The+Tragic+Hero


 * The Tragic Hero**

My archetype is the tragic hero. A tragic hero is the main character in a tragedy that makes an error in his or her actions that lead to their downfall. Some other characteristics of this hero are : The hero is physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often resulting in his death. The hero is often a king or leader of men, so that his people experience his fall with him. This can also include a leader of a family. The can hero learns something from his mistake. The hero is faced with a serious decision. The suffering of the hero is meaningful. This archetype is used all throughout literature and film in many different works. I’m sure you can think of a few off the top of your head right now. I myself chose two examples from two different cultures, and one film. My first example is Samson from The Holy Bible. The other is Oedipus from Greek Mythology. They are both prime examples of the tragic hero. My film example is David Drayton from the film “The Mist." ( http://demo.lutherproductions.com/bibletutor/level1/program/start/people/samson.htm ) Such a great hero to many, a server of god, Samson was a Herculean figure who was granted amazing strength from the almighty lord. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson ) His downfall came when a Philistine woman of the name of Delilah tricked him into revealing his great strength, she cut off his hair. The philistine men gouged out his eyes and put him in prison. After a while in prison his hair began to grow back, his hair being his strength. The philistine rulers visited him to laugh, but Samson tour down the pillars and killed every last one of them, along with himself. ( http://demo.lutherproductions.com/bibletutor/level1/program/start/people/samson.htm ) __**My other example is Oedipus,**__ from Greek mythology. He was the great King of Thebes. He accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and mate with his mother. The story goes that before he was born a prophecy was told that he would kill his father and mate with his mother. Upon his birth, he had his feet bound and pierced with a stake, and was given to a herdsman who was instructed to kill him. That herdsman could not bring himself to do it, so Oedipus was given to another man. This man brought Oedipus to the king of Corinth. Oedipus became the Prince if Corinth. Many years later he is told he was adopted, seeking the truth he finds an oracle who confirms this and that he is destined to kill his father and mate with his mother. He fled to Thebes where he meets a man named Laius who he ultimately kills. He goes to Thebes and is named their king after killing a sphinx. He is given the newly widowed Jocasta as his wife. A plague sweeps over Thebes years later and Oedipus declares that the killer of King Laius must be found and exiled or killed. He finds a blind oracle who tells him that he is in fact the killer and he is destined to kill his father and mate with his mother. Oedipus does not believe this, but when a messenger from Corinth comes telling him Polybus, his adoptive father, is dead, Oedipus fears the part of the prophecy about marrying his mother. The messenger assures him that he is adopted and tells him that his real parents were Laius and Jacosta and Oedipus realizes that he is the son of Laius and the man he killed was his father and he did mate with his mother. Oedipus then blinds himself and wanders the country before dying at Colonus. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus )
 * Samson** is a Nazirite who was a server of God who could not consume alcohol or cut his hair.He did many amazing things in his time such as destroying an entire army with just the jawbone of a donkey and killing a company of Ashdod’s men.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_film )
 * My film example is from the movie “The Mist.”** David Drayton takes the role of the tragic hero in this film. A terrible mist has swept over the town that is filled with hideous creatures, driving the people into the local super market. There, two factions emerge: One led by a religious nut and the other, led by David. Things escalate and the surviving members of David’s group exit the store into the mist. The group following him contains his young son, a young woman and an older couple. The five of them find their way to a car and begin to make there way back to David’s house to find his wife. When they arrive she is dead. They decide it is best to just keep going till they get out of the mist, or die trying. When the time comes, they run out of gas. They decide suicide is the only option, but they only have four bullets. They decide that David will shoot the four of them and leave himself for the monsters. He follows through on this, and in tears he exit’s the bloody car. But as soon as he exits, the mist begins to clear, and the army shows up, clearing it all away, leaving David alone, by himself, and the murderer to his followers. He realizes that he has been driving away from help the entire time, the big beasts he thought he wasrunning from, were the very help he sought.

What I believe this archetype shows about humanity is that it is necessary for us to know that everyone is human. Regardless of how amazing a person may seem, we are all flawed, and susceptible to anything. It still exists to this day because we still need to be reminded that we are not perfect and that we all do make mistakes. And finally, the tragic hero exists in all culture, because we are all humans, regardless of skin color and where we come from we all essentially need to be reminded that no ones perfect and that sometimes it is ok to fail.