Scaife ATLAS

Poetics (14.1-14.5)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg034.perseus-eng2:14.1-14.5

Refs	`{'start': {'reference': '14.1', 'human_reference': 'Chapter 14 Subchapter 1'}, 'end': {'reference': '14.5', 'human_reference': 'Chapter 14 Subchapter 5'}}`
Ancestors	`[{'reference': '14'}]`
Children	`[]`

plain text • XML

1453b

Fear and pity sometimes result from the spectacle and are sometimes aroused by the actual arrangement of the incidents, which is preferable and the mark of a better poet.

The plot should be so constructed that even without seeing the play anyone hearing of the incidents happening thrills with fear and pity as a result of what occurs. So would anyone feel who heard the story of Oedipus.

To produce this effect by means of an appeal to the eye is inartistic and needs adventitious aid,

while those who by such means produce an effect which is not fearful but merely monstrous have nothing in common with tragedy.[*] For one should not seek from tragedy all kinds of pleasure but that which is peculiar to tragedy,

and since the poet must by representation produce the pleasure which comes from feeling pity and fear, obviously this quality must be embodied in the incidents.

Tokens

Fear	1	w	4
and	1	w	7
pity	1	w	11
sometimes	1	w	20
result	1	w	26
from	1	w	30
the	1	w	33
spectacle	1	w	42
and	2	w	45
are	1	w	48
sometimes	2	w	57
aroused	1	w	64
by	1	w	66
the	2	w	69
actual	1	w	75
arrangement	1	w	86
of	1	w	88
the	3	w	91
incidents	1	w	100
which	1	w	106
is	1	w	108
preferable	1	w	118
and	3	w	121
the	4	w	124
mark	1	w	128
of	2	w	130
a	14	w	131
better	1	w	137
poet	1	w	141
The	1	w	145
plot	1	w	149
should	1	w	155
be	2	w	157
so	3	w	159
constructed	1	w	170
that	1	w	174
even	1	w	178
without	1	w	185
seeing	1	w	191
the	5	w	194
play	1	w	198
anyone	1	w	204
hearing	1	w	211
of	3	w	213
the	6	w	216
incidents	2	w	225
happening	1	w	234
thrills	1	w	241
with	2	w	245
fear	1	w	249
and	4	w	252
pity	2	w	256
as	1	w	258
a	23	w	259
result	2	w	265
of	4	w	267
what	1	w	271
occurs	1	w	277
So	1	w	280
would	1	w	285
anyone	2	w	291
feel	1	w	295
who	1	w	298
heard	1	w	303
the	7	w	306
story	1	w	311
of	5	w	313
Oedipus	1	w	320
To	1	w	323
produce	1	w	330
this	1	w	334
effect	1	w	340
by	2	w	342
means	1	w	347
of	6	w	349
an	9	w	351
appeal	1	w	357
to	2	w	359
the	8	w	362
eye	1	w	365
is	3	w	367
inartistic	1	w	377
and	5	w	380
needs	1	w	385
adventitious	1	w	397
aid	1	w	400
while	1	w	406
those	1	w	411
who	2	w	414
by	3	w	416
such	1	w	420
means	2	w	425
produce	2	w	432
an	12	w	434
effect	2	w	440
which	2	w	445
is	5	w	447
not	1	w	450
fearful	1	w	457
but	1	w	460
merely	1	w	466
monstrous	1	w	475
have	1	w	479
nothing	1	w	486
in	8	w	488
common	1	w	494
with	3	w	498
tragedy	1	w	505
that	2	w	510
here	1	w	514
were	1	w	518
plays	1	w	523
which	3	w	528
relied	1	w	534
for	1	w	537
their	1	w	542
effect	3	w	548
on	6	w	550
the	10	w	553
scenery	1	w	560
and	6	w	563
make	1	w	567
up	1	w	569
is	6	w	571
clear	1	w	576
from	2	w	580
chapter	1	w	587
17	1	w	589
The	2	w	594
Phorcides	1	w	603
and	7	w	606
Prometheus	1	w	616
and	8	w	619
Scenes	1	w	625
laid	1	w	629
in	9	w	631
Hades	1	w	636
It	1	w	639
was	1	w	642
even	2	w	646
possible	1	w	654
to	3	w	656
produce	3	w	663
the	12	w	666
Eumenides	1	w	675
so	4	w	677
badly	1	w	682
as	3	w	684
to	4	w	686
bring	1	w	691
it	7	w	693
into	1	w	697
this	2	w	701
category	1	w	709
But	1	w	713
Aristotle	1	w	722
s	48	w	724
criticism	1	w	733
here	2	w	737
includes	1	w	745
the	13	w	748
more	1	w	752
important	1	w	761
point	1	w	766
that	3	w	770
the	14	w	773
poignancy	1	w	782
of	7	w	784
a	57	w	785
Greek	1	w	790
tragedy	2	w	797
is	10	w	799
due	1	w	802
to	7	w	804
what	2	w	808
happens	1	w	815
and	9	w	818
not	3	w	821
to	8	w	823
our	1	w	826
seeing	2	w	832
it	9	w	834
happen	3	w	840
That	1	w	845
Medea	1	w	850
murders	1	w	857
her	3	w	860
children	1	w	868
is	11	w	870
tragic	1	w	876
to	9	w	879
display	1	w	886
the	15	w	889
murder	2	w	895
coram	1	w	900
populo	1	w	906
would	2	w	911
add	1	w	914
either	1	w	920
nothing	2	w	927
or	8	w	929
something	1	w	938
merely	2	w	944
monstrous	2	w	953
And	1	w	957
although	1	w	965
Sophocles	1	w	974
shows	1	w	979
Oedipus	2	w	986
with	4	w	990
his	3	w	993
eyes	1	w	997
out	2	w	1000
it	12	w	1003
is	14	w	1005
the	17	w	1008
fact	1	w	1012
and	10	w	1015
not	5	w	1018
the	18	w	1021
sight	1	w	1026
which	4	w	1031
is	15	w	1033
properly	1	w	1041
tragic	2	w	1047
For	1	w	1051
one	3	w	1054
should	2	w	1060
not	6	w	1063
seek	1	w	1067
from	3	w	1071
tragedy	3	w	1078
all	1	w	1081
kinds	1	w	1086
of	8	w	1088
pleasure	1	w	1096
but	2	w	1099
that	4	w	1103
which	5	w	1108
is	16	w	1110
peculiar	1	w	1118
to	10	w	1120
tragedy	4	w	1127
and	11	w	1131
since	1	w	1136
the	19	w	1139
poet	2	w	1143
must	1	w	1147
by	4	w	1149
representation	1	w	1163
produce	4	w	1170
the	20	w	1173
pleasure	2	w	1181
which	6	w	1186
comes	1	w	1191
from	4	w	1195
feeling	1	w	1202
pity	3	w	1206
and	12	w	1209
fear	3	w	1213
obviously	1	w	1223
this	3	w	1227
quality	1	w	1234
must	2	w	1238
be	3	w	1240
embodied	1	w	1248
in	20	w	1250
the	21	w	1253
incidents	3	w	1262