Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory. It is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most influential works of literary criticism and has been studied by countless scholars. Poetics provides a thorough analysis of the structure and elements of drama, as well as a discussion of the essential ingredients of good tragedy. Aristotle explains how the most effective tragedies rely on complication and resolution, recognition and reversals, centring on characters of heroic stature, idealized yet true to life. One of the most powerful, perceptive and influential works of criticism in Western literary history, the Poetics has informed serious thinking about drama ever since. A masterpiece of literary criticism, poetics has majorly influenced literary theories. Even after centuries it continues to remain an evaluation benchmark for literature.