It’s a Tragedy

I have often taken the stance that videogames are the next step forward in the continuing evolution of how humanity shares narratives and ideas. As with all forms of evolution it is possible to traces the roots of present day videogames back thousands of years into the early age of humanity. 

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It is the 5^th century B.C.E. Several hundred Greeks have gathered in the local amphitheater. There is a murmur of excitement sweeping through the crowd. A special guest has arrived in town for this performance. A man takes the stage accompanied by three actors and a chorus of ten to fifteen people. This man causes a silence to fall upon the audience as he opens his mouth to sing. The man is Socrates, great playwright and purveyor of the fantastical. From his lips spin a tale of tragedy and woe: the story of Oedipus.

The Greek tragedy is the basis for all other forms of tragedy that evolve throughout time. Socrates, Aristotle and Euripides laid the ground work of tragedy forever affecting the history of human narratives. A classic Greek tragedy is defined by three main aspects; the tragic hero, fate, and excessive punishment/torment. The excessive punishment/torment often takes the form of death, surrounding the tragic hero following him wherever he goes. Fate in Grecian time was often the intervention of the Gods in some way or another. Sometimes they were helpful and other times they were not. It is the tragic hero’s struggle with fate that makes tragedy so compelling. The audience is left to wonder: is it fate or free will left to blame for the hero’s suffering? Was he cursed or was this of his own doing? 

By classical definitions the tragic hero has three definite personality traits and then several others that are variable. First and most important of the necessary traits is hamartia, the tragic flaw. This is what ultimately makes or breaks the tragedy as a whole; the hero’s tragic flaw is the corner stone of the narrative. In an otherwise good or decent hero the tragic flaw is the one major personality trait that is their undoing. The second necessary trait is peripeteia, the reversal of fortune brought about by the hero’s tragic flaw. It is the ‘fall from grace’. Peripeteia serves to intensify the hero’s suffering, but also to make him pitiable to the audience. In a tragedy it is required that at some level the audience pities the hero. The final imperative trait to making a classic Grecian tragic hero is that the hero in question must be male. I said by classical standards, I never said it would be accepting. The variable traits of the tragic hero come and go to fit the story being told, but the most common are hubris, intense pride, a resolution in which the hero accepts and understands their own downfall through the tragic flaw, and death of the hero.  

Socrates’ Oedipus the King is one of the first ever recorded tragedies. Most of the above definitions of tragedy come from his works. Beginning in media res, Latin for in the middle of things, Oedipus’ story is that of a man of nobility who ultimately suffers a downfall into the depths of insanity and suffering. His hamartia, tragic flaw, is his proclivity to doing things in excess. Oedipus is not a temperate man nor is he able to act rationally. Every action he makes is excessive and over done. He kills three men because of a traffic jam. He blinds himself because he can no longer stand to see the suffering of his life. Because of this the peripeteia that Oedipus goes through is the loss of his position as king, the death of his wife/mother and his ultimate decline into unending torment. Fate is invoked via the Gods twice in Oedipus’ story. Once in the form of prophecy and another in a deathly plague descended upon the city of Thebes by Apollo. Being so early in the history of tragedy the secondary traits common to tragic heroes are lacking in Oedipus. There is no moment of resolution nor does the play end with Oedipus’ death.  Within the evolution of the narrative however, Oedipus stands as the leader in a great line of tragic heroes throughout the centuries.

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The year is 1602. There is a new play to be performed tonight at the Globe Theatre. People have gathered from all over the English countryside to see tonight’s performance. Over time the reputation of the theatre and its playwright have grown to attract even the highest reaches of aristocracy. There is a jovial excitement in the theatre, even the actors are affected by it. Then the actors step on stage and the play begins. Tonight the new play by William Shakespeare, great playwright and purveyor of the tragic, is a story of revenge and madness; the tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

In the time between Socrates and Shakespeare tragedy has evolved. Tragedy is now its own recognized sub-genre of fiction. Most commonly found in drama, tragedy has become so wide spread and accepted as a form of story that men like Shakespeare are identified as tragedy writers. No longer is tragedy, or any dramatic play for that matter, a sung performance. Musicals beyond opera did not really exist. The Greek chorus is no longer an important part of the performance. The number of actors has increased from the three that Socrates instilled. However, all actors in Shakespeare’s time were still required to be male just as they were in ancient Greece.

The greatest evolution in tragedy can be found in the character of Hamlet in comparison to that of Oedipus. Hamlet is fully aware of his hamartia; in oppositions to Oedipus’ tendency to over react, Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his inability to act. Fate bestows upon Hamlet the order to kill Claudius via his father’s ghost at the beginning of the play. The rest of the play is Hamlet attempting to delay and rationalize this cold blooded murder. Whereas Oedipus has no qualms with murder, Hamlet hesitates leading to his own peripeteia. Hamlet’s decent into madness can be directly attributed to the inner conflict between accepting his fate or fighting with his free will to defy it. It is in this way that Hamlet is a much more relatable character then Oedipus could ever be. Socrates had Oedipus gain our pity; Shakespeare has Hamlet gain our sympathy. Both stories are still tragic, but the evolution is apparent. Hamlet is a more impactful story. There is another important difference between Hamlet and Oedipus. By the end of the play Hamlet is dead intensifying the tragic nature of the narrative. 

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The year is 1953. Tickets have been sold in advance for a new play to be performed at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway. As the patrons file in there is some talk, but nothing all that joyous. Whispers of suspicion and paranoia fill the air. The play is something they all want to see, but none of them want it known that they have seen it. The playwright is has a reputation for gaining the ire of the government. The man they are referring to is Arthur Miller, great playwright and purveyor of opposition. The play they have come to see is one of passion and pride; the tale of the Salem Witch Trials as told through the eyes of John Proctor in The Crucible.

Arthur Miller’s play can be seen as the first modern tragedy as it takes another major evolutionary step forward in the narrative. John Procter is just an average man; a farmer who has never known nobility. This is a step away from the previous understanding of tragic heroes presented by Socrates and Shakespeare. Proctor’s downfall is just as much if not more so one of mental torment because he has less to lose in terms of standing than either Oedipus or Hamlet. Along with truly making the tragic hero a layperson, Miller advances the tragedy to give it a greater social impact. The Crucible is a social commentary on McCarthyism in the United States of America, a condemnation of the invasive and oppressive governmental practices. The final way in which Miller evolves the tragedy is by almost entirely removing the aspect of fate. A strong puritanical Christian presence is felt through the play, yet there is never any intervention in the form of Gods, prophecy or ghosts. Conflict in the play is entirely inter-human.

No matter how far advanced or different Miller’s evolved tragedy is, John Proctor, its tragic hero fits the definitions of a classic tragic hero greater than that of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Proctor’s hamartia is moral weakness. Believing himself an upright and just man Proctor’s tragic flaw cripples him as he attempts to accept the fact the cheated on his wife. The town must never know of his adultery for it would ruin his standing within Salem. Here Proctor shows himself to posses’ hubris, intense pride. Although not his tragic flaw it conflicts with his desires creating an internal struggle similar to that of Hamlet. Almost all of his suffering is of his own doing as Proctor’s pride will not accept the fact that he is morally weak. The peripeteia comes in the form of Proctor’s jailing for witchcraft. The mental torment that he subjects himself to is intensified as he faces his imminent doom. Although the play does end with John Proctor’s death there is another aspect of classical tragedy that Miller imbues into his work. That is of the resolution. In the final moments before his death Proctor comes to terms with his own moral culpability and pride. Finding peace within himself, Proctor’s death is not as tragic as those that came before. 

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The year is 2005. All across the world people have been waiting. Preorders were made and lines were formed. There is an impatient tone to the murmurs. Everyone wants their copy now. In Santa-Monica California, a development team sits patiently waiting for release day. Preliminary reviews have already come back strong, but the public is the real judge on whether or not the game survives. The game’s lead designer addresses the team and tells them they have nothing to worry about. The lead designer is David Jaffe, great game designer and purveyor of the twisted, and the he unleashed upon the world a story of vengeance and rage; the tale of Kratos.

God of War and its main character fit all the requirements of a tragedy. Interestingly however, the game presents and evolution and a recession of the classical tragedy concepts. This time there are no actors, male or female. The three main aspects of a tragedy are all present; Kratos is the tragic hero, fate is present in the form of the many Greek gods who help or hinder him along his quest, excessive punishment/torment is what Kratos endures daily as the guilt for killing his own wife and child eat him alive. Analysis of Kratos’ character shows all the familiar signs of a tragic hero. Finding classical comparison in Oedipus, Kratos’ hamartia is his excessive and extreme nature. Everything Kratos does he does with such intensity and single minded dedication that blinds him from the ramifications of his actions. Kratos never accepts the consequences of his actions because he has moved on to the next challenge already. The death of his family by his own hands can be seen as the beginning of Kratos’ peripeteia, a decent that would eventually land Kratos in a torment caused by his own madness.  Lastly, but important for the classical definition Kratos is male.

The particulars of the gameplay presented in God of War continue the dichotomy of evolution and recession. By allowing the player to engage as Kratos within the world presented, a dark brutal take on classic Greek mythology, the player connects to Kratos in a way never before possible. The strength of that bond between character and player far succeeds and bond formed with Oedipus, Hamlet or Proctor. Yet, through that bond the player can experience Kratos as the tragic hero he is. The game is designed so that the main interaction the player has with the world is through violence. A combo based combat system mixed with brutally violent quick-time events insure that excess is the only action the player can make. God of War capitalizes on Kratos’ hamartia to create its central gameplay mechanic. However, there is no portion of the game that allows the player to experience Kratos’ peripeteia. The player is told that Kratos suffers from nightmares, tormenting his soul. That never makes itself apparent in the gameplay though. From beginning to end Kratos is a hamartia driven badass. It is hard to develop pity, a necessary emotion for tragedy, when the only interaction the player has with/through Kratos is one of visceral enjoyment.  It is this that is a recession of tragedy concepts in that God of War almost fails in delivering a peripeteia. 

The narrative presented in the game is tragic, the gameplay is not. There is one moment however that ultimately saves God of War, raising it above standard tragedy and insuring it a spot on the evolutionary list. In the final battle Kratos must defeat Ares, his former master. The fight is split into three distinct pieces. The first is a standard fight using the same controls and combos used throughout the entire game. It is a hamartia fight. For the second, Ares pulls Kratos inside a twisted recreation of his nightmares in which he must defend his family from an army of doppelgangers. To protect his wife and child, Kratos must hug them so they regain health. The hug key to Kratos as a tragic character, when the player hugs their family they cause Kratos’ health to recede while theirs increases. It is a peripeteia fight. They player is experiencing Kratos’ suffering. Finally, the third part involves Kratos once again facing Ares. Yet, this time Kratos uses a different weapon that controls differently. By confronting his own guilt in the deaths of his loved ones and accepting the consequence of what his blind rage has caused Kratos is able to find the inner strength to defeat Ares. Kratos undergoes a resolution. It controls differently than a hamartia fight because the game allows for the player to experience that resolution as well. It is a resolution fight. God of War’s final battle allows the player to interact and fully experience a tragedy. 

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Just as Socrates, Shakespeare, and Arthur Miller evolved tragedy through their tragic hero and his relation to not only the work of the play, but to the world around him David Jaffe so too does with Kratos. Oedipus laid the groundwork that all others would follow. Hamlet was relatable, humanizing the otherwise over dramatic character of a tragic hero. Proctor was a common man who stood for greater purpose, modernizing the tragic hero. Kratos allows for interaction, creating a new form of relationship with audience. Tragedy has evolved over time. Yet, tragedy is just one form of narrative. One vessel for the sharing of ideas and knowledge. There are countless others all undergoing similar evolutions. Videogames are the next step in that evolutionary process.