Tragedy and it's components

Let's begin with the name, Tragedy translates to goat song. Goat song? Where did that come from? This term may have come from the goat sacrifice that was offered at the Festival of Dionysus. It may also be because the robes that the actors wore were made of goat skins.

The tragic hero is the main character of the play. The tragic hero or protagonist is generally a nobleman and is good in nature. The audience connects with the protagonist and releases many emotions throughout the play. After the exposition the tragic hero will endure some sort of hardship such as falling in love with your mother like in Oedipus. This hardship is caused by the protagonist's tragic flaw. A tragic flaw is originally a  good aspect for the protagonist, however at a point in the tragedy it turns to a negative.

Ancient Greek plays had a protagonist and an antagonist. Similar to Magneto and Wolverine's  relationship throughout the X-men series.

Throughout the catastrophe the audience experiences catharsis, which is a purging of emotions. This is the essence of Greek theatre, its therapeutic nature, as the audience connects with the actors and their situations they experiences the highs and the lows along with the actors. During the play the members of the audience feel a sense of community as they connect emotionally to the situations they see.

Community is achieved because these performances described religious stories that were relevant to society. Ancient Greek tragedies were specifically based on Greek mythology and were only seen once a year during the Festival of Dionysus. Theatre is a very successful storytelling method and it's relevance at the time brings people together. Similarly to the way Dionysus is the god of bringing together and falling apart. But we will talk more about Dionysus in his own post.

Silk, M.S.( Editor). Tragedy and the Tragic: Greek Theatre and Beyond. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Grickson, Dave. Goat laying on mountain. National Geographic. Retrieved from <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-goat/>