Aristophanes

Poetics, Etc. Aristophanes

This may be described as an 'omnibus' volume of classical writings on literary style and taste - works which laid the foundations of criticism and have never, as Mr. Moxom says in his Introduction, really been surpassed or superseded. The volume begins with Aristotle's great Poetics (in Twining's translation), which is a treatise on poetry in general and the drama in particular. This is followed by Hobbes' digest of the less important Ars Rhetorica, together with some actual chapters from the work itself which have been specially translated by Mr Moxon. The treatise : On Style, which is generally ascribed to Demetrius of Phalerum (300 B. C.), follows logically after Aristotle: a work built upon his theses, but dealing less with theory than with the practical test of the principle of taste. This valuable work is here given in a new translation by Mr Moxon, as also the delightful Ars Poetica of Horace, which has supplied the world with many a favourite epigram and quotation.