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Tragic hero agamemnon

            The idea of Greek tragedy stems from Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. In Aristotle's definition, the tragic hero must be a person of high standing so their fall from glory will be all the more horrible. The hero also must be a man like ourselves in elemental feelings and emotions. Also, the hero must have a tragic flaw, a characteristic that causes him to bring some disaster upon himself and fall to the lowest depths. .
             In Agamemnon, the classic Greek drama, Aeschylus demonstrates the concept of the tragic flaw through the character of Agamemnon and how he is a common man with similar feelings and beliefs. He loves his family and devotes himself to his country and religion. Agamemnon's dedication reaches to his people and to the gods. He does not want to leave to fight in a foreign country for fear of abandoning duty to rule his country. By understanding the consequences of a mortal man to walk on a purple carpet, he also respects the Greek deities. Agamemnon's love and loyalty to his family, country, and religion depict him as a generally decent man.
             An additional reason why Agamemnon is a tragic hero is because of his high stature in society. He is the King of Argos and is heralded as a hero in the battle of Troy. Agamemnon is the older brother of Menelaus, whose wife Helen was stolen by a Trojan prince, thus igniting a decade-long war. A great warrior, he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia in order to obtain a favorable wind to carry the Greek fleet to Troy. .
             An additional reason why Agamemnon fits the role a tragic hero so perfectly is the tragic flaw in his character. The blemish which leads to the demise of this great king is that of his unawareness of Clytemnestra's and Aegisthus' intentions. Both lovers seek to destroy Agamemnon because of his actions and those of his father. The leader explains why Clytemnestra yearns for revenge. "I see great Agamemnon sway and groan like a giant tree in a storm; tears fall from his eyes; he strikes the earth with his staff.


Essays Related to Tragic hero agamemnon

1. A Differentiation of Tragic Heroes

... prove to be solid examples of the typical tragic hero, while Alcestis is solidly an Homeric hero. By comparing and contrasting the traits of these characters, their true heroic natures will be revealed. The first component of the tragic heroic code is the incessant pursuit of justice because the hero wants retribution against his sworn enemy. In Agamemnon, Clytaemestra is woman engrossed with eternal suffering caused ... resentment towards the unjust murder of her child, guilty love for Agamemnon, and jealousy towards Cassandra propagate inside of Clytaemestra to kill with retribution t...

  • Word Count: 2363
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2. Tragic Heroes of The Iliad and Oedipus Rex

... her as tragically heroic. Two Grecian literary legends, Achilles from Homer's Iliad and Sophocles's Oedipus Rex, fit the description of an Aristotelian tragic hero. Achilles, from Homer's The Iliad, is a tragic hero. Achilles's quick rage coincides with a key characteristic of a tragic hero. Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae takes Briseis, Achilles's prize, or woman. This act is an insult to him, as it is betraying ... Agamemnon as a more powerful figure, which makes Achilles seem like less of a man. Achilles is enraged by this act of self-righteousness; Homer writes, ... being told that...

  • Word Count: 915
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3. Odyssey Tragedy - The Death of Agamemnon

... for any news or whereabouts of his father Odysseus. The reason why I chose this example or episode was because it has a premise that involves a tragic hero or protagonist as well as many deaths including the innocent. It also involves many high ranking characters as well as taking place in an open and public ... He does so believing and hoping that his family can live and stay together. During this the chorus are talking to each other again about if Agamemnon finds out that his wife has been disloyal, they fear that it will have tremendous consequences. We shift back to Clytemnestra as s...

  • Word Count: 1403
  • Approx Pages: 6
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4. The True Hero of the Iliad

... outcomes, as the story progresses it becomes apparent that Achilles motives are not always that in the nature of a true warrior. After his dispute with Agamemnon, Achilles' true nature shows through in his vindictive behavior, ultimately overshadowing his previous heroic attributes. Though Achilles loses sight of what it truly means to be ... be the true hero in the end. From even the very beginning of The Iliad, Achilles is put forward as the most noble and honorable of all warriors. With this high position he holds, Achilles is able to aid in advising his commander-in-chief and king, ...

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5. Clytemnestra: The Dominant Woman in Agamemnon

... , she was determined to avenge it. At this point we feel that Clytemnestra was justified in planning her hateful revenge against Agamemnon, the man who killed her child. In such a dramatic situation, the audience feels sympathy towards her murderous desires. Her tragic character experiences pain, which the audience could relate to. Therefore we can feel her pain and at the same time ... dominating presence of Clytemnestra and her pain of loss was something people could relate to and this made a great impact. The play Agamemnon is a tragedy because the protagonist is murdered and therefor...

  • Word Count: 1325
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6. Tragic Hero

... of humankind. Art instructs, reveals the truth, and expresses the highest feelings of humankind. Sophocles, the author of "Oedipus Rex," and Aeschylus, the author of "Promethus Bound" and "Agamemnon" were both masters of art, weaving the effects of discord between brash humans and divine entities. Their plays unveil the cold reality of the vulnerability of humans, which shadows Aristotle ... plot does not rise out of the characters themselves, but instead tests characters through destiny. Under inescapable fate, the moral characters of individuals are truly exposed, separating tragic her...

  • Word Count: 917
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7. Book Report on Iliad

... the winner of a beauty contest over the goddess Athene and Hera, had stolen Menelaus's wife, Helen. In order to recover Helen, Menelaus's brother, Agamemnon, the powerful king of Mykenai, had gathered a large force that included many prominent Greek warriors, themselves either princes or kings, and sailed across the ... led to the death not only of Hector the Trojan leader, but also, first, of Achilles' companion Patroclus. It is with these events, varied, tragic, and profound, that the Iliad is concerned. The poem begins with the poet calling on the Muse to sing of the wrath of Achiles ...

  • Word Count: 2208
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8. The Iliad and the Aeneid - A Comparative Study

... is Troy (a city in what is now northwestern Turkey) and its immediate environs. Protagonist of the epic is Achilles. Major conflict of the poem is Agamemnon's demand for Achilles' war prize, the maiden Briseis, which wounds Achilles' pride; Achilles' consequent refusal to fight causes the Achaeans to suffer greatly ... and honorific. When Virgil depicts the victims of history-those who suffered in the course of the founding of Rome, like Dido-his tone is tragic and sympathetic. Tense used in the epic is usually past, sometimes switching to present to increase the immediacy of a scen...

  • Word Count: 8864
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9. The Historics Of Greek Theatre

... Dionysos but soon enough its fields of interest spread to various myths along with historic facts. As ancient drama was an institution of Democracy, the great tragic poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides as well as the comedian Aristophanes elevated public debate and political criticism to a level of aesthetic achievement. Euripides and the ethologist ... were presented as trilogies, or groups of three, usually bound together by a common theme, and each trilogy was followed by a satyr drama (low comedy involving a mythological hero, with a chorus of satyrs). The titles of 79 of his plays ...

  • Word Count: 2321
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