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I was going through Goodreads and found this quote

“Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

I thought it means behind every hero there is a story of his
struggle to become a hero.(efforts/hard work/sacrifices etc etc)

(1) Are there any hidden interpretation(s) to it?

(2) Reading more online I saw one site referencing it to the word Hamartia ?
Does it relate to Hamartia ? If so, how?

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  • I think it's just Fitzgerald's pithy conjunction of The bigger they are, the harder they fall and Whom the gods love die young. But this is Off Topic Lit Crit/invitation to discussion.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 19, 2013 at 21:40
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    Current answers seem to ignore Fitzgerald's interesting verb choice. The standard construction is, "Show me __, and I'll show you ___." This would fit people's answers that tragedy underlies all heros' stories. Fitzgerald, though, say he will "_write you a tragedy." This implies that the hero's story is not already tragic, but that it ought to be. Fitz. will complete the hero's narrative. Alternatively, all tragedies have heros and given a hero, Fitz. can write a tragedy. I am not set in either of these two but I think his verb choice matters.
    – Unrelated
    Commented Dec 19, 2013 at 22:39

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Hamartia specifically refers to an aspect of Greek tragedy in which the protagonist has a key flaw which leads to their downfall, such a hubris.

This sentence is more general. Fitzgerald is saying that heroism requires tragedy, that for someone to become a hero they must do so in the midst of, after, before or around a tragedy. Remember, he lived through world war one (though he never fought), so he would've heard his fair share of hero stories and tragedies as well. Knowing the few things I do about the guy, the sardonic tone of this quote makes me think he heard hero stories and tragedies told separately, and was pointing out that there's no way for them not to go together.

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I think it might mean that the best stories are based on characters.

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I think the idea is closer to "the bigger they are, the harder they fall." What makes for a good tragedy is the downfall of a heroic figure. Fitzgerald's own "Great Gatsby" is an ideal demonstration of this principle. The same characteristics that make Gatsby a heroic figure --his ambition, his passion, his larger-than-life exploits --are the same ones that destroy him.

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In my opinion, that quote makes me feel like: where all the glory lies, there is also a tragedy.

For example, in ancient wars, a hero might bring a victory to his or her people. But at what cost? If you asked the people who were defeated, you would get nothing but tragedies.

This is not only applied to wars. It can be applied universally, for there is always the other side of the same coin. And I think that this is what F. Scott Fitzgerald wanted to say.

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