Aristotle’s Taxonomy of Metaphor in the Poetics: Synecdoche,Synonymity,and Analogy,with References to Greek Literature

This paper is an analysis of the taxonomy of Aristotle’s notion of metaphor as given in the Poetics 1457b1-1458a7. Aristotle’s notion forms the foundation of subsequent discussions and developments in the theory of metaphor, certainly from a Western intellectual perspective.However, much of our understanding of Aristotle’s notion stems from translations and secondary sources which can be problematic. This study attempts to gain a better understanding of Aristotle’s original ideas by referring to Aristotle’s Greek text and also trace the original sources in Greek literature that he uses to illustrate his notions of metaphor.This analysis will highlight some of the nuances in Greek which are lost in English translations and how they affect our understanding of Aristotle’s definition of metaphor.