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The Poetics
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Aristotle's Poetics
Anyone care to discuss?
Posted By GregoryKnoll at Sun 23 Sep 2007, 5:22 PM in The Poetics || 2 Replies
Aristotle's Poetics
It is amazing how sophisticated Aristotle's analysis of literature, theatre, poetry is and what far reaching influence it has, down to the present day. faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/aristotle_poetics_examples.htm A perfect tragedy should imitate complex actions (see #12) that excite pity and fear (#4) while leading a man who is extraordinarily good and just to misfortune by some error of judgment or frailty of character. That "frailty of character" is the famous "tragic flaw" or hamartia , actually something closer to a "tragic imbalance" The ancient Greek word, "hamartia", which Aristotle uses for a hero's tragic flaw becomes the sole word used in the Christian New Testament for sin. Yet, the primordial meaning of "hamartia" comes from the notion of an archer who shoots his arrow but misses the mark; hence, a falling short, or a shortcoming. the meaning of the word Regarding the notion of "sin" in the Bible. In Hebrew, KHATAUAU, in Greek hAMARTIA. The Greek term has the sense of a missing of the goal, or a straying away from the right path. "Hamartia" brings to mind the image of an archery target "bullseye." The mark is the exact center of the target. To hit an outer ring is "hamartanein," to miss the mark. Applied to the category of sin, anything less than absolute perfection in performance would be "missing the mark." The Hebrew word "cHata", on the other hand, is related much more closely to a lifestyle perspective. "Walking the wrong path" is less concerned about individual actions than overall ways of living. I understand that the OT is also concerned with actions of the individual, but the emphasis seems to be centered around how a person lives life, not on the specific things that he or she does. "cHata" reflects this. We see this emphasis also in the Hebrew word for repentance, "shub." "Shub" means "to turn around," which is what one does when correcting for walking the wrong path. The New Testament word, "metanoein" (to repent) also carries the connotation of change, lit. "changing one's mind," but Hebrew is a more visual language. In college, St. John's in Annapolis, I was impressed with the notion that the word "Satan" comes from a word which means "to turn away" or "be misled". We once had a visiting lecturer from another school spend the entire Friday evening lecturing about "The Apotreptic Moment". "Apotrepsis" is another word that means "turning about". Socrates would use refutation to back someone into the motionless cul-de-sac of "aporia" or no way out, and sometimes, they would suddenly "turn about" in an apotreptic moment.
Posted By Sitaram at Fri 15 Jul 2005, 2:45 PM in The Poetics || 11 Replies