160 Slides for Aristotle
- 1. Riddle of the SphinxRiddle of the Sphinx Aristotle on Oedipus
- 2. Tragedy is theTragedy is the Representation of anRepresentation of an ActionAction Aristotle, Poetics
- 3. The Objects the imitator represents are actions, with agents who are necessarily either good men or bad—the diversities of human character being nearly always derivative from this primary distinction, since the line between virtue and vice is one dividing the whole of mankind. It follows, therefore, that the agents represented must be either above our own level of goodness, or beneath it, or just such as we are; in the same way as, with the painters, the personages of Polygnotus are better than we are, those of Pauson worse, and those of Dionysius just like ourselves. This is a difference that distinguishes Tragedy and Comedy also; the one would make its personages worse, and the other better, than the men of the present day. Aristotle, Metaphysics
- 6. General Specific AccidentalSubstantial Thing Biota Animal Vertebrate Mammal Primate Homonidae Homo Sapiens Sapiens Wearing Clothes Wearing a Dress Being Female Being Diotima {Depiction Portrayal
- 9. Simile of the Line illusions ordinary things forms The Forms Plato’s Simile of the Line
- 10. ARISTOTLE’S CRITICISM What about Cause and Effect?
- 12. Character is that which reveals choice, shows what sort of thing a man chooses or avoids in circumstances where the choice is not obvious, so those speeches convey no character in which there is nothing whatever which the speaker chooses or avoids. Aristotle, Poetics
- 13. Character Means Propriety Thought & Character Intent Action Reveals Character
- 14. In respect of Character there are four things to be aimed at. First, and most important, it must be good. Now any speech or action that manifests moral purpose of any kind will be expressive of character: the character will be good if the purpose is good. This rule is relative to each class. ... The second thing to aim at is propriety. There is a type of manly valor … unscrupulous cleverness is inappropriate. Thirdly, character must be true to life: for this is a distinct thing from goodness and propriety, as here described. The fourth point is consistency: for though the subject of the imitation, who suggested the type, be inconsistent, still he must be consistently inconsistent. Aristotle, Poetics
- 15. What we have said already makes it further clear that a poet's object is not to tell what actually happened but what could and would happen either probably or inevitably. The difference between a historian and a poet is not that one writes in prose and the other in verse—indeed the writings of Herodotus could be put into verse and yet would still be a kind of history, whether written in metre or not. The real difference is this, that one tells what happened and the other what might happen. For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts. Aristotle, Poetics
- 18. Art: Good Guy Wins History: Bad Guy Wins History: Good Guy Loses ART More Philosophical than History
- 19. Moral Exemplar/Depiction Generic Virtues Accidental Actualities ART More Philosophical than History
- 24. Plot Rising Action Reversal Climax Aristotle’s Triangle Falling Action By "plot" I mean here the arrangement of the incidents: "character" is that which determines the quality of the agents, and "thought" appears wherever in the dialogue they put forward an argument or deliver an opinion. 9/10
- 25. The most important of these is the arrangement of the incidents, for tragedy is not a representation of men but of a piece of action, of life, of happiness and unhappiness, which come under the head of action, and the end aimed at is the representation not of qualities of character but of some action; and while character makes men what they are, it's their actions and experiences that make them happy or the opposite. They do not therefore act to represent character, but character-study is included for the sake of the action. It follows that the incidents and the plot are the end at which tragedy aims, and in everything the end aimed at is of prime importance. Moreover, you could not have a tragedy without action, but you can have one with out character-study. Aristotle, Poetics
- 26. Clearly the story must be constructed as in tragedy, dramatically, round a single piece of action, whole and complete in itself, with a beginning, middle and end, so that like a single living organism it may produce its own peculiar form of pleasure. Aristotle, Poetics
- 27. Laocoön
- 30. Drunken Satyr or Barberini Faun
- 31. Dontello, David
- 46. Münch, Scream
- 48. CHARACTER Vice? Vice? Virtue? Which virtues are depicted?
- 49. CHARACTER Vice? Vice? Virtue? Which virtues are depicted?
- 50. In two sentences, select a feature from Dumbo that most exemplifies Aristotle’s theory and state how it does so. In two more sentences, select a feature from Dumbo that most refutes Aristotle’s theory and state how it does so. Use direct quotes from Aristotle. Keep it pithy, extra sentences may detract from your score. Application