Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero’s powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature. Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia). The hero need not die at the end, but he / she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis–“knowing again” or “knowing back” or “knowing throughout” ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition “a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate.”
Ramon Paredes (Introduction to Philosophy):
Gilbert Murray in his introduction to Bywater’s translation of the Poetics, states that the English language does not “operate with a common stock of ideas” and does not “belong to the same period of civilization” as the Greek (Imgram Bywater: 5). However, the problem with Aristotle’s famous definition is not in agreeing in how to translate it, but rather how to interpret it.
Aristotle’s definition of tragedy “A tragedy, then, is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself; in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in separately in the parts of the work; in a dramatic, not in a narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.” (Imgram Bywater: 35).
epic– noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style. Exemplified throughout the Poetics by the works of Homer, the epic is a poetic genre that uses narrative to convey its plot to the audience. The meter proper to the epic is the hexameter. Dactylic hexameter (also known as “heroic hexameter” and “the meter of epic”) is a form of rhythmic scheme in poetry. The epic poet, Aristotle observes, can either speak in his or her own words, or take on the voices of characters in order to advance the unfolding of the plot.
dithyramb– a Greek choral song or chant of vehement or wild character and of usually irregular form
Dionysus normal– a choral song or chant in honor of the Greek god Dionysus. Dionysus is the god of wine and madness, vegetation, and the theatre. Dionysus normal is a term used to categorize the choral odes in many Greek plays that reflect wild character.
Metre– The measured arrangement of words in poetry, as by accentual rhythm, syllabic quantity, or the number of syllables in a line.
Melody– The Greeks sometimes used musical accompaniment. Aristotle said the music (melody) has to blend in with the play appropriately. Spectacle refers to the staging of the play. Again, as with melody, the spectacle should be appropriate to the theme of the play.
Stasimon– a choral ode, especially in tragedy, divided into strophe and antistrophe.
Mise en scene– the sets, costumes, make-up and other elements that depict the play.
mimesis– an imitation of an act, All poetry, Aristotle argues, is imitation or mimesis. Aristotle imagines that poetry springs from a basic human delight in mimicry. Humans learn through imitating and take pleasure in looking at imitations of the perceived world. The mimetic dimension of the poetic arts is, in Aristotle, always representational; he does not seem to recognize anything like the twentieth-century concept of “abstract” art.
Pauson inferior– A Greek painter mentioned by Aristotle who depicted people just as they are, neither more nor less beautiful than the average of human kind.
catharsis– purging or purification of emotions through the evocation of pity and fear, as in tragedy. Aristotle describes catharsis as the purging of the emotions of pity and fear that are aroused in the viewer of a tragedy. Debate continues about what Aristotle actually means by catharsis, but the concept is linked to the positive social function of tragedy.
hubris– excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.
pathos- the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.
hamartia– a tragic flaw, hamartia has a complex meaning which includes “sin,” “error,” “trespass,” and “missing the mark” (as in archery–missing the bull’s-eye). The “mistake” of the hero has an integral place in the plot of the tragedy. The logic of the hero’s descent into misfortune is determined by the nature of his or her particular kind of hamartia.
evocation-an act or instance of evoking; a calling forth: the evocation of old memories. According to Aristotle successful poetry serves a purpose. For Aristotle this purpose is the evocation/purgation of fear and pity in the audience.
Aristotle states in his book Poetics , an analysis of tragedy and epic storytelling, that there are only two types of plots within the Greek Tragedy paradigm — Simple Plots and Complex Plots.
The simple plot is defined as a unified construct of necessary and probable actions accompanied by a change of fortune.
The complex plot is defined as one where the change of fortune is accompanied by a reversal of fortune, recognition, or both.
Oracle is a person (such as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak