Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

's ''Poetics'' ( grc-gre, Περὶ ποιητικῆς ''Peri poietikês''; la, De Poetica; c. 335 BCDukore (1974, 31).) is the earliest surviving work of Greek

dramatic theory Dramatic theory is a term used for works that attempt to form theories about theatre and drama. Examples of ancient dramatic theory include Aristotle's '' Poetics'' from Ancient Greece and Bharata Muni's ''Natyasastra'' from ancient India. Drama ...

and first

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

philosophical treatise to focus on

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mo ...

. In this text Aristotle offers an account of ποιητική, which refers to poetry and more literally "the poetic art," deriving from the term for "poet; author; maker," ποιητής. Aristotle divides the art of poetry into verse

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

(to include

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

, and the

satyr play The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

, and epic. The genres all share the function of

mimesis Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including ''imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act ...

, or imitation of life, but differ in three ways that Aristotle describes: # Differences in music rhythm, harmony, meter and melody. # Difference of goodness in the characters. # Difference in how the narrative is presented: telling a story or acting it out. The surviving book of ''Poetics'' is primarily concerned with drama, and the analysis of

constitutes the core of the discussion. Although the text is universally acknowledged in the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

critical tradition, "almost every detail about is seminal work has aroused divergent opinions".Carlson (1993, 16). Among scholarly debates on the ''Poetics'', the three most prominent have concerned the meanings of

catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...

and

hamartia The term ''hamartia'' derives from the Greek , from ''hamartánein'', which means "to miss the mark" or "to err". It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. The term is often said to depic ...

(these being the best known), and the question why Aristotle appears to contradict himself between chapters 13 and 14.

Background

Aristotle's work on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

consists of the ''Poetics,'' ''Politics'' (Bk VIII) and ''

Rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

''. The ''Poetics'' was lost to the Western world for a long time. The text was restored to the West in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

only through a Latin translation of an Arabic version written by

Averroes Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psycholog ...

. The accurate

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

translation made by

William of Moerbeke William of Moerbeke, O.P. ( nl, Willem van Moerbeke; la, Guillelmus de Morbeka; 1215–35 – 1286), was a prolific medieval translator of philosophical, medical, and scientific texts from Greek language into Latin, enabled by the period ...

in 1278 was virtually ignored. At some point during antiquity, the original text of the ''Poetics'' was divided in two, each "book" written on a separate roll of

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

.Janko (1987, xx). Only the first part – that which focuses on

and epic (as a quasi-dramatic art, given its definition in Ch 23) – survives. The lost second part addressed

. Some scholars speculate that the ''

Tractatus coislinianus ''Tractatus coislinianus'' is an ancient Greek manuscript outlining a theory of comedy in the tradition of Aristotle's '' Poetics''. Dramatic theory The ''Tractatus'' states that comedy invokes laughter and pleasure, thus purging those emotions ( ...

'' summarises the contents of the lost second book.

Overview

The table of contents page of the ''Poetics'' found in Modern Library's ''Basic Works of Aristotle'' (2001) identifies five basic parts within it. * A. Preliminary discourse on tragedy, epic poetry, and comedy, as the chief forms of imitative poetry. * B. Definition of a tragedy, and the rules for its construction. Definition and analysis into qualitative parts. * C. Rules for the construction of a tragedy: Tragic pleasure, or

experienced by fear and pity should be produced in the spectator. The characters must be four things: good, appropriate, realistic, and consistent.

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

must occur within the plot. Narratives, stories, structures and poetics overlap. It is important for the poet to visualize all of the scenes when creating the plot. The poet should incorporate complication and

dénouement Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and schola ...

within the story, as well as combine all of the elements of

. The poet must express thought through the characters' words and actions, while paying close attention to

diction Diction ( la, dictionem (nom. ), "a saying, expression, word"), in its original meaning, is a writer's or speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a poem or story.Crannell (1997) ''Glossary'', p. 406 In its common meanin ...

and how a character's spoken words express a specific idea. Aristotle believed that all of these different elements had to be present in order for the poetry to be well-done. *D. Possible criticisms of an epic or tragedy, and the answers to them. * E. Tragedy as artistically superior to epic poetry: Tragedy has everything that the epic has, even the epic meter being admissible. The reality of presentation is felt in the play as read, as well as in the play as acted. The tragic imitation requires less time for the attainment of its end. If it has more concentrated effect, it is more pleasurable than one with a large admixture of time to dilute it. There is less unity in the imitation of the epic poets (plurality of actions) and this is proved by the fact that an epic poem can supply enough material for several tragedies. Aristotle also draws a famous distinction between the tragic mode of poetry and the type of history writing practiced among the Greeks. Whereas history deals with things that took place in the past, tragedy concerns itself with what might occur, or could be imagined to happen. History deals with particulars, whose relation to one another is marked by contingency, accident or chance. Contrariwise, poetic narratives are determined objects, unified by a plot whose logic binds up the constituent elements by necessity and probability. In this sense, he concluded, such poetry was more philosophical than history in so far as it approximates to a knowledge of

universals In metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common, namely characteristics or qualities. In other words, universals are repeatable or recurrent entities that can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things. For exa ...

Synopsis

Aristotle distinguishes between the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

s of "poetry" in three ways: * Matter ::

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

, and

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

, for Aristotle, make up the matter of poetic creation. Where the

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

makes use of language alone, the playing of the lyre involves rhythm and melody. Some poetic forms include a blending of all materials; for example, Greek tragic drama included a singing chorus, and so music and language were all part of the performance. These points also convey the standard view. Recent work, though, argues that translating ''rhuthmos'' here as "rhythm" is absurd: melody already has its own inherent musical rhythm, and the Greek can mean what Plato says it means in ''Laws'' II, 665a: "(the name of) ordered body movement," or dance. This correctly conveys what dramatic musical creation, the topic of the ''Poetics'', in ancient Greece had: music, dance, and language. Also, the musical instrument cited in Ch 1 is not the lyre but the ''kithara'', which was played in the drama while the kithara-player was dancing (in the chorus), even if that meant just walking in an appropriate way. Moreover, epic might have had only literary exponents, but as Plato's ''Ion'' and Aristotle's Ch 26 of the ''Poetics'' help prove, for Plato and Aristotle at least some epic rhapsodes used all three means of mimesis: language, dance (as pantomimic gesture), and music (if only by chanting the words).Scott (2018) * Subjects ::Also "agents" in some translations. Aristotle differentiates between

and

throughout the work by distinguishing between the nature of the human characters that populate either form. Aristotle finds that tragedy deals with serious, important, and virtuous people. Comedy, on the other hand, treats of less virtuous people and focuses on human "weaknesses and foibles". Aristotle introduces here the influential ''tripartite division of characters'' in superior (βελτίονας) to the audience, inferior (χείρονας), or at the same level (τοιούτους). * Method ::One may imitate the agents through use of a narrator throughout, or only occasionally (using direct speech in parts and a narrator in parts, as Homer does), or only through direct speech (without a narrator), using actors to speak the lines directly. This latter is the method of tragedy (and comedy): without use of any narrator. Having examined briefly the field of "poetry" in general, Aristotle proceeds to his definition of tragedy:

Tragedy is a representation of a serious, complete action which has magnitude, in embellished speech, with each of its elements
sed sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...
separately in the ariousparts f the playand epresentedby people acting and not by
narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...
, accomplishing by means of pity and terror the
catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...
of such emotions. By "embellished speech", I mean that which has rhythm and melody, i.e. song. By "with its elements separately", I mean that some arts of itare accomplished only by means of spoken verses, and others again by means of song (1449b25-30).

He then identifies the "parts" of tragedy: *

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

(''

mythos Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

'') ::Refers to the "organization of incidents". It should imitate an action evoking pity and fear. The plot involves a change from bad towards good, or good towards bad. Complex plots have reversals and recognitions. These and suffering (or violence) are used to evoke the tragic emotions. The most tragic plot pushes a good character towards undeserved misfortune because of a mistake (''

''). Plots revolving around such a mistake are more tragic than plots with two sides and an opposite outcome for the good and the bad. Violent situations are most tragic if they are between friends and family. Threats can be resolved (best last) by being done in knowledge, done in ignorance and then discovered, almost be done in ignorance but be discovered in the last moment. ::Actions should follow logically from the situation created by what has happened before, and from the character of the agent. This goes for recognitions and reversals as well, as even surprises are more satisfying to the audience if they afterwards are seen as a plausible or necessary consequence. *

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

(''

ethos Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...

'') ::Character is the moral or ethical character of the agents. It is revealed when the agent makes moral choices. In a perfect tragedy, the character will support the plot, which means personal motivations and traits will somehow connect parts of the cause-and-effect chain of actions producing pity and fear. ::Main character should be: ::* good—Aristotle explains that audiences do not like, for example, villains "making fortune from misery" in the end. It might happen though, and might make the play interesting. Nevertheless, the moral is at stake here and morals are important to make people happy (people can, for example, see tragedy because they want to release their anger). ::* appropriate—if a character is supposed to be wise, it is unlikely he is young (supposing wisdom is gained with age). ::* consistent—if a person is a soldier, he is unlikely to be scared of blood (if this soldier is scared of blood it must be explained and play some role in the story to avoid confusing the audience); it is also "good" if a character doesn't change opinion "that much" if the play is not "driven" by who characters are, but by what they do (audience is confused in case of unexpected shifts in behaviour nd its reasons and moralsof characters). ::* "consistently inconsistent"—if a character always behaves foolishly it is strange if he suddenly becomes intelligent. In this case it would be good to explain such change, otherwise the audience may be confused. If character changes opinion a lot it should be clear he is a character who has this trait, not a real life person – this is also to avoid confusion. * thought (''

dianoia Dianoia (Greek: διάνοια, ''ratio'' in Latin) is a term used by Plato for a type of thinking, specifically about mathematical and technical subjects. Dianoia is the human cognitive capacity for, process of, or result of ''discursive'' thinkin ...

'')—spoken (usually) reasoning of human characters can explain the characters or story background. * diction (''

lexis Lexis may refer to: * Lexis (linguistics), the total bank of words and phrases of a particular language, the artifact of which is known as a lexicon *Lexis (Aristotle), a complete group of words in a language *LexisNexis, part of the LexisNexis onl ...

'') Lexis is better translated according to some as "speech" or "language." Otherwise, the relevant necessary condition stemming from ''logos'' in the definition (language) has no followup: mythos (plot) could be done by dancers or pantomime artists, given Chs 1, 2 and 4, if the actions are structured (on stage, as drama was usually done), just like plot for us can be given in film or in a story-ballet with no words. ::Refers to the quality of speech in tragedy. Speeches should reflect character, the moral qualities of those on the stage. The expression of the meaning of the words. * melody (''melos'') "Melos" can also mean "music-dance" as some musicologists recognize, especially given that its primary meaning in ancient Greek is "limb" (an arm or a leg). This is arguably more sensible because then Aristotle is conveying what the chorus actually did. ::The Chorus too should be regarded as one of the actors. It should be an integral part of the whole, and share in the action. Should be contributed to the unity of the plot. It is a very real factor in the pleasure of the drama. * spectacle (''

opsis :''See also the suffix -opsis.'' Opsis ( grc, ὄψις) is the Greek word for spectacle in the theatre and performance. Its first use has been traced back to Aristotle's '' Poetics.'' It is now taken up by theatre critics, historians, and theor ...

'') ::Refers to the visual apparatus of the play, including set, costumes and props (anything you can see). Aristotle calls spectacle the "least artistic" element of tragedy, and the "least connected with the work of the poet (playwright). For example: if the play has "beautiful" costumes and "bad" acting and "bad" story, there is "something wrong" with it. Even though that "beauty" may save the play it is "not a nice thing". He offers the earliest-surviving explanation for the origins of tragedy and comedy:

Anyway, arising from an improvisatory beginning (both tragedy and comedy—tragedy from the leaders of the
dithyramb The dithyramb (; grc, διθύραμβος, ''dithyrambos'') was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in ''The Laws'', while discussing ...
, and comedy from the leaders of the
phallic processions Phallic processions are public celebrations featuring a phallus, a representation of an erect penis. Ancient Greece Called ''phallika'' in ancient Greece, these processions were a common feature of Dionysiac celebrations; they advanced to a cu ...
which even now continue as a custom in many of our cities) ..(1449a10-13)

Influence

The Arabic version of Aristotle's ''Poetics'' that influenced the

was translated from a Greek manuscript dated to some time prior to the year 700. This manuscript, translated from Greek to Syriac, is independent of the currently-accepted 11th-century source designated ''Paris 1741''. The Syriac-language source used for the Arabic translations departed widely in vocabulary from the original ''Poetics'' and it initiated a misinterpretation of Aristotelian thought that continued through the Middle Ages. The scholars who published significant commentaries on Aristotle's ''Poetics'' included

Avicenna Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...

Al-Farabi Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi ( fa, ابونصر محمد فارابی), ( ar, أبو نصر محمد الفارابي), known in the Western world, West as Alpharabius; (c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951)PDF version was a reno ...

and

. Many of these interpretations sought to use Aristotelian theory to impose morality on the Arabic poetic tradition. In particular, Averroes added a moral dimension to the ''Poetics'' by interpreting tragedy as the art of praise and comedy as the art of blame. Averroes' interpretation of the ''Poetics'' was accepted by the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

, where it reflected the "prevailing notions of poetry" into the 16th century.

Giorgio Valla Giorgio Valla (Latin: ''Georgius Valla''; Piacenza 1447–Venice 1500) was an Italian academic, mathematician, philologist and translator. Life He was born in Piacenza in 1447. He was the son of Andrea Valla and Cornelia Corvini. At the age of f ...

's 1498 Latin translation of Aristotle's text (the first to be published) was included with the 1508 Aldine printing of the Greek original as part of an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of ''Rhetores graeci''. By the early decades of the sixteenth century, vernacular versions of Aristotle's ''Poetics'' appeared, culminating in

Lodovico Castelvetro Lodovico Castelvetro (ca. 1505–1571) was an important figure in the development of neo-classicism, especially in drama. It was his reading of Aristotle that led to a widespread adoption of a tight version of the Three Unities, as a dramatic ...

's Italian editions of 1570 and 1576. Italian culture produced the great Renaissance commentators on Aristotle's ''Poetics'', and in the

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period it was Emanuele Tesauro who, with his ''Cannocchiale aristotelico'', re-presented to the world of post-

Galilean Generically, a Galilean (; he, גלילי; grc, Γαλιλαίων; la, Galilaeos) is an inhabitant of Galilee, a region of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). The New Testament notes that the Apostle Peter's accent gave him ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Aristotle's poetic theories as the sole key to approaching the

human sciences Human science (or human sciences in the plural), also known as humanistic social science and moral science (or moral sciences), studies the philosophical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand our ...

. Recent scholarship has challenged whether Aristotle focuses on literary theory per se (given that not one poem exists in the treatise) or whether he focuses instead on dramatic musical theory that only has language as one of the elements. Destrée (2016); Scott (2018). The lost second book of Aristotle's ''Poetics'' is a core plot element (and the “

MacGuffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for ...

”) in

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

's novel ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( it, Il nome della rosa ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, ...

''.

Core terms

* ''

Mimesis Mimesis (; grc, μίμησις, ''mīmēsis'') is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including ''imitatio'', imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act ...

'' or "imitation", "representation," or "expression," given that, e.g., music is a form of mimesis, and often there is no music in the real world to be "imitated" or "represented." * ''

Hubris Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The term ''arrogance'' comes from the Latin ', mean ...

'' or '' Hybris'', "pride" * ''

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

'' or, "retribution" * ''

Hamartia The term ''hamartia'' derives from the Greek , from ''hamartánein'', which means "to miss the mark" or "to err". It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. The term is often said to depic ...

'' or "miscalculation" (understood in Romanticism as "tragic flaw") * ''

Anagnorisis Anagnorisis (; grc, ἀναγνώρισις) is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery. Anagnorisis originally meant recognition in its Greek context, not only of a person but also of what that person stood ...

'' or "recognition", "identification" * ''

Peripeteia Peripeteia ( el, περιπέτεια) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point. The term is primarily used with reference to works of literature; its anglicized form is peripety. Aristotle's view Aristotle, in his ''Poetics'', defines ...

'' or "reversal" * ''

Catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...

'' or, variously, "purgation", "purification", "clarification" * ''

Mythos Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

'' or "plot," defined in Ch 6 explicitly as the "structure of actions." * ''

Ethos Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...

'' or "character" * ''

Dianoia Dianoia (Greek: διάνοια, ''ratio'' in Latin) is a term used by Plato for a type of thinking, specifically about mathematical and technical subjects. Dianoia is the human cognitive capacity for, process of, or result of ''discursive'' thinkin ...

'' or "thought", "theme" * ''

Lexis Lexis may refer to: * Lexis (linguistics), the total bank of words and phrases of a particular language, the artifact of which is known as a lexicon *Lexis (Aristotle), a complete group of words in a language *LexisNexis, part of the LexisNexis onl ...

'' or "diction", "speech" * ''

Melos Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The ''Venus d ...

'', or "melody"; also "music-dance" (melos meaning primarily "limb") * ''

Opsis :''See also the suffix -opsis.'' Opsis ( grc, ὄψις) is the Greek word for spectacle in the theatre and performance. Its first use has been traced back to Aristotle's '' Poetics.'' It is now taken up by theatre critics, historians, and theor ...

'' or "spectacle"

Editions – commentaries – translations

* ''Aristotle's Treatise on Poetry'', transl. with notes by Th. Twining, I-II, London ²1812 * ''Aristotelis De arte poetica liber'', tertiis curis recognovit et adnotatione critica auxit I. Vahlen, Lipsiae ³1885 * ''Aristotle on the Art of Poetry''. A revised Text with Critical Introduction, Translation and Commentary by I. Bywater, Oxford 1909 * ''Aristoteles: Περὶ ποιητικῆς'', mit Einleitung, Text und adnotatio critica, exegetischem Kommentar ..von A. Gudeman, Berlin/Leipzig 1934 * ''Ἀριστοτέλους Περὶ ποιητικῆς'', μετάφρασις ὑπὸ Σ. Μενάρδου, Εἰσαγωγή, κείμενον καὶ ἑρμηνεία ὑπὸ Ἰ. Συκουτρῆ, (Ἀκαδ. Ἀθηνῶν, Ἑλληνική Βιβλιοθήκη 2), Ἀθῆναι 1937 * ''Aristotele: Poetica'', introduzione, testo e commento di A. Rostagni, Torino ₂1945 * ''Aristotle's Poetics: The Argument'', by G. F. Else, Harvard 1957 * ''Aristotelis De arte poetica liber'', recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit R. Kassel, Oxonii 1965 * ''Aristotle: Poetics'', Introduction, Commentary and Appendixes by D. W. Lucas, Oxford 1968 * ''Aristotle: Poetics, with Tractatus Coislinianus'', reconstruction of Poetics II, and the Fragments of the On the Poets, transl. by R. Janko, Indianapolis/Cambridge 1987 * ''Aristotle: Poetics'', edited and translated by St. Halliwell, (Loeb Classical Library), Harvard 1995 * ''Aristote: Poétique'', trad. J. Hardy, Gallimard, collection tel, Paris, 1996. * ''Aristotle: Poetics'', translated with an introduction and notes by M. Heath, (Penguin) London 1996 * ''Aristoteles: Poetik'', (Werke in deutscher Übersetzung 5) übers. von A. Schmitt, Darmstadt 2008 * ''Aristotle: Poetics'', editio maior of the Greek text with historical introductions and philological commentaries by L. Tarán and D. Goutas, (Mnemosyne Supplements 338) Leiden/Boston 2012

Other English translations

* Thomas Twining, 1789 *

Samuel Henry Butcher Samuel Henry Butcher DCL LLD (; 16 April 1850 – 29 December 1910) was an Anglo-Irish classical scholar and politician. Life Samuel Henry Butcher was born in Dublin to Samuel Butcher, Bishop of Meath and Mary Leahy. He was educated at M ...

, 1902
full text
*

Ingram Bywater Ingram Bywater, FBA (27 June 1840 – 18 December 1914) was an English classical scholar. He was born in Islington, London and first educated first at University College School and King's College School, then at Queen's College, Oxford. He obta ...

, 1909
full text
*

William Hamilton Fyfe Sir William Hamilton Fyfe (9 July 1878 – 13 June 1965) was an English and Canadian classics scholar, educator, and educational administrator. He served as the 10th Principal of Queen's University, Ontario, from 1930 to 1936, and was t ...

, 1926
full text
* L. J. Potts, 1953 * G. M. A. Grube, 1958 * Gerald F. Else, 1967 (University of Michigan Press) * Leon Golden and O.B. Hardison, 1968 (Florida State UP) *

Richard Janko Richard Charles Murray Janko (born May 30, 1955) is an Anglo-American classical scholar and the Gerald Else, Gerald F. Else Distinguished University Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan.

, 1987 * Stephen Halliwell, 1987 * Hippocrates G. Apostle, 1990 * Stephen Halliwell, 1995 (Loeb Classical Library) * Malcolm Heath, 1996 (Penguin Classics) *

George Whalley George Whalley (25 July 1915 – 27 May 1983) was a scholar, poet, naval officer and secret intelligence agent during World War II, CBC broadcaster, musician, biographer, and translator. He taught English at Queen's University in Kingston, On ...

, 1997 (posthumous, McGill-Queen's University Press) * Seth Benardete and Michael Davis, 2002 (St. Augustine's Press) * Joe Sachs, 2006 (Focus Publishing) * Anthony Kenny, 2013 (Oxford World's Classics) * Rune Myrland, 2018 (Storyknot)

Notes

References

Sources

* Belfiore, Elizabeth, S., ''Tragic Pleasures: Aristotle on Plot and Emotion''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP (1992). * Bremer, J.M., ''Hamartia: Tragic Error in the Poetics of Aristotle and the Greek Tragedy'', Amsterdam 1969 * Butcher, Samuel H., ''Aristotle's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art'', New York ⁴1911 * Carroll, M., ''Aristotle's Poetics, c. xxv, Ιn the Light of the Homeric Scholia'', Baltimore 1895 * Cave, Terence, ''Recognitions. A Study in Poetics'', Oxford 1988 * Carlson, Marvin, ''Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present''. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP (1993). . *Destrée, Pierre, "Aristotle on the Power of Music in Tragedy," Greek & Roman Musical Studies, Vol. 4, Issue 2, 2016 * Dukore, Bernard F., ''Dramatic Theory and Criticism: Greeks to Grotowski''. Florence, KY: Heinle & Heinle (1974). * Downing, E., "oἷον ψυχή: Αn Εssay on Aristotle's muthos", ''Classical Antiquity'' 3 (1984) 164-78 * Else, Gerald F., ''Plato and Aristotle on Poetry'', Chapel Hill/London 1986 * * * * Halliwell, Stephen, ''Aristotle's Poetics'', Chapel Hill 1986. * Halliwell, Stephen, ''The Aesthetics of Mimesis. Ancient Texts and Modern Problems'', Princeton/Oxford 2002. * Hardison, O. B., Jr., "Averroes", in ''Medieval Literary Criticism: Translations and Interpretations''. New York: Ungar (1987), 81–88. * Hiltunen, Ari, ''Aristotle in Hollywood''. Intellect (2001). . * Ηöffe, O. (ed.), ''Aristoteles: Poetik'', (Klassiker auslegen, Band 38) Berlin 2009 * Janko, R., ''Aristotle on Comedy'', London 1984 * Jones, John, ''On Aristotle and Greek Tragedy'', London 1971 * Lanza, D. (ed.), ''La poetica di Aristotele e la sua storia'', Pisa 2002 * Leonhardt, J., ''Phalloslied und Dithyrambos. Aristoteles über den Ursprung des griechischen Dramas''. Heidelberg 1991 * Lienhard, K., ''Entstehung und Geschichte von Aristoteles ‘Poetik’'', Zürich 1950 * Lord, C., "Aristotle's History of Poetry", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 104 (1974) 195–228 * Lucas, F. L., ''Tragedy: Serious Drama in Relation to Aristotle's "Poetics"''. London: Hogarth (1957). New York: Collier. . London: Chatto. * Luserke, M. (ed.), ''Die aristotelische Katharsis. Dokumente ihrer Deutung im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert'', Hildesheim/Zürich/N. York 1991 * Morpurgo- Tagliabue, G., ''Linguistica e stilistica di Aristotele'', Rome 1967 * Rorty, Amélie Oksenberg (ed.), ''Essays on Aristotle's Poetics'', Princeton 1992 * Schütrumpf, E., "Traditional Elements in the Concept of Hamartia in Aristotle's Poetics", ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 92 (1989) 137–56 *Scott, Gregory L., ''Aristotle on Dramatic Musical Composition The Real Role of Literature, Catharsis, Music and Dance in the Poetics'' (2018b), * Scott, Gregory, "Aristotle on Dramatic Musical Composition," in ''Ancient Philosophy'' Volume 39, Issue 1, Spring 2019, 248–252, https://doi.org/10.5840/ancientphil201939117 * Sen, R. K., ''Mimesis'', Calcutta: Syamaprasad College, 2001 * Sen, R. K., ''Aesthetic Enjoyment: Its Background in Philosophy and Medicine'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1966 * Sifakis, Gr. M., ''Aristotle on the Function of Tragic Poetry'', Heraklion 2001. * Söffing, W., ''Deskriptive und normative Bestimmungen in der Poetik des Aristoteles'', Amsterdam 1981 * Sörbom, G., ''Mimesis and Art'', Uppsala 1966 * Solmsen, F., "The Origins and Methods of Aristotle's Poetics", ''Classical Quarterly'' 29 (1935) 192–201 * Tsitsiridis, S., "Mimesis and Understanding. An Interpretation of Aristotle's ''Poetics'' 4.1448^b4-19", ''Classical Quarterly'' 55 (2005) 435–46 * Vahlen, Johannes, ''Beiträge zu Aristoteles’ Poetik'', Leipzig/Berlin 1914 * Vöhler, M. – Seidensticker B. (edd.), ''Katharsiskonzeptionen vor Aristoteles: zum kulturellen Hintergrund des Tragödiensatzes'', Berlin 2007

External links

* librivox.or
audio recording

''Aristotle's Poetics'': Perseus Digital Library edition
from Hodoi elektronikai
Critical edition
(

Oxford Classical Texts Oxford Classical Texts (OCT), or Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, is a series of books published by Oxford University Press. It contains texts of ancient Greek and Latin literature, such as Homer's ''Odyssey'' and Virgil's ''Aeneid'', ...

) by

Seven parallel translations of ''Poetics'': Russian, English, French

Aristotle: ''Poetics''
entry by Joe Sachs in the

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''IEP'') is a scholarly online encyclopedia, dealing with philosophy, philosophical topics, and philosophers. The IEP combines open access publication with peer reviewed publication of original pape ...

* Notes of

Friedrich Sylburg Friedrich Sylburg (1536 – 17 February 1596) was a German classical scholar. The son of a farmer, he was born at Wetter near Marburg. He studied at Marburg, Jena, Geneva, and, lastly, Paris, where his teacher was Henry Estienne (Stephanus), to ...

(1536-1596) in a critical edition (parallel Greek and Latin
available at Google Books
* Analysis and discussion in the

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...