The Greek hero vs. The Anglo-Saxon hero The hero stands as an archetype of who we should be and who we wish to be. However, the hero has inherent flaws which we do not wish to strive towards. In literature, these flaws are not used as examples of what we should be but rather as examples of what not to be. This is especially dominant in the Greek hero. While the Greek hero follows his fate, making serious mistakes and having a fairly simple life, the Anglo-Saxon "super" hero tries, and may succeed, to change his fate, while dealing with a fairly complex life. The Greek hero is strong and mighty while his wit and intelligence are highly valued. In the Greek tragedy, the hero struggles to avoid many flaws. Among these flaws are ambition, foolishness, stubbornness, and hubris-the excessive component of pride. He must overcome his predestined fate-a task which is impossible. From the beginning of the tale, it is already clear that the hero will ultimately fail with the only way out being death. In Oedipus, the hero is already confronted with a load of information about his family and gouges his eyes out. At this point, when he tries to outwit his fate he has already lost and is sentenced to death. The Anglo-Saxon hero must also deal with his "fate" but tries, and usually succeeds, to change it. While the Greek hero battles his fate with his excessive pride and intelligence, the Anglo-Saxon hero tries to eliminate his doom by force. The Anglo-Saxon hero is considered a barbarian of sorts due to his sometimes unethical and immoral views and courses of action. At the end, the Anglo-Saxon succeeds in altering his fate though. The Greek hero is so normal, that the reader can relate to him. He is usually a "common" human being with no extraordinary life. His story seems believable, even possible. We would have no hard time imagining the hero's conflict as being ours. As in the case with Oedipus, we can understand how he feels it would be possible for his circumstances to be applied to our lives. Although the details may seem a little farfetched it is not impossible that there is some truth to the story. On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon hero, being super-human, is especially difficult to relate to. The Anglo-Saxon may reach the same pedestal as a God.
Most of us have heard of modern day heroes such as Spiderman, Superman, and the Hulk. Each is a hero to many children. Heroes are introduced to people early on in life usually as fictional characters, but as children grow older their perceptions of heroes alter. The characteristics of a hero are usually based around the ideas of a society or culture. In the epic Beowulf, the main character is thought of as a hero. Beowulf, a pagan warrior and the main character of the epic, shows certain characteristics such as bravery, loyalty, and generosity, which portray him as a hero. It is interesting how modern day heroes show the much of the same qualities as Beowulf.
A tragic hero is defined as a hero who makes a judgement error and it inevitably leads to his or her death as defined by aristotle. Aristotle is one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece. He had guidelines for the best tragedies and what has to be involved in the characteristics of a tragic hero. There were five non-negotiable traits that to be in a part of the tragic hero. 1.)They had to either be of noble or royal birth or had to have wisdom. 2.)They had to have hamartia which is a tragic or fatal flaw. Most tragic heroes died, few rarely survived. 3.)They must have a reversal of fortune brought about the heroes main error which causes them to die. 4.) The hero has to have anagnorisis or an epiphany, which is when the hero
The poetry of Phillis Wheatley should be considered very controversial and powerful. The content of Wheatley’s poetry contains the muscle needed to strike controversy and power, but it also must be understood within the context of history. Wheatley was a black slave writing very methodic poetry in America during a time when African-Americans were considered to be less than animals. Reading and writing was not an option given to an overwhelming majority of slaves. Wheatley was able to do both with ease, and her white masters encouraged her to do so.
In chapter two of A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf introduces the reader to the uncomfortable conditions existing between men and women during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Woolf’s character, Mary Beton, surveys books about women at the British Museum and discovers that nearly all of them are written by men. What’s more, the books that she does find express negative sentiments about women, leading Beton to believe that men are expressing “anger that had gone underground and mixed itself with all kinds of other emotions” (32). She links this repressed anger to man’s need to feel superior over women, and, wondering how and why men have cause to be angry with the female sex, she has every right to be angry with men.
Oedipus is widely known for being the man that killed his father and married his mother. After Oedipus finds out about what he has done he proceeds to jab both of his eyes out and remains blind for the rest of his life. By Oedipus doing this it means that his fate that was told to his parents at the beginning of the story had come true. With Oedipus jabbing his eyes out, this made it clear that this was a tragedy. Oedipus is the perfect fit of being a tragic hero. First of all by being born into royalty and throughout his life he held a royal persona. Also he makes some choices that leads him to his own destruction. For example, with him already marrying his mother and his mother had already had several of his kids their was nothing that he could do when he found out that his wife was also his mother. In the story as he went back to confront his mother/wife, she had already hung herself. As for being a hero, he done many heroic things throughout his life. For example, when he arrived at the city where he met his mother and father, there
In the poem Beowulf, we see the Anglo-Saxon hero. Beowulf, the protagonist, embodies the honor of the Anglo-Saxon culture and tradition. The poem in itself is an elegant script of Anglo-Saxon times. Composed in 8th or 9th century, the epic was passed down from generation to generation orally and has no known author. The Anglo-Saxon hero was a warrior.
As previously stated Saint Augustine wasn’t always a Saint. Before he fully converted to Christianity, Saint Augustine encountered numerous acts, in which his decisions were not always that of a righteous Saint. The first noticeable co...
There are always some heroic characters in literature since they give reader and audience hope and courage. Fighting for justice, saving the innocent and fearing no danger are among the many traits of heroes. However, heroes are not always flawless. Some faults will eventually lead to their downfalls. The term for this description is known as tragic hero. Troy, a fifty-three-years old garbage man, from the book Fences by August Wilson, is not a typical tragic hero because most of the tragic heroes are noble born like Oedipus from the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Nevertheless, Troy is a heroic character because he assumes responsibility to his family, and fights for equality between blacks and whites. Although he lives in low social status, his sense of duty, honesty and braveness makes him a hero. The major flaw Troy possesses is obstinacy: he refuses to take others’ advice, causing his son Cory turning against him and his wife Rose growing apart from him. The breakdown of his family makes his life a tragedy.
The idea, one is not born a hero, but must become one, can also be applied to tragic heroes. “The hero’s fall is the result, to use Aristotle’s term, of hamartia: an error or transgression or a flaw or weakness of character…. According to [Aristotle’s] interpretation, every tragic hero has some moral Achilles’ heel that brings him or her to a bad end.” (Rice and Watson 2). Blanche, from Tennessee Williams’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Oedipus, from Sophocles’s play, Oedipus the King, are both protagonists who become tragic heroes. They have misfortunate pasts, free choice, tragic flaws, a reversal of fortune, and cruel punishments. Both Oedipus and Blanche share the common characteristics of tragic heroes, but have their own unique personalities and perceptions.
According to Aristotle, the protagonist in a tragedy must have a tragic flaw that ultimately becomes the cause of his ruin. Oedipus in Oedipus the King by Sophocles tragic flaw that caused his downfall was his pride. Three examples of when Oedipus’ pride got the better of him were: when he left his adopted parents in Cornith, the second is when he goes against Creon, and the third is when Oedipus is demanding that the messenger tell him all he knows about who his real parents are.
Courageous and admirable with noble qualities defines a heroine. In Aristotle’s Poetics he describes a tragic hero as a character who is larger than life and through fate and a flaw they destroy themselves. Additionally, Aristotle states excessive pride is the hubris of a tragic hero. The hero is very self-involved; they are blind to their surroundings and commit a tragic action. A tragedy describes a story that evokes sadness and awe, something larger than life. Furthermore, a tragedy of a play results in the destruction of a hero, evoking catharsis and feelings of pity and fear among the audience. Aristotle states, "It should, moreover, imitate actions which excite pity and fear, this being the distinctive mark of tragic imitation." (18) For a tragedy to arouse fear, the audience believes similar fate might happen to them and the sight of the suffering of others arouses pity. A tragedy's plot includes peripeteia, anagnorisis, hamartia and catharsis. Using Aristotle’s criteria, both characters in Oedipus The King and The Medea share similar qualities that define a tragic hero such as being of noble birth, having excessive pride, and making poor choices. They both gain recognition through their downfall and the audience feels pity and fear.
In his classic work "Poetics" Aristotle provided a model of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is more admirable than the average person. This results in the tragic hero being admired by the audience. For the audience to accept a tragic ending as just, it is crucial that the tragic hero be responsible for their undoing. At the same time though, they must remain admired and respected. This is achieved by the tragic hero having a fatal flaw that leads to their undoing. One of literature's examples of the tragic hero is Achilles from Homer's The Iliad. However, Achilles is different from the classic tragic hero in one major way - his story does not end tragically. Unlike the usual tragic hero, Achilles is able to change, reverse his downfall, and actually prove himself as a true hero.
The story of Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, perfectly lays out the qualities of a tragic hero. Oedipus, the king, blindly plays the role of a tragic hero, in a hopeless attempt to save the city of Thebes from a murderer; who turns out to be him all along. The qualities he possesses are clearly displayed through his action/words, lack of judgement, pride, and unfortunate fate, making him the ultimate tragic hero. One reading the story may wonder how he did not see that all the signs pointed to him, but that just goes to show how well he fit the description.
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.
Have you ever known what being heroic is like? Well if you don't, you’ll want to find out, If you’ve ever watched a movie with a hero in it you should have a good idea of what being heroic should be but there are a lot more characteristics to a hero. Superman flies and saves people with his super strength but his weakness is kryptonite, Superman is kind, brave, and fearless. If you know spiderman he is fearless to so it is a thing that is pretty common with heroes and that's why ordinary people are heroes to it's just that they don't get noticed as they should. Although many acts of heroism don’t always have a happy ending and most heroic deeds go unnoticed, a hero is selfless for the protection of others and doesn’t