9/26/17 Sneeze!
What is a “tragedy” or “tragic” event in life and/or literature? How might someone be both tragic and heroic.
Tragedy sorrowful or terrible events encountered or caused by a heroic individual.
Hero comes from a Greek word meaning “any person who shows courage in the face of challenges.”
The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, called any hero who faced a downfall, a tragic hero. The downfall resulted from fate, a societal reason, and most importantly, the hero’s own flaw or mistake.
Tragic Hero!
Review Aristotle’s elements of tragedy:
- Tragic Hero: A hero who begins life with wealth or status until his fatal flaw or error leads to his downfall. The audience is meant to feel both pity for the character and fear for themselves since the tragic hero suffers the worse-case scenario as a result of his avoidable mistake. Examples of tragic heroes include: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, and Brutus.
- Anagnorisis: The moment when the hero makes an important discovery.
- Catharsis: The audience’s feelings of pity and fear.
- Hamartia: The hero’s flaw that leads to his tragic downfall.
- Hubris: A hero’s extreme pride and disrespect for the natural order of the world.
- Nemesis: The unavoidable fate of the hero, usually caused by his own hubris.
- Peripeteia: The hero’s experience of a reversal of fate or fortune.
Create your own tragic hero, illustrating seven elements of a tragic hero in a seven-panel Storyboard:
- Identify the element in the panel title.
- Write a detailed description of the hero as it relates to one of the elements.
- Include an appropriate illustration for each panel.