[1] Introduction to Classical Literary Approaches

• Greece & Rome


  Two of the greatest civilizations in the world.
• Plato


  According to him, the craftsperson (or physician or trainer) can have a kind of knowledge about the things he/she does or a kind of knowledge about the things he/she does or produces namely, the recognition of the archetype, the Form, in the artifacts that she produces, which are always imperfect copies of those archetypes/Forms.
• The mimesis (imitation) of painters and poets, however, can produce only copies of copies or "imitations thrice removed from the truth"
• poets & poems


  Who does Plato have beef with?
• philosophical


  He believed that poetry takes people away from reality and thus should be banned. A person should always strive for the ultimate truth and a poet knows nothing of it.
• educational


  He said that the poet exposes children to things that are immoral and not ideal. His belief was that education should be such that it encourages one to strive towards perfection and ultimate reality.
• moral


  According to Plato, poetry nourishes the impulses of a human which are emotional, sentimental, and sorrowful which should be controlled and not be watered.
• censorship


  To control which forms of literature will figure in the life and education of citizens.
• Aristotle


  He maintains that art involves imitation (mimesis), but about what and how art imitates.
• Tragedy, for example, “is an imitation not of persons but of action and life, of happiness and misery” (Poetics VI).
• “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narration, through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions." (Poetics VI).
• In short, the goal of a tragedy is to effect catharsis.
• Horace


  He stressed that literature should be delightful and instructive (Guerin, 2005). He also discussed dramas based on decorum. He complained of silly plays with complicated scenery, multitudinary casts and disjointed plots, and he gave some clear-cut laws which will become the credo of neoclassical writers.
• 1. Characters in comedy must be typical, and speak and behave according to their age and nature
  2. Traditional characters in tragedy must not be altered;
  3. Invented characters must be consistent;
  4. Unbelievable or immoral actions must be narrated and not shown on stage;
  5. Plays must have 5 acts;
  6. The deus ex machina must not be used in unworthy occasions;
  7. Only three actors can speak at one time in a scene;
  8. The chorus must behave like one of the actors, and side with the good characters.
• Longinus


  Introduced the term sublimity.
• five sources of sublimity according to Longinus

  1. great ideas;
  2. passion;
  3. the appropriate use of figures;
  4. the right diction; and
  5. a skillful composition.