<P> A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy in drama . In his Poetics, Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be . Aristotle based his observations on previous dramas . Many of the most famous instances of tragic heroes appear in Greek literature, most notably the works of Sophocles and Euripides . </P> <P> In Poetics, Aristotle suggests that the hero of a tragedy must evoke a sense of pity or fear within the audience, stating that "the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity ." In essence, the focus of the hero should not be the loss of his prosperity . He establishes the concept that pity is an emotion that must be elicited when, through his actions, the character receives undeserved misfortune, while the emotion of fear must be felt by the audience when they contemplate that such misfortune could possibly befall themselves in similar situations . Aristotle explains such change of fortune "should be not from bad to good, but, reversely, from good to bad ." Such misfortune is visited upon the tragic hero "not through vice or depravity but by some error of judgment ." This error, or hamartia, refers to a flaw in the character of the hero, or a mistake made by the character . </P>

Which greek playwright set the standard for stories of tragic heroes