Tragic Pathos

Pity and Fear in Greek Philosophy and Tragedy

Dana LaCourse Munteanu

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781139180535
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Ancient & Classical Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

Scholars have often focused on understanding Aristotle's poetic theory, and particularly the concept of catharsis in the Poetics, as a response to Plato's critique of pity in the Republic. However, this book shows that, while Greek thinkers all acknowledge pity and some form of fear as responses to tragedy, each assumes for the two emotions a different purpose, mode of presentation and, to a degree, understanding. This book reassesses expressions of the emotions within different tragedies and explores emotional responses to and discussions of the tragedies by contemporary philosophers, providing insights into the ethical and social implications of the emotions.

Table of contents

• Cover
• TRAGIC PATHOS
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface and acknowledgments
• List of abbreviations
• Introduction
• PART I Theoretical views about pity and fear as aesthetic emotions
• PART II Pity and fear within tragedies
• APPENDIX Catharsis and the emotions in the definition of tragedy in the Poetics
• Bibliography
• Index