What is "hamartia"

Greek, literally "fault, failure, guilt," from hamartanein "to fail of one's purpose; to err, sin," originally "to miss the mark."

n. 1 The tragic flaw of the protagonist in a literary tragedy. 2 (''Christian theology''): sin

n. the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall [syn: tragic flaw]

The term hamartia derives from the Greek ἁμαρτία, from ἁμαρτάνειν hamartánein, which means "to miss the mark" or "to err". It is most often associated with Greek tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. Hamartia as it pertains to dramatic literature was first used by Aristotle in his Poetics. In tragedy, hamartia is commonly understood to refer to the protagonist’s error or flaw that leads to a chain of plot actions culminating in a reversal from their good fortune to bad. What qualifies as the error or flaw can include an error resulting from ignorance, an error of judgement, a flaw in character, or sin. The spectrum of meanings has invited debate among critics and scholars, and different interpretations among dramatists.

A hamartia is a focal malformation consisting of disorganized arrangement of tissue types that are normally present in the anatomical area. A hamartia is not considered to be a tumor, and is distinct from a hamartoma, which describes a benign neoplasm characterized by tissue misarrangement similar to a hamartia (i.e., tissue types that are typical of the area but arranged in an atypical manner).