classic tragedy
Downfall through hubris
Classic tragedy is a dramatic form originating in ancient Greece, depicting a noble protagonist's downfall through fate, character flaw, or both.
The genre follows formal conventions: elevated language, serious themes, and an ending in death or ruin.
Aristotle defined its purpose as arousing pity and fear to achieve catharsis.
Oedipus Rex and Hamlet exemplify classic tragedy.
The term distinguishes the literary tradition from casual uses of "tragedy" meaning any sad event.
- plotStoryline or land parcel
- Greek theaterAncient outdoor performance venue
- Oedipus RexAncient drama of prophecy fulfilled
- fatePredetermined course of events
- climaxPoint of greatest intensity
free will · divine intervention · blood curse · Antigone · Sophocles · catharsis · pity · Medea · hubris · fall from grace · Agamemnon · resolution · Aeschylus · noble birth · fatal flaw · Hamlet · Macbeth · morality
- tragedycatharsis, hamartia, hubris, fatal flaw, downfall
- MedeaMedea, Jason, Euripides, sorceress, infanticide
classic tragedycomedy
Work meant to amuse
classic comedy · farce · romantic comedy · Old Comedy · satire
classic tragedyhappy ending
Story concludes well
fairy tale · romance · redemption story · success story · wish fulfillment
classic tragedypulp fiction
Sensational cheap literature
potboiler · schlock · soap opera · B-movie · popular entertainment
classic, tragedy, classics, classical, classically, classicism, classicist, neoclassical, tragic