Before we can look at either Oedipus or Hamlet as tragic heroes, we need to form some criteria for judging them as heroic or not. If we look at the Aristotelian definition of tragedy, we see tragedy defined as “An imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude” (O’Brien and Dukore 1). While the actions of Oedipus and Hamlet are serious, complete and of a certain magnitude, Aristotle’s definition does not seem to do full justice to the characters of Oedipus and Hamlet. For while each character imitates an action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude (Oedipus kills his father and sleeps with his mother; Hamlet kills Polonius, Laertes, Claudius and is indirectly responsible for the death of Ophelia and his mother Gertrude), the Germanic definition of the tragic hero appears to be much closer to the characterizations of Oedipus and Hamlet. This definition appears to apply to the characters we see in each of these tragedies in a more complete manner. The Germanic definition of the tragic character includes the following “The Germanic hero accepts his destiny, and launches himself on it, knowing that on the one hand he is sacrificing human happiness, and on the other obeying the dictates of honor” (Smithers 78).
In Oedipus and Hamlet we see that both title characters act in a manner whereby they accept their destiny, and they launch themselves on it knowing that it jeopardizes their own happiness but is the only honorable path open to them as heroic. However, it is in the manner in which they launch themselves on this course of action that is different between the two characters. Oedipus’ acceptance of his destiny comes from his communally-directed nature while Hamlet’s is much more one of self-direction. In Oedipus, we see that Oedipus’ main concern is the deteriorating state of Thebes, a city in the midst of chaos, plague and ruin. Oedipus accepts his destiny as the...