Aristotle's Poetics Key Terms

https://english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/aristotle/terms/tragedy.html

Anagnorisis

The tragic hero realizes the truth about themselves or their situation.

Antistrophe

The repetition of words in reversed order.

Catharsis

The restoration of emotions of pity and fear aroused in the audience of a tragedy.

Eleos and Phobos

pity and fear

Hamartia

“tragic flaw” of the hero. Meaning sin, error, trespass, and missing the mark. Mistake of the hero that has an impact on the story.

Hubris

Arrogance and excessive pride. Can be something the character feels internal or the characters actions.

Mask

The large masks were used to help show the characters expression and project the actors voice.

Mimesis

syn. Imitation. Humans learn through imitating and looking at imitations of the perceived world.

Pathos

suffering that makes us feel compassion. empathy sympathy apathy

Peripeteia

Reversal of the situation of the plot. A surprising reaction from the audience. Not expecting of by the audience.Plot

Plot

Six components of the tragedy. Plots can be simple or complex.

• Unified

• clear beg, middle, and end.

• good length, to fully represent the course of actions, and not lose the interest of the audience.

Soliloquy

Speaking one’s thoughts aloud when alone, regardless of whether or not another character can hear them (the actor themselves).

Tragedy

“an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of certain magnitude.” tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially about the main character.

Tragic Hero

A central character of a tragedy, they are considered the hero/noble figure, until they experience a tragic downfall.