Poetics | Page 8

remains, then, the character between these two extremes,- -that
of a man who is not eminently good and just,-yet whose misfortune is
brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He
must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous,--a personage like
Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families.
A well constructed plot should, therefore, be single in its issue, rather
than double as some maintain. The change of fortune should be not
from bad to good, but, reversely, from good to bad. It should come
about as the result not of vice, but of some great error or frailty, in a
character either such as we have described, or better rather than worse.
The practice of the stage bears out our view. At first the poets
recounted any legend that came in their way. Now, the best tragedies
are founded on the story of a few houses, on the fortunes of Alcmaeon,
Oedipus, Orestes, Meleager, Thyestes, Telephus, and those others who
have done or suffered something terrible. A tragedy, then, to be perfect
according to the rules of art should be of this construction. Hence they
are in error who censure Euripides just because he follows this

principle in his plays, many of which end unhappily. It is, as we have
said, the right ending. The best proof is that on the stage and in
dramatic competition, such plays, if well worked out, are the most
tragic in effect; and Euripides, faulty though he may be in the general
management of his subject, yet is felt to be the most tragic of the poets.
In the second rank comes the kind of tragedy which some place first.
Like the Odyssey, it has a double thread of plot, and also an opposite
catastrophe for the good and for the bad. It is accounted the best
because of the weakness of the spectators; for the poet is guided in
what he writes by the wishes of his audience. The pleasure, however,
thence derived is not the true tragic pleasure. It is proper rather to
Comedy, where those who, in the piece, are the deadliest enemies---like
Orestes and Aegisthus--quit the stage as friends at the close, and no one
slays or is slain.

XIV
Fear and pity may be aroused by spectacular means; but they may also
result from the inner structure of the piece, which is the better way, and
indicates a superior poet. For the plot ought to be so constructed that,
even without the aid of the eye, he who hears the tale told will thrill
with horror and melt to pity at what takes place. This is the impression
we should receive from hearing the story of the Oedipus. But to
produce this effect by the mere spectacle is a less artistic method, and
dependent on extraneous aids. Those who employ spectacular means to
create a sense not of the terrible but only of the monstrous, are
strangers to the purpose of Tragedy; for we must not demand of
Tragedy any and every kind of pleasure, but only that which is proper
to it. And since the pleasure which the poet should afford is that which
comes from pity and fear through imitation, it is evident that this
quality must be impressed upon the incidents.
Let us then determine what are the circumstances which strike us as
terrible or pitiful.

Actions capable of this effect must happen between persons who are
either friends or enemies or indifferent to one another. If an enemy kills
an enemy, there is nothing to excite pity either in the act or the
intention, --except so far as the suffering in itself is pitiful. So again
with indifferent persons. But when the tragic incident occurs between
those who are near or dear to one another--if, for example, a brother
kills, or intends to kill, a brother, a son his father, a mother her son, a
son his mother, or any other deed of the kind is done---these are the
situations to be looked for by the poet. He may not indeed destroy the
framework of the received legends--the fact, for instance, that
Clytemnestra was slain by Orestes and Eriphyle by Alcmaeon but he
ought to show invention of his own, and skilfully handle the traditional
material. Let us explain more clearly what is meant by skilful handling.
The action may be done consciously and with knowledge of the
persons, in the manner of the older poets. It is thus too that Euripides
makes Medea slay her children. Or, again, the deed of horror may be
done, but done in ignorance, and the tie of kinship or friendship be
discovered afterwards. The Oedipus of Sophocles is an example. Here,
indeed, the incident is outside the drama proper; but