Poetics (Oxford World’s Classics) by Aristotle -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Copyright Page Title Page Contents Introduction Note on the Texts and Translations Select Bibliography A Chronology of Aristotle Outline of the Poetics From Plato, Republic, Books 2, 3, and 10 Aristotle, Poetics

I. The Various Kinds of Poetry

1. Introduction: poetry as a species of representation

Differences of medium

2. Differences of objects 3. Differences in mode 4. The origins of poetry and its early development

Tragedy

5. Comedy

Epic

II. The Nature of Tragedy

6. Definition

Basic elements of tragedy The primacy of plot

7. Characteristics of a good plot

Completeness Scale

8. Unity 9. Universality and necessity 10. Types and elements of plot 11. Reversal and discovery 12. The sequence of scenes in tragedy

III. Excellence in Tragedy

13. Guidelines for plot construction 14. Source of the tragic effect 15. Character in tragedy 16. Further thoughts on discovery 17. Advice to playwrights 18. Different kinds of tragedy

Final advice on plot construction

19. Style and intellectual content 20. Basic concepts of linguistics 21. The classification of nouns 22. Excellence in poetic style

IV. Epic

23. The whole and its parts 24. Epic and tragedy compared

The excellence of Homer

25. How to respond to Homer’s critics

The inferiority of epic to tragedy

From Sir Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poetry From P. B. Shelley, A Defence of Poetry From D. L. Sayers, ‘Aristotle on Detective Fiction’ A Note on Metre Explanatory Notes Glossary of Key Terms Index