WhatIsDrama?

　　‘Drama’isanAncientGreekwordmeaning‘act’or‘deed’.TheAncientGreekphilosopherAristotleusedthisterminaveryinfluentialtreatisecalledthePoetics.Inthistext,Aristotleclassifieddifferentformsofpoetryaccordingtobasicfeatureshethoughtcouldbecommonlyrecognisedintheircomposition.Heusedtheterm‘drama’todescribepoeticcompositionsthatwere‘acted’infrontofaudiencesinatheatron.

　　WhileAristotleoffereddramaasageneraltermtodescribeformsofpoetrythatwere‘acted’,heidentifieddifferenttypesofcompositionwithinthiscategory,includingcomedyandtragedy.Heregardedcomedyasaformofdramabecauseitrepresentedactsthatmadeaudienceslaughandheconsideredtragedyaformofdramabecauseitrepresentedactsthatmadeaudiencesfeelpityorfear.TheRomantheoristHoraceintroducedanotherviewofthesepoeticformswhenhesuggestedthattheirpurposewastoeitherdelightorinstruct.AlthoughvariousdefinitionsanddevelopmentsindramamustbeconsideredinadditiontoAristotle’soriginalassessmentofdramas,manyofthetermsofclassificationheintroducedarestillusedordebatedtoday.

　　这是戏剧最经典的定义.