Maximus As A Tragic Hero

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According to Aristotle a tragic hero is born into nobleness, which is when they are born into royalty, the hero must have a fatal or tragic flaw, which is Hamartia. The hero must also have a reversal of fortune, peripeteia, and brought about because of the hero's main error. Anagnorisis is when the hero realizes that the change in their fortune was brought about by their own actions, which is another characteristic. The last characteristic is that the hero must have a fate greater than what they really deserved. A modern tragic hero does not need to come from high status and his decisions do not need to lead him to his death and can be an "ordinary person”. I agree with Aristotle’s idea that to be a tragic hero you have to have all five …show more content…
Maximus was very smart and knew everything relating to war, which is why everyone loved him in battle. Another trait that Aristotle said that a tragic hero must have is Hamartia, which is a fatal flaw, in the film he was too merciful. Even the people in Rome would call him “Maximus the Merciful,” because he refused to kill one of the other gladiator in the ring. As well as being too merciful, Maximus was always wanting revenge. When his family was killed as well as Marcus Aurelius, he was seeking revenge on the people who killed his family, which was Commodus. When Maximus had the chance to kill Commodus at the end of the film he did because he wanted revenge. Maximus did have a reversal of fortune ( Peripeteia). When Marcus Aurelius dies, Commodus is now in charge of Rome. Commodus offers Maximus to come join him in ruling Rome, but he declines. Maximus is then sent to be killed in the woods, but he escapes the guards and goes back to his hometown to find that his family has been killed. He wants to seek revenge, but then gets caught in the slave trade, which is where we see peripeteia take place. We also see peripeteia happen when Maximus dies at the end of the …show more content…
The five characteristics of a tragic hero were created by Aristotle. Maximus was very wise and Maximus was seen as a highly respected Roman war general. He is considered a tragic hero because he dies, his family dies, as well and his position of rank of being a general is taken from him and the opportunity throne and is thrown back to becoming a slave. His tragic flaw was that he was very stubborn and would not and could not stand to see someone corrupt the empire he loved. When he finally reaches his end and dies after killing Commodus, he is the most respected man in all of Rome and is loved by all of the Romans and is seen as the savior of
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