Act I

Late at night, guards on the battlements of Denmark's Elsinore

castle are met by Horatio, Prince Hamlet's friend from school. The
guards describe a ghost they have seen that resembles Hamlet's
father, the recently-deceased king. At that moment, the Ghost
reappears, and the guards and Horatio decide to tell Hamlet.

Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, married Hamlet's recently-widowed

mother, becoming the new King of Denmark. Hamlet continues to
mourn for his father's death and laments his mother's lack of loyalty.
When Hamlet hears of the Ghost from Horatio, he wants to see it for
himself. 

Elsewhere, the royal attendant Polonius says farewell to his

son Laertes, who is departing for France. Laertes warns his sister,
Ophelia, away from Hamlet and thinking too much of his attentions
towards her. 

This above all: to thine own self be true.

— HAMLET, ACT 1 SCENE 3

The Ghost appears to Hamlet, claiming indeed to be the ghost of his

father. He tells Hamlet about how Claudius, the current King and
Hamlet's uncle, murdered him, and Hamlet swears vengeance for
his father. Hamlet decides to feign madness while he tests the truth
of the Ghost's allegations (always a good idea in such situations). 

similarity between Aristotle’s notion of tragic hero with Hamlet is the element of
anagnorisis. Anagnorisis is defined as the point in the plot especially of a
tragedy at which the protagonist recognizes his or her or some other
character's true identity or discovers the true nature of his or her own situation
(Anagnorisis, 2017). The recognition changes one from ignorance to
knowledge and the recognition is associated with a close relationship; like
friendship, camaraderie and brotherhood, or enmity. (Aristotle & Heath, 1996).
An example of anagnorisis can be seen in Oedipus, a Greek tragic hero who
discovers that he murdered his own father instead of a stranger like what he
initially thought. This situation resembles Hamlet’s when he discovers the truth
of his father, Old Hamlet’s death through the Ghost. Hamlet discovers and
recognizes that his father was killed by his own uncle, Claudius. Upon
discovering the truth, Hamlet develops enmity towards Claudius and swears to
kill Claudius to avenge his father’s death.

gaining knowledge

The hero must achieve a kind of revelation or recognition (anagnorisis) about destiny or
the will of the gods, what Aristotle called “a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond
of love or hate. ” These are all characteristics that make an ideal Greek tragedy.

anagnorisis (also from the Greek) refers to a moment when a character discovers an important
piece of information.
...is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery. like this.

Anagnorisis is the recognition by the tragic hero of some truth about his or her identity or
actions that accompanies the reversal of the situation in the plot, the peripeteia.

It can refer to someone's discovery of his own character or insight into the character of
another character. It is powerful in that it can bring about a "peripety" that brings about a
sudden turn of events.

In Hamlet, we see this in the combined plot development surrounding the Ghost and Claudius,
and Hamlet's discovery of what his uncle has done.

The spirit tells the prince of Denmark that he was murdered and by none other than his own
brother; we could take this as the prince’s moment of recognition, when, in a way, his whole
destiny changes. He now has a new purpose in life, to avenge his father’s death. The bond of
love and affection he felt for his uncle is now completely distorted and turned into pure
hatred, anger and a thirst for revenge.

 There is an antagonist – a character in place to amplify the effects of their tragic

flaw.