ART OF TRAGEDY TAUGHT AT LYCEUM

Tragedy was one of the various fields of knowledge taught by Aristotle in his school Lyceum. For him, it is not an art of distorting or reproducing life but it is a special kind of representation of life. He defines tragedy and discusses its four kinds in Poetics. A unified plot, unlike modern tragedies which revolve around character, is an element of foremost importance. Aristotleʹs idea of the "nobleness of a tragic hero" is mistakenly taken as "a man of high birth". Besides, Aristotle discusses Hamartia as an element in plot rather than an aspect of character. Catharsis is a much discussed controversial Aristotlian term. Some critics take it as an effect on spectators while others as a part of the logical ending of the play. However, whatever it may be, a tragedy should be a dignified composition in which the role of divine inspiration and natural talent is unavoidable