Abstract
Despite the observation that the Bible's structure and ideology are fundamentally comic, many readers have found Mark to have affinities with tragedy. While not a "pure" tragedy, Mark does exhibit tragic dimensions. The plot's emphases on the passion and the "fatedness" of Jesus' death resemble tragedy, but a hamartia and a peripety involving the protagonist are conspicuously absent. Jesus himself is not a tragic hero because he is not sufficiently divorced from the perspective of God/fate. Other characters-the opponents and the disciples-resemble more closely tragic figures though even their stories lack such development. Finally, the text embodies a tragic vision as many characters choose not to accept the comic perspective of Jesus.
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