Analysis of The Poetics - Chapter 24
Aristotle continues to give important points related to epic poetry. He says that just like tragedy, epic is also of various kinds such as simple, complex, that which depend upon character, and that which depends upon suffering. Other then this, the epic and tragedy are similar in the sense that both have the same constituent elements except for song and spectacle. There is also reversal, recognition, and suffering in the epic. The thought and diction of the tragedy must also be good. Homer had excelled in these two in his ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’. The ‘Iliad’ is a story of suffering and is simple in structure while the ‘Odyssey’ is complex in structure because it has scenes of recognition and is based on character.
The epic differs form a tragedy in length and meter . The proper length of a literary genre should be such that it’s beginning and end could be viewed as a complete whole. The poets of the present should try to compose poems which are limited in size.
The epic, according to Aristotle has a special advantage over the tragedy. Since an epic is much longer in size as compared to the tragedy, hence it can accommodate a large number of episodes and events which is not possible in a tragedy. Another thing which has to be kept in mind is that since tragedy is a dramatic form, therefore only one episode can be enacted at a particular time. On the other hand, an epic is a narrative form so it can present various episodes simultaneously. This is a very big advantage because the public often becomes tired by seeing the different episodes of a tragedy in a sequential manner.
The heroic measure is the most suitable form for epic poetry. It would be incongruous if any form should be used for the epic. The heroic measure is the gravest and the weightiest one and it readily admits unfamiliar words and metaphors. The iambic and the trochaic tetrameter are suitable for the expression of movement. The latter is a dancing measure while the former is for the representation of action. However one should not combine so many different kinds of meters as Chaeremon did.
Aristotle throughout his Poetics has praised Homer’s poetic qualities. He gives another quality of Homer to prove his greatness among the other poets. Homer knew the part he had to play in his poems. He presented very little of himself in the first person and when he did, it did not represented action. The other poets appeared in the first person throughout their poems. Homer gave a very little preface and then he appointed either a man or a woman or a third person who all were distinctive in character.
The marvellous is needed in tragedy. In epic, the wonderful can be presented with ease because it is a narrative genre. However this is not the case with tragedy. For example the scene in which Hector is pursued by Achilles and he with a wave of his hand makes the Greek standstill would appear ridiculous if enacted on the stage. In epic, which is a form of narrating a story to the other allows the room to add some marvellous features in the truth in order to make it more pleasurable. In this context, Homer tells a way to make the untruth appear as truth. This could be done by paralogism. If a thing happens because something other has happened then people believe that the antecedent will exist since the consequent existed. However this is not logically true. Just because something has taken place, it can not be said with certainty that the antecedent must have also happened. An example of this is the Bath scene in the ‘Odyssey’.
Probable impossibilities are better than improbable possibilities. The poet should try not to include anything that is improbable in his work and if he is including such events then he should make sure that it is kept out of the story. For example - Oedipus was kept ignorant to how Laius died. It should not be kept in the play like in the ‘Electra’ where the messenger gives an account of the Phythian games or in the ‘Mysians’, the man comes to Mysia from Tegea and remains speechless. It is ridiculous to mention that if the poets uses such improbable elements in his work then he is spoiling his work. Another thing to be mentioned in this context is that a poet who uses such events in his work and if they are noticed then the poet would be considered guilty of a breach of art and his work would be a failure. Elaborate diction is needed in those places where there is no action and where the thought and character are not revealed. When these things are already present then such elaborate diction obscure the presentation.
The epic differs form a tragedy in length and meter . The proper length of a literary genre should be such that it’s beginning and end could be viewed as a complete whole. The poets of the present should try to compose poems which are limited in size.
The epic, according to Aristotle has a special advantage over the tragedy. Since an epic is much longer in size as compared to the tragedy, hence it can accommodate a large number of episodes and events which is not possible in a tragedy. Another thing which has to be kept in mind is that since tragedy is a dramatic form, therefore only one episode can be enacted at a particular time. On the other hand, an epic is a narrative form so it can present various episodes simultaneously. This is a very big advantage because the public often becomes tired by seeing the different episodes of a tragedy in a sequential manner.
The heroic measure is the most suitable form for epic poetry. It would be incongruous if any form should be used for the epic. The heroic measure is the gravest and the weightiest one and it readily admits unfamiliar words and metaphors. The iambic and the trochaic tetrameter are suitable for the expression of movement. The latter is a dancing measure while the former is for the representation of action. However one should not combine so many different kinds of meters as Chaeremon did.
Aristotle throughout his Poetics has praised Homer’s poetic qualities. He gives another quality of Homer to prove his greatness among the other poets. Homer knew the part he had to play in his poems. He presented very little of himself in the first person and when he did, it did not represented action. The other poets appeared in the first person throughout their poems. Homer gave a very little preface and then he appointed either a man or a woman or a third person who all were distinctive in character.
The marvellous is needed in tragedy. In epic, the wonderful can be presented with ease because it is a narrative genre. However this is not the case with tragedy. For example the scene in which Hector is pursued by Achilles and he with a wave of his hand makes the Greek standstill would appear ridiculous if enacted on the stage. In epic, which is a form of narrating a story to the other allows the room to add some marvellous features in the truth in order to make it more pleasurable. In this context, Homer tells a way to make the untruth appear as truth. This could be done by paralogism. If a thing happens because something other has happened then people believe that the antecedent will exist since the consequent existed. However this is not logically true. Just because something has taken place, it can not be said with certainty that the antecedent must have also happened. An example of this is the Bath scene in the ‘Odyssey’.
Probable impossibilities are better than improbable possibilities. The poet should try not to include anything that is improbable in his work and if he is including such events then he should make sure that it is kept out of the story. For example - Oedipus was kept ignorant to how Laius died. It should not be kept in the play like in the ‘Electra’ where the messenger gives an account of the Phythian games or in the ‘Mysians’, the man comes to Mysia from Tegea and remains speechless. It is ridiculous to mention that if the poets uses such improbable elements in his work then he is spoiling his work. Another thing to be mentioned in this context is that a poet who uses such events in his work and if they are noticed then the poet would be considered guilty of a breach of art and his work would be a failure. Elaborate diction is needed in those places where there is no action and where the thought and character are not revealed. When these things are already present then such elaborate diction obscure the presentation.
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