According to Aristotle, tragedy “depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero's powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris, society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature” (Reeves 175). Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake (hamartia). The hero does not necessarily have to die at the end, but he/she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero “may achieve some revelation or recognition (anagnorisis--"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods” (Reeves 175). Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate" (Reeves 176). Both Oedipus and Hamlet both have qualities of Aristotle’s tragic hero.
Oedipus is the main character in the play Oedipus the King. Oedipus is thought of as a tragic figure because he was doomed from birth. Tiresias, an old blind prophet, told Oedipus' parents about Oedipus' fate. He told them that Oedipus would kill his father and sleep with his mother. So, his parents decided to have him killed; only it did not happen that way. He was passed off by two shepherds and finally to the King and Queen of Corinth, Polybus and Merope to raise him as their own. Oedipus finds his way back to Thebes and on the way kills his father, but Oedipus did not know that one of the men he killed was his real father. This is the beginning of the prophecy coming true. In short Oedipus obtains the throne, marries his mother and has children with her. Oedipus' fate has come together without him even realizing what is going on. Eventually he is told what has happened and asks to be banished by his uncle/brother-in-law Creon. The tragedy in Oedipus' life began with his birth and the realization by his parents that his whole life was doomed. Oedipus’ hubris got in the way and eventually led to his own demise.
However on the other hand, Hamlet did not know that his life would be a tragic one. Hamlets' fate played out through his whole life. No one knew that hamlet's life would end up the way that it did. Hamlets' life first changed when his Uncle Claudius killed Hamlet's father, the King and Claudius' brother. Claudius just wanted to get to the Queen Gertrude. So he committed the worst sin and killed the King. Claudius weaseled his way into Hamlet Jr.' spot on the throne as King.
There are many reasons why both of these characters are classified as tragic figures. First off Oedipus' fate was determined from birth, and no one knew Hamlet's fate. Oedipus's parents sent him off to be killed, and Hamlet's father was killed by his brother Claudius. Oedipus killed his dad and slept with his mother, Hamlets father was poisoned so that Claudius could get to Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Hamlet got gypped out of the throne and Oedipus got the throne either place he went. Hamlet found a lover outside of his family and pathetic old Oedipus had to marry his mother. Hamlet dies in the end of the play but Oedipus has to suffer throughout the rest of his life with his conscience. Both have their tragic flaws. In Hamlet is fated to his own destruction. When he says "O wicked spite that ever I was born to set it right," Hamlet is acknowledging that he is fated to the act and tragic consequences of that act. His other "flaw" is hubris, the sin of thinking oneself godlike. Watch Hamlet when he has the golden opportunity to kill Claudius in the chapel, shortly after Hamlet has the proof he sought of Claudius' guilt. He can act, and if this is the right thing to do, he should act. But he does not. Why? Hamlet wants to ensure that the soul of Claudius goes to hell. At that moment Hamlet dooms himself. Any human being could take the life of another; taking the soul of another? That is God's province, and when Hamlet decides that he will be God in this instance, he has completed the circle which will lead to his own destruction. His fatal flaw then: hesitation, fate, and hubris.
Oedipus’ flaw, on the other hand, was hubris, or pride. Oedipus becomes a prophet like Tiresius. In lines 141 and 142, you can clearly see Oedipus' tragic flaw. Of course at that time, Oedipus failed to realize his connections to Jocasta and Laius, but recognition of the truth brought him to his downfall. So we can see that because of Oedipus' excessive pride and determination to avoid his 'fate', he walked straight into it. He even mocks the fact that Tiresius is blind because in line 353 and 354, Oedipus says to Tiresius, "If you could see, I should have said the deed was yours alone (p.510). We can see this when he is talking to Creon, asking him to take him into exile. When avenging Jocasta's previous husband, and his true father, King Laius' death, he was blinded by his pride to the concept that perhaps he was the murderer. Now Oedipus not only sees how the prophecy was played out, but also is able to look beyond the surface of things. As the very last statement from the Chorus says, "Look upon that last day always. Count no mortal happy till he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain” (p. 540). This I do not see as a downfall, because had he not realized his fate, he would have lived in ignorant bliss for the rest of his life. Then, when Tiresius still declines to tell Oedipus of his fate, Oedipus starts to accuse Tiresius as being the one who killed Laius. He had fulfilled the prophecy because of his own actions, which he had believed were beneficial. His pride of conquering the Sphinx led him to the marriage of Jocasta, his mother. However, other events opened his eyes to the tragedy, which had taken place. He was blinded (not literally) by his ego. His pride made him so conceited that he could not see beyond, and could not see to his past to learn from it. He committed the opposite mistakes as his father, whom he killed, his father believed too much in others; he didn't and believed too much in his own self but in a negative way. It wasn't that he knew who he really was but that he was who he wanted to believe he was and could not see past that image.
Both Oedipus and Hamlet, I believe, are examples of Aristotle’s tragic hero. They were both great men who, unfortunately, had their hamartia which eventually led to their downfall.
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References
Reeves, Charles H. "The Aristotelian Concept of the Tragic Hero." The American Journal of Philology 73.2 (1952): 172-88. JSTOR. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/291812?ref=no-x-route:3f61a400850d1efb67ac35bbe84909e9>.
Damrosch, David, comp. "Oedipus the King." 2008. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. New York: Longman, 2004. 502-40. Print.