A tragedian is either an actor who performs in tragedies, or a writer who writes them. The same word does both jobs, and only the sentence tells you which is meant.

A tragedian is either an actor who performs in tragediestragedian可以是指演悲劇的演員，or a writer who writes them也可以是指寫悲劇的作家。The same word does both jobs同一個詞兩種工作都做，and only the sentence tells you which is meant只能靠句子本身判斷是哪一個意思。

When it means the writer, you are almost always reading about the ancient Greeks — Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides are "the three great tragedians". This use is standard in books about literature and drama.

When it means the writer當它指作家的時候，you are almost always reading about the ancient Greeks你讀到的幾乎都是關於古希臘人的內容——Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides are “the three great tragedians”艾斯奇勒斯、索福克里斯和尤瑞皮底斯就是「三大tragedians」。This use is standard in books about literature and drama這種用法在文學和戲劇的書裡很標準。

When it means the actor, the flavour is different and rather old. A tragedian was a serious stage actor of the eighteenth or nineteenth century who specialised in the heavy roles: Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth. Such actors were famous in their day, travelled with their own costumes, and had a reputation for large gestures and a booming voice.

When it means the actor當它指演員的時候，the flavour is different and rather old味道就不一樣了，而且比較古早。A tragedian was a serious stage actor of the eighteenth or nineteenth centurytragedian指的是十八、十九世紀那種嚴肅的舞台演員，who specialised in the heavy roles專演份量很重的角色：Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth哈姆雷特、李爾王、馬克白。Such actors were famous in their day這些演員在當時很有名，travelled with their own costumes巡演時自帶戲服，and had a reputation for large gestures and a booming voice以誇張的動作和洪亮的嗓音出名。

Because of that, the word can be used lightly of someone who makes an ordinary sadness into a big performance — "don't be such a tragedian" — though this is not very common, and most speakers would say drama queen instead. Either way the word is formal and bookish. The feminine form tragedienne exists for actresses and appears in older writing; today most people simply say tragedian or just actor.

Because of that因為這樣，the word can be used lightly of someone who makes an ordinary sadness into a big performance這個詞也可以輕鬆地用在把普通難過演成一場大戲的人身上——“don't be such a tragedian”像「別這麼tragedian」這種說法，though this is not very common不過這不太常見，and most speakers would say drama queen instead大多數人會改說drama queen。Either way the word is formal and bookish不管哪個意思，這個詞都很正式、很書面。The feminine form tragedienne exists for actresses女性形式tragedienne是指女演員，and appears in older writing出現在比較舊的文獻裡；today most people simply say tragedian or just actor現在大多數人就直接說tragedian或actor。