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ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY
ARETE. Arete is the special excellence of anything. The arete of a race horse is speed. The areté of a man is strength in battle and wise counsel in assembly.
ARISTOTLE'S TERMS FOR TRAGEDY
1. HAMARTIA: The error in judgment that a tragic protagonist makes which brings about his own suffering or demise.
2. METABASIS: The Greek word used by Aristotle in THE POETICS to mean "change of fortune." In tragedy the change of fortune is always for the worse.
3. PERIPETEIA: A metabasis which is accompanied by "reversal of intent" is called peripetia. Reversal of intent means that the choices and actions of a character aimed at bringing about a specific result ironically bring about the exact opposite of what was intended. In THE ILIAD Hector intends to drive the Greeks into the ocean and save his city by camping outside the walls of Troy but instead he gets many of his comrades killed and himself killed and thus guarantees the fall of Troy.
4. PATHOS: Suffering. This Greek word is close to the English.
5. ANAGNORISIS: Recognition, specifically of the hamartia.
6. CATHARSIS: Aristotle says that the aim or purpose of tragedy is the catharsis of pity and fear. Catharsis is usually translated as "purgation." According to Aristotle a successful tragedy must first arouse pity and fear in its spectators. Aristotle says we feel pity for someone whose misfortune is undeserved. We feel fear when we see someone like ourselves in character and humanity undergoing a misfortune.
After a story or play or novel has aroused pity and fear in a reader, those unpleasant feelings are purged? How?
The English philosopher D.D.Raphael argues that catharsis occurs when pity and fear are replaced by admiration for the greatness of soul of the tragic protagonist. The further implication is that if a basically good tragic character can show integrity and responsibility even after making a horrible mistake, other human beings can rise to that nobility of spirit too. This is how tragedy becomes uplifting.
