ABSTRACT
Schopenhauer conceived of tragedy as Trauerspiel; of the great German metaphysicians after Fichte there is scarcely another so lacking in sympathy for Greek drama. In modern drama he saw a higher stage of development, and in this comparison, however inadequate it may be, he did at least locate the problem. The Trauerspiel is confirmed as a form of the tragedy of the saint by means of the martyr-drama. The martyr-drama was born from the death of Socrates as a parody of tragedy. The evaporation of the tragic under the scrutiny of psychology goes hand in hand with the equation of tragedy and Trauerspiel. The very name of the latter already indicates that its content awakens mourning in the spectator. The spectator of tragedy is summoned, and is justified, by the tragedy itself; the Trauerspiel, in contrast, has to be understood from the point of view of the onlooker.
