Hamartia
Pronounced hah-mar-TEE-uh.
Hamartia: The fatal flaw or error of judgement that brings about a tragic hero's downfall.
Hamartia is the hinge of tragedy: not villainy but a flaw or mistake in an otherwise admirable person, so the fall feels earned and undeserved at once.
Hamartia examples
"Aristotle's Poetics introduced the term: the hero falls not through vice but through some error or frailty."
— Poetics, Aristotle
"Othello's hamartia is jealousy - a single exploitable flaw in a great general."
— Othello, Shakespeare
"Macbeth's is 'vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself'."
— Macbeth, Shakespeare
"Achilles' heel has become the everyday shorthand for the concept: one small vulnerability in an otherwise invulnerable figure."
— Greek myth
Spot the Hamartia
Score: 0/0The fatal flaw or error of judgement that brings about a tragic hero's downfall.
"Aristotle's Poetics introduced the term: the hero falls not through vice but through some error or frailty."
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Hamartia: common questions
What is hamartia in literature?
The fatal flaw or error of judgement that brings about a tragic hero's downfall. Hamartia is the hinge of tragedy: not villainy but a flaw or mistake in an otherwise admirable person, so the fall feels earned and undeserved at once.
What is an example of hamartia?
A classic example is "Aristotle's Poetics introduced the term: the hero falls not through vice but through some error or frailty." (Poetics, Aristotle).
Is hamartia the same as hubris?
Hubris is one specific flaw - overweening pride. Hamartia is Aristotle's broader term for whatever flaw or error undoes the hero: Macbeth's ambition, Othello's jealousy, Oedipus's certainty. Hubris is a common hamartia, not a synonym.
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