Description
Book SynopsisElizabeth Belfiore offers a striking new interpretation of Aristotle's Poetics by situating the work within the Aristotelian corpus and in the context of Greek culture in general. In Aristotle's Rhetoric, the Politics, and the ethical, psychological, logical, physical, and biological works, Belfiore finds extremely important but largely neglected s
Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction3Pt. IThe Greek Background7Ch. 1The Gorgon at the Feast9Gorgon and Gorgoneion11Pindar14Eumenides19A Medicine to Produce Aidos30Pt. IIPlot: The Soul of Tragedy41Ch. 2Philia and Tragic Imitation44Imitation45Representation48Production: Tragedy Imitates Nature53Similarity63Theoria66Philia70Ch. 3Plot and Character83The Plot-Character Distinction83Ethos92Ethos as Part of Tragedy94The Spoudaioi100Problems103Plot and Ethos in the Greek Tragedies107Ch. 4Necessity, Probability, and Plausibility111Necessity and Probability111Plausibility, Plot, and Episode119Ch. 5Parts and Wholes132The Parts of the Plot132Pathos134Peripeteia141Recognition153Good and Bad Plots160Poetics 13: Changes and Characters161Poetics 14: Pathos and Recognition170Pt. IIIPity and Fear177Ch. 6Fear, Pity, and Shame in Aristotle's Philosophy181Pity, Fear, and Physical Danger181Fear of Disgrace: Aidos and Aischune189Aristotle and the Greek Tradition190Rhetoric192Nicomachean Ethics193Eudemian Ethics199Aidos, Excellence, and Habituation203Kataplexis and Ekplexis216Summary222Ch. 7Tragic Emotion226Pity and Pear in the Poetics226Aesthetic and Real-Life Emotion238Flight and Pursuit238Tragedy and Rhetoric246Pt. IVKatharsis255Ch. 8Katharsis and the Critical Tradition257The Definition of Tragedy257The Homeopathic Prejudice260Homeopathy: Theoretical Problems266Homeopathy: The Ancient Evidence278Ch. 9Katharsis in Aristotle's Philosophy291Overview292Physical Katharsis300Katharsis of the Katamenia300Medical Katharsis306Psychic Katharsis314Purity315Psychic and Physical Excellence317Politics 8320Iron and Wood327The Platonic Elenchus331Ch. 10Tragic Katharsis337Glossary361Aristotelian Texts Used363Bibliography365Index of Passages Cited381General Index405
