Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/349

Rh ARISTOTELES. 1628, 2 vols.; Michelet, Hcrlin, 1828, 2 vola. Beside the Nicomachoan Ethics, we find amongst the works of Aristotle 2. 'HdiKoi EuST^/xejo, in seven books, of which only books i. ii. iii. and vii. are independent, while the remaining books iv. v. and vi. agree word for word with books v, vi. and vii. of the Nicomachean Ethics. This ethical work is perhaps a recension of Aristotle's lectures, edited by Eudcmus. 3. 'HdiKoL MeyaAa (in David, L c. 'H0. fi^y. UiKOfidx^ict) in two books, which Pansch {deArisL maj/nis moral, subditicio libro, 1841), has lately endeavoured to shew not to be a work of Aristotle, but an abstract, and one too not made by a very skilful hand ; whilst another critic, Glaser {die Metaph. des Arist. pp. 53,54), looks upon it as the authentic first sketch of the larger work. 4. The treatise Ilepi dfJtTwv Kal KaKiwv^ a collec- tion of definitions, is of very doubtful origin, though probably belonging to the later age of extracts. The Ethics conduct us to the Politics. (See Eth. Nic. X. extr.) The connexion between the two works is so close, that in the Ethics by the word vcrrepou reference is made by Aristotle to the Poli- tics, and in the latter by Trp6Tepov to the Ethics. The Aristotelian Politics (jroKiriKd; in Diogenes Laertius, v. 24, ttoXitiktI dKp6a(ns) in eight books, have for their object to shew how happiness is to be attained /or tlie human commimity in the state; for the object of the state is not merely the external preservation of life, but " happy life, as it is attained by means of virtue" (a^c-TTf, perfect development of the whole man). Hence also ethics form the first and most general founda- tion of political life, because the state cannot attain its highest object, if morality does not prevail among its citizens. The house, the family, is the element of the state. Accordingly Aristotle begins with the doctrine of domestic economy, then pro- ceeds to a description of the different forms of government, after which he gives an historico- critical delineation of the most important Hellenic constitutions,* and then investigates which of the constitutions is the best (the ideal of a state). The doctrine concerning education, as the most important condition of this best state, forms the conclusion. Doubts have been raised by scholars respecting the arrangement of the several books ; and lately St. Hilairc, in the introduction to his edition (p. Ixxvi,), has urged the adoption of a transposition, in accordance with which the follow- ing would be the original order of the books : i. ii. iii. vii. viii. iv. vi. v. On the other hand, Biese {Phil, des A list. ii. p. 400) has acutely defended the old order. The best editions of the Politics are by Schnei- der, Francof. ad Viadr. 1809, 2 vols.; Corais, Paris 1821 ; Gcittling, Jenae, 1824 ; Stahr, with a Ger- man translation, Lips. 1837 ; Barthelemy St. Hi- laire, with a French translation, and a very good introduction, Paris, 1837. Of the work extant under Aristotle's name, the Oeconomics {oiKovo/xiKd)^ in two books, only the first book is genuine ; the second is spurious. (Niebuhr, Kleine Schr. i. p. 412.) The first book is ascribed to Theophrastus in a fragment of Philo- demus. { Heradane7is. vol. iii. pp. vii. xxvii.) The ARISTOTELES. 331 by his collection of 158 Hellenic constitutions; of which hereafter. best editions are by Schneider, Lips. 1815 ; and Gtittling, Jenae, 1830. Among the lost writings of this pragmaty we have to mention, 1. Uporp€imK65, an exhortation to the study of philosophy. 2. Tlfpl fvycveias^ on Nobility, which, however, ancient critics (as Plut. Aristid. 27) already looked upon as spurious ; in which opinion most modem scholars agree with them. (See huzac. Ledt. Atticae^ pp. 82 — 85 ; Welcker, ad Theoynid. p. lix. &c.) B. Historical Works. Of the large number of writings, partly politico- historical, partly connected with the history of literature, and partly antiquarian, belonging to this class, only scanty fragments and solitary notices have been preserved. The extant treatise, de Xenophane, Zenone, et Goryia^ which is important for an acquaintance with the Eleatic philosophy, is only a fragment of a more comprehensive work on the history of philosophy. (Spalding, Comment, in prim. part, libelli de Xen. Zen. et Gory. Berol. 1793.) The lost writings belonging to this pragmaty are 1. The Polities {iroXiriiai), a description and history of the constitutions, manners, and usages of 158 (Diog. Laert. V. 27 ; according to others, 250 or more) states, the historical foundation oif the Politics. The numerous fragments of this in- valuable work have not yet been collected with sufficient care. The collection by Neumann (Hei- delb. 1827) is quite unsatisfactory. 2. 'No/xifia fiapSapiKa, the Manners and Czistoms of the Barbarians. 3. Krfo-eis, Legends of tlie foundings of Cities. 4. TlepX evp'qixa.Toiv. For poetical literature and chronology the fol- lowing treatises were important : 5. 'OXvixiriovLKai. {YlvdioviKoiv dvaypacpi^, NIkoi AiovvaiaKal, Diog. Laert. v. 26.) 6. To CK Tov Ttfxaiov Kal rwv *ApxvTeloi>v, a work the first part of which is preserved in Timaeus Locrus {de Anima Mundi just as the second part, on Archytas, is in the fragments preserved in Sto- baeus under the name of Archytas. (0. F. Gruppe, Ueber die Fragmente des Archytas., Berlin, 1840.) 7. Didascalia, a critico-chronological specification of the repertory of the Athenian stage. (Diog. Laert. v. 26.) 8. KvkXos i5 irepl iToirTwv. (Comp. Welcker, uber die Cyklischen Didder, p. 48.) 9. 'Airop-^fj.aTa 'OfiripiKa. (See Nitzsch, rfe Jm^. adv. Wolfianos, Kilae, 1831.) 10. riepi 'AAe^afSpoi;, a work of doubtful au- thenticity. We now turn to those writings of Aristotle which, as belonging to the eTnoTTj/xj? TrotTjTi/cT}, have for their subject the exercise of the creative faculty, or Art. To these belong the Poetics and Rhetoric. 1. TJie Poetics (Ilepl TrotTjTj/crjs). Aristotle pe- netrated deeper than any of the ancients, either before or after him, into the essence of Hellenic art, and with the most comprehensive mind tra- versed the region in which the intellectual life of the Hellenes unfolded itself, and brought it under the dominion of science. He is the father of the aesthetics of poetry, as he is the completer of Greek rhetoric as a science. The treatise itself is un- doubtedly genuine ; but the explanation of its pre- sent form is still a problem of criticism. Some (as Gottf. Hermann and Bernhardy) look upon it
 * For this section Aristotle had made preparation