 129. The meaning is, was stopped only, or re- 
 pelled. 
 
 Dacier fuppofes the critics to have objefted to the improbabi- 
 lity of a long fpear's remaining fixed in a fhield, like an arrow, or 
 light dart. I cannot fo conceive it. The lines themfelves are the 
 bell comment here. 
 
 'Ovoe TOT Amaxo ociiipoo]i©~> o(opty,ov tyx'^ 
 P^^s (r«K©o* ^ou(r®^ yap epuxctycs, oupx 9boio' 
 AXXcc ^uca |t*ei/ eXccircrg Sm TTTU^af, «< J" a.p STi Tpetg 
 Htrai/* 'esret 'mvTi 7rTU%«f TfKocTS KjuXkoirooMVy 
 Taq ovo, ■)(jp(,XK£iocg , &00 ivoo'jiy JcacciTSpoio, 
 T^jv Ss (Jiiav, ^pv(77iv' Trj a i<7y(iT0 ■xjx.Xicsov ey^'^. 
 
 II. T. 267, &c. 
 
 The fliield was compofed of five plates; the two firfl, of brafs; 
 the two innermojl, next the body, (for that feems to be the fenfe 
 of £i/(5'(5$;%) oi ti?i, Kaa-a-iTepoio^ ; and one in the middle, oi gold ; and 
 there the fpear was flopped: TH; p' eo-^ero. Now this might mean, 
 Jiiick, or, viz.% fajiened, in it'. But this, it was objecled, would 
 have been a manifeft contradidlion ; for Homer had faid, not only 
 
 ' It may^ however, mean — within the brafs plates. If fo, we muft underftand the 
 .two external plates, on the oppofite Tides of the fhield, to have b> en hafs^ and the 
 two iron^ within^ and contiguous to, them. In either cafe, the plate of gold will be 
 ' the third and middle plate. 
 
 '' Meaning, I fuppofe, according to the U®- ^E|Euf, iron. 
 
 ' As, by the way, the fame word clearly appears to mean in a fimilar paflage, It. 
 H, 248. But, there, it is uled with the prepofition sv. 
 
 "El Je 3ia WTu^aj riT^h d'ai^aiv xa^x©- RTEifJij, 
 EN Tj) J" £|3Jof«»Tii pivM 2XET0. 
 
 c thac
 
 526 N 0. T E S. 
 
 that the gold flopped it — ^^vo-©- ya.^ g^ux^axie— but, ftill more cc- 
 pref&ly, that the fpear penetrated two of the plates, and that the 
 three others remained unpierced. But the fpear could not well be 
 Jixed, or faj}e?ied, in the plate of gold, which was the third, with- 
 out piercing it.— And thus the objeftion appears to have been 
 rightly underflood by Viciorius ajid Gouljion. 
 
 NOTE 251. 
 P. 129. Of how many different senses, 5cc. 
 
 I may fay with Vidorius, " hie locus valde me torjit." The 
 words are thefe : — ro Ss, voa-otyndq \'jhyj.roi.i, uli T^ug' y^oiXig uv ng xi-iro- 
 Xxl3oi KccTx T7IV -icxr dvriK^v. — In this pafTage, as in many others, 
 there is juft glrmpfe enough ofjbme meaning, to mock a commen- 
 tator with the hopes of difcovery, and to deprive him of the com- 
 fort of doing at once, what, after all his efforts, he will probably 
 find himfelf obliged to do at lafl — of abandoning the pafTage as 
 unintelligible. For my own part, I do not fee one clear and fatif- 
 fadlory fenfe, that can be made of the words, without conjedlural 
 emendation ; and if we open that door, we fhall be, again, con- 
 founded by the number of different fenfes which ingenuity may 
 propofe, with equal pretenfions to our acceptance. 
 
 Dacier tranflates thus: " Et le plus court moyen de fe tirer de 
 ** ces endroits, c'eft de prendre le mot dans un fens tout contraire a 
 " celui qu'on lui donne ordinairement," Piccolomini and Beni 
 underHand it thus: " How many fenfes a word admits of, may 
 " bell be known by confidering the fignifications oppofed to it:" a 
 fenfe preferable, I think, at leafl, to any other that has been offered, 
 becaufe it certainly does receive fome fupport from the 1 5th chapter 
 of ArLflotle's firil book of Topics ' ; where he treats of Homonymy, 
 m equivocation, and points out different means, by which we rnay 
 
 » P. 1-89. See 5e£!. 2, 3. 
 
 difcover.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 S^7 
 
 difcover, what, nnd how many, different fenfes a word will admit 
 ofi and among thefc is the rule here fuppofed to be alluded to; 
 /. e. that any finale word mud admit of as many different fignifi- 
 cations as are oppofcd to it. As, for example, to the word acute, 
 we oppofe, fonietimes grave, fometimes blunt, fometimes dull, or 
 Jiupid. Acute therefore has, of courfe, three different fenfes, 
 correfponding to thofe three oppojite fenfes. 
 
 But though this explanation of the paflage muff: be allowed to 
 give an AriJlotcJic meaning, yet I cannot think it a meaning that 
 arifes, fairly and clearly, from the text. In particular, the expref- 
 fion, KATA t>jv \Jcil. (r7i[^xa-ixv — for fo it is fupplied — J KAT' AN- 
 TIKPT, has, to me, a very fufpicious appearance. I much doubt, 
 whether Ariffotle would have ufed the word uvtik^u to denote con- 
 trariety of meaning, or any thing but local oppofition. I believe he 
 would have ufed Ivavrtov, or avTiKetfievov ; as he does conjiantly in 
 thofe parts of his logical works, where he treats of contrariety, 
 and of the oppojite fenfes of words " ; and where I have not found 
 the phrafe, k«t' avriK^v, once made ufe of in that fenfe. — However, 
 as this interpretation feems to be the leaf exceptionable of any, and 
 I fee nothing better to propofe, I have admitted it in my verfion : 
 but I fhould certainly not accufe any reader of being very faflidious, 
 if he preferred a blank to this, or any other meaning, that has 
 been given to this dark faying. — Emendatory conjedures, indeed, 
 have occurred to me, as to others; but none of them plaufible 
 enough even to impofe upon myfelf. 
 
 * See Toptd. 15, above referred to; and, II, 7, 8, et pajjim. 
 
 NOTE
 
 528 N O T E S, 
 
 NOTE 252. 
 P. 129. Argue from these previous decisions of 
 
 THEIR OWN. 
 
 AuToi KATAYHOIIAMENOI. — I cannot think this word fo free 
 from all difficulty as Mr. Winflanley does. He fays, " Egregic 
 " diduni Ko.ra'^yi^tcruiJLivot, ut fenfus fit : hi perinde ac judices qui- 
 " dam decerhentes ratiocinantur," &c. — But the queftion is, whether 
 the word will admit that fenfe, or ^ny other, than that oi condemn- 
 ing, paffing fentence agamji, &c. which is not to Ariftotle's pur- 
 pofe in this place. The fair fenfe of v.xroc^ti^icraiJi.vjoi crxjKkoyiZpvrM, 
 is, if I miftake not, " they argue, or form their conclufion, after, 
 " or, in confequcnce of, having condemned" — what ? — We muft ne- 
 ceffarily underftand them to have condemned, either xhe^pa/fage 
 in quellion, or, the opi?iion of others about the fenfe of it. But 
 Ariftotle, in what follows, fays plainly, that they condemned the 
 paflage, or the opinions of others relative to it, in confcqnence of 
 their ovjn preconceived and erroneous notions; and the idea of 
 condemnation, or cenfure, here, would be only an awkward, tauto- 
 logical anticipation of the 'EniTIMHSIN, dv u7rev<xvriov j rv duruv 
 c;i;(r£;, which follows. I think, therefore, that the propofed cor- , 
 reftion of Helnfiis; Ktx.TxI,0<pi(ro!.fA,Bvoi, muft be allowed the praife, 
 both of ingenuity and probability. In my verfion, however, 
 I have contented myfelf with making the beft I could of that 
 reading which has the authority of all the manufcripts, and all 
 the commentators, except Heinfius, on its fide. — Vidlorius thinks 
 the word will bear the fenfe of " cum fententiam tiikrint -f but 
 he adds — " quamvis in pra'pofitione, quae verbo adjunda eft, vis 
 " infit contra alios idfaciendi," 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES, 529 
 
 N O T E 253. 
 
 P. 130. The objection itself, therefore, is pro- 
 bably FOUNDED ON A MISTAKE. 
 
 A/ afAu^TrijjLx ^e to Tr^ojGxijjtta eoc©* £5-;. ** Metuo ne hlc locus cor- 
 " ruptus mancufve fit." ViSlor. — To give thefe words any mean- 
 ing that may not eafily be controverted, is, I believe, impoflible. 
 I have made them fay, what it feems to me moft probable that the 
 author meant to fay : ** So far is this criticifm from proving Homer 
 *' to be wrong, that it is, itfelf, probably, founded on a miftake,". 
 
 NOTE 254. 
 
 P. 130. The IMITATIONS OF POETRY SHOULD RESEMBLE 
 THE PAINTINGS OF ZeUXIS — . 
 
 ToiHTisg 6 eivxi, omg Zsu^ij e'ygx(psv, aXX« aai Tfao; to jQsXtjok' to yap 
 'TTa.pccoeiyf/.a, oBt VTreoe^eiv. 
 
 M. Batteux propofes this arrangement : — AXXx kxi -rr^og to (2eXTior 
 TO yap TTocgoconyfia on vireos^av, tojktk? etvxt, oasg Zsug'? sypx<piv^. 
 
 That the words, Tomr^ig S' hvxt, o;aj Zev^ig ey^x(pBV, belong to' the 
 fccond way of defending the impoflible, by referring it to the fSeXTiov 
 —oix (5a hmi, &c. feems clear. Nor is it any objedlion to this, as 
 fome have thought it", that Ariftotle had before mentioned the 
 paintings of Zetixis, as deficient in the expreffion of the matiners". 
 For it by no means follows, from this deficiency of Zeuxis as to 
 
 » So, at leaft, the paflage is printed in the edition I ufe of M. Batteux's ^atrt 
 Poetlques^ (Paris 1771,) not as they are quoted by Mr. Winftanley, p. 309. 
 
 * See Goulfton's verfion and notes. 
 
 • Cap. vi. Tranjl. p. 77. 
 
 3 Y manner Sy
 
 ,$3° N O r ;E :S. 
 
 manners^ that he did not reprefent tt^oj to fSeXTtov, with refpedl to 
 beauty, grace, dignity of form'', &c. : and it feems to be tiis kind 
 of improvement, in painting, by which Ariftotle, here and elfe- 
 where, iiluflrates the jM.<p/7(r<j (3sXtwv@^ of poetry. Compare, parti- 
 cularly, .c^/». xv; EirftiSs p^ijA-iffrEj-zrij Ti^*7. /3eXr. 6cc ". 
 
 The flory of the manner, in which Zeuxis is faid to have col- 
 leSled t\ie. (iiXTtov for his famous pidure of Helen, is well known. 
 tt^Cic.delnvetit. 11. i. Mn. 'Nat. Hift. XXXV. 9. Bayle, 
 
 ■ ■'*i''a^rea, '^hereforfe, 'j5efftaiy with Mr. Winftanley, that the 
 words, To/sff t?j r hvxi'otjifx. lyo. (liould be tranfpofed! but I do 
 not fee, that any alteration, farther than the mere tranfpofition, is 
 neceflary. I would read-^AXAa vcm tt^o^ to !3eXTior [fcil. Sa umyetv'^ 
 TonsTug 0" livoi; [Jcil. ^£i] omq Zeuf'j lypxdpiv' to yoco Trxpaoayj/.x oh vvre- 
 
 NOTE 255. 
 
 P. 130. To OPINION, OR WHAT IS SAID TO BE, MAY BE 
 REFERRED, &C. 
 
 Tim a, (paa-i, to. akoyot: [fcil. Set uveiyav :] for fo, I think, with 
 Mr. Winftanley, the paflage is to be underftood ; and fo it is ex- 
 plained and tranflated by Caftclvetro. The expreffion, a (pxa-i, or 
 oicc faa-i, is ufed by Ariftotle as fynonymous with ^3|a, and otx Sox.ei. 
 Thus,, — cix •PAII Kxi AOKEI, at the beginning of this chapter : 
 and afterwards — iru cpxinv. 
 
 But it will not, I think, be found poffible to give this paflage a 
 confident fenfe, unlefs we underftand him to mean, what, as the 
 
 * Zeuxis plus membris corporis dedit, id ainpUus atque augujlius ratus, atque (ut 
 exiftimant,) Homerum fecutus, cui validiflima qusquc forma, etiam in foeminis, 
 placet, ^lintil. XII. 10. p. 627, ed. Gilf. 
 
 * Tranjl. p. 94.
 
 NOTES. 531 
 
 text ftands, he does not exprefsly fay^ i, e. — " By general opinion 
 " we may excufe, ?iot only the 7:Sxvov ahvxrov, but even fuch things 
 " as are manifeftly improbable, or abfurd." As if he had written, 
 .•TT^oz a. (paa-t, KAI roc. aXoycc.. . And thus Goulilon has fupplied :— 
 :f * Ad ea quae aiunt, \rcdiguntur hac quce dixi; et] ilk, quje fine ra-. 
 «» tione funt." 
 
 NO .^rM 256. 
 P. 131. When things are said, which appear ra be 
 
 CONTRADICTORY—. 
 
 Ta (J' VTrsvuvrix u; h^tj/yoevx — - The words, u; haTji/.evoi, have dif- 
 trefled all the commentators ; arid no fenfe, which they have la- 
 boured to force upon the expreflion, is, to my apprehenfion, fatif- 
 facflory. Heinfius correded by tranrpofition — Ta 'S' ug vTrBvccvTioi 
 h^^ivx: *' Ea, qua; tanqiiam fubcontraria di£la videntur."— An 
 eafier and more probable emendation, I 'think, would . be-r—Ta 5' 
 
 NOTE 257. 
 P. 131. And in the same sense — . 
 
 The word is, ui(Ta.Mruq\ " fimili fuodo," as all the commentators 
 render it. I cannot fay I have been able thoroughly to fatisfy 
 myfelf, as to the precife. meaning of the expreffion, from any thing 
 I have found in Ariftotle's logical works \ If, .*' in the fame 
 " j}ianner," does not mean, " in the fameyt'«/^," I confefs I do not 
 know what it means. I underfland Ariftotle to fay, that, if the 
 fubJcSl of the proportions, charged with being contradidlory, be 
 
 • See De Sophifl. Elench. 285, D. 287, E. 
 
 3 Y 2 ■ the
 
 NOTES. 
 
 the fame, and fpoken of in the Jame refpeB, we mufl flill examine, 
 farther, whether the two propofitions admit of ^ fenfe really and 
 accurately oppofite to each other ; which cannot be the cafe, unlefs 
 the. fame 'words, in each propofition, have exactly the fame fenfe. 
 And this meaning feems to be fupported by the following pafTage 
 from the treatife Ue^i E^i/.rivna? : — Km Igu tvto ANTI<I)A£I£, (nempe) 
 xixTu(poi(rig xat ccTToiptx^t? a.i civTtKniJt,ivui. Kiyu 0£ ccvTiKei(rQoti, ryp) TOT 
 ATTOT xKTct. TOT ATTOT, /^»; 'OMflNTMnS J'£\ That is, as 
 it is well explained in the analytical Synopfis prefixed to Duval's 
 edition : — " Affirmatio fie negatio oppofitze, contradiSlionem faciunt. 
 *' Oppofitio eft ejifdem, de eodem, non homonyme j nam accipi de~ 
 * * bent termini in oppoftione, eodem modo ac sensu." 
 
 All that follows — VIZ. u^e x,at aurov, rj mo^ ec ocvt^ Xiyn, v) o av 
 <pDovii^<^ inroSy^rai — is either fo corrupt, or fo darkly exprefled, that 
 I have only to confefs myfelf unable even to guefs what Ariftotle 
 meant to fay. Commentators indeed have explained, and tranf- 
 lators have tranflatedj but I have feen no explanation that ap- 
 proaches to fatisfadion, nor any tranflation, but what is either 
 unintelligible, or unwarrantable, or both. I do not mean to 
 except myfelf; for I had tranflated thus : — '* We muft alfo con- 
 " fider the perfon who fpeaks, and whether the contradidion be to 
 " what he himfelf faid, or to what any reafonable man would mi- 
 " derjiand him to have faid'." But, to wave other objedions, 
 which, no doubt, the learned reader will eafily make for me, the 
 verb, uTToka^ai, will, I believe, by no means bear this fenfe, of 
 fiippofng, iinderfanding — \nroKoi.^nv. At lea ft, Arijlotle feems al- 
 ; ways to ufe it in that of advifing, fiiggcf.ing, 6cc. So Rbet. I. 9, 
 p, 533. — orav \-naiv&.v jS»Xr, of« t< av TIIOQOIO' ««( orotv TnOGES- 
 ©AI, ooa. T< uv sTTXivea-etac. Accordingly, Goulfton has given the 
 
 * Cap, vi. p. 39. EJfewhere he exprefTcs this — eMyx®' i^v yap mv amjiourii ra 
 aims Hou iv(^, MH 'ONOMATOS, AAAA nPAFMATOI. De Soph. Elcnch. p. 285, D. 
 
 * Alluding, as I fuppofed, to the former pafTage about the verbal umvamcc^ and 
 Clauco'b anfwer, viz. the contrudiiSlion is only to the critic's erroneous opinion, and 
 nvfconccption^ of the paflage : oMJywj Tr^oimheii^^mari. 
 
 word
 
 NOTES. 533 
 
 word this fenfe In his verfion: — ** videndumque, an ea In re, 
 ** quod prudcns pracepen'f, fecutus fit." But, of what force this 
 circumflance is, or how it is to be applied to obviate the charge of 
 contradi£lio7i, I do not fee. 
 
 Being therefore obhged to reje<fl: the only verfion, which feemed 
 to me to offer any tolerable meaning, I have left a blank in my 
 tranflation. 
 
 NOTE 258. 
 P. 131. When excused by no necessity, &c. 
 
 —'Oral/ i^vi KVCcyKYj^ i<yvjg, f^riQiv ^yi(rviTou tcj a,Xoyu, uxTTTio EvonriSrjg 
 ru AtyetriTis TTovviatcx., wV-ttso ev O^i^in ra MsveXoas. — Such was the con- 
 fufed flate in which KohortelU found the text, which he, very in- 
 genioufly and folidly, redlified thus : 
 
 — 'Otocv jU5j KvayKi^g ia'rjg {/.yideu, ')(py\S'y\rxi,' Ttd uXoyu, utttso Evpi7ri^ri$ 
 EN Tu AirEI" TH( TTovrntUf ucttbo ev ru OpB^v ra MeveXot.^. 
 
 Some MSS. for AiynviT^s, give Aiyariryi, which, as Goulflon has 
 obferved, fuggeflis the true reading — Iv tu AirEI, 'H TH* TTovMix 
 —a, T, X. 
 
 By the Mgeus, Robortelli underftood the charader of that name, 
 in the Medea of Euripides. To this Vidtorius very reafonably 
 objefted, that the mode of expreflion, Iv tw Aiyn, feems plainly to 
 indicate a Tragedy fo named ; not a characler only in a Tragedy 
 of a different name. But this is no objedlion to Robortelli's 
 reading, though it is to his explanation of it. See the fragments 
 at the end of the Oxford Euripides, where feveral palFages of the 
 Mgeus are quoted from Stobasus, &c. 
 
 NOTE
 
 N O T E S. 
 
 NOTE 259. 
 
 P. 131. Thus THE SOURCES OF OBJECTIONS ARE FIVE, &C. 
 
 This enumeration may feem, at the firft view, to be deficient ; 
 for one of the objedtions was — Oujt KXtjdyi: — " the reprefentation is 
 " not conformable to truth." But this, perhaps, may be conli- 
 dered as falling under the charge of oKoyov. For he, who accufes 
 a Poet of departing from nature, experience, and the o<a ijv, ij Ij-*, 
 fays, in other words, it is improbable y incredible , abfurd, &c. Or, 
 when this objection was relative to truth of another fort — to theo- 
 logical truth, as violated by the poetic reprefentations of the Gods, 
 it then came, properly, under the fSxtx-f^e^ov ; it was of immoral and 
 pernicious tendency. And thus we find Plato objecting continu- 
 ally to the theology of Homer; fometimes, as not true — OTK 
 AAH0H " ; fometimes, as hurtful — roig uKuaa-i BAABEPA*'. 
 
 The objeftions anfwered by confiderations drawn from the dic- 
 tion, fSe£f. ^.J appear to be all reducible to one or other of thefe 
 Ji'^jc fources. 
 
 NOTE 260. 
 
 P. 131. Or, of immoral tendency, 
 
 BX«l3spu : i. c. hurtful on account of their immoral tendency. So 
 the word is ufed by Plato j to whofe objedtions, and to the very 
 language in which he exprelTes them, Arillotlc fo frequently al- 
 ludes. Cenfuring the immoral tendency of feme of Homer's 
 
 • See NOTE 235. 
 
 ' See the pafTage from Plato in the next NOTE, where both thefe expreflions 
 occur. 
 
 reprefentations
 
 NOTES, S35 
 
 reprefentations of his hero Achilles, Plato fays — OvS" oc-ia. tccuto., 
 
 »t' tUxvjQfj' 'Ticci f^ifjv Toig ye kkhho-i BAABEPA' — The reafon follows: 
 
 Tra? yxp exuru (ru'yyvu[/,TjV e^ei, xxku ovti, TTsicrSsii, ug xpa, tqiomtu, ttok-- 
 
 Tact re koh iTrpocTTOv *' 0< ^euv ay^ta-Tropoi ." . ilv evizot, TTxu^eov r'di; 
 
 TOiHTUg fx-vSag, ja-vj yjf^iv ttoXX'/jv eux^P^'t^v ivrmTU(rt roi; veoig, TTovr^pixg. De 
 Rep. III. p. 176, ed. MaJ]', 
 
 Compare the precept, cap. xv\ about making the charader as 
 morally good as pofTible : and fee note 108. It is obvious how- 
 ever to obferve, that when the fiox^'^i^"^, the villainy of a charadler, 
 is overcharged, it brings with it its own antidote. Such charac- 
 ters as lago *", or Glenaho?!, can be l3Xo!.,Qe^cc to no reader or fpedlator. 
 They excite only pure and unmitigated difguft. Not all the art 
 of 'the Poet, or the charms of Poetry, can cheat us into any degree 
 of fympathy with them, even for the moment in which they are 
 fpeaking. We feel, there, no fuch ftruggle between immoral ap- 
 probation and moral indignation, as Dr. Johnfon has defcribed, in 
 his obfervations upon the diiferent f^e£ts produced on the fpecftator, 
 by the villainy of Rowe's Lothario, and that of Richardfon's Love- 
 lace. The paffage is fo much to the purpofe of this note, fo juflly 
 thought, and fo well expreffed, that I am perfuaded I fhall gratify 
 the reader by tranfcribing it. 
 
 *' The charader of Lothario feems to have been expanded by 
 ** Richardfon into Lovelace; but he has excelled his original in 
 ** the moral effeSl of the fidion. Lothario, with gaiety whicli 
 ** cannot be hated, and bravery which cannot be defpifed, retains 
 ** too much of the fpedator's kindnefs. It was in the power of 
 ** Richardfon alone to teach us at once efteem and deteftation, to 
 ** make virtuous refentment overpower all the benevolence which 
 
 • Tranjl. p. 92, 
 
 '' <* There is always danger, left wickednefs, conjoined with abilities, fliould 
 •* fteal upon efteem, though it mifles of approbation ; but the charaiSer of logo is (o 
 *• conducted, that he is, from the firft fcene to the laft, hated and defpifed." [Dr. 
 Johxifon. Note at the end of Othello.} — Not fo, Shakfpeare's Rithard, 
 
 10 " wit^
 
 536 NOTES. 
 
 " wit, and elegance, and courage, naturally excite, and to lofe at 
 " lad the h^ro in the villain'." 
 
 NOTE 261. 
 P. 131. Or as contrary to technical accuracy. 
 
 — Uoc^x r'/]v c^9orriroc, Ttjv kuto. TByQiriv. Moft of the'Commentators 
 underftand the art of Poetry itfelf. But, if I am right in the 
 explanation I have given, note 23'^, of the expreffion, tt^oj kuttiv 
 TTjv TBxvriv, the fenfe of the expreffion here muft be the fame, I 
 underfland Ariftotle to mean, the rightnefsy not of Poetry itfelf, 
 but of other arts, which may be incidentally the fubjed: of the 
 Poetry j and the words, I think, exprefs the fource, or hl^, as he 
 terms it, of objeftions relative to all faults -hktix. crvfAf^ef^rjx,©^, as 
 oppofed to thofe, which he dillinguiflies by the various exprefijons 
 
 of, auLccpriou tcxQ ecx.UT7}Vf 6cc''. 
 
 The other interpretation of the words is fairly liable, I think, 
 to the following objeftions. i. If we underfland the poetic art 
 itfelf to be meant, then the objection to faults kutoc <T\jfA.(3i(^vty.^-—^ 
 to impoffibilities and inaccuracies with refped: to otber arts and 
 fciences — will be entirely omitted in this enumeration. This i» 
 very improbable, confidering how common a fource of critical 
 cenfure this was. For while, on the one hand, the extravagant 
 admirers of Homer made no fcruple to alTert, that his Poems con- 
 tained the principles of all arts and fciences; on the other, we 
 know how eagerly the Zoilijls caught at every apparent inaccuracy 
 of this kind; and, particularly, with refped to his geography. 
 One inftance, at leaft, of this fort of cavil, we have in this chap- 
 ter: the cenfure of the palTage, 'Or,j S' df^iio^'^, 11. S. 489, fell on 
 
 * Lives of the Poets, vol. ii. 526. 
 » Sec NOTE 233. 
 
 Homer's
 
 NOTES. si>7 
 
 Homer's ignorance of aftronomy". — 2. By the manner in which 
 Ariltotle here mentions, firil:, the five fources of critical cenfures, 
 and then, immediately, the twelve fources of AusTg;? or anftvcrs, it 
 is plain, I think, that he means — anfwers to thofe cenfures, and 
 to all of them. But this cannot be the cafe, if we underftand 
 ejfential faults in the Poetry itfelf, or bad imitation: for this admits 
 of no anfwer, but a direcll denial of the fad;. Whereas, if we 
 underftand incidental errors in other arts, all will be confident; 
 and every fault enumerated will find its anfwer in fome of the 
 Xvireig, which had been pointed out in the preceding part of the 
 chapter, and are referred to in this enumeration. — 3. If the art 
 here mentioned be the art of Poetry itfelf, and the faults againft 
 that art be, as I underftand them to be, ejfential faults, faults 
 which conftitute bad Poetry, /. c. in Ariftotle's view, bad imitation, 
 this plainly implies, that the four other faults enumerated are not 
 effential, but accidental faults ; xktx c-vf^loelSrix©^. But, thatya<;,6 
 faults as improbability, and iminoraUty, [aXoyx, f2xctf2eox,) which had 
 juft before been fingled out from the reft, as cj^dxi £V<T;^»/Taf — as the 
 moft folid objedlions, and fuch as admitted of no excufe — that 
 thefe fliould be confidered by Ariftotle as faults merely incidental, 
 not to be objedled to the Poetry itfelf, not affedling the merit of 
 the imitation, a naff 'EATTHN aiia^non, is what, as I have before 
 faid, I cannot eafily conceive.'. 
 
 The expreflion itfelf — ttu^x Tr,v coQotvitx Trjv xxtx nyjiriv, is indeed 
 ambiguous ; and they, who prefer the fenfe which I have rejefted, 
 will perhaps think it favoured by the fmiilar expreflion, clearly ap- 
 plied to faults againft the art of Poetry itfelf, in the pafTage,— 
 'TTOTipiav egi TO uf^xprvif^a, ruv KATA THN TEXNHN, ?; xar aXXo 
 cri//^^e£j;jc©j. The exprefiions, hov/ever, are not exadlly the fame. 
 There, it is, kxtx. THN rex^v — ** againft the art:" here, — kxtx 
 
 •^ For inftances of fuch objeflions, both to the geograpliy, and the aflronomy, of 
 Homer, the reader may confult Stralm, pnjfim. 
 
 < Note 233. 
 
 3 Z ' Tixnv,
 
 538 " N O 1' E 5, 
 
 Tsxnv: " contrary to the reilitude of arf." — Bat Ariftotle had 
 before ufed an expreffion, that feemed ftill more ftrongly to point 
 at the art of Poetrjf : ra vri^or ATTHN THN TEXNHN uhvurett 
 •which, however, it feems neceffary, for thereafons given in note 
 233, to underfland in the fame fenie, which I have here given to 
 y-a-a. ts^w^j/. But that pafTage, and indeed this 'VDhok chapter, is, 
 in its prefent ftate, fo full of obfcurity and ambiguity, that every 
 interpretation vs^hich can be given mud neceilarily be, in a great 
 meafure, conjectlural and difputable. All I can venture to be con- 
 fident of is, that my explanation of this palTage is confifiait with 
 my explanation of the other ; and tliat either both are right,, oi:- 
 both are wrong. 
 
 NOTE 262. 
 P. 131. The ansv/ers, which are twelve, tec. 
 
 How the different Kwtiq or folutions propofed throughout the 
 chapter are reducible to 12, and which are the 12 that Ariftotle 
 meant, are queflions, which the defediive ftate of the original ren- 
 ders it very difficult, if not impoffible, to anfwer, with any cer- 
 tainty. And indeed the matter is of fo little importance, that it 
 is by no means worth while to enter into any examination of the 
 various modes of reckoning, by which different expoiitors have 
 endeavoured to folve the problem. ViBorhis, indeed, is fo wife, 
 as to give up the attempt. It will be very eafy however, and there- 
 fore,. I hope, not rjcry foolifli, jufl: to enumerate all the Xva-HCf 
 which aftually have been mentioned in the chapter, in the order 
 in which they occur, and then tg examine, byway of experiment, 
 whether they are any way reducible to twelve. 
 
 I. — rvyx«'ni th reXisg, rs uvTfjg. — /. e. The end of Poetry is better 
 
 anfwered, &c. 
 
 2. — KUTu <TVfiPf.(^-^K<^ - « 1 - The fault is incidental. 
 
 ^ o. Old
 
 NOTES. 539 
 
 3. — oix hi, (or, (2eXTiov) «. - - It is what Is i>e/^, or what 
 
 Jl^ould be. 
 4. — o<a (pao-;, (or, cias 3o^a) - - It is according to general 
 
 opinion. 
 5. — Ikx, ijf, ij \^iv (or, ^T&j e^%£!', or, aXtfiy]) - - - tO truth. 
 [6. — (rxsTrrsov — e/j rev ttpihttovtoc, vrpcg ov, ore, &C.] - [Confider cir- 
 
 cu!/ijlances.'\ 
 7. — rXwTTtj - - • - Defend, by the Jvreign fenfc 
 
 of the word. 
 8. — MsTu^ooa- - - - - - by Metaphor. 
 
 9. — KctTx H^ocru^Mv - • - - by AcceJit. 
 
 10. — A»a;^e(r?( ----- by PunSiuation, 
 
 1 1 . — Afi(pif2oXnx. ----- by Ambiguity. 
 
 12. — xiaros TO eS©^ tij? Ae^aw? - . - - by Czijiomary Jpeecb. 
 
 13. — n(wa%6Jf o!/ o-jjjw.^j'ae — rOr, jiaS' oi^uvv^ixv hy th.G different Je72ji's 
 
 of a w^r^. 
 [14. — rxau^cwf©^ XufTtj] - - - _ [Glauco's anfwer.] 
 
 [15. — £i3c(^, y.cu -TTot^ot. TO £;jc©^ 7(i'£(r5aj] [Probable, that many thinrrs 
 
 fliould happen improbably.] 
 [16. — Ou TO KVTo, 5j If 'jr^og to uuto, Sec] [The Jame thing is not fpo- 
 
 ken of, or, not in the 
 fame refpecf, &c.] 
 
 Here are, then, 16 different ajifwers. Of thefe, it feems, upon 
 the whole, moft probable, that the 1 2 not enclofed in brackets, are 
 the 1 2 which Ariftotle means. My reafon is, that in the begin- 
 ning of the chapter, after laying down the three diftindl confide- 
 rations, of the different objects of imitation, the privileges of poe- 
 tical language, and the diflindion of cffential and incidental faults, 
 \e Immediately, and explicitly, refers to thofe three principles, as 
 
 fourccs of all the anfwers. XIj-e Je; to. l7riTi[/,rj[^uTx EK TOTTIiN 
 
 tTria-KOTravrx ATEIN. Now it will be found, I believe, that the 12 
 anfwers above mentioned are drawn from thofe fources, and that 
 thejbur remaining anfwers are not. 
 
 3 Z 2 But
 
 54© NOTES. 
 
 But why thefe four, which evidently are propofed as anfwers,- 
 and feem to be dijlincl anAvers, were not admitted in the conclud- 
 ing enumeration, it may not be eafy to fhew. Perhaps, Ariftotle 
 reckoned only as one folution, the two which he affigns to \hs.fame 
 objedtion, with an r', or irtaq rt ncu, &c. This would throw out 
 N"' 14, and 15, which feem, indeed, to be mentioned only as a fort 
 of fecondary or fubfidiary anfwers. — As to N" 6, and 16, he might 
 confider them as one -, both of them, in , fad:, faying the fame 
 thing, and nearly in the fame words — /. e. " circuinjlances muft be 
 •' confidered." Still however, taking thefe together as one anfwer, 
 that anfwer will be fupernumerary ; and how it is fairly to be got 
 rid of, it is difficult to fee : the more difficult, becaufe it is the only 
 Xva-ig furniihed by the whole chapter to the objedion of immora/ 
 tendency, (iGxajS^fa,) upon which fo great ftrefs is laid. 
 
 All that feems tolerably clear is, that the 1 2 anfwers intended in 
 the recapitulation are thofe 12, which are deducible from the three 
 principles laid down at the opening of the chapter. In this 
 idea, which I had formed before I confulted any commentator, 
 I was glad to find myfelf fupported by Gouljion, in his accurate 
 analyfis ; where he makes the 1 2 anfwers to be thofe here affigned, 
 and draws them from the three fources at the beginning of the 
 * chapter: viz. three from thcfo-Ji fource, (N"' 3, 4, ^,)—feven fronx 
 ihz Jcco7id — the diSHon, (N*" 7, 8, 9, 10, 1 1, I2, 13,) — and^wo from 
 the third fource, (N"' i, and 2,) 
 
 NOTE 263. 
 
 P. 132. If that which is the least vulgar or po- 
 pular BE THE BEST . 
 
 — YiTTov OOPTIKH. — The word (po^T/^ioi/ is ufed in a number 
 of different, and fometimes nicely difcriminated, fenfes, which 
 cannot, all of them, be exprefled by any fmgk word in our lan- 
 guage.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 541 
 
 ■^uage. Sometimes, for example, it is to be rendered by exfrava-- 
 ganty violent, charged, outre^, 6cc. as ia the following paiTage of 
 Diog, Laertius about Bion: — ^1/ (5e ytai 6ea,Tfir/.@^, vmi ■rro'Kvg Iv ru ys'kotoi 
 mx(popriiTOit, OOPTIK.OIS ovo[/,oicrt jcara ruv TTpoty^ctrm y^oufjusv^^ . — /. e. 
 extravagant, exaggerated, oiitres, as Bayle has well ex{)lained it, 
 art. BioN, note [b], where he gives an inflance of this extrava- 
 gance of expreffion in that philofopher, from Plutarch, who calls 
 it <DOPTIKaTEPON'. 
 
 Sometimes, applied to perfons, it means troublefome, tirefome, 6cc. 
 as in iElian — ttoXuj v\v XocXav, Kxt l^oKst OOPTIKOS. Far. Hijl. XII. 
 13. — Sometimes, infolent, overbearing, &c. as, in the fame writer, 
 it is faid of a famous courtefan, — 'H h r^v TIIEPHOANOS ;c«< Ihvu; 
 <&OPTIKH. XII. 63''. — Sometimes, again, and that very frequently, 
 it is ufed as fynonymous with aveXsu^e^©-, f^xvaua-®^, popular, low^ 
 vulgar, &c. as oppofed to what is liberal, rejined, delicate, genteel, 
 &c. Thus Plutarch — uveXev^s^isg KOf^t^yi zxi <I>OPTIKAS — (pxvrxa-ixg. 
 p.. 216,. ed. H. S. And Plato — (piXorifA,!^ t/jv jxsv xtto ruv ym- 
 
 f^xTcav TjSovifjv OOPTIKHN tivx "^yeirx; — " The ambitious man looks 
 *' upon gain as a vulgar fort of pleafure," De Rep. IX. p. 2 c: a., 
 ed. MaJ'. — Jul. Pollux defcribes a fpecies of dance called MoSuv, as, 
 
 • The Latin writers ufe moltjlus in this fenfe; for whatever is violent, overdone, 
 laboured, afFeded, &c. Thus Cicero, in the following elegant pafiage of his Brutus: 
 " Volo enim, ut in fcena, fic etiam in foro, aon eos modo laudari, qui cf/eri motu Si 
 " difficili utantur, fed eos etiam quos ftatarios appellant, quorum fit Uh Jimb/ex, in 
 ^'■agendo, Veritas, non MOLESTA. /. e. /ji,n (po^ri>m. cap. xxx. Again — " Latine lo- 
 * quendi accurata, et fine molestia dlligens, elegantia : /'. e, without /ai'nur or 
 *' affeSlation,^' cap. xxxviii. — Catullus, too, of ■i.n. affeSied ^\\n ; 
 
 — — ilia, quani vidctis 
 Turpe incedere, mimice ac moleste 
 Ridentem, catuli ore Gallicani. 
 
 * IV. 52. 
 
 ' EfWTix. p. 1371. ed. H. St. See alfo the Timott ofLucian, ed. Ben. p. 59. — ',:% 
 troi $OPTIKf22 Jia^£7i)/xai — ;, e. (as the context fliews,) luith the cxtravaganct *f 
 Tragic rant. 
 
 ' TarEf05rmi^, mt^p^av, ^a^iu;, $0PTnC02,'W«x''«?' Jul. Pdl. Yl. 5. 
 
 tl'DPriKON
 
 542 NOTE S. 
 
 fPOPTIKON co%v/ita Kdi vsKuriKov — ** a vulgar and failor-like dance j" 
 the hornpipe, i fuppofe, of the Greeks \ And thus Athensus, 
 where he mentions, from Herodotus, the curious (lory of Agarijlat 
 (the daughter of CHflhenes, king of Sicyon,) and her fuitors, fays, 
 
 that Clifthenes rejedled Jlippoclides, llm OOPTIKX2E ^^^^(rafievcv : 
 
 becaufe he did not dance like a ge7itkman'' : a charge, which, ac- 
 cording to Herodotus, feems indeed to have been pretty well 
 •founded; for he tells us, that Hippoclides got upon a table and 
 danced upon bis head^ . — But let us return to Ariftotle, This /^i 
 {cvSq of the word (po^TtKov appears to me clearly to be that, in 
 which it is here ufed by him. I cannot think, that by (pDonxr,, 
 he intended to exprefs, as Dacier, and the commentators before 
 him, explain it, the trouble and expcnce of theatrical exhibition— 
 the number of things wanted — adiors, fcenes, drefTes, mufic, ficc". 
 Of all the commentators I have feen, M. Batteux alone gives, ia 
 a lliort note, what I think the true meaning of the word in this 
 place: — " Oo^r<;c©-, groffier, digne des mercenaires. Ariflote, Po- 
 *•' litic. VIII. c. 6. oppofe le fpeftateur mercenaire & ignorant, 
 " (?)oot;jc©o, au fpeftateur honnete ; & le plaifir groffier, y\lov'/\ <popriK7if 
 *' les danfes grofiieres, Ki!Jr,(rag (po^TKcarB^ag, au plaifir delicat, aux 
 *' danfes honnetes," 
 
 Ariftotle himfelf will here be his beil commentator, in the paf- 
 'fases to which M. Batteux refers. 
 
 Some forts of rhythtn, he fays, OOPTIKHTEPAS s^ifirf rxg Kivtia-ag, 
 f violent and vulvar J ot ^=, EAETGEPinXEPAZ '. Again, in the 
 
 ' And fee Suidas, v. MoSay, 
 
 ' P. 628. 
 
 ? — Ttiv KE^aXw tpeic-a; Itti t>iv r^ccvc^cc; roi; SXEAESI EXEIPONOMIISE. Hi'roJ. 
 VI. p. 238. eJ. H. St. 
 
 i" — " ifTTO)i (poDTiHYi — /. c. quo! pauctoiibus eget adjumentis extrinfcciis fumpth^" lie. 
 Robortelli.—'''- i^lun gravja," in the fame fenfe, CaJJelvctro. — " Manco carca Sc manco 
 •' b':J'ognofa d'aiuto." Piico.'. — Bcui follows Robortelli, Fi.^orius rciiJcrs — " impor- 
 *' tuna et niolejla" but enters into no particular explanation. Djclcr — " la moins 
 *' cliargce, & celle qui dcmande le mains d'aide Cs" de feaun" 
 
 > Z)( Rc-p.Vm. 5. p. 455>E. 
 
 next
 
 N" O T E S. 
 
 543 
 
 next chapter, relative to the mufical education of youth, he fpeaks 
 of the pleafure of a popular mufical audience, as a vulgar, illiberal 
 fort of pleafLuc. " The performer there," he fays, " aims only 
 ** at the pleafure of the hearers, ^ai ravr?;^ <i>OPTlKUZ- ^k/ttb^ i 
 T«riN EAETQEPflN K^ivo^iv eivxi tv;v eoyxcrixv, ( " fuch performance 
 ** does not become z gentleman,"") xXXd ©HTIKnTEPAN* (the 
 playing of a man who is paid for playing:) icaa BANATLOTS h\ 
 (mechanics) (ruf^(3aM'ii ytyvea-Qai' ttovvip©^ yap o (Tkott'^ Troog ov TroinvTat 
 TO TiX<^' yx^ ©EATHS, 4>OPTIKOS a>v, f-cerxf^xXXBtv eiuOs t'/jv ^wk- 
 (rixr,v — . 3iJ. p. 457, 8. — In the next chapter is the following paf- 
 fage, ftill more diredHy to our prefent purpofe, in which he ex- 
 prefsly dillinguifhes, as here,, the two forts of fpedlators, or 
 hearers : — Ssxrrig oirT<^,c f^sv EAET0EPOS k«< nEHAIAETMENO'v,, 
 $£ OOPTIIvOS, Ik I3xpa,tj(ra)v, kki Si^ruv, KXi aKKuv ToiiiTuv,.(ruyKsiUzV<^. 
 p. 459, A'. 
 
 The word occurs frequently in other parts of Ariilo tie's writin-^s, 
 and feems generally, if not always, to be ufed in the fame fenfe". 
 
 By <po^riK'^, then, applied to Tragedy, I think it clear, that he- 
 means only — calculated for (ps^Tiaoi fpedtators ; adapted to the en- 
 tertainment of /liJ^f/Zr/r audiences" — to the tall:e, as we commonly 
 
 ■^ In dlfciifllng, however, the queftion, whether boys fliould learn Muflc practically, . 
 and play or fuig themfelves, Ariftotle determines, that they JhjuIJ, and o-ives this rea- 
 fon, that "it is a thing impoffible, or, at leaft, very difficult, for thofe, who do not 
 " actually praSiife an art, to be good judges of it." p. 456.— It might be fo in thofe 
 days. Modern connoiffeurs, both in Mufic and Painting, find no iuch difficulty.. 
 
 ■ So Plutarch, in the beginning of his Cotnparifon of Arijiophanes and Mrnander, 
 p. 1567, cd. H. S.— To $OPTlKON, <?7!0-iv, iv Xoyoif, ^ai gy/*EMOTV, hm BANATSON, ij 
 mv Afij-TcOavfj, Msi-ai/Jf-j ?e i3i<,«u,'. Kai 7:rf, o fisy AIIAIAETTOX xai IAIX2THS oif 
 fXEiv©" >i'/i\ o.'SiCiK'VM, Je WE7ra;;Jtt/|a£i/©- SV<7%Efa:v£i. 
 
 "" Ethic. Nicom. IV. 8. — ^ui/xoxoxo: — nat fofr.Kor. And I. 5, where he fays, thatj 
 "OI nOAAOI KM ^OPTKflTATOI, held the fummum honum to be pleafure. See alfo 
 Rhct. III. I. p 584, A. 
 
 " Mr. Pope, probably without thinking of Arifto'.le, has almoPc tranflated him,, 
 where, in his preface to Shakfpeare, he %s— " It nuift be rllowed, that flage-poetry, 
 **-of. all others, is more particularly levelled to pkafe the populace " 
 
 exprefs
 
 54+ NOTES. 
 
 exprefs it, of the tipper gallery, as oppofed to the refined and cul- 
 tivated tafle of men of reading and refleftion. 
 
 As far as I can judge, from a comparifon of the different fenfes 
 of the word with its etymology", the common idea, which runs 
 through and connedls them all, is that of excefs, or, perhaps, more 
 exadlly, of offenfive, difgufting, or biirdcnjomet by excefs^ of fome 
 kind or other. 
 
 NOTE 264. 
 
 P. 132. As IF THE AUDIENCE, WITHOUT THE AID OF 
 ACTION, 6CC. — • 
 
 'Sllq yap ix, ixi(T9oi.vD[Mevuv, dv f^rj ATTOS nPOS0H(, ttoKXvjv )civyi<nv xivuv- 
 Ta;— This wound has been fufficiently probed. When I found, 
 that the " medica maniis" of Mr. Toup had been tried upon it, I 
 looked, at leaft, for the ** falubres Ambrofiaj fuccos, et odoriferam 
 ** panaceam%" if not for the precious DiBa?mius, that would 
 entirely heal it. He propofed to read — «y ^t^; ATAOS nPOSH< ^ 
 I fliould be very forry to do any injuftice to the emendation of fo 
 maflerly a Greek fcholar ; but I am obliged to confefs, that I do 
 not underftand it, *' The imitators have recourfe to eveiy kind of 
 ** motion,- juft as if the audience were not able to underfland (or, 
 " to hear J them, without the addition or accompaniment of a jiiite." 
 How any fenfe can be made of this, or of any other fair veriion of 
 the paflage, fo corrected, I cannot difcover. The emendation, 
 iurely, requires to be explained, at leafl; and if Mr. Toup gave 
 any explanation in his letter to Mr. Winftanley, it is to be wiHied, 
 tliat the learned editor had communicated it to the public in his 
 note. 
 
 " From 4OPT02— «;;«/, 
 
 » Mn, XII. 411. 
 
 * See Mr. Wjnftanlcy's note, f, 309 of his edition* 
 
 It
 
 NOTES. 545 
 
 It is fome comfort, however, that the general meaning of the 
 paffage feems liable to little or no difficulty; and, accordingly, in 
 that, all the commentators, I think, are agreed, however widely, 
 they may differ as to the reading. 
 
 NOTE 265, 
 
 P. 132. Like bad flute-players, who whirl them- 
 selves ROUND, WHEN THEY WOULD IMITATE THE MOTION 
 OF THE DISCUS . 
 
 This is one of thofe antique curiofities, which we flare at, 
 without knowing very well what to make of it. — 'Av AII^KON liy\ 
 [^if^eio-Gxi. We fliould think it very ftrange, if we were told of a 
 flute-player having cccafion to imitate a quoit. But we are not to 
 underlland this of a mere inflrumental folo, but of a performer 
 accompanying words fung by a Chorus, (as appears from the men- 
 tion of the CoryphcciLs,) and endeavouring, in an abfurd manner, 
 to exprefs them. The antient Ai;/\9jt',j5-, or Tibicen, was not, it 
 feems, a mere fedentary performer, like thofe of a modern orclicflra. 
 He accompanied the Chorus with his perfon, as well as with his 
 inftrument, and feems to have paraded about the flage, in a pom- 
 pous drefs; to have made a part of the 04^'?, ox Jlocw, and to have 
 joined in all the turns, and returns, and various evolutions, of the 
 choral dance. Hence the defcription of Horace : 
 
 Sic prifc£ tnottmqiie et luxuriam addidit arti 
 
 Tibicen, traxitque vagus per f alpha veftetn. A. P. 214. 
 
 Lucian, in his Harmonides, defcribing the requiiites of a good 
 AvXyiTYji;, menfions, among the reft, — kch BAINEIN h pvSi^eo''. — The 
 great mafters, no doubt, refped:ed themfelves, and confined their 
 motion to the dignity of a fort of rhythmic ftrut. But Ariftotle, 
 
 » P. 638, cd. Ben. 
 
 4. A here.
 
 546 NOTES. 
 
 here, is defcrlbing the tricks of the (pocuXoi or ^o^tmoi performers. 
 Such a performer mig/jt have occafion, or rather take occafion, ta 
 imitate the whirling or rolhng of a difc, if the fubjedt, for example, 
 of the choral fong chanced to be the ftory oi Apollo and Hyacinthus ; 
 which is mentioned by Lucian in a long lift of fabulous fubjedls, 
 enumerated as a part of the knowledge requifite to an accom- 
 pliihed pantomimic dancer *". Or, the fubjedl might be taken from 
 Homer, Od. S. i86, &c. 
 
 KvXiof^Bvoi. Dacier, in his note, tranflates this, " rolling them- 
 " felves upon the ground!' This would be (po^nxov indeed. Yet 
 in this idea he follows P^iBorius ; who enters into a difcuflion, of 
 fome length, to prove that KvXtofjUvoi can mean nothing but rolling 
 on the ground. Nor will he allow the difficulty of doing this while 
 they were playing to be a fuflicient objedlion. Certainly, the ufual 
 and proper fenfe of the word is on his fide. But it was natural 
 enough, furely, to apply to the motion imitating, the term proper 
 to the motion imitated. 
 
 ^ De Salt. p. 933. ed. Ben. — A modern dancer—perhaps even M, Vejlrh himfclf-— ^ 
 would ftare at the account which Lucian gives in that treatife, of the accom- 
 pliCiments neceffary to make a perfect dancer. " He muft not only underftaiid 
 " mufic, but poetry, geometry., and above all, philofophyy natural and moral; rhetoric^ 
 " painting, fculpture ; efpecially, he muft have an excellent memory, and have all 
 *' hiftory at his fingers ends, from the creation of the world down to Cleopatra," 
 &c. Logic, indeed, Lucian confefles, is not abfoliitely neceffary. But fo great, he 
 lays, miuft be his knowledge, tliat, " like Homer's Chalcas, he muft know 
 
 *' — — Ta T WTO, ra t' ia<TO(/.tyoi~, w^o r Jovra!" 
 
 All this Lucian profeffes to prove ; but, as might well be expeited, fomc of his af- 
 fertions are very lamely made out, others flurred over, or entirely ncglefled. The 
 treatife, however, is, upon the whole, a curious piece; and, though far from fufH- 
 cient to give a clear and complete idea of the pantomimic dance of the antients, yet 
 it affords more ii-.fomatioe about it, than is to be found, I believe, anywhere clfe. 
 
 NOTE
 
 NO T E S. 547 
 
 NOTE 266. 
 P. 132. And pull the Coryphaeus when Scylla is 
 
 THE SUBJECT. 
 
 'EXzovreg tov Ko^vtpxm. — To imitate Scylla, — " naves in faxa tra~ 
 " hentem" as Virgil has expreffed it\ But it is not eafy to fee, 
 how the performer, at leaft while he was playing, could well fpare 
 a hand for this operation. — This was even worfe than what we call 
 humouring a catch ; when, for inflance, a finger who is performing 
 Purcell's " Fie, nay prithee, Joh?i" — fhinks it neceilary to collar 
 his neighbour. 
 
 NOTE 267. 
 
 P. 133. The TRAGIC IMITATION, WHEN ENTIRE . 
 
 'H 'OAH nx^f]. Heinfius propofed, ^ AAAH rs^fij. But I be- 
 lieve the eftabliflied reading to be right. The labole art — /. e. 
 Tragedy, as reprefented ; With all its conjiituent parts, and, as it 
 was faid before, ocrra.vrix, i/,t[^iif/.svyi. For it might, as Ariflotle pre- 
 fently obferves, be read, or recited, like an Epic Poem ; and, in 
 that view, the comparifon here made would not hold. 
 
 Te^fij — /. e. the Tragic art : for fo he ufes the word, cap. i. 
 not for the whole Poetic art, but for a fingle branch of it: — ev 
 Tocig h^rjf^^ivoiig TEXNAIE — /. e. Epic Poetry, Tragedy, Comedy, &c. 
 So too at the end of that chapter : rag iixcpo^xg THN TEXNXIN. 
 And, again, at the end of this chapter, (as I underfland the paf- 
 fagc,) T1J? TEXNHL l^yu. See note 277. 
 
 ' Mn. III. 425, 
 
 4 A 2 NOTE
 
 548 NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 268. 
 
 P. 133. To HEARERS OF. THE BETTER SORT . 
 
 — Qsurx; iTTinKei; : to which he oppofes <pa.v\^g. The word 
 iTTiSixei; feems rightly explained here by Dacier — " Ics hcnnetes gens-^ 
 " c'efl: a dire, les gens qui ont eu une meilleure education." The 
 pafTage, which he quotes from Plato, is much to the purpofe of 
 this chapter. "Lvyxj^pw ^ij rsye Toa-yrou acu eyu roi^ 'TToXXoig, ostv tjjv,' 
 u^ciKViv x^ov/i x.pive(rdcii' f/,7] y-evrot tuv STTiTVXpvTuv' aXkcc c^siov iKuv/iv sivat 
 l^-do-ccv KuXXig-'^v, VTi? TOYS BEATIITOYS, km IKANXIS OEnAI- 
 AETMENOYS ts^tte;. — De Leg. II, p. 658. 
 
 Ariflotle ufes sTrisMTjg in the fame fenfe, Et/j. Nicom. IV. 8, 
 p. 186, cd. Wilk. — ToiauTK Xsyeiv x,oa aKneiv, oia rca EIIIEIKEI KAI 
 EAEYeEPXl; K^i^oTTSi, 
 
 NOTE 269, 
 F. 133. And in singing — . 
 
 Ka* Siu^ovTOi. There feems great reafon to fufpedt this word. 
 For, what is the force of the prepofition here ? Some commen- 
 tators, without difputing the reading,, negledt the prepofition en- 
 tirely, and render the word as if it were the fimple participle, 
 ciSovTu. Others underfland^ ^«^7»^ throughout : " qui co7it'menter 
 *' canit." GoulJ}. But the proper {^nk of ^luhv, would, I think, 
 be — to fing dijjhnantly — to fing out of tune,-. — as, AIAcpwcew. And 
 fo the word is adually ufed in the treatife m^* Koa-i^a, in Ariflotle's- 
 works, and oppofed to I,Tl^a.Sov, as AlAcpmeiv is to LTMcpeouEw: — 
 ovy..(pe^o[AtvoVf KXi Sm<Pb^oj/.sv6i/' (rvvaSov, km AIA/AON", " The agrce- 
 
 ? Tern. I. p. 609. 
 
 (< 
 
 jng, 
 
 >
 
 NOTES. 
 
 549 
 
 *' ing, and the difagreeing, the confonant, and the dtffonant^ ." But 
 as the word cannot here be admitted, in that which appears to be 
 its only proper and warrantable fenfe, I fulpedt, it might, origi- 
 nally, have been only alovrot,. Confidering how frequently A and 
 A were confounded by tranfcribers, KAI AIAONTA might eafily 
 be blundered into KAI AIAIAONTA. One MS. reading is liotlW- 
 ^ovTcc; where the AI, plainly enough, arofe from the AI. 
 
 The commentators underll:and from this paffage, that there were 
 two forts of rhapfodifts ; one, of thofe who recited Epic Poetry, 
 and another, of thofe who Jung it. Whether this can be proved 
 from other pafTages of antient authors, I know not. From this, 
 it certainly cannot. Ariftotle fays, KAI Aaij'wfS'ai/ras— KAI ^KyJovTu". 
 Whatever the Sm^c^v was, he is here clearly diftinguilhed from the 
 f aip<i)(?wv — the rhapfodij}. 
 
 That the rhapfodifts did not, in the ftridl and mufical i^n^t, at 
 leaft, of the word, fing the verfes of Homer, but recited or de-~ 
 claimed them only, we may pretty fafely infer, from what is ex- 
 prefsly faid of Epic Poetry at the beginning of this work — 
 that " it imitates by words only,'' without melody and rhythm — 
 i. e. without mujic. This, indeed, will not prove that Epic Poetry 
 was never fung, any more than what was faid of Tragedy — that 
 it imitates by tvords and mti/ic — will prove that it was never recited, 
 or read. Yet the leaft, I think, that can be inferred from it, is, 
 that Epic Poetry was, in general, and for the moft part, recited o;: 
 declaimed only ; and, confequently, that the rhapfodijls, properly 
 fo called, being the eftablifhed performers of Epic Poetry, as the 
 
 * Harris, Phllof. ylrrang. p. 47. 
 
 = This paflTage is much miftaken by M. Batteux, who renders it, " Qu'on peut 
 
 ^'■faire des gejies en recitant I'Epopee, qu'on peut mime chanter" &c. Faire dei 
 
 gejles, comes far fhort of IlEPlEPrAZESOAI tr^iuEioif. The xai which precedes the 
 participle, pa-v^ajJiivTa, is omitted : and to produce his fenfe of hahna^—^u'en pent tneme 
 chanter.^ the Greek fhpuld be— in 7r£fi£f7«f«{rS«i-..»-x«i ^la^EJN. 
 
 floors
 
 550 NOTES. 
 
 aSfdrs ■* were of Tragic, performed it always in that manner ; 
 w'lihont Jinging, any farther, than as the tones of loud and fuf- 
 tained declamation approach more nearly to firtging than thofe of 
 common reading. The earlieft Lyric Poet-Muficians, indeed, 
 as we learn from Plutarch and Athenarus, ufed to fing even the 
 hexameters of Homer and Hejiod, as well as their own, to the lyre. 
 But they, plainly, fpeak of this, as of an antie?2t practice : — rot 
 TeoTrocvipoVy KIGAPXlAIKXiN 7^oir,ri}ii ovto. vo^jmv, ^hymns,'\ kutoc vo^ov 
 hotgov, TOir EnESI, To;f lavra, v.ott TO^S 'OMHPOT, MEAH tte^/t*- 
 GiVToc, A/AEIN \v Toig Kyu(Tty. Pint. Dial, de Miif. p. 2074, ed. H. 
 St. And afterwards — on ^e h KtQx^u^iy.oi vouoi, 'OI riAAAI, l^ EnxiN 
 avvigccvTo, Tt[^oSe<^ B^'/iXucre, &c. p, 2075. So, too, Athenaeus : — 
 " Chaniceleo7iy in his book about Stefichorus, v.a,i iJi,eXu^'^9'i}vixi (pr,<ri, 
 K fyiovov Toc Of^'/foa, aXXci axi Ha-iooi:, v.ctt Agx'^-°X^> &C. KAI uBkuStjOtivctt 
 — *' were even fung." f>. 620. 
 
 It is not, however, at all improbable, that Homer might be 
 fometimes yz/«^, in Ariftotle's time, and that this Mnajitheus, (of 
 whom nothing is known,) might be a performer in this way. 
 But, that this was a diflind: thing from '^oj^uhx feems pretty clear. 
 
 NOTE 270. 
 P. 133. Whose gestures resemble those of imimo- 
 
 DEST WOMEN. 
 
 The paffage of Aulas Gellius, to which I referred in my note on 
 the tranflation, as a ftory, both curious in itfelf, and confirming 
 what was there advanced, is this. " Hiflrio in terra Graecia fuit 
 " fama celebri : qui, geflus et vocis claritudine & venuftate, caeteris 
 " antefhabat. Nomen fuiffe aiunt Polum. Tragcedias poetarum 
 " nobilium feite atque afleverate aditavit. Is Polus unice amatum 
 
 ^ PaTj-aJbi, and iTroxpirai, .ire continually joineJ together, See Plato, in that en- 
 tertaining di.Viogue, the Ui, torn. I. p. 532, D. 535, E. and in a great many other 
 places, 
 
 6 " iilium
 
 NOTES. j^'i 
 
 *' filium morte amifit. Eum lu€tum quum fatis vifus eft eluxifTe, 
 ** rediit ad quasftum artis. In eo tempore Athenis RleBram So- 
 ** phoclis adturus, geftare urnam quafi cum Oreftis offibus debebat. 
 ** Ita compofitum fabulae argumentum eft, ut, veluti fratris reliquias 
 ** ferens Eledtra, comploret commifereturque interitum ejus, qui 
 " per vim exftindus exiftimatur. Igitur Polus, lugubri habitu 
 " Eledtr® indutus, olTa atque urnam a fepulchro tulit filii ; &, 
 ** quafi Oreftis amplexus, opplevit omnia, non fimulachris neque 
 ** imitamentis, fed luftu atque lamentis veris &; fpirantibus. 
 *' Itaque, quum agi fabula videretur, dolor aditatus eft." A. GdL 
 VII. 5. 
 
 NOTE 271. 
 P. 134. The music and the decoration, by the 
 
 LATTER OF WHICH THE ILLUSION IS HEIGHTENED, &C. 
 
 The Greek, here, in either of the two readings warranted by 
 manufcript authority, is unfatisfaftory and fufpicious, and the 
 fenfe, confequently, uncertain. The reading of the old editions 
 is — II vii Tctg riSovocg eTrig-xvrcti svapyeg'^ra. : which Vidlorius renders—— 
 " per quam voluptaies pcrcipiunt evidcntijjime :" — " through, or by 
 " means of, which, they perceive the pleafures moft evidently." No- 
 thing can well be more harfli, or ftrange.—- eTr/j-ai/ra; — they per- 
 ceive : — Who'? — The fpeitators. To this mode of fpeaking, 
 however, I fhould not objedl j becaufe this ellipjis, of 01 avd^uTro;, is 
 frequent in both the Greek and Latin writers \ Thus, in the be- 
 ginning of this chapter, K..v^vTa.i. This anfvvers to that very con- 
 venient idiom, of which the French make fo much ufe, and which 
 we fo often find the want of — on s'agite — on appercoit, Sec "". 
 
 But, 
 
 • See SanSf. Minerv. IV. 4, and Piriz. note 39. 
 
 •> According to Menage, the Fr. on, is only a corr.ipiion <?f homrm ; and on dit, 
 for example, was antiently written, " huom di«," And thus the ItaJian writers ufc 
 
 turn.
 
 552 N O T E S. 
 
 But, the verb, e-n-ig-xvTixi, will, I apprehend, by no means beaf 
 the fenfe here forced upon it, of percehing pleafure"; or any fenie, 
 but that of ttnderjianding, or knoining. Were I, therefore, obliged 
 to makeyowi? fenfe of this reading, it would be this: — " per quanl 
 ** [qiice efficnmtur'\ voluptates, noriint homines apertiflime:"— - 
 "' the pleafures, which are produced through which, are clearly 
 " underftood — well known to all. But this, I confefs, is violent 
 •interpretation ; and, in particular, I doubt whether the word hxayzi 
 is ever ufed, by Ariftotie at leaft, as merely fynonymous to (poive^ov; 
 as evident to reafon or imderjlanding, and oppofed to doubtful. It 
 aUvays means, I believe, evident, clear, vifible, to the eye Qfimagi^ 
 nation. Thus, cap. xvii. — An h ns; pufe? c-wigavut — — on 
 ^oiXtgot, nPO OMMATriN ri9'.i^Bvoy' iru ycc^ uv ENAPFEZTATA 
 'OPXIN, wc-Treo CAP' ATTOII PirNOMENOS- TOIL nPATTOME- 
 NOir, &c. Thefe words feem to furnilli the befl comment upon 
 the pafiage in queflion, and will perhaps lead us to the mofl rea- 
 fonable and leaft exceptionable interpretation of it ; for perfed: 
 fatisfadidn is not, I think, to be expefted, in the prefent condition 
 of the text. We ought, furely, at all events, to adhere to the 
 proper and clear meaning of the adverb evcc^ye^aTx, as ufed in the 
 paffage juft cited ; where the word itfelf, and the explanatory ex- 
 preflions which accompany it, afford a pretty ftrong prefumption, 
 that Ariftotle, here, meant to exprefs the particular advantage which 
 Tragedy receives from the Oif/ij, or, from adtual repnfntation*, 
 
 mm. Thus — " quando uo?n fe ii'accorge." Taffo's Jm'inta. — " Uom dice." Petrarch, 
 Son. 190, &c. And thus the Germans ufe the word wan: mail fagljt — men hy — . 
 they fay, &c See Menage's OJervaz. fopra. I' Jmlnta. 
 
 "= ^(3. himfclf admits this ohjedion: " Vcrbum hoc (tn-iravTai) infolens videtur 
 in hoc fignificaiu." 
 
 * So the pafTage vva"; underftood by the editor of the Ox. cd. without accents, 
 1760, who refers 5V «{ to the t)v)/ij, and iirojiofcs this emendation: fi >'i?, (fcil. o'%}-Ea.'i;) 
 THS 'HAONHS o-i/viravrai TA ei/atfyeraTa— " per quam, voluptath pan cvlclentijfima 
 " efficitur; quippc qua; oculis fubjeda eft fidclibus." But I cannot think that Ari- 
 ftotle would have written, &" "HI, THS riJcmj . 
 
 8 as
 
 NOTES. 55; 
 
 as giving to the imitation the gre.itcft poffible realhy of eft'ecH:, and 
 producing the moft perfcdt illufion in the fpeftator. Yet this, it 
 muft be owned, is very obfcurely exprefTed, if it be exprefTed, by 
 the Greek ; which, according to the beji reading, that of Vidlo- 
 rius, and of many MSS". will fland thus : ycM en, i {ji,ik^ov f^e^©^ 
 77JV [j,ii<riZ7iv Kxt Tvtv 0-i^iv 6^^, Si ijf 'AI 'HAONAI ZTNIi^TAN'rAI 'eva.^~ 
 yeg-xTo. : that is, according to the only fenji which I can find for it — 
 " and the decoration, or fpedlacle ; by means of which, the plea- 
 ** fures we receive from Tragedy % are rendered more fenfibk-, 
 *' ftriking, illufive," &c. But many objedions may, undoubtedly, 
 be made. For the fair and literal vcrfion would be this : "by 
 *' means of which, t/je pleafures 2.vt formed, compofed, C'wJiriiSied, or 
 ** conjiitiited\ in the cleareft and moft vifible manner." I give, 
 here, what I apprehend to be the only fair fenfe of the verb, c-uv- 
 ig-aaSxi; but it feems to be, by no means, the proper word in this 
 place, and probably is not the word which Ariftotle wrote. If 
 any one MS. would offer me nAPis-ai/ra;, I would readily accept it. 
 JElian, defcribing the efFedt of a trumpet, founding fuddenly, at 
 the inftant when a famous painting was exhibited, of a warrior in 
 the adl of rufhing to the battle, fi\ys — a/^a rs iv to yA\®^ ^-/Mira 
 
 Tocfxp KXi (pofSspsv ^,1X1 Edeix.vuro v, ypizcpy;, Kxt o g-pa.TiuT7]g s/Sxettsto, th 
 
 fjLiXiSi ENAPFESTEPAN t',]v (pxvTctcrixv ra eKlScy^QavT©^ In kxi fx.xXXov 
 nAPALTHIANTOZ : /. e. '' prefinting to the imagination a ftill 
 " more lively and ftriking image"." But again — xi rjSovxi, is not 
 
 "• See Mr. Winftanley's edition. 
 
 * It is, certainly, moll: natural to underftand tlie pleafures of the muf.c and decora- 
 tion to be here fpoken of. And foil is generally underftooJ. But I cannot fee how 
 the words will admit that fenfe : for the Greek does not fay — " by which the mojl fen~ 
 fihle arid Jfriking pleafures are produced,'" but, " by which the pleafures (i. e. fome cth.r 
 " pleafures,) are produced in the moft feiifible and flrilcing way" — ha^ycraTa. To 
 exprefs the other fenfe, Ariftotle would probably ha\'e written, hi^y^-ro.Tai : — Ji' y\; ai 
 ivupyirarou amti-avTM ri^ovai, 
 
 f Vict. — conflantur — coagmentantur. And, indeed, in this fenfe, an J no other, 
 is the verb o-uvirao-flai ufed throughout the treatife. 
 
 E Var. Hijh II. 44. 
 
 4 B what
 
 554 NOTES. 
 
 what one would exped here. To fpeak, indeed, of terror and 
 fity, as the pkafures of Tragedy, is perfectly agreeable, both to the 
 doftrine, and to the language, of the author, throughout". But, 
 it is not, properly, the pleajiire — it is not the terror, or the pity— 
 that is rendered more iva^yzq; but that pleafure is heightened by 
 the aSiioii being rendered fo. 
 
 Upon the whole, however, I fee no other meaning that can be 
 obtained from the words, without ftill greater violence and impro- 
 bability of interpretation. Dacier, Batteux, and Goulfton, make 
 the aflertion — «< '^lovui, &c. relate to both mufic and decoration. 
 But it is, furely, quite unwarrantable to give to — 11 'H£, the fenfe 
 of, li 'XIN, or li 'AIN. Befides that the 7mijic, however great the 
 pleafure it may afford, cannot, I think, properly be confidered as 
 contributing to the \vct.(yi:a,, or as heightening the ilhijioiz, of Tra- 
 gedy. ViSforms, who read — r^v f^sc-tKyiv kui TAL 'OTEIS, very 
 confiftently made r,; refer to jttKo-;^',? only: and Cajielvetro very pro- 
 perly obferves, that, " if we read — t'/jv o-]^iv — le predette parole 
 ** [i. e. ^i vig a< r,^ovoii, y.. r. aA.] havranno rifpetto al/a vr/Ia; &; 
 " contcneranno la commendatione della detta vifta, per la quale Ji 
 *' conjiitiiij'ca il diktto piii manifejiamentc — che tion fi fa per le parole 
 *' deir epopea." p. 690. He appears, I think, to have underftood 
 the paffage in the way I have propofed. But he mentions another 
 reading, which I have not feen noticed anywhere elfe — ivE^ys^uTo} . 
 This had occurred to me, formerly, as a conjedure, before I had 
 feen Caftelvetro's commentary. But it gives much the fame (tv\(i:, 
 and would remove no difficulty v/ith refpedt to the pafiage itfelfi 
 though, as I fhall prefently have occafion to obferve, it might fuit 
 better v.-ith what follows. 
 
 ^ Sec NOTE 277. 
 
 ' *' Alcuni tcftileggonoiwfyemTa."— — ' 
 
 NOTE
 
 NOTES. 555 
 
 NOTE 272. 
 
 P, 134. It has the advantage of greater clear- 
 ness AS WELL IN READING, AS IN REPRESENTATION. 
 
 EiTa:, y.ut ro ivagyzg e%ei, ycai ev t/\ avxyvuj'ii, tccc: etti rav ipycav.—— 
 It feems rather flrange, that, immediately after mentioning the 
 Ivtx^yeg of the 'O^"?, Ariftotle fhould fay — " Then, it has a/fo the 
 " Im^yti;," &;c. It was this which induced me to fufpe6l, that for 
 evx^yeg-ocTu, in the preceding pafFage, we fhould read — evE^yss-anx: 
 " By means of which, [/. e. of the oi|/i?,] the pleafures we receive 
 " from Ti-agedy (thofe, of /error and pity excited by imitation, as he 
 " fays cap. xiv\] are rendered move forcible and efficacious." But 
 the objedtion is, perhaps, not of fufficient force to wan-ant a de- 
 parture from the eftabliflied reading of all the manufcripts, ivx^- 
 yeg-xrx : and we may, well enough, underftand the author, as if he 
 had faid — " Then, farther, another advantage is, that Tragedy 
 " has t6is Ivx^ytg, not only on the Jlage, and on account of the 
 " 'o4'<?, but even in reading alfo." 
 
 That cxvxyvuasi is right, (not dvxyvu^ia-n,) I cannot entertain a 
 doubt. Nothing can be more evidently nonfenfical than this 
 diftinftion — " bot/j in the difcoveries, and in the incidents;" as if a 
 difcovery were not an incident. 
 
 The expreffion, ett; rcov \oyuv, for, in reprefentation, aSiing, per- 
 formance, &c. feems liable to no difficulty. Thus, De Rep. VIII. 
 p. 455> ^ii^ov \y. Tuv EPmN — from what happens in the performance 
 of fuch mufic". And fee ibid. cap. vi. throughout which, eoyx is 
 repeatedly ufed for mufical performance; particularly, p. 457,— 
 Tx 6xuy.x(Tix Kxi Tre^iTTx TX2N EPFIiN, " furprifing and elaborate 
 *' performance." 
 
 '. » — TMV aTTO £X:s; kou ipoj3a oi« jj,ii/.r,iTtWi 'HAONHN. 
 
 t- See Dif. II. p. 53. 
 
 4B 2 ' NOTE
 
 S^S NOTES. 
 
 NOTE 
 
 73- 
 
 P. 134. Attaining the end of its ITMitation in a, 
 
 SHORTER COMPASS. 
 
 y ■ 
 
 Dryden fliys ftf this paflage — '•' It is one reafon of Ariftotle's, 
 " to prove that Tragedy is the more noble, becaule it turns in a 
 *' fhorter compafsj the whole adlion being circumfcribed within 
 " the fpace of four and twenty hours. He might prove as well,, 
 " that a mufliroom is to be preferred before a peach, becaufe it 
 *' flioots up in the compafs of a night." &c. 
 
 If Ariftotle had faid, that Tragedy was the more noble, becaufe 
 a Poet could compofe a Tragedy in much lefs time than an Epic 
 Poem, the fimile would have been juflly applied. Dryden had, 
 but juft before,, faid, that " the effe£fs of Tragedy are too -violent 
 " to be lafting." But he did not give himfelf time to fee, that 
 Tragedy owes this greater 'violence of effeSl to the fhortnefs of its 
 plan ; that is, to its ftrider unity, its more concentrated and un- 
 broken intereji, its " clofe accelerated plot'j" to that aQ^oov, as- 
 Ariftotle calls it, fo efTential to the purpofe of Tragedy, which is, 
 to give the pleafure of Jlrong emotion. The Epic Poem is of too' 
 tedious a length, too various and epifodic, to produce that eJfFedl in. 
 the fame degree as Tragedy, which is read, or feen, at ojice, and. 
 without interruption. 
 
 But the cafe was, that Dryden, (who, as I have before had oc- 
 cafion to remark", appears to have taken his idea of Ariilotle from 
 French tranflation,) wrote this in the preface to his tranllation of 
 
 » Dr. Kurd's Difc. on Poet, Imiti p. 1401 
 > P. 187, note (d}.. 
 
 an
 
 NOTES. SS7 
 
 an Epk Poem" -, on the contrary, when he was writing on Tragedy,. 
 he gave Tragedy the preference''. 
 
 NOTE 
 
 274. 
 
 P. 134. His Poem, if proportion ably coNTRACTEEfy 
 
 WILL APPEAR CURTAILED. 
 
 — VbjM^ov. — Nothing is more diverting than the explanation which- 
 fome commentators give of this word, and its application here.. 
 The Poem, it feems, is compared to the tail of a moufe, or a rat, 
 which grows lefs and lefs towards the end: — " iier/us extremum at- 
 " tenuata"." I never heard, that any naturalifts have obferved 
 this property to be peculiar to the tails of rats, and mice. The 
 fa6t feems to be, that the words jttua^oi/, and ^e-nspov, however their 
 
 etymologies may appear to differ, have both the fame meaning 
 
 that of cropped, curtailed, tronque, as M, Batteux tranflates it. 
 Ma»^©- r'%^> ?• ^- HOCTx TO T£X<^ IXXetTTuv XP°^V- [Hepbcpji. p, 02, ed. 
 De Pauw.l — To which is oppofed, ^oXixoa^^ — a long-tailed verfe : 
 KdTct TO tbX®^ 'TrXiovat^av cvXXxfSv. 
 
 In the Rhetoric, Ariftotle applies fA.etv^(^ to a period that is too 
 fliort, and difappoints the ear by ending abruptly. The palla^e 
 is curious for its expreffion, and illuftrates both the word itfeif 
 and its application, here, to a Poem, which difappoints the expec- 
 tation of a reader in the fame manner, by ending before its time. 
 Aet Je, KXi TK KuXoi, y.oci Tocg m^w^-^g, fA.y]Ti MEIOTPOTD hvon, uTjTe 
 MAKPAS* TO (Asv yx!> MIKPON [i. e. ^et-^^ov] 7r^«r7rra/ay TroXXumg Trotet 
 
 ' Preface to the /Eneiti. 
 
 ■■ « Though Tragedy be jujily preferred above the other"—!, e. the Epic Poem.. 
 Ejfay on Dram, Poefy. 
 
 » SoRobortelli, Viaorius, Goulfton.— " Appaia una coda dl topo." Cajielvetro. 
 
 «' Venga ella a far' apparentia di coda di fordo, col fuo fine angujlo:' Piccol. 
 
 TOV
 
 558 NOTES. 
 
 JOV dK^OUTTlV* OiVXyZt] yctpy OTOtV, £Ti OOf/MV iTTl TO "TTOpaU, KCil TO f^STfiiV 'd 
 
 Ixet Iv sxvTu o^a, ANTIZnALGH/ 7rai/cra,«£w, 'OION, nPOIIlTAIEIN 
 ytyvBa-9xi, ha -r,v ANTIKPOYIIN. Rhet. III. 9, p. 592, ed. Duval. 
 
 NOTE 275.. 
 
 P. 134. If extended to the. usual length—. 
 
 AKoXa&HVTo, Tu Tn fJiSToa f^i^xet — . Almoft all the commentators 
 and tranflators underftand — anfwerable to the kngth of the metre. 
 And th;s is, certainly, the moft obvious and unforced fenfe of the 
 words: for, had Ariftotle meant, by jMeT^w, the ftandard 7?ieqfure, 
 or kngth, of the Poem, as other commentators underftand it,' he^ 
 probably, would have rather faidr— t&> ra MHKOTI METPXl; '. 
 Metoc!/ is fo ufed in the paffage given in the laft note; to METPON 
 K \yj.i. \v etxvTu o^ti. If, however, ffietre be the fenfe, (for, after all, 
 the pafTage is ambiguous,) the exprefiion muft, I think, be under- 
 flood as a fliort way of faying — " conformable to the ufual length 
 *' of Poems hi that tnetre" — of Poems in heroic verfe. See what 
 is faid, cap. xxiv. about the adaptation of the hexameter to Epic 
 Poetry: ade(f MAKPAN o-us-ao-ji/ \v uXXca TreTroiyjKiv ^ tu vipuu. — I cannot 
 conceive that Ariftotle meant to fay, that the length of the Epic 
 Poem was proportioned, or ought to be proportioned, to the length 
 of the metre. Yet fo the commentators. " Si — Poeta fecutus 
 ** fuerit longitudinem, qua; injiar videtur ejus carminis." ViSl.— 
 " Si cum metri longitudiiie provehatur." Goulji. &C.- It was not the 
 length of the hexameter which made it the fitteft meafure for 
 heroic Poetry, but the nature of tho^fcet of which it is compofcd ; 
 and on that account it was preferred, as g-oio-if^uTOiTov kcci oyau^e^ccTov 
 Tuv jjiiT^uv. cap. xxiv. The length of a verfe is to be meafured by 
 the times {xi^ovoi) which compofe it. Now the hexameter is but 
 
 * Asj ftuxsj if©"} cap. xxiv. and cap. vii, 
 
 8 one
 
 NOTES, 559 
 
 one third longer than the Iambic trimeter; their refpedive times 
 being 24, and 1 8 : fo that the length of an Epic Poem would be 
 ftriftly proportioned to the length of its verfe — tw ra jWEToa jt*ii«« — 
 were it longer by one third only than a Tragedy. 
 
 NOTE 276. 
 P. 134. Diluted. 
 
 'Tlotovi — watery. Ariflotle ufes the fame metaphor in the fol- 
 lowing pafTage of his fecond book De KcpubUcd, where, oppofmg 
 the community of wives and children propofed by Plato^, he very 
 juftly objects, that it would weaken the bond of fecial union, by 
 diluting the focial affeftions, and deftroying — 
 
 Relations dear, and all the charities 
 
 Of father, fon, and brother . 
 
 Far. Left, IV. 756. 
 
 — Ev oe ri\ rroXii, ttjv <I>IAIAN dvayxoacv 'TAAPH ywetrQcci, Six rtjv xo:- 
 vuvtav^ rrjV touxuttiv, xxi r^xig'x Asysiv tov i^ov , r, Viov, -TTxrepK, v) Trarscix, 
 viov. flC'Trep yap [/.iKpov yXv:iV, etg ttoXv vaup f/.t^Sev, dvatcrGviTov 'ttoih tyjv 
 Kooccriv, iSTU (rui^[2x:vet xut Tr,v onceioryiTCC, ri^v TTpog aXXyiXag, Tvtv cctto tuv 
 
 ovof/.ciTuv TUTuv — X. T. X. I ilop thcrc, bccaufc the pafTage is evi- 
 dently defedlive, though the fenfe is plain. 
 
 =■ Rep. V. 
 
 ^ He alludes here to Plato's exprcffions, who contendeJ, on the contrary, that the 
 
 bond of focial unity muft be the clofer, where all the citizens — «/*« ipkyyavTcu 
 
 T« roiah ^nj^araiy to te EMON, nai to 'OTK EMON. p. 3 56, cd. Majf. 
 
 NOTE
 
 0^* 3^ O T E S, 
 
 N O T E 277. 
 
 P. I 55. AXD, ALSO, IN THE PECULIAR END AT WHICH IT 
 AIMS . 
 
 Ka/, art, ru T/iq re^yij; l^yu — . The expreffion is ambiguous. It 
 may mean, either the end, or bulinefs, of the Poetic art in general, 
 or, that of Tragedy — of the 'Tragic art''. The latter, however, 
 feems, pretty clearly, to be the meaning: for his expreffion— tkto^j 
 T£ Sia.(pi^£i TTxcr:, KAI ETI ri) tjj; re^voj^- l^yu — fhews the author to 
 be fpeaking, here, of a diJiinSl advantage. But, if we underftand 
 it to mean, that Tragedy anfvvers the end of Poetry better than the 
 Epic, this cannot be confidered as an advantage diAin6l from thofe 
 enumerated before, which are, plainly, fuch as contribute to the 
 general end of Poetry— that of giving pleafure — of interelling, de- 
 lighting, ftriking, 6cc. Whereas, if the peculiar end of Tragedy 
 be fuperior to that of Epic Poetry, this, indeed, is an additional 
 and feparate advantage. Befides, the parenthetical infertion which 
 immediately follows — on TAP, jj riji/ rvx^a-xv ^Sovtiv Troietv auTctg (/. e. 
 the Epic and Tragic Poems,) aXXos. rriv li^tji^cswiv — plainly implies, 
 that the T£%r/jj ^yov, of which he had been fpeaking, was that of 
 affording the particular pleafure proper to the fpecies. And thus, 
 too, the word l^yov is ufed in other paflages : r^xyuSix; l^yov, cap. vi. 
 and cap. xiii. 
 
 The words, [/.xXXov ra nXag rvyxavaa-oc, prefent a fimilar, but 
 more cmbarraffing, ambiguity. Is teA©^, here, the end of Poetry, 
 or the end of Tragedy P If we take it in the latter fenfe, Ariftotle 
 will fay, that Tragedy is fuperior, ioth becaufe its end — the pe- 
 culiar effedl which it purpofes to produce — is fuperior to that of 
 
 " Sec NOTE 267. 
 
 * the
 
 NOTES. 561 
 
 the Epic Poem, and, becaufe it attains that end more perfedlly 
 than the Epic attains its end. But this Ariftotle has not 
 proved, not does it appear to be true. On the other hand, if 
 we underftand TeX©^ to mean the end of the poetic art", it is 
 obvioufly true, that, if Tragedy be fuperior in all thofe refpedls 
 which he had mentioned — in its clofer unity, its brevity, its lutxpyetx, 
 its mu/ic, and its decorations — and, bejides, {km \ri) in the fpecific end 
 at which it aims — it muft, on the whole, be preferable to the 
 Epic Poem, as anfwering more effedtually the eiid of Poetry, by 
 giving greater pleafure. 
 
 For, that this, in Ariflotle's view, was the great end of the art, 
 and of all its branches, appears, if I miflake not, evidently, from 
 many other pafTages of this treatife, as well as from that now 
 before us. Nor does he, any where, appear to me to give any 
 countenance to an idea^ which rational criticifm has, now, pretty 
 well exploded — that utility and inJiruBion are the end of Poetry. 
 That it may indeed be rendered, in fome degree, ufeful and im- 
 proving, few will deny ; none, that it ought to be made fo, if it 
 can. But, that the chief end and purpofe of Poetry is to injlruSl 
 — that Homer wrote his Iliad on purpofe to teach mankind the 
 mifchiefs of difcord among chiefs, and his OdyJJ'ey, to prove to 
 them the advantages of flaying at home and taking care of their 
 families ' — this is fo manifeftly abfurd, that one is really aftonifhed 
 to fee fo many writers, one after the other, difcourfmg gravely in 
 defence of if. 
 
 It 
 
 "' As it does in a fimilar expreffion, cap. xxv. which favours the fame fenfe here: 
 *' l( TU7%avoi Ts TEAsj Ts avmi — /. e. of Poetry in general. 
 
 ' " La verite qui fert de fond a cette fiiSlion, et qui avec elle compofe la Fable, eft, 
 " ^le I'ahfencc d'utie perfonne hors de chez Jot, ou qui yi^ a point I'ceil a ce qui i'y fait,y 
 " caiife de grands defordres." — And again — " Ces grands noms de Rois, de Heros, 
 " d'Achille, d' Agamemnon, & d'Ulyfle, ne defignent pas moins les dei'iiiers Bour- 
 ^^ gcois" &c. — Du Poeme Ep. I. lo. 
 
 •* Piccolomini, in particular, p. 369, &c. of his Jnnot. ndla Poet. d'ArtJl. And 
 
 4 U the
 
 562 NOTES. 
 
 It is true indeed, that Ariflotle, in his account of Tragedy, 
 mentions the corredion and refinement of the paffions, pity, terror, 
 &c. as a ufeful effeB of Tragic reprefentations. But he no where, 
 either in his definition, where we might furely have expected him 
 to be explicit, or in any other part of his book, calls that eflfedl 
 the end of Tragedy. All his exprefiions prove, that bis end, both 
 of Tragic and of Epic Poetry, was pleafiire ; though , with refpedt 
 to Tragedy, he afferts, (by way, as I have before fuggefted, of 
 obviating Plato's objed:ions to it%) that the pleafure arifing from 
 it was fo far from being pernicious, that it was even ufeful ; fo 
 far from injlai7iing the paffions of men, that it tended, on the con- 
 trary, to purify and moderate them in common life. When the 
 reader fees the expreffions, to which I allude, laid together, he 
 will hardly, I think, entertain any doubt upon this head. — rot. 
 yAyigu, hiq TTXAFXirEl' 17 T^ccjuIm, f/.vdii f/.s^yi sg-iv, Scc. cap, vi. 
 — ef. li iy^ uurri ixtto Tpxyu^tag 'HAONH. cap. xiii. — a yxp 7rx(rxv Sh 
 ^TjTeiv 'HAONHN utto T^x-yu^tcn;, a'XAa THN 'OIKEIAN. Ettk ^e t%v 
 u-TTo £X£« Kxi (pofc^y Sio, ^tfji'>'i(TS0iig , oet 'HAONHN 7r«pao"K£ua^£;i/ rov TrotfiryjV— 
 cap. xiv. — lv\ ua-TTip ^uov sv oXov, iroi-o ryjv OIKEIAN 'HAONHN. cap. 
 xxiii. — Tr^v oT^iV, St vi^ AI 'HAONAI, &c. cap. ult. — lu yocp i rviv tu- 
 '/ji(rctv 'HAONHN '7T0ls^v ATTAS, aXXas rry h^7if/,evyjv. ibid. 
 
 From all this it appears, I think, indubitably, tliat the great 
 end of Poetry in general, was, in Ariflotle's opinion, to give plea- 
 
 the reader may fee, if he has any ftomach to fee, the difgufting nonfenfe of Le Boflu 
 upon this fubjeft, ch. ii. iii. iv. &c. of his firft book. By way of perfedl contraft, he 
 may then turn to the Differtation on the Idea of Univerfal Poetry, [Dr. Hurd's Hor. 
 vol. ii.] See alfo Dr. Beattie's EJfay on Poetry and Aliific, ch. i. — This abfurd notion 
 was alfo long ago combated in a mafterly manner by that fine and philofophical writer. 
 La Motte, in the difcourfe prefixed to his Odes, p. 23 — 31. 
 
 ' Note 45, p. 239. 
 
 ' This looks much, as if he would have aflented to the rational alTertion of Era- 
 tojlhenes., which Strabo combats, — Trommv mooiiot. a-roxoii£<79ai 'i'TXAniTlA'E, 'OT 
 AIAA2KAAIA2. Strabo, p. 15. And fee the DilT. on the Idea of Univ, Poetry., above 
 refetred to. 
 
 I o /ure ;
 
 NOTES, 563 
 
 fure ', as Cajichetro, long ago, rightly contended. " Colore, che 
 •* vogliono, che la poefia iia trovata principalmente per giovare, 
 " o per giovare & per dilettare infieme, veggano che non s'oppon- 
 ** gano air autorita d'Ariftotele, il quale, qui ed altrove, non par 
 *' che le aflegni altro, che diletto ; efc pure le concede alcuno giova~ 
 *' mento, glide concede per accidente ; come e la piirgatione dello fpa~ 
 *' vento & della compajjione per mezzo della Tragedui." p. 505. 
 
 The peculiar end of Tragedy, he has exprefsly told us, is to 
 afford that pleafure, which refults from fiditious terror and pity : 
 Tviv KTTo Ixssf KM (pof^ii ^Kz |w;|M.ojo-ewj Ti^ovriv. — what he regarded as the 
 peculiar end of Epic Poetry, I obferve that he has no where dif- 
 tinftly faid. But from what he /jas faid, of the advantages which 
 its plan affords, with refped: to grandeur, and variety, and the ad- 
 miffion of the wonderful ^-w^furprifing ^, and alfo of the fuperior 
 richnefs of its language^, we may colledl, that his ideas on this 
 fubjedt accorded with thofe of the bell: modern critics ; and that 
 he held the end of the Epic Poem to be, according to the exadt 
 defcription of an eminent writer, " admiration, produced by a 
 ** grandeur oi ^t^xgVi, and variety of important incidents, znd fuf- 
 " tained by all the energy and minute particularity of defcription '. 
 
 This end, however, and thefe peculiar advantages, of the Epic 
 plan, Ariftotle has not, as I have before remarked ^, brought for- 
 ward, to complete the comparifon in this chapter : but he plainly, 
 and, I- think, juftly, confidered them as more than compenfated 
 by the clofer intereft, more perfed: illufion, flronger emotion, deeper 
 impreffion, and, in his view, more ufeful tendency, of Tragedy. 
 The Epic Poem lofes in force of eff'eSl, what it gains in variety ; 
 in nature and paffion, what it gains in grandeur and fublimity. 
 The very neceffity, and the merit, of its variety, and of the Ittehto' 
 
 s Cap. xxw.—TranJl. Part III. Sea. 2. 
 
 h Cap.xx.n, ad Jin. z&Acap. x^\y. — Aio xai y?^TT»;, &:c. TranJJ. ^, 113, and 117. 
 
 » Dr. Huid's Difc, en Poet. Imit. p. 141. 
 
 4. C 2 6i^V
 
 564 NOTES. 
 
 Siau exvoixotois B7rBta-o^ioig\ are a confeffion of its defedls, as implying 
 a too great extent of plan, a feeblenefs of intereft, a want of relief. 
 It feems, indeed, to be the great art of the Epic Poet, to make us 
 amends, by the flriking beauty of particular parts, for the fatigue 
 and ennzd which unavoidably refults, more or lefs, from the whole. 
 A flrong proof of the fuperiority of Tragedy, and of the juftnefs 
 of Ariftotle's decifion, is, that every reader is moft delighted with 
 the Epifodes of Epic Poetry ; with thofe fubordinate and more 
 comprelled actions, which give us the very pleafure of Tragedy — 
 which intereft and affedl us by exciting /"//J and terror: with the 
 meeting of Hedor and Andromache, and the fupplication of Priam 
 to Achilles for the body of his fon, in the Iliad; with the love, 
 defpair, and death, of Dido, the epifode of Nifus and Euryalus, and 
 the parting fcene between old Evander and his fon, in the yEneid™. 
 But though, of all the pleafures which Poetry, or Mufic, or 
 Painting, can afford, the pleafure of emotion deferves to be efteemed 
 the greateft, yet all thofe arts certainly afford conliderable pleafures 
 of other kinds; and, perhaps, to do full juftice to the Epic Poem, 
 we ought not to charafterize it by any one particular and principal 
 pleafure, but by that variety, which is peculiar to it, and which 
 comprehends, in fome degree or other, every fort of pleafure, that 
 ferious Poetry can give". Whatever, therefore, may be decided 
 
 ' Cap. xxiv, 
 
 " Mn. VIII. 557, kc. — particularly, from v. 572 to 584. I do not know any 
 where a finer example of natural pathos, heightened by the nlceft feledtion of expref- 
 fion, and by fuch harmony of verfification, as would almoll make nonfenfe pafs upon 
 the underftanding for fenfe, through the recommendation, if I may be allowed fuch 
 an expreflion, of the ear. 
 
 " Some writers give ftill greater latitude to the variety of Epic Poetry. And inr 
 deed, if v/hzt ^oti/dy or may-, be done, is to be determined by what has been done by 
 the beft Epic Poets— by Homer, Virgil, and Taflb, (for Ariofto is a comic Poet,)- 
 it even admits, oGcafionally, oi fome departure from rigid dignity, and of fome ap- 
 proach, at leaft, to the fmile of Comedy, though not to the broad laugh of Farce. 
 See Lord Kaims, Elem. of Criticifm, voL'i. p. 289, and the treatife IlEfi 'Ofj-r^^H mutasu;, 
 p. 257j vol, V. of Ed, Horn. Erneji, 
 
 with
 
 NOTES. 565 
 
 with refpedl to the comparative excellence of the Poems themfelves, 
 we may fafely perhaps aflent to the general decifion of criticifm, 
 refpedling the comparative merits of the Poets, and allow, that 
 *' the firft praife of genius is due to the writer of an Epic Poem ; 
 •* as it requires an aflemblage of all the powers which are fingly 
 ** fufficient for other compofitions"." 
 
 » Dr. Johnfon's Life of Milton. 
 
 THE END.
 
 p 
 
 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 AGE 15, Note (w). It ought to have been mentioned, that this book of the 
 Odyffey was not tranflated by Pope himfelf, but by Fenton. 
 
 P. 95. By Agatho.] Perhaps I ought rather to have adhered to the old and 
 beft authenticated reading, ayaSov. Vidlorius found AyaSoy only in one MS. and was 
 induced to prefer it, principally becaufe the other reading could not well be recon- 
 ciled with his interpretation of the paflage. He alfo objeiSts, that the conjunftion, 
 xai, in that reading, would have no meaning, " cum effet^ ilk paSlo, nihil quod copu- 
 *' laret." But nai muft then be rendered etiam, and, indeed, can be underftood no 
 otherwife, if we read aya^ov; and the fenfe will be — " as Achilles is made a good 
 " charafler even by Homer;" as if he had added — who has fo well obferved the ojmiov, 
 the hiftorical likenefs, and has painted in fo ftrong colours the angry violence of his 
 temper. This fenfe would be fufficiently expreffed in my tranllation, by reading— 
 " as Achilles is drawn, even by Homer." 
 
 P. 121, Note g. " But that part" &c.] I found reafon to alter my opinion, 
 and the note referred to, after this note on the tranflation was printed. Dele, 
 therefore, " But that part^" &c. to " Seel. 22," inclufively. And read— .Jm the 
 
 KOTE. 
 
 P. 171. It efcaped me, till that note was printed, that /£■//«« alfo fays, "Dio- 
 '< nyfius the Colophonian :" it muft therefore be allowed to be probable, that if Ariftotle 
 and Plutarch fpeak of the fame painter, fo do alfo Ariftotle and JEVizn. The difBculty, 
 however, pointed out, of reconciling ^Elian's account with that of Ariftotle, will 
 ftill remain. 
 
 P. 195. Though I think it clear, that Stanley mifunderftood the pafTage of 
 Ariftotle, I confefs it is by no means clear, that he mifunderftood that of Philoftratus. 
 This, therefore, was too haftily advanced; for though the general ufe of the adverb 
 
 «7ruTaJ>i»
 
 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 
 
 aiKncc&nv certainly favours the fenfe in which I underftood the paflage, yet I fear there 
 is no good authority for the word x"'P®'> "f*^^ ^s we ufe chorus^ to fignify the choral 
 ode ox (ong. It always, I believe, means the choral performers. The verb, (rmznixt^ 
 alfo contributed to midead me, if I was milled; as it is more applicable to the con- 
 traBion of prolixity, than to the diminution of number. Yet it is ufed in the fame 
 fenfe, and on the fame fubjedl, by Jul. Pollux, IV. 15, adfinem, 
 
 P. 289. See alfo the defcription, in the Trachinia of Sophocles, of Hercules 
 dafhing out the brains of Lichas againft a rock, v. ']']C)—']?,2, 
 
 P. 300. " Purple dre([cs" &c.] — — xof'y®" a'fs9«?, 
 
 'IMATIA XPTSA nAPAZXilN TOi XOPH/, pa«®- (po^u. 
 
 Tranflated by Grotius, — — " Aut le£tus fcens praebitor, 
 " Aureas gregi cum veftes dederit, fert centunculum." 
 
 Antiphanes, apud Athen. p. 1 03. 
 Grotii Excerpta, &c. p. 627. 
 
 P. 374, Note 135. The alteration, however, from 0EAt>;v, to IIOIHthv, is 
 rather violent; and it is fuggefled to me by Caftelvetro's conjecture, that Ariftotle 
 might, perhaps, exprefs the fenfe given by Dacier, without ufmg the word min-mvy 
 and that what he faid might be this: " which efcaped him [/. e. Carcinus] /or luant 
 " of feeing the aiiion, as a fpeiiator."—h /xn oftovra ill, [or liSIlEP] SEaTr,v [fc. ivra] 
 i>Mv6am. This is favoured by the preceding expreflion, — 'OPilN, XISIIEP w«f 
 auroi; yr/vo/XEV©- Toij TrpaTro/jiivoii. 
 
 P. 394. " TTai^iov — never ifed but to fignify a child."] — Unlefs hiroKoqiriHu^ as a 
 term of endearment ; as we often apply child to a grown perfon : a fenfe in which it 
 can hardly be ufed here. 
 
 P. 475. « One Tragedy at each different fejlival"] And thus, I find. Menage 
 underftood. " On ne reprefentoit, chacun de ces jours-la, qu'un poeme de chaqut- 
 '■'• poete," Pratique de Theatre, par D'Aubignac, ii, p. 48. 
 
 INDEX
 
 INDEX I. 
 
 OF POETS, CRITICS, PHILOSOPHERS, &c. 
 
 MENTIONED BY ARISTOTLE. 
 
 ./lliSCHYLUS - - Page 72. 102. Ill, 112. 
 
 Agatho ------ 82.95. 102, 103. — A Tragic Poet, the contemn 
 
 porary of Socrates, Euripides, &c. A few fragments only of his worics remain, 
 which confirm the account given by antient writers of Jiis ftyle ; that it 
 abounded with ornamental refinements, and particularly with antkhefes. [See 
 Mliari, V. H. XIV. 13. and Arijhph. Ihefmoph. v. 58, &c. and Kufter's note.] 
 The following lines may afford a pretty good fpecimcn of his turn, both of 
 writing and thinking : 
 
 liyyr, Tv/rtv ire^^e, aai tuxn Tiyjim. 
 
 Arijl. Ethic. Nic, VI. 5. 
 To fj-iv TTC^i^yov, i^yov uf, 9ro(3|«£fl», 
 To y (pyovf i); 'aacs^ycv, iKTiovaiuia. 
 
 Athen. V. init. 
 
 See alfo note 156. — Grotii Excerfta ex Trag. &c. p. 437. Bayle, Art. 
 Agathon. And Sydenham's tranflation of the t.Vii.m<Tm of Plato, {^'the Ban- 
 quet,) p. 9, 10. 122, note 96. 
 
 Ariphrades ----- 112. He is known only by the wretched piece 
 of proi'aic ciiticifm there mentioned. 
 
 Aristophanes - - - - 69. 
 
 4 d astydamas
 
 INDEX I. 
 
 AsTYDAMAS - - Page gi. There were two Tragic Poets of this name, 
 father and fon. The former is faid to have written not fewer than 240 Tra- 
 gedies. Suidas: — who has alfo recorded his vanity, art. 'Lavrnv liraiyEi;. 
 
 Callippides - - - 132, 133. A famous Tragic acStor. See Plutarch, 
 ' Jpephthsgm. Lacon. p. 376, ed. H. St. From the ftory there told, it feems 
 probable enough, though, I think, by no means certain, that the proverbial 
 exprofPion, T^ccym©- -TtAr^^B; {iTti jav Traj" alwv SEMNTNOMENnN, Suid. and 
 Hefych.) might, as it has been fuppofed, have originally alluded to the vanity 
 of this aiSor. In the Sympojium of Xenophon, when the bufFdon, Philip, is 
 afked — ^Etti tm 7£>.aiT05roisiv (j-eYoi. f f oi^ei; ;— he anfwers, Aixxion^ov y, oio.aai, >] KAA- 
 AinniAHS iiroKfiT»f, 0; TIIEPSEMNTNETAI on Suvonai ■nofO^i tiKouonai; xait^tiv. 
 p. 880, ed. Lcunclavu. — It feems mucli more doubtful, whether the palTages 
 referred to by Dacier, in Suetonius, liber, cap. 38. and Cic, ad j^ttk. lib. xiii, 
 ep. 12, have the fame allufion.. 
 
 Carcinus _ _ - - g5. g8. Of this Tragic Poet only a few trifling lines 
 are preferved. What Suidas fays of him gives us no very high idea of his 
 genius ; viz. that, of 160 Tragedies which he compofed, one only obtained the 
 prize in the dramatic contefts. 
 
 Ch^REMON - - - - 67. 118. — See NOTE 11. For the paflage there men- 
 tioned, and other fragments, the j-eader may alfo fee Grotii Exccrpta^ p. 845,^ 
 and Sir William Jones's PoeJ. Afiai. Comment, p. 408. 
 
 Chionides _ - - - 69. One of the cadieft and moft eminent Athenian 
 Poets of the old Comedy. Suidas. 
 
 Cleophon - - - - 68. no. See note 14. 
 
 Crates ----- 74. He is faid to have flourilhed about 12 or 15 yeari 
 before Ariftophanes; of courfe, in the time of the old Comedy. 
 
 D. 
 DiC^OGENES , - - 96. Tragic and Dithyrambic Poet. Suid. 
 DioNVSius - - - - 68. See NOTE i-2, ^nA the additions and corrcSlioiiu 
 
 E. 
 Empedocles _ - - 67. 108. 128. The Sicilian Poet-philofopher, contem- 
 porary with Sophocles. Sec notes 8 and g, and p. 128, note 4. He is often 
 quoted by Ariftotlc, and many fragments of his Poetry are preferved in various 
 antient authors. See Diog. Laert, in vita : the Foe/is Philofophica of H. 
 Stephens, &c. 
 
 EpiCHARMU*
 
 N D 
 
 X 
 
 I. 
 
 EpiCHATiMUS - - Page 6g. 73. — of Syracufe, a phiJofophical and a comic Poet. 
 The names of 40 of his Comedies are recorded, and a confiderable number of 
 fragments from them, and fome from his philofophlcal poetry, are extant. See 
 Grotii Excerpts, and the Poef. Philof. of H. Stephens. 
 
 Euclid - - - - iii. Of what Euclid Ariftotle fpeaks, it feems impof- 
 fible to afcertain. VicSlorius fays, he is here called the old Euclid, to diftinguifli 
 him from Euclid the philofopher, the difciple of Socrates, and founder of the 
 Megaric fedl. [Diog. Laert. in vita.] But as that Euclid flourifhed, according 
 to the common account, about 60 years before Ariftotle, he might well 
 enough be called a^x"'®"} ^"^ there is certainly no improbability in fuppofing 
 a cavilling logician to have been alfo a cavilling critic. See Diog, Laert, ai)d 
 Bayle, art. Euclide. 
 
 Euripides > > . 88.90.99.102.111,113.124.131. 
 
 G. 
 
 Glauco - - - - 129. Whether this was Glauco the Teian mentioned by 
 Ariftotle, Rhet. III. i, as Dacier aflerts after Robortelli, is very uncertain. — I 
 know not why Goulfton, in his verfion, calls him " Glauco Saphifla." 
 
 Hegemon - - 
 Herodotus 
 HiPPiAS, of Thafiis 
 Hqmer - - - 
 
 H. 
 
 68. See note 15. 
 
 - 82. 
 
 - 127. — known, I believe, only from this mention of him. 
 
 67, 68, 69. 71. 80. 95. III. lis, ii^' 118, iig. 121. 
 
 M. 
 
 Magnes - - - - 69. An Athenian Poet of the old Comedy. Si/id<js. 
 
 Mnasitheus - - - 133. — of whom nothing "more is known. 
 
 Myniscus - - - - 132. I do not know that he is any vihere elfe mentioned, 
 except by Athensus, who calls him " the Tragic en^or, Mynijlus," and givc^ 
 him an honourable place in his Memoirs of Gluttony, lip. viii. p. 344. 
 
 N. 
 
 NiCDCHARis (orNiCOCHAREs) 68. - - In N'cTii i6, I have, with Dacier and 
 others, fuppofed him to be the Athenian Comic Poet, contemporary with Ari- 
 ftophanes. [Suidas.] But this feems doubtful. VicJiorius thinks, v/ith Tome 
 
 4 D 7. realbn.
 
 INDEX I. 
 
 reafon, that Ariftotle added, o -mv AuMaSa, in order to diftinguifh him from tliat 
 Poet. And, farther, he is here inrtancing in narrative or £/</<: Poetrv, and the 
 Deliad was certainly a Poem of tiiat kind. But no fuch Poem is attiibuted to 
 Nicochares the Comic Poet. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pauson - - Page 68. See note 12, p. 169, 170. 
 
 Philoxenus - - 68.— of Cythera, contemporary with Plato; a Tragic and 
 I>ithyrambic Poet, famous for his mufical innovations, his jokes, and his glut- 
 tony. See Dr. Burney's Hi^. of Mufic, vol. \. p. 418, &c. — Mem. de I Acad, 
 des Infcrip. tome xix. p. 315, oSiavo. — But there v/ere feveral perfons of the 
 fame name, and, unfortunately, of fimilar character, who appear to liave been 
 confounded with each other, even by antient writers them'felves. See Perizo- 
 nius, Mlicn, V. Hi/}. X. 9. 
 
 Vnov.uis [?KORiAos^ Athen. and Suid."] - - 73. A Sicilian Comic Poet contem- 
 porary with Eplcharmus. 
 
 PoLYGNOTUS - - 63. 77.— See kote 12. — Pliny, A^^ HiJI. lib, xxxv. cap. g. — 
 ^lian, F. Hi/J. IV. 3. where Perizonius points out, as fome illuftration of the 
 paflage of AriRotle, cited note 12, p. 169, a pifture of this painter, mentioned 
 by Pauianias, (in Phocicis,) which reprefented the punifhment of an undutiful 
 fon in the infernal regions. 
 
 PotYiDES, theSophi/fygj. 99. — does not occur, thaf I know of, any where elfe. 
 The title of Sopbijc feems fufiiciently to diftinguifh him, if the name does not, 
 (for In fome MSS. it is IIoamiSOS,) from Polyidus the Dithyrambic Poet, Mu- 
 fician, and Painter, mentioned by Diodor. Sicnlus, [lib. xiv.] and Etpnol. Mag, 
 
 •voce h.TNx%. 
 
 Protagoras - - 104. Sec note 165. 
 
 S. 
 Sophocles - - 69. 72. 91. 94. 96, 97. 102. 124. 134. 
 
 SoPHRON -- - - 66. This famous Sicilian Poet was contemporary with Eurf- 
 pides. He wrote Mimes^ fome for male, and others for female charailcrs, in 
 the Doric diale£t. Some very obfcure fragmeiits are preferved by Demetrius, 
 Athenseus, &c. See note 6, p. 161, 162. 
 
 SosiSTRATUS - - 133. A rhapfodift. 
 
 Sthenelus - - no. See note 194. He is mentioned, I believe, only by 
 Ariftotle, and by Harpocration, who records him as a Tragic Poet of the age 
 of Pericles, and fays, that he was accufed of plagiarifm. 
 
 T. Theodectes
 
 N D E X I. 
 
 T. 
 
 Theodectes - Page 97. loo. A Rhetorician, of Phafclis in Lycia ( the 
 fcliolar of Plato and Ifocrates. He is faid to have compofcd 50 Tragedies^ and 
 an Art of Rhetoric in verle. He is frequently mentioned by Ariftotle, Dion. 
 Halicarn. Quintilia.i, &c. His fellow-citizens erected a ftatue to his memory. 
 See Pint, in vita Alexandri, p. 1236, ed. H. S. Only a few trifling fragments 
 of his works remain. 
 
 TiMOTHEUS - - - 68. See NOTE 17. The famous Poet-mufician of Miletus, 
 contemporary with Euripides. He was banifhed by the Spartans for improving 
 a mufical inftrument by the addition of a few ftiings, which tliey called '■• dijho- 
 " muring the antient Mu/tc^ and " corrupting the ears of youth:" — fjjfia.iveTai rof 
 outocti Toiv vem. The words of this curious decree are preferved by Boethius. 
 See Cafavh, in Athen. p. 613, or page 66, 67, of the Ox. ed. of Aratus. The 
 reader will find a full and entertaining account of Timotheus in Dr. Burney's 
 Hijl. ofMuftc, vol. i. p. 405. 
 
 Tyndarus [a/. PiNDARUs] - 133 — An a<aor, clearly; but We know nothing 
 farther. 
 
 X. 
 
 XenaRCHUS - - 66. A Comic Poet, of whom the reader may fee a pleafant 
 fragment in Athen. p. 225, defcribing a curious trick praftifed by the Athenian 
 fifhmongers to evade the law by which they were forbid to pour water upon 
 their flale fifh in order to make them appear frefh. See Groiii Excerpta ex 
 Trag. &c. p. 697. 
 
 Xenophanes - - 124. The Colophonian, eminent in the clafs of philofo- 
 phical Poets, or, rather, poetical philofophers, about the time of Pythagoras. 
 See NOTE 238. — Diog. Laert. IX. 18. — Bayle, art. Xenophanes. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zeuxis - - - Tl' 120- The famous painter. See the 7tote p. 130, and. 
 NOTE 254. 
 
 IN D E X
 
 INDEX 
 
 TO THE DISSERTATIONS AND NOTES. 
 
 7he letter n refers to the notes at the lottotri of the page* 
 
 A. 
 
 A.C C E N T S, no term applied to them by Ai iftotle but acute., and grave. Page 422. 
 Achilles, how charaaerlzed by Euripides, 351. — by Homer, 352. — by Plato, 353. 
 — by Dr. Jortin, ibid. 
 
 Acts, five — no fuch divifion applicable to the Greek drama, 297. 
 
 Actors, Greek, played female parts, 133, n. 550, 551.— contended for the prize in 
 
 the dramatic contefts, 278, 279. — their influence over the Poets, 279. — their 
 
 drefs and figure, 480, and n. 
 
 Actresses, not admitted on the Greek ftage, 41, n. 133, n. 
 
 A^UVOtlJ.I!X, 500, K. 
 
 Atim;, Aeixem©-, 464, 465. 
 
 Mliav, of defcriptivc imitation, 10, «. 36. — his account of the paintings of Dio- 
 nyfius miftaken by Dacicr, 170, 171. — of the infant ftate of painting, 189. «.— 
 quoted, 553. 
 
 .^SCHYLUS, not faid by Jrifloile to have diminiflied the number of choral performers, 
 195. — curious account of his ftage-impiovements, 198, 199. — his chorus oT 
 50 furies, 316.— his Ocean riding on a Griffin, 317.— his Prometheus, 384. — 
 an exprefllon of his illuRrated, 443.— his didion, 469. 
 
 & Agatho,
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 Agatho, a fragment of, Page 407. 
 
 Ais-pcfov, its wide fignification, 214. 
 
 Afsitm awoxoy©-, to what books of the OdylTey that title extended, 364—366. 
 
 'A/txafTio, 'A/xafTM/^KTa, 308. 
 
 Aw^ij3oAi«, Ariftotle's fenfe of, 522. 
 
 Ava^o7\ai, Dithyrambic — what, 180, 
 
 AvaXoyia, Ariftotle's definition of, 437, n. 
 
 Antients, not to be read with modern ideas, 147. 
 
 AvTwfw, whether ufed by Ariftotle to denote oppofition oi rmantng., 527^ 
 
 ATTEfyaff-io, 191. 
 
 AnoTnui;, 347. 
 
 Awo trwvuj, 01, or ra, 302. 
 
 Architecture, abfurdity of clafllng it with the imitative arts, 60, n. 
 
 Afp^lTEKTOVIKH, 417. 
 
 Afya yUEpj), 121, n, 
 
 Ariosto, unity of his Poem, of what kind, 81, «. 115, k. — 4,iMii] heyei ai Sii, 488. 
 
 ArisTIDES QyiNTiLiANUS, his account of the Greek 'A^fAoviai, 53. — confirms a 
 reading of Ariftotle, 421. — quoted, 150, ».— illuftrates Ariftotle, 415, 416. 
 
 Aristophanes, 201, ». — (or Jntiphanes) a fragment of, 259.— ridicules the pro- 
 lixity of the Tragic chorus, 196. — a fragment of, explained by a paflagc of 
 Ariftotle, 452, 453. 
 
 Aristotle, has no where faid that all Poetry is imitation, 24, n. — in what 
 fenfes he confidered Poetry as imitation, 25, 26. 39.— takes no notice either of 
 jonoroui or defcripthe imitation, and why, 26, 27. 36, 37. — inferiority of that 
 part of his work, which treats of diiSlion, 37. 419.— how far he would have 
 allowed an Epic imitation in profe to be a Poem, 153. 273.— by no means ex- 
 cluded verfe from his idea of Poetry, 157. 192.— his preference of Dramatic 
 Poetry, 39. 563, 564. — has not fuily ftated the comparative merits of Dramatic 
 and Epic Poetry, 39, and «. — lield pkafure to be the chief end of Poetry, 561, 
 562. — his do£lrine of the purgation of the paffions by Tragedy, an anfwer to 
 the cbjeftions of Plato, 239, 240. — his advice to the Tragic Poet, to affift his 
 imagination by aSlion, in compofing, conlidered, 377. — fcope of his chapter on 
 Critical Objcilions, &c. 122, n. — free from an error common to philofophical 
 critics, 269. — his y?y/d' often elliptic, parenthetical, and embarraffed, 143. 185. 
 
 271. 344. 396, and n. 404. 430.- does not allert, in general, that AIusic 
 
 is an imitative art, 59, — his account of mufical imitation^ 46, 47. — what he 
 
 underflocd
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 unJcrflcod by the refembknce of melody and rhythm to manners, or tempers, 
 52 — 57. — amufical problem of his correfted, tranllated, and examined, 54 — 57. 
 — his RHETORIC quoted, 157. 220, and n. 255. 279. 289. 307. 320, 321. 349, 
 «. 351. 365. 375. 377. 384, n. — (of the Ethic and Pathetic Tragedy) 400, and 
 n. 436, 438, 439. — (of the language of paflion) 493, 494. 461. 463. 466. 532. 
 —(of the diHippointment of the ear by the abrupt conclufion of a period) 557, 
 558. — explained, 180. 423. — tranflated, i86. 190, 448. 470, 471. 488, 489 — 
 his Ethics quoted, 184. 263. 273. 278. 287. 3:0. 308, 309. 437. 548. — his 
 PoLiT. 47. 53.54. 148, n. 169. 234,235,236. 274.543.555.559 — Metaphys. 
 ig2. 269. 288. — De Soph. Elench. 174. 422. 520.^-Topic. 272. 426. 444. 
 504. safi.'-DE Interpret. 430, 431. 532. — De iVluNDo, 548. — De Hist. 
 Axir.iAL. 330. — Problems, 55. 178, 179. 187. 195, 196. 302. 408.482. 
 
 Ap.istoxenus, of the melcdy of fpeech, 51, n. — of the efFeiSt of paflion upon it, 52, h. 
 — of the eflential difference betv/een fmging and fpeaking, Ihid, 296, n. 
 
 Acnovisi^ melody., not harmony, 2\o, n. — ^£XTl;i>^, 210. 
 
 A^iMVioa, or Melodies, of the Greeks, not the fame with their Toroi, or Alodes, 53, n. 
 
 Athenians, their inimoderatc fondnefs for dramatic exhibitions, 267, 268, 479, 480. 
 
 Audience, Athenian— eat and drank during the performance, 480. 
 
 AuLUs Geli-ius, his ftory of Polus the Tragic aftor, 550. 
 
 B. 
 
 Each, C. P. Eman. his choral recitative, 294, n. 
 
 Bacon, Lord, 253. 
 
 Batteux, his explanation of Dithyrambic. imitation, 139, 140. — of Ariftotle's dra- 
 matic xo^ajcrif, 237 — 240. 
 
 Beattie, Dr. his miftake with refpei-'l to a p.ifTage of Rouficau, 6, n. — his Minflrcl, 
 13. — ^of the relation between mufical founds and mental afFc£tions, 47, «.— 
 his cbjeftions to the principle of refomblance to pathetic fpeech in pathetic mufic, 
 confidsrcd, 58, w.-^on the power of alTociation in muftc, 59, n. 147, «. — of the 
 difference between tmral And. poctical-\^e:T(<i&\on, 68, n. — his account of a p-aflage 
 of Plato, 158, n. — his explanation of Ariftotle's accouht of the ridiculous, 214. 
 — his juft analyfis of the character of Homer's Achilles, 353. — on the language 
 of Tragedy, 468. 
 
 Beauty, fize and ftrength eflential to it, according to the ideas of the antients, 263 — 
 
 265. — male and female, Arijlotle's idea of it, 263, 264. 
 Beginning, middle, and end — Ariftotle's definition of them applied and illuflratcd, 
 
 258 — 262. 
 
 BctL,
 
 •INDEX 11. 
 
 Bell, the found of it afFe.ited by its fwinging, Page 14, «. 
 
 Beni, his commentary on Ariftotle quoted, 266. 402. 496, n, 
 
 B^aiJfjov, 534, 535. 
 
 Blackwell, 43, n, 
 
 BoiLEAU, a famous imitative line of his examined, 8, k.— quoted, 290, 452, n. 
 
 Bossu, Le, called, with little reafon, Arijlotlis beji interpreter, 284. 326. — mifquotes 
 Ariftotle's text, 24, n. — his idea of Epifodes, examined, 210, 211, 212, n. — his 
 miftalcen notion of Ariftotle's fimple fabk^ 283. — 'his abfurd interpretation of 
 xpjir* «S», 325, 326.— his defence of Homer's mean words, 452, n.— his idea of 
 Homer's purpofe in compofmg his Poems, 561, and n. 
 
 Brumoy, his indifcreet way of vindicating the antients from the charge of Tragi- 
 comedy, 204. — his apology for the bloody exhibition of Oedipus in Sopho- 
 cles, 290. 
 
 Burgess, Mr. his rational account of Homer's language, 457. 
 Burke, Mr. 375. 
 
 BuRNEY, Dr. of the power of inftrumenta! Mufic, 50, n. — of the old German 
 Comedy, 318, n. — his tranflation of the hymn of Dionyfius to the Sun, 446, n. 
 — of the melody of the antient declamation, 247, n, ^ 
 
 C. 
 
 Callimachus, his hymns, 139. 
 
 Campbell, Dr'. his explanation of Ariftotle's account of the ridiculous, 215—218, 
 
 — oi metaphors converted by familiar ufe into proper terms, 434, 
 Casaubon, IJaac, 28, n. 206, n. 
 Cases, 106, n. 
 
 Castelvetro, a tranfpofition of his adopted, 252, and n. — conjeflural emendations 
 of, 375. 413. — a curious illuftration of his, 436. — his explanation of mMayuv in 
 tap. xxiv. 483, n. — of a^ia, fti^ny 492. — his commentary quoted, 26, n. 228, 12. 
 279. 459. 474. 554. 562, 563. 
 
 Catullus, 304. 
 
 Cecilia, 407. 
 
 Ch^remon, his poetical chara£ler, 168.— his Centaur., Ibid. 
 
 XaWTTaiVEiv, not ufed tranfttively^ nor fynonymous with dfyi{£afl«i, 379— 3S2. 
 
 Chaucer, 314, 315. 
 
 Xei|i«xiwv, 379, 380, and ti. 
 
 Choephor^, the Tragedy of that name mentioned by Ariftotle, (p. 96) probably 
 not that of iEfchylus, 367, 368. 
 
 4 E Choragi,
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 Choragi, Page 89, «. 
 
 Xof©- 5ia?,e«TiK®-, 294. 
 
 Chorus, antient dramatic, its gradual extinftion, 103, «. — its prolixity, 196.— 
 perfons of, fpeak of themfelves in the fingular number, even in the Odes, where 
 they fing together, 298, «. — its viftbh number fometimes filled up by the ad- 
 miiTibn of mute?, 300.— its entrance, a fliewy and expenfive part of the Greek 
 "■ ''di-amai'''3b&'^— in \^hat~faife required by AHftotle to be a fliarer in the adlion, 
 468, 409. 
 
 Xfura «S)}, 325. 
 
 Xfir®-, 328. . 
 
 Chrqmatic, zni Enharmonic^ melody of the Greeks, iniitative of fpeech, 51, 
 
 CiCEROj 153, n. 154, n. 180. ,^79, n. 541, ».— his account of the r/V//«/»«/, agree- 
 ing with Ariftotle's, 218. — his orations, compared with thofe of Demofthenes, 
 illuftiate Ariftotle's diftinftion of the rhetorical and political ftyles, 255, «■— 
 of poetic enthufiafm, or genius, 384. — illuftrates a paflage of Ariftotle, 424. 
 
 Circumflex accent, called grave by Ariftotle, 422, and n. — whether diftinguiflied, 
 in his time, by any appropriated term, 422, 423, and n. 
 
 Clarissa, 304. 407. 
 
 Cleophon, his poetical character, 174.451. 
 
 Comedy, Old and Middle, what we call Farce, 194.— their obje(£l was the laughable 
 in general, 217,218. 
 
 Comedy, ufual intricacy of its firftfcenes, 258, 259.— adifadvantage of it, compared 
 ') with Tragedy, 259. 
 
 CONDILLAC, 243, n. 
 
 Contests, Dramatic, of the Greeks, their variety, 479, 480. 
 
 Cresphontes, of Euripides, the difcovery in it, in what view admired by Ariftotle, 
 
 323>;324- 
 CaiTlCi-SM, philofophical, a common miftake of, 7, n. ibc). 
 
 Cyclops of Euripides, a fingular circumftance relative to it, 207, 208. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dacier, his miftake relative to the Old and Middle Comedy, 224.— his ftrange 
 afterfion relative to the conjiant obfervation 6f the unities of time and place in 
 the Greek 'I"rag dies, 229. — his idea of Ariftotle's fmiple fable, 283. — his ab- 
 furd exj)lanation ami faifc tranflation of a pafliigc in Ariftotle, 326, and ». — his 
 abfurd account ( f the number of Gr^ek Tragedies performed ina day, 476, 477. 
 —fays the Iliad may be read in a day, 478. 
 
 D'Alembert,.
 
 I N D E X II. 
 
 D'Alembert, Page 45, k.— makes Architecture an imitative art, 60, n. 
 
 Dance, Pantomimic, 149. 
 
 Dancer, Pantomimic, his neceflfary accomplifliments, according to Lucian, 546, «. 
 
 Dante, his defcription of the mingled founds of his Inferno, 12, 13. 
 
 D'AuBiGNAC, of perfedt dramatic conclufions, 262, and n. 
 
 Demetrius, (IIeji .'Ef/*.) 204, and n. 251, n. 294, «. — of the analogical meta- 
 phor, 442. 
 
 Description, whtn imitative, g.—not to be confounded with expreffioh, 18. 
 
 Description, imitative— ^oi \\^\h\Q objefts, g.^— offounds^'iiiii-is. — of mental 
 objedls, immediate, or by their fenfible e'ffeSs, 15 — ig. ■ — .'not all exaft and 
 minute defcription, imitative, 28, 2g, n. 
 
 Description, local and piSfurefque — the remarkable inferiority of the antients to the 
 moderns in fuch defcription ftated, and its caufe conjedlured, 30 — 36, 
 
 Aeo-i;, nosud, complication, 392, 393. 
 
 Aiaffiv, 548. 
 
 Dialogue of the Greek Tragedy, to what fort of melody it was probably fet, 247. 
 
 Ai«p£f£i, 460. 
 
 Diction, Tragic, 467, and n, 468. — Ariftotle's idea of its perfedlion, 470.^fketch 
 of its hiftory in his Rhetoric, 471. 
 
 Ai5a!crxa^«3t, 411. 
 
 AiSa(7«£iv T^oi.yui^ici.v, origin of that exprefllon, 416. 
 
 Diderot, 408.— of the Andria of Terence, 260, k.— illuftrates a precept of Ari- 
 
 ftotle, 99, n. — of the difficulty of planning a drama, 253. 
 Dignity, modern Tragic, not to be found in the Greek Tragedy, 200-^207. 250, 
 
 25X. 289. 338. 
 Diogenes Laertius, of the y^fra/j^/ip, 475. 
 TiiO'iiYsms, of Halicarnajfus, his account of the regularity and fimplicity of the old 
 
 Dithyramb ic, 179. — of the melody of the Parode in the Orejics of Euripides, 
 
 294, 29s. 
 DioNYSius, the painter, 170. 
 
 Dionysius, a fine paffage of his Hymn to the Sun, 445. 
 Disaster, 288. 
 
 Discovery, of Jofeph by his brethren, 85, ».— of Telemachus by Menelaus, in the 
 Odyfley, 364. — in the Choepbora of ^Efchylus, examined, 368, 369. — between 
 Merope and her fon in the Crcfphontes of Euripides — Ariftotle's view of it, 323, 
 324. — its eiTect upon the audience defcribed by Plutarch, 325. . 
 
 Discoveries, various, in the Odyfley, ii6, «. 
 
 4 E 2 Dithvrambic
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 DiTHVRAMBic Poetry, how zWfarzW, Page 1 37, 738. — notoriginallyfo, but ofa fitn- 
 
 ple form, in regular ftinzas, and let to the ilmplefl melody, 178, 179. — how it 
 
 became imitative, refined, and complicated, 1 79. 
 DocEKE fabulam, 416, 
 
 Dog, a philofophical animal, according to Plato, 188. 
 DoMENiCHiNO, in painting, praftifed a precepi of Ariftotle, 376. 
 Dramatic, or perfinative. Poetry, imitation, in the ftrifl fenfe of the word, 21, 22, 
 Dramatic System of the antieuts, upon a large fcale, 480. 
 Drunken me7i, exhibition of them on the ftage, an improvement of iEfchylus, 199. 
 Drydek, miireprefents Ariftotle, 186. 556 — read him only in tranllations, 186, 
 
 187, n. 
 Du Bos, his abfurd idea of the declamation of the antient Tragedy, 242, 243 — his 
 
 ftrange explanation of a paflage of Ariftotle, 248. 
 
 Echo, of found to fenfe, 2i, n. 
 
 Hfn, 167. 472. 
 
 ExJfXEcrSai, 490. 
 
 T^jHTTMb;, Ariftotle's definition ©f it, 504. 
 
 Emendations conjeSiural, fuggefted, of Aristotle, 55. 149. 152. 186, n. 196. 
 
 219. 226. 23s 272. 278. 347. 351. 357. 378. 406. 412. 435. 441. 461.-465. 
 
 472. 481. 495. 499, 500. 523. 530, 531 . 549. 553. 
 . of Plato, 154, n. 
 
 — — of Plutarch, 306. 
 
 — — ■ of ^scHYLus, 443, n. ■ 1 'i-v^^. 
 
 ■ of Aristides Quintilianus, 415. 
 
 Empedocles, his two phyfical principles of friendjhip zni Jhrife, X28, n. — ^a quota- 
 tron from him explained, ihid. — his philofophical Poetry, 164. — his di(^ion al- 
 lowed by Ariftotle to be Homeric, 165. 
 
 Evaf7£i3, 30, n, 
 
 EvafTEf, 552. 
 
 Enharmonic intervals of tht Greeks, imitations of fpeech, 51. 
 
 Epic Poent, Ariftotle's rule for the length of it, confidered, 474 — 478. — what was his 
 idea of its proper «•«(/, 563,— its merits and dcfccls, compared with Tragedy, 
 563, 564. — now and then approaches to the luiJicrous, ibuL n, 
 
 Epicharmus, philofophized in Trochaics, 164. — his ludicrous description of the 
 voracity of Hercules, 203, w.
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 Eotewejo, Page 349, and n. 
 
 Em£(K£i;, 01, 548. 
 
 Episode, in what fenfes ufed by Ariftotle, 210 — 213. 388, 389.— how it came to fig- 
 nify an incidental and digreflive ftory, 212, 213. — Epic and Tragic, their dif- 
 ference, 212. 
 
 Epithets, negative, frequent in the Greek Poets, 447. 
 
 Epopoeia, difficulty of admitting Ariftotle to have propofed the application of that 
 term to Mimes and Dialogues, 159— 161. 
 
 Eratosthenes, his juft idea of" the end of Poetry, 562, n. 
 
 Ernestus, his i iterpretatioii of two words in Homer, 15, ti. 265. 
 
 Efl©- xeIewj, 524. 
 
 Hfi«, difpoiitions, tempers, 47, n. 
 
 H9®-, Wm®-, in what fenfe applied by Ariftotle to Tragedy, lOO, n, 399.— oppofed 
 to 5ra3®- and 5r«5m-iK®-, 250, n. 396, and «. 
 
 EuBULUS, trajment of a Comedy of his, 331. 
 
 Euclid, illuftrates Ariftotle, 424, 425. 
 
 Ev?i/»i?, 382, 383. 
 
 Euripides, Ariftotle's cenfure of his Choral Odes, 102, ?/.— a paflage of, proving 
 the licentioufnefs of antient painting, i6g. — fometimes familiar, and Tragi- 
 comic, 200. 202, 203, 204. — his Prologues, 220. — ^S©- of his Tragedies, 251. 
 — did not obferve the French rule, " de ne pas enfangtanter. h TJjeatre" 291.— 
 a paflage in his Iphig. in Tanr. confidered, 303, n. — his powers not confined 
 to emotions of tendernefs and pity, 310. — two fine palTages in his Medea and 
 EleSira, 31 \ 311. — his charadter of Achilles, 351. — his Tragic cavern, 377, 
 378. — his diffion^ and Ariftotle's charafler of it, 470. — in what fenfe faid to 
 have drawn men a> they are., 506 — 509. — imitated common nature more clofely 
 than Sophocles, 509, 510, 
 
 Et/fTUVonrov, 266, 267. 
 
 Expression, redundant, an inftance of it frequent in the Greek writers, 231. 
 Expression, Mufical, confidered as imitation by the antients, and why, 46— 51.— • 
 how aflifted by words, though by no means dependent on them, 48. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fable, douUe, of Ariftotle, not to be confounded wjth our (/cw^^ //c?!', 312, 
 Felibien, 376. 
 Fiction, imitation, 19. 
 FISTULA Panis, — See Syrinx, 
 
 FlutEj
 
 1 N D EX n. 
 
 Flute, antient, (Ay>>®-,) Page 148, ». 
 
 Flute-players, antient, 545. 
 
 FoNTENELLE, his Platonic idea of inftrumental MuHc, 49, k,— his Paftorals, 163.— 
 ofjierculcs in tlie yf/f<'/?;':f of Eurip. 203. — his Rejiexioiu fnr lU Poei'qiiey 2^2, 
 273. — his idea of ^fchjlus, 384. — of fubiimity, 385, «. — his ftranjje notion 
 of Homer's dialedls, 455: — ^457. . 
 
 FooTE, 383, and n. 
 
 G. 
 
 r^urrai, 462, 463. 
 
 Goth, Heathen, well characlerized in three lines of Xenophanes, 512. 
 Goldsmith, his defcription of village founds inafummer's evening, 13. 
 Gravina, 22, n. — his vindication of the Iphigenia of Euripides againfl: Ariftotle's 
 
 cenfure of inconfiftence, 343. 
 Gray, Mr. his fondnefs for Racine, 385. — his Jgripptna, ibid. 
 Greek language, its comprehenfive brevity of expreflion, 266, 267. 
 
 H. 
 
 Handel, 59. 
 
 Harmony, faid by Ariftotle to have no exprejjion, 55. — that aflcrtion not true of the 
 harmony of modern counterpoint, 56, n. — what to be concluded from it with 
 refpecSl to the Mufic of the antients,/W^. 
 
 Harris, of fonorous imitation in a line of Virgil 5, n. — of the imperfeftion of fuch 
 imitation, 8, ».■ — imitation oifpeech overlooked by him in his account of imi' 
 tative Mufic, 46, n. 59. — of the difference between rhythm and metre, 70, «.— 
 a tranflation of his confidered, 257, and n. — an explanation of his quellioned, 
 284. — his verfion of the words in which Ariftotle defines wefWETEia, 286. — his 
 juft remark concerning a difficulty in tranflation, 383. — of naturalized meta- 
 phors, 434. 
 
 Heinsius, his excellent comment on Ariftotle's rule relative to the goodnefs of Tragic 
 manners, 326, 327. 
 
 Helen, her talent of vocal mimicry, 42, n. 
 
 Hercules, his comic jollity in the Akejlis of Euripides, 203, 204.— extravagant 
 defcription of his voracity, 203, «. 
 
 Herodotus, 542. 
 
 Heyne, 390. 475. 516. — his juft idea of imitative verfification, 7, H,— his explana- 
 tion of Jifeaxet^®-} applied to the Tragic Poet, 417, n, 
 
 HiPPIAS,
 
 I N D E X II. 
 
 HiPPiAS, his Jefuitical theology. Page 520. 
 
 HoBBEs, of Lucan, 118, «. — of probable fi£tion, 488, n. 
 
 Hogarth, i^2.—\\isy1nalyfis of Beauty, 403, n. 
 
 Homer, called the left ofPninters, 10, n. — his defcription of the finging of the night- 
 ingale, 14, 15. — his touches of local defcription how improved and finifhed by- 
 Pope, 31 — 33, and n. — abfurdly embelliflied by his tranflators, 42, n. — his 
 defcription of the vocal mimicry of Helen, ibid. — hymns attributed to him, 
 narrative, 139. — parodied by the antients, 175. — called by Plato the fir ft of. 
 Tragic Poets, zoq. — his defcriptions of female beauty, 264, 265. — a fine paflage 
 in his Odyffey, 364. — remarks on the original divifion of his Poems, 365, 366. 
 — his ufe of the verb x<*XE7raiV£ii', 379 — 381. — his S"i©- i/i?c/fi3©-, &c. — how de- 
 fended by Boileau, 452. — how beft defended, /W^. -abfurd notion of liis diale£ls, 
 456. — his Poems regarded by Ariftotle as t'o long, 478, 1.79. — his fi£tions, in 
 what fenfe compared to the logical fophifm a confequenti, 485 — ^488. — his perfe£b 
 knowledge of all arts and faiences, ridiculed by Piato, 498. - a paffage of, con- 
 fidered, and vmdicated from metaphorical interpretation, 515, 516. — paffages 
 of, confidered, 4''>5. 525, and n. — his inaccuracies in geography, altronomy, &c, 
 cenfured by the Zoililts, 536. — his hexameters, and thofe of Hefiod, fung to 
 the lyre by Terpander, Timotheus, &c. 550. 
 
 Horace, 336, n. — his Odes fometimes dramatic, 138, and n. — his exprcilion fome- 
 times taken from Ariftotle, 500. 
 
 Howes, Mr. his explanation of the SisMi cT<jra<n<i, 312. 
 
 Hume, his objeftion to Ariftotle's dgftrine of the unity of fable, 268. 
 
 HuRD, Bifliop, his mafterly vindication of the Italian Poets, and the genuine privileges 
 of Poetry, 118, n. — quoted, 192. — his explanation of Ariftotle's precept relative 
 to uniformity of manners, examined, 333 — 338. — his vinoication of the Iphige- 
 nia {in Aulis) of Euripides, confidered, 339 — 343. — his explanation of the 
 difference between the imitations of Sophocles, and thofe of Euripides, confi- 
 dered, 507 — 519. — of the language of pallion, 494. — of the end of Poetry, 561. 
 — of the proper end of Epic Poetry, 563. 
 
 HuTCHESON, Profejfor, accounts for the power of Mufic over the paflions iion\ 
 refemblance to paflionate fpeech, 51. 
 
 Hymns, narrative, 139* 
 
 i; 
 
 Iago, 535, and n. 
 
 Bambi, the Poems fo' called,. afled, 274. 
 
 hm»i, 473, 474. 
 
 Imitation-,,.
 
 I N D E X II. 
 
 Imitation, ftriaiy fo called, what eflential to it, Page 4. — not applicable to Poetry 
 in any fenfe, that is not independent on metre, 24, ».— Ariftotle's folution of 
 the pleafuie arifing from it, 188, 189.— a fingular application of Ariftotle's 
 doctrine on that fubjciSt, 29C, 291. 
 
 Imitation, Poetic, (or by words,) various and confufed accounts of it, 37, «. 38.^ 
 extended by foine to that general fenfe, which comprehends allfpeech, 23. 28, n. 
 — among the antients clofely connedted with perfinaL, 41, 42. 
 
 ■ — — hy found, 5 — 9. 
 
 .. hy defcriptio}7, <) — 1 9. 
 
 hy fiSiion, 19 — 21. 
 
 I - .1 — by perfonntkiif 21—22. — mixture and various combination of 
 
 thefe different fpecics, 23, 24. 
 
 by refejyiblance of verbal found and motion, its imperfeiStion, 5, 
 
 and n. 8, n. — how produced by the bed Poets, 6, 7, n. 27. — not imitation in 
 a ftricl and proper fenfe, 7, 8. 
 
 . . . fiaive, diflindt from defcriptive, ig, 20. — neither of them, ftri<Jt!y 
 
 and properly, imitation, 21. — defcriptive^ not noticed by Ariftotle, and why, 
 
 36. 37- 
 
 Imitation, Muf.cal, fynonymous to exprejfton, with the antients, but oppofed to it by 
 modern writers, 46, and n. 
 
 Imitative Arts, confufion arifing from that general denomination applied to 
 Poetry, Mufic, and Painting, in clafling the arts, 60, 61. — abfurdity of extend- 
 ing it to Architcfture, 60, ti. 
 
 Incidents, how confidered by Ariftotle as arifing, or not arifing, from the aition 
 itfelf, 372, 373. t 
 
 Johnson, Dr. of Shakfpeare's hafty conclufions, lOi, n. 121, w. — of the unities of 
 time and place, 230. — of the Tragic language of Addifon and Shakfpeare, 251, 
 n. — his ccnfure of Mr. Gray's Agrippina, 385, 386. — of the charadcrs of Lo- 
 thario and Lovelace, 535. — of the effcii of the character of laga on the fpec- 
 tator, ibid, n. — of the merit of the Epic Poet, 565. 
 
 JoNSON, Ben, prologue to the puppet-fliew of Hero and Leander in his Bartholomew- 
 Fair, 223. 
 
 JoRTiN, Dr. his charafter of Achilles, 353. 
 
 Joseph, and his brethren, flory of, 85, ;;. 
 
 Iphigenia (at Aulis) of Euripides — inconfiftence attributed to her charader by 
 Ariftotle, confidered, 341 — 344. 
 
 IsocRATEs, 383, n. — of the privileges of Poetry, and the importance of verfe to its 
 efFcdl, 495. 
 
 3 K. Kaims,
 
 N D E X n. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kaims, Lord, his affertion, that harmony has " no relation to fenttment" examined, 
 Page 56, n, — of the riftble, 217,— his juft chara£ter of Racine, 385. 
 
 YLarcc^wpttratTSM, 528. 
 
 Kafljipo-if, (wafln^TOv,) confidered, 231 — 242.— -a pafTage relative to it in Ariftotle's 
 Polit. examined and tranflated, 233 — 237. 
 
 Kei/^svc> [qvoijm), 444. 
 
 Kffav, K£fa!<r«i, to pour out, 523. 
 
 KirnTiK©-, 482. ^ 
 
 Koii'icr/^©-, 456, and «, 
 
 Koiu/^®-, what; — example of it, 301, 302. 
 
 KojiSit?, the dance fo called, 164, n. 
 
 KfWTjoi©-, the ornamental word, what probably meant by it, 447 — 445. 
 
 Kyfiov (oM/iflt), its fenfe, 433, 434. 
 
 La Fontaine, 491, n. 
 
 La Motte, 38. — combats the notion, that injlrudion is the end of Poetry, 562. — his 
 
 account of Homer's diction, 452. 
 Landscape, no technical term equivalent to it in Greek or Roman writers, 35. 
 Landscape-paintikg, not pradlifed, or not cultivated, by the Greeks, 34, 35.— 
 
 its effeft on the general taftefor piofpeits and rural fcenery, 35, 36. 
 Language, natural, not 2l'w:\.yifimple and familiar language, 4.67, n, 
 Ae*'?, in what fenfe applied by Ariftotle to the Parade of the Greek Tragedy, 293— 
 
 295. — and ^EyEo-fiai, fometimes applied to recitative, or fuch fmging as moft 
 
 refembies fpecch, 244. 293. 
 
 htx^mi-n',, 31, «. 
 
 Little Iliad, 115, n. 347. 
 
 Aoyoi -^ly-oi, not always />r-^, 154. 
 
 Aoy®-, how ufed by Ariftotlc, 155. — and by Plato, ibid. n. — the [peaking or dialogue 
 
 part of Tragedy, 198. 254. — its fenfe in Ariftotle's analyfis of ^/Wok in general^ 
 
 419,420. 
 
 LoNGiNUS, of the inequalities of Sophocles, 202. — of the Odyffey, 251, n. — illuf- 
 trates an expreflion of Ariftotle, 494. 
 
 Luc AN, auT®- Ji' o^B ayojyi^ETai. 118, n. 
 
 4 F LUCIAK,
 
 F.1I 
 
 N 'D £ X ir. 
 
 LuciAN, of defcriptive imitation, Page lO, .<i. Ii, u. — of the pantomimic mufical ac- 
 companiment, 145. — of the comic riialks, 2i8, n. — of the dicfs of the antient 
 Tragic actors, 480, it. — of the requifites of an accomplifhcd pantomimic dancer, 
 546, n. 
 
 LuDius, of the Auguftan age, the firft landfcapc-painter upon record, 34. 
 
 Aiiri?, denouemeiit'i developrrteiit, 392, 393. 
 
 M. 
 
 Madkess, entliufiafm, of every kind, frequently fo denominated by the antients, 
 
 384, and n. 
 Maffei, miftakes Ariftotle, 324. 
 Mandrabulus, a Poem of Cleophon, 174. 
 MavM©-., 384. ' , 
 
 Manners, (or charaSler,) — little of them in the Tragedy oi a poliflied age, 250, 251. 
 , Tragic.) in what fenfe required by Ariftotle to be good., and why; the rule 
 
 intended as a compromife with Plato, 325 — 329. — Ariftotle's precept relative 
 
 to their itniformlty., how to be undeiftood, 333—338. 
 M«viav£(v, 186—191- — a particular ufe of that verb, 522. 
 
 Margites, 193. 
 
 Markland, his manner of defending Euripides againft Ariftotle's cenfiare of his 
 
 Iphigenia, 344. 
 Marmontei., JVI. miftakes Ariftotle, 308, «. 328, «.— quoted, 377. 393. 
 Marvellous, the dramatic, 316, 317. 
 Masks, of the Old Comedy, caricatures, 218. 
 Mason, Mr. his excellence in imitative defcription oi founds, and particularly of 
 
 mufical founds, n — 14. — example from his Carafiacus, 12. — his idea of Tragic 
 
 language, 467, n. — a fine example from his CaraSlacus of the Ampler language of 
 
 Tragedy, 468. 
 Matron, a famous Parodift, 175. 
 
 M-zixav-j, 345.— of the French opera, defcribed by Roufleau, ibia. 
 MEGALior.ffi, 432. 
 Mtiap, 557. 
 MeXeov, 303, ri. 
 Melody, pathetic — its imitation of the tones and inflexions of impaflloncd fpeech, 
 
 jgj ^g. — fuch imitation particularly remarkable in Pergolcfi, Purcell, and 
 
 Handel, 59. —denied by Dr. Beattie, 58, ;;. 
 
 5 Melopoeia,
 
 I N D E X IL 
 
 Melopoeia, what, Page 76, «. 
 
 M£^^, ufed in three different tnuftcalknkt^ 246, n. 
 
 B/Ienage, 552. 
 
 Menalippe, curious fiory of, 93, n. 
 
 Menander, anecdote relative to the antient Chorus in a fragment of his, 300- 
 
 Merope. — See Discovery. 
 
 MsiTov, whether ufed by Ariflotle to denote the circumflex accent, 421 — 425. 
 
 M£Tfl!|3ai7i;, (of Tragedy,) what, 283. 
 
 Metamorphoses, of Ovidr-unity of that Poem, of what icind, 81, ii. 
 
 Metaphor, Ariftotle's principle of the pleafurc we receive from it, 187. — various 
 ways of guarding it, according to Ariftotle, 446, 447. 
 
 r. the analogical^ or proportional-tVf\\?it\ and how it differs from the metaphor 
 
 afpecle <7rf_^«zV«, 437-7-440.,— instances of it from Ariltotlc and Homer, 439, 
 440, and n. 
 
 Metastasio, his EJlratto dclla Poetica d'JyiJloi'de, 229. 
 
 Michael AngelO, how charaflerized by Sir Jof. Reynolds, 5 10. 
 
 •Milton, a circumflance in his defcription of the found of a bell, 14, n. — his excel- 
 lence in imitative defcription of founds, and particularly of mufical founds, 
 II — 14. — his account of Ariftotle's purgation of the >pa(rions by Tragedy, 
 241, 242. — prologue of his Comus, not more exceptionable than thofe of 
 Euripides, 299, 3.00. 
 
 Mimes, of Sop/jron, i6j — 163. — not, probably, of the licentious caft of the Roman 
 Mimes, 162. 
 
 Mimicry, vocal, its antiquity, 41, n. 143.— rtwo remarkable Lnftances cf it recorded 
 by Homer, 41, n. 
 
 Molestus, ipofTj«©-, 541, //. 
 
 Monboddo, Lord, of the ftyle of Cicero's orations compared with that of his rhe- 
 torical and philofophical works, 256, n. [where add to the references, -vol. iii. 
 p. 256.] — of Homer's language, 457. 
 
 Monologues, of the Greek Tragedy, whether fet to recitative, or air, 247, 248. 
 
 Moore, Profcffor, his erroneous explanation of Ariftotle's y.x^x?<ji.c, 235, n. 
 
 Mo^ia, /pedes, igi, 192. 
 
 Mux^ov, 557. 
 
 Music, its whole power reducible to three diftinct effedls, 44. — how far it can 
 raife ideas, 44, 45. 49, n. — in what fenfes regarded as imitative by the moderns, 
 and by the antients, 46. — ideas and language of the antients, on this fubjeft, 
 accounted for, 46 — 51. — its power over the pajjions, what, 48.— that power 
 accurately exjireflbd by Ariftotle, 48, k.— does not depend on Poetry for its 
 
 4 F 2 expreflion,
 
 I N D E X II. 
 
 expreflion, Page 49, and ». — its reparation from Poetry, by whom complained of, 
 49, n. — allowed by Arljiotle to have expreflion without words, 49, n. 55. — its 
 power of afFefting refolved by feme writers into a refemblance, more or lefs, 
 to the tones of fpeech, 51. 58. — the analogy of its melody and rhythm to thofe 
 of fpeech, 51, 52, and n. 58. — impropriety of calling it an imitative art, accord- 
 ing to the modern ideas of mufical imitation, 60. — an antient divifion of it into 
 three kinds, 233, 234. 
 
 Music, Antient, its improvements, like thofe of the modern, treated as corrup- 
 tions, 179. 
 
 Music, Dramatic, of the Greeks, ftridtly imitative, 51. 
 
 Music, hiflnnnental, its power, 49, n. — a peculiar pleafure arifmg from the very 
 indeterminatenefs of its expreflion, 49, w. — of the antients, 50. — in what fenfe 
 confidered by Ariftotle as imitating manners and charaSiers, 173, 174. 
 
 Music, Pajioral, affeding by alTociation, 147, and n. 148. 
 
 Music, Vocal, almoft folely cultivated by the Greeks, 48. 50. 
 
 N. 
 
 NicOMACHUS, Painter, 171. 
 
 Nightingale, her fmging charadlerized by Homer, 15. 
 
 NoMES, not eflentially dlftinguiflied from Dithyrambics by the ohjeils of their imi- 
 tation, 177. 180. 
 
 Novels, a good apologetical motto for them, 407.— improbability often unreafon- 
 ably objeded to them, 407, 408. 
 
 O. 
 
 Objects, r^tral, in what manner ufually defcribed by the antients, 30, n.— exam- 
 ples from Theocritus, Virgil, and PlatOy ibid. 
 Olvmpus, his facred Mufic, 257, and «. 
 "OinaSS^, 518. 
 '0|ua^»;, 336. 
 
 Oppian, 503. 
 
 O+K, 75, «• 
 Orchestra, 103, n, 
 Q.Qa>nu',y coihn feyjfii, 53ij 532* 
 
 i Pi Paintikc,
 
 N D E X II. 
 
 P. 
 
 Painting, the three ftyles of it mentioned by Ariftotle applicable to modern artifts. 
 
 Page 171, 172. 
 Paintings, indecent, allowed in the temples of fome heathen deities, 169, 
 Pantomime, modern, Ariftotelic analyfis of it, 317, 318. 
 — — — ^— — Roman, 318, n, 
 Parabasis, of the Greek Comedy, 220. 
 Tlapa(nisua.Z£iv, 198. 
 Tlcc^aipuy^aTTeaSai, 39O. 
 riaf' c7roiA,£vov, (a confequent!,) the logical fophifm fo called, what, 486. — how applied hy 
 
 Ariftotle to Homer's management of fiiSlion, 485 — 488. 
 
 Parode, of the Greek Chorus, to what kind of melody it was fet, 293 — 295. — a 
 fpecimen of that melody from Dionyfius Halicarn. ibid. — of the Orejhs of 
 Euripides, ibid. — always fung by the Chorus either at, o\ foon afte->\ their firft 
 entrance upon the ftagc, 296. 298, 299. — was fomctimes in the regular Lyric 
 form, of Strophe and Antiftrophe, 298, n. 
 
 Parodies, a favourite fpecies of humour with the Athenians — fpecimens of them^. 
 
 175, 176- 
 Passion, the natural Poetry of, 493, 494. 
 Passiohs, purgation of, by Tragedy, confidered, 231 — 242, — how far the frequent 
 
 exercife of them, by works of imagination, may tend to moderate and reline 
 
 them in real life, 240, 241. 
 
 rXaSo, 288. 
 
 ILx^ixara, ufed by Ariftotle as fynonymous with IlaS)),, 235, ». 
 
 Pathetic, not attainable, either in Poetry or Painting, wit'iout clofe Imitation of 
 nature and real life, 510, 511, and ;;. 
 
 Pauson, a licentious Painter, 169, 170. 
 
 Pergolesi, 59. 
 
 IlefioJ©- riMn, 227, 228. 
 
 IIffiw£T£ia, Revolution, what, 285. — confounded with the (.uTaliiXju:, or change of for- 
 tune, common to all Tragedy, 283 — 285. 
 Hepnrn, 481. 
 Petrarch, 444. 
 $«ux©-, SOTSiti®-, 183, 184. 
 ^la;^)1, 442. 
 ^t^avfifOiTOv, 305, 306. 406^
 
 .1 N D E X II. i 
 
 $i?ja! v5a^r,(;, Page 559. 
 
 Phil OXEN us, the Poem of his, alluded to by Ariftctle, not a drama, 178. 
 
 PhorciSes, 77;^, xoi, ?:. 
 
 ^OfnrtK©-, 540 — 544. 
 
 PiccoLOMiNi, his verfion and commentary quoted, 285. 332. 358. 369. 438. 442. 
 453. 459. 491. — an objecllon of his removedj 449. 
 
 Pindar, inftances of the dramatic in his Odes, -138, and n. — an Ariflotelic poflagc 
 of, 491- 
 
 Plato, his defcription of the banks of the Iliffus, 30, «.— his idea of Poetic imitation, 
 and in what it differed from that of Ariftctle, 40. — his objedioiis to it, 38, «. 
 41, ;/. — coincides with Fontenelle as to the want of meaning m inftrumental 
 Mufic, 49, K. — refolves mufical expreffion into reft-mblance of fpeech, 52*— 
 his divifion of Poetry into three kinds, 138. 182.— ufes >,c7s; -^ly^i in the fenfe 
 of Arlftotle, for words without miijlc, 154, 155, n. — his idea of Poetry ftripped 
 of metre, 158. — his dialogues dramatic — fometim.ss a£led, 163, and «.— attri- 
 butes to Mufic the imitation of jnontiers and charaders^ J 73. —his idea of 
 Comedy agrees with Ariftotle's, 218, and «. — bis objedtion to Iragedy, 239, 
 240, and «. — calls Homer TfaywSioOTj©-, and Epic Poetry, Tragic^ Z^Si'"- — 
 his idea of the danger of exhibiting bad charafters in Poetic imitation, 326. 
 328, 329, and n. — his charader of Achilla^ 35 1~" 35.3- — faniiliar to him lo 
 Ipeak of all enthufiafm as a fpecies of madnefs, 384. — -his account of ProiagsraSy 
 ,418. — his addrefs to the Tragic Poets, 497. — in what manner he expofes the 
 notion of Homer's accurate knowledge of arts and fciences, 498. — his whimfical 
 argument to difcredit Poetic imitation, 499, «.-^co:Uinually reproaching the 
 Poets with violation of truth, 505. 534, 535. ^his idea of the ufe of wine, 512, 
 513. — a fine pafiage in him, vindicating the truth and immuta'oility of God, 
 520. — of the immoral tendency of Homer's fidiions, 535. — quoted, .142, ?;, 188. 
 263. 275. 548. 559, and !J. 
 
 Plautus, and Terence, their way of fupplying the imperfedl: concKifions of their 
 
 plays, 261. 
 Plautus, of Poetic fi^iion, 492. 
 Plays, Chinefe, their length, 476, n, 
 Pliny, the Eldtr, no landfcape, or landfcape-paintcr, mentioned in his account of 
 
 Grecian artifts and their works, 34, 35. — his account of Protogenes, 172. 
 Pliny, the Tounger, 35, n. 36. 
 
 Plutarch, of vocal mimicry, 41, n. — of the paintings of Dionyfius the Colopho- 
 nian, i6g. — rails at mufical corruption, 179. 306.— of two different ways in 
 which the Tragic Iambics were fung, 244. 248. — of a mufical revolution, 279. 
 — his account of the theatrical effe6l of the difcovery in the Crefphcntes of Euri- 
 pides, 325— quoted, 247, n. 282. 550. 
 
 Poet-
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 Poet-philosophers, Page 164. 
 
 Poetry, Imitatioti, in a ftiid: fenfe, only wlien dramatic or perfoiiatlvc, 21, 22. — to be 
 confidered as imitative: only in four fenfes, 22. — whence, originally, denomi- 
 nated an imitative art, 38 — 43. — not read, in general, by the Greeks, but 
 heard, 42. — abfurdity of fuppofing inJlruSfion to be its chief end, 561. — its end, 
 according to Ariftotle, to give pleafurc, 561, 562. 
 
 Poetry, Theological, of the Greeks, did not exclude fi£lion and invention, 138, 139. 
 Poets, Greek Tragic, obliged to conform to the tafte of the people, 206, and ;;. — 
 
 compared with Shakfpeare, 207. 251. — originally a^lors alfo, 377. 416. — the 
 
 great number of their produdlions, 480, 481. 
 TioiiioSM rr;V uinwni, never ufed by Ariftotle for /L/,i,aei£rfiai fimply, 166, 167. 
 
 rloMTlXTI, ("H)— IloMTIK©-, ('O) noMTlKS!-:, 255. 
 
 Pollux, Jul. apaflage about the Syrinx, or F'ljlula Panis, 146, and n. 
 PoLus, the Tragic aftor, 550. 
 
 POLYGNOTUS, l6g. 
 
 Pope, his improvement of Homer's local and piSiurefqne defcriptions, 31 — 33, and n, 
 
 515. — his Paftorals, 163. 
 Potter, Mr. his explanation of Ariftotle's cenfure of the choral odes of Euripides 
 
 102, 11. — his opinion of a pafllige of Ariftotle confidered, 338, 339. of the 
 
 difcovery in the Cho'ephom of iEfchylus, 368. 
 
 IIfO«ifEt7i;, 257, »• 
 
 nfo07i>i;itaTa, critical, 122, n. 
 
 Prologue, Greek, Ariftotle's own account of it, 219, 220, and n. — the two different 
 
 kinds of it exprelfed, and exempllEed, by Terence, 221, 222. — the narrative, 222. 
 
 — its hifl;ory and revolutions, 223. 
 
 Prologue, of the Greek Comedy, not different from that of Tragedy, 219 — 221. 
 
 of the French Opera, 223. 
 
 Prospect, (or Fiew,) no fmgle Greek or Latin term equiv.-Jent to it, 35, n, 
 
 Tl^oa^oxn, 104, 105, n. 
 
 Hconaymtsyi;, If)"]- 
 
 Protagoras, fingular hiftory of him, 417, 418. 
 
 Yix©-, 154, 155. 
 
 Ptolemy, of defcriptive imitation, lO, n, 
 
 Pv^ia^LL, 59. 
 
 Qi QyiNTILIAK,
 
 f 
 
 I N D E X n* 
 
 CL 
 
 Qur^fTILIA^•, of «5©- and x«9©-, Page 25:^, n. — his characler oi Euripides^ 256.— 
 of Zeuxts, 265. — iliuftrates a paflage of Ariftotle, 424.. — of the ufe of meta- 
 phors, 453. — of the diftion oi Euripides., 470,1. 
 
 Quixote,. Den, his idea of tran/lation, 186, n. 
 
 R. 
 
 Racine, 385. 
 Raphael, 171, 172. 
 
 Pafoa©-, 348. 
 
 Reading, not a general practice with the antients, as with us, 42, 43, and ». 242. 
 
 Recitative, of the Greek Tragedy, 247. 
 
 Recitative, Choral, 294, >t. 
 
 Reynolds, Sir Jsjhua, quoted, 81, «. 171, 172. — of individuality of imitation in 
 painting, 511, n. 
 
 Rhapsodists, 43, n. — recited, or declaimed, only, 549. 
 
 Rhythm, 70, n. 
 
 Richardson, h\% Lovelace, 119, 120, n. 535. 
 
 Richardson, the painter, 171, 172, and n. — defcribes the paintings of Mich. An- 
 gelo and Raphael in Ariftotle's terms, 172. 
 
 Riddle, Greek, 455. 
 
 Ridiculous, (The) Ariftotle's account of it defended, 213 — 217. 
 
 Robortelli, his commentary quoted, 324, )». 
 
 Rondeau, 187, 188. 
 
 Rousseau, mifunderftood by Dr. Bcattie, 6, n. — attributes all expreflion in Mufic 
 to imitation, more or lefs perceptible, of fpeecb, 51. — of the efFedl of paflion in 
 melodizing the voice, 52, >i. — his inconfiftence in alTerting that harmony has no 
 exprejfion, 55, 56, n. — his abfurd idea of the theatrical declamation of the an- 
 tients, 243. — a Platonic writer, 329.— agrees with Plato in his objeftioiis to 
 dramatic imitation, ibid. 
 
 Rubens, 172. -* 
 
 S, Sampson
 
 N D E X IL 
 
 S. 
 
 Sampson Agonistes, Page 260. 
 
 Satan of Milton,.his »2a««i'ri xfi*"**! according to Le BofTii, 325. 
 
 Satyr, and Satire, 73, «. 
 
 Satyric Drama, probably much fliorter than the ferious Tragedy, 478, n. 
 
 ScALiGER, J. C.jofdefcriptive imitation, 9, n. — his notion of Poetic imitation, 28, »,. 
 
 Scaliger, Jofephj 363. 
 
 SczHEKY, painted, 199. 
 
 Scenery, drejps, mufic, he. how Ariftotle meant to extend to them his precepts 
 refpefting the manners, and improved imitation, of Tragedy, 354, 355. 
 
 Sxi/^^Ta >^h(^%, figures of fpeech, what Ariftotle meant by them, 413, 416. 429.— 
 
 whence denominated (rx»/*«Ta, or figures, 415. 
 Sculpture, of the antients, fometimes coloured, 142, «. 
 
 Xn.UElOV, 360, 361. 
 
 Sentence, no Greek word exactly fynonymous to it, 420. 
 
 SzNTEtiCES, Jignificant, &nd aj/ertive, a diftindion of Ariftotle's logic, 420. 430. 
 
 Shaftsbury, Lord, his extravagant encomium on the Greek Tragedy, 206, — his 
 
 mifreprefentation of Ariftotle, ibid. — his explanatory tranflation of 3 paflage of 
 
 Ariftotle, 266. 
 Shakspeare, 251. 265. 517. — neglefled the conclufions of his plays, 101, n. 261, 
 
 and n. — his Caliban, ,199, «. 488.— compared with the Greek Tragedians, 207. 
 Sheridan, Mr. his Critie, 280. 
 Shuttles, antient, 362, 363. 
 Sidney Biddulph, 304. 
 SiFFLET de chaudi'onnier, 145. 
 Singers, of the modern Italian, and antient Greek, Opera — their fimilar influence 
 
 over Poets and Compofers, 279, 28c. 
 Singing, in what eflentially different horn fpeech, 52, «. 296, n. 
 2x?.)ifOT»i;, 349, 350. 
 
 Socrates, not fond of the country, and his reafon, 30, n. 
 S'OPHISM, Poetic, of Homer's fi(£lions, explained, 486 — 488. 
 Sophists, their critical cavils, 277. 
 
 Sophocles, fometimes familiar and Tragi-comic, 201, 202. 205.— his fcenes of 
 altercation, how charadlerized by a Comic Poet, 201, n. — his prologues, 220. 
 «— his defcription of Oedipus tearing out his own eyes, 289.— did not obferve 
 
 4G. the
 
 I N D E X n. 
 
 the French rule, " de ne pas enfanglanter le Theatre" Page 29c, -his diifllon, 4.69. 
 
 — in what fenfe he " drew f/ten as they ought to be-," 506 — 5'-'9' 
 SoPHRON, imitated in an Idyl of Theocritus, 162. 
 Sounds, imitative defcription of, .11 — ■15. 
 
 Spenser, defecSs of a famous ftanza in his Faery ^een, 13, 14, «, 
 Su-sJai®-, $«y^©-, 183, 184. 
 
 STTuJaiOTEfOV, 273. 
 
 Stasimon, in what fenfe " tvithout anapajls and trochees" 301. 
 
 Steele, Mr. his EJpiy on the Melody^ i£c. of Speech, 58, n. 
 
 Sthenelus, infipidity of his language, how rcprefented by Ariftophanes, 452, 453, 
 
 Strabo, of Homer's mixture of truth with fiction, 486. — of the end of Poetic 
 
 fiftion, 504. 
 Strophe and Antijlrophe, fet to the fame melody, 178, n. 
 
 Surprise, heightens paffion, 281, and n. 
 
 Syrinx, or Pipe of Pan, 144, 145. — a South Sea inftrument, 145. — two different 
 inftruments of this name mentioned by ful. Pollux, 146. — its tone charafterized 
 in the Homeric hymn to Mercury, 147. — doubts and conjeiSiures concerning 
 the infirument of this name mentioned by Ariftotlc, 145 — 148, 
 
 Tale of Alcinous, 364 — 366. 
 T£X|H>ifii3',', 360, 361. 
 Terence, 221, 222. 
 
 Terror — Ariftotle feems to have thought it fometimes puflied to excefs by the 
 Greek Tragedians, 323. 
 
 Tetralogia, Tragic, the dramas that compofed it performed on different feftivals, 
 
 475—477- 
 
 Theocritus, his 15th hly\ an admirable example of the clofe and natural deline- 
 ation of common life, 162. — his defcription, Idyl 7, not of the landfcape kind, 
 30, «. 
 
 Theodorus, the Tragic a£tor, his voice, 41, «. 
 
 Theophrastus, of the effed: of paffion upon the melody of fpccch, 51, 52, ;/.— 
 
 of the dance called x^fJiJ, 165, «. 
 Thomson, fills up a fkeich of Virgil, 445. 
 6ofu&tiv, J 90, «. 
 
 Toup, an emendation of bis confidered, 544, 
 
 Trachjni^
 
 INDEX II. 
 
 Trachinije of Sophocles, Page 229. 
 
 Tragedy, notdiftinguiflied, originally, from Comedy^ 206, and «. — its tW, according to 
 Ariftotle, 323. — its c-fFeifl does not depend upon our ignorance of its cataflrophe, 
 393. — its different fpecies, 398. — not ptrfeSily feparatcd from Comedy in Ari- 
 ftotle's time, 400. — how mufch its effeft depends on the fable, 412, and «.— 
 Ariftotle's preference of it to the Epic Poem confidered, 563, 564. 
 
 Tragedy, French, 207, «. 251. 289. 385. 451. 
 
 Tragedy, Greeks the Zyr/c, exceeded the Dialogue^ part of it, before i'Efchylus, 196. 
 — \\.% Jhort dialogue, or rix°i^vSia, [See yuL Pollux, IV. 17. J 200. — whetheryj/?;^ 
 throughout, 243 — 245. — what parts of it mod lilccly to have been f< ci^-n, 2^*5, 
 246.— abfurd to attribute to it the delicacy of the French flage, 289—291. — 
 vain attempts of Dacier, Brumoy, &c. to divide it mio Jive ails, 297. — its dic- 
 tion, 451. — obfervations on the progrcfs and improveiiieiits of its diiflioii, 
 469, 470. 
 
 Tragedy, the infernal, 401, 402, 
 
 Tragedies, Greek, not to be reprefented as corredt and perfeil models, 206. — their 
 inequalities, and intermixture of low and comic dialogue, 200 — 206. 400. — 
 their popular and Tragi-comic origin may be traced in them, 205, 206. 222. — 
 
 on what cccafions their length might be limited by the magiftrate, 268. 478. 
 
 faid to have been fometimes played hy the how-glafe, ibid, — conjedlure as to the 
 nurnber performed in one day, and to one audience, at the Tragic contefts, 
 474—4-78. — ofvery different lengths, 477, 478, n. 
 
 Tragi-Comedy, Greek, 202 — 205. 
 
 Translation, Don Qiiixote's notion of it, 186, ;;, — fometimes unavoidably para- 
 phraftical, 383, 384. 
 
 Trochaic tetrameter, hov/ charadterized by Ariftotle, 164, n. 208, 209.— though 
 zfatyric meafure, does not occur in the only fatyric drama extant, 208. 
 
 U. V, 
 Valckenaer, of the A'limcs of'Sopbron, 161. 
 Valerius Maximus, his account of theatrical riots at Rome, 149. 
 Vatry, Jibe, his prefuniptive proof that the Greek Tragedy \\'?^s fung throughout, 
 
 TJafff, 55g. 
 
 Velleius Paterculus, of Homer, 473, 
 
 Verse, the difference between it, and well meafured profe, lefs with the antients 
 than with us, 153, 154, and n. — effential to Poetry in the general opinion of 
 the antients, 157, 158. 495, 496. — included in Ariftotle's general idea of 
 Poetry, 11:7. 192. 
 
 S ViCTORIUS,
 
 I N^ D E X II. 
 
 ViCTORius, his commentary quoted, Page 26, 271, ?;> 399. 500. ct pajfim. 
 
 Villainy, atru-lous, its efFeel inTragedy, 535, and n. — Plato's and Rouffeau's idex 
 
 of the exhibition of i-t,- 329. 
 Virgil, 5, «. 15. 17, 18. 30, n. 443. 445. 564, n, — his ear, 7, u. — his defcription of 
 
 a plough, jiov/ far imitative defcription, 29, n. 
 Virtue, (afETH,) its extenfive fignlfication in antient writers, 184, and n. 
 Ulysses, ridiculous flory of his feigned mndneff, 81, n. — his comic cowardice in 
 
 the Jjax of Sophodef, 205. — was the fuhjecl of many dramas, comic, as well 
 • as tragic, 370. ,- 
 
 UnTties, ftricl Dramatic, of tune and place, have no authority from Ariftotle, 226— 
 228. — nor from the fonflant practice of the Greek Poets, 228, 229. 
 
 Unity of time, a remarkable inftance of its violation in Sophocle?, 229. 
 Unity of Fahli, Ariftotle's diftindion between that, and the unity of /£>;-(j,«defen<:?edj 
 268, 269. 
 
 Voltaire, his cenfure of the Oedipus Tyrannus, as prolonged beyond its proper 
 end, 262. — miftakes Ariftotle, 324, 325. — Tpya-Mioa/xax^, 416.. 
 
 t-no^tu^a:, 532. 
 
 w. 
 
 WrtRTON, Dr. 138, n. 290. — of a ftanza in Spenfer, 14, n. 
 WA&ton, Mr. his cenfure of the prologue of Comus, 299, 300. 
 
 V/lNCKELMAN, Mbc, 34, «. 
 
 Vv'oMEN, Ariftotle's charafter of them, 330. 
 
 Wood, Preface to his Effay on the Orig. Genius of Homer, quoted, 36, ». 
 
 V/cRDS, obfolete, to what clafs of Ariftotle's poetic words they are to be referred^ 
 
 X. 
 
 Xenophanes, fragments of, 511, 512.— his idea of moderate drinking, 511. 
 Xenophon, 264. . 
 
 z. ' 
 
 Zeuxis, 13c, n. 265. 529, 530, and n, ^ f
 
 
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