“All the plays of Aristotle are based on tragedy. He introduced poetry to the world through its structural components and in the form of narrative subtext. He not only spoke about stories but also analyzed poetry morally, asserting that aesthetic pleasure (rasa) is attained through such analysis and conclusions.
His work Poetics primarily discusses tragedy and epic poetry. It is also known that Aristotle wrote a book related to comedy. He defined poetry through imitation (mimesis) using language, rhythm, and harmony, either separately or in combination. Poetry, he said, is an imitation that creates representations of objects and events in the world—not in the philosophical sense, but in a way that conveys ideas.
According to Aristotle, human beings are naturally drawn to imitation—they are ‘copycats’ by nature—and hence are strongly attracted to poetry. He regarded tragedy as the most refined and purified form of poetry that deals with serious matters. On the other hand, he considered comedy as a poetic form that deals with base or trivial subjects.
He traced the origins of tragedy to dithyrambic hymns sung in praise of the god Dionysus, suggesting that tragedy developed from these short and imaginative stories. Playwright Aeschylus expanded tragedy by introducing a second actor and bringing dialogue into the narrative, while Sophocles further evolved the form by introducing a third actor. In this sense, it can be said that Aristotle ‘discovered’ tragedy.
He discussed rhetoric through the characters and elaborated on epic poetry. Until the end, he regarded tragedy as the highest form of dramatic representation. Tragedy and epic poetry share many common features, especially the unity of plot and thematic elements.
However, epic poetry tends to be longer than tragedy, and it can deal with more expansive and marvelous actions. In contrast, tragedy is more focused and concentrated. Epic and tragic poetry are written in different meters.
After defending poetry against accusations that it deals with impossible and unrealistic events, Aristotle concluded by evaluating epic poetry in contrast to tragedy and affirming that tragedy is the superior form.”