Imitation in Aristotle's Poetics

 An Essay on Imitation, Poetics by Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the classical period in ancient Greece. He was a great genius who is supposed to have written about 400 books. He was the student Plato and teacher of Alexander. He was the founder of Lyceum, the peripetetic school of philosophy. He made significant contribution in the form of  treatise. Some of his greatest treatise are: Politics, Metaphysics, On the Soul, The Alexander, Rhetoric, Dialogues, On Monarchy,  Education Ethics, Natural History, Physics and Poetics. Most of his works are not traceable. Even one of his greatest works 'Poetics' is not available in original form; only a translation of "Poetics" is available.

The "Poetics" is a fragmentary and incomplete work of Literary criticism. It deals with the tragedy, comedy and epic. In spite of its fragmentary nature 'Poetics' has come down to us as an authoritative treatise of the art of tragedy. "It is not only the first philosophical discussion of literature, but the foundation of all subsequent".

W.H. Atkins suggested that Aristotle wrote the 'Poetics' as a reply to Plato's scathing denunciation of poetry as false, unreal and harmful. Atkins finds Aristotle "merely careful to frame a reply to Plato's indictment; and with this he is apparently for the most part content".

It was Plato who invented the term 'Imitation'. In Plato's view, a work of art is no more than an imitation of imitation. In Aristotle's view imitation is an 'act of imaginative creation by which the poet, drawing his material from the phenomenal world, makes something new out of it'.

The first chapter of 'Poetics' deals with imitation. "Imitation is the common basis of all fine arts". Epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, music and other arts are based on imitation. But their methods of imitation are different from one another. Aristotle says:

"They differ, however, from one another in three respects -- their medium, objects and manner or mode of imitation".

Colour, form and sounds are the various mediums through which the artist imitates. Thus the medium of the poet, painter and musician are different. The medium of painter is colour. The poet imitates through language and rhythm and the musician through rhythm and harmony. 

Secondly, the fine arts are distinguished by the objects of imitation. Aristotle says that the objects of poetic imitation are men of action. The poet may imitate:

"Men as they were or are,Or as they ought to be".

Poetry does not imitate men in action but men doing or experiencing something. Since poetry imitates men as better or worse than actually they are, so, poetic imitation is no more mimicry or servile copy.  It is an act of creative imagination which may represent men as heroic or exaggerate their follies and weaknesses. Tragedy idealises men as better or higher and comedy shows men as worse than they actually are. Poetry is concerned with possibilities not with photographic realism.

"Comedy aims at representing men as worse.

Tragedy as better than in actual life".

The arts are further distinguished from each other by their manner of imitation. There may be three ways of imitation; narrative method, dramatic method or the combination of these two methods. The manner of a poet may be purely narrative as in epic or representation through action as in drama. In dramatic poetry, the dramatic personages act the story. In epic poetry, Homer, narrates the story as well as tells it through a dialogue between assumed characters. He uses both narrative and dramatic method. Thus different kinds of poetry differ from each other in their manner of imitation.

Aristotle, by theory of imitation, answers the charge of Plato: "poetry is an imitation of, shadows of shadows, thrice removed from truth amd that the poet beguiles us with lies". Aristotle tells us that art does not imitates the mere shadow of things, but the ideal reality embodied in every object of the world. 

Aristotle successfully refuted the charges of Plato and provided a defence of poetry. He breathed new life and soul into the concept of poetic imitation, enlarged its scope and showed that it is really a creative process.

Download PDF