| MELPOMENE | Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology |
| EURIPIDES | Conveyor of tragedy in English university with final message before fateful day |
| COMEDY | Opposite of tragedy in ancient Greek theatre, symbolised by a sock; humorous film, play or event; or, a story with a happy ending (6) |
| AESCHYLUS | Greek dramatist (c. 525-456 BC) regarded as the father of tragedy; Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound etc. (9) |
| TRAGEDIAN | Writer of tragedy |
| CATHARSIS | Effect of tragedy, according to Aristotle |
| ESTRAGON | Waiter in play, partial tragedy, in returning feature (8) |
| GARDENCITY | Caught in tragedy in volatile urban development (6,4) |
| ABIGAILS | What a leading actor has to claim proves troublesome, ending in tragedy in 17 work (8,5) |
| ABIGAILSPARTY | What a leading actor has to claim proves troublesome, ending in tragedy in 17 work |
| TILLY | She's sick of getting in extremes of tragedy |
| IBSEN | Author elected to keep a tragedy in stock? (5) |
| KINGLEAR | Tragedy in which family, regal, gets destroyed (4,4) |
| OTHELLO | Tragedy in book that's most unexpected! |
| HAMLET | Tragedy in small community |
| CENCI | "The ___: A Tragedy in Five Acts" (Shelley work) |
| TRAGIC | It's a tragedy in dramatisation (6) |
| TITUSANDRONICUS | Tragedy in court as nudist collapses |
| THESPIS | Depicted in an opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, the Greek dramatic poet considered the founder of tragedy (7) |
| MACBETH | Shakespearean tragedy in which a Scottish lord is driven to commit regicide by his lust for power |
