Hamartia

Hamartia–often translated fatal mistake or error–ultimately undoes the hero, or heroine, thus turning her story into a tragedy. According to Aristotle, the hamartia accounts for the reversal of fortunes by its own definition, i.e. because it is a fatal mistake, “the change of fortune should be not from bad to good, but, reversely, from good to bad. It should come about as the result not of vice, but of some great error or frailty, in a character,”. Antigone’s hamartia is her attempted…

a famous philosopher, created a guideline that a protagonist in a story MUST follow in order for the protagonist to be considered as a tragic hero. This hero is defined as an Aristotelian hero and must follow the five characteristics; Nobleness,Hamartia,Peripeteia, Anagnorisis, and a fate that is greater than what they deserved. Examples of heroes that follow these guidelines are Oedipus from Oedipus Rex and Prince Hamlet from Hamlet. I personally believed that a protagonist doesn’t need all 5…

of judgement, reversal of fortune due to such judgement, and acknowledgement of their self-inflicted misfortune. In addition, Oedipus exhibits extreme pride and receives a fate much colder than deserved. Shortly into the play, Oedipus reveals his hamartia, or flaw in judgement, when he refuses and mocks the advice of the blind prophet after it’s not to his liking. “You have no power or truth. You are blind, your ears and mind as well as eyes.” (Sophocles, 23) Had Oedipus heeded the prophet’s…

A tragic hero is a man or woman of high standing who is capable of great mental of physical suffering and possesses many excellent character qualities. Despite the great character, the hero has a hamartia, or one fatal flaw that led to his or her downfall. By this standard of Greek philosopher Aristotle, Antigone is considered a tragic hero. Antigone’s father was Oedipus, King of Thebes. She was next in line for the throne; however, Creon, her uncle and great-uncle, took power after the death…

Aristotle, all tragic hero must have six traits to be considered one. These are hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis, and catharsis. To go into more depth of these characteristics, hamartia is a tragic flaw that causes the downfall of the tragic hero. Examples of a tragic flaw would be things such as excessive pride, guilt, and not listening to the gods. Hubris is a trait that almost goes with hamartia. It means excessive pride and disrespect for the natural order of things, which…

The widely accepted definition of a tragic hero, a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably results in their destruction, was conceived by Aristotle. Aristotle's tragic hero must experience a flaw in judgement (hamartia), a reversal of fortune (peripeteia), and a realization that they caused their lot (anagnorisis); they ultimately receive a fate much harsher than deserved due to their hubris. John Proctor, the protagonist of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is this…

Oedipus’s Status in “Oedipus Tyrannus” Oedipus Tyrannus is a play written by Sophocles; it interprets a plot of classical Greek myth. The oracle told Thebes’s ruler he will be killed by own son, which then will marry his mother. Parents decided to kill the child, Oedipus, but the slave did not fulfill the order. The man also found out about the prophecy and tried to avoid it. But his attempts led to totally opposite results: Oedipus killed his real father and married mother as a new ruler of…

where he does not act on any chances he is presented with. In doing so, it enhances the plot as it allows for the rising action to occur and suspense to build up to the climax. The prominent actions of Fortinbras, directs readers to focus on Hamlet’s hamartia because it ultimately is the cause of his downfall. The readers are able to use Fortinbras to compare with Hamlet and be able to dictate the important personality traits of Hamlet, which Shakespeare tries to highlight. In short,…

Othello by William Shakespeare, the death of the character Desdemona serves as the climatic breaking point where pervasive racism and sexism can no longer exist without resulting in detrimental harm to the involved parties. It is Othello’s prideful hamartia that, combined with sexism, is the catalyst that ultimately destroys both his and Desdemona’s life. In Othello, the cast of characters is subjected to the mounting pressures of sexism and racism without even realizing the detrimental effects…

neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake”. This means the hero was given a powerful title as well as be filled with prideful will. However, their hamartia, or tragic flaw, causes the character to make a substantial mistake that will eventually lead to the character's demise. One character that fits this definition is Julius Caesar in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Yet, the character who is can…