What is the hamartia or mistake in judgment committed by a tragic hero

The hamartia, or tragic flaw, in a tragedy is the protagonist's mistake in judgment or defect of character that leads to their downfall. Some examples of hamartia in classic Greek tragedies include:

- Oedipus's hubris, or excessive pride, leads him to ignore warnings about his fate and eventually causes him to kill his own father and marry his mother.

- Achilles' wrath and desire for revenge in Homer's Iliad leads him to refuse to fight and allow his fellow Greeks to suffer until the death of his friend Patroclus.

- Antigone's defiance of Creon's laws in Sophocles' Antigone results in her own death.

- Brutus's idealistic belief in the goodness of human nature leads him to participate in the assassination of Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, but he is ultimately betrayed by his fellow conspirators.

The hamartia is often seen as the central element that drives the tragic plot and leads to the hero's downfall.