The characteristics of tragic heroes in Aristotle’s Poetics were modeled on ancient Greek tragedies. However, tragic heroes are not only typical of Greek tragedies. Although not exactly in the same form as Aristotle’s tragic hero, they can be found in all literary eras from the Greco- Roman era, in which Aristotle lived, until today. Due to changes in society and the changes in the view of the human place in the world, the definition of a tragic hero has naturally changed since antiquity. The hero’s nature and traits are not the same as in these ancient times, but nevertheless the tragic hero remains an important feature of drama. Accordingly, that is also the case with English and American literature. The most popular writer of tragedies in English literature is undoubtedly Shakespeare. This paper discusses the character of Hamlet from The Tragical History of Hamlet Prince of Denmark as an archetype of a Shakespearean tragic hero typical of the Renaissance period. As for American literature, not many tragedies depicting the modern age of American growth and the concept of the American Dream have been written. However, although there is a discrepancy between ancient Greek worldview and that of modern times, the character of a tragic hero has survived in American literature. Based on the analysis of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman this paper attempts to prove the existence of the modern tragic hero and demonstrate the features and function of this character in the context of the modern world.