Lance Armstrong: Tragic Hero Or Doping King?

Thesis: Professional golfer Tiger Woods is a modern-day tragic hero because his flaw of excessive pride directly led to the destruction of both his personal relationships and his professional career. Tiger took complete responsibility for his actions, but it came too late and by then he ended up suffering consequences that were excessive compared to his errors.

Famous celebrities are loved and adored by people in society, but many of the celebrities we loved are now recognized as tragic heroes. Tragic heroes that started off amazing and ended up with a downfall like death, prison sentence or troublemaking due to alcohol and drugs. One of these well known celebrities are O.J. Simpson is considered a tragic hero. The talented football sensation Orenthal J. Simpson is a tragic hero because he was known to be violent and made bad choices, leading to accusations of murder.

By definition tragic heroes can be considered one who is held up high by society for the good deeds they bring, but is then slowly or quickly taken away from that grace and placed in a world far below what they were originally. An example of this is the excerpt and the tragedy of Oedipus the king. The play shows that the faults humanity can fall through when put into a very stressful situation. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he wants to improve the lives of his citizens, he has a major human flaw of being impulsive and easily irritable, Oedipus takes more punishment than what the play told, his life and fate was not fully under his control, and he makes a vast realization with an equal amount of change.

Tragic heros have to start out as a success, making them a ‘hero’ and they usually have some sort of outstanding quality or greatness. Then, they experience a downfall and that could be associated with a flaw that this person has, giving them the ‘tragic’ characteristic. At the end of it all, the downfall will have had a huge impact, not only on the ‘tragic hero’ but the people around them. Britney Spears is a perfect example of a tragic hero. She started becoming famous at the very young age of 11. After this, her popularity was already very high, so she decided to release her first album. She truly was a huge celebrity. Then in 2007 things started to go downhill for her. She started doing things she was not proud of until it pushed her to

One prime example of heroism is Jason McElwain. McElwain doesn=t have the fame and fortune as other star athletes, but his dedication and perseverance

In William shakespeare’s Macbeth,Macbeth is a classic example of a tragic hero in shakesperean work.Macbeth display the major characteristics of a tragic hero throughout the play until his tragic end.The play potrays Macbeth as a lost cause by showing how he fell from being a honest and just man who fought for whats right, to a cruel,superstitious,ambicious dictator.In william shakespreares Macbeth,Macbeth is a tragic hero because he compromises his honor and negates his moral values in order to obtain power which results with lots of tragic events such as character deaths leading to his tragic end.

It takes both the audience’s pity and fear to make a tragic and heroic character become a tragic hero. Macbeth earns both. The audience can fear Macbeth because they know that he is capable of murder. He lacks the ability to stand up to Lady Macbeth when he knows something is not morally right and that is frightening, but even after all the pain and suffering of other characters the audience

We often believe that the protagonist of a story is a hero and possesses heroic qualities such as moral goodness, courage and selflessness. However, this is not true for every story. A story can have a protagonist who is an anti-hero: someone who lacks the traditional qualities of a hero. Anti-heroes are defined in three ways: The Satanic anti-hero, a character who seeks an evil goal through evil means, the Promethean anti-hero, someone who seeks a worthy goal but by unethical means, and the Byronic anti-hero, a character who has undefined goals and are to be achieved through questionable means, in which this character is often unpredictable mysterious, moody, and self-destructive. Both Macbeth from William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth and Pink from the film, Pink Floyd – The Wall, are both anti-heroes. More specifically, Macbeth is classified as a satanic anti-hero who seeks the goal to become king and Pink is a Byronic anti-hero, who has no clear goal other than to escape the ‘wall’ he is trapped in. Some similarities these two characters share are that they are both privileged (with Macbeth being a well-praised warrior and Pink being a famous musician), are supported by corrupting influences and rationalize their worse deeds as needing to preserve their own safety. Although Macbeth and Pink share similar characteristics, I would assert, because of Pink’s childhood traumas, that Pink deserves more sympathy than Macbeth.

Most people would consider a hero as someone who has impacted the world in a positive fashion, but doing a single positive action does not abolish all of the bad deeds that a person has committed. The great philosopher, Aristotle classifies a tragic hero through the principals hamartia and hubris, meaning a character in a dramatic tragedy who expresses a tragic flaw and excessive pride, conclusively leading to their downfall. In the tragic play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth is a considered a tragic hero since he represents the principal hamartia through his tragic flaw of ambition and he exhibits the principal hubris through his excessive pride.

"A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." -Aristotle No one wants to be a tragic hero. A great or virtuous character, but sadly they are destined for downfall because of their own judgement. Sophocles’ Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero.

Tragic heroes can be described as people who had royal beginnings, but had a downfall because of a flaw, or multiple flaws. Due to this downfall, the tragic hero can impact the lives of many people. Robin williams can be defined as a tragic hero. He was an actor beloved by all from his many comedic acting roles, such as those in Mrs.Doubtfire and Hook. He seemed to be the best example of a perfect person, but became a tragic hero after all of his hardships and addictions. Robin Williams was a great actor and he helped wherever he could, but suffered with his flaws of substance dependence and depression, leading to his untimely death. However, his influence will live on forever.

Joining a professional cycling team was a huge leap from a triathlon winner. When he became a cyclist he didn’t like anyone even his teammates but, even though he was rude they still told him to keep his cool. Don’t make enemies because in a race they will do something to hurt you. He learned later did do as often. He also learned that going super fast in the beginning will give you a decrease in oxygen. Later Lance started to listen to know how to bet other racer and win the Tour de France. Although when Lance was sadden when he found that his friend died during a race when going downhill and

Lance Armstrong and Macbeth have many similarities through the urge for ambition in their lives. Armstrong and Macbeth both lost fans/friends throughout their journeys in life. Armstrong's use of drugs made people respect him a lot less and not like him. Macbeth's harmful ruling made everyone not like him and want him dead. These equate because each were not liked by others and lost important figures in their lives that lead to their downfall. Additionally, Armstrong and Macbeth both used their power beyond control in a way that harmed themselves and or others. Macbeth killed many people for him to remain in control of power. More than half the deaths he caused were people who weren't in an position to harm him anyway. Armstrong used his

Another reason I believe he is a tragic hero is because he is relatable in a way that the audience can empathize with him. This is apparent because Macbeth craved power and still today most, if not all people crave power of some sort. Also people who gain power in

Macbeth is the leading character of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, in which he struggles to deal with the consequences of his actions. Is he a Tragic Hero? His brutal actions make it very questionable, but yes, Macbeth is a Hero in his own Tragedy.