- 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-grc2:5.1-5.11
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Aristotle briefly outlines the definition, origins, and historical development of comedy, and then compares epic poetry with tragedy, highlighting their similarities and differences in terms of meter, narrative form, and length.
ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία ἐστὶν ὥσπερ εἴπομεν μίμησις φαυλοτέρων μέν, οὐ μέντοι κατὰ πᾶσαν κακίαν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ αἰσχροῦ ἐστι τὸ γελοῖον μόριον.1
Comedy, on the other hand, is, as we said, an imitation of worse people, yet not in regard to every kind of vice, but the ridiculous is a part of the ugly.
τὸ γὰρ γελοῖόν ἐστιν ἁμάρτημά τι καὶ αἶσχος ἀνώδυνον καὶ οὐ φθαρτικόν, οἷον εὐθὺς τὸ γελοῖον πρόσωπον αἰσχρόν τι καὶ διεστραμμένον ἄνευ ὀδύνης.
For the ridiculous is a certain mistake and ugliness that is painless and not destructive, just as, to take an immediate example, a ridiculous mask is something ugly and distorted without pain.
αἱ μὲν οὖν τῆς τραγῳδίας μεταβάσεις καὶ δι’ ὧν ἐγένοντο οὐ λελήθασιν, ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία διὰ τὸ μὴ σπουδάζεσθαι ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔλαθεν·2 καὶ γὰρ χορὸν κωμῳδῶν ὀψέ ποτε ὁ ἄρχων ἔδωκεν, ἀλλ’ ἐθελονταὶ ἦσαν.
So, while the changes of tragedy and those through whom they came about have not been forgotten, comedy, because it was not taken seriously from the beginning, went unnoticed; for indeed, it was only late that the archon granted a chorus of comic actors, but before that they were volunteers.
ἤδη δὲ σχήματά τινα αὐτῆς ἐχούσης οἱ λεγόμενοι αὐτῆς ποιηταὶ μνημονεύονται. τίς δὲ πρόσωπα ἀπέδωκεν ἢ προλόγους ἢ πλήθη ὑποκριτῶν καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἠγνόηται.
But only when it already had certain forms were those called its poets recorded. Who introduced masks, or prologues, or the number of actors, and other such things, is unknown.
τὸ δὲ μύθους ποιεῖν τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐκ Σικελίας ἦλθε, τῶν δὲ Ἀθήνησιν Κράτης πρῶτος ἦρξεν ἀφέμενος τῆς ἰαμβικῆς ἰδέας καθόλου ποιεῖν λόγους καὶ μύθους.
The making of plots came originally from Sicily; and of the Athens poets, Crates was the first to begin, abandoning the iambic form, to compose general dialogues and plots.
ἡ μὲν οὖν ἐποποιία τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ μέχρι μὲν τοῦ μετὰ μέτρου λόγῳ μίμησις εἶναι σπουδαίων ἠκολούθησεν· τῷ δὲ τὸ μέτρον ἁπλοῦν ἔχειν καὶ ἀπαγγελίαν εἶναι, ταύτῃ διαφέρουσιν·3
Now, epic poetry followed tragedy up to the point of being an imitation of serious subjects in metrical speech; but in having a single meter and being a narrative, in this they differ.
ἔτι δὲ τῷ μήκει· ἡ μὲν ὅτι μάλιστα πειρᾶται ὑπὸ μίαν περίοδον ἡλίου εἶναι4 ἢ μικρὸν ἐξαλλάττειν, ἡ δὲ ἐποποιία ἀόριστος τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ τούτῳ διαφέρει, καίτοι τὸ πρῶτον ὁμοίως ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαις τοῦτο ἐποίουν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔπεσιν.
And further, they differ in length; for tragedy attempts as far as possible to keep within a single revolution of the sun, or to exceed it only slightly, whereas epic poetry is unlimited in time, and in this they differ, although at first they did this in tragedies in the same way as in epic poems.
μέρη δ’ ἐστὶ τὰ μὲν ταὐτά, τὰ δὲ ἴδια τῆς τραγῳδίας·
As for their parts, some are the same, while others are peculiar to tragedy.
διόπερ ὅστις περὶ τραγῳδίας οἶδε σπουδαίας καὶ φαύλης, οἶδε καὶ περὶ ἐπῶν· ἃ μὲν γὰρ ἐποποιία ἔχει, ὑπάρχει τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ, ἃ δὲ αὐτῇ, οὐ πάντα ἐν τῇ ἐποποιίᾳ.
Therefore, whoever knows about good and bad tragedy also knows about epic poetry; for what epic poetry has, belongs also to tragedy, but what belongs to tragedy is not all present in epic poetry.
- 1449aτοῦ αἰσχροῦ ἐστι τὸ γελοῖον μόριον
The genitive "τοῦ αἰσχροῦ" (the ugly) functions as a partitive genitive, indicating that the subject "τὸ γελοῖον" (the ridiculous) is a part ("μόριον") of it.
- 1449a35διὰ τὸ μὴ σπουδάζεσθαι ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔλαθεν
The preposition "διὰ" combined with the passive articular infinitive "τὸ μὴ σπουδάζεσθαι" forms an adverbial phrase of cause. The main verb "ἔλαθεν" means "remained unnoticed," implying "the development of comedy" as its omitted subject, in contrast to the "changes of tragedy" mentioned in the preceding clause.
- 1449b10τῷ δὲ τὸ μέτρον ἁπλοῦν ἔχειν καὶ ἀπαγγελίαν εἶναι, ταύτῃ διαφέρουσιν
The articular infinitive clause in the dative ("τῷ ... ἔχειν καὶ ... εἶναι") stands in apposition to the dative demonstrative pronoun "ταύτῃ" (in this respect), expressing the respect or ground of the difference between the two genres.
- 1449b10ὅτι μάλιστα πειρᾶται ὑπὸ μίαν περίοδον ἡλίου εἶναι
The phrase "ὅτι μάλιστα" functions as an intensifier meaning "as much as possible." The preposition "ὑπό" followed by the accusative "μίαν περίοδον" expresses temporal containment (within the range of one revolution).