Comparing Aristotle 's ' The Play ' Antigone '

Aristotle believed that “good literature” was composed of 6 different elements. These elements include plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Of these 6 elements he believed plot was the most important followed by character. Aristotle defined plot as the story or action of the play. He defined character as all of the qualities readers associate with different individuals in the play. He said that thought was the process in which characters come to decisions. It’s essentially the process of reasoning that leads a character to do something. Aristotle defined diction as the composition of the lines spoken. He said melody referred to the vocal compositions integrated into the performance. Lastly, he defined spectacle as the costuming, scenery, and all other visual aspects within the play. Aristotle believed that it took all of these elements to create a good piece of literature. The play Antigone by Sophocles contains all of Aristotle’s poetics in one way or another. This review will focus on the elements of plot, character, and melody. Aristotle says that a plot is essential to any story, so of course it must be reviewed. The plot of a Greek tragedy typically has a certain structure. The structure is made up of 5 parts; the prologue, the parode, the episode, the stasimon, and the exode. The prologue is where the tragedy’s topic is introduced. This is also the beginning of the play. The parode is the entry chant of the chorus. The episode