Tragedy is one of the oldest and most resilient forms of cultural narrative. Debated from Aristotle to the present day, tragedy has never lost it central place in aesthetic discourse and has been re-imagined and redefined to suit to tastes of succeeding generations. In this volume Martin Regal considers: * problems of definition across historical and cultural lines * the enduring influence of Aristotle's Poetics and post-Aristotelian attempts at definition, from the lexicographers to individual modern theorists * issues of genre, subgenre and medium, considering the place of drama but also other cultural forms such as the visual arts * religious, philosophical and secular view on the tragic * the politicization of tragedy * tragedy and modern culture. Concise and practical, this volume is the ideal starting point for literature students and all those with an interest in tragedy.