Aristotle was the most distinguished disciple of Plato. He was the tutor of Alexander the Great. In the year 345 B.C. he established a school in Athens. The school is often called 'peripatetic' school because Aristotle was in the habit of walking around the courtyard of his school while teaching. He is believed to have written nearly half a dozen critical treatises.

Aristotle's Works

'Poetics' and 'Rheotric' are the only two extant among Aristotle's works. The former deals with the art of poetry and the latter with the art of speaking. 'Poetics' deals with many more problems of literature than 'Rheotric' and and therefore has attracted greater attention than the latter.

'Poetics' is a treatise of about fifty pages containing twenty-six small chapters. It is believed to have had a second part which was lost. The first four chapters and the twenty-fifth are devoted to poetry, the fifth in general way, to comedy, epic and tragedy. The following fourteen are exclusively devoted to tragedy, the next three to poetic diction, the next two to epic poetry and the last to a comparison of epic poetry and tragedy. Aristotle's main concern appears to be tragedy which in his days was considered to be the most developed form of poetry.