The Poetics Of Aristotle Its Meaning And Influence

This bibliography registers all editions, translations and studies bearing on Aristotle's "Poetics" and the "Tractatus Coislinianus," a treatise partly based on "Poetics II." Among the indices, those on passages and subjects should be particularly useful. Most Greek has been transliterated.

The Poetics of Aristotle is the earliest surviving work of dramatic theory and first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. In it, Aristotle offers an account of what he calls "poetry". In this reflections Aristotle includes verse drama – comedy, tragedy, and the satyr play – as well as lyric poetry and epic poetry. The similarities and differences are being described in this work.

This anthology of literary criticism is no simple collection of fragments from great critics. It is, in a way, a documentary history of literary taste, or better, a documentary history of the taste of literary critics ... It contains material that is inaccessible in many university libraries and an index which ties together the various selections and gives the book a unity which most anthologies unfortunately lack ..." [Cover].

George Whalley's English translation of the Poetics breathes new life into the study of Aristotle's aesthetics by allowing the English-speaking student to experience the dynamic quality characteristic of Aristotle's arguments in the original Greek.

In his introduction, Mr. Potts sketches the history of the work; by quoting extensively from the great critics he illustrates its influence and indicates the significance of Aristotle's formulations. The notes take up the hints, judgements and insights that Aristotle lets fall, show their deeper meaning and give them an application. They also explain to the reader the allusions that gave the original is topicality. There is a brief bibliography and a full index. -- Back cover

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 and epic poetry). They are similar in the fact that they are all imitations but different in the three ways that Aristotle describes: 1. Differences in music rhythm, harmony, meter and melody. 2. Difference of goodness in the characters. 3. Difference in how the narrative is presented: telling a story or acting it out. In examining its "first principles," Aristotle finds two: 1) imitation and 2) genres and other concepts by which that of truth is applied/revealed in the poesis. His analysis of tragedy constitutes the core of the discussion. Although Aristotle's Poetics is universally acknowledged in the Western critical tradition, "almost every detail about his seminal work has aroused divergent opinions."