Who was he?

384-322BC Greek philospher and poet Studied with Plato Wrote the Poetics--a description of tragedy and why he believed it was an important genre

What did he believe about theatre?

He believed theatre came from the human desire to imitate He believed it was important for the audience to experience katharsis (catharsis)--emotional release He believed that a tragedy should be a complete story that was both serious and important He believed theatre was to enlighten and to entertain

What does that mean?

Protagonists (heroes or heroines) of Greek tragedies were usually royalty These protagonists had a tragic flaw or harmartia. Hamartia literally means "missing the mark" and refers to an obstacle that stands in the way of the protagonist reaching his/her goal. A protagonist's tragic flaw was often hubris, or pride (i.e. Odysseus) The tragic flaw was sometimes out of the protagonist's control (i.e. fate in Oedipus) Aristotle believed that audiences would feel both pity and fear for the protagonist He also believed that through watching the action play out on stage, audience members would be able to purge these emotions He came to the conclusion that tragedy could restore balance to people by purging them of these types of emotions

Aristotle's 6 elements of drama:

WHAT he ranks as the important elements of all 'good' drama (in order of greatest to least importance)

1. Plot--the arrangement of dramatic events

2. Characters--the people in the play

3. Thought/Theme--the ideas within the play

4. Language--the poetry and dialogue

5. Music--sound (including vocalizations)

6. Spectacle--visual elements (like scenery)