Penelope odyssey
Ulysses vs odysseus!
Aristotle’s Poetics has arguably influenced modern culture more than any other ancient text. The Greek philosopher’s 4th century BCE treatise on what constitutes the best form of poetry is our earliest surviving piece of standalone literary criticism.
It has had a profound influence on storytelling ever since.
The Poetics haunts theatre and film history.
Homer's odyssey
Today, you can find handbooks on the Poetics written for Hollywood screenwriters. Indeed, writer and director Aaron Sorkin urges screenwriters to be “evangelical” about the book. Yet despite its influence, the Poetics is frequently misunderstood.
These misreadings, such as of the idea of a character’s “fatal flaw”, have been as influential as Aristotle’s actual ideas.
Who was Aristotle?
Aristotle lived between 384–322 BCE. A student of Plato, he wrote widely about philosophical ideas, from ethics and politics through to biology and the mind.
His philosophy intersected with art and poetry throughout his entire life, including
