Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself . . . with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Aristotle describes tragedy as a form of storytelling that evokes deep emotions and leads to emotional cleansing.
In this quote, Aristotle explains the essence of tragedy as a dramatic representation of important actions that possess a depth and completeness. He emphasizes that tragedy not only engages the audience through its serious themes but also invokes feelings of pity and fear, ultimately resulting in a cathartic release of these emotions, allowing the audience to experience a sense of emotional purification.
Themes
TragedyCatharsisEmotionArtDramaAction
In practice
Example use cases
During a theater discussion, I shared that according to Aristotle, tragedy serves to purify emotions.
More from Aristotle
All quotes →Those who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.
AristotleRead
For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.
AristotleRead
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
AristotleRead
But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.
AristotleRead
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
AristotleRead
Similar quotes
Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.
Ludwig Van BeethovenRead
The painting rises from the brushstrokes as a poem rises from the words. The meaning comes later.
Joan MiroRead
I hate to say this, but I always listen to the music and the instrumentation first, and then grab on to the lyrics later.
Elton JohnRead
Books don't live and die by awards. You don't listen to an Hector Lavoe album because it won some awards.
Junot DiazRead
I like to feel like you can bite my paintings. Not to eat them, to hurt them. I like to feel like I'm painting with my teeth.
David LynchRead
He had that curious love of green, which in individuals is always the sign of a subtle artistic temperament, and in nations is said to denote a laxity, if not a decadence of morals.
Oscar WildeRead