Tragedy

Does the word goat come to mind when you hear the word tragedy?
 
The word tragedy has its origins in Pre-Greek tragein (to gnaw, to browse, to eat) and Greek tragos (goat, buck). The Greek word tragodia referred to a dramatic poem or play which had an unhappy resolution (tragodia = goat song).
 
So, what’s the connection of the word tragedy to goats? One suggestion is that when mischievous or wicked characters were part of a drama the actors or singers would dress in goatskins to represent satyrs. The Oxford Dictionary states that a satyr is “one of a class of lustful, drunken woodland gods. In Greek art they were represented as a man with a horse's ears and tail, but in Roman representations as a man with a goat's ears, tail, legs, and horns.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines satyr as “a sylvan deity in Greek mythology having certain characteristics of a horse or goat and fond of Dionysian revelry and lecherousness.”
 
The word tragedy (a grave or dignified literary work with a calamitous or sorrowful ending) appears in English in the late 14th century from Old French tragedie, Latin tragedia, and Greek tragodia. Tragedy, as a branch of the dramatic arts, is from the early 15th century. Tragedy meaning a fatal event, calamity, or disaster, is from around 1500. Tragedy referring to contemporary stage plays is from the 1530s.
 
The adjective tragic (calamitous, disastrous, fatal) is from the 1540s.
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Oxford University Press: https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/