Tragedy is a literary device signifying a story or drama that presents an admirable or courageous character that confronts powerful forces inside and/or outside of themselves. These characters do so with a dignity that reveals the nature of human spirit in the face of failure, defeat and even death. In a tragedy, a protagonist is undone or brought to ruin by a critical character flaw or by the cruelty of fate. Literary tragedies recount a tragic hero’s downfall in that the protagonist typically begins in ‘high’ position or esteem and ends ‘low’ in despair, ruin, or destruction.

Here are some common examples of classic Greek tragedy.

• Oedipus Rex
• Medea
• Ajax
• Prometheus Bound
• Agamemnon
• The Persians
• Hippolytus
• Bacchae
• Electra
• The Trojan Women