τραγῳδία Ancient Greek · revision 2296

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=5th century BC, Aristophanes|origins=grc τράγος, grc ἀοιδή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /tra.ɡɔːi̯.dí.aː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /tra.ɣoˈði.a/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /tra.ɣoˈði.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''τρᾰγῳδῐ́ᾱ''' (tragōidíā) ''f'' (genitive τρᾰγῳδίᾱς); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[τραγῳδός|tr=tragōidós|t=tragic singer or actor]] with the suffix -ία.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) τραγῳδός is [[af|grc|τράγος|ἀοιδή|tr1=trágos|tr2=aoidḗ|t1=he-goat|t2=song]], “goat-singer”; a late Boeotian inscription still spells it τραγαϝυδος.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010) Beekes and Frisk think it was probably formed on the pattern of [[ῥαψῳδός|tr=rhapsōidós]], and that its further explanation is uncertain.^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)

+

+ The ancient explanation, found in the Parian Marble, is that a goat was the prize in the earliest tragic contests, and Else defended it with new arguments.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) The CGL also allows a singer at a goat sacrifice.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Aristophanes uses it for a tragedy and for composing tragedies.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Plato, Aristotle and the orators it is the genre and the single play; inscriptions of the Hellenistic age mention “poets of tragedies”.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Plato extends it to any grave poetry, so that Homer can count as a tragic poet, and calls the imitation of the noblest life “the truest tragedy”, and he also speaks of the tragedy and comedy of life.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ From the 4th century BC it was used of exaggerated speech (Hyperides), of horror stories in historians (Polybius, Diodorus), and of pomp and play-acting (Plutarch, Lucian).^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Modern Greek [[m|el|τραγωδία|tr=tragodía]] has, besides the ancient genre, the sense of a terrible event, which it took from French tragédie.^(Triantafyllidis 1998) It was borrowed as [[la|tragoedia]].^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a tragedy.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato calls Homer a tragic poet.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle's ''Poetics'' discusses tragedy.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 4th century BC – Hyperides uses it for exaggerated speech.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for sensational accounts of horrors.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * Modern Greek – τραγωδία “tragedy; disaster”.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tragedy]], a tragic play; tragedy as a genre.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Any grave, serious poetry.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # Exaggerated, [[m|en|melodrama|alt=melodramatic]] speech or behaviour; sensational description of horrors.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Outward grandeur, [[m|en|pomp]], play-acting.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[τραγῳδιογράφος|tr=tragōidiográphos]]

+ * [[τραγῴδιον|tr=tragōídion]]

+ * [[τραγῳδός|tr=tragōidós]]

+ * [[τραγικός|tr=tragikós]]

+ * [[τραγῳδέω|tr=tragōidéō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[τράγος|tr=trágos]]

+ * [[κωμῳδία|tr=kōmōidía]]

+ * [[en|tragedy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Ancient sources explain the name as “goat-song” because a goat was the prize, and the ''Etymologicum Magnum'' records other explanations.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}