Tragedy. It's a word that may conjure up many images for most people. From the innocence of a child who has lost his favorite blanket, to the grief of losing a parent, to the desperation of a suicidal teenager, every person on earth can relate to tragedy. The degree to which the audience can identify or even sympathize with the tragic hero determines the quality of the tragedy. That said, to produce a tragedy you need to have a tragic hero. In his work, The Poetics, Aristotle sets out the characteristics that all tragic heroes should share. Included are hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, and an exaggerated consequence. Hamartia, or the hero's tragic flaw, is “his error or transgression or (as some translators would say) his flaw or weakness of character” (“Aristotle” 858). Peripeteia, is the reverse of his fortune, or in other words, the tragic thing that happens to him. Anagnorisis occurs when the hero discovers that his own actions caused the reversal. Finally, Aristotle would say that the consequences for the hero's actions that led to a reversal of fate should be excessively harsh. This article seeks to compare and contrast Hamlet from William Shakespeare's play of the same name and Oedipus from Sophocles' Oedipus Rex where they meet or fail to meet these characteristics. Hamlet and Oedipus share similar hamartia and anagnorisis, and similarly do not suffer punishments that exceed their crimes. Meanwhile, they contrast with their vicissitudes. Both Hamlet and Oedipus are morbidly and fatally impulsive. Each of them begins their tragic spiral with an unpremeditated murder. Hamlet's general impulsiveness plays a larger role in his story than Oedipus's. Both are quick... midway through the paper... about the twist of fate, whereas it was not Hamlet whose actions led to the inciting incident in his story. Overall, Hamlet and Oedipus Rex are similar stories in terms of setting, characters, and the situations they find themselves in. Works Cited "Aristotle's Concept of Tragedy." The literature collection. Ed. XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Pearson Education, Inc. 2013. 858. Web.New American Standard Bible Updated Edition. La Habra: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. Print.Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." The literature collection. Ed. XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Pearson Education, Inc. 2013. 915-939. Web.Sophocles, “Oedipus the King”. The literature collection. Ed. XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Pearson Education, Inc. 2013. 860-873. Web.Struck, Peter T. "Oedipus as the Ideal Tragic Hero." Greek and Roman mythology. np 2009. 11 May 2014.