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The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, defines a tragic hero as a character having valiant traits that earn the audience’s sympathy but also have human flaws that ultimately lead to their own downfall. Aristotle states a tragic hero’s fortune should be not from bad to good but from good to bad caused by their own doing. A tragic hero’s misfortune is seen ‘not through vice or depravity but by some error of judgment.’ This hamartia refers to a flaw in the hero’s nature, such as excessive arrogance, or, hubris. An example of Aristotles definition can be seen in the Greek play, Oedipus Rex, where Sophocles narrates a tragic story of the downfall of Oedipus and his rule. The city-state Thebes is under great distress from a plague; looking for an answer they turn to Oedipus, a king who saved them from the tyranny of the Sphinx. The oracle claims for the pl

ague to be lifted, the murderer of the previous king, Laius, must be found and punished. The blind prophet, Tiresias, claims Oedipus is the cause of the plague and the murderer of Laius. Realizing Oedipus fulfilled Athellos prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother, Queen Jocasta killed herself, and Oedipus gouged his own eyes out in grief and is banished from Thebes. Oedipus fulfilling his fate of killing his father and seizing the throne of Thebes, leaving the question of whether he’s considered a tyrannous, absolute ruler who has seized power and not inherited it. As with any tyrannical rule, Oedipus was endowed with absolute power, but with power came his unruly hubris. In the play, Oedipus the King, scripted by Sophocles, Oedipus hubris as a tyrant leads him to learn his inevitable fate as a king, reflecting on the title of tyranny.