Tragic Heroes in Greek Myth
Tragic Greek dramas featured tragic heroes, mortals who suffered incredible
losses as a result of an inescapable fate or bad decisions. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a character, usually of high birth, which is pre-eminently great, meaning they are not perfect, and whose downfall is brought about
by a tragic weakness or error in judgment. The three Greek heroes Oedipus, Medea and Agamemnon, who each killed a member of their family, carry most of the qualities that make up a tragic hero: being of noble birth, being surrounded by an extraordinary circumstance, and gaining self-awareness or some kind of knowledge through their downfall. There is an important need for the audience to identify with the Aristotelian hero through their faults; faults are what inevitably make the hero a human rather than a God since to be human is to make mistakes.
According to Aristotle's theory of tragedy and his definition of the central character, Oedipus, the hero of Sophocles, is considered a classical model of the tragic hero. The tragic hero is an essential element to arouse pity and fear from the audience to achieve the emotional effect. Sophocles features Oedipus in a trilogy of plays; however, it is during Oedipus the King that Oedipus experiences his tragic downfall. Although Oedipus is not of high birth, he rises to become a king rather early in his life. To complete the tragic hero profile, Oedipus inspires pity in audiences.
Oedipus however, like all tragic heroes, has one great weakness, or flaw as said by Aristotle; his excessive pride, which the Chorus describes as: “Insolence breeds the tyrant, insolence if it is glutted with a surfeit, unseasonable, unprofitable… But I pray that the God may never abolish the eager ambition that profits the state, for I shall never cease to hold the God as our protector” (Sophocles, Oedipus the King, 875-882). Not only does the chorus refer to his pride, but Oedipus himself hints at it. In line 8 he says, "I Oedipus whom
According to Aristotle's theory of tragedy and his definition of the central character, Oedipus, the hero of Sophocles, is considered a classical model of the tragic hero. The tragic hero is an essential element to arouse pity and fear from the audience to achieve the emotional effect. Sophocles features Oedipus in a trilogy of plays; however, it is during Oedipus the King that Oedipus experiences his tragic downfall. Although Oedipus is not of high birth, he rises to become a king rather early in his life. To complete the tragic hero profile, Oedipus inspires pity in audiences.
Oedipus however, like all tragic heroes, has one great weakness, or flaw as said by Aristotle; his excessive pride, which the Chorus describes as: “Insolence breeds the tyrant, insolence if it is glutted with a surfeit, unseasonable, unprofitable… But I pray that the God may never abolish the eager ambition that profits the state, for I shall never cease to hold the God as our protector” (Sophocles, Oedipus the King, 875-882). Not only does the chorus refer to his pride, but Oedipus himself hints at it. In line 8 he says, "I Oedipus whom