Greek Theatre

1 Pages 230 Words

Both had their beginnings in the Greek theater thousands of years ago. Tragedy began about 535 B.C. to be followed by comedy around fifty years later. The Greeks somehow thought that laughter is not our first impluse, but obviously needed some relief from tragedy. Tragic figures began as unique, idalized, almost God-llike characters. They appeared to have everything going for them. Through no fault of their own they became victims of fate, an external enemy, or incredibly bad timing. What began as a seemingly happy life ended tragically. Ironically in tragedy there is always hope, that somehow the tragic hero will prevail; but of course he/she never does. In comedy, on the other hand, the protagonist is an ordinary figure who experiences trouble early on in the narrative. The comic hero is much more flawed than the tragic hero. Comedy depends on tragedy, otherwise there would be no means to comment on the comic situation within the narrative. Like tragedy, “the best laid plans” go awry in comedy. In comedy these situations are usually of the protagonist’s own making, while in tragedy, it’s always someone else’s fault. In comedy, predicaments are portrayed as having no way out. But things change just in the “nick” of time- often due to the flexibility of the hero’s character....