Willy Loman as a Tragic Hero Willy Loman, the troubled father and husband in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," can be classified as a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle in his works, "Poetics." In Aristotle's text, a tragic hero was defined as one who falls from grace into a state of extreme unhappiness. Willy, as we are introduced to him, becomes increasingly miserable as he progresses from a dedicated, loving father, though not without flaws, into a suicidal, delusional man. The definition of a tragic hero, as stated in "Poetics," also describes a person who is influential and is of significance to other