CriticaLink | Aristotle: Poetics | Terms

poetry

In Aristotle, poetry refers to literary works in general and extends even to include some kinds of musical performances. The word "poetry" is derived from the Greek verb poiesis, "making." For Aristotle, all poetry is mimetic; its goal is to represent reality. As poetry is the product of human making, human experience is the ultimate object of poetic representation.

• 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