Home : Aristotle's Poetics : Study Guide

Aristotle's Poetics Study Guide

by Aristotle

Aristotle's Poetics study guide contains a biography of Aristotle, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Aristotle's Poetics seeks to address the different kinds of poetry, the structure of a good poem, and the division of a poem into its component parts. He defines poetry as a 'medium of imitation' that seeks to represent or duplicate life through character, emotion, or action. Aristotle defines poetry very broadly, including epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, and even some kinds of music.

According to Aristotle, tragedy came from the efforts of poets to present men as 'nobler,' or 'better' than they are in real life. Comedy, on the other hand, shows a 'lower type' of person, and reveals humans to be worse than they are in average. Epic poetry, on the other hand, imitates 'noble' men like tragedy, but only has one type of meter…

Read the full Aristotle's Poetics Summary

• Aristotle's Poetics Summary
• About Aristotle's Poetics
• Character List
• Glossary of Terms
• Major Themes
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1-5
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 6-9
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 10-12
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 13-16
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 17-20
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 21-24
• Summary and Analysis of Chapters 25-26
• Greek Terms in the Poetics
• Related Links on Aristotle's Poetics
• Suggested Essay Questions
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 3
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 4
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Aristotle's Poetics: Major Themes
• Aristotle's Poetics: Essays
• Aristotle's Poetics: E-Text
• Aristotle's Poetics: Questions
• Aristotle's Poetics: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Aristotle: Biography