In Sophoclesis’s play Antigone, Antigone is represented as a tragic hero because she is tragically flawed, breaks the order of things, and at the climax of the tragedy, she recognizes the error of her ways.

To begin, Antigone is tragically flawed because she is haunted by the family curse and sentenced to death due to her stubbornness. When Creon asks Antigone if she was the one that buried Polynices body she answers with no regret, “I say I did it; I deny it not.” (Sophocles, 17) If Antigone was a little more rational towards the situation her life could have been spared. She should have tried to speak to Creon with more respect and then reason with him. The curse placed on Antigone made her lose all hope of living a peaceful life. Antigone believes that she has no reason to live, “For a light of late had spread o’er the last surviving root in the house of (Edipus; now the sickle murderous of the Rulers of the dead, and wild words beyond control and the frenzy of her own soul, again mow down the shoot.”(23) The meaning of this quote is that Antigone is destined to suffer a horrible fate due to the family curse. Due to the curse, Antigone has little hope in her survival. This is only one reason why Antigone is represented as a tragic hero.

In addition, Antigone is also considered a tragic hero because she breaks the order of things. She breaks the order of things by going against the Creon’s orders. The body of her dead brother was left outside to rot and no one is allowed to get near his body, “None may bewail, none bury, all must leave unwept, unsepulchred, a dainty prize for fowl that watch, gloating upon their prey!”(2)She feels that it is unfair for one brother to be buried and the other to get his burial rights denied and is left out in the open. Antigone also breaks the order of things by killing herself in an attempt to go against the curse. She knows that it is her destiny to die before it is her time, “And that I die before my hour is due, that I count again. For one who lives in many ills, as I-how should he fail to gain by dying? Thus to me the pain is light, to meet this fate ;.(34) Antigone knows that her fate has already been decided, but she still tries to go against it. This is the second reason why Antigone is resembled as a tragic hero.

Lastly, at the climax of the tragedy, she recognizes the error of her ways. Antigone realizes that she will miss many important things due to her punishment and the curse. She will die with many regrets in her life, “…never had I, even I been mother of children, or if spouse of mine lay dead and moldering, in the states despite taken this task upon me.”(34) Antigone will not be able to live her life in harmony. She and Haemon will not be able to marry. Since she is left in misery and regret, she decides to take her own life rather than die by the hands of Creon. This is the last reason why Antigone is considered a tragic hero.

To sum up, In Sophocles is play Antigone, Antigone is tragically flawed, she breaks the order of things, and recognizes the error of her ways, making her a tragic hero.