Author(s): Dr Nisha Francis Alapatt

Abstract: It is a widely accepted fact that the modern Western theatre originated largely from the ancient Greek theatre. The plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides are studied for the dramatic conventions followed even today. Aristotle, the father of literary criticism found the epitome of a ‘tragic hero’ in Oedipus. Even though there were several powerful women who played significant roles in Greek plays, Aristotle did not particularly mention a ‘hero(ine)’ in his Poetics. And the term ‘hero’ is commonly used as a gender-neutral term referring to both male and female protagonists, despite the availability of separate terms to distinguish the male and female protagonists in the dictionary.

Keywords: Tragedy, tragic hero, tragic hero(ine), patriarchy, feminist

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.4.1.40