Aristotle’s Definition of a Tragic Hero
According to Aristotle the tragic hero evokes our pity and
terror as he neither thoroughly good not thoroughly evil but
a mixture of both. The tragic effect is stronger if the hero is
more moral than we are. The tragic hero suggests a change
in fortune from happiness to misery because of a mistaken
act which he performs due to hamartia – error of judgment.
One form of hamartia is hubris – pride which leads the
tragic hero to ignore or violate a divine warning or moral
law. The tragic hero evokes our pity because he not evil
and his misfortune is greater than he deserves. He evokes
our fear because we realize we are fallible and could make
the same error.
A tragic hero has the potential for greatness but is doomed
to fall. He is trapped in a situation where he cannot. He
has some sort of tragic glad, and this cause his fall from
greatness. Even though he is a fallen hero, he still wins a
moral victory and his spirit lives on.
Usually tragic heroes are:
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Born in nobility
Exhibits heroic traits
Responsible for their own fate
Endowed with a tragic flaw
Tragic heroes often:
Goes against a powerful force
Fall from great heights on high esteem
Doomed to make a serious error in judgment
Realize they have made an irreversible mistake
Faces and accepts death with honor
Meet a tragic death
The audience is affected.
• Feels pity or fear
• Experienecs catharsis
• Purge heavy emotions
REMEMBER: THE AUDIENCE IS PART OF THE
TRAGEDY.