Abstract: The present article aims to explore the concept of tragedy
as delineated by Aristotle, its particularity, nature,
objectives, practices, procedures, topics, representations
of human beings and complex interrelations with the
metaphysical and eschatological factors. A pivotal issue
to be highlighted here is the reasons behind the gradual
decline or demise of tragedy in our present technological
age. This hypothesis implies the economic, cultural,
political, ethical and social mutations in European
societies throughout the twenty-five centuries ever
since its birth in the fifth century BC. The article also
provides a sufficient account of the Athenian tragedy as
specified by Aristotle and his significant contribution to
the tragic genre and its prescriptions and proscriptions.
There are some references to the valuable judgments of
the philosophers Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. The main
argument will concentrate on the striking views of the
two twentieth century critics: the French-English George
Steiner and his remarkable book, Death of Tragedy (1961),
and Tragedy (2020) by the contemporary Irish critic, Terry
Eagleton. The main emphasis of the article is on these two
critics and their illuminating arguments. The conclusion
is a recapitulation and highlighting of the points raised
throughout the article.