§18.1ἔστι δὲ πάσης τραγῳδίας τὸ μὲν δέσις τὸ δὲ λύσις, τὰ μὲν ἔξωθεν καὶ ἔνια τῶν ἔσωθεν πολλάκις ἡ δέσις, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἡ λύσις· §18.2λέγω δὲ δέσιν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς μέχρι τούτου τοῦ μέρους ὃ ἔσχατόν ἐστιν ἐξ οὗ μεταβαίνει εἰς εὐτυχίαν ἢ εἰς ἀτυχίαν, λύσιν δὲ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς μεταβάσεως μέχρι τέλους· §18.3ὥσπερ 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. §18.4τραγῳδίας δὲ εἴδη εἰσὶ τέσσαρα (τοσαῦτα γὰρ καὶ τὰ μέρη ἐλέχθη), §18.5ἡ μὲν πεπλεγμένη, ἧς τὸ ὅλον ἐστὶν περιπέτεια καὶ ἀναγνώρισις, §18.6ἡ δὲ παθητική, οἷον οἵ τε Αἴαντες καὶ οἱ Ἰξίονες, §18.7ἡ δὲ ἠθική, οἷον αἱ Φθιώτιδες καὶ ὁ Πηλεύς· §18.8τὸ δὲ τέταρτον † οης †, οἷον αἵ τε Φορκίδες καὶ ὁ Προμηθεὺς καὶ ὅσα ἐν ᾅδου.
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. 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. 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. 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; and the fourth kind is † corrupted (or simple / monstrous) †, such as the Phorcides, the Prometheus, and all those set in Hades. 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.
§18.9μάλιστα 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. §18.10δίκαιον δὲ καὶ τραγῳδίαν ἄλλην καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν λέγειν οὐδενὶ ὡς τῷ μύθῳ· τοῦτο δέ, ὧν ἡ αὐτὴ πλοκὴ καὶ λύσις. §18.11πολλοὶ δὲ πλέξαντες εὖ λύουσι κακῶς· §18.12δεῖ δὲ ἀμφότερα ἀρτικροτεῖσθαι. §18.13χρὴ 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. §18.14ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὸ μῆκος λαμβάνει τὰ μέρη τὸ πρέπον μέγεθος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς δράμασι πολὺ παρὰ τὴν ὑπόληψιν ἀποβαίνει. §18.15σημεῖον 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. §18.16ἐν δὲ ταῖς περιπετείαις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἁπλοῖς πράγμασι στοχάζονται ὧν βούλονται θαυμαστῶς· τραγικὸν γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ φιλάνθρωπον. §18.17ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο, ὅταν ὁ σοφὸς μὲν μετὰ πονηρίας δ’ ἐξαπατηθῇ, ὥσπερ Σίσυφος, καὶ ὁ ἀνδρεῖος μὲν ἄδικος δὲ ἡττηθῇ. §18.18ἔστιν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ εἰκὸς ὥσπερ Ἀγάθων λέγει, εἰκὸς γὰρ γίνεσθαι πολλὰ καὶ παρὰ τὸ εἰκός. §18.19καὶ τὸν χορὸν δὲ ἕνα δεῖ ὑπολαμβάνειν τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, καὶ μόριον εἶναι τοῦ ὅλου καὶ συναγωνίζεσθαι μὴ ὥσπερ Εὐριπίδῃ ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ Σοφοκλεῖ. §18.20τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς τὰ ᾀδόμενα οὐδὲν μᾶλλον τοῦ μύθου ἢ ἄλλης τραγῳδίας ἐστίν· διὸ ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδουσιν πρώτου ἄρξαντος Ἀγάθωνος τοῦ τοιούτου.
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. 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. Many poets complicate well but resolve badly; but both parts must always be brought into harmony. 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. 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. 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. 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. This occurs when a clever but wicked person is deceived, like Sisyphus, or when a brave but unjust person is defeated. 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. 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. 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.
καίτοι τί διαφέρει ἢ ἐμβόλιμα ᾄδειν ἢ εἰ ῥῆσιν ἐξ ἄλλου εἰς ἄλλο ἁρμόττοι ἢ ἐπεισόδιον ὅλον;
Yet what difference is there between singing interludes and fitting a speech from one play to another, or an entire episode?