The metabasis paradox is an instance in the received text of Aristotle's Poetics where, according to many scholars,[1][2][3][4][5] he makes two incompatible statements. In chapter 13 of the book, Aristotle states that for tragedy to end in misfortune is "correct,"[6] yet in chapter 14 he judges a kind of tragedy "best"[7] that does not end in misfortune.[8][9] Since the 16th century, scholars[10][11] in Classics have puzzled over this contradiction or have proposed solutions, of which there are three from the 21st century.[12][13][14] Gotthold Lessing's solution has been the most influential[15][16] yet there is not a consensus.
In chapter 13, Aristotle initially argues that tragedy should consist of a change of fortune from good to bad,[17] and mentions toward the end of the chapter that "ending in misfortune" is "correct".[18] In chapter 14, he identifies the incident that creates fear and pity, killing "among family," in which the killer could either kill or not, and either knowingly or unknowingly.[19] Yet in chapter 14 Aristotle finds that in the "best" version, the killer recognizes the victim and does not kill.[8] Since that narrative does not end in misfortune, scholars often conclude that chapter 14 seems to contradict 13.[20][21]
Arata Takeda has written a detailed history of the problem from the Renaissance up to the late 20th century, omitting 21st century work.[22] Takeda, however, does not offer the standard, consensus description of the solutions of André Dacier,[23] Gotthold Lessing,[24][25] and Stephen Halliwell.[26] Takeda proposed a name for the problem, "metabasis paradox," from metabasis, "change," Aristotle's term in the Poetics for change of fortune.[27]
- ^ Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, Hamburg Dramaturgy, New York: Dover, 1769/1962, 107-08.
- ^ Else, Gerald F. 1957, Aristotle's Poetics: The Argument. Leiden: E.J. Brill, p. 450.
- ^ Belfiore, Elizabeth. Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on Plot and Emotion. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 174-175.
- ^ Heath, Malcolm. “Aristotle on the Best Kind of Tragic Plot: Re-reading Poetics 13–14,” 334-351, p. 335. In: William Wians and Ron Polansky (eds.) Reading Aristotle: Argument and Exposition. Series: Philosophia Antiqua, Volume: 146. Leiden/Boston/Paderborn/Singapore: Brill, July 2017.
- ^ Bouchard, Elsa. "Audience, Poetic Justice, and Aesthetic Value in Aristotle's Poetics". In Ineke Sluiter, Ralph M. Rosen (ed.), Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity. Mnemosyne supplements. Monographs on Greek and Latin language and literature, 350. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2012.
- ^ Aristotle. Poetics trans. W.H. Fyfe, Harvard, 1932 1453a26.
- ^ Literally, "strongest" (kratiston), Bouchard, 2012 p. 193
- ^ a b Freeland, Cynthia. "Plot Imitates Action: Aesthetic Evaluation and Moral Realism in Aristotle's Poetics". Rorty, Amélie ed. Essays on Aristotle's Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 120–122.
- ^ Aristotle. Poetics trans. W.H. Fyfe, Harvard, 1932 1454a2-3.
- ^ Castelvetro, Lodovico. Poetica d'Aristotele vulgarizzata e sposta ("The Poetics of Aristotle translated in the Vulgar Language and commented on"), 1570.
- ^ Takeda, Arata: “Aristotle on Mimesis and Violence: Things Hidden since the Foundation of Literary Theory,” In: Elisabetta Brighi / Antonio Cerella (eds.): The Sacred and the Political: Explorations on Mimesis, Violence and Religion. New York: Bloomsbury, 2016 9–26
- ^ Bertolaso, 2012
- ^ Bouchard, 2012
- ^ Heath, 2017
- ^ Takeda 2016 24, n.38
- ^ Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. Hamburg Dramaturgy, New York: Dover, 1769/1962, 111.
- ^ Vahlen, Johannes. Beiträge zu Aristoteles Poetik Volume 2. Wien: K.K.Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1865, pp. 26-27
- ^ Else, Gerald F. 1957, p. 450.
- ^ Husain, Martha. Ontology and the Art of Tragedy: An Approach to Aristotle's Poetics. Albany: SUNY Press, 2002, p. 63.
- ^ Else, Gerald F. 1957, p. 450.
- ^ "Most interpreters have concluded that the two chapters are inconsistent." Heath 2017, p. 335.
- ^ Takeda 2016, 9-26
- ^ Lessing, 1769/1962, 107-08.
- ^ Vahlen, Johannes. Beiträge zu Aristoteles Poetik Volume 2. Wien: K.K.Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1865, pp. 26-27
- ^ Lucas, D.W. Aristotle: Poetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968, p. 155
- ^ Bouchard, 2012, p. 193
- ^ Takeda 2016, 13