Catharsis () is a Greek word meaning "purification" or "cleansing" derived from the ancient Greek gerund ????????? transliterated as kathairein "to purify, purge," and adjective katharos "pure or clean" (ancient and modern Greek: ???????). Dramaturgical uses The term in drama refers to a sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great sorrow, pity, laughter or any extreme change in emotion that results in the restoration, renewal and revitalization for living. Using the term 'catharsis' to refer to a form of emotional cleansing was first done by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his work Poetics. It refers to the sensation, or literary effect, that would ideally overcome an audience upon finishing watching a tragedy (a release of pent-up emotion or energy). In his previous works, he used the term in its medical sense (usually referring to the evacuation of t

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