Greek Tragedies Research Paper

587 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Greek tragedy analysis

Tragedies have played a tremendous role in literature for a very long period of time. They have been around for over 2,500 years. A Tragedy is form of drama that is treated in a serious way that dignifies terrible events that is caused by a heroic character. They mainly refer to conflict and the ways that the problem can be solved. There are many different types of Tragedies. The main types of tragedies include Greek Tragedy, Roman Tragedy, Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy, and Revenge Tragedy. Tragedies were first brought to us by the Ancient Greeks. Historians have investigated on where Tragedies were introduced. The source that they came up with was that they came from the Greek “goat-song”. The reasoning why they were called that is …show more content…

These typically included God and other mythological beings. Greek Tragedies are also considered “perfect tragedies”. This means that the main character is as perfect as God and everybody loves them. Since these being perfect tragedies, they are the least favorite because it is very easy to tell what will happen in the storyline. Roman Tragedies are very similar to Greek Tragedies. They were mainly just adaptations of Greek Tragedies. During the Roman time period, they performed many Greek Tragedies. There are only a few Roman Tragedies that survived during this time. They all were very different and sort of mixed different kinds of tragedies together. Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedies also included a protagonist of high status. These include rank of class, nobility, or military. This type of tragedy is different than a Greek Tragedy. They have the same type of idea, but have different endings. There is a character that is flawed by many people in the story. The character gets into a conflict of fortune that they have to solve. Then, which is the main difference, the character usually dies at the

Show More
Related

  • A Humorous Distillation of Antigone by Maurice Sagoff

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragedy is a story or play that has a signifigant conflict of morals, with a noble protagonist displaying a tragic flaw that is their strength but leads to their downfall. The exposition of the story is when Antigone is talking with her sister and we learn of what has happened. The turning point of this play is when Creon tries to mend his wrongs by burying Polynices and freeing Antigone. Antigone herself is the tragic hero because she dies for what she believes morally right. Antigone's tragic flaw is that she has only sees her point of view which leads to her death.

    Read More

  • Suffering In The Movie Signs

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pain and Suffering “To live is to suffer, To survive is to find meaning in the suffering”. What is a tragedy? Tragedy is, an event causing great suffering, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe. Tragedy started in Ancient Greek and evolved into religious ceremonies. Shyamalan painted a harsh image of tragedy when he made the movie Signs, he showed that you have to have faith and family to get through tragic events.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Tragic Flaws in Oedipus Rex (the King) and Death of a Salesman

    408 Words  | 1 Pages

    "Oedipus Rex" and "Death of a Salesman" are two examples of tragedies. In these two plays the characters are good, but not perfect, and their misfortunes are the result of their tragic flaws.

    Read More

  • Batman As A Tragic Hero

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is a classical tragedy? The hero struggles against an overwhelming fate. The protagonist's death was unfortunate, but they would win a moral victory over the forces that destroyed them. The nature of a man or woman's destiny was tested. Audiences would flood the stages of theaters to savor these artistic moments, with feelings of sympathy and dismay. These classical tragedies began in Ancient Greek theater, and left an impression even on today's visual art forms. Greek playwrights depicted tragic events with works such as Oedipus the King and Antigone. As we can see through today's television and featured films, the concepts of a classical Greek tragedy are important to some elements found in contemporary drama.

    Read More

  • Motivation In Hamlet

    2473 Words  | 5 Pages

    The genre of tragedy is one that has fascinated readers since its very conception. From the intricacies of the plots, to the internal and external struggles of the characters, tragedies are woven together in such a way that the reader is drawn into the story. Two types of tragedies particularly fascinate readers, although they diverge greatly, especially around the theme of revenge. In the areas of motivation for the revenge. and characteristics of the revenger, Greek and Senecan tragedies vary greatly.

    Read More

  • tragoed Comparing Tragedy in Hamlet and Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex)

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragedy comes in many forms, for example earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes are all types of tragedies. On the other hand, when talking about tragedy in literature, it has a whole different meaning. Tragedy in literature is on a smaller scale than things like earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. In literature tragedy is usually about one person and the horrible things that happen to them during their life in a story or play.

    Read More

  • Othello is Not a Tragic Hero

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy. The problem with any tragedy definition is that most tragic plays do not define the tragedy conditions explained or outlined by Aristotle. According to Telford (1961), a tragedy is a literary work that describes the downfall of an honorable, main character who is involved on historically or socially significant events. The main character, or tragic hero, has a tragic fault, the quality that leads to his or her own destruction. In reading Aristotle’s point of view, a tragedy play is when the main character(s) are under enormous pressure and are incapable to see the dignities in human life, which Aristotle’s ideas of tragedy is based on Oedipus the King. Shakespeare had a different view of tragedy. In fact, Shakespeare believed tragedy is when the hero is simply and solely destroyed. Golden (1984) argued the structure of Shakespearean tragedy would be that individual characters revolved around some pain and misery.

    Read More

  • The Family Tragedy: Antigone

    1161 Words  | 3 Pages

    A tragedy is defined as a dramatic composition, often in verse, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction. The play Antigone by Sophocles displays many qualities that prove to form into the epitome of a tragedy. Tragedy is usually marked with a person of great standing—in this case, a King—who falls because of hubris, or extreme pride. Antigone proves to live up to both of these definitions which is proven through its themes. Sophocles uses many techniques in this tragedy to contribute to the overall theme. This theme is accomplished by creating emotions in the readers to evoke the understanding of the theme. In the play Antigone, Sophocles uses the themes of pride, power, and femininity to convey his overall theme of tragedy.

    Read More

  • Comparative Character Analysis of Classical Vs. Modern Tragic Protagonists.

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Comparative Character Analysis of Classical Vs. Modern Tragic Protagonists. A hero/ heroine is described as the principal male/ female character in a literary or dramatic work or the central figure in an event, period, or movement. The classic tragic hero was defined by Aristotle in the fourth century as, “someone who is highly renowned and prosperous” (LATWP, 639), suggesting that there is a “natural right ordering and proportion of traits within the human being that if violated, produces calamity” (LATWP, 639). The book goes on to define classical tragedy as one that “involves the inevitable destruction of a noble person by means of character flaw, usually a disproportionate measure of a specific human attribute such as pride, jealousy or indecision” (LATWP, 639).

    Read More

  • Greek Tragedy

    396 Words  | 1 Pages

    The tragedy was a large part of people's lives in ancient Greece. Tragedies became prominent long before Christ was born. A tragedy, or goat-song, usually were seen during festivals in ancient Greek times. Tragedies gradually increased in seriousness until they were given utmost importance. Greek tragedies began at a festival in honor of a god, there were three great tragic authors, and all tragedies include a tragic situation.

    Read More

  • Tradgedy:The Scarlet Letter

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tragedy, many people have defined it so many different ways. So, what is a tragedy? Arthur Miller has defined a tragedy by specifying certain characteristics that must be included in the story; there must be living and breathing characters, it must bring knowledge or enlightenment, there must be an internal conflict, and there must be a struggle for happiness. This definition does a really good job of defining what a tragedy is, but I think that there is more to it. I believe for a story to become a tragedy it does not have to have the above aspects, but every reader has to decide whether it is a tragedy to them. Take The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne for example.

    Read More

  • Hamlet And Macbeth As Tragedies

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is tragedy? Aristotle defines tragedy: "A tragedy must not be the spectacles of a perfect good man brought to adversity. For this merely stock us" (1). Not in every play where a hero dies is considered a tragedy. Also, "Nor, of course, must it be that of a bad man passing from adversity to prosperity: for that is not tragedy at all, but the perversion of tragedy, and revolts moral sense". Further "Nor, again, should it exhibit the downfall of an utter villain pity is aroused by undeserved misfortunes, terror by misfortunes befalling a man like ourselves". "There remains, then, as the only proper subject for tragedy, the spectacle of a man not absolutely or eminently good or wise, who is brought to disaster not by sheer depravity but by some error or frailty". "Lastly, this man must be highly renowned and prosperous-and Oedipus, a Thyestes, or some other illustrious person" (Quiller-Couch 1). "A tragedy, he tells us, is a play in which the chief characters experience a change from good fortune to bad, and in a comedy, alternately, the change is from bad to good" (Fallon, Themes 210). The tragedy in Macbeth is between friends, but the tragedy in Hamlet occurs within the family.

    Read More

  • The calamities of Julius Caesar

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    Tragedies most often refer back to the actions of men. The play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, provides a good example to how the quote is shown to be accurate." The calamities of tragedy do not simply happen, nor are they sent [by the gods]: they proceed mainly from actions, and those actions of men." This statement is profoundly proven through the past and present actions of the conspirators throughout the play. From the beginning of the play, the reader can identify who will necessarily betray and plot to murder Caesar.

    Read More

  • Oedipus the King as a Tragedy

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oedipus Rex qualifies as a tragedy. It fits all the characteristics as defined by Aristotle. The tragic hero of a play is a man of some social standing and personal reputation, but sufficiently like ourselves in terms of his weaknesses that we feel fear and pity when a tragic flaw, rather than an associate, causes his downfall. Oedipus is the tragic hero in this play for many reasons. Even though he does not know it, he fulfills the oracle's prophecy by killing his father, Laius, and then sleeping with his mother, Jocasta. His father was just a tragic mistake. Oedipus thought that the person he killed was just a random person that was harassing him.

    Read More

  • Elements of Tragedy in Hamlet

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 350 B.C.E., a great philosopher wrote out what he thought was the definition of a tragedy. As translated by S.H. Butcher, Aristotle wrote; “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its catharsis of such emotions. . . . Every Tragedy, therefore, must have six parts, which parts determine its quality—namely, Plot, Characters, Thought, Diction, Spectacle, Melody. (http://www.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/poetics.html)” Later in history, William Shakespeare wrote tragedies that epitomized Aristotle’s outline of a tragedy. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one such tragedy.

    Read More

More about Greek Tragedies Research Paper

Open Document