Stan Staki
Chapter one
Tragedy and Poetry
Since its inception in ancient Greece two millennia and a half ago, tragedy has never faded out. It is true that there were periods when other forms of entertainment or other types of drama eclipsed tragedy, but it has never failed to maintain the interest of both dramatists and philosophers. It is noteworthy that tragedy has often been written in verse; the use of prose as the medium of tragedy is only a recent phenomenon. This chapter is a survey of the history of tragedy from its birth in Athens twenty-five centuries ago up to the first half of the twentieth century. This chapter also hopes to explore some basic theories of tragedy from Aristotle to Nietzsche. The views of the twentieth century upholders of poetic drama, e.g T.S Eliot and Maxwell Anderson will be examined.
It is important to note that tragedy can transform experience and history into meaning, and the shock of significance may have the power to transform us. Tragedy lies in our expectation that knowledge might emerge out of the human suffering.
If we go back in history we can see that tragedy witnessed four great periods; fifth century BC in ancient Greece; The Elizabethan and Jacobean period in England; the seventeenth century in France; and the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century in Europe and America.
To start with, the word tragedy refers to a work of art that probes with high seriousness questions concerning the role of man in the world. The ancient Greeks first used the word in the fifth century B.C to describe a certain type of play, which used to be presented in ceremonies in Greece. The government paid for these dramas, which were attended by the whole city. The topics of the performances show that they focused more on the religious aspect of the celebrations than on entertainment. There were altars to the gods with the presence of
Tragedy and Poetry
Since its inception in ancient Greece two millennia and a half ago, tragedy has never faded out. It is true that there were periods when other forms of entertainment or other types of drama eclipsed tragedy, but it has never failed to maintain the interest of both dramatists and philosophers. It is noteworthy that tragedy has often been written in verse; the use of prose as the medium of tragedy is only a recent phenomenon. This chapter is a survey of the history of tragedy from its birth in Athens twenty-five centuries ago up to the first half of the twentieth century. This chapter also hopes to explore some basic theories of tragedy from Aristotle to Nietzsche. The views of the twentieth century upholders of poetic drama, e.g T.S Eliot and Maxwell Anderson will be examined.
It is important to note that tragedy can transform experience and history into meaning, and the shock of significance may have the power to transform us. Tragedy lies in our expectation that knowledge might emerge out of the human suffering.
If we go back in history we can see that tragedy witnessed four great periods; fifth century BC in ancient Greece; The Elizabethan and Jacobean period in England; the seventeenth century in France; and the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century in Europe and America.
To start with, the word tragedy refers to a work of art that probes with high seriousness questions concerning the role of man in the world. The ancient Greeks first used the word in the fifth century B.C to describe a certain type of play, which used to be presented in ceremonies in Greece. The government paid for these dramas, which were attended by the whole city. The topics of the performances show that they focused more on the religious aspect of the celebrations than on entertainment. There were altars to the gods with the presence of