the attic tragedy, by many coincidences preserved at least as a fraction, in many aspects a model of what art is and can. in expressing the tension between person and society, in the attraction and the fatality of power and violence, in failure and pain.

this root becomes even more deep and meaningful if one looks at its origin and embedding. tragodia, song of buck, was probably the song for a buck on the occasion of its sacrifice. this cultic-religious context remained constitutive as the performances were part of the dionysos celebrations. repetitions were forbidden because a sacrifice cannot be repeated.

so art as sacrifice, and the relation between art and ritual as something deeply rooted in the history of art. this sacrifice still seems to be accepted, seems to be appreciated and seems to be new as always. but by which god? in which cult?