persian wrote:
what does tragic mean?
In general usage a tragedy is a play, movie or sometimes a real world event with a sad outcome. However, throughout much of Western thought, tragedy has been defined in more precise terms, following the precepts set out by [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle"]Aristotle[/a] and based upon Greek tragedies: it is a form of [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama" title="Drama"]drama[/a] characterized by seriousness and dignity, and involving a great person whose downfall is brought about by either a character flaw or a conflict with some higher power such as the law, the gods, fate, society or a moderator. It should be noted, however, that the definition of tragedy that Aristotle puts forward merely requires a reversal of fortune from bad to good (as in the [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eumenides" title="Eumenides"]Eumenides[/a]) or good to bad (as in [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_Rex" title="Oedipus Rex"]Oedipus Rex[/a]). In classical usages it can be spelled tragœdy, and in [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan" title="Elizabethan"]Elizabethan[/a] usages it can also be spelled tragedie.
