Julius Caesar Tragic Hero Essay

Could Caesar be categorized as the tragic hero? A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. Through Antony’s speech, Caesar is revealed to be a tragic hero because of his ambition that is outweighed by his care towards the Roman people. Brutus displays Caesar as a tragic hero because of his quest for power and the decisions he was liable to make for Rome. Caesar can be categorized as a tragic hero through his caring attitude, his power, and his ambition, which led to his downfall. Caesar’s caring attitude towards the Roman people shows his heroic nature. He was brave enough to reject the crown three times because he knew that he did not need the crown to show the Roman people his power. Caesar was also caring towards the Roman people in his will. In Caesar’s will that Antony reads at his funeral, Caesar leaves

However, this is wrong because there are many reasons to indicate that Caesar is a tragic hero. His death was not by natural causes, but by fate and the decisions he made while he had power over the Roman people. Brutus, the man who was supposed to be Caesar’s friend, made the decision to kill him “For the general” (II.i.12). Caesar’s characteristics and the choices he made led to his downfall and this is why he should be categorized as a tragic hero.

Caesar is a tragic hero because of his caring attitude, his power, and his ambition. Brutus made Caesar seem ambitious because of the choices he made and he believed that those choices would bring Rome to its doom. Mark Antony defended Caesar by saying that he was not always ambitious and made many noble acts towards the Roman people. Caesar was faced with an inevitable tragedy that was his death. Therefore, Caesar was the greatest tragic hero of this