Discuss the significance of "Hamartia" in Aristotle's Poetics.

#2 has given us a very definitive exploration of this important term. I suppose we associate it mostly in terms of our discussion of tragedies and tragic heroes, who have some kind of tragic flaw that is often based on hubris or arrogance. Knowledge of this term helps us analyse famous tragedies such as Oedipus Rex, and also gives us an interesting way of looking at Shakespearian tragedies such as Macbeth and Julius Caesar. The tragic flaw that all of us are prone to, and is something of a human condition, is of particular relevance in these two tragedies, as basically good characters slowly become seduced by darker forces.

Discuss the significance of "Hamartia" in Aristotle's Poetics.

Funny, a lot of people must be reading "Poetics". I just answered another posting about this very subject. So, to start off the discussion, I am going to paste the answer I posted earlier so as to give others the chance to offer their own views on the subject.

The term hamartia was introduced in Aristotle's Poetics. According to Aristotle, the term refers to mistakes, sins, to err, and wrongdoings. Aristotle used this term to define a wrong committed against another person.

Over time, like many words, the meaning of hamartia has changed. Many critics have stated that Aristotle used the term wrongly in his text and that the true meaning of the word was more geared toward the err one commits when he/she does not know any better.

Aristotle's use of the word tended to lean towards the tragic flaw of a person based upon their own limits or weaknesses. While similar to that of alternative views, Aristotle's meaning encompasses that the flaw does not concede to the fact that the one in error is not wholly innocent and one cannot find him less morally at fault.

In Aristotle's "Poetics," what is the significance of "Hamartia"?

The term hamartia was introduced in Aristotle's Poetics. According to Aristotle, the term refers to mistakes, sins, to err, and wrongdoings. Aristotle used this term to define a wrong committed against another person.

Over time, like many words, the meaning of hamartia has changed. Many critics have stated that Aristotle used the term wrongly in his text and that the true meaning of the word was more geared toward the err one commits when he/she does not know any better.

Aristotle's use of the word tended to lean towards the tragic flaw of a person based upon their own limits or weaknesses. While similar to that of alternative views, Aristotle's meaning encompasses that the flaw does not concede to the fact that the one in error is not wholly innocent and one cannot find him less morally at fault.

What is the significance of either "katharsis" or "hamartia" in Aristotle's Poetics?

Hamartia is a term developed by Aristotle. This definition is found at eNotes and is described as...

a character’s flaw or error...hamartia is the tragic flaw of the

protagonist in a given tragedy.

Examples characters that demonstrate this "trait" are Shakespeare's tragic heroes. They are "great" men (meaning that they are accomplished, brave, ethical, etc.) who have a flaw of such enormous proportion that it ultimately brings about their own demise. There are many of these kinds of heroes in Shakespeare's plays, but my favorites are Hamlet and Brutus. Hamlet (in the play by the same name) is called to avenge is father. He is generally regarded as a man of grave indecision. (Now, I have to disagree personally, for I find that he hesitates to kill his father's murderer primarily because to murder a king unjustly, costs the murderer his immortal soul; Hamlet has to make sure the ghost claiming to be his father is telling him the truth.) Hamlet is a man of great character and great passion. Ultimately, he avenges his dad's death, but Claudius (the murderer) is so evil, that he takes out almost everyone else with him.

Brutus from Julius Caesar is also considered a tragic hero (though the play is not named for him). Depending upon what research you read, you may get a different answer (I've seen several), but I believe Brutus' flaw is either his tendancy to trust the wrong people (Cassius, Antony, etc.) or his unrealistic expectations. He wants to save Rome from Caesar's tyranny, but he is surrounded by men who have no such noble intentions. To change the face of Rome as he wanted, Brutus would have needed much more support from other leaders within the empire. He may not have planned well enough or he may have been too impulsive, but either way, I see him as a great man: an man of ethics with a great love for his country. As with Hamlet, he too dies because of his tragic flaw.

Source for eNotes definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamartia

What is the significance of either "katharsis" or "hamartia" in Aristotle's Poetics?

Aristotle's katharsis is a little different from our catharsis. His dramatic katharsis meant that the play had a suitable ending that fitted with all the particulars of the play: the audience perceived and felt that the tragic hero had met the right and correct final suffering commiserate with his tragic flaw. So katharsis is an internal element to the drama.

In the Elizabeth era katharsis shifted, possibly under the influence of the spiritual focus of the Protestant Reformation. It came to mean that the audience had reached a level of intense identification with the play from which they experienced catharsis of their inner being and had learned through a mimetic experience to eschew certain behavior. [Mimetic: imitating the true value actualized in Heaven and taught on Earth by the inspired poet. Eschew: vigorously stay away from.] So Elizabethan catharsis is an external element to the drama, though internal to the audience.