The Daily Stoic - Aristotle on How to Tell a Story Pt. 2

Episode Date: September 18, 2022

Today’s episode features an excerpt from How to Tell a Story: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Storytelling for Writers and Readers translated by Philip Freeman as part of Princeton University Press’s Anient Wisdom For Modern Readers series.✉️  Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members. You can listen to the Daily Stoic podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoic. Each weekday we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics. Something to help you live up to those four Stoic virtues of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. And then here on the weekend we take a deeper dive into those same topics. We interview stoic philosophers, we explore at length how these stoic ideas can be applied to our actual lives and the challenging issues of our time. Here on the weekend when you have a little bit more space when things have slowed down, be sure to take some time to think, to go for a walk, to sit with your journal, and most importantly to prepare for what the week

ahead may bring. Hi I'm David Brown, the host of Wundery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target, the new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Ryan Holiday. Welcome to another weekend episode of The Daily Stope Podcast. I think one of the big things I learned as a research assistant for Rob Green was the art of storytelling that you show don't tell, which is actually itself kind of a stoic idea that it's not about lecturing, it's not about laying out the facts, it's about creating a compelling narrative of a story that sucks you in the

illustrates that demonstrates the lessons. And so much of the writing that we have from the Stoics is about this. Seneka doesn't just make some point. He tells a story about Alexander the Great. Marcus really does the same thing. He talks about how these ideas were embodied in Antoninus, what they looked like, even though he's even even though he's talking to himself. Certainly what I tried to do in my books, starting with the obstacles the way, I'd read all these wonderful books of Stoic philosophy, and then I'd read books about Stoic philosophy, and I felt like there was a gap between the two. And so I said, where is my contribution? I want to demonstrate these stoic ideas

through stories which Robert Green had shown me how to research. All of which is to set up today's episode, which is an excerpt from Princeton University Press's ancient wisdom for modern reader series translated by Philip Freeman. It's a new translation of Aristotle's poetics, which is really about not poetry, but the art of writing and understanding stories. And in this excerpt, Aristotle talks about the most important part of any story, plot. Talks about the basic elements that must be used in a tragedy, what the parts it should be divided into, and this should be familiar to you if you've consumed any movie or play or book, or whatever in the last 2000 years, because we're all descended from Aristotle's thinking here in a lot of ways.

If you listen to my interview with Stephen Pressfield, even he was formed by that and some of the hero's journey stuff comes from there too. All of which is to say. You should check out this book, How to Tell a Story from the Princeton University Press. As I said, expertly translated by Philip Freeman, thanks to the Princeton University University, thanks to Princeton University Press for offering this to us. I love bringing these to you and check it out. I'll link to the print edition in today's episode as well. Plot is the most important thing. These elements are used by practically every writer of tragedy, for almost every drama

has spectacle, character, plot, speech, music and reasoning. The most important element in any tragedy is plot. Tragedy is not an imitation of persons but of actions and life, because happiness and misfortune are found in action. The goal of tragic drama, and indeed life, is a proper kind of activity, not some quality. People possess certain qualities based on their nature, but they find happiness or unhappiness depending on what they actually do. Therefore, the goal of an actor on the stage is not to imitate character. Character is instead a by-product of action. Actions and plot are what a tragedy is about. That is what matters.

You cannot have a tragedy without action, but you, without character. The tragedies of most modern poets like character, and there are quite a few of them. I'm speaking of the sort of difference we have in painters between Zuxis and Polygnotis. For Polygnotis is very good at expressing character, but the paintings of Zuxis have none. Also, you could write a series of beautiful and well-reasoned speeches in a play, in which character was expressed only in words with no actions, but it still wouldn't fulfill the essential functions of a tragedy. It would be better and more effective to have a play in which such speeches are absent, but that nonetheless has plot and narrative structure. Besides, the most important means by which a tragedy stirs our emotions, reversals and

recognitions, is in the actions of its plot. A final argument for the supremacy of plot is that beginning writers can often achieve excellence in speech and characterization before they can master the structure of a story. Almost all are earliest tragic writers share this deficiency as well, and so plot is the first principle, and so to speak, the soul of tragedy. Character comes second. Painting is much the same way. If an artist were to cover a surface with the finest and most beautiful colors at random,

it would provide the viewer with less pleasure than a simple outline of an object. In summary, tragedy is the imitation of action, and it is for the sake of the action that characters play their parts. The other elements of tragedy. Reason is the third element of tragedy. It is the ability to say what is apt and appropriate in a situation, which in prose writings is the function of politics and rhetoric. Earlier writers of tragedy used to make their characters speak like politicians, but contemporary

dramatists have them speak rhetorically. Character is revealed in the choices a person makes, so that speech is in a play in which the speaker doesn't choose or make a clear choice, do not express character. Reasoning becomes clear in a drama when actors argue that something is or isn't true, or when they give a general opinion. The fourth element of tragedy is speech. By this, I mean, as I said before, the use of words to express meaning. This is true in both poetry and prose.

Of the remaining elements of tragedy, music is the most important of those that give pleasure. As for spectacle, how things appear on stage, it can certainly evoke emotion, but it isn't really much of an art and has very little to do with poetry. The power of a tragedy after all isn't essentially dependent on actors and performance, and such things as visual effects really belong to the craft of producers rather than poets. Every story must have a beginning, middle, and end. 7. Now that we have the definitions of the elements of tragic drama, we should turn to what the plot or structure of a story should be, since this is the first and most important part

of tragedy. We have established that a tragedy is an imitation of an action that is whole and complete, but also of a certain length, for a story can be complete without being very long. A story that is complete must have a beginning, middle and ending. A beginning doesn't necessarily follow from anything before, but other events naturally follow it and proceed from it. An ending, on the other hand, naturally or in general, follows from something else that comes before it, but has nothing that comes after it.

A middle follows from some other event, and also has things that occur after it. A well-constructed plot must therefore not begin or end at some arbitrary point, but follow this pattern. The length of a story. Any beautiful object, whether an animal or anything else that has parts, must not only possess those parts in a proper order, but also have an appropriate size or magnitude. Beauty must have size as well as order. Because of this, no animal can be beautiful if it is too small, since we would pass over it quickly, unable

to observe it. Or enormously large, say a thousand miles long, since we would not be able to observe and take in the whole thing all at once. Just as physical objects and living organisms should possess an appropriate size, and be able to be comprehended in a coherent way, so too with plots, they should be of a certain length, so that they can be remembered. The time limits imposed by the circumstances of a particular theatrical performance, or by the attention span of the audience, are not really a concern of the art of writing. After all, if it were necessary to perform a hundred tragedies at a festival, they would time the performances by water clocks, as they say

used to be done. What should matter to the writer is the limit set by the nature of the action in the story, and thus the principle that a longer plot is usually better and more beautiful, provided that it can still be held in the memory all at once. A simple definition of the proper length of a story would be that it is long enough to allow a change from good fortune to bad or bad fortune to good in accord with what is probable or necessary. The Unity of a Plot 8. In spite of what some people think, a plot is not unified because it is about a single

person. Many things, indeed an infinite number of things, happen to the same individual, but not all of these form a unity. Likewise, a single person performs many actions, but they do not form a unified action. All those poets who composed a Heraclit about Hercules or a Thesid about Thesius were wrong in thinking that because they wrote about a single person that they created a unified plot. Betouma, outstanding as he was in other respects, understood the principle of unity as well, whether by conscious learning or by instinct. He didn't include in the Odyssey everything that happened in the life of Odysseus, such as his wounding on Mount Parnassus, or his pretending to be mad when the troops were being called up for

the Trojan War, because there was no necessity or probability connecting these events. Instead, Homer constructed the Odyssey about a single central action of the sort we're discussing, just as he did the Iliad. Therefore, just as in other imitative arts in which the imitation must have a single object, so too the plot of a story, being the imitation of an action, should have a single unified, complete action. A plot should be structured so that if any of its episodes were rearranged or removed, the whole story would be disturbed and dislocated. If this isn't the case, then the episode is not an essential part of the whole. The best stories are about what could happen.

9. It's clear from what we've said that the role of a poet is not to say what has happened, but what could happen, within the bounds of probability or necessity. The difference between a historian and a poet is not that one uses prose and the other verse. After all, you could take the history of Herodotus and turn it into verse, but it would still be history, not poetry. The historian tells us what has happened, the poet, what could happen. This is why poetry is more like philosophy and is more important than history. Poetry is about universals, while history is about particulars.

A universal is what people would probably or necessarily say or do in a certain situation. Poetry does this even when it attaches a real name to a character, but history deals strictly with the actions or experiences of a particular person, like al-Sabayides. Hey there listeners! While we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the world's biggest and most innovative companies, to learn how they built them from the ground

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I built this, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wondery app. This is obvious in comedy as well. A comic writer first constructs a plot on the basis of probabilities, then makes up names for the characters. Comic poets don't write about real people like lampoonists or satirists do. Riders of tragedy do use the names of actual people. The reason for this is that to most people what is possible, i.e. what has happened in the past is plausible, but they aren't sure if something is possible if it hasn't occurred. But it's obvious that something that has happened is possible,

otherwise it wouldn't have happened. But even in tragedies there are sometimes only one or two names that are familiar, as in Agathons and Theos, in this play both the events and the characters are made up, but it's still very pleasant to watch. Writers shouldn't try to stick to traditional stories at all costs, indeed this would be absurd since even the most famous stories will be familiar to only a minority, but are still pleasing to everyone. It is clear from all this that a writer should be a maker of plots more than a verses. For a tragic poet is a creator of imitations, and imitations are

of actions. Even if a dramatist writes about actual events, he is still a poet not a historian. Some historical episodes are of course probable or possible, and it is the probable and possible from which writers take their material. A brief note on bad plots. Concerning plots and actions, the episodic are the worst. By episodic, I mean those stories in which the sequence of events is neither necessary nor probable. Such plays are created by second-rate writers who lack talent, or by good writers who are trying to give the actors something to show off with. In creating such stories they stretch the plot to extremes and distort

the sequence of events. Estonishment in plots. Tragedy isn't just an imitation of complete or whole actions, but also of events that evoke pity and fear. The best way to achieve this is when events are unexpectedly connected and happen because of one another. This will be much more astonishing than if the events occur spontaneously or by chance, since even events that seem to have occurred by chance seem to have happened for a purpose. An example of this is when the Statue of Mites that

Argos fell down and killed the murderer of Mites as he looked up at it. Such events seem not to happen by chance, and plots like this are certainly better. Simple and complex plots. 10. Plots can be either simple or complex, since the actions they imitate are themselves either simple or complex. By a simple plot I mean complete and continuous as I discussed earlier. Having a beginning, middle and end, and in which a change of fortune occurs without reversal or recognition. By a complex plot, I mean one in which a change of fortune comes about with reversal or recognition, or both. The reversal and recognition must come naturally from the plot structure so that they necessarily, or at least probably, are

a result of what has happened previously in the story. There is an important difference between an event happening because of another event or simply after it. Reversal 11. A reversal in a plot is the change of a situation into its opposite, as I've said before, but it must be in accord with probability or necessity. For example, in Idapus a messenger comes to bring Idapus good news and free him from his fear regarding his mother, i.e. that he has already married her. But by showing him who he really is, the messenger does the exact opposite.

The same thing happens in Lyceus. When the hero is brought in to die, followed by Dhanus, who intends to kill him. But it turns out that Dhanus is killed and Lyceus is saved. Recognition As the term indicates, recognition is a change from ignorance to knowledge, resulting in either a close relationship or hatred between two people destined for good or bad fortune. The best kind of recognition in a plot occurs simultaneously

with reversal, as in the idapus. There are of course other kinds of recognition. The kind I've just described could conceivably be of inanimate objects or random things. It's also possible to recognise that a person has or has not done an action. But the type of recognition that best fits plot and action is what I've mentioned. For this kind of recognition and reversal will evoke both pity and fear, and as we've seen, tragedy is the imitation of such actions and the good or bad fortune that results from them. Now, since recognition is between people, it will sometimes happen that only one of the two persons is recognized by the other. An example is when if Virginia is recognized by Arestis when she sends the letter, but it takes a separate

recognition scene for her to recognize him. Suffering. So, these are the two parts of a tragic plot we have now discussed. Reversal and recognition. But a third part is suffering. Suffering is when something destructive or painful occurs in a story, such as a horrible death, violent physical agony, wounding someone or anything else like that. The technical parts of a Greek tragedy. 12. We have previously looked at the qualities or basic elements a tragedy should have, but the separate parts into which a tragic drama should be divided are as follows. Prologos Prolog Episode I Episode I Episode Xadus Finale Coral parts Further divided into Paradox, Entry Song and Stazimon Ode All tragedies have these basic parts, but some plays may also have actors' songs known

as Commoy, Durgis. The prologos is the part of a tragedy before the Paradox, or entry song of the chorus. An episodion is the portion of a tragedy between complete choral songs. The Exodus is the part of a tragedy after the final choral song. part of a tragedy after the final choral song. The Paradox is the first complete utterance by the chorus. A Stasemon is a choral song without anapest or trocheics. A commos is a dirge shared by the chorus and actors. We have now spoken of the basic qualities or elements that must be used in a tragedy and the parts into which it is divided. The best kind of tragic character. 13. Now that we've covered the matters above, we should look at what a writer should strive for

and avoid in constructing the best kind of plots, as well as how to achieve the greatest tragic effect in a story. As we mentioned earlier, the best tragic of plots, as well as how to achieve the greatest tragic effect in a story. As we mentioned earlier, the best tragic plots are complex, with reversal and recognition, not simple, and should evoke pity and fear in an audience, since this is what imitation in tragedy does. Good person goes towards bad outcome. One key plot rule in tragedy is never have a truly admirable person undergo a change from good to bad fortune. This evokes only shock and disgust in an audience. Not pity and fear.

Bad person goes towards a good outcome. Nor should you create a plot about a wicked person changing from bad fortune to happiness. This is the least tragic plot of all, and produces none of the right effects, since it is offensive to those watching and doesn't evoke pity or fear. Bad person goes towards a bad outcome. A story about an evil person going from good to bad fortune is also weak writing. Such a plot might be somewhat agreeable on the surface, but it doesn't evoke the power of pity or fear, since we reserve

our pity for undeserving victims of misfortune, and our fear for people we identify with. Good enough, person goes towards a bad outcome. We are left then, with the best tragic character being someone in between, that is neither terribly wicked nor a shining example of virtue. This person undergoes a downfall, not through great wickedness or vice, but because of some mistake or weakness. This character should preferably be famous and prosperous, like eedipus or thistees. Or someone from a notable family. You know, the Stoics in real life met at what was called the Stoa. The Stoa, Poquile, the Painted Porch in ancient Athens.

Obviously, we can't all get together in one place, because this community is like hundreds of thousands of people, and we couldn't fit in one place because this community is like hundreds of thousands of people and we couldn't fit in one space. But we have made a special digital version of the Stowe. We're calling it Daily Stowe Life. It's an awesome community. You can talk about like today's episode. You can talk about the emails, ask questions. That's one of my favorite parts is interacting with all these people who are using Stowe's

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