He neither tells how he was born, how brought up, how he
fought with Achilles, how he was snatched out of the battle by Venus; but
that one thing, how he came into Italy, he prosecutes in twelve books.
fought with Achilles, how he was snatched out of the battle by Venus; but
that one thing, how he came into Italy, he prosecutes in twelve books.
Ben Jonson - Discoveries Made Upon Men, and Some Poems
And so far from the
measure and extent of a fable dramatic.
_What by one and entire_. --Now that it should be one and entire. One is
considerable two ways; either as it is only separate, and by itself, or
as being composed of many parts, it begins to be one as those parts grow
or are wrought together. That it should be one the first away alone, and
by itself, no man that hath tasted letters ever would say, especially
having required before a just magnitude and equal proportion of the parts
in themselves. Neither of which can possibly be, if the action be single
and separate, not composed of parts, which laid together in themselves,
with an equal and fitting proportion, tend to the same end; which thing
out of antiquity itself hath deceived many, and more this day it doth
deceive.
_Hercules_. --_Theseus_. --_Achilles_. --_Ulysses_. --_Homer and
Virgil_. --_AEneas_. --_Venus_. --So many there be of old that have thought the
action of one man to be one, as of Hercules, Theseus, Achilles, Ulysses,
and other heroes; which is both foolish and false, since by one and the
same person many things may be severally done which cannot fitly be
referred or joined to the same end: which not only the excellent tragic
poets, but the best masters of the epic, Homer and Virgil, saw. For
though the argument of an epic poem be far more diffused and poured out
than that of tragedy, yet Virgil, writing of AEneas, hath pretermitted
many things.
He neither tells how he was born, how brought up, how he
fought with Achilles, how he was snatched out of the battle by Venus; but
that one thing, how he came into Italy, he prosecutes in twelve books.
The rest of his journey, his error by sea, the sack of Troy, are put not
as the argument of the work, but episodes of the argument. So Homer laid
by many things of Ulysses, and handled no more than he saw tended to one
and the same end.
_Theseus_. --_Hercules_. --_Juvenal_. --_Codrus_. --_Sophocles_. --_Ajax_. --
_Ulysses_. --Contrary to which, and foolishly, those poets did, whom the
philosopher taxeth, of whom one gathered all the actions of Theseus,
another put all the labours of Hercules in one work. So did he whom
Juvenal mentions in the beginning, "hoarse Codrus," that recited a volume
compiled, which he called his Theseide, not yet finished, to the great
trouble both of his hearers and himself; amongst which there were many
parts had no coherence nor kindred one with another, so far they were
from being one action, one fable. For as a house, consisting of divers
materials, becomes one structure and one dwelling, so an action, composed
of divers parts, may become one fable, epic or dramatic. For example, in
a tragedy, look upon Sophocles, his Ajax: Ajax, deprived of Achilles'
armour, which he hoped from the suffrage of the Greeks, disdains; and,
growing impatient of the injury, rageth, and runs mad. In that humour he
doth many senseless things, and at last falls upon the Grecian flock and
kills a great ram for Ulysses: returning to his senses, he grows ashamed
of the scorn, and kills himself; and is by the chiefs of the Greeks
forbidden burial. These things agree and hang together, not as they were
done, but as seeming to be done, which made the action whole, entire, and
absolute.
measure and extent of a fable dramatic.
_What by one and entire_. --Now that it should be one and entire. One is
considerable two ways; either as it is only separate, and by itself, or
as being composed of many parts, it begins to be one as those parts grow
or are wrought together. That it should be one the first away alone, and
by itself, no man that hath tasted letters ever would say, especially
having required before a just magnitude and equal proportion of the parts
in themselves. Neither of which can possibly be, if the action be single
and separate, not composed of parts, which laid together in themselves,
with an equal and fitting proportion, tend to the same end; which thing
out of antiquity itself hath deceived many, and more this day it doth
deceive.
_Hercules_. --_Theseus_. --_Achilles_. --_Ulysses_. --_Homer and
Virgil_. --_AEneas_. --_Venus_. --So many there be of old that have thought the
action of one man to be one, as of Hercules, Theseus, Achilles, Ulysses,
and other heroes; which is both foolish and false, since by one and the
same person many things may be severally done which cannot fitly be
referred or joined to the same end: which not only the excellent tragic
poets, but the best masters of the epic, Homer and Virgil, saw. For
though the argument of an epic poem be far more diffused and poured out
than that of tragedy, yet Virgil, writing of AEneas, hath pretermitted
many things.
He neither tells how he was born, how brought up, how he
fought with Achilles, how he was snatched out of the battle by Venus; but
that one thing, how he came into Italy, he prosecutes in twelve books.
The rest of his journey, his error by sea, the sack of Troy, are put not
as the argument of the work, but episodes of the argument. So Homer laid
by many things of Ulysses, and handled no more than he saw tended to one
and the same end.
_Theseus_. --_Hercules_. --_Juvenal_. --_Codrus_. --_Sophocles_. --_Ajax_. --
_Ulysses_. --Contrary to which, and foolishly, those poets did, whom the
philosopher taxeth, of whom one gathered all the actions of Theseus,
another put all the labours of Hercules in one work. So did he whom
Juvenal mentions in the beginning, "hoarse Codrus," that recited a volume
compiled, which he called his Theseide, not yet finished, to the great
trouble both of his hearers and himself; amongst which there were many
parts had no coherence nor kindred one with another, so far they were
from being one action, one fable. For as a house, consisting of divers
materials, becomes one structure and one dwelling, so an action, composed
of divers parts, may become one fable, epic or dramatic. For example, in
a tragedy, look upon Sophocles, his Ajax: Ajax, deprived of Achilles'
armour, which he hoped from the suffrage of the Greeks, disdains; and,
growing impatient of the injury, rageth, and runs mad. In that humour he
doth many senseless things, and at last falls upon the Grecian flock and
kills a great ram for Ulysses: returning to his senses, he grows ashamed
of the scorn, and kills himself; and is by the chiefs of the Greeks
forbidden burial. These things agree and hang together, not as they were
done, but as seeming to be done, which made the action whole, entire, and
absolute.
