Scaliger and Castelvetro - Yavanika

144 Renaissance Italy
rences and such things rvhich pcoplc discuss, e.g., rvorld nervs and history.
And for this reason we asscrt that the subject rnatter of Poetrv is historical
sinilitude or imitation. Because it is an initation, poctrv not onlv rolarcls
its inventor uith glory-and nakcs and coustitutes him a poct-but it
delights us muclr more thar the history of actual past c'"ents. Ihcrc'
forc, bccause the data of the scienccs and arts are not conprchensible to
thc peoplc, not onlv nrust thev be avoicled ancl cliscarded as the gencral
subjccts of poetn, but carc must also bc taker that no spccific refcrertce
to thc matters of arts and sciences is nr:rde in anv part of the Poem. . . .
T'ragedv puts coutpassiort ancl fright in thc sortls of thc sPcctators or
the audicncc. . . . Fright and conp:rssion arc thc tso obiectivcs of tragedl. . . .
Nlurders, and othcr such difficrrlt things, arc not sho\\'n onstagc bccause
thev are difficult to perforDr uith dignih and ." crisimilitudq. It_is better_to
h4r'e thg14 occur ofistage ancl then le;gqalt1tcdjla l1,e!!!!gqr- ll)rlnatic
and narrativc poctrvl are also differcnt bccausc tlte narriltivc can interPrct
in a feu hours nranv thiugs u.hich happcncd in mant' hottrs and in nan.v
hours a fov things lhich ltappened in a for' hours. But drarna, uhich
rcprescnts the cvents as taking placc, is incapablc of crcating this effcct
bccause the jr.t-llcrfclnnralgg
-tinrc-spgtl ,i5Jlr,-c-,s4.!r,r-q