To be a tragic hero‚ the heroes must be inherently good people who have good intentions. In addition to their changes in fortune‚ tragic heroes must‚ in the end‚ recognize their own responsibility for their behavior and accept their fate with dignity. In Sophocles‚ Antigone there are two types of tragic heroes a traditional tragic hero and a sophoclean tragic hero. Traditional Greek tragic heroes have four main qualities: Arete‚ a type of excellence‚ Hubris‚ an excessive degree of pride‚ Ate‚ imprudence
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tale in which the hero was trying to accomplish a certain task‚ such as returning home or rescuing a lover from Hades. In every case‚ these heroic tales would always end with tragedy; the hero would be killed by a jealous lover‚ go mad‚ or have a loved one taken away from him. However‚ one Greek hero existed whose story did not end with tragedy: Odysseus. Homer’s The Odyssey is unique among all other Greek myths in that it is the only story in which the hero does not meet a tragic end; why is this
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a Tragic Hero? Elizabeth Howell English 102- B33 Professor Katie Robinson Liberty University October 12‚ 2012 Oedipus‚ a Tragic Hero? Thesis: Using Aristotle’s five different descriptions of a tragic hero‚ we will show that Oedipus in Oedipus the King is in fact a tragic hero and how his decisions led to his downfall. Outline: I. Introduction and Thesis Statement II. Is the character of noble birth? A. King of Thebes B. Real father was king III. Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently
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A tragic hero is defined in most cases as a literary character of great stature whose moral defect leads to tragedy but some self-awareness brings the character to make the right decision (World Literatures). That is why although Antigone portrays many characteristics of a tragic hero‚ the real tragic hero of this play is Creon. A tragic hero in the Greek world is very different from our perceptive of a hero in the modern world. When today’s society thinks of a hero they think of superpowers and
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A tragic hero is someone who experiences misfortune‚ evokes pity and fear in the audience‚ and possesses a personal flaw. The Iliad showcases a tragic hero during the Trojan War. Trojans and Greeks fight in the war‚ which begins because Paris steals the beautiful Helen away from Menelaos. This angers Menelaos and sparks a war. During the battle‚ the demigod Achilles will eventually kill the Trojan leader Hector. Achilles is the real tragic hero of The Iliad for several reasons. Achilles’s ignorance
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Macbeth as a Tragic Hero William Shakespeare ’s plays have the reputation of being among the greatest in the English language and in Western literature. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories‚ genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608‚ including Hamlet‚ King Lear‚ Othello‚ and Macbeth‚ considered some of the finest
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Price Carter English 10 Meredith 5/20/14 The Other Tragic Hero Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is a main character that is not so virtuous that the reader feels outraged‚ instead a feeling of pity or fear at his downfall. Also‚ the hero cannot be so evil that for the sake of justice we desire his misfortunes. Instead‚ he is someone who is neither outstanding in virtue and righteousness; nor is it through badness or villainy of his own that he falls into misfortune‚ but rather through some
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To what extent can Othello be considered a ‘tragic hero’? The extent of which Othello is a tragic hero has been open to much debate; the basis on which he is judged falls to Aristotle’s established view of the crucial elements that distinguish whether a person is truly tragic. According to Aristotle‚ a tragic protagonist is a nobleman or person from high status‚ who contributes to his own demise and illustrates a flaw or weakness in judgment. The tragic protagonist must make a fall from a high state
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Othello as tragic hero. He exposes his tragic flaw‚ which consequently leads to his downfall. Othello conforms to the Aristotelian principles of tragedy‚ of the noble protagonist who undergoes ceaseless manipulation and endures suffering‚ resulting in his ultimate downfall due to hamartia. All of these techniques combine to provide a different perception of the protagonist‚ as more of an atypical victim‚ exposed to the harsh reality of the society he longs to fit into‚ rather than a typical hero. A tragic
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Sophocles‚ contains a very prominent tragic hero: Oedipus. A tragic hero‚ by Aristotle’s definition of one‚ must possess six traits. One of them is that the tragic hero must be of noble stature. Another trait of a tragic hero is a tragic flaw. A third trait defined by Aristotle is that a tragic hero must have a period of recognition of his crimes. Oedipus strongly displays each of the three aforementioned‚ necessary traits; and he is‚ then‚ an obvious tragic hero. Oedipus’ noble stature is immediately
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