Tragédie et beauté dans la Poétique d’Aristote: la systasis ton pragmaton de Œdipe Roi de Sophocle

In Poetics, Aristotle defines beauty by linking it to the notions of unity, order and confor- mity to an end. According to him, mythos constitues the «soul of tragedy» and, in order to have a beautiful tragedy, a perfect plot is necessary. Therefore, in his interpretation of tragic beauty, there is an aesthetic conception of tragedy as a well-structured work of art. This study analyse the theme of aesthetic beauty in Aristotle’s Poetics, in order to explore its relevance as a necessary effect of a good systasis ton pragmaton, that is a good composition of events. In particular, the study tests Aristotle’s thesis on the coincidence between perfect tragedy and beautiful composition of events, focusing on the structural device of recognition (anagnorisis). Furthermore, by analysing key-passages from Poetics 16 and paying attention to Aristotle’s remarks on Sophocles’Oedipus Rex, the study will assess whether anagnorisis can be interpreted as a point of convergence between dramatic structure and aesthetic value.