From POETICS Aristotle’s Poetics is considered the first work of literary criticism in our tradition. The couple of pages in the book mainly describe tragedy from Aristotle’s point of view. He defines tragedy as being an imitation of an action that is a whole and complete in itself and of a certain magnitude. Aristotle also points out terms such as catharsis, which can be said that is the purification of one’s soul. …showed first 75 words of 470 total…

…showed last 75 words of 470 total…escaping in her magic chariot. This “from the machine” phrase should be employed only for events external to the drama, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge, and which require to be reported or foretold. Lastly, Aristotle explains the importance of the chorus in a tragedy. According to him, it should be regarded as one of the actors. Therefore, the chorus should be integrated into performance and be considered as part of the whole.