Aristotle's Poetics

Abstract

This paper provides an overview and commentary of Aristotle's theory of poetry, of drama, and of narrative structure, as presented the Poetics. The main emphasis falls on plot structure, but we expound other important subjects dealt with in the work, such as the cognitive origins of literature, the nature of poetry, an incipient theory of media and the analysis of genres, the nature and elements of tragedy, and other subjects such as epic narrative and the structure of critical debates.