Aristotle

Introduction

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher. A student of Plato and the teacher of Alexander
the great. He developed his own ideas about government. He was analysing all forms
of government, from monarchy to democracy, and found good and bad examples of
each. He was suspicious of democracy, which could lead to mob rule.

Aristotle set up a school, known as the Lyceum, which included the study of all
branches of knowledge. He wrote about politics, ethics, logic, biology, literature, and
many other subjects. The courses of the first European universities were largely
based on the works of Aristotle.

Aristotle describes a tragedy

Aristotle turned his attention to Greek drama in his book Poetics,

Written in the 300s B.C. He defined characteristics of a tragedy:

:
“In the finest kind of tragedy…it is evident that
good men ought not to be shown passing from
prosperity to misfortune, for this does not inspire
either pity or fear, but only disgust; nor evil men
rising from ill fortune to prosperity, for this is the
most untragic plot of all – it lacks every
requirement, in that it neither appeals to human
sympathy nor stirs pity or fear. And again, neither
should an extremely wicked man be seen falling
from prosperity into misfortune, for a plot so
constructed might indeed call forth human
sympathy, but would not excite pity or fear…
We are left with the man who on the other hand
does not excel in virtue or justice, and yet on the
other hand does not fall into misfortune through
vice or corruption, but falls because of some
mistake.”