Aristotle, "Poetics": a brief analysis

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Aristotle, "Poetics": a brief analysis
Aristotle, "Poetics": a brief analysis

Video: Aristotle, "Poetics": a brief analysis

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One of the most famous and great philosophers and thinkers of Ancient Greece is Aristotle. "Poetics" is the largest, but by no means the only work of his. The legacy of Aristotle is truly enormous, and his life is rich in events.

aristotle poetics
aristotle poetics

Biography

The vast majority of schoolchildren and students, having heard the name of this famous ancient Greek teacher, will name two facts: he was a student of Socrates and, in turn, taught Alexander the Great. What else was Aristotle famous for? "Poetics", of course, is the thing that has preserved his name for centuries, but this is not the only thing that can be said about the personality of the thinker. It is known that he was born in Stagira between 384 and 383 BC. Aristotle spent about twenty years studying at the great academy of Plato. The researchers argue that, most likely, he himself taught there for some time. After graduation, the philosopher became a mentor to the future Emperor Alexander. Perhaps he received this position thanks to Hermias, an ally of the Macedonian king Philip II. He was Alexander's father. After the successful ascent of the young hero to the throne, Aristotle returned to his homeland, and from theremoved to Athens. There he founds his own school - "Likey". This period in the life of a philosopher is considered the most fruitful. A lot of dialogues, "Metaphysics", "Ethics", "Politics" - all this was then created by Aristotle. Poetics is supposed to have been written by him around the same time. After in 323 BC. Alexander died, the position of the philosopher in society deteriorated significantly. In 322 BC. passed away.

Aristotle's poetics briefly
Aristotle's poetics briefly

Creativity

Many people have a strong association in their minds: Aristotle - "Poetics". However, he is the author of many works. They can be roughly divided into two categories: exoteric works, created in the form of dialogues and probably for the needs of the general public, and works written by him exclusively for a narrow circle of students.

"Poetics": goals, objectives, content

Aristotle's "Poetics" briefly sums up all the literary theories of the time and establishes a number of aesthetic norms. It is a treatise entirely devoted to drama. There is reason to believe that it originally consisted of two parts, but the first has not been preserved. Currently, the most common theory is that in the first half of the manuscript, a detailed analysis of the comedy was carried out. At the very beginning of the work, Aristotle gives his interpretation of the term "poetics". Any art, he argues, is based on mimesis, that is, on the imitation of nature. All types of poetry, according to Aristotle, differ from each other in three ways:

1. They reproducevarious items.

2. This is done by various means.

3. Accordingly, different playback methods are used.

For example, auletics and cypharistics rely on harmony and rhythm, while verbal creativity uses mainly prose and meter. The types of poetry can also differ depending on the types of imitation: epic is an objective narrative about what happened before, lyrics are based on the subjective impressions of the narrator, drama depicts events in dynamics.

Aristotle poetics rhetoric
Aristotle poetics rhetoric

Next, the philosopher offers his definitions of comedy and tragedy. The first is a work that makes fun of human shortcomings. The second is any specific action that took place in the past. According to Aristotle, tragedy originated from improvisation. It is distinguished by "decorated speech", consists of six components: plot, thought, stage setting, characters of the text and musical composition. Such widely used terms today as "ups and downs", "catharsis", "catastrophe", "recognition", were first introduced by Aristotle. "Poetics", "Rhetoric" and his other works have had a huge impact on modern philosophy.

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