Hamartia

The long epic poem Odyssey depicts a character with hamartia. The main character, Odysseus, has a tragic flaw of being arrogant and full of pride, or hubris. This trait is seen when he sails away from the Cyclops’s island and shouts his name and boasts that no one can defeat the “Great Odysseus”. The Cyclops, son of Poseidon, then throws the top half of a mountain at him, and tells his father that Odysseus blinded him, which enrages Poseidon and causes the god to thwart Odysseus’ homecoming for a very long time.



Another example of hamartia is not in a poem, but a play. In the play Antigone, Creon orders his men to properly bury Polynices before releasing Antigone. This was his major mistake or error that led to her death. Creon’s own ignorance causes the hamartia that result in Antigone’s death.



Another example is also in a play, Dido and Aeneas. The Queen of Carthage Dido and the Trojan refugee Aeneas fall in love. However, when Aeneas soon leaves to Rome, Dido’s fragileness in love causes the hamartia that results in her own death and tragic ending of the play.



The poems and plays’ messages are enhanced for me, as a reader, as I contemplate hamartia as it relates to the text. Character’s hamartia, or tragic flaw, adds up to the intensity of the story which augments excitement and amusement of the story and results readers to become engrossed in reading the poem/plays.