What is the difference between 'a hero' and 'a tragic hero'?
A 'hero' does great deeds and/or has great powers. A 'tragic hero' has the same greatness, but there's an unhappy outcome in store. 'Tragic' refers to that unfortunate, unhappy consequence that tends to be loss of one's own life or of whomever or whatever gives meaning to that life.For example, Antigone does the great deed of seeing that her brother Polyneices' god-given rights to proper funeral procedures are respected. But in so doing, she loses her life.In the way of another example, Antigone's father, Theban King Oedipus, does the great deed of ending the cruel tyranny of the Sphinx over the city and citzens of Thebes. But in so doing, he ends up being rewarded with a royal wife and a royal job. Unbeknownst to him, the royal marriage leads him down a path to incest and anguish, because Theban Queen Jocasta turns out to be his own mother. The royal job leads him down a path to self-mutilation and disgrace, because he ends up having to punish a murderer who turns out to be himself.In both cases, Antigone and Oedipus are heroes whose lives head in unfortunate, unhappy and therefore tragic directions.