Definition of Tragedy and Its Six Constituent Elements — Aristotle, Poetics 6.1–6.12, Greek & English

§6.1

περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἐν ἑξαμέτροις μιμητικῆς καὶ περὶ κωμῳδίας ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν· περὶ δὲ τραγῳδίας λέγωμεν ἀναλαβόντες αὐτῆς ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τὸν γινόμενον ὅρον τῆς οὐσίας.

We shall speak later about the imitative art in hexameters and about comedy; but let us speak about tragedy, taking up the definition of its essence that arises from what has been said.

§6.2

ἔστιν οὖν τραγῳδία μίμησις πράξεως σπουδαίας καὶ τελείας μέγεθος ἐχούσης, ἡδυσμένῳ λόγῳ χωρὶς ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰδῶν ἐν τοῖς μορίοις,¹ δρώντων καὶ οὐ δι’ ἀπαγγελίας,² δι’ ἐλέου καὶ φόβου περαίνουσα τὴν τῶν τοιούτων παθημάτων κάθαρσιν.

Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious and complete, and has 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 narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions.

§6.3

λέγω δὲ ἡδυσμένον μὲν λόγον τὸν ἔχοντα ῥυθμὸν καὶ ἁρμονίαν, τὸ δὲ χωρὶς τοῖς εἴδεσι τὸ διὰ μέτρων ἔνια μόνον περαίνεσθαι καὶ πάλιν ἕτερα διὰ μέλους.

By ‘embellished language’ I mean that which has rhythm and melody, and by ‘the several kinds in separate parts’ I mean that some parts are rendered through meter alone, and others again through song.

§6.5

ἐπεὶ δὲ πράττοντες ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν, πρῶτον μὲν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἂν εἴη τι μόριον τραγῳδίας ὁ τῆς ὄψεως κόσμος· εἶτα μελοποιία καὶ λέξις, ἐν τούτοις γὰρ ποιοῦνται τὴν μίμησιν. λέγω δὲ λέξιν μὲν αὐτὴν τὴν τῶν μέτρων σύνθεσιν, μελοποιίαν δὲ ὃ τὴν δύναμιν φανερὰν ἔχει πᾶσαν.

And since they perform the imitation by acting, first of all, the spectacle of the stage must of necessity be a part of tragedy; then song-making and diction, for in these they perform the imitation. By ‘diction’ I mean the actual composition of the meters, and by ‘song-making’ that which has its power fully apparent.

§6.7

ἐπεὶ δὲ πράξεώς ἐστι μίμησις, πράττεται δὲ ὑπὸ τινῶν πραττόντων, οὓς ἀνάγκη ποιούς τινας εἶναι κατά τε τὸ ἦθος καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν (διὰ γὰρ τούτων καὶ τὰς πράξεις εἶναί φαμεν ποιάς τινας, καὶ κατὰ ταύτας καὶ τυγχάνουσι καὶ ἀποτυγχάνουσι πάντες), ἔστιν δὲ τῆς μὲν πράξεως ὁ μῦθος ἡ μίμησις, λέγω γὰρ μῦθον τοῦτον τὴν σύνθεσιν τῶν πραγμάτων, τὰ δὲ ἤθη, καθ’ ὃ ποιούς τινας εἶναί φαμεν τοὺς πράττοντας, διάνοιαν δέ, ἐν ὅσοις λέγοντες ἀποδεικνύασίν τι ἢ καὶ ἀποφαίνονται γνώμην—

And since it is an imitation of an action, and is acted by certain performing agents, who must of necessity be of a certain character both in their moral disposition and their thought (for indeed through these we say that the actions also are of a certain character, and in accordance with these all succeed or fail), and the imitation of the action is the plot—for by ‘plot’ I mean this arrangement of the incidents—whereas ‘character’ is that in respect of which we say the agents are of a certain quality, and ‘thought’ is that whereby, in speaking, they demonstrate something or declare an opinion—

§6.9

ἀνάγκη οὖν πάσης τῆς τραγῳδίας μέρη εἶναι ἕξ,³ καθ’ ὃ ποιά τις ἐστὶν ἡ τραγῳδία· ταῦτα δ’ ἐστὶ μῦθος καὶ ἤθη καὶ λέξις καὶ διάνοια καὶ ὄψις καὶ μελοποιία.

it is necessary, therefore, for every tragedy to have six parts, in respect of which the tragedy is of a certain quality; and these are plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and song-making.

§6.10

οἷς μὲν γὰρ μιμοῦνται, δύο μέρη ἐστίν, ὡς δὲ μιμοῦνται, ἕν, ἃ δὲ μιμοῦνται, τρία, καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα οὐδέν.

For the parts by which they imitate are two, the part in which they imitate is one, and the parts they imitate are three, and besides these there is nothing.

§6.11

τούτοις μὲν οὖν † οὐκ ὀλίγοι αὐτῶν † ὡς εἰπεῖν κέχρηνται τοῖς εἴδεσιν· καὶ γὰρ † ὄψις ἔχει πᾶν † καὶ ἦθος καὶ μῦθον καὶ λέξιν καὶ μέλος καὶ διάνοιαν ὡσαύτως.

These forms, then, not a few of them, so to speak, have used; for indeed every tragedy has spectacle, character, plot, diction, song, and thought likewise.

§6.12

μέγιστον δὲ τούτων ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων σύστασις. ἡ γὰρ τραγῳδία μίμησίς ἐστιν οὐκ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ πράξεων καὶ βίου·

But the greatest of these is the arrangement of the incidents. For tragedy is an imitation not of persons, but of actions and of life.

Syntax notes3 items

1449b25χωρὶς ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰδῶν ἐν τοῖς μορίοις
The dative ἑκάστῳ acts as a complement to the adverb χωρὶς. The phrase indicates that different means (εἴδεσιν) are employed in different parts (μορίοις) of the tragedy, with some sections containing meter alone and others containing song.
1449b25δρώντων καὶ οὐ δι’ ἀπαγγελίας
δρώντων is the genitive masculine plural of the present participle of δράω, referring to the 'acting/performing people.' It functions as an attributive genitive modifying μίμησις, or is understood as an elliptical genitive absolute, emphasizing that tragedy proceeds through dramatic action rather than narrative (ἀπαγγελία).
1450a5ἀνάγκη οὖν πάσης τῆς τραγῳδίας μέρη εἶναι ἕξ
This clause forms the main apodosis concluding the long subordinate construction starting with ἐπεὶ δὲ... in §6.7. Syntactically, it acts as an anacoluthon, breaking the strict grammatical flow to state the inevitable conclusion that every tragedy must have six parts.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg034.humanitext-grc2:6.1-6.12