Philippine E-Journals

Aristotle's Concept of an Ideal Tragic Hero

Lincoln A. Manapat

Discipline: Literature

 

Abstract:

The value of Aristotle's Poetics lies in the fact that it is the product of a careful and direct study of living drama. As a philosopher, Aristotle could have deduced a theory of art from an abstract theory of aesthetics. Instead his approach was scientific. In observing Greek literature as a body of knowledge, he tried to discover its nature, functions, and effects on man, guarding against injecting subjective elements so that by detached observation his analytic mind could arrive at unbiased and impersonal conclusions. And his conclusions not only accurately summarized the character and objective of Greek literature, but also served as the model approach to literary criticism.