Aristotle is one of the most important Western philosophers in history who has influenced our society in many aspects. Many of Aristotle's teachings have influenced our world for many years and still continue to have such a great impact. Some of the subjects that Aristotle influenced include: logic, physics, government, and poetry. Aristotle's study of poetry focused primarily on the elements of good tragedy. Some of its elements have been used in Greek tragedies and modern films. The Greek comedy, Medea, and the modern film, No Country for Old Men, use elements of Aristotelian philosophy, using similar and different techniques but both achieving an effective tragedy. In Aristotle's book, Poetics, he defines tragedy as "an imitation of a serious action, complete and of great importance; in embellished language, each of which is used separately in the different parts; in the mode of the action and not of the narrated ; and working through pity and fear” (Aristotle 1149). Tragedy creates a chain of cause-and-effect actions that clearly gives the audience ideas about possible events. The six parts of Aristotle's elements of tragedy are: plot, character, language, thought, spectacle and melody. According to Aristotle the most important element is plot Aristotle writes in the Poetics that “agents engage in action not for the purpose of presenting their characters, but rather it is with a view to their actions. that take on the characters they have” (Aristotle 1150). Plots should have a beginning, middle and end that have a unity of actions throughout the work making it complete. Furthermore, the plot should be complex making it a tragedy effective. The second most important element is character. Characters… half of the paper… even though the two demonstrate the elements in different ways, they both deliver an effective tragedy. Now, after learning Aristotle's philosophy on tragedy, you can examine any type of poem, play, film, and tragic analysis if the elements are represented. It is interesting to see how much of Aristotle's philosophy influenced poetry in the art of Greek tragedy, Medea, and in the modern film, No Country for Old Men. Works Cited Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Gerald F. More. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1967. Dorsch, T.R., trans. and ed. Aristotle Horace Longinus: classical literary criticism. New York: Penguin, 1965. Ley, Graham. The ancient Greek theater. Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1991. Reinhold, Meyer. Classical drama, Greek and Roman. New York: Barrons, 1959.Puchner, Martin. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. vol. A. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2012. Print.