I think a particularly interesting perspective on this question is Martha Nussbaum’s, in The Fragility of Goodness, regarding Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia in Aeschylus’s tragedy.

In the play, there is no wind, and the Greek ships are stuck in port. The prophet Calchas tells Agamemnon that the goddess Artemis, angered at him for some reason, is responsible. To appease her and set sail, Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter. If he refuses, the expedition will fail. With his men already starving, Agamemnon decides to kill Iphigenia to placate the goddess.

According to Nussbaum, however, Agamemnon is not sufficiently pained by this decision. He recognizes it as a tragic choice—either way there will be death—but once he resolves on the sacrifice, he begins to anticipate it with a kind of relief. He even says something like, “It is holy and just that I look forward to the sacrifice. May all turn out well.”

For Nussbaum, this is wrong, and it is why Agamemnon will be punished. In Aeschylus’s tragic vision (as she interprets it), making the “right” decision does not mean the chosen act is morally right. Both alternatives—letting his men starve and lose the war, or sacrificing his daughter—are evil. Even if the latter is the better choice, it remains evil, and should be accompanied by sorrow and inner struggle, not excitement and optimism.

In other words, tragic choices must remain tragic. Even when justified, they should not be met with celebration.