Genre

Tragedy

Also Known As Tragoidia

Dramatic Genres

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 Origin

The theatre of ancient Greece roughly 2500 years ago; only a fraction of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides survive. 1

Notable Example

Aeschylus's The Persians, recognized as the earliest extant Greek tragedy and doubly unique among the surviving ancient dramas. 1

Defining Trait

A genre of drama based on human suffering, specifically the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. 1

Tragedy

23 entries

Author

Composition Year

Audience

Original Language

Movement

Award

Country of Origin

FAQs

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.

Connections

Associated With

Drama

Tragedy is one of classical Athenian drama's three formally competed genres.

Source Drama (Wikipedia)

Tragicomedy

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encompasses Form

Blank Verse

Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics

Domestic Tragedy

Revenge Tragedy

Features Author

Aeschylus

Source Aeschylus (Wikipedia)

Antigone

Source Wikipedia: Antigone (Sophocles play)

Blood Wedding

Source Blood Wedding (Wikipedia)

Death of a Salesman

Source Wikipedia: Death of a Salesman

Euripides

Source Euripides (Wikipedia)

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source Wikipedia: The Great Gatsby

Flowers for Algernon

Source Wikipedia: Flowers for Algernon

Hamlet

Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature

Hedda Gabler

Source Wikipedia: Hedda Gabler

Jean Racine

Source Wikipedia: Jean Racine

King Lear

Source Wikipedia: King Lear

Macbeth

Source Wikipedia: Macbeth

Medea

Source Medea (Wikipedia)

Oedipus Rex

Source Oedipus Rex (Wikipedia)

Of Mice and Men

Source Of Mice and Men (Wikipedia)

Oresteia

Source Oresteia (Wikipedia)

Othello

Source Wikipedia: Othello

Phèdre

Source Wikipedia: Phedre

Pierre Corneille

Source Wikipedia: Pierre Corneille

Prometheus Bound

Source Wikipedia: Prometheus Bound

Romeo and Juliet

Source Wikipedia: Romeo and Juliet

Sophocles

Source Sophocles (Wikipedia)

The Bacchae

Source Wikipedia: The Bacchae

The Great Gatsby

Source Wikipedia: The Great Gatsby

The Handmaid's Tale

Source Wikipedia: The Handmaid's Tale

The Kite Runner

Source The Kite Runner (Wikipedia)

The Road

Source Wikipedia: The Road

The Trojan Women

Source Wikipedia: The Trojan Women

William Shakespeare

Source The Norton Anthology of World Literature

Wuthering Heights

Source Wikipedia: Wuthering Heights

In the Other Atlases

Originated In

Greece

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source The Norton Anthology of World Literaturetier 1

Sources

1. Tragedy (Wikipedia)

Wikimedia Foundation

Lead 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.