In this, the fullest attempt in English at a sustained interpretation of Aristotle's Poetics this century, Stephen
Halliwell demonstrates that the Poetics, despite its laconic brevity, contains a coherent statement of a challenging
theory of poetic art, as well as hints towards a theory of mimetic art in general. He assesses this theory against
the background of earlier Greek views on poetry and art, particularly Plato's; and goes further than many previous
authors in setting Aristotle's ideas in the wider context of his philosophical system. The core of the book is
a fresh appraisal of Aristotle's view of tragic drama, in which Halliwell contends that at the heart of the Poetics
lies a philosophical urge to work out a secularized understanding of Greek tragedy.