Analysis of The Poetics - Chapter 26

Aristotle in the final chapter of The Poetics has compared the epic form of poetry and tragedy. He analyses which is the greater between the two. If the greater form of art is that which is the less vulgar one and if the greater form of art pleases the specific kind of audience then the art which appeals to every one is the vulgar one. And in fact, the performers tend to bring various unnecessary movements on the stage as if they would not be identified if they do not perform such actions. Bad flute players twist and twirl, if they have to represent ‘the quoit-throw’, or hustle the Corpyhaeus when they perform the ‘Scylla’. Tragedy is said to have the same defects. It could be compared to what the older actors said of the later ones; for, Myniscus used to call Callipides, ‘the ape’, because he over acted. The same view was presented for Pindarus. Thus tragedy is related to the epic art just as the later actors are related to the older ones. Thus the epic poetry is the higher form of poetry which could be understood by the cultured people without the aid of visuals while tragedy is for the vulgar minds.
However the reason of calling tragedy as an inferior art is not because of the poetry but because of the ridiculous acting involved. The reason is that it is equally possible that a poet over does his gestures in the recitation of an epic, as Soistratus did. So did Mnasitheus, the Opuntian in a singing competition. One can not object to all action such as one cannot object to all dancing. The fault in Callippides and the others is that they cannot play the role of gentle women. The tragedy can also produce it’s effect like the epic without any action on the stage. This can be done through reading it. Hence the fault which is mentioned in it is removed.
Tragedy is superior to epic because it has all the epic elements and it can also employ epic meter. A tragedy also has the extra features of songs and spectacles which add an extra pleasure to it. This form of imitation and the effect of such a compact work is much more then a longer work such as an epic. For example, think of what will happen to ‘Oedipus’ of Sophocles if it is extended to the length of ‘Iliad’. An epic is a long narrative poem and it contains themes for many tragedies. If a single story of an epic is taken and presented in a concise manner then it would appear to be shortened and if it is presented as long as the epic itself then it would appear diluted. The epics such as ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ in spite of being long have a proper structure and they appear as a single whole.
Having seen the various characteristics of both the tragedy and the epic, we can say that both tragedy and the epic provide pleasure which are proper to it and we should also keep in mind the words of Aristotle who said that a literary genre cannot provide any and every kind of pleasure but only the pleasure proper to it and since tragedy fulfils this function better then the epic, hence it is superior to the epic.
Aristotle after comparing the tragedy and the epic gives his verdict. He regards tragedy superior to the epic.