Poetics (Aristotle)

Aristotle's Poetics (Ancient Greek: Περὶ ποιητικῆς Peri poietikês; Latin: De Poetica; c. 335 BCE) is the earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to solely focus on literary theory. In this text, Aristotle offers an account of ποιητική, which refers to poetry or, more literally, "the poetic art," deriving from the term for "poet, author, maker," ποιητής. Aristotle divides the art of poetry into verse, drama (comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play), lyric poetry, and epic poetry. The genres all share the function of mimesis, but differ in: Musical rhythm, harmony, meter, and melody; The goodness of the characters; and The mode of storytelling. The surviving book of Poetics is primarily concerned with drama. The analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion. Although the text is universally acknowledged in the Western critical tradition, "every detail about this seminal work has aroused divergent opinions." A few scholarly debates on the Poetics have been most prominent: the meanings of catharsis and hamartia, the Classical unities, and whether Aristotle contradicts himself between chapters 13 and 14.