The tragedy

For 2500 years, people have continually interpreted themselves and their place in the world through the lens of tragedy. Its potential for questioning and explanation evidently continues to engage, captivate, and inspire creative achievement to this day. Following his standard work on comedy, Bernhard Greiner outlines the history of tragedy as the central dramatic genre: he intensively examines ancient tragedy, followed by representatives of the genre in English, French, and German literature of the 16th and 17th centuries. Subsequently, German tragedy from the 18th century to the present is presented through its most significant representatives. At the same time, an overview of the central theories of tragedy from Aristotle to Nietzsche and Benjamin is provided. From the interpretation of exemplary works, guiding questions, variations, and justifications of tragedy in each epoch are developed—literary interpretation, theoretical reflection, and historical context are interconnected. Thus, this textbook systematically and historically summarizes the foundational knowledge of tragedy and its history.