Termpaper 1stdraft 
Xiaoqiang Ma
Professor Meir Lubetski
English CMP 2800
June 2nd 2015
As the brightest pearl in the Greek literature history, Greek tragedy not only represents the highest achievement in the western art world, but also demonstrates the accomplishment of Greek democracy. Not only establishing the best example for the literature world, Greek tragedy, to some extent, sets the precedent of elevating human’s emotion to an aesthetic level. By gazing at the achievement of the Greek tragedy, we, as the cultural descendant of them, are amazed by the greatness of their cultural, political and social establishment. By studying further about more details, we are astonished by their spectacular and sophisticated philosophy. In order to understand the significance of Greek tragedy, it is necessary to gain a thorough understanding about the causes of the creation of Greek tragedy as well as the reasons why the audiences Generally, tragedy is a literary genre that combines a story of human suffering with a sense of audience fulfillment, has its roots in ancient Greek theater and is still associated with drama. It normally deals with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Traditional tragedy portrays the protagonist 's fall from high authority or renown to ruin, often predetermined by fate or driven by a tragic flaw. Although in common parlance, the word tragedy has been applied to a range of sad events or stories, tragedy, as it is used in the study of literature, requires that the audience, having identified with the protagonist, experiences a feeling of release or catharsis. According to Poetics by Aristotle, every tragedy must have six elements, which parts determine its quality: plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, melody. Amount all the elements, plot is the “first principle”, which is the most important feature of tragedy. Aristotle defines plot as “ the arrangement of the
Professor Meir Lubetski
English CMP 2800
June 2nd 2015
As the brightest pearl in the Greek literature history, Greek tragedy not only represents the highest achievement in the western art world, but also demonstrates the accomplishment of Greek democracy. Not only establishing the best example for the literature world, Greek tragedy, to some extent, sets the precedent of elevating human’s emotion to an aesthetic level. By gazing at the achievement of the Greek tragedy, we, as the cultural descendant of them, are amazed by the greatness of their cultural, political and social establishment. By studying further about more details, we are astonished by their spectacular and sophisticated philosophy. In order to understand the significance of Greek tragedy, it is necessary to gain a thorough understanding about the causes of the creation of Greek tragedy as well as the reasons why the audiences Generally, tragedy is a literary genre that combines a story of human suffering with a sense of audience fulfillment, has its roots in ancient Greek theater and is still associated with drama. It normally deals with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Traditional tragedy portrays the protagonist 's fall from high authority or renown to ruin, often predetermined by fate or driven by a tragic flaw. Although in common parlance, the word tragedy has been applied to a range of sad events or stories, tragedy, as it is used in the study of literature, requires that the audience, having identified with the protagonist, experiences a feeling of release or catharsis. According to Poetics by Aristotle, every tragedy must have six elements, which parts determine its quality: plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, melody. Amount all the elements, plot is the “first principle”, which is the most important feature of tragedy. Aristotle defines plot as “ the arrangement of the
Cited: Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics Archive. Web Atomic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008. <http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle.html> Justina, Gregory, ed. A Comparison to Greek Tragedy. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. 47-53. Print. Sophocles. "Antigone." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol.A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. 747-783. Print.