“The song of the goat” is the original meaning of the word “tragedy”. The word developed when men lined up to offer their goats as sacrifices to their gods. The goats they were holding or leading realized their fate and began to bleat sadly. They cried that their lives had to be sacrificed for others; however, Willy Loman from “Death of a Salesman” bravely gave up his life. Arthur Miller's character Willy Loman thought the only way to help his family was to die. After many defeats Willy reflected on his life and said that he was worth more dead than alive (Miller 2173). There has been much discussion about Willy's character; Is Willy really tragic or just pathetic? Considering all the factors in Willy's life that weighed on him, the reader would have to determine that this short man was, indeed, tragic. Aristotle analyzed drama to form a definition of tragedy. Aristotle considered “Oedipus the King” to be the perfect tragedy, so he modeled his definition on the play. He decided that there were certain factors that constituted a tragedy: plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, melody. The character was supposed to have a tragic flaw that would ultimately lead to his downfall. The character traits of the tragedy define Willy Loman as a tragic man. Furthermore, a tragedy must have a catharsis at the end, and the ending of Death of a Salesman purifies the audience. Aristotle believed that the protagonist of a tragedy should be “good or beautiful”. (3) He must be considered a successful man for his life to go from good to bad. Willy sold for a living, but was not prosperous. He borrowed from his neighbor Charley so he could pay for appliances that were out of his budget. Aristotle would disagree that Willy was a tragic man rather than a pathetic... middle of paper... helping his family in the only way he knew how and that was by destroying him. Willy Loman aimed for popularity, but it became a tragedy. He should have taken these verses to heart: “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For whatever is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the Father, but are of the world” (King James Version 1 John 2:15-16). Works Citedversion by King James. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.McManus, Barbera F. “Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy in Poetics.” November 1999. Web. 4 November 2011. .Miller, Arthur. “Death of a Salesman”. Norton's Introduction to Literature 10. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. 495-506. Press.