Aristotle's Tragedy

Nearly a century after the great tragedians of the 5th century B.C.E., a scientist came forward and approached a non-science subject scientifically. Aristotle (384-322) was a researcher of sorts and approached theatre analytically, as he would a plant. The Poetics (c. 335) was his study of tragedy. The first and most important thing to know about Aristotle's Poetics is that it was descriptive, not prescriptive. It was a critical analysis of what he saw, what was successful and what was not; it was not a lesson in playwriting.

In his essay, he compares tragedy to history, epic poetry, science -- lumping together everything and starting with the basics. Mimesis, Aristotle's term for imitation, is his way of describing theatre as a study of human nature and behavior, showing the truth; possibly, most similar to our "realism." That being said, a representation of truth and social transformation as the goal, Aristotle lists the six most important priorities.

Six Elements of Tragedy

1. Plot
   The structure of events is the goal of a tragedy.
   
2. Characters
   Unlike the dithyramb, focus on specific characters. Men were good only by good choices, demonstrated by their actions and emotional qualities. It would be anti-mimetic to have unrealistic characters represented on stage: a brave woman or a free-willed slave. Had to be plausible and "appropriate" imitation.
   
3. Thought
   Each character's logic or rhetoric while trying to make a point.
   
4. Language
   The beauty of verbal expression.
   
5. Music
   La. La. La.
   
6. Spectacle
   "Visual adornment," cosmetics. The less scenic design, the more elevated the poet.
   

He goes on to describe imperative structural elements the play must have to be best served. This first two are strongest if they occur at the same time. Aristotle argues that these four key facets need to work cohesively in order to have the strongest effect on the audience.

• Peripeteia - reversal, plot twist
  (we realize that the good character is now the bad character)
• Anagnoresis - recognition, a shift from ignorance to awareness
  (Jocasta's "ah-ha" moment)
• Hamartia - error, commonly mistaken as "tragic flaw"
  (Oedipus's insistence of finding the culprit)
• Catharsis* - purging of pity and fear, purification, collectively changed and made different
  (punishment by putting out his eyes, confronting the largest theme in the play)

By simply writing The Poetics, which we can consider to be an all-encompassing review of the last century's theatre, Aristotle also changed the very medium of plays. He wasn't alive for their original debuts. He read them... and by doing so established that tragic plays/art/poetry can be enjoyed without an audience. This was revolutionary.

*Tracing back to Aristotle's science days, catharsis is actually an ancient Greek medical term. Fun fact.