What is a tragic hero? Today, a tragic hero is defined as a literary character whose poor judgment leads to their own destruction. This modern definition, although modeled from Aristotle’s version, differs from the traditional, Greek tragic hero. Aristotle stated that “a man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall,” and thus in order for a literary character to be deemed an Aristotelian tragic hero, they must meet certain qualifications. The first is, the tragic hero must be virtuous, in the sense that they are a noble leader and represent the monarchical values of the period in which the reign. The tragic hero must also fall victim to hamartia, described by Aristotle as “some error or frailty,” that, in turn, spurs
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From the very first line of the play, Sophocles sets out to fulfill the requirements for his protagonist, Oedipus Rex, to be classified as a tragic hero. In order to do so, he makes Oedipus’ first line a question as he asks the children, “Children, young sons and daughters of old Cadmus, why do you sit here with your suppliant crowns...What do you fear or want, that you sit here suppliant? Indeed, I’m willing to give all that you may need…” (Sophocles 1). This first line puts readers under the impression that Oedipus is a noble, curious, and hands-on ruler, fulfilling the first requirement of the character being virtuous. However, readers are soon given insight into his tragic flaw or, hamartia, that will ultimately lead to great misfortune. Oedipus’ tragic flaw is almost ironic in the sense that …show more content…
He ensures Oedipus fulfills all the classifications in order to use his tragic flaw and downfall as a way to comment on the nature of fate and the impossibility of avoiding the inevitable. By making one of Oedipus’ tragic flaws his refusal to accept the prophecies in hopes of running away from his predestined fate, he is able to make him blindly run into it. In doing this, Sophocles is able to propose the argument: fate versus free will, who will win? By painting Oedipus as a virtuous hero with a mere tragic flaw, shows that no matter how hard he tries to escape it, his free will has no power to alter the prophecies, making the argument no contest as fate will always reign
From the very first line of the play, Sophocles sets out to fulfill the requirements for his protagonist, Oedipus Rex, to be classified as a tragic hero. In order to do so, he makes Oedipus’ first line a question as he asks the children, “Children, young sons and daughters of old Cadmus, why do you sit here with your suppliant crowns...What do you fear or want, that you sit here suppliant? Indeed, I’m willing to give all that you may need…” (Sophocles 1). This first line puts readers under the impression that Oedipus is a noble, curious, and hands-on ruler, fulfilling the first requirement of the character being virtuous. However, readers are soon given insight into his tragic flaw or, hamartia, that will ultimately lead to great misfortune. Oedipus’ tragic flaw is almost ironic in the sense that …show more content…
He ensures Oedipus fulfills all the classifications in order to use his tragic flaw and downfall as a way to comment on the nature of fate and the impossibility of avoiding the inevitable. By making one of Oedipus’ tragic flaws his refusal to accept the prophecies in hopes of running away from his predestined fate, he is able to make him blindly run into it. In doing this, Sophocles is able to propose the argument: fate versus free will, who will win? By painting Oedipus as a virtuous hero with a mere tragic flaw, shows that no matter how hard he tries to escape it, his free will has no power to alter the prophecies, making the argument no contest as fate will always reign