Print Friendly and PDF e-contents Radhanagari College: Aristotle’s concept of ‘Ideal Tragic Hero’_BA III_Spl English_Semester V

Friday 30 December 2022

Aristotle’s concept of ‘Ideal Tragic Hero’_BA III_Spl English_Semester V

 (e-content developed by Dr N A Jarandikar)

Aristotle’s concept of ‘Ideal Tragic Hero’

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)  wrote the Poetics nearly a century after the greatest Greek tragedians had already died. The Poetics contains much valuable information about the origins, methods, and purposes of tragedy. In addition, Aristotle's work had an overwhelming influence on the development of drama long after it was compiled. The ideas and principles of the Poetics are reflected in the drama of the Roman Empire and dominated the composition of tragedy in western Europe during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.

The action of tragedy is generally dominated by the hero or the heroine. A tragic hero of the Aristotelian description is a man who enjoys prosperity and renown, but he is found involved in misfortune and suffering out of some great flaw in him or a fatal error in his judgement. Aristotle gives the example of Oedipus and other similar figures as the ideal specimen of the tragic hero.

The tragic hero, according to Aristotle, must have four characteristics. The first and the foremost thing is that he should be ethically good. A bad man does not enjoy our sympathy. But a perfectly blameless character is not fitted to be a tragic hero because unmerited suffering does not rise pity and fear.

Aristotle also insists that the tragic hero must be appropriate. The character should not be at variance with that of the class to which he belongs. By ‘appropriateness’, Aristotle presumably means the classification of human characters and these characters are mostly drawn from the epics and legends.

The third point to be considered in the tragic character is ‘likeness’. Aristotle says, “The third is to make them like.” But like what? It has been suggested that the hero should be like the reality. If the characters are to be ‘true to life’, they are accepted to be natural.

The fourth characteristic of the tragic hero is that there must be consistency. The characters must develop strictly according to certain principles. This consistency is based upon what Aristotle calls probability and necessity.

All these characteristics are applied to all the tragic heroes as well as all the tragic characters. The tragic hero may not be an embodiment of virtue and nevertheless, he must have an element of greatness. He must enjoy greater reputation so that his misfortune may be regarded as natural calamity. This also evokes our sense of pity.

 

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