The Logic of Imitations

Abstract The meaning of the term mimesis when applied to artistic works in Aristotle’s Poetics is thought to be extrapolated from its dictionary definition of ‘imitation’. I argue that a key word in the single passage directly linking mimesis to imitation has been consistently misunderstood. A correct reading could indicate mimesis has a different definition in this particular text only indirectly related to its colloquial use. I conclude that mimesis in the Poetics may be a narrower technical term that refers to a particular kind of organization or arrangement of individual imitations within an artistic work.