Why is King Arthur known as a tragic hero?
2007-12-13 10:04:09 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
King Arthur was the king of Camelot. He was raised by a knight who treated him poorly but despite of that he was still a noble character. He rose from the bottom to became a king. He fought and tried to end war in his kingdom. However one night when he was young and celebrating he accidentally slept with his sister. He didn't know this at the time. Anyway, he became king and married Guinevere who was reputed to have been a beauty. But she never had any child and she cheated on Arthur with his best friend and right arm Lancelot. However Lancelot was tricked by the Lady of Shalot a jealous of Guinevere. Lancelot had to marry her and had the golden child known as Galahad. Anyway back to Arthur, in his finally battle he had to fight Mordred who was in some stories his son and in some stories his half brother. In his finally battle it came down between him and Mordred, Arthur killed Mordred but not before Mordred stuck the killing blow to Arthur's head I believe. During all of these events, Arthur is never to have been reputed to have been violent towards anyone nor did he hurt his best friend and his wife for their affair. He was a great leader and he was noble and fair. He tried to do his best by every one. This nobility in him led everyone to believe and see Arthur as the epitome of a tragic hero. But his one flaw was that he slept with his sister aka Morgan. A tragic hero is by definition a person who is noble and just and is seen in high esteem by society but is flawed or has a flaw.
2007-12-13 11:43:52 · answer #1 · answered by ILoveIt09 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
King Arthur is the hero of "Le Morte d'Arthur" (translation: "The Death of Arthur", so the reader knows before opening the book that it is to be a tragedy), his tale, but the ending is tragic, obviously; everyone dies in the final conflict between Arthur and Mordred, who is Arthur's incestuous son by his half sister (either Margause or Morgan, depending upon which story you read). Arthur is also betrayed by his wife and his best friend and most favored Knight (Guinevere and Lancelot). Most of the ancillary characters' stories are also tragedies, e.g., Tristan (which means sadness) and Iseult. But, Arthur is a heroic king, establishing the Round Table to ensure the equality among his knights, being capable of withdrawing Excalibur, the sword, from the stone.
2007-12-13 14:33:35 · answer #2 · answered by Lynci 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Whoa whoa whoa! Ladies and gentlemen! Let's go back further than relatively modern tales of Camelot!
In the original tales, Arthur did not sleep with his half-sister Morgan.
To answer the question:
King Arthur is known as the tragic hero because despite all of his accomplishments and his chivalry and his perfection as a knight, his world falls around him and all he loves is destroyed and/or taken from him.
He does all the hard work and gets none of the benefits.
2007-12-13 12:06:34 · answer #3 · answered by K M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In mythology all heros have a tragic element attached to them. This is basically because once they have fulfilled their task there is no place for them in the mortal world.
2007-12-13 20:04:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Cuckolded by his best friend? Tricked into sleeping with his half-sister? Mortally wounded while having to kill his own son? Watching his kingdom crumble?
Dunno - kinda hard to say ;)
2007-12-13 10:08:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Probably because he represents the leader of the losing side and is killed at Camlann.
2007-12-13 10:09:38 · answer #6 · answered by forhirepen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋