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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Poetics, by Aristotle
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Title: Poetics
Author: Aristotle
Translator: S. H. Butcher
Release Date: November 3, 2008 [EBook #1974]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK POETICS ***
Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger
THE POETICS OF
ARISTOTLE
By Aristotle
A Translation By S. H. Butcher
[Transcriber's Annotations and Conventions: the
translator left intact some Greek words to illustrate a
specific point of the original discourse. In this
transcription, in order to retain the accuracy of this
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text, those words are rendered by spelling out each
Greek letter individually, such as {alpha beta gamma
delta...}. The reader can distinguish these words by
the enclosing braces {}. Where multiple words occur
together, they are separated by the "/" symbol for
clarity. Readers who do not speak or read the Greek
language will usually neither gain nor lose
understanding by skipping over these passages.
Those who understand Greek, however, may gain a
deeper insight to the original meaning and
distinctions expressed by Aristotle.]
Contents
Analysis of Contents
ARISTOTLE'S POETICS
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
'Imitation' the common principle of the Arts of Poetry.
The Objects of Imitation.
The Manner of Imitation.
The Origin and Development of Poetry.
Definition of the Ludicrous, and a brief sketch of the rise of
Comedy.
Definition of Tragedy.
The Plot must be a Whole.
The Plot must be a Unity.
(Plot continued.) Dramatic Unity.
(Plot continued.) Definitions of Simple and Complex Plots.
(Plot continued.) Reversal of the Situation, Recognition, and
Tragic or disastrous Incident defined and explained.
The 'quantitative parts' of Tragedy defined.
(Plot continued.) What constitutes Tragic Action.
(Plot continued.) The tragic emotions of pity and fear should
spring out of the Plot itself.
The element of Character in Tragedy.
(Plot continued.) Recognition: its various kinds, with examples.
Practical rules for the Tragic Poet.
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XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
XXV
XXVI
Further rules for the Tragic Poet.
Thought, or the Intellectual element, and Diction in Tragedy.
Diction, or Language in general.
Poetic Diction.
(Poetic Diction continued.) How Poetry combines elevation of
language with perspicuity.
Epic Poetry.
(Epic Poetry continued.) Further points of agreement with Tragedy.
Critical Objections brought against Poetry, and the principles on
which they are to be answered.
A general estimate of the comparative worth of Epic Poetry and Tragedy.
ARISTOTLE'S POETICS
I
I propose to treat of Poetry in itself and of its various kinds, noting the
essential quality of each; to inquire into the structure of the plot as requisite to a
good poem; into the number and nature of the parts of which a poem is
composed; and similarly into whatever else falls within the same inquiry.
Following, then, the order of nature, let us begin with the principles which come
first.
Epic poetry and Tragedy, Comedy also and Dithyrambic: poetry, and the music
of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all in their general
conception modes of imitation. They differ, however, from one: another in three
respects,—the medium, the objects, the manner or mode of imitation, being in
each case distinct.
For as there are persons who, by conscious art or mere habit, imitate and
represent various objects through the medium of colour and form, or again by the
voice; so in the arts above mentioned, taken as a whole, the imitation is produced
by rhythm, language, or 'harmony,' either singly or combined.
Thus in the music of the flute and of the lyre, 'harmony' and rhythm alone are
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End of Document
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