Study on Aristotle’s Dramatic Epic View and Its Influence

Abstract

While the dramatic theories of Aristotle's "Poetics" have been researched deeply and systematically in the academic circle, the study of his epic theory is obviously insufficient. After reviewing the academic background of Greece at that time and combing and comparing the critical theories of epic in the West, this paper mainly studies Aristotle's view of epic. Aristotle believes that the plot structure, types and elements of epic should be the same as drama, and the plot structure should be dramatized in particular. On this basis, the author holds that Aristotle's view of epic is a dramatic epic view, which has directly influenced the study and evaluation of epic for more than 20 centuries. "Dramatic epic view" is an innovative term proposed in this paper.