Throughout our history, many genres have survived the test of time. One of the best known and most popular genres is tragedy. A tragedy tells the story of the downfall of a fundamentally good person due to a fatal mistake or error of judgment, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear on the part of the audience. One of the leading authorities on tragedy is the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. His literary piece, Poetics, is highly regarded as one of the major sources used to define what constitutes a tragedy. In every tragedy there must be a tragic hero who carries the plot of the story forward. Furthermore, the protagonist must conform to specific guidelines according to Aristotle to be considered a tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the hero of a tragedy “must not be shown passing from fortune to misfortune; once again, it must not be shown that vicious people go from bad luck to good luck; nor yet should an absolutely wicked man fall from good fortune to misfortune. We therefore remain between these extremes: that is, that man who is neither distinguished by excellence nor by virtue, nor grieved by meanness and vice, but by some error; a man of great reputation and prosperity, like Oedipus and Thyestes and illustrious people from families like theirs. (LJ Potts 981-2) However, there are many negative opinions on his definition of a tragic hero. The question is whether or not such guidelines must adhere to all tragedies to be successful. Othello, the protagonist of Othello is very similar to Oedipus, from Oedipus the King. Both Oedipus and Othello fulfill all the prerequisites of a tragic hero: men between extremes, have a tragic flaw, t...... middle of paper ......ying the requirement of high status. Oedipus' tragic flaw was his short temper, which led to his downfall, as well as Othello's flaws of naivety and mistrust. Both plays went through a peripeteia and anagnorisis, as both saw a reversal of fortune and the realization of one's mistakes. All of these elements of the tragedy give the audience a feeling of pity and remorse for both Oedipus and Othello, thus reinforcing Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. Works Cited Aristotle. “Critics of Sophocles”. Poetics. Trans. LJ Potts "Othello as tragic comedy". 123HelpMe.com. 04 February 2009..Sala, Joan Lord. Othello: a guide to opera. Westport: Greenwood, 1999Nostbakken, Faith. Understanding Othello. Westport: Greenwood, 2000Shakespeare, William. Othello. Clayton: Prestwick House Inc., 2005