King of Thebes, and, as such, the protector of the people. Because of this, his first concern is correcting the dire state of affairs in Thebes no matter what cost is incurred. It is this motivation that makes him follow his destiny and course of action regardless of the outcome. Oedipus, therefore, represents the German definition of the tragic hero but his motivation is communal. As he says to Creon “Speak out, speak to us all. I grieve for these, my people, far more than I fear for my own life” (Sophocles 163).
Hamlet also represents the definition of the tragic hero from the earlier Germanic definition. However, his course of action is accepted with a certain reluctance, a certain futility that he should somehow be thrust into the position of ridding Denmark of all that is rotten “The time is out of joint:—O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!—” (Shakespeare I.v.220-221). Oedipus follows his destiny in the name of community justice while Hamlet bemoans his destiny on the individual level even though he consciously chooses to follow it.
Still, Hamlet accepts his destiny as the avenger of his father’s death because he understands, even though it makes him melancholy, that the only noble course of action is to right the wrongs in Denmark. However, he does so because he understands that the individual is not totally free to choose his course of action. Like Oedipus is shaped by divinity, so, too, Hamlet knows it is his destiny to be who he is, which happens to be the son of the murdered king whose murderer, his
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