Poetics

Aristotle's Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. Aristotle does this by attempting to explain poetry through first principles (1447a13), and by classifying poetry into its different genres and component parts. The centerpiece of Aristotle's work is his examination of tragedy. This occurs in Chapter 6 of "Poetics:"

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:"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 purgation of these emotions." (1449b24-29, SH Butcher transl.)

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He goes on to define the major characteristics of Greek dramatic structure.

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This work combined with the Rhetoric make up Aristotle's works on aesthetics.

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Aristotle: Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης...

Poetry: Poetry (ancient Greek: ????? (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user...

Tragedy: This article refers to the literary work. For the punk band see Tragedy (band)...