Origin of Greek Tragedy 1

Abstract

THE object of this, Prof. Ridgeway's latest contribution to the early history of the stage, is to expand and reinforce with additional evidence the thesis which he formulated in his “ Origin of Tragedy,” published in 1910. The doctrine of this earlier work asserted that the drama of the Greeks was not, as had hitherto been supposed, derived from the cult of Dionysus, but was based on of the worship of the dead, and reflects the primal tragedy of human life. In order to secure this position it was necessary to controvert the theories of two allied schools of interpretation of primitive religion, and, as often happens, the constructive part of the work is inferior in interest to the polemical, when the attack falls into the hands of a critic so acute, learned, and witty as the writer.