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Antigone (/ æ n ˈ t ɪ ɡ ə n i / ann-TIG-ə-nee; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is an Athenian tragedy written by Sophocles in (or before) 441 BC and first performed at the Festival of Dionysus of the same year.
Creon, Antigone's uncle and newly appointed King of Thebes, buries Eteocles, who fought on the Theban side of the war, hailing him as a great hero. He refuses to bury Polyneices, proclaiming that any who attempt to defy his wishes will be made an example of, on the grounds that he was a 'traitor' fighting on the opposing side in the war.
Creon's son Haemon, who was engaged to Antigone, commits suicide with a knife, and his mother Queen Eurydice also kills herself in despair over her son's death. She had been forced to weave throughout the entire story, and her death alludes to The Fates. [2] By her death Antigone ends up destroying the household of her adversary, Creon. [1]
A marble relief of a poet, perhaps Sophocles. Sophocles, the son of Sophillus, was a wealthy member of the rural deme (small community) of Hippeios Colonus in Attica, which was to become a setting for one of his plays; and he was probably born there, [2] [8] a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, but 497/6 is most likely.
In Sophocles' tragedy Antigone, Polynices' sister Antigone, in defiance of Creon's decree, tries to bury her brother, an action that leads to the deaths of Antigone, and Creon's son Haemon. [ 19 ] Athenian tradition held that Theseus , the king and founder-hero of Athens , either by force or negotiation, recovered the bodies of the Seven at ...
In Antigone, Creon is the ruler of Thebes. Oedipus's sons, Eteocles and Polynices, had shared the rule jointly until they quarreled, and Eteocles expelled his brother. In Sophocles' account, the two brothers agreed to alternate rule each year, but Eteocles decided not to share power with his brother after his tenure expired.
While Aeschylus wrote his play to end with somber mourning for the dead brothers, it now contains an ending that serves as a lead-in of sorts to Sophocles' play: a messenger appears, announcing a prohibition against burying Polynices; his sister Antigone, however, announces her intention to defy this edict.
He is also mentioned in Sophocles' play Antigone. [2] His mother, Eurydice of Thebes, kills herself after learning that her son Haemon and his betrothed, Antigone, had both committed suicide. She thrusts a sword into her heart and curses Creon for the death of her two sons: Haemon and Megareus. He is also called Menoeceus in some versions of ...