Aristotle's
Poetics (
Ποιητικός, c.335 BC)
[1] aims to give an account of what he calls 'poetry' (for him, the term includes the
lyric, the
epos, and the
drama). Aristotle attempts to explain 'poetry' through 'first principles' and by discerning its different genres and component elements. His analysis of
tragedy constitutes the core of his discussion.
[2] "Although Aristotle's
Poetics is universally acknowledged in Western critical tradition," Marvin Carlson explains, "almost every detail about his seminal work has aroused divergent opinions."
[3]
Core terms
- Mimesis or 'imitation', 'representation'
- Katharsis or, variously, 'purgation', 'purification', 'clarification'
- Peripeteia or 'reversal'
- Anagnorisis or 'recognition'
- Hamartia or 'miscalculation' (understood in Romanticism as 'tragic flaw')
|
- Mythos or 'plot'
- Ethos or 'character'
- Dianoia or 'thought', 'theme'
- Lexis or 'diction', 'speech'
- Melos or 'melody'
- Opsis or 'spectacle'
|
Content of the work
Aristotle taught that poetry could be divided into three genres:
Tragedy,
Comedy, and Epic verse.
Poetics focuses mainly on tragedy, while a second work by Aristotle focusing on comedy has been lost. It has been speculated that the
Tractatus coislinianus was an outline of his lectures on the subject, or notes from a philosopher in the Aristotelian tradition.
The surviving text of
Poetics is most likely not the entire text. The existing text was most likely
transcribed by one of his students. Evidence suggests the existence of a more complete work. Many of Aristotle's texts were transcribed by his students. The clearest example of this is
Nicomachean Ethics which is named after
Nicomachus who is credited with editing the text.
[4] However, it is also possible that the name of the "Nicomachean Ethics" derives from Aristotle's father, Nicomachus, whom he credits for much of his early understanding of ethics.
The centerpiece of Aristotle's surviving work is his examination of
tragedy:
- :Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper catharsis of these emotions.[5]
This work combined with the
Rhetoric make up Aristotle's works on
aesthetics.
Influence of the work
Poetics was not influential in its time, and was generally understood to coincide with the more famous
Rhetoric. This is because in Aristotle's time, rhetoric and poetry were not as separated as they later became and were in a sense different versions of the same thing. In later times,
Poetics became hugely influential. The conception of tragedy during the
Enlightenment especially owes much to
Poetics.
The Arabic version of Aristotle’s Poetics that influenced the Middle Ages was translated from a Greek manuscript dating from before the year 700. This manuscript was transmitted from Greek to Syriac and is independent of the currently accepted eleventh-century source designated “Paris 1741.”
The Syriac 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.
[6]
There are two different Arabic interpretations of Aristotle’s Poetics in commentaries by
Abu Nasr al-Farabi and
Averroes (i.e., Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd).
Al-Farabi’s treatise endeavors to establish poetry as a logical faculty of expression, giving it validity in the Islamic world. Averroes’ commentary attempts to harmonize his assessment of the Poetics with al-Farabi’s, but he is ultimately unable to reconcile his ascription of moral purpose to poetry with al-Farabi’s logical interpretation.
However, Averroes' interpretation of the Poetics was accepted by the West because of its relevance to their humanistic viewpoints, and at times, the philosophers of the Middle Ages even preferred Averroes’ commentary over Aristotle's actual meaning. This resulted in the survival of Aristotle’s Poetics through the Arabic literary tradition.
In popular culture
The
Poetics -- both the existent first book and the lost second book -- figure prominently in
Umberto Eco's novel
The Name of the Rose.
Notes
1.
^ Dukore (1974, 31).
2.
^ Poetics: 1447a13
3.
^ Carlson (1993, 16).
4.
^ [1]
5.
^ From Chapter 6 of
Poetics:1449b24-29, SH Butcher transl.
6.
^ Hardison, 81.
References
Primary sources
In Greek
In English translation
Other translation
Seven parallel translations of Poetics: russian, english, french
Secondary sources
- Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801481546.
- Dukore, Bernard F. 1974. Dramatic Theory and Criticism: Greeks to Grotowski. Florence, KY: Heinle & Heinle. ISBN 0030911524.
- Ari Hiltunen, 2001, Aristotle in Hollywood, Intellect Books, ISBN 1-84150-060-7
- Hardison, O.B., Jr. “Averroes.” Medieval Literary Criticism: Translations and Interpretations. New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co. 1987. 81-88.
Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.
..... Click the link for more information.
Lyric poetry refers to either poetry that has the form and musical quality of a song, or a usually short poem that expresses personal feelings, which may or may not be set to music.
..... Click the link for more information.
For other meanings of epic, see .
The
epic is long, exalted narrative poetry, generally concerning a serious subject and details the heroic deeds and events important to a culture or nation.
..... Click the link for more information. Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance.[1] It is derived from a Greek word meaning "action" (Classical Greek δράμα), derived from "to do" (Classical Greek
..... Click the link for more information.
In a figurative sense a tragedy (from Classical Greek τραγωδία, "song for the goat", see below) is any event with a sad and unfortunate outcome, but the term also applies specifically in Western culture to a form of drama defined by
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.
Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details.
..... Click the link for more information.
Catharsis (Κάθαρσις) is a Greek word meaning "purification" or "cleansing" derived from the ancient Greek gerund καθαίρειν transliterated as
..... Click the link for more information.
Peripeteia (Greek, περιπετεῖα) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point. The term is primarily used with reference to works of literature.
..... Click the link for more information.
Anagnorisis (IPA: /ˌænəgˈnɒrɨsɨs/; ancient Greek: ἀναγνώρισις), also known as discovery,
..... Click the link for more information.
Hamartia (Ancient Greek: ἁμαρτία) is a word most famously used in Aristotle's Poetics, where it is usually translated as a mistake or error in judgment.
..... Click the link for more information.
Ethos (ἦθος, ἔθος) (plurals: ethe, ethea) is a Greek word originally meaning "accustomed place" (as in
..... Click the link for more information.
In a figurative sense a tragedy (from Classical Greek τραγωδία, "song for the goat", see below) is any event with a sad and unfortunate outcome, but the term also applies specifically in Western culture to a form of drama defined by
..... Click the link for more information.
In common, present day usage the word comedy almost always refers to the creation or presentation of humor with the intention of provoking laughter. Most comedy contains variations on the elements of surprise, incongruity, conflict, repetitiveness, and the effect of opposite expectations,
..... Click the link for more information.
The Tractatus coislinianus is a manuscript outlining a theory of comedy in the tradition of the Poetics of Aristotle. The Tractatus states that comedy invokes laughter and pleasure, thus purging those emotions (catharsis), in a manner parallel to the description of tragedy
..... Click the link for more information.
Transcription is the conversion into written, typewritten or printed form, of a spoken language source, such as the proceedings of a court hearing. It can also mean the conversion of a written source into another medium, such as scanning books and making digital versions.
..... Click the link for more information.
Nicomachean Ethics (sometimes spelled 'Nichomachean'), or Ta Ethika, is a work by Aristotle on virtue and moral character which plays a prominent role in defining Aristotelian ethics.
..... Click the link for more information.
Nicomachus (Gr. Νικομαχος) (c. 60 – c. 120) was an important mathematician in the ancient world and is best known for his works Introduction to Arithmetic (Arithmetike eisagoge) and The Manual of Harmonics
..... Click the link for more information.
In a figurative sense a tragedy (from Classical Greek τραγωδία, "song for the goat", see below) is any event with a sad and unfortunate outcome, but the term also applies specifically in Western culture to a form of drama defined by
..... Click the link for more information.
Catharsis (Κάθαρσις) is a Greek word meaning "purification" or "cleansing" derived from the ancient Greek gerund καθαίρειν transliterated as
..... Click the link for more information.
Rhetoric is an ancient Greek treatise on the art of persuasion, dating from the fourth century BCE. In Greek, it is titled Ἡ Τέχνη Ῥητορική , transliterated as Ars Rhetorica.
..... Click the link for more information.
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is a branch of philosophy, a species of value theory or axiology, which is the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. Aesthetics is closely associated with the philosophy of art.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Enlightenment (French: Siècle des Lumières; German: Aufklärung; Italian: Illuminismo; Portuguese:
..... Click the link for more information.
Abū Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Fārābi<ref name="Iranica" /> (Persian: محمد فارابی) or Abū Nasr al-Fārābi
..... Click the link for more information.
Ibn-Rushd (Arabic: ابن رشد), known as Averroes (1126 – December 10, 1198), was an Andalusian-Arab philosopher, physician, and polymath: a master of philosophy, Islamic law, astronomy, geography, mathematics, medicine, physics,
..... Click the link for more information.
Umberto Eco (born January 5, 1932) is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa) and his many essays.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Name of the Rose
Author Umberto Eco
Original title Il nome della rosa
Country Italy
Language Italian
Genre(s) Historical novel, Mystery
Publisher Harcourt (1983)
Publication date 1980
..... Click the link for more information.
Thomas Twining (born January 8, 1735 in Twickenham, London, England; died August 6, 1804 at Colchester) was an English classical scholar.
The son of Daniel Twining, tea merchant of London, he was originally intended for a commercial life, but his distaste for it and his
..... Click the link for more information.
Samuel Henry Butcher, MP (born 16 April 1850) Dublin born classical scholar and, in his final years, an English politician. His many publications included, in collaboration with Dr Andrew Lang, a prose translation of Homer’s Odyssey which appeared in 1879.
..... Click the link for more information.
Ingram Bywater (27 June 1840–1914) was an English classical scholar.
He was born in London. He was educated at University College School and King's College School, then at Queens College, Oxford.
..... Click the link for more information.