1. 1 Theatre at Epidaurus

2. 2 Aristotle Aristotle was the younger of the three great philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. All three of these philosophers of life, science, metaphysics and humanities had similar yet different views. Each thought they were improving on and cultivating the others’ ideologies into a more refined and acceptable concept of how they saw life, with Aristotle having the final word of the three. www.eleganza.com/busts-famous-people-gallery/6-02-philosopher-aristotle-bp.html

3. 3 The great trilogy of philosophy began with Socrates. His pupil Plato further expanded the realm of thought and at his death passed the torch to his pupil, Aristotle. Aristotle was the son of a physician. At the age of eighteen Aristotle came to Athens from Macedonia to study with Plato. Although he was an original thinker who made great contributions of his own, he remained a student in Plato's Academy for twenty years. When Plato died, Aristotle may have felt disappointment in not being chosen to head the school which Plato had founded but at the time Philip, King of Macedonia, invited him to become the tutor of his son who came to known as Alexander the Great. Aristotle later returned to Athens where he founded his own school, The Lyceum. Aristotle was not only an original and deep thinker but an observer, an organizer, a systematizer of knowledge. He laid the foundation of all sciences and philosophies by defining and classifying the various branches of knowledge: Psychology, Metaphysics, Politics, Rhetoric and Logic. Biography www.eleganza.com/busts-famous-people-gallery/6-02-philosopher-Aristotle-bp.html

4. 4 Aristotle and Tragedy from The Poetics

5. 5 Basic Vocabulary Anagnorisis: The critical moment of recognition or discovering, preceding peripeteia Arete:Magnanimous Pride, Courage, Spine of a fish, Ridge of a mountain, Ear of wheat Catastrophe: Sudden disaster, Overturning, the event that switches the plot from ascending to descending action Catharsis:Discharge or cleansing of pent up emotions Hamartia: Tragic Flaw Hubris: Excessive and selfish pride, arrogance Pathos: Pity and Fear Peripeteia: A sudden turn of events, reversal in action, sudden change, a falling For more definitions see: http://maven.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/aristotle/terms/sophocles.html http://maven.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/aristotle/terms/sophocles.html Or http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/ArisHorLong.htmlhttp://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/ArisHorLong.html

6. 6 The Famous Definition “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 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.” Aristotle, Poetics

7. 7 The Parts of a Tragedy A Prologue Episodes An Exode Choral Portions –The Parode ends the Prologue –A Stasimon (choral ode) separates episodes –A Commos ( a lamentation) –paeans (prayers)

8. 8 Six Elements of Tragedy Plot (or Fable) Characters Diction Thought Spectacle Melody

9. 9 Plot is the most important element. “Tragedy is essentially an imitation not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and misery.” “Tragedy is essentially an imitation not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and misery.” “All human happiness or misery takes the form of action; the end for which we live is a certain kind of activity not a quality “All human happiness or misery takes the form of action; the end for which we live is a certain kind of activity not a quality “Character gives us qualities, but it is our actions - what we do - that we are happy or the reverse.” “Character gives us qualities, but it is our actions - what we do - that we are happy or the reverse.” Aristotle, The Poetics Important and clear excerpt: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/kupomse/poetics.html http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/kupomse/poetics.html

10. 10 The Perfect Plot must have a single and not a double issue the change in the hero’s fortunes must be not from misery to happiness, but happiness to misery; and the cause of it [the hero’s change] must lie not in any depravity but in some great error on his part.

11. 11 “Tragedy is... an imitation an action…of incidents arousing pity and fear.” Pity and Fear = Pathos

12. 12 Ascending or Rising Action The Actions or Incidents of the plot become more suspenseful Empathy for the hero and his situation increases. Pathos and irony increase ascending action

13. 13 1st Decision episode catastrophe Ascending Action and Pathos Climax

14. 14 The catastrophe creates the CLIMAX The catastrophe creates the CLIMAX Ascending Action Denouement catastrophe

15. 15 Catastrophe: scene of death or moral destruction of the protagonist Anagnorisis or Recognition Scene by the Tragic Hero Peripetieia or the change of fortune for the Tragic Hero

16. 16 Definition of Catastrophe It is a narrative that excites pity or terror by a succession of sorrowful events, miseries or misfortunes leading to a catastrophe. The hero or protagonist will have some sort of limitation but will be a person of a high status. His suffering will not be commensurate with his weakness or mistake (hamartia) or pride (hubris). It is from this that pity will arise, as he will suffer far too much. The emotion of pity and fear experienced in the catastrophe bring about catharsis or purgation. 1.The plot may be either simple or complex, although complex is better. Simple plots have only a “change of fortune” (catastrophe). Complex plots have both “reversal of intention” (peripeteia) and “recognition” (anagnorisis) connected with the catastrophe. Both peripeteia and anagnorisis turn upon surprise. Aristotle explains that a peripeteia occurs when a character produces an effect opposite to that which he intended to produce, while an anagnorisis “is a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined for good or bad fortune.” He argues that the best plots combine these two as part of their cause-and-effect chain (i.e., the peripeteia leads directly to the anagnorisis); this in turns creates the catastrophe, leading to the final “scene of suffering” (context). Application to Oedipus the King.contextApplication to Oedipus the King

17. 17 The Climax is the high point of action and emotion The peripeteia, anagnorisis, and catastrophe are parts of this event A Catharsis occurs

18. 18 Ascending Action Denouement catastrophe

19. 19 1st - The Hero makes a decision. We meet the hero/protagonist at his most successful; he has power, wealth, respect, and love. He has worked hard for his success. The protagonist makes a decision, based on his hamartia, and thereby sets forces in motion. He does not realize he has set off a chain reaction of incidents which will culminate in a catastrophe.

20. 20 In his book Technique of the Drama (1863), The German critic Gustav Freytag proposed a method of analyzing plots derived from Aristotle's concept of unity of action that came to be known as Freytag's Triangle or Freytag's Pyramid. In the illustration above, I have borrowed from both critics to present a graphic that can be employed to analyze the structure and unity of a narrative's plot. Tools for Analyzing Prose FictionTools for Analyzing Prose Fiction (Barbara F. McManus)

21. 21 Three Forms of Plot to be avoided: A good man must not be seen passing from happiness to misery; A bad man from misery to happiness An extremely bad man be seen falling from happiness to misery. Aristotle, Poetics

22. 22 Characters The Second Most Important Element of Tragedy

23. 23 “ There remains, then, the intermediate kind of personage, a man not pre-eminently virtuous and just, whose misfortune, however, is brought upon him not by vice and depravity but by some error of judgment, of the number of those in the enjoyment of great reputation and prosperity….” In the Characters, there are four points to aim at good appropriate realistic consistent