Of all the writings on theory and aesthetics ancient, medieval, or modern the most important is indisputably Aristotle’s Poetics, the first philosophical treatise to propound a theory of literature. In the Poetics, Aristotle writes that he will speak of comedy but there is no further mention of comedy. Aristotle writes also that he will address catharsis and an analysis of what is funny. But he does not actually address any of those ideas. The surviving...

Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, lived in the 4th century B.C. and is thought of as one of the most important figures from classical antiquity. Aristotle was probably the most famous member of Plato's Academy in Athens, whose writings would ultimately form the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. His writings were not constrained to simply one field of inquiry but covered such various subjects as physics, biology, metaphysics,...

Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, lived in the 4th century B.C. and is thought of as one of the most important figures from classical antiquity. Aristotle was probably the most famous member of Plato's Academy in Athens, whose writings would ultimately form the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. His writings were not constrained to simply one field of inquiry but covered such various subjects as physics, biology, metaphysics,...

From Aristotle's Poetics to Vaclav Havel, the debate about the nature and function of theatre has been marked by controversy. Daniel Gerould's landmark work, Theatre/Theory/Theatre, collects history's most influential Eastern and Western dramatic theorists - poets, playwrights, directors and philosophers - whose ideas about theatre continue to shape its future. In complete texts and choice excerpts spanning centuries, we see an ongoing dialogue and...

Offering a testimony to his love of reading and the goal of sharing it with others, author Tibor Schatteles presents a collection of twelve essays that study a wide range of works of literature, including works of Philostratos of Lemnos, Sophocles, Cervantes (Don Quixote), Gogol, Chekhov, Balzac (Gobseck), Hermann Broch, Robert Musil, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Marcel Proust and Aristotles Poetics. In these essays, he presents the simple exercises...

Poetry has always given rise to interpretation, judgment, and controversy. Indeed, the history of poetry criticism is as rich and varied a journey as the history of poetry itself. But classic writings such as Emerson's essay "The Poet" and Whitman's preface to Leaves of Grass serve as more than a critical "call and response": the works are striking examples of how the finest poets themselves have written on poetics and the works of their peers and...

German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche was one the most controversial figures of the 19th century. His evocative writings on religion, morality, culture, philosophy, and science were often polemic attacks against the established views of his time. First published in 1872, "The Birth of Tragedy" is the author's classic work on dramatic theory. It was the author's first published work in which he exhibited his enthusiasm for the dramatic works of Aeschylus...

Stephen Halliwell is Professor of Greek at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. His books include Aristotle's Poetics, the new Loeb translation of the Poetics, Plato: Republic 10, Plato: Republic 5, and Aristophanes: Birds and Other Plays. Mimesis is one of the oldest, most fundamental concepts in Western aesthetics. This book offers a new, searching treatment of its long history at the center of theories of representational art: above all,...

Written sometime in the 4th Century BC, Aristotle's "Rhetoric" is the definitive treatise on the art of persuasive public speaking. The art of oratorical persuasion was an essential skill for the successful politician during the days of ancient Greece and Aristotle's "Rhetoric" is considered one of the greatest works from antiquity on the subject. Like many of the surviving works attributable to Aristotle, "Rhetoric" was not intended for public dissemination,...

The work "poetics" was created by Classical Greek polymath, known as the founder of classical logic, Aristotle (384-322 BC). Aristotle is the greatest of philosophers of the ancient world, whose authority was unshakeable in the Middle Ages too, when the church rejected all heritage of ancient Greece as a pagan one. In his philosophical conception there already were many elements of materialism.