Tragedy, in the Greek sense

I recently watched the Frontline special about former Spokane mayor Jim West. You really have to feel for him. He was ruined by his own hypocrisy, it's true; but he was driven into that by the intolerant society he grew up in. That is the really sad part of the story. A man so tormented and so deep in the closet that, in spite of being gay himself, he once worked for legislation to prevent homosexuals from working as teachers. His life must have been hell.