Part 1 of 5 · freeIntroduction
In the 4th century BC, Aristotle, a student of Plato who became an independent thinker and founded the Lyceum in Athens, wrote the Poetics. It is not a poem. It is an analysis of poetry, and above all of tragedy, the Greek dramatic form that stages the fall of a hero. How does a story produce fear and pity? Why does that do us good?
The text that reached us is incomplete, sometimes dry, written down in the form of notes. Even so, it shaped theater, then the novel, then film. Many rules of “good storytelling” have their Greek ancestor here. Aristotle watches what works on stage, then draws principles from it.
The rest is in the Sophia app.The remaining parts, the open-book quiz and the full glossary. Free to start; Premium unlocks everything.
- 2Imitating is not cheating
- 3Catharsis: fear, pity, relief
- 4Plot, reversal, recognition
- 5An instruction manual that survived
Open-book quiz8 questions whose answers are in the text.
Glossary8 terms explained in a tap.
30 languagesThe same course, from French to Japanese.
