Literature Network » Aristophanes

Works of Aristophanes: Introduction

Content courtesy of

From: Monarch Notes
Date: 19630101
Author:Aristophanes

Aristophanes
Monarch Notes
01-01-1963
Introduction

The Comic Drama

Origins

According to Aristotle's Poetics, Greek poetry derives from imitation and
the delight in imitation. Poetry, however, soon broke up into two kinds:
graver poets would represent noble actions, and those of noble persons; meaner
poets would represent the actions of the ignoble. The first is tragic drama,
the second comic drama. Aristotle's discussion of tragic and epic poetry is
contained in his Poetics, that of comedy in a lost second book to the Poetics.
From what we have, however, we can deduce that comedy was considered ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Aristophanes

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.