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An object is the thing that is imitated in a work of art. According to Aristotle, an object can be anything—including a person, an inanimate object, or an event—and it is often beautiful, although this isn’t always the case. Aristotle argues that an object is either admirable or inferior (it is either morally good or morally bad) and can be imitated in many ways (known as the mode). The means through which an object is imitated is known as the medium. An object must possess appropriate magnitude, Aristotle says, meaning it should be big enough (either literally or metaphorically) to produce astonishment, but not so big that unity is disrupted and the object can’t be taken in a single view. Aristotle claims that an object can be imitated in one of three ways: as it is, as it is said or thought to be, or as it should be. For example, portrait-painters often paint people as better-looking than they actually are.
Object Quotes in Poetics
The Poetics quotes below are all either spoken by Object or refer to Object. 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 2 Quotes
Epic poetry and the composition of tragedy, as well as comedy and the arts of dithyrambic poetry and (for the most part) of music for pipe or lyre, are all (taken together) imitations. They can be differentiated from each other in three respects: in respect of their different media of imitation, or different objects, or a different mode (i.e. a different manner).
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This quote occurs near the beginning of Poetics, and it is important because it identifies exactly what Aristotle considers to be poetry, and it also reflects Aristotle’s opinion that all art, including poetry, is a form of imitation. Art was a popular philosophical topic during Aristotle’s time, and many philosophers—such as Aristotle’s teacher, Plato—considered art a form of imitation. Aristotle clearly agrees that art is an imitation (for example, a still-life painting imitates a piece of fruit or a vase). Poetry is no different: it imitates actions and people, and it is therefore a form of artistic expression. Here, Aristotle Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro per
Those who imitate, imitate objects; and these must be either admirable or inferior. (Character almost always corresponds to just these two categories, since everyone is differentiated in character by defect or excellence.). Alternatively they must be better people than we are, or worse, or of the same sort (compare painters: Polygnotus portrayed better people, Pauson worse people, Dionysius people similar to us).
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This passage appears in Aristotle’s explanation of poetry as a form of imitation, and it is significant because it defines Aristotle’s idea of an object and makes the distinction between his idea of “character” in poetry and the characters of any given poem. According to Aristotle, whatever an artist—in this case, a poet—choses to imitate is the “object” of imitation, be that object a person or a specific event. These objects are either “admirable or inferior,” meaning that they are either morally good or morally bad, and this reflects Aristotle’s idea of “character” in poetry. This passage also implies that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae
Chapter 4 Quotes
So tragedy as a whole necessarily has six component parts, which determine the tragedy’s quality. The medium of imitation comprises two parts, the mode one, and object three; and there is nothing apart from these.
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This quote occurs in Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, and it is important because it further explains tragedy and reflects the theory of art and poetry as a form of imitation. According to Aristotle, tragedy is made up of “six component parts”—plot, character, diction, reasoning, spectacle, and lyric poetry—and each of these elements together “determine the tragedy’s quality.” In Poetics, Aristotle breaks down poetry and tragedy specifically, and he suggests that what seems complicated and difficult to understand is really quite simple. Poetry, and all forms of imitation for that matter, vary in only three ways: the mode, object, and medium Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit ne
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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This quote appears when Aristotle outlines the basic concepts of plot, and it is significant because it explains the ideas of magnitude and unity, and it illustrates the importance of these concepts and their required balance within a tragic plot. Aristotle claims that “any beautiful object” in art, whether that object is a landscape imitated in a painting or a person imitated in a tragedy, must resemble whatever said art is meant to imitate. Furthermore, this passage explains that poetry’s “magnitude,” or its ability to inspire awe and wonder in others, “should not be arbitrary.” In other words, an object Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta i
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Object Term Timeline in Poetics
The timeline below shows where the term Object appears in Poetics. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2. Poetry as a Species of Imitation
...of imitation, Aristotle says, but they differ from each other in three ways: their medium, object, and/or mode of imitation.
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2.2 Object. Aristotle claims that in order to create an imitation, one needs an object to imitate, and these objects are either admirable or inferior. Characters especially fall under one...
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The distinction between the imitation of admirable objects and inferior objects can be made through music and dance or through language and verse....
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2.3 Mode. The last difference among imitations is the mode in which artists imitate an object. An object can be imitated through narration, or an object can be imitated by actors...
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Chapter 5. Plot: Basic Concepts
5.2 Magnitude. An imitation of an object, be that object a human being or something else, must possess all the parts it...
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Objects possess a specific magnitude, and they should be readily taken in with just one view....
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5.4 Determinate State. An imitation is considered to have unity if it imitates a single object. The same goes for plot, which should imitate a single and complete action. The structure...
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...poet is “a maker of plots,” Aristotle clarifies, not a maker of verses, and the object of a poet’s imitation is action. If a poet does write about the sort of...
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Chapter 10. Epic
...is more possible in an epic, since readers are not always looking directly at the object. For example, Hector’s pursuit would be irrational on stage, but this irrationality isn’t noticed in...
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Chapter 11. Problems and Solutions
...poet is an imitator just as a painter is, and the poet must imitate an object in one of three ways: they imitate an object as it is, as it is...
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...antlers. Plus, if something isn’t true in a poem, it may just be that an object is imitated as it should be, rather than how it actually is. Aristotle urges the...
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