The Poetics of Aristotle

by Aristotle, S. H. Butcher (Compiled by)

Overview

2011 Reprint of 1911 Fourth and Revised Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Edited with critical notes and a translation by S.H. Butcher. All Greek characters are reproduced. Butcher's translation is one of the better, if not the best, translation of this important on literary theory. "Aristotle's Poetics" is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. In it, Aristotle offers an account of what he calls "poetry" (a term which in Greek literally means "making" and in this context includes drama-comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play-as well as lyric poetry, epic poetry, and the dithyramb). He examines its "first principles" and identifies its genres and basic elements; his analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614270362
Publisher:	Martino Fine Books
Publication date:	04/26/2011
Pages:	140
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.33(d)

About the Author

Aristotle; 384 - 322 BCE, was a Greek philosopher born in Stagirus, northern Greece, in 384 BCE. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, whereafter Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian. At eighteen, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven (c. 347 BCE). His writings cover many subjects - including physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, linguistics, politics and government - and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip of Macedonia, tutored Alexander the Great between 356 and 323 BCE. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "Aristotle was the first genuine scientist in history. ... Every scientist is in his debt."