- Source
- Aristotle. Aristotelis De arte poetica liber. Kassel, Rudolf, editor. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1965 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg034.humanitext-grc2:18.1-18.20
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Aristotle defines the two core components of tragedy, "complication" (desis) and "resolution" (lysis), and categorizes tragedy into four distinct types. He also warns against turning epic-scale multi-plots into a tragedy and emphasizes the need for the chorus to function as an organic actor in the performance.
ἔστι δὲ πάσης τραγῳδίας τὸ μὲν δέσις τὸ δὲ λύσις, τὰ μὲν ἔξωθεν καὶ ἔνια τῶν ἔσωθεν πολλάκις ἡ δέσις,1 τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἡ λύσις·
Every tragedy has one part that is the complication and another that is the resolution; frequently, the circumstances outside the play and some of those within it constitute the complication, and the rest is the resolution.
λέγω δὲ δέσιν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς μέχρι τούτου τοῦ μέρους2 ὃ ἔσχατόν ἐστιν ἐξ οὗ μεταβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἢ εἰς ἀτυχίαν, λύσιν δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς μεταβάσεως μέχρι τέλους·
By “complication” I mean the part from the beginning up to that point which is the extreme limit from which the change to good fortune or bad fortune occurs; by “resolution,” the part from the beginning of the change to the end.
ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ Λυγκεῖ τῷ Θεοδέκτου δέσις μὲν τά τε προπεπραγμένα καὶ ἡ τοῦ παιδίου λῆψις καὶ πάλιν ἡ αὐτῶν λύσις δ’ ἡ ἀπὸ τῆς αἰτιάσεως τοῦ θανάτου μέχρι τοῦ τέλους.
For example, in the Lynceus of Theodectes, the complication consists of the prior events, the capture of the child, and further their own [capture], while the resolution is from the accusation of death to the end.
τραγῳδίας δὲ εἴδη εἰσὶ τέσσαρα (τοσαῦτα γὰρ καὶ τὰ μέρη ἐλέχθη), ἡ μὲν πεπλεγμένη, ἧς τὸ ὅλον ἐστὶν περιπέτεια καὶ ἀναγνώρισις, ἡ δὲ παθητική, οἷον οἵ τε Αἴαντες καὶ οἱ Ἰξίονες, ἡ δὲ ἠθική, οἷον αἱ Φθιώτιδες καὶ ὁ Πηλεύς·
There are four kinds of tragedy (for the same number of constituent parts was mentioned): the complex tragedy, whose whole is reversal and recognition; the pathetic tragedy, such as the Ajaxes and the Ixions; the ethical tragedy, such as the Phthian Women and the Peleus;
τὸ δὲ τέταρτον † οης †, οἷον αἵ τε Φορκίδες καὶ ὁ Προμηθεὺς καὶ ὅσα ἐν ᾅδου.
and the fourth kind is † corrupted (or simple / monstrous) †, such as the Phorcides, the Prometheus, and all those set in Hades.
μάλιστα μὲν οὖν ἅπαντα δεῖ πειρᾶσθαι ἔχειν, εἰ δὲ μή, τὰ μέγιστα καὶ πλεῖστα, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὡς νῦν συκοφαντοῦσιν τοὺς ποιητάς· γεγονότων γὰρ καθ’ ἕκαστον μέρος ἀγαθῶν ποιητῶν, ἑκάστου τοῦ ἰδίου ἀγαθοῦ ἀξιοῦσι τὸν ἕνα ὑπερβάλλειν.
One should, therefore, try to have all these elements if possible, or if not, the most important and the greatest number of them, especially because of the way people slander poets nowadays. For since there have been poets good in each particular kind, they expect a single poet to surpass each of them in their own specific excellence.
δίκαιον δὲ καὶ τραγῳδίαν ἄλλην καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν λέγειν οὐδενὶ ὡς τῷ μύθῳ· τοῦτο δέ, ὧν ἡ αὐτὴ πλοκὴ καὶ λύσις.
It is just to call tragedies different or the same by no other standard than that of the plot; that is, those of which the complication and resolution are the same.
πολλοὶ δὲ πλέξαντες εὖ λύουσι κακῶς·
Many poets complicate well but resolve badly;
δεῖ δὲ ἀμφότερα ἀρτικροτεῖσθαι.
but both parts must always be brought into harmony.
χρὴ δὲ ὅπερ εἴρηται πολλάκις μεμνῆσθαι καὶ μὴ ποιεῖν ἐποποιικὸν σύστημα τραγῳδίαν—ἐποποιικὸν δὲ λέγω τὸ πολύμυθον— οἷον εἴ τις τὸν τῆς Ἰλιάδος ὅλον ποιοῖ μῦθον.
One must remember what has been said repeatedly, and not make an epic structure into a tragedy—and by “epic structure” I mean one with many plots—as if someone were to make the entire plot of the Iliad into a single play.
ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὸ μῆκος λαμβάνει τὰ μέρη τὸ πρέπον μέγεθος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δράμασι πολὺ παρὰ τὴν ὑπόληψιν ἀποβαίνει.
For in the epic, because of its length, the parts receive their proper magnitude, but in dramas, the result turns out far contrary to expectation.
σημεῖον δέ, ὅσοι πέρσιν Ἰλίου ὅλην ἐποίησαν καὶ μὴ κατὰ μέρος ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδης, ἢ Νιόβην καὶ μὴ ὥσπερ Αἰσχύλος, ἢ ἐκπίπτουσιν ἢ κακῶς ἀγωνίζονται, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἀγάθων ἐξέπεσεν ἐν τούτῳ μόνῳ.
As a sign of this, those who have dramatized the entire Sack of Troy, and not by parts as Euripides did, or the whole Niobe and not as Aeschylus did, either fail or compete poorly, since even Agathon failed in this respect alone.
ἐν δὲ ταῖς περιπετείαις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἁπλοῖς πράγμασι στοχάζονται ὧν βούλονται θαυμαστῶς· τραγικὸν γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ φιλάνθρωπον.
But in reversals and in simple actions, they hit upon what they want in a marvelous way; for this is tragic and appeals to human feeling.
ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο, ὅταν ὁ σοφὸς μὲν μετὰ πονηρίας δ’ ἐξαπατηθῇ, ὥσπερ Σίσυφος, καὶ ὁ ἀνδρεῖος μὲν ἄδικος δὲ ἡττηθῇ.
This occurs when a clever but wicked person is deceived, like Sisyphus, or when a brave but unjust person is defeated.
ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ εἰκὸς ὥσπερ Ἀγάθων λέγει, εἰκὸς γὰρ γίνεσθαι πολλὰ καὶ παρὰ τὸ εἰκός.3
And this is indeed probable in the sense of Agathon’s saying: for it is probable that many things should happen even contrary to probability.
καὶ τὸν χορὸν δὲ ἕνα δεῖ ὑπολαμβάνειν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, καὶ μόριον εἶναι τοῦ ὅλου καὶ συναγωνίζεσθαι μὴ ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδῃ ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ Σοφοκλεῖ.
One should also regard the chorus as one of the actors, and as a part of the whole, sharing in the action, not in the manner of Euripides but in that of Sophocles.
τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς τὰ ᾀδόμενα οὐδὲν μᾶλλον τοῦ μύθου ἢ ἄλλης τραγῳδίας ἐστίν· διὸ ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδουσιν πρώτου ἄρξαντος Ἀγάθωνος τοῦ τοιούτου. καίτοι τί διαφέρει ἢ ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδειν ἢ εἰ ῥῆσιν ἐξ ἄλλου εἰς ἄλλο ἁρμόττοι4 ἢ ἐπεισόδιον ὅλον;
With the other poets, the choral songs have no more to do with the plot than with any other tragedy; therefore they sing interludes, a practice first introduced by Agathon. Yet what difference is there between singing interludes and fitting a speech from one play to another, or an entire episode?
- 1455b25τὰ μὲν ἔξωθεν καὶ ἔνια τῶν ἔσωθεν πολλάκις ἡ δέσις
Syntactical structure where 'τὰ μὲν ἔξωθεν καὶ ἔνια τῶν ἔσωθεν' acts as the subject and 'ἡ δέσις' as the predicate. It explains that the combination of events external to the play and some internal ones together constitute the 'complication' (desis).
- 1455b26λέγω δὲ δέσιν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς μέχρι τούτου τοῦ μέρους...
The verb 'λέγω' takes an accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction where 'δέσιν' is the subject of 'εἶναι' and 'τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς...' is the predicate accusative. The relative pronoun 'οὗ' refers to 'τούτου τοῦ μέρους', indicating the critical limit from which the transformation (μεταβαίνει) begins.
- 1456a24εἰκὸς γὰρ γίνεσθαι πολλὰ καὶ παρὰ τὸ εἰκός
Agathon's paradox where the impersonal phrase 'εἰκός [ἐστι]' takes the infinitive 'γίνεσθαι' with 'πολλά' as its subject. The conjunction 'καὶ' before 'παρὰ τὸ εἰκός' has an emphatic force ('even contrary to probability'), indicating that the occurrence of improbable things is itself a probable aspect of reality.
- 1456a31καίτοι τί διαφέρει ἢ ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδειν ἢ εἰ ῥῆσιν ἐξ ἄλλου εἰς ἄλλο ἁρμόττοι...
The comparative verb 'διαφέρει' introduces a comparison with two instances of 'ἢ'. The first 'ἢ' is followed by the infinitive phrase 'ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδειν', while the second introduces a conditional clause 'εἰ ... ἁρμόττοι'. The use of the optative 'ἁρμόττοι' in the conditional clause after a present tense main verb expresses a soft, hypothetical possibility.