Hamlets Hamartia Essays - Literature, Arts, Entertainment

Hamlet's Hamartia Hamlet's Hamartia Hamlet is the most written about tragedy in the history of man. But, why is it a tragedy? Is it because Hamlet has a tragic flaw that creates his downfall? Or is it that all the cards are stacked against him since the beginning of the play and there is no way he can prevail? I believe that it is a tragedy because of Hamlet's tragic flaw. Hamlet's tragic flaw is that he cannot act on impulse for things that require quick, decisive behavior, and that he acts on impulse for things that require more contemplation than is given by him. Hamlet speaks of his father's tragic flaw that ultimately led him to his death, but it applies equally well to himself: So, oft it chances in particular men, That for some vicious mole of nature in them, As, in their birth, wherein they are not guilty (Since nature cannot choose his origin), By the o'ergrowth of some complexion, Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, Or by some habit that too much o'er-leavens The form of plausive manners--that these men, Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, Being nature's livery, or fortune's star, Their virtues else, be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo, Shall in the general censure take corruption From that particular fault. The dram of evil Doth all the noble substance of a doubt To his own scandal. (1.4.23-38) Hamlet speaks of the one defect that is in particular men from birth, and the fact that that one defect is his particular fault. Hamlet says that this fault will corrupt the man.

The Roman Salute Morituri te salutant

The Roman Salute Morituri te salutant As the toga-wearing combatants face each other across an unforgiving circle of sand, they turn toward their laurel-wreathed eminence, snacking on grapes, and bellow: â€Å"Ave, Imperator: Morituri te salutant!† This staple of swords-and-sandals fiction, the gladiator’s salute to his Emperor, in fact likely never happened. Only a handful of Roman historians, long after the fact, mention the phrase - literally, â€Å"Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you† - and there’s little indication that it was in common usage in gladiatorial combat or any other games in ancient Rome. Nonetheless, â€Å"Morituri te salutant† has gained considerable currency in both popular culture and academia. Russell Crowe mouths it in the film â€Å"Gladiator,† and it’s used over and over by heavy metal bands (most cheekily by AC/DC, who tweaked it â€Å"For those about to about to rock, we salute you.†). Origin of the Phrase Where did the phrase â€Å"Morituri te salutant† and its variations (†¦morituri te salutamus, or â€Å"we salute you†) come from? According to the historian Suetonius’s Life of the Divine Claudius, the account of that emperor’s reign in his compendium The 12 Caesars, written around 112 A.D., it stems from a peculiar event. Claudius had commanded an immense public works project, the draining of Lake Fucino for agricultural land. It took 30,000 men and 11 years to complete. In honor of the feat, the emperor ordered up a naumachia - a mock sea-battle involving thousands of men and ships - to be held on the lake before it was emptied. The men, thousands of criminals otherwise to be hanged, hailed Claudius thusly: â€Å"Ave, Imperator: Morituri te salutant!† upon which the emperor replied â€Å"Aut non† - â€Å"Or not.† After this, the historians disagree. Suetonius says that the men, believing themselves pardoned by Claudius, refused to fight. The emperor ultimately cajoled and threatened them into sailing against one another. Cassius Dio, who wrote about the event in the 3rd century B.C., said the men merely pretended to fight until Claudius lost patience and commanded them to die. Tacitus mentions the event, some 50 years after it happened, but doesn’t mention the plea by the gladiators (or more precisely, naumachiarii). He relates, though, that a large number of prisoners were spared, having fought with the valor of free men. Use in Popular Culture In addition to the above-mentioned films and rock albums, Te morituri†¦ is also invoked in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and James Joyce’s Ulysses.