Aristotle compared tragedy, as a dramatic art, to comedy or epic. He argues that a tragic play mimics life because it uses direct action to tell a story, not a narrative. He said that in tragedy the plot is central to the drama. In other words, the character's motivations is unknowable and unimportant. The actions of the protagonist is paramount. For example, Sophocles' Oedipus demonstrates how Aristotle viewed tragedy--Oedipus was not depraved, just a man whose error in judgement led to his misfortune.
