“The Tragedy of Ukraine: What Classical Greek Tragedy Teaches About Conflict”

The Tragedy of Ukraine delves into the deep domestic roots of the current civil conflict in Ukraine. At the heart of this conflict is the attitude of the state to what Professor Petro calls “the Other Ukraine”—the one-third of the population that regards its Russian cultural heritage as fully compatible with a Ukrainian civic identity. The reluctance of the state to regard this ethnos, which is highly concentrated in the East and South, as a legitimate part of the modern Ukrainian nation has created a tragic cycle that entangles Ukrainian politics. Untangling it will require recognizing that the problems in Ukrainian society are as much emotional as they are institutional. Classical Greek tragedy can help because it once performed a similar therapeutic function in Athenian society—by inducing a change of heart toward one’s enemies, known as catharsis, it fostered social harmony.