Lesson video

Hello and welcome to the Oak National Academy for English.

My name is Mr. James, and today, we're going to be continuing our short series of lessons on introduction to tragedy.

But before we begin, let's have a look at what we're going to learn in today's lesson.

Well, first of all, we're going to look at the tragic hero, that the main character in a tragedy.

Secondly, we're going to look at this word hamartia and what it means.

Thirdly, we're going to focus specifically on the Greek tragic hero.

Fourthly, we're going to then focus on the Shakespearian tragic hero.

And lastly, we're going to look at the modern, tragic hero.

But before we do that, let's have a look at what you will need, because if you're missing a pen and paper or your brain, what I would like you to do is pause the video now, go and collect the thing that you're missing, and then come back when you are done.

Okay, welcome back.

So the first thing I would like you to do now you have your equipment is to write down today's title.

It's on the screen now.

So pause the video, write the title on your paper and then come back when you are done.

So let's begin by looking at what do we mean by this term, tragic hero.

Now, the first thing to note is that the tragic hero is the main character or the protagonist in a tragedy.

And we call that character, the tragic hero.

Now, in a tragedy, there is a character who is respected or admired, who dies at the end.

And we talked about this briefly last lesson.

Now this is the reason why the story is tragic.

And this is why we call it a tragedy because a character who's respected or admired dies.

If it was a character who we didn't like or didn't admire, we wouldn't think it was tragic.

It's only tragic because the character is respected and or admired.

And we call this character the tragic hero.

Now, as I've already mentioned, if a bad character dies, it is not tragic.

We are usually happy rather than sad when a baddy is defeated or dies at the end of a story.

So we're going to now look at this word hamartia.

We're going to look at this word hamartia and how it relates to the tragic hero.

So hamartia is an ancient Greek word that is actually quite difficult to translate.

But it roughly means flaw or error.

Now the tragic heroes hamartia is their fault that leads them to do something which will cause their downfall or death.

So it's the fault, the error or the flaw, if you like that will lead the tragic hero to do something which will cause their downfall or that death.

That's what we call their hamartia.

So we're going to have a look at a little bit more detail of the Greek tragic hero and what their hamartia might be.

So the Greek tragic hero, the hamartia is usually an error.

Is usually an error that they make or they think.

And in Greek tragedy, the tragic hero's error is often forgetting that he is not a god.

So he acts as though he is a god.

Now it's important to remember he doesn't really think he is a god, but he acts as though he is a god.

So we can therefore say in Greek tragedy, the hamartia of the tragic hero is often forgetting that he is not like a god.

So by hamartia, we could think of the error of the tragic hero is forgetting he is not like a god.

So in Greek tragedy, when the Greek hero forgets he is not like a god, he will do something that will cause his death or downfall.

It will lead him to do something that causes his death or downfall.

So that's ask ourselves a few questions.

The hamartia is the tragic heroes flaw, error, both or neither? So is a hamartia the flaw of the tragic hero the error of the tragic hero? Both the flaw and the error, or neither the flaw in the error.

I'm going to give you a few seconds to make your choice.

And the correct answer is both.

A hamartia could be both a flaw or an error for the tragic, about the tragic hero.

Now in Greek tragedy, specifically, in Greek tragedy, the tragic hero's hamartia is usually a flaw or an error, which is correct.

In Greek tragedy specifically, we know it could be either a flaw or an error, but in Greek tragedy, is it usually a flaw or an error? Make your choice.

And the correct answer is an error.

Hopefully you got that.

So it's a bit tricky.

Because hamartia could be a flaw or an error.

But in Greek tragedy, in particular, it's usually an error made by the tragic hero.

So in Greek tragedy, the Greek hero's error or his hamartia is usually forgetting he is not a god or believing he really is a god.

So what's the error that the tragic hero usually makes in a Greek tragedy? Is his error to forget he's not a god, or is this error to believe that he really is a god? Think about this for a few seconds, make your choice.

In Greek tragedy then, the error of the tragic hero is forgetting he is not a god.

Yes, the tragic hero doesn't really believe he's a god.

He forgets he's not a god.

So what does this mean then, forgetting he's not a god? What do you think that could mean? Could it mean forgetting how small and puny humans are, or does it mean believing you can do what gods do? So make your choice.

Forgetting he is not a god.

Could that mean forgetting how small and puny humans are or would it mean believing that he can do what gods do? Make your choice now.

And it means forgetting how small and puny humans are.

Yes, 'cause remember, they don't really believe they are gods.

They forget they're not gods.

So they forget how small and insignificant and powerless humans really are.

So forgetting here is not a god could mean thinking you are as powerful as a god or trying to overcome your fate or destiny.

Now think about what we've talked about.

Is the error likely to be thinking you really are as powerful as a god or trying to overcome your fate or destiny? Five seconds.

And it means trying to overcome your fate or destiny, 'cause remember, they don't really think they are gods.

They don't really think they're as powerful as gods, but they forget they're not gods.

Try to overcome fate or destiny.

Now, in order to understand a bit more about the Greek tragic hero, what we're going to do is hear a story that tells about a Greek tragic hero.

And the story is about a guy called Oedipus from the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.

Now Aristotle that famous Greek philosopher we learned about last lesson.

He believed that Oedipus was the best example of a tragic hero.

So let's hear either Oedipus's story so we can find out why Aristotle believe that.

And we're going to see if we can identify Oedipus's hamartia and error.

So let's begin the story of Oedipus.

Well, Oedipus is the son of King Laius of Thebes and his queen, Jocasta.

Shortly before Oedipus's birth, it is prophesied that any son of the king and queen will kill his father, the King and marry his mother, the queen.

In an attempt to prevent this prophecy's fulfilment, the King orders his son to be killed.

However, rather than leave the child to die, a servant passes the baby onto a shepherd from another place called Corinth.

Eventually the baby, Oedipus, arrives at the house of Polybus, King of Corinth and his queen Merope.

Who adopt him as they were without children of their own.

After many years, Oedipus discovers there is a prophecy that he will kill his mother and father.

Oedipus does not know he is adopted.

So in an attempt to avoid his fate, he decides not to return to Corinth but to leave and to travel to Thebes.

On the way, Oedipus comes to where three roads cross and meet each other.

There, he encounters a trap chariot driven by a man he has never met.

They fight over who had the right to go first.

And Oedipus kills the man when he tries to run Oedipus over with his chariot.

The only witness to the King's death is a slave who fled from a caravan of slaves and is also travelling along the road at the time.

Oedipus continues his journey to Thebes.

Along the way, Oedipus encounters a sphinx who stops all travellers to Thebes and asks them to solve a riddle.

If the travellers are unable to answer him correctly, they will be killed and eaten.

But if they are successful, they are free to continue their journey.

The riddle is this.

What walks on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three at night? Oedipus answers, man.

As an infant, he crawls on all fours.

As an adult, he walks on two legs and in old age, he uses a walking stick.

Oedipus is the first to answer the riddle correctly And the Sphinx allows him to carry on.

Now, King Creon had announced that any man who could read the city of the sphinx would be made King of Thebes and allowed to marry his sister, Queen Jocasta.

Oedipus and Jocasta marry and have four children.

Sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and daughters, Antigone and Ismene.

Many years later, a plague of infertility strikes the city of Thebes.

Affecting crops, livestock, and the people.

Oedipus is now King of Thebes.

Having married Queen Jocasta.

Oedipus asserts that he will end this pestilence, he will end this plague.

He sends his uncle Creon to the Oracle at Delphi to seek guidance.

When Creon returns, Oedipus learns that the murder of Kings Laius must be brought to justice before the plague pestilence will end.

Creon suggests they try to find the blind prophet, Tiresias, who is widely respected.

Oedipus sends to Tiresias, who warned Oedipus not to speak, not to seek King Laius' killer.

The two argue and Tiresias claims Oedipus himself is the killer.

Oedipus is angry or the accusation, but his wife Queen Jocasta calms Oedipus by telling him the prophecies are useless.

She says there was once a prophecy that her first-born son would kill his father King Laius and then marry her.

But this is obviously false because her son was killed and everyone knows King Laius was killed by bandits at the crossroads.

And she is now married to Oedipus.

So obviously, not married to her son.

Oedipus worries, remembering having killed a man at the crossroads.

Realising it might've been him that murdered Laius and so brought about the plague.

Out of nowhere, a messenger arrived from Corinth.

The messenger says that Oedipus's father, King Polybus has died.

Oedipus is relieved that his own prophecy could not come true because his father is dead.

Still, he knows that his mother is still alive and he refuses to attend the funeral at Corinth for fear that he might marry her.

To calm Oedipus, the messenger reveals that Oedipus was in fact, adopted.

So the prophecy could not come true.

Anyway, in that moment, Jocasta realises what's happened.

She realises the Oedipus is her son and begs him to stop his search for Laius's murderer.

Oedipus, still not knowing the truth, refuses.

Understanding what happened, Queen Jocasta hangs herself.

Finally, Oedipus realises that the man he killed so many years before was his father and that Queen Jocasta, therefore, was his mother.

Oedipus realises what's happened and goes to search the Queen Jocasta.

But he finds her hanging.

Finding her dead, finding Jocasta and suffering the great shame of what he has done.

Oedipus takes the brooch from Jocasta's gown and uses it to blind himself by stabbing himself in the eyes.

For the rest of his life, his daughter, Antigone, acts as his guide as he wanders alone through the city.

So there, we have the story of Oedipus.

And it's fair to say, it's not the happiest story that's ever been told.

However, let's have a look.

On the tragic hero and this idea of hamartia.

Now, Oedipus hamartia here is an error.

He makes an error.

He's not doing anything deliberately bad, but he makes an error.

And his main error, his hamartia is that he thinks he can outsmart his prophecy.

Remember at the beginning of the story, there was a prophecy that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother.

Now at one point, Oedipus hears about that prophecy.

And when he does, he thinks his mother and father, his real mother and father are his adopted mother and father.

So what he does is he leaves Corinth to try and outsmart his fate, to try and outwit his destiny.

And instead goes to Thebes, but not realising that he's adopted.

He bumps into his father on the way, argues with him and kills him.

And this leads to him defeating the sphinx and being told he can marry Queen Jocasta, who's his mother.

So by trying to get away from his destiny, he actually walks into his destiny, walks into his fate.

So he forgets he's not a god who can't outsmart his fate and destiny, tries to outsmart it and ends up walking straight into it.

And his error is forgetting he's not like a god, he's just a human.

He can't be outsmart his fate and he ends up walking straight into it.

Now he doesn't actually think he is a god, but he's acting as though he is a god by trying to outsmart his fate.

So you could say, he's acting as though he thinks he's a god or he's forgotten he's not god.

So he doesn't actually think he is a god.

He forgets how small and insignificant he is and how powerless he is as a human compared to the rest of the world.

And that is his error.

That is his harmatia.

So let's ask a few questions.

Does Oedipus actually believe he's a god? Yes or no.

Give you about five seconds.

Does he actually believe he's a god? What do you think? And no, he doesn't do believe.

Oedipus does not genuinely think he is a god.

So what is Oedipus' hamartia? His error? Is it that he tries to outsmart his fate or is it that he marries his mother? So what is Oedipus' hamartia? Five seconds.

Well, hopefully you have chosen that he tries to outsmart his fate.

Yes, that is his hamartia.

Of course, it's not a great thing to marry your mother, but that isn't his hamartia, that's something else.

So we've looked at the Greek tragic hero.

And now we're going to move on and look at the Shakespearean tragic hero.

Because the Shakespearian tragic hero is in many ways, similar to the Greek tragic hero, but with a couple of important differences.

And if you remember last lesson, we did talk about how Shakespeare updated tragedy a little bit, changed it slightly to meet the needs or the interests of his contemporary audience.

And one of the things he did was he changed the tragic hero slightly.

He updated it, he made them slightly different.

So let's have a look at the Shakespearian tragic hero.

So it says here, although the Shakespearian tragic hero is similar to the Greek tragic hero, there are small differences.

And as we've already learned, the hamartia of the Greek tragic hero is often an error.

They make an error.

Whereas the hamartia of the Shakespearian tragic hero is often a flaw, a character flaw.

So we need to understand the difference between an error and a flaw.

Now, error and flaw are different things.

And they mean different things.

In Greek tragedy, the error or the hamartia is forgetting you are not a god.

In Shakespearian tragedy, the flaw is a problem with your character or your personality.

So we often talk about a character flaw.

So it's not an error that leads to the downfall and death of the Shakespearian tragic hero.

It's a natural problem with their personality.

And that's what causes them to go on the downfall and ultimately, end up dying.

So here's some example of flaws that you might get in Shakespearian tragedies.

So he might be too ambitious for power.

And we see that in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

He's too ambitious for power.

He wants the power for himself, and that ultimately causes his downfall because other people aren't so keen on this.

It could be not listening to your family, which is what happens in King Lear.

He ignores his daughters.

We're giving him some good advice.

And ultimately, that leads to his downfall.

Or it could be being jealous of a lover, such as in Othello.

He believes bad things about Desdemona and that leads to him, his downfall.

He's jealous of Desdemona.

So these are the kinds of things that caused the flaw in Shakespearian tragedies.

And you can see that all these things are problems with the character or the personality of the tragic hero.

Being jealous, not listening to people or being too ambitious.

They're problems with the personality, not just forgetting that you're not a god making a small error that leads to your downfall.

So in Shakespearian tragedy, the tragic heroes hamartia is usually a flaw or an error.

What do you think? Five seconds, make your choice.

Well, hopefully you have said, the correct answer is a flaw.

Yes, well done.

I'm sure you did it as an error in Greek tragedy and a flaw in Shakespearian tragedy.

In Shakespearian tragedy, does the tragic hero think he is a god? Yes or no.

In Shakespearian tragedy, does the tragic hero think he's a god? Yes or no, five seconds.

And the correct answer is no, he doesn't.

The Shakespearian tragic hero does not think he is a god.

There's a problem with his personality, there's a flaw which leads to the downfall.

In Shakespearian tragedy, what is the tragic hero's flaw? Is it for getting here as not a god? Or is it a problem with his personality? Five seconds to make your choice? And it is a problem with his personality.

Yes, it's not, he doesn't forget he's a god but he has a problem with his personality.

Which option is an example of a flaw? Being too ambitious or forgetting you are not a god? Which option is an example of a flaw, a character flaw? Make your choice.

And it is being too ambitious.

Yes, of course it is.

That is an example of a character flaw you might see in a Shakespearian tragedy.

Which option is an example of an error, of an error, not a flaw, which is an example of an error being too ambitious or forgetting you are not a god, which do you think it is? Well make your choice.

And the correct answer is forgetting you are not a god.

Yes, that's the Greek hamartia, that error forgetting you are not a god.

What we're going to do now is we're going to tell the story of Macbeth the same as we did with Oedipus.

Now Macbeth was a great warrior who had won many battles.

Up in Scotland, I'm going to tell the story and we're going to see how it's slightly different from the Greek tragic hero.

So let's begin the story of Macbeth.

On a bleak, Scottish Moorland, Macbeth and his friend, Banquo.

Two of King Duncan's generals.

Discover three strange women who are witches.

The witches give the prophecy that Macbeth will be promoted twice to Thane of Cawdor, a rank of aristocracy.

And secondly, to King of Scotland.

They also say Banquo, his children will be Kings, but Banquo isn't promised any kingdom himself.

The two generals, Macbeth and Banquo want to hear more, but the witches disappear.

Shortly after meeting the witches, King Duncan names, Macbeth Thane of Cawdor or as a reward for his success in recent battles.

The promotion seems to support the witches' prophecy.

The King then proposes to make a brief visit that night to Macbeth's castle at Inverness.

Lady Macbeth received news from her husband about the prophecy and his new title.

She vows to help him become a King by whatever means necessary.

Feeling insecure, Macbeth seeks out the witches who tell him he will be safe until a local wood, Birnam Wood marches into battle against him.

They also say he need not fear anyone born a woman.

It seems as though Macbeth is secure because woods don't go on marches into war.

And everyone is born of a woman.

However, the witches also say the prophecy that Banquo will have future Scottish Kings still stands.

Feeling this, Macbeth embarks on a reign of terror, slaughtering many who we think might be a threat to him, including what Macduff's family.

Macduff in the meantime, had gone to England to seek Malcolm.

One of Duncan's son who fled after the murder.

Malcolm is young and unsure of himself, but Macduff pained with grief, persuades Malcolm to lead an army against Macbeth.

Macbeth feels safe in a remote castle, Dunsinane until he is told that Birnam Wood is moving towards him.

Malcolm's army is carrying the branches from the forest as camouflage for their assault on Macbeth's stronghold.

Meanwhile, an overwrought and conscience ridden, Lady Macbeth walked in her sleep and tell secrets to her doctor before eventually committing suicide.

As a final battle commences, Macbeth hears of Lady Macbeth's suicide and mourns.

In the midst of losing the battle.

Macduff challenges Macbeth personally.

During the course of this, Macbeth learns that Macduff is the child of a caesarean birth.

Realising he is not of woman born.

Macbeth realises his doom and submits to his enemy.

Macbeff chimes and brings the head of the traitor, Macbeth to Malcolm.

Malcolm declared peace and goes on to reclaim the Scottish King, returning it to his rightful lineage.

So that was the story of Macbeth.

Now remember, Macbeth's hamartia is a character flaw and his character flaw is that he is too ambitious for power.

That is what leads him to murder people so he can try and become King.

He's so ambitious to become King of a power, that he murders King Duncan, and then he's so ambitious and desperate to hold onto power that he goes on a reign of terror, killing anyone who might be a threat to his position.

So he's too ambitious.

That's a flaw in his character.

So what is Macbeth's flaw? Is it being too ambitious or is it murdering people? Five seconds to make your choice.

And hopefully you have chosen being too ambitious.

Yes, that is the flaw with his character.

Murdering people is obviously bad, but that isn't Macbeth's character flaw.

Being too ambitious is a character flaw.

So let's have a look at the difference between Oedipus and Macbeth.

Now you've got Oedipus, who's a Greek tragic hero.

And Macbeth who is a Shakespearian tragic hero.

Now Oedipus forgets he is not as powerful as a god.

He forgets that.

And he doesn't know he's adopted.

He doesn't realise he doesn't know he's adopted.

He makes an error.

On the other hand, we have Macbeth.

He is too ambitious for power and he deliberately makes the choice.

He chooses to murder in order that he can become King.

So he chooses to murder people to make himself king.

He has got flaw with his character.

And here we can see that Oedipus makes an error.

He forgets he's not as powerful as god.

He doesn't know he's adopted, it's an error.

Macbeth, well, he's too ambitious.

And he chooses to murder.

Then a flaw with his character.

We can see the difference here between the two.

Now the emphasis and the Greek tragic hero is on the awesome power of fate and how destiny can cause a man's downfall, how forces that are bigger than a man and beyond men can cause that downfall.

But the emphasis in Shakespearian tragedy is on individual responsibility and how men cause that own downfall.

Again, you can see a difference.

Greek, it's about the awesome power of fate and how things beyond the control of humans caused the downfall.

Whereas in Shakespearian tragedy, the emphasis is on individual responsibility and how men cause that own downfall.

That's a big difference.

So let's complete some tasks.

The first thing I would like you to do is copy and complete the sentence for question one.

And after you've done that, I would like you to answer question two.

How has the hamartia of a Greek tragic hero different from the hamartia of a Shakespearean tragic hero? So pause the video now, complete both these tasks and then come back when you are done and we'll go through the answers.

Off you go, Okay, welcome back.

So let's have a look at the kinds of things you might have written for your answers.

So for number one, you should hopefully have written in a tragedy, there is a character who is respected or admired and who dies at the end.

Hopefully you got.

That is what we learned at the beginning of the lesson and also last lesson as well.

Now for question two, hopefully you should have written something along the lines of, the hamartia of a Greek tragic hero is an error, but a Shakespearean tragic hero has a character flaw.

And then if you put that, you've got the difference in the hamartia between the two.

In Greek, tragedy is an error, in Shakespearian tragedy, it's a character flaw.

Now just in case you've got anything wrong.

I'm just going to give you a few seconds to pause the video now and update your answers.

Okay, welcome back.

So let's move on.

Here, we have two more questions.

Question three says in a tragedy, what should the difference between an error and a flaw? And question four says, what are some examples of a flaw? So what I would like you to do guys, is pause the video now and complete these tasks and then come back to me when you are done.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back guys.

So let's have a look at the kinds of things you should have written.

For number three, hopefully you wrote something like this.

In Greek tragedy, an error is forgetting you are not a god, but in Shakespearian tragedy, a flaw is a problem with your character.

If you've got anything like that, you have done great work and given me a brilliant answer.

And for number four, you hopefully have written something like this.

Some examples of a flaw of being too ambitious, not listening to people and being jealous.

Remember, we went through them earlier in the lesson.

Now I'm sure the majority of you did great work there, but if you made any slight mistakes, you can pause the video now.

Update your answer and come back to me when you are done.

Okay, welcome back.

So it's the end of the lesson.

And the final thing for me to remind you of is to complete today's quiz.

It's at the bottom of the bottom of your list.

The button is the button at the bottom of your screen.

That's what I'm trying to say.

It's one of the buttons at the bottom of your screen and make sure you complete it.

So you can recap and look at everything you've learned in today's lesson, which let's face it, is a lot.

We've learned about hamartia, we've learned about Greek tragic hero, Shakespearean tragic heroes, character flaws, errors, you know, believing you're not a god, examples of character flaws and Macbeth and Oedipus.

You've learned so much today, guys.

You've done really well there.

Make sure you take the quiz to see everything you've learned and then you're finished.

So guys, the only thing left for me to say is well done today.

And I look forward to seeing you next time for our final lesson on an introduction to tragedy.