Tractatus coislinianus is an ancient Greek manuscript outlining a theory of comedy in the tradition of Aristotle's Poetics .
The Tractatus states that comedy invokes laughter and pleasure, thus purging those emotions (catharsis), in a manner parallel to the description of tragedy in the Poetics. It proceeds to describe the devices used and manner in which catharsis is brought about.
The manuscript now resides in Paris, France, at the Bibliothèque Nationale; it is labeled "Coislinianus 120". The 10th-century manuscript resided at Great Lavra on Mount Athos. In 1643, Athanasius Rhetor sent it from Cyprus to Séguier de Coislin. The classicist J. A. Cramer, poring through the collection of Henri Charles du Cambout de Coislin, was struck by the content, believing it to be the work of a commentator on Aristotle's theory of comedy, and published it in 1839. This belief was soon derided, but it has gained force in the 20th century; Richard Janko has argued that it is the notes or sketches of the lost second section of the Poetics. Nesselrath argues that it is a later work, perhaps by Theophrastus.
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Tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain [that] awakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term tragedy often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it.
In fiction, a character is a person or other being in a narrative. The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of a "fictional" versus "real" character may be made. Derived from the Ancient Greek word χαρακτήρ, the English word dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones by Henry Fielding in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor" developed. Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person". In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers, has been called characterisation.
Catharsis is from the Ancient Greek word κάθαρσις, katharsis, meaning "purification" or "cleansing". In English it can refer to a number of different excreting acts.
Deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is generally to resolve an otherwise irresolvable plot situation, to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending or act as a comedic device.
Tractatus is Latin for "treatise". It may refer to:
A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his Poetics, Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle based his observations on previous dramas. Many of the most famous instances of tragic heroes appear in Greek literature, most notably the works of Sophocles and Euripides.
Mimesis is a term used in literary criticism and philosophy that carries a wide range of meanings, including imitatio, imitation, nonsensuous similarity, receptivity, representation, mimicry, the act of expression, the act of resembling, and the presentation of the self.
Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest surviving work of Greek dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. In this text Aristotle offers an account of ποιητική, which refers to poetry and more literally "the poetic art," deriving from the term for "poet; author; maker," ποιητής. Aristotle divides the art of poetry into verse drama, lyric poetry, and epic. The genres all share the function of mimesis, or imitation of life, but differ in three ways that Aristotle describes:
Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece. Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the eleven surviving plays of Aristophanes; Middle Comedy is largely lost, i.e. preserved only in relatively short fragments by authors such as Athenaeus of Naucratis; and New Comedy is known primarily from the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander.
In the theatre of ancient Greece, the eirōn "dissembler" was one of various stock characters in comedy. The eirōn usually succeeded by bringing down his braggart opponent by understating his own abilities. The eiron lends his name to the related concept of irony.
Alazṓn is one of three stock characters in comedy of the theatre of ancient Greece. He is the opponent of the eirôn. The alazṓn is an impostor that sees himself as greater than he actually is. The senex iratus and the miles gloriosus are two types of alazṓn.
In the theatre of ancient Greece, the bômolochus was one of three stock characters in comedy, corresponding to the English buffoon. The bômolochus is marked by his wit, his crudity of language, and his frequent non-illusory audience address.
Dramatic theory attempts to form theories about theatre and drama. Drama is defined as a form of art in which a written play is used as basis for a performance. Dramatic theory is studied as part of theatre studies.
Gerald Frank Else was a distinguished American classicist. He was professor of Greek and Latin at University of Michigan and University of Iowa. Else is substantially credited with the refinement of Aristotelian scholarship in aesthetics in the 20th century to expand the reading of catharsis alone to include the aesthetic triad of mimesis, hamartia, and catharsis as all essentially linked to each other.
Fonds Coislin is a collection of Greek manuscripts acquired by Pierre Séguier, but named after Henri-Charles de Coislin, its second owner. It is now held in the National Library of France, as one of three fonds of Greek manuscripts: fonds grec, fonds Coislin, and supplément grec.
Codex Vaticanus 253 is one of the most important manuscripts of the treatise On the Soul by Aristotle. It is designated by the symbol L. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 13th century. It is written in Greek minuscule letters. The manuscript is not complete; it contains only Book III. It belongs to the textual family λ, together with the manuscripts E, Fc, Lc, Kd, and P.
Codex Vaticanus 260 is one of the most important manuscripts of the treatise On the Soul by Aristotle. It is designated by the symbol U. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 11th century. It is written in Greek minuscule letters. The manuscript contains the complete text of the treatise. It belongs to the textual family ν, together with the manuscripts X, v, Ud, Ad, and Q.
Codex Coislinianus 386 is one of the important manuscripts of the treatise On the Soul by Aristotle. It is designated by the symbol C. Paleographically it had been assigned to the 11th century. It is written in Greek minuscule letters. The manuscript contains the complete text of the treatise. It belongs to the textual family ξ, together with the manuscripts T Ec Xd Pd Hd.
Codex Ambrosianus 435 is one of the most important manuscripts of the treatise On the Soul by Aristotle. It is designated by the symbol X. Paleographically it had been assigned to the 12th or 13th century. It is written in Greek minuscule letters. The manuscript contains the complete text of the treatise. It belongs to the textual family ν, together with the manuscripts v Ud Ad U Q.
Richard Charles Murray Janko is an Anglo-American classical scholar and the Gerald F. Else Distinguished University Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan.