Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. at Stagira. He came to Athens at the age of seventeen and became a disciple of Plato. He stayed with his master till Plato' s death in 347 B.C. Thereafter, he went to Asia Minor and became a teacher there. In 342 B.C. became the tutor to Prince Alexander of Macedon. In 335 B.C. he founded Peripatetic school where he delivered lectures on diverse subjects. He was a voluminous writer and has about 400 volumes to his credit. He has written major important works and among these also contains his “ Art Of Poetry ." He died in 322 B.C. 

       Aristotle's view on the art of poetry is also known as “ The Poetics. ” The precise origin of Aristotle's poetics is not known. The researchers believed that the work was composed around 330 BCE and was preserved primarily through Aristotle's student's notes. The poetics had been a central document in the study of aesthetics and literature for centuries, proving especially influential during the Renaissance ; it continues to have relevance in scholarly circles today.

       The Poetics is widely considered as one of Aristotle's most demanding but rewarding texts, requiring commitment in its study, but offering profound returns to the diligent reader. The poetics is Aristotle's attempt to explain the basic problems of art. The poetics stands in opposition to the theory of art propounded by Plato. The tone of the Poetics reflects its argumentative spirit as Aristotle attempts both to explain the “ anatomy ” of poetry and to justify its value to human society.

       Poetics seeks to address the different kinds of poetry, the structure of a good poem, and the division of a poem into its component parts. In the poetics, Aristotle defines poetry as a ‘ medium of imitation ’ that seeks to represent or duplicate life through character, emotion or action. He defines poetry very broadly which includes epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry and even some kinds of music.

       According to Aristotle, tragedy came from the efforts of poets to present men as ‘ nobler ’ or ‘ better ’ than they are in real life. Comedy, on the other hand, shows a ‘ lower type ’ of person, and reveals humans to be worse than they are in average. Epic poetry, on the other hand, imitates ‘ noble ’ men like tragedy, but only has one type of meter - unlike tragedy, which can have several - and is narrative  in form.

       He lays out six elements of tragedy : plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and song.

• PLOT : Plot is ‘ the soul ’ of tragedy, because action is paramount to the significance of drama, and all other elements are subsidiary. It must have a beginning , middle , and end; plot must also be universal in significance, have a determinate structure, and maintain a unity of theme and purpose. Plot must also contain elements of astonishment, reversal ( peripeteia ), recognition and suffering. Reversal is an ironic twist, or change by which the main action of the story comes - full circle. Recognition is the change from ignorance to knowledge, usually involving people coming to understand one another true identities. Suffering is a destructive or painful action, which is often the result of a reversal or recognition.
• CHARACTER : When it comes to character, according to Aristotle, a poet should aim for four things :

1. The hero must be ‘ good, ' and he should manifest moral purpose in his speech.
2. The hero must have propriety or ‘ manly valor ’.
3. The hero must be ‘ true to life ’.
4. The hero must be consistent.

                       Tragedy and Epic Poetry fall into same categories that is, simple, complex, ethical or pathetic. However, there are a few differences between tragedy and epic :

• An epic poem does not use song or spectacle to achieve its cathartic effect.
• Epics often cannot be presented at a single sitting, whereas tragedies are usually seen in a single viewing.
• The ‘ heroic measure ’ of epic poetry is hexameter, whereas tragedy often uses other forms of meter to achieve the rhythms of different Character's speech.

                        Aristotle also lays out the elements of successful imitation. According to him :

• The poet must imitate either things as they are, things as they are thought to be, or things as they ought to be.
• The poet must also imitate in action and language ( preferably by using metaphors or contemporary words ).
• Aristotle does not believe that factual errors sabotage the entire work ; errors that limit or compromise the unity of a given work, however, are much more consequential.

                         Aristotle concludes by tackling the question of whether the epic or tragic form is ‘ higher. ‘ Most critics of his time argued that tragedy was for an inferior audience that required the gesture of performers, while epic poetry was for a ’ cultivated audience ' which could filter a narrative form through their own imaginations. In reply, Aristotle notes that epic recitation can be marred by overdone gesticulation in the same way as a tragedy ; moreover, tragedy, like poetry, can produce its effect without action - its power is in the mere reading. Aristotle argues that tragedy is, in fact, superior to epic, because it has all the epic elements as well as spectacle and music to provide indulgent pleasure for the audience. Tragedy, then, despite the arguments of other critics, is the higher art for Aristotle.

                          This was all about Aristotle And His View On The Art Of Poetry….