Dec 28, 2009

Antigone | Antigone

At a glance:

Author: Sophocles
First Published: 441
Type of Work: Play
Type of Plot: Tragedy
Time of Work: Remote antiquity
Setting: Thebes
Genres: Drama, Mythological literature, Tragedy
Subjects: Mythology or myths, Suicide, Gods or goddesses, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Heroes or heroism, Prophecy or prophets, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people, Heads of state, Oracles, Tyrants or tyranny
Locales: Greece, ancient, Thebes, ancient

Characters Discussed

Antigone (an-TIHG-eh-nee), the daughter of Oedipus and sister of both Eteocles (who defends Thebes) and Polynices (an exile from the city who attacks it). After Eteocles and Polynices have killed each other in battle, Creon, Antigone’s uncle and now king of Thebes, decrees that Eteocles’ body shall be buried with honors befitting a national hero but that Polynices’ body shall be left unburied, a prey to scavengers. Divine law, Greek custom, and simple humanity demand, however, that Antigone see her brother buried; she must choose, therefore, between...

[The entire page is 830 words long]

Antigone | Antigone

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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