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About Sophocles

Born about 496 B.C. at Colonus, a village just outside Athens, Greece

Born in a wealthy family, Sophocles had the privilege to study poetry, music, dancing, and gymnastics — subjects regarded as the basis of a well-rounded education for a citizen

His educational background prepared him to be involved in Athenian political and military affairs. He was appointed as one of the generals who headed the management of the treasury during the Peloponnesian War

Lived during the Classical Period (500 to 400 B.C.)

A time of transition for Greece, when political and cultural events were changing and shaping Athenian culture

Wrote more than 120 plays, but only seven complete tragedies survive. Of the rest, only some titles and fragments remain

Ajax, Antigone, Electra, Oedipus the King, The Trachinae, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus

Won first prize at the Festival of Dionysus 18 times, frequently over such competitors as Aeschylus and Euripides

Aside from being a playwright and contributing to public service, he even became a priest and served the god of healing and medicine named Asclepius.

“Sophocles Biography.” Cliffsnotes.com, 2015, www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/the-oedipus-trilogy/sophocles-biography. Accessed 4 Feb. 2024.

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The Oedipus Trilogy

“Antigone” is part of the Oedipus Trilogy alongside “Oedipus the King” and “Oedipus at Colonus”

Athens’ theater in the 5th century B.C. was a vital public experience that was simultaneously social, political and religious

Social: “an expression of public unity”

Political: It helped sustain and safeguard their cultural identity despite the presence of adversity and conflict

Religious: It originated from choral performances honoring Dionysus and served as a religious requirement

Sophocles’ plays were based on Greek mythology

There were no plot twists for the audience because everyone was aware of the myths. Instead, Sophocles’ tragedies captured the audience’s attention with a unique interpretation, appealing language, and dramatic irony.

Dramatic Irony: When the audience’s knowledge differs from that of the characters – In Antigone, the audience is aware that Antigone had buried her brother prior to the characters knowing about the same.

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Q&A

1. Both Creon and Antigone use extreme methods to accomplish their own version of justice. Can genuine justice exist without a strict devotion to the law, even if it appears harsh or cruel?

2. Ismene puts self-preservation over family responsibilities. Is there ever an absolute justification for disregarding family commitments, even if personal survival is at stake?

3. Creon's failure originates from his arrogance and inability to accept mistakes. Should leaders only keep power if they exhibit complete humility and acknowledge their mistakes at the first indication of dissent?

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Antigone by Sophocles

Berge believes that we tend to set up public order as a political device that enables us to control the harsh forces of nature that surround us

Law serves as an art of separation, a reductive tool that helps protect us from being overwhelmed by the endless complexity of human social life.

“A healthy understanding of law entails that we acknowledge that our relations to others are always already regulated by norms of action that we cannot control at will”

Creon suppresses the demands of the nether Gods, one-sidedly emphasizing his allegiance to the city and denying his obligations towards Polynices as a deceased member of his family

Berge claims that Creon’s constant fear of corruption should not merely be understood as a sign of dictatorial paranoia but also as a manifestation of his passionate attempts to save the civilized public order from a return to a state of nature that only knows of conflicting private interests.

Antigone not only denies the public rule of Creon as the only way out of chaos and misery but also Creon’s private position as the head of her household that she aims to defend

Berge also claims that Antigone’s intention to ‘lie with’ Polynices in excessive loyalty to her deceased brother borders on incestuous behavior. Additionally, he considers it equally transgressive that she disregarded her obligation to get married, move into her husband's home, integrate both families into society at large, and ensure their continuity through procreation.

Highlights our vulnerable position, whereby we must use the political and legal systems as rationalist tools that both advance and endanger us.

van den Berge, Lukas. "Sophocles’ Antigone and the promise of ethical life: tragic ambiguity and the pathologies of reason." Law & Humanities, vol. 11, no. 2, 2017, pp 205-227. EBSCOHost, doi:10.1080/17521483.2017.1362180. Accessed 04 February 2024.

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Setting of Antigone

Antigone is an Athenian tragedy-drama that is set in the city of Thebes, located at the very center of Greece.

Though set in a mythological distant past, literature studies concur that Antigone’s timeline is set within the founding of Thebes and then proceeds to the aftermath of the Theban-Spartan war, spanning from the years of 378 to 362 BC.

Time and place: the writer’s choice of picking a war-torn era, are integral and made necessary for the tragic impact of Antigone.