In what major ways is Hamlet a late Renaissance hero in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet? In what major ways is Hamlet a late renaissance...

When studying Shakespeare's Hamlet,
we look to Hamlet as a tragic hero. The guidelines for a tragic hero are based on
Aristotle's model. The tragic hero must be a "great" man (a mighty warrior, respected
leader, member of nobility, etc.), he must die, and his death must be his own
fault—caused by his tragic flaw. His fall is the result of "an error of
judgment."

Hamlet is considered a tragic hero—he is a great
man. Claudius admits to Laertes near the play's end, that Hamlet is well-loved by the
Danish subjects. He does die at the end (as is the case with almost every major
character). His tragic flaw is indecision, and it is Hamlet's inability to kill Claudius
when the moment presents itself that allows Claudius to conspire with Laertes, and bring
about not only Hamlet's death, but Gertrude's, Laertes' and his
own.

The heroes of Homer's time are somewhat different,
although they are still imbued with noteworthy and admirable qualities. Homer looks to
the following criteria to gauge whether someone is "good." These characteristics include
that a man must be of noble birth, he must be wealthy, and he must have physical
strength. The man must have honor; others must think well of him. A hero, specifically,
must have a concern for others: the suffering of others is not something a Homeric hero
could ignore, and he must be sympathetic to the plight of others.
"Reputation and material honor" are extremely
important.

• A hero is never expected to sacrifice
  his reputation or material honors for others
  
  • That would
    diminish his honor
  
  
  • Which would diminish his ability to
    protect and further his
    followers
  
  

• Why
  are Homeric ethics reasonable?
  
  • Wealth, honor, status,
    power are all
    achievable.
  
  

In
studying these details, we see strong differences.

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In ancient Greek myth, heroes were humans...of
the remote past, endowed with superhuman abilities and descended from the immortal gods
themselves. The prime example is ...Achilles in the English tradition. This, the
greatest hero...was the son of Thetis, a sea-goddess known for her far-reaching cosmic
powers.

With Achilles, honor
comes from compiling material goods: trophies, rewards, etc. Achilles is also considered
honorable in his concern for others which was also expected of Homer's hero. Achilles is
concerned for Patroclus, but is also accused of having little or no concern for his
army. Achilles falls short of being a great hero based on his treatment of Hector's
body: he will be punished for this. Reputation was also very
important, as well as valor in battle.

Hamlet is very
different from Homer's heroes. First, his honor does not rest on Homeric values:
material goods are not important to him, and he seems rather indifferent to the
suffering of others, in particular Ophelia. Hamlet does have the
good opinion of others. He is of noble birth; wealth is not brought into question, but—
the sense that someone must be wealthy to be good does not apply to the play
Hamlet. Hamlet's honor rests instead on honoring his promise to his
father by avenging Old Hamlet's death: not on earning prizes and rewards. Hamlet is a
decent young man who becomes embroiled in the politics in court, wanting only to avenge
his father's dead.

Whereas Achilles has earned the label of
"hero" by accumulating material goods, there is some dissension as to whether he
is well-thought of. Hamlet, on the other hand, tries to be a man of
his word, especially in honoring his father's last request.