Interpretation of the phrase "katharsis of the pathemata"
in Aristotle's Poetics has been disputed by scholars since the sixteenth century. The
term katharsis in Greek has a sense of purgation or purification. Pathemata means
emotions, but in the etymological rather than modern sense, i.e. that they are
something suffered or experienced by the person enduring
them.
One common interpretation is medical, with the sens
eof purgation, Purgatives, which make people vomit, were used in Greek medicine to rid
the body of poisons or imbalances. On this reading, Aristotle is arguing that by
watching imitation of emotions, we acheive something like apatheia by ridding ourself of
excessive emotions.
Another reading is "making the emotions
more pure", i.e. training people to have correct emotional
responses.
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