Antigone
Antigone Author: Sophocles
First Performance: c.441 BC, Athens
First English Translation: 1729
Genre: Greek trag. in verse
Setting: Thebes, mythical past
Cast: 4m, 3f, extras, chorus (m)
The sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, have killed each other in a battle over their inheritance. Since Eteocles died defending the city of Thebes, the new ruler Creon orders that he alone shall be accorded an honourable burial, while Polyneices' corpse is left to rot outside the walls of the city. Their mourning sisters Antigone and Ismene discuss this decree, Antigone resolving to defy Creon and bury Polyneices, while Ismene advises caution. Creon arrives with the chorus and justifies his decision. A guard comes with the news that Polyneices' body has been buried, and when he returns to the body, catches...
[The entire page is 504 words long]
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