A Hero of Another Kind The tragic hero is usually not like an everyday person that is seen on the street. According to Aristotle's book, Poetics, four characteristics establish the essence of a tragic hero. This is very helpful in understanding why the tragic hero is a mediocre type of person. First of all the hero must belong to a distinguished family. Secondly he must be a-better-than average person. Next the hero must suffer from …showed first 75 words of 501 total…

…showed last 75 words of 501 total…she be miserable when her problem is gone. Although she did horrible things, she was relieved of troubles knowing Jason would not be happy. In the end, conclusion has it that Medea was certainly an atypical tragic hero. Medea does measure up to the four characteristics of a tragic hero, but not exactly in the usual ways a typical hero would. So it can be inferred that Euripides' Medea is a tragic and atypical hero.