Aristotle, Poetics 13.1453a.22-30, 18.1456a.25, 18.1456a.25, 25.1460b.32
M = reading of the whole MS tradition
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
m = reading of part of the MS tradition
P = reading on a papyrus
1 Aristotle, Poetics 13.1453a.22-30 = T155 Kannicht
ἡ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν τέχνην καλλίστη τραγωιδία ἐκ ταύτης τῆς συστάσεώς ἐστι. διὸ καὶ οἱ Εὐριπίδηι ἐγκαλοῦντες τὸ αὐτὸ ἁμαρτάνουσιν ὅτι τοῦτο δρᾶι ἐν ταῖς τραγωιδίαις καὶ αἱ καὶ αἱ Knebel : καὶ m : αἱ m πολλαὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς δυστυχίαν τελευτῶσιν. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὥσπερ εἴρηται ὀρθόν· σημεῖον δὲ μέγιστον· ἐπὶ γὰρ τῶν σκηνῶν καὶ τῶν ἀγώνων τραγικώταται αἱ τοιαῦται φαίνονται, ἂν κατορθωθῶσιν, καὶ ὁ Εὐριπίδης, εἰ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μὴ εὖ οἰκονομεῖ, ἀλλὰ τραγικώτατός γε τῶν ποιητῶν φαίνεται.
1 Aristotle, Poetics 13.1453a.22-30 = T155 Kannicht
The tragedy which is artistically finest, then, has this structure. And it is for this reason that people are wrong who criticise Euripides for this very thing, that he does this in his tragedies and that many of them end in misfortune. For this is correct, as has been said. And the strongest indication of it is the following: for on the stage and in contests such plays appear most tragic if they are executed successfully, and Euripides, even if in other respects he does not manage things well, is nonetheless manifestly the most tragic of the poets.
2 Aristotle, Poetics 18.1456a25 = T 185 Kannicht
καὶ τὸν χορὸν δὲ ἕνα δεῖ ὑπολαμβάνειν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, καὶ μόριον εἶναι τοῦ ὅλου καὶ συναγωνίζεσθαι μὴ ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδηι ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ Σοφοκλεῖ.
2 Aristotle, Poetics 18.1456a25 = T 185 Kannicht
And the chorus should be treated as one of the actors and be part of the whole and participate in the action, not as in Euripides, but as in Sophocles.
3 Aristotle, Poetics 25.1460b32 = T 53a Radt = 71a Kannicht
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἐὰν ἐπιτιμᾶται ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ, ἀλλ’ ἴσως ⟨ὡς⟩ ⟨ὡς⟩ Vahlen δεῖ, οἷον καὶ Σοφοκλῆς ἔφη αὐτὸς μὲν οἵους δεῖ ποιεῖν, Εὐριπίδην Εὐριπίδην Heinsius : Εὐριπίδης M δὲ οἷοι εἰσίν, ταύτηι λυτέον.
3 Aristotle, Poetics 25.1460b32 = T 53a Radt = 71a Kannicht
In addition, if the criticism is that something is not true, well perhaps it ought to be, just as Sophocles said that he portrayed men how they ought to be and Euripides portrayed them as they are, and therein lies the solution.
| Relevant guides | Euripides |
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