Analysis of The Poetics - Chapter 22

According to Aristotle, the perfection of diction is achieved when the poets use common words which can be understood by everyone as it could be seen in the poetry of Cleophon and Sthenelus. However in order to achieve elevated style in the language, one has to use unfamiliar words. By unfamiliar words Aristotle means lengthened forms, metaphors, strange words and in short anything which is unlike the common words. However if a poet uses these unnatural words alone than his work would appear as a riddle or as a barbarism. When all the words used by the poets are metaphorical then it is a riddle. For example :- ‘A man I saw who another man had glued the bronze by aid of fire’. When all the words used by the poets are strange then it is barbarism. Hence a poet should maintain a balance in his work. He should use unnatural words in order to elevate his work but at the same time he should also use common words so as to make the work understandable for the common people. Aristotle then says that although common words are essential for achieving the perfection of diction yet in most cases this perfection is achieved by lengthened words, abbreviated words and alternative words. The reason behind this theory as given by Aristotle is that while writing a poem, the poet in order to maintain the rhyme and meter has to modify the words either by adding an extra syllable or removing a part of it or by altering it. By doing so, the perfection is achieved.
Thus the unfamiliar words must not be used obtrusively but in a moderate manner. Excess of such words would make the work ridiculous. Aristotle in his Poetics says that if these words are used in a proper manner then they would certainly elevate the work as we can see in the epic form of poetry. For example, Euripides and Aeschylus both composed the same iambic line but the alteration of a single word by Euripides make his verse appear beautiful and the other ugly. Aeschylus in his Philoctetes says : ‘The ulcer that is eating the flesh of my foot’. Euripides substitutes ‘eating’ (esthiei) by ‘feasts on’ (thoiratai). By doing so he brings sublimity to his verse. Similarly if we replace the words ‘And placed for him an unseemly stool and a meagre table’ by ‘And placed for him a shabby stool and a little table’, the beauty of the text is lost.
Aristotle further says that Ariphrades mocked at the tragic writers who used such expressions which no people would use in their ordinary speech. For example ‘from the houses away’ instead of ‘away from the houses’, ‘Achilles about’ instead of ‘about Achilles’ and the like. However one thing which Ariphrades failed to notice was that the use of such expressions raised the diction above the common level.
The use of compound words, unnatural words, and the like are very important because they elevate the diction of the work. However the most important among these is metaphor. Construction and usage of metaphors is intuitive and it is a sign of genius. A good metaphor is difficult to create because it is based on the similarity among dissimilar objects.
Among the various types of words discussed above, compounds words should be used in dithyramb, unfamiliar words should be used in heroic poetry and metaphors should be used in iambic verse. Since the iambic verse is similar to the ordinary speech and in the ordinary speech, common words are used. Hence in the iambic verse, common words, metaphors and ornamental words should be used.