"Hamartia"
So I learned a new literary word this past week, and I love learning new words! So you get an info dump and thoughts on it: Hamartia. A word derived from Greek 'hamartanein', meaning to "miss the mark". Aristotle used the word in his work 'Poetics', where it became associated with character flaws OR errors in judgement that result in a character pushing the narrative to a cathartic, tragic end. Either for themselves, many, or the world. Greek tragedy is all about Fate, Pride, and divine intervention. Hm, yes, Pride. In Christian theology it is associated with the fall of man. Hm, the fall of man. Yes.
If hamartia doesn't sum up Solas's story from beginning to end perfectly... a tragic flaw (oh he's got a few!!), a tragic mistake (definitely made some of those, and one big one that made his people fall!). His whole life is a series of tragic circumstances, some self inflicted and others unintentional. They are balanced out somewhat by his good intentions. He cares about the suffering of others. He fights selflessly against slavery, tyranny, oppression. The little things that matter a lot to people personally matter to him (returning a ring, a phylactery, spreading ashes, genuine thought and connection). At his core he is a kind man. Even marred as he is by mental scars that result in prejudice and violence. He denies himself everything to pursue what he believes is right.
And yet his unwavering duty (Pride) to fix his tragic mistake is a tragic flaw. He is the downfall of his people and he will forever be tied to the potential destruction of the world. If he should falter to maintain the Veil with his life after VG, everything will come crashing down. His personal downfall and subsequent binding is the price to pay to try and prevent it for everyone else. And he only narrowly got there because our lovely RPG protags Rook and Inky and team were there to intervene (notexactlydivine intervention and fate). YES. There they are, all the Greek tragedy themes of hamartia. Fate, Pride, Intervention.
Ahh scrumptious literaly analysis ~
I think Hamartia should be the title of some artistic endeavor(s) re: Solas. The title of a large painting, or comic or a long fic. I must chew on this. Anyone else want to chew on it too?
