Manner of imitation

The third dimension of difference between the imitative arts is manner — how the imitation is carried out. With the same medium and the same objects, a poet may imitate by narrating (taking on another persona or speaking in his own voice) or by presenting the characters as actually doing and saying the things being represented.

This gives three possibilities: pure narrative (the poet speaking throughout, as in some lyric verse), pure dramatic presentation (the characters speak, the poet is absent, as in tragedy and comedy), or a mixture (as in Homer, who begins in his own voice and shifts to his characters). Aristotle notes that Sophocles and Homer both imitate elevated characters — the same objects — but Homer narrates while Sophocles presents dramatically. The manner is different; hence they are different kinds of imitation.

This closes the introductory taxonomy. Aristotle has now established all three dimensions along which imitative arts differ — medium, object, manner — and can proceed to the kinds of poetry, their origins, and their specific requirements.