For a fuller understanding of the nature of the tragic
struggle we must turn to the evil which precipitated
it or which emerges from it. The situation is as if the
tragedian had asked himself: Why is man involved with
the evils of the world? Why does man seem to suffer
unjustly? Then the poet seeks an answer to these que-
tions by placing heroic men in extreme situations, those
demanding the utmost of human exertion and wisdom,
in order to see what emerges of value and what human
wisdom can make of the evil. The tragic artist, of
course, must work within a context which is already
structured by a number of beliefs. The most pertinent
of these beliefs concern the human being and his fate,
his relation to the world, and his involvement with
others. Such contexts, bearing upon the tragic sense,
can most easily be specified by reference to the myths
about the nature of evil which are characteristic of
each belief. We shall, therefore, examine the tragic
sense in its relation to three different myths concerning
the nature of evil: the Ancient Greek (or Tragic),
Orphic, and Christian.
