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Tragic Heroes Hector, Beowulf, And Hamlet

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A hero does more than just a “normal person.” A hero stands up to defend his beliefs. Not only does a hero protect himself, but he protects other people as well. A hero will go to any length to fight for his beliefs, even if the odds are against him. Four examples of tragic heroes are Achilles, Hector, Beowulf, and Hamlet. Many characteristics define these four heroes; however, four characteristics are most evident as defining them as tragic heroes. These four heroes are intelligent and learn from their mistakes. Each hero suffers more than he deserves. These heroes are faced with a very serious decision they have to make. Lastly, the most heroic characteristic, that the hero must be physically or spiritually wounded by his experiences, often …show more content…

Hector realized the mistake he made and learned this when Achilles came into battle. Hector had fate to die at Achilles hand, so when Achilles came into battle, Hector realized the mistake he had made. Although Hector knew he would get killed by Achilles, he still remained the fearless leader of the Trojans fought Achilles bravely.("Hector") Hamlet makes the mistake of not killing his uncle, King Claudius, when he had the chance to. King Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father in order to be king. Hamlet had just discovered this and now needed to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. Hamlet had the perfect chance to kill Claudius because Claudius kneeled in the chapel and did not see Hamlet. Hamlet put aside the thought of killing Claudius at that moment because Hamlet thought Claudius had been praying and confessing his sins. Hamlet did not want to kill Claudius while he had been confessing his sins because that meant that Claudius would go to heaven, so Hamlet decided he would wait until Claudius sinned again and then he would kill him. However, Claudius actually did not confess his sins, so Hamlet could have killed him. Since Hamlet did not kill Claudius at that moment, he ended up killing Polonius because Hamlet thought that he had seen Claudius. After

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When asked to describe a hero, Mickey Mantle, famous baseball player for the New York Yankees, Said “Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them” This quote shows that a hero is someone who always does the right thing and has good intentions. What a hero should look like now is someone who is loyal and brave. In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, Odysseus proves that he is a hero when he went to save his men on “Circe’s Island.” and defeated the cyclops in “The Cave of the Cyclops.”

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Claudius never intended to kill Hamlet, nor anyone else, after he became king. Even when Claudius first sensed that Hamlet knew the truth about his father. Instead of killing Hamlet right away, he tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern “I like him not, nor stands it safe with us to let his madness

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Hamlet was given the prime opportunity to kill Claudius when he found him on his knees begging for forgiveness. Hamlet negated not to kill him right then and there because he wanted Claudius to go to hell, not heaven. Hamlet’s lack of sanity, or his tragic flaw, in the play is definitely what caused his inability to

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With these characteristics, heroes are able to help humans move beyond their everyday lives, allowing us to strive and develop. Ultimately, a hero exemplifies someone who is strong, brave, and willing to sacrifice for the betterment of others. First and foremost, a hero is someone who is strong, displaying strength. There are distinctive sort of strengths that a hero must possess to be considered heroic. This includes physical and emotional strength.

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Like many things, Hamlet is intelligent and honorable, but his indecisiveness is the cause of his tragic downfall. In the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare portrays that Hamlet is very incapable of finishing the task at hand. Throughout the drama Hamlet faces many trials and tribulations due to his late father Hamlet, who was murderously killed by Claudius. His inability to kill Claudius and himself is one grand flaw of an epic hero. After King Hamlets passing, Hamlet entered an unknown state of mind that not only feared others for his wellbeing, but also feared himself.

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However, heroism can take place in our everyday lives by simple brave actions. A hero has many noble qualities such as courage, humility, patience, being selfless and caring. They will put other people before themselves and make sure others are content. Heros are also intelligent and like to think ahead to plan on a good result.

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As Claudius repents, Hamlet feels as though it's the best time to kill him until he says: And so ’a goes to Heaven; And so am I revenged. That would be scanned. A villain kills my father; and for that, I, his son, do this same villain send To heaven (3.3.73-78) Essentially, Hamlet wanted to murder Claudius because he was the Old King’s murderer.

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To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet adds a scene reenacting the murder of Hamlet’s father. Claudius abruptly leaves the play, and afterward, tries to pray. When Claudius is praying, Hamlet is considering killing him, but decides not to because he wants to kill him in sin so that he does not get a chance at last confession. They also all end up dying later in the story due to a sword fight and poison.

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3.3.72-73), Hamlet says, as he is debating whether or not to kill the king as he prays and thinks to himself if he kills him now then the king will just go to heaven because he is praying. Because of him overthinking the murder of Claudius and not taking action at the time he was able to, he had created a domino effect of events. Hamlet finally followed through with his plan after a long time of thinking, but he had killed Polonius. Polonius’ murder led to Ophelia committing suicide and Laertes getting involved and wanting to venge on Hamlet for killing his

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