The starting point of the paper is the question of whether Greek tragedy can be relevant to ethical practice or a way of life, which Pierre Hadot saw as an integral element of ancient philosophy. The question makes sense because tragedy and philosophy overlap thematically in important respects, but the way in which they address their audiences is different: philosophy teaches directly, and tragedy teaches indirectly through the theatrical presentation of mythical stories that are relevant for understanding the world in an interpretive community or society. In tragic works, it is possible to reconstruct the implicit philosophy of tragedy: at its core is the recognition of the limitations of human knowledge and human life. This recognition is at the same time the recognition of an ultimate anthropological horizon, which is revealed in each tragic work in a particular way. Mythical stories are articulations of this profound horizon, inseparable from its unknowable background, but sometimes unreliable. Two examples from Euripides’ plays (The Trojans, Helen) are discussed in more detail, where it is shown that the poet is more concerned with critical theology than with the rationalist deconstruction of myth. Tragic insight is experiential and therefore inevitably individual, which is highlighted by examples from Sophocles; it can originate in the inner life of the characters even as it relates to the external world, which shows the complex structure of reality (examples from Aeschylus); and it always comes as a surprise (examples from Euripides).
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