文章目录
Podcasthamartia *n.* [Hah-mahr-Tee-uh]DefinitionDid You Know?ExamplesPodcast
hamartia podcast
hamartian.[Hah-mahr-Tee-uh]
判断错误；悲剧性的弱点
Definition
: a flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy: tragic flaw
：在悲剧中，导致英雄人物陨落的性格缺陷：同义词tragic flaw
Did You Know?
Hamartiaarose from the Greek verbhamartanein, meaning “to miss the mark” or “to err.” Aristotle introduced the term in thePoeticsto describe the error of judgment which ultimately brings about the tragic hero’s downfall. As you can imagine, the word is most often found in literary criticism. However, media writers occasionally employ the word when discussing the unexplainable misfortune or missteps of celebrities regarded as immortal gods and goddesses before being felled by their own shortcomings. For example, a writer forThe New Republicin an April review ofChappaquiddick(a movie about U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy) comments that “Kennedy’s ruthlessness and ambition, which are treated as the family’shamartiainChappaquiddick,are swept under the rug of his compassion.”
词源词根演化：hamartanein (Greek. “to miss the mark”, or “to err”) —> hamartia
Hamartia起源于希腊动词hamartanein，意思是“错过了路标”或者“犯错误”。亚里士多德在《Poetics》中引入了这个词，用来描述错误判断最终导致了悲剧英雄的陨落。所以你可以想象，这个词最经常出现在文学评论中。但是，流行媒体作者有时候也会使用这个词，用于讲述名门贵族由于自身缺陷导致的一些完全无法解释的过失或不幸灾难，在此之前，他们都被认为是不会陨落的男神或者女神。例如，《The New Republic》的一位作者在4月对Chappaquiddick（讲述美国参议院Ted Kennedy的电影）的评论中写道：“Kennedy的冷酷与野心，在电影中被认为是家族式的悲剧弱点，被他的热情掩盖了。”
注：bring about：导致；downfall：陨落，坠落；literary criticism：文学评论；employ：使用，利用，采用；misfortune：不幸，灾难；misstep：失足，过失；immortal：不会死的，永恒的；ruthlessness：无情，残忍，冷酷；sweep under the rug：忽略，否认，隐藏，掩盖
Examples
Greed was thehamartiathat ultimately brought down the protagonist.
贪婪是个悲剧性的弱点，最终导致了主角人物的陨落。
“Characters in Greek tragedies usually had a hamartia, or fatal flaw. Hubris, pride, presumption and arrogance were some of the chief character traits that brought down peasants and emperors alike.”
—Christine Barnes,The Tallahassee (Florida) Democrat, 6 May
希腊悲剧中的人物性格通常都带有一些悲剧性的弱点，即致命的缺陷。傲慢，骄傲，臆测或者自大都是主要人物的一些特征，这些特征在毁人方面，农民或者皇帝都一样。
注：hubris/pride/arrogance：自大，傲慢，骄傲；presumption：推测，可能性，冒昧，臆测，【法】推定
