In this compelling account, eminent literary critic Terry Eagleton explores the nuances of tragedy in Western culture – from literature and politics to philosophy and theater. Eagleton covers a vast array of thinkers and practitioners, including Niet...

The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter an...