Because tragedy offers a total interpretation of life, the tragic view may be considered as an alternative to the mythical, philosophical or religious interpretation. In Greece, tragedy superseded ritual as a form of communal cultic expression. Plato defined the philosopher's task in opposition to that of the tragic poet and recognized a rival philosophy in the tragic view. The awareness of the incompatibility of tragic and pious attitudes is acute in religious thought where a tragic interpretation of theological doctrines is (...) branded as heresy. (shrink)