Poetics

In the reading that we had assigned this week by Aristotle there were a lot of interesting things that I learned about tragedy. One line that really stood out to me though was a line towards the end of the reading. "...but when the tragic acts come within the limits of close blood relationship, as when brother kills or intends to kill brother or do something else of that kind to him, or son to father or mother to son or son to mother- those are the situations one should look for..." (93). This quote, I think, does a really good job of summing up what tragedy really means and what makes the best kind of tragic event. Granted, there can be tragic natural disasters and tragic murders done by a stranger onto someone else, but when that tragedy is done onto someone that is very close to the victim, that act sends a much stronger message. Like in Medea, it sends a much stronger message to the reader that Medea murders her own children than it would if some stranger or non-related character were to carry out the deed. Soap operas present another great example of this idea. When thinking about the plot of a soap opera, often times the dramatic events that lead to conflict in that soap opera are murders or betrayals within family and close friends. There is hardly ever a tragic event that involves a complete stranger. Overall though, I think it is very interesting and fascinating that even since Aristotle's time, not much has changed about how authors produce a great tragic plot.