Knowra Aristotle's Poetics Aristotle's Poetics A treatise by Aristotle analyzing poetry and drama, especially tragedy and its effects. It is the earliest surviving work of literary theory in the Western tradition.
Mimesis : The representation or imitation of actions in art and literature. Aristotle treats poetic representation of human action as a defining feature of poetry.
Tragic plot : A sequence of consequential actions organized into a coherent tragic whole. Aristotle judges tragedy chiefly by the design and unity of its plot.
Ancient Greek theatre : The performance traditions of ancient Greece, including tragedy, comedy, festivals, and dramatic competition. The Poetics analyzes genres shaped by the performance culture of Greek theatre.
Neoclassicism : A movement that looked to classical antiquity for models of artistic form, restraint, and order. Neoclassical critics made influential use of rules they associated with Aristotle’s Poetics.
Mythos : The arrangement of incidents that forms the plot of a tragedy. Aristotle calls plot the most important element of tragedy.
Pity : An emotion of concern for someone who suffers undeserved misfortune. Pity is one of the emotions tragedy arouses in Aristotle’s account.
Aristotle : An ancient Greek philosopher whose works range across logic, nature, ethics, politics, and art. Aristotle composed the treatise as part of his wider philosophical study.
French neoclassical theatre : A seventeenth-century French dramatic tradition emphasizing decorum, plausibility, and formal constraint. Its theorists adapted Aristotelian ideas while codifying dramatic rules beyond the treatise itself.
Hamartia : An error or failing that contributes to a protagonist’s reversal of fortune. The term helps explain how a tragic protagonist can fall without being wholly vicious.
Fear : An emotion arising from perceived danger or the prospect of suffering. Tragedy evokes fear by presenting misfortune as something that could happen to people like us.
Show all 24