Writing Resources
In his early work on literary theory Poetics Greek philosopher Aristotle discusses the aspects of tragedy According to the scholar literary works in which the protagonist is a tragic hero are characterized as tragedies and include a hero who confronts his downfall by means of destiny some social reason or by virtue of his own error https literary devices net tragic hero A tragic hero according to Aristotle possesses the following fundamental qualities hamartia hubris peripeteia anagnorisis nemesis and catharsis Hamartia is a tragic flaw that leads to the downfall of a hero hubris is the characteristic of excessive pride peripeteia is a reversal of fate anagnorisis refers to an important revelation made by a protagonist nemesis is an unavoidable punishment brought on by hubris and catharsis is a feeling of pity or fear that is evoked from the audience Such Aristotelian concepts can be applied to the poem Beowulf to reveal the protagonist's tragic flaws By showing that Beowulf's character possesses the qualities of a tragic hero the fact that the poem is a tragedy will simultaneously be proven First the hero s hamartia lies in his hubris In other words Beowulf's tragic flaw comes from his excessive pride or arrogance which ultimately leads to his downfall This is explicitly shown in the text when Beowulf engages in combat with the dragon when he mistakenly thinks that he does not need a large army to defend him throughout the fight Because of the hubris that the tragic hero possesses he fails to take the advice of King Hrothgar and ultimately loses his life The protagonist s hubris and fatal flaw present themselves in the following passage yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky plague
