τραγῳδία

See also: τραγωδία

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From τραγῳδός (tragōidós, “singer and dancer in the tragic choir; tragic actor”), which is traditionally derived from τράγος (trágos, “goat, buck”) + ἀοιδός (aoidós, “singer”), though the reasoning behind the formation is uncertain. One theory, mentioned by Beekes, is that goats were given as a prize to the winner in the oldest dramatic Agon competitions; another theory contends that the association with goats comes from the Dionysia festivals in Athens, which featured singing and dancing by characters dressed in goat skins representing satyrs, who were Dionysus's attendants.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tra.ɡɔːi̯.dí.aː/ → /tra.ɣoˈði.a/ → /tra.ɣoˈði.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tra.ɡɔːi̯.dí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /tra.ɡoˈdi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /tra.ɣoˈði.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /tra.ɣoˈði.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /tra.ɣoˈði.a/

Noun

τραγῳδίᾱ • (tragōidíā) f (genitive τραγῳδίᾱς); first declension

1. a tragedy or heroic play
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Poetics 3.5
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 5.67
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Poetics 4.14
2. (generally) any grave, serious poetry
   • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 152E, (Compare The Republic 605C)
   1. an exaggerated speech, made by a prosecutor
      • Hypereides, For Lycophron 10
   2. tragic fictions and terrors
      • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 6.56.11
      • 36 BCE – 30 BCE, Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library 19.8
      • 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Demetrius 41
      • 315 BCE – 240 BCE, Aratus, Phaenomena 15
   3. (generally) pomp, display
      • Bentley, Phalaris 353
      • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, The Dream or Lucian's Career 24
   4. a melancholy event, a tragedy
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 817B
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Philebus 50B
   5. song
      • Boissonade, Anecdota 4.411.892

Inflection

First declension of ἡ τραγῳδίᾱ; τῆς τραγῳδίᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ τραγῳδίᾱ hē tragōidíā	τὼ τραγῳδίᾱ tṑ tragōidíā	αἱ τραγῳδίαι hai tragōidíai
Genitive	τῆς τραγῳδίᾱς tês tragōidíās	τοῖν τραγῳδίαιν toîn tragōidíain	τῶν τραγῳδιῶν tôn tragōidiôn
Dative	τῇ τραγῳδίᾳ têi tragōidíāi	τοῖν τραγῳδίαιν toîn tragōidíain	ταῖς τραγῳδίαις taîs tragōidíais
Accusative	τὴν τραγῳδίᾱν tḕn tragōidíān	τὼ τραγῳδίᾱ tṑ tragōidíā	τᾱ̀ς τραγῳδίᾱς tā̀s tragōidíās
Vocative	τραγῳδίᾱ tragōidíā	τραγῳδίᾱ tragōidíā	τραγῳδίαι tragōidíai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “serious poetry”): κωμῳδία (kōmōidía)

Derived terms

• τραγῳδιογράφος (tragōidiográphos)
• τραγῴδιον (tragṓidion)

Descendants

• Greek: τραγωδία (tragodía)
• Pontic Greek: τραγωδία (tragodía), τραβωδία (travodía), τραωδία (traodía)
  • → Laz: ტრაღოდა (ťrağoda), ტრაღუდა (ťrağuda), ტრაღოდუ (ťrağodu), ტრაღუდი (ťrağudi) (partly)
• → Latin: tragoedia (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “τραγῳδία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τραγῳδία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• τραγῳδία in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • melodrama idem, page 524.
  • tragedy idem, page 886.
• LSJ 8th edition