Description

Category:Literary CriticismLiterary CriticismLiterary Criticism-Cri
Publisher: Penguin Black Classics Uk | ISBN: 9780140446364 | Pages: 144

THIS IS A PENETRATING ACCOUNT OF GREEK TRAGEDY, IT DEMONSTRATES HOW THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT, CHARACTER AND SPECTACLE COMBINE TO PRODUCE PITY AND FEAR - AND WHY WE DERIVE PLEASURE FROM THIS APPARENTLY PAINFUL PROCESS. IT INTRODUCES THE CRUCIAL CONCEPTS OF MIMESIS ( IMITATION ), HAMARTIA ( ERROR ) AND KATHARSIS, WHICH HAVE INFORMED SERIOUS THINKING ABOUT DRAMA EVER SINCE. IT EXAMINES THE MYTHOLOGICAL HEROES, IDEALISED YET TRUE TO LIFE, WHOM AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES AND EURIPIDES BROUGHT ON TO THE STAGE. AND IT EXPLAINS HOW THE MOST EFFECTIVE PLAYS RELY ON COMPLICATION AND RESOLUTION, RECOGNITIONS AND REVERSALS. ESSENTIAL READING FOR ALL STUDENTS OF GREEK LITERATURE, THE "POETICS" REMAINS EQUALLY STIMULATING FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THEATRE TODAY.

About the Author

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Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) numbers among the greatest philosophers of all time. Judged solely in terms of his philosophical influence, only Plato is his peer: Aristotles works shaped centuries of philosophy from Late Antiquity through the Renaissance, and even today continue to be studied with keen, non-antiquarian interest. A prodigious researcher and writer, Aristotle left a great body of work, perhaps numbering as many as two-hundred treatises, from which approximately thirty-one survive. His extant writings span a wide range of disciplines, from logic, metaphysics and philosophy of mind, through ethics, political theory, aesthetics and rhetoric, and into such primarily non-philosophical fields as empirical biology, where he excelled at detailed plant and animal observation and taxonomy. In all these areas, Aristotles theories have provided illumination, met with resistance, sparked debate, and generally stimulated the sustained interest of an abiding readership.

Because of its wide range and its remoteness in time, Aristotles philosophy defies easy encapsulation. The long history of interpretation and appropriation of Aristotelian texts and themes—spanning over two millennia and comprising philosophers working within a variety of religious and secular traditions—has rendered even basic points of interpretation controversial. The set of entries on Aristotle in this site addresses this situation by proceeding in three tiers. First, the present, general entry offers a brief account of Aristotles life and characterizes his central philosophical commitments, highlighting his most distinctive methods and most influential achievements. Second are General Topics which offer detailed introductions to the main areas of Aristotles philosophical activity. Finally, there follow Special Topics which investigate in greater detail more narrowly focused issues, especially those of central concern in recent Aristotelian scholarship > <