Conversely, tragedy and epic poetry imitate admirable people, but epic uses only verse and is in narrative form. A comedy does not imitate pain, and it should not provoke these emotions in others. Characters in comedy are guilty of “laughable errors” however, such errors do not elicit painful emotions in the audience.

From there, tragedy evolved into what it is in Aristotle’s time-which he refers to as tragedy’s “natural state.”Ĭomedy imitates inferior people, Aristotle claims, but such characters are not inferior in every way. Tragedy was born from dithyrambic poetry, which incorporates both poetry and dance. Aristotle further argues that human begins also have a natural proclivity for rhythm and melody, so it is no wonder they tend to create imitations like poetry, which relies on language that has both rhythm and melody. A person views an imitation, recognizes the thing being imitated, and finds pleasure in this understanding. The pleasure people feel in viewing an imitation is in large part due to understanding. Furthermore, people take pleasure in viewing distressing images from a safe distance, such as a stage. In epic poetry, an object is imitated through narration however, in tragedy, an object is imitated via actors on a stage.Īristotle argues that human beings have a natural proclivity for imitation, and since humans learn lessons through imitation from a young age, he maintains that people have a strong tendency to imitate people and things. Lastly, an object’s mode of imitation is the way in which an object is imitated. Objects, which include people, things, and events, can be either admirable or inferior, meaning that objects are either morally good or morally bad.

The object is the thing that is imitated in a work of art-in this case, in a poem. The medium of imitation depends on the kind of art (a painter or a sculptor uses color or shape as a medium), whereas a poet uses the medium of rhythm, language, and melody-each of which can be used alone or together to create some desired effect. Additionally, he claims that all poetry is a form of imitation that only differs in three ways: its medium, its object, and/or its mode of imitation.

Aristotle starts with the principles of poetry, which he says is only “natural.” He enumerates the different types poetry: epic, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, and music by pipe or lyre. He explores each component part of poetry separately and addresses any questions that come up in the process. In Poetics, Aristotle discusses poetry-both in general and in particular-and he also considers the effects of poetry on those who consume it and the proper way in which to construct a poetic plot for maximum effect.

Poetics by Aristotle