Okay, okay, I know that paper cuts aren’t tragedies but I just got one and the word for today is ‘tragedy’, so I figured I’d start out by whining. No one understands my tiny, stinging pain. There, now it’s out of my system.
tragedy (noun)
1. A dramatic composition of serious or sombre character, with an unhappy ending.
2. Any literary composition, as a novel, dealing with a sombre theme carried to a tragic conclusion.
3. A lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; a disaster or calamity.
Pictured: An actual tragedy.
I find it intriguing that the dictionary has listed the literary and dramatic aspects of a ‘tragedy’ above what I would ostensibly consider the actual meaning, being a terrible/catastrophically negative event. What came first, Hamlet and everyone feeling depressed after the play’s final act or the horse and carriage accident right outside the theatre?
I might be asking the wrong question. However, let’s take a look into the origin of ‘tragedy’.
To begin, you must start at the beginning
Tragedy has a Greek root in the word tragōida, which apparently means “goat-song”. Why the heck singing goats are involved in this at all is still debated according to this article by Mark Cartwright on the Ancient History Encyclopedia and a shorter, more lighthearted comment here.
The Ancient Greeks were super into plays and theatre kids were always the most popular at high school, even though the sporty athlete types got a fair bit of attention by running around in the nuddy. (Discus and dicks? Count me in!) (Mum, if you’re reading this… sorry.)
Anyway, there were theatre competitions in Athens and apparently the prize was often a goat, so that could be contributory factor. You spend your day acting out some epic poetry, win at life and get given a goat – who wouldn’t burst into song? Or try to make their new goat buddy belt out a tune? I bet that goats are great at karaoke, especially when it’s a Baabra Streisand song or Leona Lewis’ Bleating in Love.
Leading from the goat prizes is the interpretation that the open air theatres of Ancient Greek were often performances relating to or worship of the god Dionysus. Now, Dionysus is all about a good time- he’s also known in Roman circles as Bacchus- so singing and dancing are kind of his thing, along wine, plays, music and ritual madness.
In worship of Dionysus, a goat was a good sacrifice to make (goat leather could be used as wine skins and the horn of the goat pruned grapevines if they grazed around a vineyard). When a goat was sacrificed to Dionysus, a lament was sung in the wake of its death. Plus, satyrs are associated with Dionysus, probably because they’re over-sexualised half-goat dudes that enjoy a drink and a healthy dose of lust. In performances, people would dress up in goatskins to perform as satyrs.
The performances that got called ‘tragedies’ generally involved a plot where the main character(s) become involved in situations that cause them or others pain and destruction. Importantly, the plot should cause fear, discomfort and/or sorrow for the audience. Some Shakespearean tragedies still end happily, but the usual tragedy does not end well for anyone. Classic examples of tragedies include Medea, Oedipus Rex and Macbeth.
Stalin knew what he was talking about
The quote, “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic”, has been attributed to Joseph Stalin and while I don’t think it’s been verified, I reckon he totally said it. He was a git, but he was a pithy git.
The sentiment is a true one. The key to a tragedy, as the ancient playwrights knew, was to make the story about an individual so that the audience was forced to empathise in some way. Humans can’t process things at a huge scale and the higher the number of people being affected by whatever (natural disaster, shooting, famine, etc.), the easier it is for your mind to shut down and push away the sheer enormity of the tragedy.
It’s simply harder to picture a thousand people dead, say, from a fire. Show a picture of one kid crying from the pain of her third degree burns, though? Cuts you to the quick. You’ll think of every time you ever burned yourself, or else you’ll imagine the same thing happening to you, your kids, your loved ones. Tragedy is effective in small doses. The individualised plight can be used as a representative of the whole, which is generally how the media and charities tend to package stories so that people will respond appropriately.
Before I descend into a full on dissertation into the 24 hour news cycle and the over-saturation that ensues causes fear and sadness for everyone and a resultant shying away from news, here’s a picture of me in Mongolia from a few years back. As you can see, I’m laughing to myself as a herd of goats prepares to trample me to death.
