An Exploration of Karna’s Last Days through the Prism of Aristotle's Hamartia

Abstract

Purpose: The Mahabharata by Vyasa and the Iliad by Homer both have a surfeit of Heroes. The two great heroes are Karna from the Mahabharata and Achilles from the Iliad. They have a few things in common as their lives are heavily influenced by fate. As fate is inescapable, they confronted their death head-on. The figures of Karna and Achilles stand out dramatically in both Indian and Greek mythology respectively casting everyone else in the gloom, thus making both the masterpieces incomplete without these heroes. Though these spartan heroes were invincible due to their origin, they lay their lives in Kurukshetra and Trojan wars respectively. They decided to be glorious despite knowing the fact that they would die in the battle. Few characters in the ancient literature have been drawn with such perfect skill and insight into human nature as Maharathi Karna, a character who has never been truly understood, has been continually misinterpreted despite the completeness, candor, and clarity of the amazing Epic in providing us with specifics of his existence. The most important aspect of his life narrative which is often overlooked or glossed over by modern writers which has far-reaching implications is that Karna was born out of wedlock and so cast away at birth. His adroitness and the values he lived and loved for standing him in good stead for a hero.

Design / Methodology/Approach: The paper is prepared by accumulating secondary data from educational websites and written articles. The study shall be carried out with the use of Research Journals, Scholarly Books, Doctoral Theses, and websites. This qualitative research is carried out by studying and interpreting the existing knowledge on the subject using the keywords “Karna”, “Epic”, “Tragic flaw”, “Battle”, “Loyalty” which are accessible in online articles, peer-reviewed journals, publications and a variety of related portals.

Findings/Result: Karna's entire life was spent trying to figure out who he was and to find an answer to the same. Karna's life also shows us how life is full of unrelenting choices; the options being limited. Friendship with someone who has aided at times of need and to whom one has sworn lifelong loyalty and friendship is admirable, but there must be a fine line drawn between this duty and other, more important responsibilities. Karna is, without a doubt, a figure who, in Aristotelian terminology, possesses the classical features of a tragic hero, as well as a figure with a great deal of literary potential. 

Originality/Value: This paper attempts to make a sincere study of Karna as a tragic hero under classical examples of Aristotle's ‘Hamartia’ where a hero wants to ‘Triumph’ but while doing so he commits an intentional error and ends up achieving exactly the opposite with disastrous results. The story of the life of Karna is pre-eminently great nevertheless fate and destiny played an unwarranted and calamitous game facilitating the reader of the Epic to identify himself or herself with the Tragic Hero.

Paper Type: Exploratory research paper.