Fate Zero: The Appeal of the Classic Greek Tragedy

what comes to mind when we hear someone describe a story as a tragedy copious amounts of death a horrendous experience a looming threat of Despair or maybe all it really takes is some complex Series of Unfortunate Events nowadays just like how some people automatically associate comedy with laughter others can be just as guilty of associating a tragedy with well something tragic despite the fact that emotionally and thematically looking at these stories through such a simple-minded lens would be doing the genre a great diservice any writer can throw in an obligatory character death or a shocking scene of Orphans being slaughtered but when done poorly it can potentially elicit the opposite reaction no Shion who else will I have ice cream with sometimes writers like Shakespeare will Embrace this ju opposing tragic events with their own style of Comedy While others like author Miller will take a much quieter approach making the stories as down toe and relatable as possible after all it's already common knowledge that we live in a reality where people die when they are killed but the stories that continue to be remembered the ones that continue to inspire others the ones that continue to be brought up in every English class you've possibly ever taken are often found answering the question why should we care that these people have died after being killed so with all that said where does Studio otable 2011 Fate Zero come into play after all being based on a series of light novels written by the king of shock Factor himself ganner abuchi many people would and have made the argument that this show could only be considered a tragedy in The Superficial sense especially when compared to its rather lackluster Studio Dean predecessors personally being one of my favorite shows of all time I couldn't have a more opposite opinion and it's good to find solace in the fact that I'm possibly not alone in that mentality in his Anthology Poetics Greek philosopher Aristotle compares some of the earliest iterations of tragedy to other literary forms all in an attempt to break down different modes of dramatic structure his goal was to take the grand events that were portrayed during fifth century Greek Theater and develop some of the first studies ever that focused on what he believed to be the ideal tragic plot when the Greeks came to analyze their new art form they discerned three different types of play two of which we still have with us today tragedy and comedy but in many ways modern tragedy has actually changed from how ancient tragedy worked for us tragedy is a a play with a sad ending but for the ancient Greeks tragedy was a play in which the events offered the audience a tough decision and because no real ancient tragedy ends conclusively siding with one course of action or another what it does is face the audience with a problem what would they do if they were in the same situation similar to earlier forms of poetry Aristotle considered tragedy as a type of imitation not of people themselves but rather of the actions they make and how said actions can bring about specific ends he seemed to believe that life itself was mostly comprised of people trying to progress forward based on their own inferred beliefs and how the universe ended up responding is how a tragic story begins to form initially this was commonly portrayed through scenarios that often placed Gods on the same playing field as humans and as you can imagine the layout of the Holy Grail War easily lends itself as an effective device in order for Fate Zero to Poss a similar setting I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world that I shall defeat all evil in the world with epic Heroes from throughout history summoned to the modern world from a physical mental and ideological standpoint everyone is left actively trying to one up the other in a fight for Supremacy seventh heaven clad in the great words of power come forth from the circle of binding guardian of scales I ask you are you worthy to be my master however unlike most stories where people can become engaged through intense action or from the supposed lack of a main character I think it's more appropriate to say that Uchi and nasu focused on using the tropes commonly found in your typical death game plot all as a means to bring about numerous tragic payoffs in fate Zero's case this has made all the more apparent when considering the show's relative placement in the Fate universe's timeline after all as a prequel the story needed to be written with the preestablished conclusion where no one was meant to succeed and whether you're the relatable Underdog the self-righteous scholar the collected purist or the sacrificial martyr everyone ended up suffering under the weight of that one single crushing reality well almost everyone you know the best entertainers will sometimes get the most Acclaim of their careers when they play a really dark and Disturbed villain I think when you get right down to it God probably loves playing against your cruel and demented villain routine even when a character isn't going through this specific type of suffering the way they present themselves in the story still hearkens back to this ancient form of drama on the one hand you have characters like casor and Ranos who always present themselves as if they're embracing their roles as villains in some Grand tragic story taking Delight in their atrocities every step of the way while people like gilgames who already considered everything in the world as his own sought nothing more than to be entertained by the supposedly pointless actions of the other participants like some Grand spectator who was always above the events that took place on stage there are two kinds of arrogance one where you are unequal to the task and one where your dreams are too big the former is just commonplace stupidity but the latter is a species difficult to find even Sabre herself one of the poster characters for the Fate Universe couldn't escape being an extension of this perceived uselessness acting as a knight who sacrifices her entire being to a lofty goal of being the just King something that is constantly pointed out as being hypocritical and meaningless when compared to the harsh realities of a world which doesn't always favor those who take the Noble Path even after everything she's confronted with in this season she still clings to that Noble ideal despite witnessing those who El similar principles like Lancer whose chalous self played a role in his premature demise of course this is nothing new when considering the role of the tragic hero who's often may distinguish from others with their heightened sense of morality and personal ethics while still being grounded by some great tragic flaw Aristotle even refers to this as harara and many scholars have interpreted this as an aspect of the hero's personality that inevitably causes their downfall or subjects them to some kind of divine retribution but in this story's case I think the is a broader philosophical way that this concept could be explored especially after considering our protagonist and his arguably foolish utilitarian mindset no you are the fool I can't understand sacrificing the few for the sake of saving the many kituku has always worked with the purest of intentions despite the fact that every step he takes down this Blood Stained path leads him more and more into a downward spiral he's someone who unlike saber understands exactly how twisted this world really is and when attempting to fix a problem he usually picks the lesser of two supposed evils even if the solution found isn't the ideal one we all hope for however unlike everyone else whose tragic downfall is brought upon them because of hubus I think kit tsugu hamartia doesn't so much stem from the people he's killed or even the atrocities he's committed on his quotee unquote Noble Journey but rather from his ironic desire to create a world where there is no tragedy K em wish it's Humanity salvation an end to all Warfare and bloodshed and suffering forever true peace upon the Earth honestly this is not the face of a man who thinks he has all the answers or even firmly believes that his way of doing things is the right one rather this is the disposition of a tired desperate child that makes one final push when all else seems pointless naively believing in something that seems impossible and bring about world peace our hero ends up sacrificing everything only for the Epic reversal where the very object he naively puts all his faith into tells him that such a reality is impossible even when kit tsugu comes to this daunting recognition and makes an attempt to destroy the Grail so that such a cycle never repeats itself the tragic hero is once again punished simply because you can't change the contents of theory story you're in no matter how hard you might try but is that really how everything works is the only way to truly be happy in this world the same as giving into your own nihilism and accepting the cold hard truth that nothing really matters should we in fact embrace the tragedies of the universe as doing anything else will simply leave you an empty shell of a man and if all this is true then what does it say about someone like me who claims this to be one of his favorites you you know maybe I should just shut up and get to my final [Music] Point catharsis otherwise known as the cleansing or purification in ancient Greek is what Aristotle claims to be the true aim of the classic tragedy and can be considered one of the main factors that contributes to their appeal when we sucb ourselves to the end of these types of Stories the pity and fear that becomes experienced can be traumatic as if you never want to Bear witness to such a world ever again but there can be more to it than that ask anyone that's ever felt emotionally drained by a book a movie a TV show all of them can tell you that sometimes this idea of being left in such a state can also leave you with a feeling of strength and inspiration sometimes after bearing witness to another's darkest lows and finding parallels to these events in our own lives we get the sense that these ideas are shared that they're part of something greater but From the Ashes something new can be born as the world keeps on spinning and of course just like every other aspect of the series this idea is presented through the actions of our remaining characters it's shown through waiver velvet who's not only one of the few who survives participating in the war firsthand but also makes plans to set out on a journey in order to find his own ideals worth fighting for with the same passion as those he bore witness to it's shown through Ren as she realizes that she must be strong for the rest of the to Saka family carrying on the Legacy that was left by her father and finally it's shown in Shiro who naively attempts to inherit his father's realistically tragic mindset but trust me we'll save the description of his character for a whole other video naturally there's a lot more to talk about with regards to how Fate Zero plays into this influential study of dramatic structure and I could probably write a whole thesis paper on the subject but sadly given the ever diminishing attention span of the internet I think I think I've provided more than enough as to why I find this show so appealing so with all of that said what do you guys think given Aristotle's definitions can Fate Zero be considered a return to form for the classic Greek tragedy are there any other anime out there that you think Encompass the ideas that he describes and of course of all the different ideologies presented in this Show's narrative what characters did you find yourself relating to the most leave a comment below and please tell me your thoughts I've been your middleman of controversy Mr AJ cosplay and until next [Music] [Music] time feel you

Channel: The Cartoon Cipher

Views: 193,387

Keywords: Tragedy (TV Genre), Anime (TV Genre), Akame Ga Kill, Black Bullet, Fate, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, Author Miller, Future Diary, Fate Zero, Rin, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Holy Grail, Tragedy, Ancient Greek, Aristotle (Author), Greek Tragedy, Cosplay, Waver, Inside Out, Caster, Studio Deen, Unlimited Blade works, Dubbed, Romeo + Juliet 1996, The Oresteia Agamemnon, Kingdom Hearts, William Shakespeare, Death of a Salesman, Fate Stay night, fate zero, Lemony Snicket, Saber

Id: 61Kh28P2Pgk

Length: 12min 58sec (778 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 29 2015