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Lyric Poetry
For an artist to imitate an object of beauty, Aristotle says, that imitation must possess all the parts it aims to imitate, and its magnitude cannot be arbitrary. Magnitude speaks to the actual size of something, but it also refers to metaphorical size and scope. Objects of imitation must be large enough to produce astonishment but small enough to be readily taken in with one view to maintain unity.
Magnitude Quotes in Poetics
The Poetics quotes below are all either spoken by Magnitude or refer to Magnitude. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete and possesses magnitude; in language made pleasurable, each of its species separated in different parts; performed by actors, not through narration; effecting through pity and fear the purification of such emotions.
(By “language made pleasurable” I mean that which possesses rhythm and melody, i.e. song. By the separation of its species I mean that some parts are composed in verse alone; others by contrast make use of song.)
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Chapter 5
Quotes
Any beautiful object, whether a living organism or any other entity composed of parts, must not only possess those parts in proper order, but its magnitude also should not be arbitrary; beauty consists in magnitude as well as order. For this reason no organism could be beautiful if it is excessively small (since observation becomes confused as it comes close to having no perceptible duration in time) or excessively large (since the observation is then not simultaneous, and the observers find that the sense of unity and wholeness is lost from the observation, e.g. if there were an animal a thousand miles long). So just as in the case of physical objects and living organisms, they should possess a certain magnitude, and this should be such as can readily be taken in at one view, so in the case of plots: they should have a certain length, and this should be such as can readily be held in memory.
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Magnitude Term Timeline in Poetics
The timeline below shows where the term Magnitude appears in Poetics. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4. Tragedy: Definition and Analysis
...to Aristotle, tragedy “is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete and possesses magnitude.” Tragedy is written in “language made pleasurable” (meaning language that has rhythm and melody), and...
(full context)
Chapter 5. Plot: Basic Concepts
5.1 Completeness. Tragedy “is an imitation of a complete, i.e. whole, action, possessing a certain magnitude.” To be “whole,” a tragedy must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. A...
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...being or something else, must possess all the parts it aims to imitate, and its magnitude cannot be arbitrary. “Beauty consists in magnitude as well as order,” Aristotle says. If an...
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Objects possess a specific magnitude, and they should be readily taken in with just one view. The same goes for...
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Chapter 8. Other Aspects of Tragedy
...appropriate for a tragedy because it’s so long that the stories wouldn’t have the right magnitude.
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