#18 in Philosophy
Poetics
- 129
- Pages
- about 2.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Poetics” is the earliest surviving treatise on literary theory: brief, dense and still a reference point for anyone thinking about tragedy. Aristotle treats poetry as the imitation of human action and sorts its forms by rhythm, the moral quality of the characters and the manner of telling. To some readers its prescriptions look formulaic; others enjoy spotting one man’s taste in plays behind them. Anyone studying drama or narrative will find it hard to avoid.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to solely focus on literary theory. In this text, Aristotle offers an account of ποιητική, which refers to poetry or, more literally, "the poetic art," deriving from the term for "poet, author, maker," ποιητής. Aristotle divides the art of poetry into verse, drama, lyric poetry, and epic poetry. The genres all share the function of mimesis, but differ in:Musical rhythm, harmony, meter, and melody; The goodness of the characters; and The mode of storytelling.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 80 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 35% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Philosophy average of 8.0. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.7 | 7 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 7.5 | 73 | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is Poetics?
It has 129 pages — shorter than 80% of the ranked books in Philosophy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Philosophy — with scores between 7.5 and 8.3, closest to this book.
