A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

ARISTOTELES.
1828, 2 vols.; Michelet, Berlin, 1828, 2 vols.
Beside the Nicomachean Ethics, we find amongst
the works of Aristotle
2. 'HOIKa EUiuctra, 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 Eudemus.
3. 'H0/cS MIEyaAa (in David, 1. c. 'HO. lE'y.
NucKoyoXEIa) in two books, which Pansch (deArist.
magnis 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 Hepi dpCersv ecal KaKtiv, a collection 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
frfie-pov reference is made by Aristotle to the Politics, and in the latter by wrpodrpov to the Ethics.
The Aristotelian Politics (OroXriKcti; in Diogenes
Laertius, v. '24, IroXLLIC2j diKpdaris) in eight books,
have for their object to shew how happiness is
to be attained for the human commnunity 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" (Ciper7,
perfect development of the whole man). Hence
also ethics form the first and most general foundation 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 proceeds to a description of the different forms of
government, after which he gives an historicocritical 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. Hilaire, in the introduction to his
edition (p. lxxvi.), has urged the adoption of a
transposition, in accordance with which the following would be the original order of the books: i. ii.
iii. vii. viii. iv. vi. v. On the other hand, Biese
(Phil. des Arist. ii. p. 400) has acutely defended
the old order.
The best editions of the Politics are by Schneider, Francof. ad Viadr. 1809, 2 vols.; Corais, Paris
1821; G6ttling, Jenae, 1824; Stahr, with a German translation, Lips. 1837; Barthelemy St. Hilaire, with za French translation, and a very good
introduction, Paris, 1837.
Of the work extant under Aristotle's name, the
Oeconomics (oiKovouticKd), 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 Philodemus. (Herculanens. vol. iii. pp. vii. xxvii.) The

ARISTOTELES. 331
best editions are by Schneider, Lips. 1815; and
Gbttling, Jenae, 1830.
Among the lost writings of this pragmaty we
have to mention,
1. IporpertrKcods, an exhortation to the study of
philosophy.
2. nIlpi evyeveias, on Nobility, which, however,
ancient critics (as Plut. A ristid. 27) already looked
upon as spurious; in which opinion most modern
scholars agree with them. (See Luzac. Leett. Atticae,
pp. 82-85; Welcker, ad Theognid. p. lix. &c.)
B. HISTORICAL WORKS.
Of the large number of writings, partly politicohistorical, 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 Gorgia, 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 Gorg. Berol. 1793.)
The lost writings belonging to this pragmaty are
1. The Polities (iroAtTe7a), 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 of
the Politics. The numerous fragments of this invaluable work have not yet been collected with
sufficient care. The collection by Neumann (Heidelb. 1827) is quite unsatisfactory.
2. NoI'pupa 3apappcid, the Manners and Customs
of the Barbarians.
3. Kriaers, Legends of the foundings of Cities.
4. fIep Evdppea7rYTw.
For poetical literature and chronology the following treatises were important:
5. 'OAvnLriov-eai. (flnioversKCwv darypadn), Nretc
Aiovvaraical, Diog. Laert. v. 26.)
6. TS Eic ro Tieaiovm Kat rcv 'ApXvreWhv, a
work the first part of which is preserved in Timaeus
Locrus (de Aninma Mundi), just as the second part,
on Archytas, is in the fragments preserved in Stobaeus 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. KVKAos hJ rEpi 70roerTwvV. (Comp. Welcker,
iiber die Cyklischen Dichter, p. 48.)
9. 'A ropl1Tira 'Oa pipacKd. (See Nitzsch, de Arist.
adv. Wolfianos, Kilae, 1831.)
10. fIepi 'AhESavipov, a work of doubtful authenticity.
We now turn to those writings of Aristotle
which, as belonging to the Etiorri'rJLT roA7 rte7K4, have
for their subject the exercise of the creative faculty,
or Art. To these belong the Poetics and Rhetoric.
1. The Poetics (Tlepi sronri-Tcijs). Aristotle penetrated deeper than any of the ancients, either
before or after him, into the essence of Hellenic
art, and with the most comprehensive mind traversed 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 ofpoetry, as he is the completer of Greek
rhetoric as a science. The treatise itself is undoubtedly genuine; but the explanation of its present form is still a problem of criticism. Some
(as Gottf. Hermann and Bernhardy) look upon it

* For this section Aristotle had made preparation
by his collection of 158 Hellenic constitutions; of
which hereafter.