Tragedy | Classical Wisdom Weekly - Part 2

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Tag Archives: Tragedy

The Bloodless – but perhaps Most Clever – Greek Tragedy Ever Written

By Ben Potter and Anya Leonard Sophocles’ Philoctetes, first performed in 409 BC, isn’t a typical tragedy, certainly not in the more modern perception of the genre. There is no high death toll and no evil, underhand conniving that leaves characters bitter and crushed. In a word, there is no blood. In fact, as far

The Warring Writer: Aeschylus Tragedy

Let’s say you are considered the “father of tragedy”. Even in your own lifetime, everyone knows you have revolutionized drama and changed the theatre game. Do you think it would be mentioned on your tomb? Surely a throw away reference at least? But no, not for Aeschylus. The man who wrote between 70 and 90

Oedipus at Colonus: The Tale of Two Ancient Deaths

And so it comes to be, that all men must die. Yes, even the old ones. The great poet and dramatist, Sophocles, was approaching his own end when he imagined the glorious finale of the tragic figure, Oedipus in Oedipus at Colonus. This play is thought to be Sophocles’ final one because it was first produced