Tragic+Hero

We defined a tragic hero in terms of Aristotle's Idea of Tragic Hero:**
 * TRAGIC HERO

1. **Usually of noble birth** (Beowulf is born the son of a princess, and nephew of a king and later becomes kings of Geats)

2. **Hamartia - a.k.a. the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall.** (Beowulf is filled with excessive greed, narcissism, self-confidence, pride)

3. **Peripeteia - a reversal of fortune brought about by the hero's tragic flaw** (Beowulf did not think only of himself in the beginning; he declined Hygd's offer to take the throne so not to disrupt the royal heritage line. Beowulf also shared his treasures and riches with his king. However, by the end, he would rather prove himself to the world than think of his own people. In addition  Beowulf was very strong, but ended up being killed by the dragon because he was so sure of his supernatural strength he told his warriors that he alone should fight the dragon as he fought Grendel in his youth. His pride kept him from admitting his weakness of age.)

4. **His actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge** (Beowulf knows he's going to die at the end,yet he also realizes how much his people depend on him. And he wants to insure that the Dragons gold is given to his people)

5. **The audience must feel pity and fear for this character.** (The listeners of this tale long ago were awed by Beowulf. By the end they feel for him when he dies without a heir. Every time he fights a battle you are supposed to fear for his death)

Support From The Poem (Quotes)

**"When it comes to fighting, I count myself/ as dangerous any day as Grendel./ So it won't be a cutting edge I'll wield/ to mow him down, easily as I might./ He has no idea of the arts of war,/ of shield or sword-play, although he does possess/ a wild strength. No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me/ if face me he dares** **." --** This quote demonstrates Beowulf's hubris or pride. You can not deny that his cations make him a hero but they also makes him a flawed one, because while he is doing the right thing in battling Grendel he is arrogant and acting for personal glory. **"In his day, my father was a famous man, a noble warrior-lord named Ecgtheow." Pg. 19** -he was born of a noble family that was well known. This supports the idea that he meets Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero.


 * "yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague. He had scant regard for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all of its courage or strength, for he had kept going often in the past, through perils and ordeals of every sort, after he had purged Hrothgar's hall, triumphed in Heorot and beated Grendel. He out grappled the monster and his evil kin." pg. 159 -- ** This quote shows Hamartia ( Or the tragic flaw the destroys the hero) We cannot know how Both Beowulf and the Dragon would have faired if Beowulf had not indulged the pride of his youth, to fight alone confidant in his supernatural skill, but Beowulf might have lived to fight more monsters or rule his lands for years and years.

- **“”Men at arms, remain here on the barrow, safe in your armor, to see which one of us is better in the end at bearing wounds in a deadly fray. This fight is not yours, nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against the monster or to prove his worth. I shall win the gold by my courage or else mortal combat doom of battle will bear your lord away.”** -- This quote also demonstrates Beowulf's arrogance and unwavering faith in himself.

**"The poet is more in sympathy with the tragic, waiting, unredeemed phase of things than with any transcendental promise. Beowulf’s mood as he gets ready to fight the dragon – who could be read as a projection of Beowulf’s own chthonic wisdom refined in the crucible of experience – recalls the mood of other tragic heroes: Oedipus at Colonus, Lear at his ‘ripeness is all’ extremity, Hamlet in the last illuminations of his ‘prophetic soul’"- Seamus Heaney, beowulf introduction pg. XIX-XX** This quote from the introduction to the poem supports Beowulf's arrogant attitude before his death and reiterates the clear sympathy for Beowulf, the tragic hero, that the scop embedded in the poem.

**Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time: ... "I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open." click to expand click to collapse**

This quote supports the element of Hamartia. Saying that even at the end of his life, Beowulf makes sure that he's continuing to add to his reputation and fame by his brave deeds. As he faces death, he sustains himself by continuing to think about the name that he's made for himself.

**“The truth is this: when the going was heavy in those high waves, I was the strongest swimmer of all.”** – This quote shows the fourth part of Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. It shows how beowulf is egotistical and arrogant before battle, but then during the fight with Grendal, it is clear he will triumph, but before the fight with the dragon, he fears or his life. 

**“He had no more to confide. The furious heat of the pyre would assail him. His soul fled from his breast to its destined place among the steadfast ones**. This quote exemplifies the fifth part of Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. This quote's tone is heavy with pity. Pity that what made Beowulf great has also destroyed him.