In the play, Heracles is a great hero and does many great deeds, but his one flaw, his hamartia, is madness, which makes him kill his family.
Hamartia is the name used to describe the fatal flaw that brings about the undoing of the hero in classical Greek tragedy.
True Aristotelian hamartia arises when mistakes or errors cause the plot or direction of action to change in a tragic way.
This failure to act must lead to a change in fortune for the main character in order for it to truly be a hamartia.
In some ways, the rejection of his paternal feelings is his 'hamartia', which brings about his downfall.
His goal is frequently revenge, "hamartia" in a tragic hero.
In modern discussions of tragedy, hamartia has often been described as a hero's tragic flaw.
There is, however, no consensus about what constitutes a proper use of hamartia.
