<P> Catharsis ( from Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning `` purification '' or `` cleansing '' ) is the purification and purgation of emotions -- particularly pity and fear -- through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration . It is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics , comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body . </P>
<P> Catharsis ( from Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning `` purification '' or `` cleansing '' ) is the purification and purgation of emotions -- particularly pity and fear -- through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration . It is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics , comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body . </P>
who said the function of tragedy is to produce the katharsis of pity and fear
who said the function of tragedy is to produce the katharsis of pity and fear
Aristotle
Aristotle