TRA'GEDY, a species • of drama, in which the diction is elevated and the ca tastrophe melancholy. The name is ustutily derived from the ancient Creek custom of lea ling about a• goat in ;tutees shut at the festivals of Ibutehus, in whose honor those choral odes were sung which were the groundwork of the Atti:: tragedy. A Greek tragedy always consisted of two distinct parts; the dialogue, which cor• responded in its general features to the dramatical compositions of modern times; and the chorus, the whole tone of which was lyrical rather than dramatic:II, and which was meant to he sung while the dialogue was intended tat he recited. The unity of time :—namely. that the dor:t his:1i of the action should not exceed twenty-four hours : and that of place, namely, that the scene in which the events occur should be the same through out, are modern inventions. Esehylus is called the father of tragedy.
TRACI-COM'Eltr_ in literature, a compound name, invented to express a class of the drama which should partake both of tragedy and comedS•. II the mix ture of serious with humorous portions in the piece alone entities it to this name, then all the plays of Shakspenre (with the single exception of the Merry Wires of 'Windsor, to which Kyoto tndsi the Twelfth Night.) as being pore comedies, belong to this elass ; esti., indeed, almost all the works of the old English drama tists. But Troilus and Cressida alone, of the plays of Shakspeare, bears this title in old editions: on what aecount we do not know. French critics define the distinction to be, that the event of the tragicomedy is not unhappy or bloody. Dicier condemns them as illegitimate. Guarini, the Italian poet, wrote an essay on t he subject.