Abstract
There are many books that deal with Aristotle›s Poetics either through explaining it, commenting on
its content, or interpreting it. However, those books have contributed to confuse researchers and people
interested in theater, drama, and criticism. What maximized the confusion are factors like those pertaining
to the different versions available of the translation of the book and also the different interpretations of
Aristotle’s concepts and terms of reference. Additionally, Aristotle’s fragmented style and inaccurate account
of some ideas and concepts in relation to drama did not make the issue of studying Poetics any easier.
Accordingly, the researcher aims to provide a comprehensive study through arranging sections
and parts of the book in a coherent and streamlined way, while endeavoring to keep Aristotle’s basic
principles and ideas intact and unchanged. In the process, the researcher places emphasis on Aristotle’s
most important ideas in relation to tragedy. The researcher begins his study by dealing with the main
thoughts that Aristotle presents in his book and then moves to discuss the less important ones. He, as such,
starts with the general definition of tragedy, and then moves to discuss issues that are found in different
sections and branches to reveal the associations between the seemingly fragmented parts on types of
action, characters, , the plot, and the purpose or function of the tragedy. The researcher makes use of
Aristotle›s book, Art of Poetry, which has two translations by both Abdel-Rahman Badawi and Ibrahim
Hamada. The searcher selects paragraphs from both translations depending on what seems to be more
true to the original Aristotelian text. In addition, the study offers a practical reading of Sophocles› Oedipus
the King by utilizing Aristotle’s theory to account for the reasons that lead us to believe that the legacy of
Aristotle is very crucial till the present time.