This Norton Critical Edition of the world’s first major work of literary criticism is based on James Hutton’s translation, long acclaimed for its accuracy and clarity. The text and accompanying explanatory and glossarial notes represent the work of the accomplished Hellenists James Hutton and Michelle Zerba.

This Norton Critical Edition also includes:

· A preface, full introduction, and appendix (“On Tragic and Epic Performance”) by Michelle Zerba and David Gorman.

· "Ancient Sources,” giving readers the opportunity to consider the epic, dramatic, philosophical, and rhetorical texts that influenced the Poetics, including those by Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Gorgias, and Plato, among others.

· Several modern interpretations—by Reuben A. Brower, Humphry House, Gérard Genette, Elizabeth Belfiore, and Terence Cave, among others—that speak to the enduring relevance of the Poetics.

· An Annotated Bibliography.