aristotle tragedy terms

anagnorisis

recognition or discovery on the part of the hero; change from ignorance to knowledge

example of anagnorisis

oedipus kills his father in ignorance and then learns of his true relationship to the King of Thebes

antistrophe

to turn against, the returning movement from left to right in response to the Strophe

audience

the viewers; aristotle asserts that the viewers also undergo a cathartic experience

catharisis

the purging and/or purification of emotions

eleos and phobos

pity and fear

hamartia

a tragic mistake or flaw

hubris

overweening pride/arrogance

mimesis

imitation

pathos

suffering

peripeteia

a change or reversal in fortune

example of peripeteia

when oedipus first hears of the death of his supposed father, polybus; the news at first seems to be good, but then it is revealed to be disasterous

plot (aristotle's idea)

has opposite endings for the good and bad where the good are rewarded and the wicked are punished

elements of a plot

perepetia (reversal), anagnorisis (recognition), and pathos (suffering)

soliloquy

speech to oneself

tragedy

a process of imitating an action which has serious implications, is complete, and possesses magnitude

parts of a tragedy

mimesis (imitation), an action with serious implications, complete and possesses magnitude, attractive language, dramatic rather than a narrative performance, and catharsis

tragic hero

a great man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake

parts of a tragic hero

must be a great man with a hamartia (mistake/flaw)