Classical Tragedy:

A branch of drama that treats in a serious and dignified style the sorrowful or terrible events encountered by a heroic individual.

The concept of Classical Tragedy originated from Ancient Greece in the 5th Century BCE.

Some of the earliest examples of Classical Tragedies were Oedipus Rex by Sophocles which was first performed in 429 BCE, The Oresteia by Aeschylus which was first performed in 458 BCE, and Ajax by Sophocles which was written in the 5th Century BCE.

Aristotle:

Aristotle was a Greek Philosopher and scientist who was born in Stagira, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. He was born in 384 BC and died in 322 BC. He wrote his study of tragedy, Poetics, in 335 BCE. According to Aristotle, the aim of tragedy is to teach the audience how to best run their lives from learning not to do the same as the tragic hero in tragedies. He believed that they teach people what to do and what not to do in life.

6 component parts of tragedy, according to Aristotle:

1. Plot

2. Character

3. Diction

4. Reasoning (case being staged and opinions of characters being expressed)

5. Spectacle

6. Lyric Poetry

According to Aristotle, a good tragic structure consists of  the plot being a complete whole — with a definite beginning, middle, and end — and its length should be such that the spectators can comprehend without difficulty both its separate parts and its overall unity.

The tragic hero must be someone  of high importance but must also be someone who the audience can identify with so they can relate to them and their problems and then learn from their mistakes too. The tragic hero is very important in a Classical Tragedy because it's them who the audience learn from.

Hamartia:

The idea that the tragic hero makes a mistake.

Tragic flaw:

Called a hubris - a kind of excessive pride that causes the hero to ignore important warnings and break moral codes, thereby committing hamartia.

Peripeteia:

Greek for catastrophe.

Anagnorisis (recognition):

Important that the tragic hero recognises their tragic flaw in order for the audience to learn from their mistakes and know that the tragic hero has also learnt from their mistakes.