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Aristotle on Tragedy
In the Poetics, Aristotle's famous study of Greek dramatic art, Aristotle
(384-322 B.C.) compares tragedy to such other metrical forms as comedy
and epic. He determines that tragedy, like all poetry, is a kind of
imitation (mimesis), but adds that it has a serious purpose and uses
direct action rather than narrative to achieve its ends. He says that poetic
mimesis is imitation of things as they could be, not as they are — for
example, of universals and ideals — thus poetry is a more philosophical
and exalted medium than history, which merely records what has
actually happened.

The aim of tragedy, Aristotle writes, is to bring about a "catharsis"

of the spectators — to arouse in them sensations of pity and fear, and to
purge them of these emotions so that they leave the theater feeling
cleansed and uplifted, with a heightened understanding of the ways of
gods and men. This catharsis is brought about by witnessing some
disastrous and moving change in the fortunes of the drama's protagonist
(Aristotle recognized that the change might not be disastrous, but felt
this was the kind shown in the best tragedies — Oedipus at Colonus, for
example, was considered a tragedy by the Greeks but does not have an
unhappy ending).

According to Aristotle, tragedy has six main elements: plot, character,

diction, thought, spectacle (scenic effect), and song (music), of
which the first two are primary. Most of the Poetics is devoted to analysis
of the scope and proper use of these elements, with illustrative examples
selected from many tragic dramas, especially those of Sophocles,
although Aeschylus, Euripides, and some playwrights whose works no
longer survive are also cited.

Several of Aristotle's main points are of great value for an understanding

of Greek tragic drama. Particularly significant is his statement that the
plot is the most important element of tragedy:
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Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of action and life, of happiness
and misery. And life consists of action, and its end is a mode of activity,
not a quality. Now character determines men's qualities, but it is their
action that makes them happy or wretched. The purpose of action in the
tragedy, therefore, is not the representation of character: character
comes in as contributing to the action. Hence the incidents and the plot
are the end of the tragedy; and the end is the chief thing of all. Without
action there cannot be a tragedy; there may be one without character. . . .
The plot, then, is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy:
character holds the second place.

Aristotle goes on to discuss the structure of the ideal tragic plot and
spends several chapters on its requirements. He says that the plot must
be a complete whole — with a definite beginning, middle, and end — and
its length should be such that the spectators can comprehend without
difficulty both its separate parts and its overall unity. Moreover, the plot
requires a single central theme in which all the elements are logically
related to demonstrate the change in the protagonist's fortunes, with
emphasis on the dramatic causation and probability of the events.

Aristotle has relatively less to say about the tragic hero because the
incidents of tragedy are often beyond the hero's control or not closely
related to his personality. The plot is intended to illustrate matters of
cosmic rather than individual significance, and the protagonist is viewed
primarily as the character who experiences the changes that take place.
This stress placed by the Greek tragedians on the development of plot
and action at the expense of character, and their general lack of interest
in exploring psychological motivation, is one of the major differences
between ancient and modern drama.

Since the aim of a tragedy is to arouse pity and fear through an

alteration in the status of the central character, he must be a figure with
whom the audience can identify and whose fate can trigger these
emotions. Aristotle says that "pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune,
fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves." He surveys various
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possible types of characters on the basis of these premises, then defines
the ideal protagonist as

. . . a man who is highly renowned and prosperous, but one who is not
pre-eminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune, however, is brought
upon him not by vice or depravity but by some error of judgment or
frailty; a personage like Oedipus.

In addition, the hero should not offend the moral sensibilities of the
spectators, and as a character he must be true to type, true to life, and
consistent.

The hero's error or frailty (harmartia) is often misleadingly explained

as his "tragic flaw," in the sense of that personal quality which inevitably
causes his downfall or subjects him to retribution. However,
overemphasis on a search for the decisive flaw in the protagonist as the
key factor for understanding the tragedy can lead to superficial or false
interpretations. It gives more attention to personality than the
dramatists intended and ignores the broader philosophical implications
of the typical plot's denouement. It is true that the hero frequently takes
a step that initiates the events of the tragedy and, owing to his own
ignorance or poor judgment, acts in such a way as to bring about his own
downfall. In a more sophisticated philosophical sense though, the hero's
fate, despite its immediate cause in his finite act, comes about because of
the nature of the cosmic moral order and the role played by chance or
destiny in human affairs. Unless the conclusions of most tragedies are
interpreted on this level, the reader is forced to credit the Greeks with
the most primitive of moral systems.

It is worth noting that some scholars believe the "flaw" was intended by
Aristotle as a necessary corollary of his requirement that the hero should
not be a completely admirable man. Harmartia would thus be the factor
that delimits the protagonist's imperfection and keeps him on a human
plane, making it possible for the audience to sympathize with him. This
view tends to give the "flaw" an ethical definition but relates it only to the
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spectators' reactions to the hero and does not increase its importance for
interpreting the tragedies.

The remainder of the Poetics is given over to examination of the other

elements of tragedy and to discussion of various techniques, devices, and
stylistic principles. Aristotle mentions two features of the plot, both of
which are related to the concept of harmartia, as crucial components of
any well-made tragedy. These are "reversal" (peripeteia), where the
opposite of what was planned or hoped for by the protagonist takes
place, as when Oedipus' investigation of the murder of Laius leads to a
catastrophic and unexpected conclusion; and "recognition"
(anagnorisis), the point when the protagonist recognizes the truth of a
situation, discovers another character's identity, or comes to a realization
about himself. This sudden acquisition of knowledge or insight by the
hero arouses the desired intense emotional reaction in the spectators, as
when Oedipus finds out his true parentage and realizes what crimes he
has been responsible for.

Aristotle wrote the Poetics nearly a century after the greatest Greek
tragedians had already died, in a period when there had been radical
transformations in nearly all aspects of Athenian society and culture. The
tragic drama of his day was not the same as that of the fifth century, and
to a certain extent his work must be construed as a historical study of a
genre that no longer existed rather than as a description of a living art
form.

In the Poetics, Aristotle used the same analytical methods that he had
successfully applied in studies of politics, ethics, and the natural sciences
in order to determine tragedy's fundamental principles of composition
and content. This approach is not completely suited to a literary study
and is sometimes too artificial or formula-prone in its conclusions.

Nonetheless, the Poetics is the only critical study of Greek drama to have
been made by a near-contemporary. It contains much valuable
information about the origins, methods, and purposes of tragedy, and to
a degree shows us how the Greeks themselves reacted to their theater. In
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addition, Aristotle's work had an overwhelming influence on the
development of drama long after it was compiled. The ideas and
principles of the Poetics are reflected in the drama of the Roman Empire
and dominated the composition of tragedy in western Europe during the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
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ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY*

●
*Key terms regarding Aristotelian tragedy, as discussed in his Poetics:

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action

that is serious, complete, and of a certain
magnitude; in language embellished with
each kind of artistic ornament, the several
kinds being found in separate parts of the
play; in the form of action, not narrative;
through pity and fear effecting the proper
purgation of these emotions.”

● TRAGEDY: The imitation of an action, not the telling of an

action; that is, it is a dramatic recreation (mimesis) rather
than narration or simply telling. It demonstrates what has
happened and what may happen under the laws of
probability, of cause-effect; thus, tragedy is different from
and superior to history. The “fear” aroused and purged in the
catharsis relates to these laws.

*6 BASIC ELEMENTS*

1. Plot 4. Thought
5. Song
2. Character 6. Spectacle

3. Diction
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● PLOT: The most fundamental and important aspect of tragedy,

referring more to the structure or organization of the play than merely
“what happens.”
○ probable, believable, inevitable
■ arising from the actions of Tragic Hero
■ (laws of probability & necessity)
○ complex:
■ with Recognition (anagnorisis)
■ with Reversal of Fortune (peripeteia)
■ with suffering
■ --> arouses pity & fear in audience (catharsis)
○ Plot = #1
■ Character = #2
○ The best plots are those whose resolutions arise from the
construction of the events rather than from characterization—the
laws of probability and necessity, cause and effect.
○ Also, the plot must be a unified whole:
■ a beginning, middle, and end: (Freytag's Pyramid)

● EXPOSITION --> COMPLICATION --> CLIMAX -->

● DENOUEMENT --> RESOLUTION
○ The plot must also be self-contained, with a unity of action, its
events operating under the rules of necessity. Thus, Aristotle
frowned upon the reliance of DEUS EX MACHINA (see below).
○ Aristotle also mentions that tragic plots should be “of a certain
magnitude”; that is, they should possess universality as well as
complexity.
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○ Complex plots should also have PERIPETEIA (see below) and

ANAGNORISIS (see below), the former leading to the latter in a
matter of cause and effect.

● CHARACTER:
○ The tragic character, secondary to plot, should possess a
moral quality, for who should pity the fall of an evil man?
○ The tragic heroes should also be realistic and true to
their type (gender), to themselves (consistency of
character), and to the laws of necessity and probability.
○ While the characters should be realistic, Aristotle
suggests that they should also be “more beautiful,”
idealized, elevated, or ennobled.

TRAGIC HERO

● not too good (perfect)

● not too evil (who cares!)
● realistic (true to
type/character)
● self-consistent
● fall from happiness
(prosperity, glory) to misery
● tragic error or tragic mistake
(not necessarily a moral
issue)
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● THOUGHT, DICTION, SONG, SPECTACLE:

○ These elements are below Plot and Character in order of
importance.
○ If the construction, or Plot, of the play is sound, then the superior
poet will not need to rely upon these or, at the very least, they will
take care of themselves.

● SONG & DICTION:

○ the media of imitation
○ Diction = metrical arrangement of the words
■ words appropriate to character, plot, tragedy
■ metaphor = mark of genius
○ Song = melody, musical elements
■ Chorus' songs should be part of the plot, not mere
interludes

● SPECTACLE:
○ last in importance
■ tragedy does not need to be performed to be
effective
■ tragedy can be read for the same effect
○ (sensory effects)
○ costuming
○ scenery
○ gestures
○ voice
○ "stagecraft"
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● PERIPETEIA:
○ A sudden reversal of fortune, or circumstances, leading to the
protagonist’s downfall.
○ The peripeteia should be closely related to the anagnorisis
(recognition).
● ANAGNORISIS:
○ It means “recognition” or “discovery,” and Aristotle uses these
to denote the turning point in a drama at which the protagonist
recognizes the true state of affairs, having previously been in error
or ignorance.
○ We might say this is the moment in which the “tragic hero”
recognizes his “tragic error” or “tragic mistake.”
○ Perhaps, too, we can call this a “moment of clarity.” For example,
Oedipus recognizes that he killed his father, married his mother,
and brought a plague upon his people.
● DEUS EX MACHINA:
○ A weakness in a tragedy or a writer who relies upon this artifice
to resolve the Plot, rather than the action resolving itself according
to the laws of probability and necessity.
○ Literally, it means “god in/from the machine,” and it involved
the lowering of a god onto the stage via machinery in order to
resolve the entanglements of the situation/plot.
● CATHARSIS:
○ The “purging” of pity and fear in the tragic audience.
○ These emotions, feelings are aroused by the action and assuaged
by its resolution.
■ PITY = eleos: compassion for Pathos bearer
■ TERROR - FEAR = identification with Pathos bearer
■ PATHOS = Passion, key/religious suffering
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References

https://www.cliffsnotes.com

A glossary of Literary Terms M H Abrama and Geoffrey galt Harpham

https://academic.luzerne.edu/shousenick/ENG104_ELEMENTS_DRA
MA_Aristotle.htm