Gladiator: Commodus A Tragic Hero

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Recommended: Role of the tragic hero

After its debut in America on May 5th of 2000, the movie Gladiator has been a nationwide symbol of heroism(Imdb). The film was directed by Ridley Scott and the lead roles of the film were carried out by Russell Crowe as Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus(Imdb). The movie takes place during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire in the year 180 A.D. The Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is dying and wishes to leave the Roman Empire under the control of Roman General Maximus Meridius. The Emperor’s son Commodus betrays Maximus, kills his father, and takes control of Rome. In betraying Maximus, Commodus has his family killed. Maximus knowing this returns to Rome as a gladiator under the alias “Spaniard” in search of revenge(Imdb). According to Aristotle, “Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude”(Kwheeler). In order for someone to be considered a tragic hero, the person must meet the criteria of high social status, suffer from a hamartia, face a catastrophe, invoke catharsis, and experience anagnorisis and peripeteia(Kwheeler).
The first criteria a person must have to be considered a tragic hero is to be in a position of high social status(Kwheeler). Commodus is the the Emperor’s son, is known all throughout the Roman Empire, and is very well respected. When he is traveling in the beginning after the war is over, he wishes to go see his father. When he exits his wagon, all the guards greet him by saying, “your highness” and bows to him. He calls for one of the guards to retrieve his horse and the guard complies. When he meets the Senate in the tents at camp, they greet him very respectfully and converse with him.
The second trait a person must have is a hamartia. Hamartia is a Greek term tha...

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...they didn’t like the way he ruled(Movie). They thought Commodus was great at first, he was a young emperor and ordered 150 days of gladiatorial games in remembrance of his father. After a while people soon got bored with this, as anyone would.
Commodus from the movie Gladiator is a perfect example of a tragic hero. As seen throughout the movie, he experiences all the necessary phases of tragedy according to Aristotle. Gladiator should be viewed as a tragic film and Commodus as it’s tragic hero.

Works Cited

Gladiator. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Dreamworks L.L.C and Universal Studios, 2000. DVD.
Gladiator. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. .
Wheeler, L. K. "Dr. Wheeler's Homepage at Carson-Newman." Dr. Wheeler's Homepage at Carson-Newman. Carson-Newman College, 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.

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