The fight for the throne of Thebes between the two sons of
Oedipus, Polyneices and Eteocles, has ended. The brothers lie dead on
the battlefield. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has ordered that
Polyneices should remain unburied for having fought against his city.
However, the dead man’s sister, Antigone, resolves to honour him with a
proper burial. She is arrested and brought before Creon, who, in
accordance with the law, sentences her to death. The king refuses to
change his mind even after the intervention of his own son, Haemon, and
orders Antigone to be buried alive in a cave. However, the suffering
foreseen by the seer Tiresias will soon become a reality. The king’s
show of mercy comes too late to prevent disaster. Antigone has hanged
herself in her prison, Haemon has committed suicide, while Creon’s wife,
Eurydice, follows her son in killing herself.
Antigone was
probably first performed at the Great Dionysia festival of 442 BCE, and
was written by Sophocles as a response to the exile of Themistocles, the
victor of the Battle of Salamis. In Antigone, one of the finest works
of ancient Greek drama, the conflict between the moral law and the law
of the state reaches its peak, with the two protagonists unable to
escape the tragic fate that has been decreed for them.
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