Hamartia
From Freepedia
Hamartia is a Greek word. It is used in Aristotle's Poetics, where it is usually translated as tragic mistake or tragic flaw. It is translated in religious works (e.g. the Bible) as sin.
There is debate as to what exactly hamartia means in Aristotle's Poetics. The word literally means something like "missing the mark" and refers to the mistakes made by the hero of a Greek tragedy.
Traditionally, it has been interpreted as referring to a 'tragic flaw' in the character of the protagonist (the tragic hero). More often than not, the tragic flaw is hubris, for example in Antigone and Oedipus Rex. Shakespeare's King Lear is another famous tragic hero whose flaw is hubris. An example of a protagonist with a tragic flaw in modern literature would be Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. A more subtle example would be the fictionalized Antonio Salieri in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus.
It has been suggested by some that the modern idea of the "tragic flaw" is a mistranslation of the Greek. An alternative translation is "tragic mistake". This translation implies that the character makes one fatal mistake based on an incomplete self knowledge. Those who prefer this interpretation argue that the Greek tragedies contain no clearly identifiable tragic flaws, and have been twisted to fit the supposed 'tragic flaw' theory.
Regardless of what Aristotle actually meant, the term "tragic flaw" and the ideas behind it are firmly ensconced within traditional literary criticism.
