Aristotle’s Poetics stands as the earliest critical examination of tragedy as an artistic discipline. Composed around 380 B.C., the Poetics offers a thorough exploration of this genre.

Eugene O’Neill is heralded as one of the rare modern American playwrights specializing in tragedy. His work, Mourning Becomes Electra (1932), is a trilogy that reimagines the Oresteia trilogy, transposing it to Puritan New England during the Civil War. O’Neill aimed to craft a contemporary psychological tragedy drawing on the myths and legends of ancient Greece.

In the aftermath of World War II, several French authors sought to rejuvenate Greek tragedy through modern plays. Jean-Paul Sartre's Flies (1943) takes inspiration from Eumenides, the concluding play of the Oresteia trilogy. Similarly, Jean Anouilh’s Antigone (1942) reinterprets Sophocles’ classic. Both works replace religious themes and actions with political ideals and insurrections.

Opera has its origins in ancient Greek tragedy. Many renowned operas, such as Claudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo, are rooted in the plays and myths of ancient Greece.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music (1872) contends that Greek tragedy emerged from a blend of Apollonian and Dionysian elements. The Apollonian represents structure, moderation, and harmony, while the Dionysian symbolizes unchecked emotion. Nietzsche also argues that Socratic rationalism and optimism led to the decline of Greek tragedy.