If the Episodes were taken elsewhere, and added to the Action, whereof they were not parts, it would signifie little whether they were join'd and connected with one another or no, but they should be join'd to the Action, and this [1]Aristotle should have taught us. And yet he does no such thing, but orders us to connect them with one another.
He does not say, that after one has prepar'd the Platform of the Fable, and made Choice of the Names, one should add the Episodes; but he makes use of a Verb deriv'd from this Word; as if we should say in our Language, [2] "That the Poet ought to Episodize his Action. And elsewhere he says, "That the Episodes should not be foreign, but [3]proper to the Subject.
In fine, we might likewise alledge this very Chapter, wherein Aristotle lays down the first Draught of the Odysseïs, and which he concludes by saying, that whatever he has propos'd is proper to the Subject, and that the Episodes make up the rest. In this Passage, to give us a reason of the different Extent of Tragedy and the Epopéa; or to inform us how this last becomes longer: He does not say, that they Add a few Episodes to the Tragick Action, and a great many to the Epick; but he says more exactly, That the Episodes of Tragedy are short and concise, and the Epopéa is extended and amplified by its Episodes. He demonstrates this Length of the Epopéa amplified by the Extent of its Episodes, by the Poem of the Odysseïs, which he brings as an Example, and says, [4]The Subject of it is long. Now if the Episodes (take the Word in what sense you please) be not part of the Subject, 'tis plain the more room they take up the less is left for the Subject; and that the longer they are, the more straitned and short will the Subject be. If then the Epopéa be stretch'd out by its Episodes, and if for this very reason the Subject of the Odysseïs is long, as Aristotle affirms; it then necessarily follows, that the Subject is nothing else but the very Episodes.
The better to demonstrate this Length of the Odysseïs, Aristotle adds, That the Subject of this Poem is a Voyage for several Years; That Neptune did all he could to hinder the chief Personage from returning home; that he does return thither notwithstanding; where he meets with very great Disorders, the Authors of which he punishes, and so restores Peace and Quietness to his Kingdom. This Subject is indeed a great deal longer than that of the Iliad; and it requires a longer time, and more Actions for all these things, than for the simple Anger of an
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