Defining a Tragedy Defining, a Tragedy Greek philosopher Aristotle proposes components of an ideal tragedy in his work, Tragedy and the Emotions of Pity and Fear. According to Aristotle, there are six components of a great tragedy: plot, character, thought, verbal expression, song, and visual adornment. He dissects these components in great detail and provides standards for all of them. In his play Bacchae, Euripides resembles much of Aristotle's components of an ideal tragedy. Euripides has only few deviations from the Aristotelian tragedy. To Aristotle, a tragedy is defined as an imitation of action and life, not of an imitation of men. Therefore, he places higher emphasis the role of plot in a tragedy, rather than the role of character. He describes the species and components of a plot in great detail. For completeness, a plot must have a beginning, middle, and an end. A plot should be structured so that every part is necessary for completeness. The elements of a plot are peripety, recognition, and pathos. Peripety is a change in fortune, recognition is a change from ignorance to knowledge, and pathos is a destructive or painful act. Furthermore, Aristotle states that a tragedy is not merely an imitation of actions, but of events inspiring fear and pity. Such an effect is best produced when events are surprising yet at the same time, they logically follow one another. A well-constructed plot should, therefore, not have a change of fortune from bad to good, but, on the other hand, from good to bad. A good plot should leave an audience feeling pity and fear. To produce this effect, actions must happen between those who are near or dear to one another. For example, a brother killing a father leaves a more impressionable feeling than an enemy killing an enemy does. Although Aristotle feels that a good tragedy arouses solemn emotion, an audience should not be left in a state of depression. Both the characters and the audience should...