Throughout the ages, there has been many tragic heroes, whether they’re in stories or real-life people we admire. The definition of a tragic hero is a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall. The term hero is derived from a Greek word that means a person who faces adversity, or demonstrates courage in the face of danger. Jamie Lynn Spears is a tragic hero that was many little girls heroes when growing up, including me. She was the star of the nickelodeon hit-show “Zoey 101”. She played the main character, Zoey Brooks, for three years until she announced she was pregnant at just 16 in 2007. After that, her career went into a hiatus.
Both Othello and Oedipus had very big nemesis’ that played big roles in their downfall. Othello’s nemesis was Iago whether he wanted to admit it or not. Iago easily manipulated Othello into believing that his own wife was cheating on him with his own lieutenant that he trusted. Sadly, Othello listened and slowly lead himself to his own downfall. Oedipus on the other hand wanted so badly to be king that when he found out what his fate was, he ran away, thinking he was getting away and escaping it. But since he thought he could escape it, he actually lead himself to his own fate that he thought he was avoiding. If he had known that he was adopted then his downfall could’ve been avoided.
The anagnorisis for Oedipus was a lot worse then it was for Othello but both of their anagnorisis’ affects them almost the same. Oedipus’s anagnorisis was when he discovered that he killed his dad before he became king and then married his mom and had kids with her. After he discovered that he followed his fate, he stabbed himself in the eyes and made himself blind. Othello’s anagnorisis was when he discovered that Iago was manipulating him into thinking Desdemona was “cheating” on him with Cassio, even after he had already killed her. After Othello finds out the truth about Iago, Othello goes to attack Iago and misses while all of the other men try to stop Othello, Iago goes and stabs his wife, Emilia, for spilling the truth to Othello.
Oedipus’s hamartia was his over-the-top confidence and being very egotistical. Oedipus’s wanted nothing besides to be king and have everyone love him which eventually resulted with him going over the top and leading to his downfall. He also thought he was the best at everything and basically perfect until after he found out the truth about his family and his world came crumbling down. Othello’s hamartia was that he was too self-consisence, especially about his skin color. Othello was also very gulible which was a huge factor in his downfall. Othello always trusted what Iago said without talking to Desdemona or Cassio first, considering all of the rumors dealt with them having an affair behind Othello’s back. Othello also felt as if he was inferior sometimes because of the color of his skin even though everyone looked up to him.
Oedipus and Othello could’ve easily avoided their downfalls if they weren’t so worried about themselves. If Othello had paid just a little bit more attention to Desdemona and how she acted around him, he would’ve never listened to Iago and everything would’ve been fine. Oedipus could’ve avoided his downfall by not trying to avoid his fate. By trying to avoid his fate, he made it harder for himself to let himself down. He always had to be king and always had to be right which resulted into him being too confident.