悲劇とは何でしょうか。ニュースなどで報道される惨事と、ソポクレスやシェイクスピアが描き出した悲劇との違いはどこにあるのでしょうか。劇作家や哲学者、ジャーナリスト、政治家、批評家たちにとって引きとは何を意味するのでしょうか。本書は、苦しみを理解する手立てとしての悲劇の重要性を解き明かします。(cf. Shakespeare's Tragedies, #522)
  

• What has tragedy been made to mean by dramatists, story-tellers, critics, philosophers, politicians, and journalists over the last two and a half millennia?
• An entirely unique approach which shows the relevance of tragedy to today's world, and extends beyond drama and literature into visual art and everyday experience.
• Lively and engaging
• Written by a well-known and respected expert in the field

   
What do we mean by 'tragedy' in present-day usage? When we turn on the news, does a report of the latest atrocity have any connection with the masterpieces of Sophocles, Shakespeare and Racine? What has tragedy been made to mean by dramatists, story-tellers, critics, philosophers, politicians and journalists over the last two and a half millennia? Why do we still read, re-write, and stage these old plays? 
  
This book argues for the continuities between 'then' and 'now'. Addressing questions about belief, blame, mourning, revenge, pain, witnessing, timing and ending, Adrian Poole demonstrates the age-old significance of our attempts to make sense of terrible suffering.