- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg034.humanitext-grc2:2.1-2.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The author points out that the objects of imitation, 'people performing actions', fall into three categories (superior, inferior, or equal to us), and explains that this division serves as a distinguishing criterion in painting and various poetic genres, such as tragedy and comedy.
ἐπεὶ δὲ μιμοῦνται οἱ μιμούμενοι πράττοντας, ἀνάγκη δὲ τούτους ἢ σπουδαίους ἢ φαύλους εἶναι1 (τὰ γὰρ ἤθη σχεδὸν ἀεὶ τούτοις ἀκολουθεῖ μόνοις, κακίᾳ γὰρ καὶ ἀρετῇ τὰ ἤθη διαφέρουσι πάντες), ἤτοι βελτίονας ἢ καθ’ ἡμᾶς2 ἢ χείρονας ἢ καὶ τοιούτους, ὥσπερ οἱ γραφεῖς·
Since those who imitate do so of people performing actions, and these must necessarily be either superior or inferior (for characters almost always follow these [vices and virtues] alone, since everyone differs in character by vice and virtue), they must be either better than we are, or worse, or indeed of the same sort, just like the painters.
Πολύγνωτος μὲν γὰρ κρείττους, Παύσων δὲ χείρους, Διονύσιος δὲ ὁμοίους εἴκαζεν.
For Polygnotus depicted them as better, Pauson as worse, and Dionysius as similar.
δῆλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ τῶν λεχθεισῶν ἑκάστη μιμήσεων ἕξει ταύτας τὰς διαφορὰς καὶ ἔσται ἑτέρα τῷ ἕτερα μιμεῖσθαι τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.
And it is clear that each of the aforementioned imitations will also have these differences and will be different by imitating different things in this manner.
καὶ γὰρ ἐν ὀρχήσει καὶ αὐλήσει καὶ κιθαρίσει ἔστι γενέσθαι ταύτας τὰς ἀνομοιότητας, καὶ περὶ τοὺς λόγους δὲ καὶ τὴν ψιλομετρίαν, οἷον Ὅμηρος μὲν βελτίους, Κλεοφῶν δὲ ὁμοίους, Ἡγήμων δὲ ὁ Θάσιος ὁ τὰς παρῳδίας ποιήσας πρῶτος καὶ Νικοχάρης ὁ τὴν Δειλιάδα χείρους·
For indeed in dancing, flute-playing, and lyre-playing it is possible for these differences to occur, and likewise concerning prose and bare meter: for instance, Homer depicted them as better, Cleophon as similar, and Hegemon of Thasos, who first composed parodies, and Nicochares, who composed the *Deiliad*, as worse.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τοὺς διθυράμβους καὶ περὶ τοὺς νόμους, ὥσπερ † γᾶς † Κύκλωπας Τιμόθεος καὶ Φιλόξενος μιμήσαιτο ἄν τις.
Likewise also concerning dithyrambs and nomes: for one might imitate as Timotheus and Philoxenus did the Cyclopes.
ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ διαφορᾷ καὶ ἡ τραγῳδία πρὸς τὴν κωμῳδίαν διέστηκεν· ἡ μὲν γὰρ χείρους ἡ δὲ βελτίους3 μιμεῖσθαι βούλεται τῶν νῦν.
And in this very difference tragedy also stands apart from comedy; for the latter aims to imitate people worse than those of today, the former better.
- 1448a1τούτους ἢ σπουδαίους ἢ φαύλους εἶναι
An accusative and infinitive construction introduced by the impersonal verb ἀνάγκη. The pronoun τούτους refers to the preceding accusative participle πράττοντας ('those performing actions') and serves as the subject of the infinitive εἶναι.
- 1448a1καθ’ ἡμᾶς
The preposition κατά with the accusative indicates the standard of comparison, meaning 'compared to us' or 'than we are'. This serves as the comparative standard for βελτίονας ('better') and χείρονας ('worse').
- 1448a15ἡ μὲν γὰρ χείρους ἡ δὲ βελτίους
Although the previous sentence mentions 'tragedy (τραγῳδία) and comedy (κωμῳδία)' in that order, ἡ μὲν here refers to the latter, comedy (which imitates 'worse' people, χείρους), while ἡ δὲ refers to the former, tragedy (which imitates 'better' people, βελτίους), creating a chiastic correspondence.