Poetics

Description

Copyright Page Title Page Contents Introduction Note on the Texts and Translations Select Bibliography A Chronology of Aristotle Outline of the Poetics From Plato, Republic, Books 2, 3, and 10 Aristotle, Poetics I. The Various Kinds of Poetry 1. Introduction: poetry as a species of representation Differences of medium 2. Differences of objects 3. Differences in mode 4. The origins of poetry and its early development Tragedy 5. Comedy Epic II. The Nature of Tragedy 6. Definition Basic elements of tragedy The primacy of plot 7. Characteristics of a good plot Completeness Scale 8. Unity 9. Universality and necessity 10. Types and elements of plot 11. Reversal and discovery 12. The sequence of scenes in tragedy III. Excellence in Tragedy 13. Guidelines for plot construction 14. Source of the tragic effect 15. Character in tragedy 16. Further thoughts on discovery 17. Advice to playwrights 18. Different kinds of tragedy Final advice on plot construction 19. Style and intellectual content 20. Basic concepts of linguistics 21. The classification of nouns 22. Excellence in poetic style IV. Epic 23. The whole and its parts 24. Epic and tragedy compared The excellence of Homer 25. How to respond to Homer’s critics The inferiority of epic to tragedy From Sir Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poetry From P. B. Shelley, A Defence of Poetry From D. L. Sayers, ‘Aristotle on Detective Fiction’ A Note on Metre Explanatory Notes Glossary of Key Terms Index