THIS IS A STUDY OF THE SIGNIFICANCE AND SOCIAL FUNCTION OF TRAGIC POETRY AS UNDERSTOOD AND EXPLAINED BY ARISTOTLE IN HIS THEOREM "ON THE ART OF POETRY." LIKE OTHER WORKS OF THE PHILOSOPHER, THE "POETICS" IS BOTH DESCRIPTIVE AND CONSTITUTIVE, HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL: IT DEALS WITH AN ART THAT WAS CREATED AND PRACTICED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN ATHENS IN THE FIFTH AND EARLY FOURTH CENTURY, ALTHOUGH IT WAS ADOPTED BY OTHER GREEKS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, AND CONTINUED TO SPREAD, ALONG WITH THE GREEK LANGUAGE, THROUGHOUT THE HELLENISTIC WORLD TO BECOME THE MARK OF HELLENISTIC CULTURE IN THE CENTURIES FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF ARISTOTLE AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT.