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It is a Greek word. Literally it means missing the mark. It is translated sin in the English Bible.
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Which of these contains an example of harmartia?
Hamartia is when a character in a play fails to control his or her anger. Because of this, he or she loses everything. An example of this would be Romeo killing Juliet's cousin because he killed Mercutio. Because of this, Romeo ends up losing everything.
Where is the hamartia in The Odyssey?
The hamartia in "The Odyssey" is typically seen as Odysseus's pride and arrogance, which lead to his many struggles and setbacks on his journey home. Odysseus's tendency to underestimate the power of the gods and overestimate his own abilities often results in dire consequences for him and his crew.
Which is a characteristic of a tragedy?
A characteristic of a tragedy is the downfall or destruction of the main character, often caused by a tragic flaw or fate. Tragedies also typically evoke feelings of pity and fear in the audience, and often explore serious and profound themes related to human nature and the human experience.
Which of the following is the best definition of the term hamartia as it relates to tragedy?
Hamartia is the name of a game that literary critics used to play and high school English teachers still do. It is based on the notion that "tragic heroes" have a "tragic flaw", which is what harmartia means. It goes like this: select a character from a play. Do they die in the play? If yes, carry on, they might be a tragic hero. Then you can do one of two things: First, you can identify some characteristic about the character you don't like and call it a tragic flaw. Don't worry, nobody is perfect so you can find flaws in anyone. Or, you can imagine how the character might have lived if only he had done something different. Then you call whatever he did do a tragic flaw. OK, let's play the game with Julius Caesar. Let's look at Brutus--yes, he dies, so he could be the tragic hero--so what could he have done differently to avoid dying? I know! he could have been cynical and ruthless like Cassius. So we can say his tragic flaw is that he is a poor judge of character and trusts too easily. Oh, but hold on. Cassius dies, so he could be the tragic hero. Well, what don't we like about him? Aha, he's cynical and ruthless. So that's his tragic flaw. What about Julius Caesar? He dies too. Oh, but he's so arrogant and proud. There you go, a tragic flaw. (Arrogance and pride are favourite possibilities for the hamartia game. They are sometimes called hubris. In ancient Greece, hubris meant setting your will against the gods' but since that doesn't happen too often in literature these days, and the name is cool, hubris has been basically redefined as cockiness, or "tragic pride". Since a lot of the characters in tragedies are leaders, they are guaranteed to have this characteristic.) Does anyone else die in Julius Caesar? What about Cinna the poet? Well, he dies because . . . uh . . .oh, well, he's not really a tragic hero anyway. (Whew! got out of that one!) Basically, hamartia is a totally useless concept for understanding Shakespearean tragedy, because it is imposed upon the work by teachers and was not used by the dramatist to build his dramatic structure. It's only a game, and as a timewaster, you can probably find more entertaining games on your cellphone.
