Above left: tragic and comic masks from a Roman home. Top right: a Greek style theater, Roman ruin of Leptis Magna, Libya. Bottom right: a tragic chorus mask. Bottom right: Dionysus mask.

The term “Greek Tragedy” is, in fact a bit of a misnomer. Tragedy was the unique invention of the Athenians. It was created and presented as part of the common religious observances of the Athenian polis. It was a civic event; and that affected the production, form, and purpose of tragedy. The exact origins of tragedy are not known. It was connected somehow with primitive religious rites dedicated to the god Dionysus, whose worship commonly had a strong emotional element in it.

Mature tragedy was presented as part of major Athenian religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus. The main ones were the Lenaea in late January and the City Dionysia in late March. Apparently, these festivals originally featured rituals in which a chorus of singers recited in unison various stories based on myth, which were written in verse for the occasion. Around 536 B.C., a man named Thespis is said to have started the practice of having a soloist, who took various parts in the story, recite back and forth with the chorus.

The fact that the plays were public events reflected a common feature of classical intellectual life: the artist worked in cooperation with the city as part of the shared activity of the polis. His work was a civic service, and that influenced production. Plays had to meet city standards. Writers who wanted their work performed, submitted it in advance to the archon (magistrate) in charge  of the festival, who then decided what would be presented. Once the plays were selected, the archon chose a wealthy person to pay for the production. As a reward for footing the bill, the producer was allowed to lead the chorus and actors in the religious procession of the festival. Thus, he was called a choregos, leader of the chorus. The author and most of the actors were paid, but only a small sum. Participation was mainly a religious service to the community.

Although the plays were civic events, individual excellence was recognized. Productions were part of an agon, a contest. The city gave prizes to the best play, the best actor, and the best choregos. There were small cash awards, but chiefly the winners received the honor of having their names inscribed on a public monument. There were ten judges chosen by lot from the ten tribes of the city. It was assumed that any Athenian citizen was competent to decide who should receive the prizes. All ten judges voted; but to avoid ties, they drew out only five votes at random, and those are the ones they counted.

Because tragedy was so closely intertwined with the life of the polis, the attitudes and values expressed in tragedy reflect to some extent the evolving outlook of Athens as a whole in the 400s. The actual plots of the plays do not reveal much about the concerns and purposes of tragedy, simply because the stories are drawn form already existing myths, except for a very few on historical subjects. The reenactment of myth was common to many primitive religious rituals, but tragedy differs from other ritual reenactments. In other societies, such reenactments were fixed and permanent. The Greeks had many different versions of the same myth. The playwright could choose the version he wanted and could manipulate the details to convey certain ideas and themes. The artist had great freedom of expression. But his ideas and themes were expected to perform some religiously significant service to the community.

Everyone has a moira or fate defined by the cosmic order. It is man’s nature that his will, purposes, and actions may and usually do come into conflict with these forces. In some plays, the conflict between human aspiration and the forces of fate is resolved, leading to a successful conclusion. But more often, it leads to disaster for the individual.

The writers of tragedy represent this conflict as moral. Nemesis comes because man has committed hubris, or violation. But the Greek view of morality is not like ours. They viewed fate as just by definition because it is part the world order. It did not have to conform to human standards of fairness or rightness. Besides, the main point of tragedy was that man could not resist his fate. In making that point, tragedy served two purposes. Intellectually, it simply informed the audience that order exists, and humans could not change or resist it. Emotionally, it instilled intense fear and pity at this fact. The deep emotion produced a catharsis or cleansing, not unlike that produced by participating in the mysteries of Dionysus.

By the early 400s B.C., Greeks had come to believe that the polis (the Greek city-state or community) was the perfect form of government, so its laws and customs were perfect guidelines for human behavior. But the laws of a city could not cover all of the rules. In some areas, the rules of life were uncertain. It was these “gray areas” that became the subject of tragic plays. Writers tried to explore these areas to help other Greeks understand the rules governing the human condition more fully. Playwrights served the city by examining the work of fate in human life and the kinds of actions that would bring a bad fate. They had great freedom to present their personal views about this. The plots of most tragedies were taken from myth, but mythical plots could be manipulated in order to present particular moral points.

worship so that the emotion is confined within rational limits. The polis feels the emotion vicariously without actually engaging in the orgies practiced elsewhere. Moreover, tragedy allowed the playwrights to experiment with the tragic emotionally charged truth about the human condition to come to a more rational understanding of the rules that govern it.