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Aristotle's Theory of Poetry & Fine Art with a Critical Text & Translation of the Poetics
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
460 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1907
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About the author
Aristotle
4,389 books5,695 followersAristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.
Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At 17 or 18, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of 37 (c. 347 BC). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.
Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante Alighieri called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Pierre Abélard and Jean Buridan. Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, although always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.
Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At 17 or 18, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of 37 (c. 347 BC). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.
Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante Alighieri called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Pierre Abélard and Jean Buridan. Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, although always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 8, 2010
Whilst The Poetics is one of the most horrifically difficult pieces of writing that I have ever tried to push myself through, I have to say that it benefited me greatly in my secondary education. I'm now tutoring it, and I have no idea how my teacher managed to get any of it through our skulls.
September 26, 2016
If there's a definitive text about drama, is this one, both intrinsically as a historical and philosophical document, and as an english translation made a long time ago.
It still holds up and it's just as important as it's ever been.
No other book can teach you about literary criticism and fundamental analysis like this one.
And in the process, learning about what is art and drama and emotion, is just a godsend.
Read it over and over, learn it by memory, and then give it to someone, or write a play or a movie, and rinse and repeat until necessary.
Give it your best shot, and the muses will thank you, and so will the asses on the seats.
It still holds up and it's just as important as it's ever been.
No other book can teach you about literary criticism and fundamental analysis like this one.
And in the process, learning about what is art and drama and emotion, is just a godsend.
Read it over and over, learn it by memory, and then give it to someone, or write a play or a movie, and rinse and repeat until necessary.
Give it your best shot, and the muses will thank you, and so will the asses on the seats.
Want to read
June 7, 2024Can't believe this mf wrote The Society of the Spectacle two thousand years ago but from the other side of the barricade.
This seems to be a pretty hard to find text. Luckily Augusto Boal provides a summary of Aristotelian tragedy in the first chapter of the Theatre of the Oppressed.
I highly recommend reading Boal alongside Debord. It's wild how openly ruling class philosophers spoke of art's capacity to repress dissent for the purpose of maintaining inequality.
This seems to be a pretty hard to find text. Luckily Augusto Boal provides a summary of Aristotelian tragedy in the first chapter of the Theatre of the Oppressed.
I highly recommend reading Boal alongside Debord. It's wild how openly ruling class philosophers spoke of art's capacity to repress dissent for the purpose of maintaining inequality.
August 18, 2014
This includes both the Greek and translated text of the Poetics by Aristotle. A really interesting read. I found a number of great take aways from this text. I did find it interesting that A had three types of letters, vowels, semi-vowels and mute!
Simple prose with deep meaning.
Simple prose with deep meaning.
April 5, 2017
school material.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews