Heroes are common in today’s literature. There are princes who save the princess, knights who save their village, kids that save their schools; the list could go on. One type of hero that not many authors acknowledge that often is the tragic hero. In literature, a tragic hero is a character that errs or misjudges something in their present situation, and that poor judgement ultimately leads to the heroes tragedy. In Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, one could come to the conclusion that Brutus is the tragic hero, but it truly is Caesar. Shakespeare’s belief in the great chain of being was the beginning of Caesar’s downfall. During the time Julius Caesar was written, there was a common belief among the people that there was a specific hierarchical list that needed to be followed. The list, or chain, went in this order: God, angels, kings and queens, commoners, servants, animals, plants, minerals, and then non-being. The people of Rome seem to follow this great chain of being. After Caesar defeats Pompey, the Romans “make holiday to see Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph” (1.1. 34-35). Because Caesar is the people’s supreme dictator and is successful, they give him this praise. He is higher than him so he deserves an entire celebration. This celebration and honor given to Caesar causes …show more content…
Julius Caesar is just an example of many. There are many heroes like Caesar, saviors of towns and cities, but not all of them have the one fatal flaw. This fatal flaw is ego. Caesar’s ego caused him to think he would never die, and that is exactly what happened to him. People’s egos lead them to do things they would never do otherwise. Take a captain of the football team, if he got told to harsh someone out, he would do it because he wouldn’t want to look weak in front of his peers and teammates. Ego is one’s essence, and if one has too much, like Caesar, one’s downfall will