what is a tragic hero

A Tragic Hero


According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a combination of both good and evil (“The Tragic Hero”). What causes a tragic hero to fail is what Aristotle calls “an act of injustice” or hamartia, a tragic flaw. When he goes through a journey of obstacles, his ambition and short temper, leads him to choose an evil path and break moral laws. The tragic hero has hubris around him, pride that causes him to fall. (“The Tragic Hero”). People feel pity or fear because they are human like the tragic hero; they could make the same error. A tragic hero is a person noble in birth, but with a tragic flaw (harmatia), who brings death or destruction on himself or on others.
A tragic hero is a mixture of both good and evil. He is a noble in birth. For example, in the play MacBeth by Shakespeare, Macbeth is the hero of the victorious army. The king of Scotland, Duncan, awards him as thane of Cawdor. On the way home with his friend Banquo, the two he...