Aristotle’s definition of tragedy

The term “tragedy” has been derived from the Greek word “tragoidia” which means
“goat song”. Aristotle traces a brief and speculative history of tragedy as it evolved from
dithyrambic hymns in praise of the god Dionysus. He defines tragedy as an imitation of
an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished
with each kind of artistic ornament (like rhythm, harmony and songs), the several kinds
being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of dramatic action, not of narrative;
through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

To be more specific, tragedy is an imitation of Action (Praxis), Character (Ethos) and

Thought (Dianoia). There are six basic elements in a tragedy, as penned down by
Aristotle in the 6th chapter of Poetics – Plot (Muthos), Character (Ethos), Diction (Lexis),
Thought or Reasoning (Dianoia), Spectacle (Opsis) and Melody (Melos).Thought is the
power of saying whatever can be said or whatever is appropriate to the occasion. Diction
is the actual composition and delivery of the lines that are recited. Melody and Spectacle
are accessories - Spectacle refers to the staging of the play; and Melody needs no
explaining.

Plot is the most important element – it is the soul of tragedy. The Plot should have such a
size that will be long enough for the catastrophe to occur, and simultaneously precise
enough to be grasped as a single artistic whole. There should be a Unity of Plot with a
definite “beginning, “middle” and “end” through which the story will progress with
causality and relevance. An apt plot must also contain Anagnorisis (recognition) and
Peripetia (reversal of circumstances), and must be strongly bound by the three unities –
unities of time, place and action.

Character is the second most important element of tragedy. Each character has an
essential quality or nature that is revealed in the plot. The moral purpose of each
character must be clear to the audience. The characters should have four main qualities -
no matter who they are (hero or slave), the characters must be good in some way; they
should act appropriately for their gender and station in life; they must have believable
personalities; and they must act consistently throughout the play.

The essence of tragedy can be best understood with reference to what Aristotle says about
the tragic hero and the components of tragic plot. The typical tragic hero, according to
Aristotle, is an individual of considerable social standing (so that his fall seems
significant); and his character is neither unusually good nor bad (so that the audience can
identify with him.) The catastrophic consequences for the protagonist result from some
error in judgment (hamartia) made by the protagonist. The error in judgment usually
occurs from ignorance or a moral flaw (hubris). Combined with the essential elements of
chance and other external forces, it brings about a catastrophe or downfall.

This climactic catastrophe invokes pity and fear. Pity and fear are man's sympathy for the
good part of mankind in the bad part of their experiences. Pity is evoked when there is a
discrepancy between the agent and Fate, and fear when there is a likeness between the
agent and us.This gradually leads to catharsis - a purgation or cleansing of emotions
(especially pity and fear), which in turn produces the resulting, beneficial sensation of
relief or exultation (denouement), and finally a more balanced emotional state. The final
line of Milton's Samson Agonistes provides a fine description of the cathartic state:
"Calm of mind, all passions spent".

Aristotle acknowledges Sophocles’ Oedipus as a “perfect tragedy”, consisting of all the

essential elements required by the dramatic genre. Oedipus had doubts about his
parentage. He consulted the Oracle at Delphi. He was warned that he would kill his father
and marry his mother. Instead of trying to verify the fact of his parentage, he fled from
home, confident that he could defy the fate in this way – this is his hubris, leading to his
hamartia or error in judgement. At a three-road' meet, his way was blocked by a chariot.
Affronted, he challenged. The old man inside the chariot struck him on the head with his
staff. Blind with anger (hubris), Oedipus snatched the staff, and struck the old man dead.
This was his second error in judgment (hamartia), because he failed to see that the man
was old enough to be his father, and therefore inviolable to him. In Thebes he not only
became the king but he married queen Jocasta, wife of the deceased king Laius, a woman
old enough to be his mother. This was his third error of judgment. Oedipus compounds
these errors by his insistence on finding and banishing the murderer of his royal
predecessor, Laius. The catastrophe comes with the discovery of the truth (Anagnorisis)
and acknowledgement of the errors of judgment (hamartia). This marks the Peripetia or
reversal of fortune - horrified, Oedipus blinds himself in an act of self-inflicted
punishment, while Jocasta kills herself. We feel pity for Oedipus for his undeserved
misfortune and at the same time fear that something of similar nature might befall us. The
play has a cathartic end.

Aristotle's discussions on poetry in general and tragedy in particular in his Poetics point
to the idea that true tragedy gives form to our emotions and thus controls them through
the overall effect of the beauty of its form -its well-constructed plot, its symmetry and
magnitude, its action complete in itself, consisting of a beginning, a middle and an end.
(925)