Antigone:

Antigone to Ismene, li. 52:

"Will you lift up his body with these bare hands and lower it with me?"

Creon to all, li. 222-228:

"But as for his blood brother, Polynices, . . . --who thirsted to drink his kinsmen's blood and sell the rest to slavery . . .--a proclamation has forbidden the city to dignify him with burial."

Antigone to Creon, li. 503-504:

"Nor did I think your edict had such force that you, a mere mortal, could override the gods"

Creon to all, li. 1394-99:

"Ohhh, so senseless, so insane . . . my crimes, my stubborn, deadly--Look at us, the killer, the killed, father and son, the same blood--the misery! My plans, my mad fanatic heart, my son, cut off so young!"

Introduction

Antigone is the last of a trilogy of plays by Sophocles commonly known as the Theban or Oedipus trilogy, composed of tragedies all relating to King Oedipus of Thebes¹.  However, it is widely believed that Antigone was actually written and produced before the other two plays in the trilogy, making it one of the oldest Sophocles plays still in existence².  The basic conflict in the play is one of man’s laws versus nature’s laws.  Which ones take precedence?  Antigone is a very easily followed play because of this clearly defined conflict, and, as such, has become one of the more popular plays from its time period.  Adding to this popularity is the notion of how women were treated at this time in history, and how they did not enjoy the same privileges and rights that men posessed, making Antigone's actions that much more controversial¹.

Brief overview of characters:

Antigone-
    The play's namesake and the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, she sought     to give her brother Polynices a proper burial and is punished by her own         uncle for going against his edict.
Ismene-
    The sister of Antigone, Ismene does not take part in the burying of their         brother because she fears the consequences too greatly. 
Creon-
    The king of Thebes, having taken over the reign after dueling brothers             Eteocles and Polynices are both killed in battle.
Eurydice-
    Creon's wife.
Haemon-
    The son of Creon and Eurydice who was supposed to marry Antigone.
Tiresias-
    The blind prophet who repeatedly predicts Creon's downfall.

Background Information

Biography of the writer - Sophocles:

    Sophocles, born circa 495 B.C. to a wealthy merchant, was able to become fully immersed in all of the arts at a young age, presenting his first play at age 26 in the very competitive festival environment of the Theatre of Dionysus².  He would go on to produce over 120 plays during the following sixty-two years, although only seven of these are presently accounted for¹.  Memoirs written by one of Sophocles' contemporaries, Ion of Chios, document Sophocles' personality very well, allowing much to be learned about the great writer even 2500 years after his death³.

Historical Aspects of Antigone:

    Antigone was written and produced during an era of Athenian history in which an intellectual revolution had taken place, prompting a flurry of plays and other art forms that reevaluated and questioned traditions and standards that had been accepted for decades¹.  This can easily be seen in the main concept of the play, the heated conflict between the laws of nature and the laws of a mortal king.

    When reading the text of the play, it is useful to know in what context it was first presented to the people of Athens.  This can shape the way the play was first interpreted by its viewers.  In 438 B.C., Antigone made its debut at the festival of Dionysus Eleuthereus, a celebration of the god of the same name⁴. In Holt's discussion of the subject, he emphasizes that this festival is similar to a modern-day Mardi Gras, with audiences in a relaxed state and open to nontraditional concepts that they would otherwise flatly reject⁵.  So, it follows that Sophocles perhaps strategicly selected this venue and time for his play's first appearance in an attempt to ensure the audience would view his subject matter with a more open mind.

Cultural Significance of Antigone:

    The main conflict of Antigone is not one to be taken lightly.  It has been a battle that raged before Sophocles was born and, indeed, still rages to this day.  Whose laws should be followed?  Do the laws of nature or religion trump laws made by man? The crucial point in the play, when Antigone buries her brother in defiance of Creon's edict, was considered a civic defiance, but would ancient Athenians view it this way⁵?  Holt posits that an Athenian audience of Sophocles' time would not have that much of a problem with Creon's edict, because traitors were routinely and, according to the laws of the time, legally denied burial⁶.  
    Of course, Antigone did not share this view, desiring to preserve her own afterlife and following the cultural traditions of burial, regardless of the manner of death.  She believed she answered to a higher authority than a mortal like Creon and felt obligated to fulfill her role, as a surviving family member, of conducting the traditional practices of burial⁷.  We can see  that most of Antigone's cultural elements are directly related to the faith and beliefs of the time, with religious practices essentially dictating the culture.  Family is also of utmost importance in the play, acting as the defining point in one's life.  How you treated your family in life, and in death, defined who you were in the eyes of others as well as the gods⁷.
    So, the Antigone we're presented with in the play felt one way, but researchers tell us that the viewers of the play would likely not share this feeling.  Why then has the play and its central thesis persevered?  It is most likely due to sheer nature of the conflict itself.  Antigone is the underdog in a morality-based fight against a tyrant, something audiences have always been fascinated by¹.

Images

    
    Antigone (right) and Ismene ⁸      Tiresias (standing), the seer in the play ⁹                                                                                                
              
     A depiction of Antigone being caught after burying Polynices' body ¹⁰

Thesis Articles

Below you will find a collection of summaries of thesis articles which are relevant to this work. Please click the link corresponding to the article summary you wish to view. The original journal articles are also included for the reader's convenience and further exploration.

1. "Sophocles, Antigone 23-5 and the Burial of Eteocles" - C.W. Willink

2. "Similarities Between Antigone and Martin Luther King, Jr: 'An Unjust Law Is No Law At all'" - Lewis A. Sussman

3. "Polis and Tragedy in the Antigone" - Philip Holt

4. "Antigone's Changed Punishment: Gynaecology as Penlolgy in Sophocles' Antigone" - Frances B. Singh

Links

Feel free to browse the following links for more information related to Sophocles' Antigone:

http://www.freshwaterseas.com/plays/antigone/antigone.htm
- An abridged, modernized rendition of the play, complete with pictures of key scenes

http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/antigone.htm#text12
- An alternate translation of the text, with numerous footnotes

http://www.mechthildharkness.net/page/Antigone
- An interesting site documenting the solo performance of Antigone by Mechthild Harkness in the 1950s

http://www.loho10002.com/wordpress/?p=788
- A sidewalk rendition of the play, proving that anywhere can be a stage

http://www.spartanpride.org/webpages/djantziclark/files/family%20tree.doc
- This may help with understanding Antigone's ancestry

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/mandela.htm
- Talks about a 1960s rendition of Antigone, with Creon being played by the most unlikely person

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Sources

(1) Knox, Bernard M.W., and William G. Thalmann. "Sophocles." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Eds. Sarah Lawall and Maynard Mack. 2nd ed. Volume A. New York: Norton, 2002. 612-616­­­­.
(2) "Sophocles." Moonstruck Drama Bookstore. Date Unknown. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc1.htm.
(3) "Sophocles." Made in Atlantis. 2006. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from
http://madeinatlantis.com/athens/sophocles.htm.
(4) Tyrrell, William and Larry Bennett. "Sophocles' Antigone." Diotima: Women & Gender in the Ancient World. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from
http://www.stoa.org/diotima/anthology/ant/antigstruct.htm.
(5) "Antigone Study Guide." BookRags. 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-antigone/copy.html.
(6) Holt, Philip. "Polis and Tragedy in the Antigone." Mnemosyne 52.6 (1999): 658-690. Retrieved Apr 28, 2008 from EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete.
(7) Chamberlain, Stephanie. "'It's Best to keep the established laws': Antigone's Act of Cultural Conformity." Weber Studies 11.1 (1994). Retrieved May 3, 2008 from
http://weberstudies.weber.edu/archive/archive%20b%20Vol.%2011-16.1/Vol.%2011.1/
11.1Chamberlain.htm
(8) Photo retrieved from
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Images/aim/antigone2PR.jpg
(9) Photo retrieved from
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/
Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_063.jpg/
300px-Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_063.jpg
(10) Photo retrieved from
http://www.mainlesson.com/books/church/tragedians/zpage088.gif

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Credits

- Site designed by Drew Fichtel and LaToya Stevens for ENGL 2111 group project.
-  Information furnished by all members of the group - Drew Fichtel, LaToya Stevens, Jessica Averitt, and Sean Kennedy.