What Does tragedy Mean
From the Latin tragoedĭa , the term tragedy is associated with a literary and artistic genre of the same name. This is the kind of dramatic play with fatal actions that generate fear and compassion .
The characters of a tragedy inevitably confront the gods or different life situations, in events that lead them to doom. The main character in the tragedy usually ends up dead or morally destroyed. However, there are the so-called sublimation tragedies, where the character manages to become a hero by defying all adversities.
It should also be emphasized that the literary tragedy arose in Greece from the works made by authors of the stature of Fornico or Thesis. However, writers of great fame and relevance in history, such as Aeschylus, also contributed to its development and consolidation. An East playwright who is known for works such as "The Seven Against Thebes" (467 BC) or "Oresteia" (458 BC), which is his best known work and which is made up of three works: "Agamemnon", "The Coephoras "And" The eumenides. "
However, in addition to the exposed authors, we cannot miss the opportunity to quote others who, in one way or another, have also become fundamental pieces within the genre of tragedy throughout the centuries. This would be the case of the Spanish Calderón de la Barca and Lope de Vega, the French Voltaire, the German Goethe or the English William Shakespeare.
Specifically, the last mentioned writer, the most important in the English language and one of the most relevant in the History of Universal Literature, is known for already mythical tragedies such as "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet", "Macbeth" and "Othello."
From that literary sense arose an expression that today we use frequently in colloquial language. It is the one that says "make a tragedy." With this adverbial phrase what we try is to make clear the fact that a person is giving a series of tragic and serious overtones to a situation that does not have it at all.
According to Aristotle , a tragedy (in this case it would be the genre known as Greek tragedy ) is composed of three parts: prologue , episode and exodus . The prologue precedes the entrance of the chorus (which, in turn, is divided into parodos and stasimon ) and provides temporary location history .
The episodes show the dialogue between the characters or between the chorus and the characters. This is the most important part of the story, as it manifests the thinking of the main character.
The exodus is the final part of the tragedy, where the hero acknowledges his mistake and receives divine punishment .
On the other hand, it should be noted that any event in real life that can arouse tragic emotions is known as a tragedy. Colloquial language associates tragedy with situations of great drama and pain .
A tragedy can be a natural catastrophe (floods, drought, etc.), a crime of passion or an attack with many victims, for example.