The statement that best explains the role of the tragic hero archetype in literature is the second one: the tragic hero’s role is to experience a downfall due to a personal flaw.
Aristotle describes the role of the tragic hero in his Poetics. He states that the tragic hero is the main character of a tragedy, which also experiences a change of fortune from good to bad. For that reason, he is the one whom the audience ends up feeling pity for. According to Aristotle, this reversal of fortune is caused by a flaw in the character of the tragic hero. Hamartia is another term used to refer to the main character's error. Two characters that can be considered tragic heroes are Oedipus and Creon, which are part of Sophocles' plays.