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Digvijay Pandya, Lovely Professional University Unit 1: Aristotle: The Poetics—Introduction to the Author and the Text

Unit 1: Aristotle: The Poetics— Notes
Introduction to the Author and the Text

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
1.1 Life and Works of Aristotle
1.2 Aristotle’s Poetics—An Introduction
1.3 “The Poetics”: Its Universal Significance
1.4 Plato’s Objection to Poetry
1.5 Aristotle’s Views on Poetry
1.6 Summary
1.7 Key-Words
1.8 Review Questions
1.9 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Know about Aristotle’s Works and His Life.
• Understand Aristotle’s Views on Poetry.
Introduction

In this unit we shall try to know about Aristotle and his life and works and also understand about
the relationship between Criticism and Creativity. We shall see how criticism is valued like creative
writings. We shall know the role and place given to 'the critic' in the field of literary criticism.
In order to appreciate Aristotle's criticism of poetry and the fine arts it is essential to have some
knowledge of literary criticism in antiquity prior to him, of the current critical theories and methods,
and of the general, social and political conditions that prevailed in Greece at that time. It is also
essential to have an idea of the views of Aristotle on ethics and morality in general.
The history of literary criticism has witnessed several critics who themselves had not been creative
writers. Plato and Aristotle were such critics who gave guidelines of good literature without
themselves being creative writers. Plato was the most distinguished disciple of Socrates. The 4th
century BC to which he belonged was an age of inquiry and as such his chief interest was
Philosophical investigations, which form the subject of his great works in form of Dialogues. He
was not a professed critic of literature and his critical observations are not found in any single
book. They lie scattered in seven of his dialogues, more particularly in The Ion, The Symposium,
The Republic and the Laws. The first objection to his critical views came form his disciple, Aristotle.

1.1 Life and Works of Aristotle
Aristotle was born of a well-to-do family in the Macedonian town of Stagira in 384 B.C. Hence the
nickname Stagirite given to him by Pope. His father, Nicomachus, was a physician who died
when Aristotle was young. In 367, when Aristotle was seventeen, his uncle, Proxenus, sent him to
Athens to study at Plato's Academy. There he remained, first as a pupil, later as an associate, for
the next twenty years.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 1