"Hamartia" comes from the Greek hamartanein, "to miss the mark," or less literally, "to sin, or to make a mistake." 

The Greek version, ἁμαρτία, first popped up in an English text in 1789 in reference to Aristotle, who used the term in his book Poetics, the oldest piece of writing we know of that deals with Greek drama. It seems that Aristotle suggested that, in the best tragedies, a good character will make a mistake that leads to his tragic, undeserved downfall. That mistake is his hamartia.

In other words, a hamartia is a tragic character's flaw or mistake that leads to their tragic ending.

More loosely, outside of the theater, a hamartia is somebody's flaw or mistake that causes them to fail by missing the mark or falling short somehow.

However, there's plenty of lively arguments among academics about what a hamartia really is. I've defined it here as a flaw or a mistake, which is closely in line with how Aristotle originally used it. But many people now use it to mean a character flaw, or a moral flaw: something that's really wrong with someone that causes them to fail.

In my opinion, both meanings are valid. Words do change; they do take on additional meanings over time. That's why I think it would be pretty fussy to insist that the newer meaning is wrong.

Part of speech:

It's a noun.

It can be the countable kind: "Pride was his hamartia." "She thinks she doesn't have a hamartia."

And the uncountable kind: "They wrote papers about hamartia."

Other forms: 

The plural noun is "hamartias."

how to use it:

Well, you might never get to!

But if one day you do find yourself in a situation where, as you're joking around or speaking in earnest, you need a rare, fancy, formal, academic word meaning "someone's flaw that leads to their downfall," then you've got "hamartia." 

You could talk about someone's hamartia, probably in fiction, but real life is game, too.

Take the grandfatherly pig Old Major from Animal Farm, for example; you could argue that his hamartia is quixoticism. How about Ferris Bueller? His hamartia is recklessness. Neither of those characters suffered a tragic downfall, though, so let me try again. Anakin Skywalker before becoming Vader: maybe his hamartia is that he's gullible, or greedy. Gollum: let's say his hamartia is his obsession with the ring. "Not his fault!" you say. I agree, but it still leads him to terrible choices and his own demise. A classic hamartia.

examples:

"Kennedy's ruthlessness and ambition, which are treated as the family's hamartia in Chappaquiddick, are swept under the rug of his compassion [in Bobby Kennedy For President]."
  — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 30 April 2018

"Speaking of pitching, the Sox must determine if at least one of their 'young' arms has the stuff to develop into a trustworthy No. 3 starter-type. The hardball hamartia of the Sox the last two seasons has been the rotation. No other element of the team greater embodies their lack of progress."
   — Christopher L. Gasper, Boston Globe, 27 March 2024

has this page helped you understand "hamartia"?

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Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "hamartia" without saying "flaw" or "downfall."

try it out:

Parodying Colin Powell, the former United States secretary of state, Alexandra Petri joked:

"Okay, America. Before you say anything: I know. I know what I said. I said it. 'Everything [Hillary Clinton] touches she kind of screws up with hubris,' I said. 'Not transformational,' I called her. 'Greedy,' I said. 'I would rather not have to vote for her,' I said... I tried, okay? All I did during Clinton's tenure at the State Department was constantly forward her Greek tragedies, just, like, daily... I would email her study guides saying 'What do you think Oedipus's hamartia was? What is your hamartia?' but when I saw her it was always difficult to work into conversation. Condoleezza Rice and I tried to start a book club but Hillary always claimed that she was busy traveling or dying of rare diseases or something."

Powell (or at least Petri) believed Clinton's hamartias to be hubris and greed. (Debatable! Don't come for me!)

With this in mind as an example, talk about someone in the public eye who, in your opinion, has a hamartia or two. You can use either the strict definition here ("an instance of an honest mistake") or the looser one that Petri is using ("a flaw of personality or morality").

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "It's That Thing..."

We'll play with some highly slangy, reasonably wholesome terms, courtesy of Urban Dictionary.

I'll give you three terms, and you attempt to define them. Scroll down to see the correct definitions, and give yourself a point for each term that you defined either correctly or believably.

Try these today:

1. DIwhy

2. Fauxductivity

3. Ouch potato

review this word:

1. The opposite of a HAMARTIA could be

A. a VICTORY.
B. a STRENGTH.
C. a JOURNEY.

2. Knowing the Greek origin of the word "hamartia," you won't be surprised to note that "hamartiology" is the study or doctrine of _____.

A. sin
B. peace
C. beauty

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. A From the game: Remember, even if you're wrong, give yourself a point for coming up with a believable definition! Here are the definitions that Urban Dictionary lists. 1. DIwhy: "when someone makes a really horrible DIY [do-it-yourself project] and shares it on the internet." 2. Fauxductivity: "pretending to be productive at work." 3. Ouch potato: "unpleasant sensation of standing up from couch after lying and watching TV for several hours."

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.