ARISTOTLE'S POETICS AND THE POLITICAL THOUGHT OF TRAGIC HEROES

This essay reads Aristotle's distinction of political and rhetorical dianoia (Poet. 6, 1450a 38-1450b 12) in light of Nicomachean Ethics (1094b 8-13) and Politics (1253a 19-28), and argues that political dianoia conveys a thought that uses rhetoric to achieve the soteria of the polis, while rhetorical dianoia aims at the personal good. Thus, by identifying in the polis' safety a major element of the tragic characters' thought, this essay tries to reconcile Aristotle's formalist interpretation of tragedy with contemporary approaches to the relationship of tragedy and the polis.