Greek Philosophy Influence

During the 5th century BC, art and literature flourished in Greece, particularly Athens. Philosophy, architecture and literature of the period reached a zenith that was seldom matched by a culture between then and now. Even our democratic form of government has its origins in this period. The main playwrights in Athens were the two tragedians, Sophocles and Euripedes, and the comedian Aristophanes, "Tragedy was established in honor of Dionysos, who was celebrated in the spring. Tragedy was religious, its subject matter was mythological" (The Classics 1). In the latter half of the4th century, Rome began to rise as a power. Roman conquest of Sicily and Italy allowed for the introduction of Greek c

scusses his view that modern tragedy is not only influenced by Ancient drama, but it is also applicable to the common man, "I believe that the common man is apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were. On the face of it this ought to be obvious in light of modern psychiatry, which bases its analysis upon classific formulations, such as the Oedipus and Orestes complexes, for instance, which were enacted by royal beings, but which apply to everyone in similar emotional situations" (Barnet, Burman and Burto 347). Of course, Miller's transition of the hero of a modern tragedy to a common man is not new in itself, since plays like Hedda Gabler also express a middle-class heroine. However, the dramatic form of Aristotle for tragedy is still in tact. It basically argues that a tragedy should stimulate pity and fear in the audience and provide a catharsis for these emotions. The classic hero was a person of great stature or significance, and in Shakespeare's era he was often a king or prince. Yet, even though modern tragedy encompasses a common hero or heroine, it still retains the ancient vision of the form created by the Greeks, the dilemma of a noble or ideal human being in conflict with his or her nature or i