Track Section Length
01 01 Poetics - Preface 25:17
02 02 Poetics Chapters 1-3 9:09
03 03 Poetics Chapters 4-5 9:47
04 04 Poetics Chapters 6-8 13:17
05 05 Poetics Chapters 9-13 15:15
06 06 Poetics Chapter 14 5:29
07 07 Poetics Chapters 15-16 8:35
08 08 Poetics Chapters 17-19 10:50
09 09 Poetics Chapters 20-21 13:20
10 10 Poetics Chapters 22-24 16:39
11 11 Poetics Chapters 25-26 15:57

Production
Book Coordinator: Robert Foster
Meta Coordinator: Annie Coleman Rothenberg

Artwork
Cover: Aristotle, 1811, by Francesco Hayez (1791–1882)
Inset: Engraving of Aristotle by Ambroise Tardieu (1788-1841)
Insert: Detail showing Aristotle from 'St Thomas kneeling and offering his works to the Roman Catholic Church', between 1883-1887, Ludwig Seitz (1844-1908)


Poetics is the earliest known work that develops a theory of drama and related literary forms. His term poetics encompasses lyric and epic poetry as well as drama in its major forms of comedy, tragedy and what was called the satyr play. All literary forms are “imitations of life” but can be broken into genres by defining attributes that differ in three ways: differences in music rhythm, meter, harmony and melody; differences in the goodness of the characters; and differences in how the narrative is presented, either acted out or told. The original work was divided into two books, each on a separate scroll, and only the first book survives. The first book is focused on tragedy and epic poetry and is divided into five sections. After an opening discourse on tragedy, epic poetry and comedy, he defines tragedy and sets forth rules for the proper construction of a tragedy in the second part. The third section delves into definition and analysis of the qualitative parts, the fourth discusses common criticisms and responses, and the fifth argues for tragedy as the superior form. Given the weight given to tragedy in the first book, scholars speculate that the lost second book likely treated comedy with a similar depth. The work was lost for centuries and found its way back to the Western world though a Latin translation of an Arabic version written by Averroes. It has been part of a classical education in the Western tradition and has been subject to an ongoing diversity of opinions.

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Item Info
EAN - DVD case 0701236969979
Media MP3 CD
Package DVD case, CD jacket, CD security sleeve, download zip file
Author Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
Translator Ingram Bywater (1840-1914)
Recording
Read by Robert Foster
Length 2 hours 24 minutes
Type of Reading Solo

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Poetics

  • Author: Aristotle
  • Product Code: DB-1277
  • Availability: In Stock
  • $7.99


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(SKU DB-1277) (EAN 0701236969979)
(SKU CD-1277)
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