Analysis of The Poetics - Chapter 18
A tragedy basically consists of two main parts, complication and denouement. Complication according to Aristotle is that part of the tragedy which starts from the beginning of the drama to the point where the change of fortune in the drama takes place. Denouement on the other hand is that part of the drama which begins from the point where the change of fortune has taken place and carries on till the end of the drama. Thus in the ‘Lynceus’ of Theodectes, the complication comprises of the part prior to the dramatic action and the seizure of the boy and his parents while denouement consists of the accusation of murder to the end. The tragedies should be classified according to complication and denouement. There are some tragedies in which complication is very good but the denouement is not up to the mark. Such tragedies are not successful. A poet should understand that if he wants his tragedy to become a great work of art then he must give proper attention to both complication and denouement.
There are four kinds of tragedy. The complex tragedy which consists of both reversal and recognition. The tragedy of suffering as the tragedies on Ajax or Ixion. The tragedy of character as the ‘Phthiotides’ and the ‘Peleus’ and fourthly the tragedy of spectacle as the ‘Phorcides’ and the ‘Prometheus’, and in play with scenes in Hades.
The poet should try to include all these elements in his play because it has become a modern fashion to find faults in the work of others. There were some poets who were good in a particular part of their tragedies but they were criticized for not being good in all the elements of the tragedy. Hence a poet should try to excel in all the elements of a tragedy.
A poet should not try to give an epic structure to his drama. An epic consists of a number of mythos and stories. The epic is a large literary work so it can accommodate these myths and long stories. However a drama has limited time span hence if such stories are included then their proper development will not be possible in the drama.
This can be illustrated through experience. The poets who dramatized the entire story of Troy and not the parts of it as Euripides did or the poets who tried to dramatize the entire story of Niobe and not parts of it as Aeschyles did failed completely in their efforts. One of the Agathon’s drama also failed on the stage owing to the same reasons. The work of the poets will become successful if they try to dramatize a particular part of the myths and other such long stories and with the help of them arouse the tragic effects. Such an effect is produced when a clever person like Sisyphus is outwitted or a brave villain defeated. Agathon considers such events to be probable and he says ‘it is probable that many things should happen contrary to probability.’
Chorus is also a very important element of a play. The chorus should be like an actor performing on the stage. It must be an essential part of the whole and it should participate in the action just as in Euripides not in Sophocles.
There are four kinds of tragedy. The complex tragedy which consists of both reversal and recognition. The tragedy of suffering as the tragedies on Ajax or Ixion. The tragedy of character as the ‘Phthiotides’ and the ‘Peleus’ and fourthly the tragedy of spectacle as the ‘Phorcides’ and the ‘Prometheus’, and in play with scenes in Hades.
The poet should try to include all these elements in his play because it has become a modern fashion to find faults in the work of others. There were some poets who were good in a particular part of their tragedies but they were criticized for not being good in all the elements of the tragedy. Hence a poet should try to excel in all the elements of a tragedy.
A poet should not try to give an epic structure to his drama. An epic consists of a number of mythos and stories. The epic is a large literary work so it can accommodate these myths and long stories. However a drama has limited time span hence if such stories are included then their proper development will not be possible in the drama.
This can be illustrated through experience. The poets who dramatized the entire story of Troy and not the parts of it as Euripides did or the poets who tried to dramatize the entire story of Niobe and not parts of it as Aeschyles did failed completely in their efforts. One of the Agathon’s drama also failed on the stage owing to the same reasons. The work of the poets will become successful if they try to dramatize a particular part of the myths and other such long stories and with the help of them arouse the tragic effects. Such an effect is produced when a clever person like Sisyphus is outwitted or a brave villain defeated. Agathon considers such events to be probable and he says ‘it is probable that many things should happen contrary to probability.’
Chorus is also a very important element of a play. The chorus should be like an actor performing on the stage. It must be an essential part of the whole and it should participate in the action just as in Euripides not in Sophocles.
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