e. the ordinary word,
the metaphor, and the ornamental equivalent.
Let this, then, suffice as an account of Tragedy, the art imitating by
means of action on the stage.
23
As for the poetry which merely narrates, or imitates by means of
versified language (without action), it i.e.ident that it has several
points in common with Tragedy.
I. The construction of its stories should clearly be like that in a
drama; they should be based on a single action, one that is a complete
whole in itself, with a beginning, middle, and end, so as to enable
the work to produce its own proper pleasure with all the organic unity
of a living creature. Nor should one suppose that there is anything
like them in our usual histories. A history has to deal not with one
action, but with one period and all that happened in that to one or
more persons, however disconnected the several events may have been.
Just as two events may take place at the same time, e.g. the
sea-fight off Salamis and the battle with the Carthaginians in Sicily,
without converging to the same end, so too of two consecutive events
one may sometimes come after the other with no one end as their common
issue.
Pages:
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85