CriticaLink | Aristotle: Poetics | Terms

medium

The medium of imitation is one of the fundamental elements of mimesis in poetry; the other two are the object and mode of imitation. The three basic media which Aristotle recognizes are rhythm, language, and harmony. Music combines both rhythm and harmony, while dance uses only the rhythmical movement of the dancers to convey its message. Tragedy makes use of all three media. In listing the components of the tragedy, Aristotle includes diction and song in the category of medium.

• Aeschylus
• Aristophanes
• Euripides
• Sophocles

• anagnorisis
• catharsis
• character
• comedy
• complex plot
• complication
• denouement
• deus ex machina
• diction
• Dionysus
• dithyrambic poetry
• drama
• epic
• fear
• genre
• hamartia
• hexameter
• iambic
• medium
• mimesis
• mode
• narrative
• nomic poetry
• object
• pathos
• peripeteia
• phallic songs
• pity
• plot
• poetry
• simple plot
• song
• spectacle
• telos
• thought
• tragedy
• trope
• unities