The Poetics

The first known work of Greek theatrical philosophy is Aristotle's Poetics. The concentration on literary theory makes it the first existing philosophical book to do so. Aristotle categorizes poetry into three categories lyric poetry epic poetry and verses theatre. Although the text is widely accepted in the Western critical tradition there has been a lot of scholarly discussion over it.According to Aristotle poetry must have five essential elements in order to be considered well-written. Tragic poetry is seen as being superior than epic poetry since it has all of the elements of the epic including the usage of the epic meter. Good relevant realistic and consistent characters are a necessary discovery must take place inside the storyline. The tragic style of poetry is more enjoyable and has a more concentrated impact than one that uses a lot of time to dilute it. A single epic poem can serve as the basis for several tragedies although imitations of epic poets tend to lack cohesion. Such poetry approximates a knowledge of universals making it more philosophical than historical.