Poetics (Penguin Classics)

Aristotle begins by talking about the origins of art in imitation: Artists convey their sense of the world through imitating what they see and feel around them. This is accomplished both in visual art, and for a more thorough understanding of human events, in poetry. Aristotle goes on to explain the history of literature: how encomium(praises) and invective(curses) give rise respectively to epic and lampoons. These then pave the way for tragedy and comedy. In terms of these basic steps, in the later part of the "Poetics," Aristotle gives definitions to parts of speech, to wit, nouns, verbs, etc., and how they are used in different forms of speech, and in various contexts within the genres he outlines.

Spending the greater part of the work on an investigation of tragedy, Aristotle examines the component parts of what he takes to be the best kinds of tragedies. In terms of quality, the work must be complete, showing the causal relation of events and the causal reactions of characters to those events. It should have a plot wherein a character or characters experience a reversal of fortune or a recognition that leads to the conclusion of that plot.

Plot is essential to Aristotle, and, to appropriate Heath's translation, 'universalizes' the "Poetics" to encompass even those prose works for which Aristotle himself admits to have no definition. We can apply his standards to short stories, novels, and so on. Aristotle's notions of unity, completeness, and magnitude are the conventions to which and against which all Western literature and criticism can be seen to either conform to or struggle against. Without Aristotle's strict definitions of tragedy, comedy, unity, and so on, I can scarcely imagine how we would have notions of mock-tragedy, tragi-comedy, or even the modern or post-modern literary forms. In short, the "Poetics" is absolutely crucial reading for anyone who reads anything.


Penguin Classics: Aristotle's Poetics   February 18, 2006
John A. Reuscher (Washington, D.C. United States)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

I teach a course on Ethics and Aesthetics in Aristotle to graduate students. This translation and its introduction are the best for my purpose. Both are clear, crisp, and readable. The translation is reliable and the endnotes are very helpful. I would highly rcommend this edition to anyone who has a serious interest in either Aristotle or aesthetics that does not rise to a level that requires a reading knowledge of the Greek text.


The earliest textbook for dramatists   May 31, 2002
A.J. (Maryland)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

The "Poetics" contains Aristotle's observations on what elements and characteristics comprised the best tragedies based on the ones he'd presumably seen or read. He divides "poetry," which could be defined as imitations of human experience, into tragedy, comedy, and epic, and explains the differences between these forms, although comedy is not covered in detail and tragedy gets the most treatment. For one thing, tragedy, he states, seeks to imitate the matters of superior people, while comedy seeks to imitate the matters of inferior people.

To Aristotle, the most important constituent of tragedy is plot, and successful plots require that the sequence of events be necessary (required to happen to advance the story logically and rationally) and probable (likely to happen given the circumstances). Any plot that does not feature such a necessary and probable sequence of events is deemed faulty. Reversals and recognitions are plot devices by which tragedy sways emotions, particularly those that induce "pity and fear," as is astonishment, which is the effect produced when the unexpected happens. He discusses the best kinds of tragic plots, the kinds of characters that are required, and how their fortunes should change over the course of the plot for optimum tragic effect.

With regard to poetic language or "diction," he emphasizes the importance of figurative language (metaphor, analogy) in poetry and the importance of balancing figurative with literal language. It is his opinion that metaphoric invention is a natural ability and not something that can be taught. Of all the poets Aristotle mentions who exemplify the ideals proposed in the "Poetics," Homer draws the most praise.

Malcolm Heath's introduction in the Penguin Classics edition offers some helpful and amusing clarification and commentary on the "Poetics," including a demonstration of the Aristotelian method of constructing a tragedy using the story of Oedipus as an example. A work that is scant in volume but rich in ideas, the "Poetics" demands to be read by all those interested in ancient thought on literature.


The basis of dramatic creativity   March 11, 2001
TheIrrationalMan (Basildon, United Kingdom)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

Aristotle's "Poetics" attempts to enquire into the qualities requisite for the production of epics, the visual arts and tragedies and, in the process, he establishes concepts that have since become the cornerstones of Western dramatic and literary practice, as well as aesthetic theory. The greater part of the work is taken up by the investigation of tragedy, in which Aristotle enjoins that the perfect tragedy must have certain features: unity (of time, place and action) and completeness (consistency of plot and of the causal and psychological relations in the characters' behaviour). He also defines magnitude, (the amount of incident in a tragedy) as well as the reversals and recognitions that lead to the conclusion of the play. An important formulation is "hamartia", the tragic flaw (Othello's jealousy or Hamlet's indecision, for instance) which precipitate the protagonist's undoing. However, Aristotle's thesis, maintaining that the origin of art is in imitation, has been proven to be an untenable standpoint. Imitation is merely a mode of art, not the source of it, which is, in fact, emotion. The definition of comedy, on the other hand, is missing and, moreover, the text is corrupt and the arguments are elliptical and confusing. Aristotle's most famous conception arrived at in the "Poetics" -- (the purging, or "catharsis" of the emotions of pity and terror) which is assumed to be the principal role of tragedy, is much overrated. Basing his insight on ancient organ psychology, he makes a statement that contradicts some known facts. It is a fact that in the case of some strong emotions - such as distress or the physical act of lovemaking, for instance - the drive does not undergo a release, but is actually strengthened in the long term, regardless of its temporary abatement. Why must it be otherwise with pity and terror? Does not catharsis apply to other strong emotions as well or is it only just pity and terror? What strikes one as absurd is Aristotle's belief, or apparent belief, that there were organs that produced pity and terror and it was the objective of tragedy to empty these organs of their harmful contents. In this respect, Nietzsche (and also Plato) were correct. Aristotle was wrong.


The Original Story Analyst   September 13, 2006
Kenneth J. Atchity (Dappertutto)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

The principles in what was probably a compilation of Aristotle's "lectures notes" are timeless, and have influenced story analysis for the past 2400 years. His understanding of story as a contrived mechanism aimed to MOVE audiences should be a relief to every writer who takes it to heart: the elements required for drama and dramatic fiction and nonfiction are not infinite but a handful. But that handful must be dealt with properly or the assembly will have no effect on audiences. He tells us Homer's greatness was that "he himself is nowhere to be found in his works, his characters everywhere"; that Homer began "in the middle of things" (Latin rhetoricians called it, "in medias res"; and that every great story needs a discovery that leads to a turning point in the protagonist's progress toward comedy or tragedy. Don't leave home without it!