Characteristics Of A Tragic Hero

Characteristics of a Tragic Hero He must be; better than we are; a man who is superior to the average man in some way. In Oedipus case, he is superior not only because of social standing, but also because he is smart ­ he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx riddle. At the same time, a tragic hero must evoke both pity and fear, and Aristotle claims that the best way to do this is if he is imperfect. A character with a mixture of good and evil is more compelling that a character who is merely good. And Oedipus is definitely not perfect; although a clever man, he is blind to the truth and refuses to believe Teiresias warnings. Although he is a good father, he unwittingly fathered children in incest. A tragic hero suffers because of his hamartia, a Greek word that is often translated as tragic flaw; but really means error in judgment. Often this flaw or error has to do with fate ­ a character tempts fate, thinks he can change fate or doesn’t realize what fate has in store for him. In Oedipus the King, fate is an idea that surfaces again and again. The focus on fate reveals another aspect of a tragedy as outlined by Aristotle: dramatic irony. Good tragedies are filled with irony. The audience knows the outcome of the story already, but the hero does not, making his actions seem ignorant or inappropriate in the face of what is to come. Whenever a character attempts to change fate, this is ironic to an audience who knows that the tragic outcome of the story cannot be avoided.
29. Dramatic Irony Dramatic irony plays an important part in Oedipus the King. Its story revolves around two different attempts to change the course of fate: Jocasta and Laius killing of Oedipus at birth and Oedipus flight from Corinth later on. In both cases, an oracle prophecy comes true regardless of the characters actions. Jocasta kills her son only to find him restored to life and married to her. Oedipus leaves Corinth only to find that in so doing he has found his real parents and