Antigone (Sophocles)

Name: Antigone (Sophocles)
Rating: 3.6467391304347823 (184 reviews)
Author: Edward Alexander
ISBN: 9798393254292

by Edward Alexander, Sophocles

3.6

(184 ratings)

240 pages2023Independently publishedISBN 9798393254292

Drama Art History Science Science Fiction

About this book

In the aftermath of a brutal war, the city of Thebes is in chaos. When the new king, Creon, declares that the body of Antigone's traitorous brother must be left unburied to rot in the sun, she boldly defies his order - an act of rebellion which sets in motion the tragic showdown between the daughter of Oedipus and the king. Sophocles' timeless tragedy explores the conflict between individual will and the power of the state, between the gods of the hearth and the polis, between loyalty to family and to fatherland. With themes of morality, justice, and duty at its core, Antigone stands among the crowning achievements of European literature, as compelling today as in the age of Periclean Athens. Edward Alexander's masterful verse translation is accompanied by an extensive essay detailing the themes of Antigone and its relationship to Athenian history, the Homeric epics, and Ancient Greek religion. Also included in this edition is the full play in the original Greek.

Publication Details

Publisher: Independently published
Published: 2023
Pages: 240
ISBN: 9798393254292
Language: en

About Edward Alexander

Sophocles (circa. 496 BCE - 406 BCE) was the second of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived to the present day. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than those of Euripides. According to the Suda, a 10th century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 120 or more plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form, namely Ajax, Antigone, Trachinian Women, Oedipus the King, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost 50 years, Sophocles was the most-awarded playwright in the dramatic competitions of ancient Athens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. Sophocles competed in around thirty drama competitions; he won perhaps twenty four and never received lower than second place. Aeschylus won fourteen competitions and was defeated by Sophocles at times. Euripides won only four competitions.