'Tragedy' is Greek for 'goat-song' — from 'tragos' + 'oide.' Why goats? Nobody knows for certain.
An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress; a serious dramatic work in which the main character comes to ruin.
From Old French 'tragedie,' from Latin 'tragoedia,' from Greek 'tragōidia' (τραγῳδία, a tragedy, a dramatic poem), from 'tragos' (τράγος, a male goat) + 'ōidē' (ᾠδή, a song, an ode), from PIE *h₂eyd- (to sing). A tragedy is literally a 'goat-song.' The exact reason is debated: perhaps tragedies were performed at festivals where a goat was the prize, or perhaps performers wore goatskins, or perhaps a goat was sacrificed during the performance. Key
Nobody knows why a tragedy is a 'goat-song.' The leading theories: (1) a goat was awarded as the prize at early dramatic competitions; (2) performers dressed in goatskins to represent satyrs; (3) a goat was ritually sacrificed during performances honoring Dionysus (the god of wine and theater, associated with goats). 'Comedy,' meanwhile, is a 'revel-song' — from Greek 'kōmos' (a revel, a carousal) + 'ōidē' (song). So Western theater