Julius Caesar: A True Tragic Hero

Julius Caesar: A True Tragic Hero The character of Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Julius Caesar can be described in many different ways, depending on the reader's perspective of him. Some may say he was a power-hungry tyrant, whose only aspirations were to rule the world. Others may consider him as a greedy, egotistical maniac whose ambition supposedly endangered the Roman empire. Collectively, most would agree that Brutus was justified in the assassination of Caesar and that his actions should not have caused him to face his demise. Because of this most readers overlook the idea that Caesar was the true tragic hero, and not Brutus. As defined by the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, “a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (Aristotle). In order for a character to be considered a true

All of these ideas are represented by the character of Julius Caesar, while Brutus does not fully embody the concept of tragic hero.

Throughout the entirety of the play, Caesar openly displays his error of judgment by making several questionable decisions. After being presented countless bad omens leading up to the Ides of March, Caesar constantly manipulates their meanings in an attempt to avoid them. This not only exemplifies his error of judgement, but his complete and utter arrogance. After a heartless beast was sacrificed to the gods, Caesar stated “the gods do this in shame of cowardice. Caesar