Premise Behind Abyss Walker
The Meaning Behind the Lyrics
The song Abyss Walker primarily based upon a story of failure, writing from experiences - depression and guilt, brought on by trying to motivate a cause that didn't have enough conviction. The misjudgment of believing that all the mistakes could be overcome by enthusiastic speeches/actions and taking the responsibility of the shortcomings of others (which can be dangerous), as it took away confidence, mental health and self worth which in turn destroyed self motivation.
Ultimately the lesson learned is acceptance, understanding where the line is drawn and acknowledging that problems are better ruled out earlier. The plot is about failure, the theme is about responsibility.
This information is key as it shares the dynamics for a story to function, even if the story doesn't have an happy ending. The strength and weaknesses are akin to that of a Greek tragedy, where a well meaning hero/character of interest either falls from grace or has something terrible happen to them, also with this in mind perhaps using some folklore from Greek mythology would also be fitting.
Thinking about the story in correlation to the above, it may change and develop as additional research is uncovered, possibly being rewritten. I guess what I’m trying to say is that although the meaning behind the lyrics are tied to real events, the narrative can take new ideas and paths for sake of the narrative.
So what is a Greek Tragedy?
Taken from the Collins Dictionary Online a Greek Tragedy is:
"(in ancient Greek theatre) a play in which the protagonist, usually a man of importance and outstanding personal qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which he cannot deal."
Tragedy was one of three types of Greek theatre with Comedy and Satyr Plays being the other two, these three styles were what the basis of the theatrical world would be based on. The differences between all three styles were:
Comedy was used to satirically make fun out of men in power such as Philosophers and politicians which also gives us insight into how the Greek world was religiously and politically motivated – think of the comedian Charlie Brooker with his series News Wipe. Later they were written about ordinary people which were much more like our sit-coms of today
Satyr Plays were performed in-between the acts of Greek Tragedies, making light and making fun of the plight from the characters and their situations. Satyrs were small half man – half goat creatures that were known for their mischief. The function of the play was to lighten the mood as well as pinpointing the mistakes that had happened during the course of the plot/story in the tragedy.
Tragedy as mentioned above dealt with societal problems of love, pride, loss and many other emotionally fuelled situations. The protagonist usually commits a crime that seems to have little or no consequence without realising the impact it will have. Realisation of the situation slowly comes to fruition as the world around the character dismantles. Tragedies were practically made to offer moral guidance to communities and what can befall you with ignorance to repercussions of actions.
Tragedies originated from a vocal performances in tribute to the god Dionysus with the addition of the Satyr plays to give a response to the ongoing story. As time went on the development in theatrics gave rise to actors or 'Hypokrites' to answer to the choral songs/stories of the vocalists, with many more actors being added later on. Thespis is believe to be the first actor in existence and because of this a term was coined, 'Thespian' which is a term often used academically instead of the word actor.
At the centre of this genre is suffering and how on an empathic level, that it is an emotionally understood concept tied to the majority of humankind, even more so when the situation has a snowballing effect of unfair and unending misery. In that sense the analysis of society and pivotal emotional reactions to the audience is what the genre caters to and from this we learn from ourselves and those around us – in a practical sense as mentioned before, it supplies us with morals from dire situations. Often the hero's downfall can be the result of nature or the gods at work which also serves as additional religious and social conditioning. The suffering must come primarily from the events and after effects of the protagonist as to give the meaning behind the lesson some sort of substance.
Elemental Thinking: Aristotle
Aristotle, Greek philosopher that studied Greek Tragedy in detail during the 4th century as to how and why they work created many ideas from his research. He concluded that a good tragedy can evoke the fear and pity of the audience; fear of falling victim to the same perils in the story and pity from the height they fall. Having witness these emotional events unfold, the audience goes through what is called a Catharsis, a purging of emotion that cleanses the mood – a release of emotions that may have culminated below the surface of your self.
Abyss Walker as an animation needs this foundation of suffering, the finished work is going to give a cathartic flush of emotionally driven narrative, something that can be reflective and in it's intension a nod to Greek tragedy. For this to work as planned there needs to be an adherence to the formulae Aristotle created on his observation on creation of Greek Tragedies and what guidelines would make for a great tragedy. The formulae or ideas he proposed were:
The lead character or Hero needs to be relatable to the audience, so this character cannot be infallible so must not be exceptionally evil or good. The downfall of the protagonist will be much more emphasised when dropped from a higher state, for this the character must have something exceptional about them or be higher in rank/authority.
Hamartia: A tragic flaw – Error of judgement. Making ridiculously bad decisions for good causes, resulting in consequences via the result of their actions. Often the flaw can be the protagonist's hubris (excessive pride), ambition or stubbornness to name a few. This Hamartia can lead to the event where the reaction/decision results in the downfall.
The Downfall – often resulting in death of the character or many of those around them with more repercussions that ripple out like a droplet of water into the lives and environments of those around them.
Using Aristotle's terms – reversal, recognition and pathos (suffering), or the story beats above, it was defined that these ingredients were essential to the plot/story which Aristotle believed to be the driving force behind a tragedy.
Ultimately the story must have the protagonist/main character recognise the events and go through a change, Aristotle was acknowledged this as "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate."
The Plot Thickens: Plot and Story Structure
Tragedies were created due to festivals and refined for competition. During the festivities for the god Dionysus around the time of March, play writers would battle against each other over the course of three days to tell a trilogy tragedies along with a satyr play. Some playwrights chose to have 3 differing tragedies that didn't link but often there would be linked stories that would delve into the details of the reversal, recognition and suffering in greater detail. Two noted playwrights/philosophers were Aeschylus, (considered the 'Father of Tragedy', featured two actors and owns the only surviving trilogy) and Sophocles, (renowned for adding a third actor to his plays and his work on the Theban plays, which featured Oedipus Rex). The additional characters added to plays were so that the plot could more distinguished between the dialogue and attention to characters rather than the overall broad stroked chorus of vocalists.
Typically a tragedy would be made of:
Prologue – Dialogue presenting the story of the tragedy.
Parodos – Entrance ode: Comments on previous scene and serves as a passing of time so that something important can develop.
Episode – Often multiple and finished concluded with a Stasimon, the event where characters interact with the chorus.
Stasimon – An ode by the chorus where it comments on the precending episode.
Exode – The exit ode/dialogue of the chorus after the last episode.
Choral odes often contain:
Strophe (turn) – the chorus rotates in one direction.
Antistrophe (counter turn) – rotates in another direction to show a reversal in story.
Epode (after song) – are usually used to conclude the strophe and antistrophe back and forth, the chorus stand still.
The structure of tragedies are designed so that the chorus may comment on the actions of the episode through the stasimon. It's in the same method of a narrator describe the actions of characters and discuss the events of what's unfolding after.
Death was a part that played an important role in Greek Tragedy, it often augments the stakes and dynamics of the story. Dialogues with the dead can also show the importance of the event from the loss of that particular character which helps drive the story. Characters that were about to or lived in fear of death often spoke about the sun and the lack of seeing it as an analogy of leaving the physical realm to the underworld below, where the ferryman Charon would transport the souls across the river Styx through Hades to the Elysian Fields, Meadows of Asphodel or the abyssal pit of Tartarus.
