The Poetics of Aristotle

"The Poetics of Aristotle" by Aristotle is a deep dive into the world of poetry, especially tragedy and epic poems, from ancient Greece. It explores the core ideas behind storytelling and what makes a story work, like plot, characters, and the words used. Aristotle looks at poetry to figure out how it makes us feel and explains different types of poems, focusing on how they copy real life and the importance of a strong plot. He believes tragedy shows a good person's failures because of a mistake they made, creating strong feelings of sadness and fear that lead to a release of emotions. By breaking down what makes a tragedy work and studying epic poems, this work provides the basis for understanding literature that still shapes how we study literature now.