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A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.^[1]

Contents 1 Aristotelian tragic hero 1.1 Characteristic Features 1.2 Other common traits 2 Tragic virtue 3 Modern fictional tragic heroes 4 References 5 External links

Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." An Aristotelian tragic hero must possess specific characteristics, six of which are below^[2]:

1. Nobility (of a noble birth) or wisdom (by virtue of birth).
2. Hamartia (translated as flaw or error of judgment).
3. A reversal of fortune (peripeteia) brought about because of the hero's Hamartia.
4. The discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero's own actions (anagnorisis)
5. The audience must feel dramatic irony for the character.

Initially, the tragic hero should be neither better or worse morally than normal people, in order to allow the audience to identify with them. This also introduces pity, which is crucial in tragedy, as if the hero was perfect we would neither be outraged with their fate not care especially due to their ideological superiority. If the hero was evil, then the audience would feel that he had got what he deserved. It is important to strike a balance in the hero's character.

Eventually the Aristotelian tragic hero dies a tragic death, having fallen from great heights and having made an irreversible mistake. The hero must courageously accept their death with honor.

Some other common traits characteristic of a tragic hero:

• Hero must suffer more than he deserves.
• Hero must be doomed from the start, but bears no responsibility for possessing his flaw.
• Hero must be noble in nature, but imperfect so that the audience can see themselves in him.
• Hero must have discovered his fate by his own actions, not by things happening to him.
• Hero must see and understand his doom, as well as the fact that his fate was discovered by his own actions.
• Hero's story should arouse fear and empathy.
• Hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in his death.
• Ideally, the hero should be a king or leader of men, so that his people experience his fall with him. This could also include a leader of a family.
• The hero must be intelligent so he may learn from his mistakes.
• The hero must have a weakness; usually it is pride.
• He has to be faced with a very serious decision.
• Must have something gone wrong in his/her current life.
• The suffering of the hero must have meaning.

A tragic hero usually has the following sequence of "Great, Good, Flaw, Downfall." and more often than not has to die at some point in the story or else he will not be considered a Shakespearean tragic hero.

1. An example of the tragic hero is Shakespeare's Macbeth. He is a noble character who is tempted by power to kill his king in order to satisfy his ambition and desire to reach the throne. Sometimes, external circumstances around that character are considered as factors contributing to his downfall.

An alternative view of the tragic hero, especially in Renaissance British literature, is one in which he or she possesses a tragic virtue (as opposed to the Classical idea of Hamartia). In this paradigm, the hero exhibits traits that would under other conditions be considered desirable, but due to external circumstances cause their eventual undoing. For example, Shakespeare's character Hamlet from the eponymous play is often criticized for his contemplative nature, and his failure to act is cited as his tragic flaw. Under other circumstances, however, such as the kingship that Hamlet was to inherit, a contemplative nature is certainly a virtue. Arguably, then, the tragedy of Hamlet is not that of a flawed character who simply succumbs to his failings, but that of a virtuous character who is consumed by circumstances not under his control.

In the Modernist era, a new kind of tragic hero was synthesized as a reaction to the English Renaissance, The Age of Enlightenment, and Romanticism. The idea was that the hero, rather than falling calamitously from a high position, is actually a person less worthy of consideration. Not only that, the protagonist may not even have the needed catharsis to bring the story to a close. He may die without an epiphany of his destiny, or suffer without the ability to change events that are happening to him. The story may end without closure and even without the death of the hero. This new tragic hero of Modernism is the anti-hero.

• Outline of Aristotle's Theory of Tragedy