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What is Agamemnon's hamartia?
Quick answer:
Agamemnon's hamartia, or fatal flaw, is his hubris. His excessive pride and arrogance, particularly after his victory over Troy, lead him to underestimate those around him, including his wife, Clytemnestra. This hubris is further illustrated by his disregard for the gods, as seen in his sacrilegious actions and false piety. Ultimately, his pride blinds him to the dangers that lead to his downfall.
In Aristotle's Poetics, one of the most important works of Classical dramatic theory, the philosopher discusses harmatia as a tragic flaw or error in judgment that leads to a hero's downfall.
Agamemnon, the legendary king of the Mycenaen Greeks and the commander of the Greek army during the Trojan Wars, appears in both The Iliad and The Odyssey. In The Iliad, he is a great general; by the time of The Odyssey, he is a shade wandering in the Underworld. How does he get to this point?
When Odysseus meets Agamemnon in the Underworld, he finds out that the former king was murdered by Aegisthus, with whom Clytemenstra, his wife and queen, had been having an affair. In a state of permanent despair, Agamemnon cautions Odysseus against trusting women.
Such a reversal of fortune is caused by the hero's harmatia. Agamemnon, like many heroes in Greek literature, is possessed by pride or hubris.
In Seneca's adaptation of the Greek myth, the Chorus explains Agamemnon's fate:
The swarthy Furies stalk the man
gone rich beyond all rights—with a twist
of fortune grind him down, dissolve him
into the blurring dead—there is no help.
Agamemnon's pride and obsession with his worldly accomplishments cause fortune to come crashing down on him. Although he is murdered by an outside force—in this case, wicked people—this outside force is a punishment brought upon him by Fate.
Hamarta, as detailed by Aristotle in Poetics, is defined as a fatal flaw, or more commonly a mistake.
Agamemnon showed hamartia in many things.
1. Agamemnon showed hamartia by walking on the tapestries which depicted images of the gods.
2. Agamemnon accepted honors which many deemed extravagant.
3. Agamemnon asks for men to show him reverence even though his declares himself to be a mortal man and not a god.
4. Even though he stands on the tapestries showing the images of the gods, Agamemnon declares that he should not be struck down by the wrath of the gods.
Overall, Agamemnon declares himself to be more powerful than that of the gods. His outright disdain for the power of the gods, and his claiming to be held up like a god, proved him to be filled with a fatal flaw, or hamartia.
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