Aristotle gives his views on tragedy, the plot, the characters and the content, and then it is compared to epic poetry. The work is an urbane, unsystematic amplification of aristotle s discussion of the decorum or internal propriety of each literary. Foundations of art criticism in antiquity and the middle ages. Few of the great works of ancient greek literature. An infinity of things befall that one man, some of which it is impossible to reduce to unity. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. This description deals mainly with poetry, but it can be modified to apply to other art forms. Platos final objection to art which aristotle responds to is a claim of a moral nature. In stark contrast to the emotional rhetoric and poetry of the sophists was a rhetoric grounded in philosophy and the pursuit of enlightenment. To understand this art, we must first grasp a number of important concepts.
Aristotle reasons that poetry is a more philosophical and higher thing than history. Our subject being poetry, i propose to speak not only of the art in general but also of its species. In that work, horace discussed his views about the proper role of. It is a complex relationship that i will discuss through the works of plato, aristotle and r. Aristotles poetics seeks to address the different kinds of poetry, the structure of a good poem, and the division of a poem into its component. The poetics of aristotle has a long and famous life, which began about 330 b. The treatise pursues several aims, one of which, and the most general, is to classify the works that can be labeled poetical composition and their parts. The internet classics archive poetics by aristotle. Although aristotles definition of art is different from ours, it starts to clarify when you read and understand his poetics. Aesthetics\ the term mimesis is loosely defined as imitation, and although an extensive paper could be written about the cogency of such a narrow definition, i will instead focus on plato and aristotles contrasting judgements of mimesis imitation. Essay about plato and aristotles definition of art bartleby.
Aristotles poetics partly salvaged the reputation of mimetic art. Being a treasury of thousands of glorious, inspiring and imperishable thoughts, views and observations of the three great greek philosophers, classified under about four hundred subjects for comparative study. On the art of poetry aristotle oxford university press. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Analysis of aristotles art of poetry 1 imitation is the principle of art. So unpoetic a soul as aristotles has no business speaking about such a topic, much less telling poets how to go about their business. Content wise, i think this book is great, but it was just so very boring. First, aristotle listed the different kinds of poetry which are. Plato and aristotle argue that artist demiurge and poet imitate nature, thus, a work of art is a relection of nature. Another, more specific, aim is to vindicate poetry in the face of the criticism leveled at it by plato. Aristotle on the art of poetry translated by ingram bywater with a preface by gilbert murray l6oi 3 xit 1, a i oxford at the. Poetry can imitate life in a number of ways, by representing character, emotion, action, or even everyday objects. An amplified version with supplementary illustrations for students of english. Parts of the greek are left untranslated, this is acceptable in the instances where aristotle is trying to eludciate descisions about word choice but should include footnotes nonetheless.
Critical objections brought against poetry, and the principles on which they are to be answered. Aristotles plethora of ideas was and has been adopted by past and present philosophers as they approached subject matter that had very few definitive answers. The book aims, among other things, to answer platos criticisms of representative art. Aristotles theory on art examines art as a productive science. A revised text with critical introduction, translation and com mentary by. Aristotle s poetics seeks to address the different kinds of poetry, the structure of a good poem, and the division of a poem into its component parts. Aristotles work poetics, has completely defined poetry, how it should be written and what it should include. In book x of the republic, plato discusses his relationship with poetry and why he banishes the poets from the republic. Aristotle 384 bce322 bce aristotle on the art of poetry. In the piece he identifies various forms tragedy, comedy, epic and their elements. The poetics is much better known than the rhetoric, though only the first book of the former, a treatment of epic and tragic poetry, survives. In the book, the philosopher argues that it is a natural human impulse to make art that imitates the people, places, and events around them. We know that aristotle also wrote a treatise on comedy that has been lost.
He believed that art is not just an expression of the author, but it. The work is an urbane, unsystematic amplification of aristotles discussion of the decorum or internal propriety of each literary. Oct 01, 2004 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. On the art of poetry aristotle translated by ingram bywater and preface by gilbert murray. The unity of a plot does not consist, as some suppose, in its having one man as its subject. In later greek and in latin literature, although there are traces of its influence. The poetics as it has come down to us may represent a part of aristotle s notes for a set of lectures, or perhaps for a dialogue. Aristotle on the art of poetry aristotle on the art of poetry l our subject being poetry, i propose to speak not only of the art in general but also of its species and their respective capacities. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. Poetics is the earliest known work of literary criticism. On the art of poetry by aristotle translated by ingram bywater. It seeks to show, that is, how in direct response to platos epistemological and ethical objections to tragedy, aristotles argument for the. The first is imitation, which is a word used often in the poetics. Poetry, as aristotle defines it, is first and foremost a medium of imitation, meaning a form of art that seeks to duplicate or represent life.
Aristotles theory of poetry and fine art book, 1951. With a preface by gilbert murray oxford at the clarendon press first published 1920 reprinted 1925, 1928, 1932, 1938, 1945, 1947 1951, 1954, 1959. Aristotle, art, and greek tragedy washington state university. One of the most important contributions of aristotles approach was that he identified rhetoric as one of the three key elementsalong with logic and dialectic of philosophy. From the poetics by aristotle devoted to literary criticism, only the first part mainly dedicated to the tragedy was received. Regarding only the text, on the art of poetry is a good read for those interested in greek thought and literary criticism especially regarding drama and poetry. A revised text with critical introduction, translation and commentary by i.
Simply put, poetry to aristotle is not the final product, but the art of creating poetry. The portion of the poetics that survives discusses mainly tragedy and epic poetry. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. This paper discusses the concept of imitation in plato and aristotle. A general estimate of the comparative worth of epic poetry and tragedy. Aristotle proposes to approach poetry from a scientific viewpoint. The art is found within the product not within the mind of the artist. To this end, aristotle draws some important general conclusions about the nature of poetry and how it achieves its effects. Art for aristotle is anything that is made by human beings as opposed to being found in nature. The art of poetry is a reiteration of many of the same arguments found in epistles 2. Art of poetry work by horace, written about 1918 bce for piso and his sons and originally known as epistula ad pisones epistle to the pisos. He defines poetry as a medium of imitation that seeks to represent or duplicate life through character, emotion, or action.
Art is the translation of the greek word techne and is closely related to artifice and artificial. On the art of poetry by aristotle translated by ingram bywater with a preface by gilbert murray oxford at the clarendon press first published 1920 reprinted 1925, 1928, 1932, 1938, 1945, 1947 1951, 1954, 1959. Jul 02, 2019 aristotles poetics partly salvaged the reputation of mimetic art. Oct 14, 2019 analysis of aristotles art of poetry 1 imitation is the principle of art.
According to kims introduction, aristotle considered ethics to be the art of living well. In it, aristotle offers an account of what he calls poetry a term that derives. Aristotles poetics is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. For example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and poetry with language. This is something i would like to know myself, or whether he actually did or not.
Aristotle s theory on art examines art as a productive science. Aristotle, on the art of poetry, a revised text with critical introduction, translation and commentary, by ingram bywater. One of the most important contributions of aristotles approach was that he identified rhetoric as one of the three key. Aristotle considered epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry and music to be imitative, each varying in imitation by medium, object, and manner. Aristotles poetics chapters 15 summary and analysis. On the art of poetry, by aristotle project gutenberg. Ars poetica, or the art of poetry, is a poem written by horace c. Aristotles poetics is one of the deepest and most influential philosophical works on art, or rather, on a specific art. The quality of the object produced determines the merit of the art. Reading the poetics in light of aristotles most complete statements of equity in the nicomachean ethics and the rhetoric, this essay undertakes to demonstrate how and why aristotle develops an art of poetry within the context of a science of ethics. Aristotle poems, quotations and biography on aristotle poet page. There is comvincing evidence in the art of poetry to argue that he actually did have a similar, or resonant, idea like platos. Aristotle distinguishes between the genres of poetry in three ways.
However, in assuming that there are objective laws underlying poetry, aristotle fails to appreciate the ways in which art often progresses precisely by overturning the assumed laws of a previous generation. The poetics as it has come down to us may represent a part of aristotles notes for a set of lectures, or perhaps for a dialogue. The ars poetica has exercised a great influence in later ages on european literature, notably on french drama and has inspired poets and authors since it was written. An amplified version with supplementary illustrations for students of english aristotle, lane cooper harcourt, brace, 19 aesthetics 101 pages. Two and a half centuries ago in the mediterranean, the definition of art was not synonymous with the term as we know it. Read all poems of aristotle and infos about aristotle. Aristotle on the art of poetry by aristotle free ebook. Kcofiai,beingexcludedcontemptuouslyfromthe imsbcity. In this paper i describe the relationship between art and emotion. Aristotles on the art of poetry is primarily a philosophical work of aesthetic theory.
It was probably written around 330 bcsome 70 years after the death of the last great masters of the tragic stage. It encompassed painting, sculpting, poetry, and all what he still recognize as art, as well as craftwork, carpentry and similar occupations. But before he begins tackling these topics, aristotle first seeks to define poetry. Aristotle proposes to study poetry by analyzing its constitutive parts and then drawing general conclusions. Long forgotten by commentators, it nevertheless had a great influence, since aristotles poetics has given birth to three concepts crucial for psychology, social sciences, and philosophy of art. On the art of poetry aristotle armstrong economics. He believed that art is not just an expression of the author, but it must something that is defined and disciplined. In his poetics, perhaps the most influential work on art ever written, he makes it clear that art is a moral issue, since it deals with human character.