A dramatic form depicting the downfall of a protagonist through a combination of character, circumstance and, in many traditions, forces beyond human control, arousing pity and fear in an audience. The form is first theorized systematically in Aristotle's Poetics, which analyzes Athenian tragedy's structure of plot, character and catharsis. Renaissance and early modern tragedy, Shakespeare's foremost among it in English, reworked the form for the public stage, and tragedy in some form persists as a live dramatic mode into the modern theater, from Ibsen to Arthur Miller.
Facts
Place of OriginThe theatre of ancient Greece roughly 2500 years ago; only a fraction of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides survive. 1 Notable ExampleAeschylus's The Persians, recognized as the earliest extant Greek tragedy and doubly unique among the surviving ancient dramas. 1 Defining TraitA genre of drama based on human suffering, specifically the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. 1 Connections
Associated With
Drama, Genres Tragedy is one of classical Athenian drama's three formally competed genres.
Source Drama (Wikipedia)
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encompasses Form
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Features Author
Source Blood Wedding (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: The Great Gatsby
Hamlet, Works Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature
Source Oedipus Rex (Wikipedia)
Source Of Mice and Men (Wikipedia)
Source Oresteia (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: The Great Gatsby
Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature
Sources
1. Tragedy (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering, specifically by way of terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Originating in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, where only a fraction of the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides survive.
body
Aeschylus' The Persians is recognized to be the earliest extant Greek tragedy, and as such it is doubly unique among the extant ancient dramas.
View the Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature
W. W. Norton & Company
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University Press- s.v. Tragedy
- Encompasses Form: Blank Verse, s.v. Blank Verse
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Associated With: Tragicomedy, s.v. TragicomedyView the Source Drama (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Associated With: Drama, Historical origins sectionQuote, Associated With: Drama, Historical origins section
The theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama: tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play.
Wikipedia: The Great Gatsby
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: The Great Gatsby, Lead section
a 1925 tragedy novel
Features Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Opening sentence, tragedy novel
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 tragedy novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
View the Source Oedipus Rex (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Oedipus Rex, Lead section, genreQuote, Features Author: Oedipus Rex, Lead section, genre
is an Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles
Oresteia (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Oresteia, Lead section, genreQuote, Features Author: Oresteia, Lead section, genre
trilogy of Greek tragedies
Medea (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Medea, Lead section, genreQuote, Features Author: Medea, Lead section, genre
Medea is a tragedy based on a myth, written by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides
Blood Wedding (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Blood Wedding, Lead section, genreQuote, Features Author: Blood Wedding, Lead section, genre
Blood Wedding...is a tragedy by Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca.
Of Mice and Men (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Of Mice and Men, Infobox, Genre fieldQuote, Features Author: Of Mice and Men, Infobox, Genre field
Tragedy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the oldest surviving tragedy?
Aeschylus's The Persians is the oldest surviving Greek tragedy.
Aeschylus's play The Persians is recognized as the earliest extant Greek tragedy, and it is doubly unique among the surviving ancient dramas, since only a fraction of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have survived at all.
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