SWB's History of the Medieval World- Chapter 1 Response Question

7. How, according to Wise-Bauer, did Constantine view Christianity? What evidence does she marshal to support this claim?

Bauer states that Constantine views Christianity as far much more than just his eternal salvation, but rather as a "new and fascinating way of understanding the world" (Bauer pg.7). It also ensured him an eternal seat as Emperor. By adopting Christianity as the national religion of the Roman Empire he could accomplish two things. He could unify his very racially and regionally diverse empire (having spread well into Persia and North Africa at this point) with an overarching moral law while, at the same time, he was able to retain and perhaps enhance the ideologies of the 'proper' Roman citizen. He also was able to elevate himself over the people by claiming authorisation from a divine being, distancing himself from deification as Augustus and Caesar had both done. The Edict of Milan, Bauer argues, demonstrates the action in front of motives in Constantine's brilliant chronological strategies.

Aristotle's Poetics VIII

In this book, Aristotle speaks to the Unity in a Plot. He argues that while a Plot should be well unified, it also shouldn't focus exclusively on an individual character. He praises Homer's Odyssey as a prime example of the integration of multiple character focus, as well as keeping it unified. He also says that both the characters and the events of the Plot should be well correlated and relevant to each other.

"For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference, is not an organic part of the whole."

Aristotle's Poetics VII

Aristotle focusses primarily on the action in a Tragedy. The action of a Tragedy should be "complete, whole, and of a certain magnitude". This may be done by ensuring the use of a beginning, middle, and end to a story. The beginning is where there are no preceding events of pertinent importance to the Plot, and from which all events of the story follow from. The middle leads and follows other events of the story. And the end must have no following events pertinent to the Plot, and it is what all other events lead to. Also the length of the Tragedy must be set between two standards, as a Tragedy that is too long gathers much detail yet will lose the attention of the audience; a Tragedy that is too short may stick in the audience's mind, it is not able to contain many details. Therefore the Tragedy should be in a midpoint between those two points.

Aristotle's Poetics VI

Aristotle notes there are six parts to Tragedy, excluding nothing in its essence, they determine the quality of the art. In order of importance, Aristotle denotes the following:
First and foremost is the Spectacle, how the audience perceives the overall visual presentation of the Tragedy through stage and actors. Second is the Characters, the people who make up the actions in the story. Thirdly is the Plot, which is the chronology and events in the Tragedy. Fourth is the Diction, the syntax, composition and word choice of the poet, sets the tone of the Tragedy through language. Fifthly lies Song, which may be described as the embellishments and flourishes of the Tragedy. And finally sixth is the Thought of the poem, which is the intellectual and philosophical depth within the Tragedy. Combined, these aspects of Tragedy reflect a very similar approach to theatre even today.

Aristotle on Tragedy and Mimesis

Aristotle views Mimesis as an Epistemology, and a good one at that. It is a natural form of learning things, used even by small children. Not only is it natural, we find pleasure in imitation (as a form of art). We have a desire to learn; to know the unknown, and this is all by isolating the original form. Mimesis offers a way of understanding the original form of the imitation through discovery, connection, and contemplation through personal reflection.

Aristotle's definition of Tragedy (as always) isolates it from otther forms of imitation. He says that "Tragedy" is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude. It should also have a degree of artistic value, like metre or rhyme. It shouldn't, however be a narrative, only presented through action. It also forces the audience into feeling certain emotions, like pity and fear, and properly purges them.

Aristotle's Poetics V

Comedy is of lower character, not necessarily in a bad sense, but in an 'ugly' or 'misshapen' way. Like a mask, it imitates a face, but in a distorted form. Comedy has a relatively short history, as it was not respected or treated seriously in any manner, certainly not appropriate for a Dithyramb. Comedy progresses Poetry far beyond any spiritual sense and moves along into a sense of self reflection of society, similar to epic poetry. However, Epic Poetry has strict rules when it comes to metre, Comedy on the other hand has no use for these rules. Similar to Epic Poetry, Tragedy follows these rules, and in essence Epic Poems follow after Tragedy, not vice versa.

Aristotle's Poetics IV

Aristotle begins the fourth part by explaining how poetry even began. He goes on to say that imitation is a purely natural thing for humans to do, adopting it as small children and ceasing not from there. Not only is it natural, but we learn things through imitation and delight in works of imitation. What poetry does is takes this imitation to levels of rhythm, making heavy emphasis on its innate aesthetic beauty.  

Tragedy draws imitation from the parts of reality that are filled with misfortune; dramas derived from poetic Dithyrambs. He mentions that Tragedy has drastically changed from what it was in that it included far more many actors than intended due to Aeschylus and Sophocles' innovations. Also the metre changed from a satyric trochaic tetrametre to simplistic iambic hexametre. The iambic stanzas are far too similar to how people normally speak to be very aesthetic. His final complaint is how long and how many acts the plays contain, granted details are important.