Antigone

Sophocles' masterpiece Antigone dramatizes the terrible series of events that results when patriotism clashes with familial duty - and hubris incites the wrath of the gods.

The sons of Oedipus have killed each other on the battlefield, but Thebes' new ruler, their uncle Kreon, decrees that only Eteokles will be granted a hero's burial; Polyneikes, who attacked his own city, is left to rot in dishonor. Their sister Antigone, enraged by the king's heartlessness, defies him by burying Polyneikes' body herself. That decision dooms her, and the consequences destroy Kreon's wife and son. A play that begins with a woman's defiance of a tyrant ends in the havoc caused by Eros, the god of love. A drama abounding with moral conundrums, Antigone is presented in an extraordinary new translation by Robert Bagg, modern in idiom while faithful to the original Greek. Ideally suited for reading, teaching, or performing, this is Sophocles for a new generation to discover and admire.