TRAGEDY &
TRAGIC HEROS
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OEDIPUS REX
O The Short, Short version
O http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA1_QZx
vRyo
CHARACTERISTICS OF
A TRAGEDY
1. courageous individuals (TRAGIC HERO)who O confront powerful forces within or outside
themselves
O with dignity
O in the face of failure, defeat, and even death.
2. The action of a tragedy is focused on a difficult
time in the hero’s life when decisions or actions
cause chaos and
3. only through the protagonist’s fall can the world
of the tragedy be righted again.
TRAGEDY
 Serious action
 Sad (tragic) end for the hero/protagonist
 Tragic Hero
 Drama but in poetic language (rather than
prose (everyday sentence structure))
Tragic Hero
Who is it?
QUICK WRITE
O “A man cannot become a hero until he can
see the root of his own downfall.”
-Aristotle
What does this mean?
Do you agree with it?
Tragic Hero- definition
O A tragic hero is the main character in a
tragedy who makes an error in his or her
actions that leads to his or her downfall (a
catastrophe).
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
TRAGIC HERO
O Great person
O Fall is result of a flaw
O Extraordinary-but
(tragic flaw) or
misunderstanding
O Encounter with
failure allows hero to
display greatness
O Fall results in
reversal of fortune
O
O
O
O
human (not a superhero)
usually noble birth
Mythic significance
Fate of state relies
on his choices
Must fall
O (rich to poor; admired to
shunned, etc.)
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
TRAGIC HERO (cont.)
O The hero sees and understands his doom,
and that his fate was revealed by his own
actions
O Must have realization –HIS OWN DOING!
O The hero's downfall is understood to arouse
pity and horror in the reader/audience.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
TRAGIC HERO (cont.)
O Hero-physically or
spiritually wounded
O often (but not always)
resulting in his
death
O Hero-often a king
or leader of men,
so that his people
experience his fall
with him. This could
also include a leader of a
family.
O The hero is faced with a
serious decision.
O Through the development
of the plot, a hero's
mistakes, rather than his
quintessential goodness
or evil, lead to his tragic
downfall-(can’t be
perfect-real human-if can
happen to him-can
happen to me
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
TRAGIC HERO (cont.)
O tragic flaw –
O often “hubris”- excessive pride-see seven deadly
sins next slide
TRAGIC FLAWS
O 7 Deadly sins-
O BRAINSTORM
O Pride (hubris)
O Specific examples of
O Envy
the 7 deadly sins
O Additional examples
of “flaws”
O Can a Super Hero be
a “tragic hero”?
O Gluttony
O Lust
O Anger
O Sloth
O Greed
Anakin Skywalker from “Star
Wars: Clone Wars”
O The whole time we're watching Star
Wars: Clone Wars, we know that Anakin
Skywalker is destined for a horrendous
end. “Skywalker” exemplifies the basic
definition: the person who has
everything, and then loses it all.
BRAINSTORM
O As many tragic heroes as you can
identify
O Literature
O Movies
O TV Shows
O Real Life
And…
O Jeff Brundle in The Fly
O Madmax in the film Madmax
O Wolverine in X Men
O William Wallace in Braveheart