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'''Catharsis''', [[Latin ]] from the Greek '''Katharsis''' 'purification', is a sudden [[emotion]]al breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming [[feelings ]] of great pity, sorrow, [[laughter]], or any extreme [[change ]] in emotion that results in the renewal, restoration and revitalization for [[living]].

'''Catharsis''' is a [[form ]] of [[emotion]]al cleansing first defined by the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[philosopher ]] [[Aristotle]].

It refers to the [[sensation]], or [[literary ]] effect, that would ideally overcome an audience upon finishing watching a [[tragedy]].

The fact that there existed those who could suffer a worse fate than [[them ]] was to them a relief, and at the end of the play, they felt ''ekstasis'' (literally, astonishment), from which the modern [[word ]] [[exstasis]] and [[ecstasy]] are derived.

While seemingly related to [[schadenfreude]], it is not, however, in the [[sense ]] that the audience is not intentionally led to feel happy in light of [[others]]' misfortunes; in an invariant sense, their spirits are refreshed through having greater appreciation for [[life]].

Throughout a play we do not expect the [[nature ]] of a [[character ]] to change significantly, rather pre-existing elements are revealed in a relatively straight-forward way as the character is confronted with unique actions in [[time]].

This can be clearly seen in [[Oedipus Rex]] where King [[Oedipus ]] is confronted with ever more outrageous actions until emptying generated by the [[death ]] of his [[mother]]-wife and his act of [[self]]-blinding.

This exstasis can be perceived in [[comedy]], melodrama and most [[other ]] dramatic forms. Deliberate attempts, on [[political ]] or aesthetic bases, to subvert the [[structure ]] of catharsis in theatre have occurred.

For example, [[Bertold Brecht]] viewed catharsis as a pap for the bourgeois theatre audience, and designed dramas which [[left ]] significant emotions unresolved, as a way to force [[social ]] [[action ]] upon the audience.

In [[Brecht]]'s [[theory]], the [[absence ]] of a cathartic resolving action would require the audience to take political action in the [[real ]] [[world ]] in [[order ]] to fill the emotional gap they [[experience]].

This [[technique ]] can be seen as early as his agit-prop play ''The measures taken''.

The term ''catharsis'' has been adopted by modern [[psychotherapy]] to describe the act of expressing deep emotions often associated with events in the [[individual]]'s [[past ]] which have never before been adequately expressed.

The term ''catharsis'' has been used for centuries as a medical term [[meaning ]] a "purging." Most commonly in a medical context, it [[euphemism|euphemistically]] refers to a purging of the [[bowel]]s. A drug, herb, or other [[agent ]] administered as a strong [[laxative]] is termed a ''cathartic''.

[[Another ]] meaning under the heading of 'purging' can concern [[body ]] and soul : in [[religion]], it concerns efforts made to come to [[terms ]] with [[guilt ]] and sin, as by [[penance]] such as by chastisement (in modern use of that word, the meaning of [[punishment ]] has taken over from the original sense of purification), such as practiced by [[flagellant]]s; a testimony to the age of this use is the very [[name ]] of the [[Cathars]] (a medieval sect).

In early cults, the [[distinction ]] between sacred and unclean is far from [[complete ]] or well defined (see [[Taboo]]); consequently we find two types of cathartic sacrifice: one to cleanse of impurity and make fit for common use, another to rid of sanctity and in like manner render suitable for [[human ]] use or intercourse.

* The most conspicuous example of the first [[class ]] is the [[scapegoat]]. Two goats were provided by the ancient Hebrews on the Day of Atonement; the high priest sent one into the desert, after confessing on it the sins of [[Israel]]; it was not permitted to run free but was probably cast over a precipice; the other was sacrificed as a sin-offering. In like manner in the purification of lepers two birds were used; the throat of one was cut, the living bird dipped in the blood mingled with water and the leper sprinkled; then the bird was set free to carry away the leprosy. In both these rites we seem to have a duplication of [[ritual]], and the parallelism of sacrifice and liberation is clear.

* As an example of the second class may be taken the sacrifice of the bull to Rudra. MM. Hubert and [[Mauss ]] [[interpret ]] this to mean that the sanctity of the [[remainder ]] of the herd was concentrated on a single [[animal]]; the god, incarnate in the herd, was eliminated by the sacrifice, and the cattle saved from the dangers to which their [[association ]] with the god exposed them. In the Feast of Firstfruits we have another example of the same sort; comparable with this concentration of holiness is the respect or veneration shown to a single animal as [[representative ]] of its [[species ]] (see ANIMAL WORSHIP). In both these cases the [[object ]] of the [[rite ]] is the elimination of impurity or of a source of [[danger]]. But the Nazarite was equally bound to lay aside his holiness before mixing with common folk and returning to ordinary life; this he did by a sacrifice, which, with the offering of his hair upon the altar, freed him from his vow and reduced him to the same level of sanctity as ordinary men.

[[Discharge ]] of [[anxiety ]] and tension through emotional vents of [[repressed ]] elements [[responsible ]] for [[mental ]] troubles

Libération sous forme d’émotions d’une représentation refoulée dans l’inconscient l’[[inconscient]] et responsable de troubles psychiques.