Hamartia in Oedipus Rex and Death of a Salesman

William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy focusing on the tragic hero Othello. A tragic hero is a character who is noble and good. However because of their hamartia, or fatal flaw, peripeteia occurs and there is a downfall. This downfall usually occurs through the hero’s free will. This is true in the case of Othello, his hamartia of trusting too easily cause him to make bad decisions, ruining his great reputation. It is evident Othello is a tragic hero through his background of high status, hamartia of trusting easily and his downfall through free will.

In the Greek tragedy, Oedipus the King, Oedipus struggles to accept the truth and he lets his temper over power him. Throughout the tragedy, he displays all the necessary elements to be categorized as a tragic hero as defined by Aristotle. His refusal to accept the truth led to Oedipus’ downfall. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, “is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” Based off this definition, Sophocles’ Oedipus clearly exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

The first characteristic defined by Aristotle describes someone who conveys an error in judgment, or hamartia. Hamartia is the downfall of a tragic hero caused by a fatal flaw. According to this description, Willy Loman fits the characteristic of hamartia because he had the inability to see and define success.

He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” The characteristics of a tragic hero described by Aristotle are hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis and catharsis which allows the audience to have a catharsis of arousing feelings.

Traditionally, hamartia has been identified either as being a “tragic flaw”—a serious physical, psychological, or moral flaw in an otherwise impeccable character—or as being directly caused by such a flaw. For example, Laurence Berns states, “As a result of a flaw natural to his kind, the tragic hero harms and destroys those he loves most. It is those very qualities for which he is admired and honored that cause him to wreak great evils” (77). Oedipus, then, is said to be a just and noble ruler who cares for his people as though they were his own children. Indeed, Oedipus addresses the citizens of Thebes as “children” in Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King (111–113), and he burns with an admirable passion to discover the truths pertaining both to his own past and to the cause(s) behind the plague besetting his city . The fundamental purpose of this dramatic story is that a king picks up his legacy by killing Laius who is his father, so he can fill in as imperial ruler in Delphi. The metaphysical realities revealed through Oedipus' actions go beyond the noble/base, advantageous/injurious or pleasant/painful noted above. Oedipus' actions can be further defined as either virtuous (virtue) or vicious (vice). Virtue and vice are metaphysically manifested through Oedipus' actions in the play.

“Tragedy is an imitation not of men but of a life, an action…” (Aristotle). Tragedy is not about learning of certain characters, but rather learning about life itself. The inability to confront reality is a matter that takes place both in everyday life and in both plays. Despite the differences in both plays, Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex, the theme of being unable to confront reality is revealed through the protagonists’ shared hamartia of blindness. Through experiences with themselves and other characters, the protagonists show that their tragic flaw is what leads to their downfall.

The aristotelian tragic hero is thought to be of noble stature and to have a flaw that contributes to their own downfall. Though their misfortune may not be wholly deserved, awareness is gained along with an understanding of the situation rather than considering it a defeat. These characteristics coincide with Creon, Antigone, and Willy Loman. Their efforts for greatness were guided by flaws instead of strengths, which aided in their undoing.. Even if all three met with catastrophic endings, the series of events leading to that point differentiate for each person. Creon, Antigone, and Willy Loman all meet-and fail to meet- the definition of a tragic hero, yet face distinct situations that inevitably ended in misery.

The word hamartia refers to a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero,

Oedipus, the main character of Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. A tragic flaw is defined as “an otherwise good trait that turns destructive when taken to an extreme” (Stary). In a tragedy one can see the suffering of the main character, which is evident in Oedipus’ case. Oedipus’ tragic flaw is his determination, when he intensely seeks to find Laios’ murderer, forces the unwilling blind prophet Teiresias to reveal the truth, and when he stopped at nothing to prevent the prophecy from becoming true.

Oedipus is one of the most famous tragic heroes in drama history. His bizarre fate leads him to a tragic defeat that leaves the audience and reader feeling emotionally overwhelmed. According to Aristotle’s definition, Oedipus’ story makes him as a tragic hero. Oedipus is the personification of Aristotle’s characterization of a tragic hero through his ability to maintain and keep his virtue and wisdom, despite his shortcomings and situation in life. Aristotle’s observation of a tragic hero does not reveal the lack of morality or the evil of the character, based on an error in judgment. The tragedy and drama fit the Aristotelian characteristics of Oedipus.

Oedipus’ hamartia is his determination. The term hamartia is the greek for a tragic flaw or error of judgment. An example of Oedipus’ determination is when he goes to find Laius’ murderer. Oedipus wanted to find Laius’ killer so he could save the city from Apollo’s revenge. Apollo put the city, Thebes under a plague as a punishment for Laius’ death. Apollo wanted the murderers of Laius to be either banished or killed. The journey to find the murderer lead to his downfall. If Oedipus wasn’t determined to find Laius he would never learned about his dark past.

In literature a tragic flaw refers in plain words when the main character ends up dead or defeated a characteristic feature of the heroes of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Minister’s Black Veil”, and “The Birthmark”. However this concept is even more extensive and best explained in terms of “Hamartia”. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica that word can be understood as an inherent defect in the hero of a tragedy or a moral flaw, other sources point out “Hamartia” as an error in judgment or accident that may lead the hero to ruin as a result. From “The Birthmark” the reader can notice how the story starts with a happy romance

Many stories have tragic heroes that play a very important role in developing the story’s plot. The Gladiator and Braveheart are stories that have a tragic hero which shape the story. In Gladiator Maximus Meridius is the tragic hero, and in Braveheart, William Wallace is the tragic hero. Both of these tragic heroes comply with the Aristotle definition of tragedy, which includes their hubris, hamartia, and catastrophe. According to Aristotle definition of tragedy hubris is “true to life and yet more beautiful” what this means is that the person can be a very good person but they sometimes have a flaw which most of the times lead to their hamartia without them even knowing. Aristotle defines hamartia as “The role of the hamartia in tragedy comes

In order to gain a proper perspective on the concept of what a tragic hero is, we must synthesize information from the following play’s, “The Death Of A Salesman”, and “Oedipus The King”. Both plays takes the stance on the idea that validates the ultimate notion,  “tragic hero. From Willy’s hubris personality to his questionable and mysterious death, to Oedipus dynamic and complex choices and kingly personality that determines his fate. A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement that leads to his/her downfall. In other words, even though both characters made incredible contributions and left a very noble legacy, their choices and decisions determined their ultimate fate. In today’s world tragic heroes are commonly present,

According to Aristotle a tragic hero is not any normal man; they are born with outstanding abilities, and they all share a tragic flaw, known as hamartia. Two of the many tragic heros that share Aristotle's characteristics are the protagonist in Othello by William Shakespeare and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Overall, Othello’s and Oedipus’s already written fate and men’s will and words shaped their tragic endings.