Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 241

Kitto, H. D. F. Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1954. Addresses types and elements of Greek tragedies, and compares Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Discusses problems with the early exit of Antigone and argues that she is more than “mere antithesis to Creon” who is “more than the stubborn fool who kills her.”

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Melchinger, Siegfried. Sophocles. Translated by David A. Scrase. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1974. Provides a biography of Sophocles and explains Greek theater, chorus, staff, and actors, as well as each scene of Antigone.

Oudemans, Th. C. W., and A. P. M. H. Lardinois. Tragic Ambiguity: Anthropology, Philosophy, and Sophocles’ “Antigone.” New York: E. J. Brill, 1987. Applies Greek theology to Antigone and explains separative and harmonizing interpretations. One chapter explicates each episode of the play, another, the Greek tragic elements. A thorough study.

Segal, Charles Paul. “Sophocles’ Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone.” In Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Thomas Woodward. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966. Focuses on the individuality of Creon and Antigone instead of, as many other studies do, on their contrasts and conflicts. Identifies aspects of Athenian democracy in the play.

Winnington-Ingram, R. P. Sophocles: An Interpretation. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Compares the common religious and political themes and plots of Sophocles’ extant plays. Compares Antigone and Creon, assuming that all of Sophocles’ plays focus on a hero who “suffers a wrong.” Sees Antigone as “no reasoner.”

Last Updated on April 27, 2020, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 379

Sources

Beacham, Richard C. "Antigone by Sophocles." The International Dictionary of Theatre, Vol. 1: Plays. Edited by Mark Hawkins-Dady. St. James Press, 1992, pp. 21-3.

Braun, Richard Emil, translator. Introduction. Antigone. By Sophocles. Oxford University Press, 1973, pp. 5, 12.

de Romilly, Jacqueline. "Drama in the Second Half of the Fifth Century: Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes." A Short History of Greek Literature. Translated by Lillian Doherty. University of Chicago Press, 1985, pp. 66-89.

Radford, Colin. "Antigone by Jean Anouilh." The International Dictionary of Theatre, Vol. 1: Plays. Edited by Mark Hawkins-Dady. St. James Press, 1992, pp. 23-4.

Saxonhouse, Arlene W. Fear of Diversity: The Birth of Political Science in Ancient Greek Thought. University of Chicago Press, 1992.

Steiner, George. Antigones. Oxford University Press, 1984.

Further Reading

Des Pres, Terence. "Creon's Decree." Praises and Dispraises. New York: Viking, 1988, pp. 3-16. Des Pres discusses Antigone's isolation in the play in terms that are political. He alludes to recent retellings of the story by Jean Anouilh and Bertolt Brecht.

Fox, Robin. "The Virgin and the Godfather: Kinship versus the State in Greek Tragedy and After." Anthropology and Literature. Edited by Paul Benson. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993, pp. 107-50. Fox presents an argument based on anthropology that Antigone's conflict has to do with kinship ties, not with contemporary notions of individuality.

Grey, Wallace. "Antigone." Homer to Joyce. New York: Macmillan, 1985, pp. 59-67. In this short article, Grey challenges traditional readings of Antigone, in particular those which stress the conflicts of individual vs. the state, religion vs. the state, natural law vs. the state, and man vs. woman.

Murnaghan, Sheila. "Sophocles, Antigone 904-920 and the Institution of Marriage." American Journal of Philology, Vol. 107, no. 2, pp. 192-207. Murnaghan discusses the controversial passage in which Antigone claims that what she does for her father's house she would not do for a husband's. Murnaghan suggests that Antigone's claim has to do with her blood ties to her father's house rather than exemplifying an act of self.

Segal, Charles. "Antigone: Death and Love, Hades and Dionysus." Greek Tragedy. Edited by Erich Segal. Harper & Row, 1983, pp. 167-76. Segal provides a reading of the mythic allusions to Persephone which the chorus uses in reference to Antigone's death at a young age. The critic also presents a reading of the play which shows the heroine confronting a politicization of burial.

Last Updated on May 5, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 83

Antigone was adapted for a film directed by Dinos Katsourides. Starring Irene Papas and Manos Katrakis, the production is in Greek with English subtitles, released by Ivy Film, 1962; available through Ingram International Films.

Antigone was re-adapted for the stage in 1987; available through Films for the Humanities & Sciences.

Antigone: Rites for the Dead is a dance interpretation of Sophocles's tragedy. A filmed version was directed by Amy Greenfield, with music by Glen Branca, Paul Lemos, Eliot Sharp, Diamanda Galas, and David Van Tiegham, 1991