Poetics

1. Poetry is Imitation: Likenesses, Not Just Copies

In general, two causes seem likely to have given rise to the art of poetry, both of them natural.

Human Instincts. Aristotle posits that poetry arises from two fundamental human instincts: imitation and the pleasure derived from it. This isn't about creating perfect replicas, but rather about capturing the essence of something through likeness. This instinct is natural to humans from childhood, differentiating us from other animals.

Beyond Mere Replication. Imitation, for Aristotle, goes beyond simple copying. It involves recognizing the relationship between the likeness and its object, engaging our capacity for understanding and providing pleasure. This understanding is rudimentary, but it connects poetry to basic human instincts.

Medium, Object, and Mode. Aristotle identifies three ways poems can be distinguished: medium (rhythm, language, melody), object (admirable or inferior agents), and mode (narrative or dramatic). These distinctions provide a framework for analyzing different forms of poetry and understanding their unique characteristics.

2. Tragedy's Essence: Action, Completeness, and Magnitude

Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete and possesses magnitude; in language made pleasurable, each of its species separated in different parts; performed by actors, not through narration; effecting through pity and fear the purification of such emotions.

Defining Tragedy. Tragedy, according to Aristotle, is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete, and possesses magnitude. It uses pleasurable language, is performed by actors, and evokes pity and fear, leading to a purification (katharsis) of these emotions. This definition lays the groundwork for his analysis of tragedy's constituent parts.

Completeness and Magnitude. A tragic plot must be complete, having a beginning, middle, and end, with events connected by necessity or probability. It must also possess magnitude, being neither too short to allow for a change in fortune nor too long to be grasped by the audience.

Six Component Parts. Aristotle identifies six key components of tragedy: plot, character, diction, reasoning, spectacle, and lyric poetry. These elements work together to create the overall tragic effect, with plot holding the primary position.

3. Plot Primacy: Action Over Character

Tragedy is not an imitation of persons, but of actions and of life.

Action Determines Fortune. Aristotle argues that tragedy is primarily an imitation of action, not of persons. Success and failure, well-being and ill-being, depend on action, making the plot the most essential element.

Character as Secondary. While character is important, it is secondary to plot. A tragedy can exist without a strong depiction of character, but it cannot exist without a structured sequence of events. The events, therefore, are what tragedy is there for.

Emotional Impact. The most important devices for swaying emotion, such as reversals and recognitions, are parts of the plot. This further emphasizes the primacy of plot in achieving tragedy's intended effect of arousing pity and fear.

4. Complex Plots: Reversal, Recognition, and Astonishment

These effects occur above all when things come about contrary to expectation but because of one another.

Simple vs. Complex Plots. Aristotle distinguishes between simple and complex plots. Simple plots involve a change of fortune without reversal or recognition, while complex plots include one or both of these elements.

Reversal and Recognition. Reversal (peripeteia) is a change to the opposite in the actions being performed, while recognition (anagnorisis) is a change from ignorance to knowledge. Both elements contribute to the astonishment and emotional impact of a complex plot.

Astonishment and Connection. Astonishment is a desirable element in a tragic plot, but it must be combined with necessary or probable connection. Events should be surprising, yet also follow logically from what has come before.

5. The Best Tragic Plots: Error, Not Wickedness

We are left, therefore, with the person intermediate between these.

Avoiding Extremes. Aristotle argues that the best tragic plots do not involve the downfall of exceptionally virtuous or wicked characters. The fall of a virtuous person evokes disgust, while the fall of a wicked person evokes satisfaction, neither of which are tragic emotions.

The Tragic Hero's Error. The ideal tragic hero is someone between these extremes, broadly virtuous but prone to error (hamartia). Their misfortune is not deserved, evoking pity, but it is also understandable, avoiding moral outrage.

Ignorance and Mitigation. Hamartia includes errors made in ignorance or through misjudgment, as well as moral errors that do not imply wickedness. Mitigating circumstances can make an error understandable, even if it has disastrous consequences.

6. Tragedy's Pleasure: Katharsis and Emotional Engagement

The poet should produce the pleasure which comes from pity and fear, and should do so by means of imitation.

Characteristic Pleasure. Tragedy should aim for its characteristic pleasure, which comes from pity and fear, achieved through imitation. This distinguishes it from other forms of poetry and other pleasures that tragedy might arouse.

Katharsis of Emotions. Tragedy effects through pity and fear the purification (katharsis) of such emotions. This katharsis is not about getting rid of emotions, but about restoring them to a balanced state by discharging excess tendencies.

Emotional Experience. The experience of tragic emotion is pleasurable in itself. This is a paradox, since pity and fear are forms of distress, but it is a paradox with which the Greeks were familiar.

7. Character in Tragedy: Goodness, Appropriateness, Likeness, and Consistency

As was said earlier, speech or action will possess character if it discloses the nature of a deliberate choice; the character is good if the choice is good.

Four Requirements. Aristotle specifies four requirements for character in tragedy: goodness, appropriateness, likeness, and consistency. These qualities ensure that the characters are believable and contribute to the overall tragic effect.

Moral Goodness. Characters should be morally good, or at least not unnecessarily bad. Even characters of low status, such as women or slaves, should be good of their kind, adhering to status-related norms of behavior.

Likeness and Idealization. Characters should be like us, but also better than we are. They should retain some imperfections, making them relatable, while also exhibiting a degree of idealization, making them admirable.

8. Epic vs. Tragedy: Scale, Structure, and Mode

So tragedy surpasses epic in all these respects, and also in artistic effect (since they should not produce any arbitrary pleasure but the one specified); clearly, then, because it achieves its purpose more effectively than epic, tragedy must be superior.

Plot Structure. Both epic and tragedy should have unified plots with a beginning, middle, and end. However, epic is more tolerant of irrationality because the action is narrated, not seen.

Scale and Mode. Epic is unrestricted in time and uses a narrative mode, while tragedy is more concentrated and uses a dramatic mode. Tragedy's dramatic mode allows for a more direct and immediate imitation of action.

Superiority of Tragedy. Aristotle argues that tragedy is superior to epic because it has everything that epic does, plus music and spectacle. It is also more concentrated and achieves its purpose more effectively.

9. Comedy's Domain: Inferior People and Laughable Errors

Comedy is … an imitation of inferior people.

Inferior Agents. Comedy is an imitation of inferior people, both morally and socially. Its characters are often lowly persons or those who behave badly, aiming to evoke laughter.

Laughable Errors. Comedy focuses on errors or disgraces that do not involve pain or destruction. The laughable is a species of what is disgraceful, but it is not tragic.

Plot Structure. Comedy benefits from universalized stories and plots, linking jokes and comic routines into a connected sequence. This contrasts with lampoon-like comedy, which consists of disjointed jokes with no necessary connection.

Last updated: March 17, 2025