Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Read Book* *Different edition

Antigone

(The Theban Plays #3)

Sophocles,

J.E. Thomas (Translator)

3.67 · Rating details · 126,155 ratings · 3,882 reviews

The curse placed on Oedipus lingers and haunts a younger generation in this new and brilliant translation of Sophocles' classic drama. The daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Antigone is an unconventional heroine who pits her beliefs against the King of Thebes in a bloody test of wills that leaves few unharmed. Emotions fly as she challenges the king for the right to bury her ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 80 pages

Published December 1st 2005 by Ingram (first published -441)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Antigone, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once

26,175 books — 103,146 voters

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Greek Mythology

495 books — 536 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.67 ·

Rating details

· 126,155 ratings · 3,882 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3)

Feb 22, 2009 Peggy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, tragedy

Suck on that, Creon. They named the play after her.

flag 809 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology, academic, 05th-century-bc, ancient, drama, plays, classics, literature

Ἀντιγόνη = Antigone, Sophocles

Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 441 BC. It is the third of the three Theban plays chronologically, but was the first written.

The play expands on the Theban legend that predated it and picks up where Aeschylus' Seven Against Thebes ends. In the beginning of the play, two brothers leading opposite sides in Thebes' civil war died fighting each other for the throne.

Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has decided that Eteocles will be honored and Po ...more

flag 237 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2018 İntellecta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

This drama highlights the differences between state and divine law. Especially interesting is the language. Sophocles has done very well to portray this conflict. Even after 2500 years still a worth reading, profound text.

flag 195 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2016 Sean Barrs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-greece, classics, penguin-l-b-c, plays, 5-star-reads

Antigone is a real heroine; she stands up for what she believes in. She was faced with a strong dilemma. The law of man, the word of her uncle the king, demands that her brother's body remains unburied in the open with no funeral rights, to be savaged by animals. For King Creon, this is a symbolic justice for a traitor and a rebel, but the laws of the God’s, and the ruling of Antigone’s own mind, demands that she gives him libations (death rights) that all men deserve. She buries the body and fa ...more

flag 169 likes · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2015 Hannah Azerang rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was a reread for me.

The first time I read this play was in my sophomore year or high school and I remember liking it but I LOVED it this time around.

It's fabulous and now I want to read the rest of the Theban plays. ...more

flag 136 likes · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2021 Luís rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: g-classics, g-plays, g-fantasy, greece, g-young-adult, e-5-favourites

Of all the Greek theatre, few works remain. Antigone is one of the most famous short pieces we still have. It is deserving: this tragedy is a powerful, deep, immense, great work: you had to be Sophocles to do this to us. It's enormous; it's beautiful, it's intense! ...more

flag 123 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2017 Kenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, theatre, greek, scripts

"Your soul is blowing apart."
The chorus in Anne Carson's translation of
Sophocles ANTIGONE

I love Antigone. I think it is one of the very best of the Greek tragedies ~~ no one of the very best of all tragedies ever written.

Random thought ~~ I suspect there is a play that is part of this cycle that is missing ~~ a play that focuses on the brothers.

This review will not focus on the play itself, but on the wonderful translation by Anne Carson.

Anne Carson is a poet. She is a wordsmith in the highest ...more

flag 117 likes · Like · see review

May 05, 2019 Dave Schaafsma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: plays

11/21/21: I recently saw a production of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus who defied King Creon to bury her brother, knowing that to obey divine law in this moment was the right and just thing to do. It's a little complicated from her on in, but what follows is a review of a kind of adaptation of the Antigone story set in Nazi Germany. Antigone is about family, pride and its difference from arrogance, about the assumption of political (and male) dominance, and about love. I reflect in the follo ...more

flag 96 likes · Like · see review

Sep 05, 2016 James rated it really liked it

Shelves: 3-written-pre-20th-century, 3-multi-book-series, 1-fiction

Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to Antigone, the third in a trilogy of Theban plays written around 441 BC (yes, almost 2500 years ago) by Sophocles. In my junior year of high school, our Advanced Placement English teacher assigned all three Theban plays. This is a mini-review on the final one, Antigone, which was my second favorite -- Oedipus Rex was of course, my favorite. In this Greek tragedy, Antigone, Oedipus Rex's daughter, fights to have a proper burial for her brother. She is str ...more

flag 69 likes · Like · see review

Oct 28, 2021 Sofia rated it it was amazing

Antigone is surprisingly insightful and beautiful. The Odes were especially stunning. Antigone is a bold, daring character and I respect her humor and strength 🙇‍♀️
Shakespeare? No. Sophocles? Yes.

flag 44 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2010 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classic

Antigone is a strong contender in the Plays That Keep You Awake at Night competition. The background of the story reads, no surprise, like a Greek tragedy: Antigone is the orphaned daughter of Jocasta and Oedipus (the mother and father/brother team from Oedipus Rex) who has now lost both her brothers as well — they killed each other fighting over who got to rule Thebes. Uncle Creon, the new king, decreed that the “traitor” brother is to go unburied. The conflict is that Antigone plans to ignore Antigone is a strong contender in the Plays That Keep You Awake at Night competition. The background of the story reads, no surprise, like a Greek tragedy: Antigone is the orphaned daughter of Jocasta and Oedipus (the mother and father/brother team from Oedipus Rex) who has now lost both her brothers as well — they killed each other fighting over who got to rule Thebes. Uncle Creon, the new king, decreed that the “traitor” brother is to go unburied. The conflict is that Antigone plans to ignore Creon’s decree and bury her brother anyway, while Creon says if she does, he’ll have her killed.

While the conflict seems simple enough, it involves two competing arenas, political and religious. Politically, Antigone represents the aristos, the old ruling families, who aren’t as loyal to law as they are to their own families, and Creon represents the demos, or the voting masses, whose primary focus is the interest of the state and the rule of law. In the religious arena, Antigone wants to honor the gods’ laws by burying her brother, while Creon ignores the gods’ laws in favor of his own decrees. So who’s right? What is the balance of power between individuals and the state? The laws of man and the laws of gods? Governing with firmness and listening with reason?

The good news is that Sophocles gives each character a leg to stand on, but only one. Antigone is right to honor the gods’ laws but wrong to disobey the king’s decree, and Creon is wrong to disregard the gods’ laws but right to expect the laws of the land to supplant individual wishes. I’m guessing Sophocles would argue that the play’s success comes from the tension between these ideas as played out by two flawed characters. On the one hand, Antigone is a strident vigilante who doesn’t care that she’s breaking the law. And on the other hand, Creon is an insecure blowhard who doesn’t care that he’s breaking custom and the will of the gods by leaving his nephew’s corpse to be eaten by birds. Neither character is easy to side with, but each has a point.

However, the bad news is that Sophocles clearly sides with Creon — through the airtime he gives Creon (far more than he gives Antigone), through the chorus’s support (who are supposed to state the opinion of the audience), and through the plot itself, which gives Creon the realization of his mistakes and the cathartic “Woe is me” ending. Creon, not Antigone, follows the tragic hero trajectory. Antigone’s real tragedy is simply that she’s a member of a spectacularly dysfunctional family. While the plot vindicates Antigone’s position, Sophocles undermines her character at every turn, and for some reason this drives me bonkers. Obviously nobody would read Pride and Prejudice and **SPOILER ALERT** say, “Poor Wickham got short shrift! Jane Austen was clearly in the bag for Darcy. How unfair!” because those characters exist only as the author created them. Wickham is a scoundrel because Jane Austen created a scoundrel. However, the characters in this play existed before Sophocles and therefore outside Sophocles, so I don’t think I’m a lunatic for being irritated that Sophocles was manipulative in his treatment of them. In his real-life zeal to promote the interest of the polis, Sophocles weakens Antigone’s position by characterizing her as imbalanced and unnatural, which makes the didactic focus of the story political. That was his point, and in keeping with Greek tragedy of the 5th century BC, but it still irks me.
...more

flag 40 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2015 Sara rated it really liked it

Shelves: drama, classics, tragedy, plays

I first read Antigone when I took a course in college dedicated to the early Greek plays. I find it weathers well, but then that should be no surprise since it has already weathered more than 2000 years.

Twice I was taken by the presence of phrases we still use commonly today. Is this the possible first use of “bit the dust”?

Here, there, great Ares like a war horse wheeled;
Beneath his car down thrust
Our foemen bit the dust

And this of “stand your ground”?

Such a man would in the storm of battle st ...more

flag 43 likes · Like · see review

May 06, 2012 David Sarkies rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Lovers of Greek Tragedy

Recommended to David by: David Hester

Shelves: tragedy

The family or the state
6 May 2012

This is probably the closest of all of the Greek tragedies to a Shakespearian tragedy. This is due to the end of the play having a huge bodycount and the action of the play is driven by one person's fatal flaw (not that I actually believe in the fatal flaw argument, but that is beside the point). However it is not Antigone who has the fatal flaw in this play but rather Creon, the king of Thebes. Unfortunately we cannot really look to Oedipus at Colonus to see th The family or the state
6 May 2012

This is probably the closest of all of the Greek tragedies to a Shakespearian tragedy. This is due to the end of the play having a huge bodycount and the action of the play is driven by one person's fatal flaw (not that I actually believe in the fatal flaw argument, but that is beside the point). However it is not Antigone who has the fatal flaw in this play but rather Creon, the king of Thebes. Unfortunately we cannot really look to Oedipus at Colonus to see the beginning of Creon's downfall because this play is not the final part of a trilogy, at least in the Aeschylan sense of a trilogy, though it is noticeable that when the copyists chose seven plays of Sophocles to preserve for posterity three of the Theban plays were kept which in a sense formed a trilogy, and in this trilogy we see Creon go from being a loyal servant of Oedipus to a ruthless tyrant that believes that he is the state and that his words are not to be disobeyed.

First I will discuss the term Harmatia, which is Aristotelian in origin, at least from his text on drama (The Poetics). I shall also look at the action of the play and finish off by discussing the main theme, which is the struggle between loyalty to one's family and loyalty to one's state. Well, no, I will finish off by looking at Creon's character, and how his actions bring about such a sticky end.

The concept of Harmatia is regularly found in the Bible where it has been translated into our word sin. Now, as I think about the concept of Harmatia I am somewhat torn between suggesting that Harmatia and sin are two different ideas, or that our modern understanding of sin does not exactly weigh with how the modern church translates and preaches it. The modern church preaches sin as being rebellion against God (of which we are all guilty), and then goes on to bombard us with what constitutes sin. However, to the Greeks, or at least to Aristotle, Harmatia is a fatal character flaw. Now that concept does not alienate sin because sin, in an of itself, is a fatal character flaw that we have inherited from Adam and Eve. This fatal character flaw of ours is our desire to live independently, and we see this more and more as we meet with people and associate with them. I also see it rampant throughout the church as people try to push God into a box and tell him what sin is rather than letting him demonstrate sin to them.

I say this because the list of sins seems to get longer and longer and we, as humans and those of us who call ourselves Christian, seem to think that sin is made up of our actions as opposed to our desire to rule ourselves. I guess the best explanation is that our actions, especially our selfish actions, are merely a symptom of this character flaw of ours. The Bible is correct when it says that the wages of sin is death, because as we see, especially in Antigone, that Creon's Harmatia leaves him desolate and alone, and as he says from his own lips, it is as if he were dead. Now, the Greek concept of death, the absence of life, and the removal of ourselves from this world, is somewhat different to the Biblical concept of death. In fact our modern understanding of death is more in line with the Grecian view. However the biblical view is that death is more to do with the break down of our relationships, particularly our relationship with God, than it is with the absence of life. To the Bible life is defined by relationships, and when we drive our relationships apart we are little more than dead. In fact it has been suggested that higher suicide rates occur among truly lonely people than it does among people who are surrounded by friends. That, though, is only speculation. However, consider this: even when we are surrounded by friends we can still be alone, especially if these so called friends of ours only seek us out for company and, in their self centred view of the world, seek to only have us by their side to make them feel good and important than really doing anything that is remotely friendly.

Now, the play itself is set after the Theban war, where Etocles and Polyneices killed each other after Polyneices attacked Thebes with his army to remove his brother and set himself up as king. Creon, by default, becomes king and his first order of business is to give Etocles a state funeral while leaving the body of Polyneices exposed. To be exposed was the worst thing that you could do to a corpse in the Ancient Greek world. A proper burial meant that you would at least have a half decent afterlife, while being exposed suggests that you would be left wondering the earth as a ghost, and a tormented one at that. Antigone, the sister of Polyneices, is horrified at this and seeks to bury him, much to Creon's displeasure, so he orders her executed. However the play is not as simple as that because Creon's son is in love with Antigone, and when he finds her dead, he kills himself, and in a fit of grief over the death of her son, Creon's wife also kills herself.

Now one of the main themes that comes out of this play is the struggle between one's loyalty to the state and one's loyalty to one's family and the dilemma that one will face when the state passes a law of which you do not approve. The question that is raised is: do you dishonour the state by breaking the law and honouring your family, or do you dishonour your family by upholding the law even when the law is unjust. In a way, there was nothing wrong with Creon's law, since Polyneices was a traitor, and treachery is seen as one of the worst crimes to commit (even today, though the definition of treason has become very ambiguous in the globalised, interconnected world). However, he was still family, and not only that, Etocles' ascension to the throne was dubious at best. The entire war was not so much about a deposed monarch seeking reinstatement, but rather a family quarrel between two brothers.

We still face these dilemmas today, though not to the same extent. The question of whether the drug laws are just is one of them (and I do believe that they are, even though they can be considered to be an outworking of the Nanny State). While it is true that people should be left to make their own decisions, we demonstrate time and time again that we are actually not capable of doing so, therefore the state actually does need to step in to protect us from ourselves. Then there is the war that the state embarks on that many members of the state disapprove of, and as a loyal soldier to the state, do you obey the state by embarking on a quasi-legal adventure, or do you uphold your morals by refusing, and face punishment or even gaol.

Creon mentions a number of times that he, as the king, is the state, and thus his laws are to be obeyed. However, ironically enough, the Chorus objects to this. Now the Chorus does play an important role in Greek tragedy, and usually represents what the Greeks call the 'Oklos', or the crowd. Crowd is actually a rather bad translation as my understanding of the Oklos is that it is a crowd that acts as a single entity and has a single mindset. Now, this is not always the case in Greek tragedy as at times the Chorus will split and then argue with itself, in a way representing division amongst the people. It is a shame that we do not actually see Choruses in plays any more (or not playing a major role as they did in Greek drama).

Now Creon, having become king, has pretty much become corrupted by power. Yet I am not entirely convinced that it is corruption at such an early stage of his reign. In a way, he is the new king, and he wants to stamp his authority on the city, or, as the Greeks called it, the Polis (I won't go into details of the meaning of this word as I have already spent too much time translating Oklos). For him to be disobeyed will suggest that he does not actually have the character to be a king. A king that is not obeyed and not respected is not actually a king because he has no authority. As such Creon wants to make sure that his authority sticks so when this law is broken he is forced to act. However, he is not caught in a dilemma deciding whether it is right to punish Antigone or not - he has already made up his mind, set the path that he wants to travel, and travels down it. However, it ends very, very badly for him, and this is emphasised at the conclusion when the prophet Tiresieus arrives and passes on the message from the gods. He has acted against the proper way and is now to be punished and there is no way to escape from it.

I recently watch a production of this play and have written blog post on some of the ideas that came out of this production. ...more

flag 34 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2019 Sara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, mythology, fiction, plays-poetry, translated

I really enjoyed this. It’s easy to read (minus a few of the long chorus paragraphs), and Antigone is the heroine of Greek tragedies I never knew I needed. She’s got a backbone, a level of principles high above those around her, and she’s not afraid of anyone. Least of all King Creon. Honestly, she’s so ahead of her time, I did not expect the high levels of sass I got while reading this, and it’s surprisingly funny in places too. The overall short length stopped this getting too ‘bogged down’ to ...more

flag 33 likes · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2014 Jennifer (Insert Lit Pun) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: western-canon-starter-kit

Wait, no, THIS is my favorite of the Oedipus cycle. My love is fickle. How did I not remember how good this was? The extended speeches are just as incredible as those in the other two plays, but what Antigone has over them is lightning-quick back-and-forth arguments that made my heart pound just from how good they were. I’d also forgotten how interesting the character of Antigone is (she milks that walk to her death for everything it’s worth), and how much Sophocles plays with gender stereotypes ...more

flag 31 likes · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2021 Tamoghna Biswas rated it it was amazing

**4.5 stars**

“A man, though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.”

The conclusive note to the three plays, it kind of makes you feel a bit desolate, deep down. If you think about it, you can find the impression of this play in particular on several of Shakespeare’s plays. To voice back pessimism, Tiresias is also back from Oedipus Rex, and this time we can’t suspect him of antagonism. However, what may strike as a bit odd is the almost null involvement of E **4.5 stars**

“A man, though wise, should never be ashamed of learning more, and must unbend his mind.”

The conclusive note to the three plays, it kind of makes you feel a bit desolate, deep down. If you think about it, you can find the impression of this play in particular on several of Shakespeare’s plays. To voice back pessimism, Tiresias is also back from Oedipus Rex, and this time we can’t suspect him of antagonism. However, what may strike as a bit odd is the almost null involvement of Eteocles in the entire tale, given he has one of the pivotal roles in the happenings of the play.

The play sets in motion a tragic collision between opposed laws and duties: between human-enforced and transcendental commands which both claim to dictate the burial of the dead and the secular edicts of a ruler determined to restore civic order, between family allegiance and private conscience and public duty and the rule of law restricting personal liberty for the sake of general benevolence. Like the proverbial immovable object meeting an irresistible force, Antigone tries, by hook or by crook, to arrange the impact of the seemingly irreconcilable conceptions of rights and responsibilities, producing an enduring illumination of human nature and condition.

And I can’t but agree more with Victor Hanson and John Heath, when they wrote:

“Within this single drama—in great part, a harsh critique of Athenian society and the Greek city-state in general—Sophocles tells of the eternal struggle between the state and the individual, human and natural law, and the enormous gulf between what we attempt here on earth and what fate has in store for us all. In this magnificent dramatic work, almost incidentally so, we find nearly every reason why we are now what we are.”

And I’m glad for the former acts of Haemon. It takes something serious to stand against a tyrannical king, especially if it’s his father. Though in the end… (I remembered Chester Bennington)

“It is not right if I am wrong. But if I am young, and right, what does my age matter?” ...more

flag 26 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2017 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: family, fiction, literature, mythology, parenting, one-for-the-ages, translated, series, classics, greece

I am not well-schooled in tragedies--the Greek tragedies, that is--but when I learned that one of the books I intended to read for the Man Booker award this year was based on the story of Antigone, I thought now was a good time to have a look.

This is the first I have encountered of the play, I loved it. It is filled with terrific emotion and common responses to tragedy, as well as wisdom unbound. The personalities are strong and salty...and act on their promises.

Those of you who know the story w ...more

flag 27 likes · Like · see review

Sep 10, 2014 Jonfaith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: the_plays_the_thing

Owen Bennett Jones recently wrote on the Islamic State in the LRB. "Every time a Jihadi movement has won power it has lost popularity by failing to give the people what they want: peace, security and jobs." When I read that I thought about poor King Creon. I have always felt disturbed by the vice of fate in this play which steadily traps and crushes. It was Creon's hubris which caught my attention this time. Doesn't he have a mandate? I imagine him simply incredulous. Why this dissent? Subsequen ...more

flag 25 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2014 Liz Janet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.”

I have always found this play, and any of Sophocles’ tragedies, as comedies. Apparently I have a very bad sense of humour. But there is nothing more hilarious in literature than poetic justice. It is not as funny as Oedipus Rex, but it is quite funny still, since Antigone sticks it up to Creon. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, and she has also now lost h ...more

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2017 Paul Fulcher rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017

I read this in preparation for reading Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie from this year's Man Booker longlist.

And I read in a different translation to the edition shown here, one sticking more literally to the original Greek, including not translating terms where it felt there was no satisfactory equivalent. This was important in clarifying some of the key themes, but rather puts the onus of interpretation back on the reader (and this reader is no expert in ancient Greek philosophy).

A number of things ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

May 11, 2009 Cassandra Kay Silva rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-of-antiquity, theatre

This was of course some of the most fluid and beautiful writing I have come across in a long time. I have wanted to read this play for years and finally ran across a copy of it. The words were an absolute song and the bits by the choir thrown in were terribly fun to act out in your mind. I would love to see this on stage. I am not sure if the plot was exactly my favorite but the words alone were enough to rock me into a happy lull of entertainment and contentment.

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

Aug 29, 2021 Michelle Curie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: little-black-classics, plays, mythology

This is Greek mythology at its best – powerful, heroic and dramatic. It's a beautiful story full of strong characters and inspiring actions.

Antigone is the headstrong daughter of Oedipus, who breaks the law and defies her uncle, King Creon, by burying and honouring her slain brother. When the king finds out, he's less than pleased and questions of morality, honesty and justice arise.

Antigone is the perfect heroine. Not only is she strong willed, but a woman who is brave enough to question auth ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2020 Vesna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: translated, read-in-2020-classics, classics, plays

This is a complex drama, there is no single protagonist (despite the title and the attractiveness of Antigone for modern reinterpretations), but two antagonists, Antigone and Creon. Fagles' translation captures the nuances that lend themselves to accessible interpretation. The conflict is multi-faceted and as relevant today as in Sophocles' times: individual rights vs. the state, women's subservient status in the society (like Chrysothemis in Electra, Isomene serves as a foil to Antigone for the ...more

flag 16 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2021 saïd rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: théâtre, grèce, translation_talk, sophokles

This review is of the translation by Diane J. Rayor.

Diane J. Rayor's translation is excellent, probably one of the best available. The appeal of this translation as opposed to others is its stage presence, so to speak; the introduction gives an excellent analysis of the play, the notes are (as promised) comprehensive, and director Karen Libman's essay elaborates on the topic of staging. Rayor adds stage directions not present in the original, a type of addition which usually bothers me, but it c This review is of the translation by Diane J. Rayor.

Diane J. Rayor's translation is excellent, probably one of the best available. The appeal of this translation as opposed to others is its stage presence, so to speak; the introduction gives an excellent analysis of the play, the notes are (as promised) comprehensive, and director Karen Libman's essay elaborates on the topic of staging. Rayor adds stage directions not present in the original, a type of addition which usually bothers me, but it certainly helps the presentation of the play's translation as it was intended for being performed.

As an example of Rayor's actual translation, here's her rendition of the opening dialogue, spoken by Antigone herself:

ANTIGONE
My dear heart, Ismene, more than blood-sister,
is there even one thing from the evils of Oedipus
that Zeus doesn't inflict on the two of us still living?

And the original Greek:

ἈΝΤΙΓΌΝΗ
ὦ κοινὸν αὐτάδελφον Ἰσμήνης κάρα,
ἆρ᾽ οἶσθ᾽ ὅ τι Ζεὺς τῶν ἀπ᾽ Οἰδίπου κακῶν
ὁποῖον οὐχὶ νῷν ἔτι ζώσαιν τελεῖ;

And a literal word-for-word translation:

O / own / same-womb[1] / Ismene / head[2],
so, then / you know / which / thing / Zeus / the / from, as a result of / Oedipus / bad
of what kind / not / we two / yet / exist / telos[3]?

This is a very solid translation. Rayor gives us "more than blood-sister" for αὐτάδελφον, which is close enough, and "dear heart" for ὦ ... κάρα, which, while not technically accurate,[2] conveys the same meaning.

[1] From αὐτός (self, same) + δελφῡ́ς (womb); ἀδελφή is sister: ᾰ̔- (copulative a) + δελφῡ́ς (womb), i.e., "from the same womb." The word δελφῡ́ς is also the origin of Δελφοί (Delphoi).
[2] The word κᾰ́ρᾱ means "head, face"; it can also refer to the top of anything (i.e., a mountain or skull) or a person (metonymy, in the same sense as headcount). Metaphorically it has the same meaning as Modern English "heart" (i.e., "my heart" referring to a loved one). The French word chère is a direct descendant (via Old French chiere) of Latin carus (beloved), as is the English cheer. The Latin cerebrum (brain) is a cognate.
[3] The word τέλος roughly means "aim" or "goal," but has a multitude of meanings. It could also mean "end," often referring to the end of life (i.e., death), which is its meaning in Modern Greek. ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Jun 27, 2015 Joey Woolfardis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: masculine, bookshelf, champion, translated, bce5, greek, 2015

There's barely anything in the world as hilarious and amusing as a Greek tragedy. Oedipus is, in many ways, the daddy, but daughter Antigone holds her own as well. So much to think on, so much to learn, so much to laugh at. Those silly incestuous Greeks.

Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Shop | Etsy ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

May 17, 2021 saïd rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: théâtre, grèce, sophokles, translation_talk

This review is of the translation by Anne Carson.

GET FUCKED, KREON

I'm constantly fascinated by Dr. Carson's translation choices. Her writing is very readable, but I'd still call it less of a direct translation and more of an adaptation. Many years ago I read a version of Frogs that had swapped the Ancient Greek poets for William Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw, in order to be more appealing and relatable to a modern (Western!) audience. Dr. Carson does a similar thing:

ANTIGONE: We begin in the

...more

flag 14 likes · Like · see review

Jan 19, 2022 Matthew Ted rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-greece, ancient-world, plays, translated

Love that the Gods' work is like Karma. There's a whole lot of death and suicide in this one to bring the Oedipus Cycle to a finish. ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2015 Viji (Bookish endeavors) rated it really liked it

Shelves: sophocles, plays, classics, close-to-heart

What a work it was.!! The copy I have is by Penguin Little Black Classics series,and I was delaying reading it since the print was tiny and set in a style I didn't like. But now I realize what a stupid I was to have delayed reading such a piece of beauty...

Moralizing isn't everyone's forte. Too many have written such a lot of works on the topic that the moment one starts reading something on it,the natural reaction is 'not again.!' This book is a bit different in that genre. It moralizes,it tal What a work it was.!! The copy I have is by Penguin Little Black Classics series,and I was delaying reading it since the print was tiny and set in a style I didn't like. But now I realize what a stupid I was to have delayed reading such a piece of beauty...

Moralizing isn't everyone's forte. Too many have written such a lot of works on the topic that the moment one starts reading something on it,the natural reaction is 'not again.!' This book is a bit different in that genre. It moralizes,it talks of morals of men and God.. It goes on to lengthy arguments,though not much in terms of rationality,on many occasions.. Antigone and Creone and Haemon and Tiresias puts up their own arguments. But nowhere do feel a sense of boredom. Sophocles has given strength to each character,no matter which part he argues. Each one of them talks as if there is fire in their words,a fire that can't be quenched by the other person's arguments.

'It's a dreadful thing to yield..
But resist now?
Lay my pride bare to the blows of ruin?
That's dreadful too.'

The fear described in these words,the fear of knowing the right but refusing to go back on one's actions because of pride,it's a folly we all are guilty of. Pride is a sin,but it is the most humane of feelings. It is impossible not to feel it,if for nothing then for one's lack of it. We all hold on to our words and actions like its a part of us. We would rather die than take back our words. We say-a man is only as good as his words. And this King is no less human in that... But see where that pride takes him..

In the beginning,Creon tells Ismene,
'Don't even mention her-she no longer exists.'

And in the end,he tells his attendants,
'I don't even exist-I'm no one. Nothing.'

But we don't have to be bothered of all these,do we.? Pride is something we can't avoid.. I'm proud of my books and so are you of other things.. But let aside moralizing.. The book is a masterpiece...

When injustice is the law..

I might sound stupid for bringing Che into such a regal and archaic setting,but I guess I'm not. The dilemma portrayed here,the choice between the law of the land and the moral laws one hold within,is something that every human faces. To bend or to resist is the question. And Antigone makes her choice courageously. She refuses to submit to the law of the land which she calls injustice,and decides to court death for a law she holds to heart,the law of God. The classic dilemma between law of customs and law of intuition. But it would be somewhat gray to call it law of intuition since there is no pure law of intuition,all our ideas are colored by our genes and circumstances. Antigone's act of defiance is inspiring. And that is what makes this work so fiery.

A read that was thoroughly entertaining. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2016 Mel Bossa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 0012-to-buy, 0004-greek-myth-related, 0011-theatre

Well, this resonated deeply with me. Especially the relationship between Antigone and her flighty and untrustworthy sister Ismene. Man, that part when Ismene now suddenly wants to stand at her sister's side after the King Creon has sentenced Antigone to be immured, really pissed me off and brought up all kinds of feelings of injustice and indignation. As with Electra, Antigone is a woman alone facing the self-righteousness of an elder king unwilling to lose face or learn anything new he hasn't s Well, this resonated deeply with me. Especially the relationship between Antigone and her flighty and untrustworthy sister Ismene. Man, that part when Ismene now suddenly wants to stand at her sister's side after the King Creon has sentenced Antigone to be immured, really pissed me off and brought up all kinds of feelings of injustice and indignation. As with Electra, Antigone is a woman alone facing the self-righteousness of an elder king unwilling to lose face or learn anything new he hasn't sought out himself. Sophocles's play was meant to be an examination of the budding democracy rising against the old tyranny, and again, he chose a woman to embody that "bud". And what better way to destroy the idea of freedom than to brick it up and starve it?

A brief summary of the play for those who aren't familiar with the story. Antigone is Œdipe's and Jocaste's daughter and those two were mother and son, remember? After Œdipe found out that he hadn't escaped the oracle of his birth and in total ignorance had killed his father and married his own mother, he stuck needles in his eyes and Jocaste hung herself. Antigone, Ismene and their two brothers Polynice and Étéocle are taken in by their uncle Creon who has now become king after Étéocle's death. Antigone's story begins after her brother's deaths. The two men offed each other over Polynice taking the "enemy Argos" side after he was exiled by his brother who refused to share the throne with him. Okay, so they killed each other and now Antigone is betrothed to Hemon, son of Creon. But there's one little thing keeping her from finding peace in her already fucked up life: Creon has decided that Étéocle would get a Greek burial, but Polynice's body would be left out to rot and be eaten by the vultures.

Antigone knows that Hades will not accept her brother in the world of the dead if he isn't properly cared for before leaving the world of the living. She decides to disobey the king and in the night, begins the burial of her brother. Ismene bitches and moans and tells Antigone she's crazy for taking such a risk, but Antigone will not back down on this. She's striving for the realm of greater ideas and understands that while the laws of men come and go, what right is right no matter what the patriarchy dictates. Anyhoo, needless to say she sends Creon in a state of self-important rage and he proceeds to monologue himself into a corner and has to make do on his threats to have her immured and starved.

Then everybody he loves takes the high road and dies with her and Creon is left with nothing but his throne.

It's a Greek tragedy, yes, but in real life, Creon often gets what he wants and the Antigones of the world are still screaming behind high walls.

...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2020 Ivana Books Are Magic rated it it was amazing

This is one of my favourite among the ancient Greek plays. Sophocles' play captures the story of Antigone so beautifully. Her bold character really shines through in this play. The play itself continues after the story of Oedipus Rex (Antigone is the cursed daughter of the cursed king, you might say). King Creon demands that nobody should mourn the death of Polynices (one of Antigone's brothers- both brothers were killed in a battle) as Polynices is deemed a traitor. In trying to secure a respec This is one of my favourite among the ancient Greek plays. Sophocles' play captures the story of Antigone so beautifully. Her bold character really shines through in this play. The play itself continues after the story of Oedipus Rex (Antigone is the cursed daughter of the cursed king, you might say). King Creon demands that nobody should mourn the death of Polynices (one of Antigone's brothers- both brothers were killed in a battle) as Polynices is deemed a traitor. In trying to secure a respectable burial for her brother Polynices, Antigone defies the law and order, becoming a rebel in the face of the king. The King Creon won't have any of that and demands Antigone be brought before him. Antigone goes on to insist that the law of the gods must come before law of the king.

If I remember correctly this play was mandatory reading in the last year of elementary school and then again in High school, so I read it three times, once as a kid, once as an adolescent and then again as an adult. This is one of the works that impressed me as a kid. If I remember well, I wasn't the only one who payed attention during class when we studied this play. There is something in rebellious spirits of Antigone that appeals to young readers as well. Indeed if I recall well, we all (as students) could relate to this play and enjoy it. Do you know what? This play still feels very relevant to me, after all this time. That is the mark of best works of literature.

Naturally, when you're mature, this tragedy speaks to you in more then one way and direction. Still, I think I prefer to take simple over fancy interpretation (I'm not saying that the fancy ones are not correct) and see Antigone's actions as acts of love (or respect) towards her brother. There is probably more to it, yet I like that very human emotion in such a prideful character. Antigone is one strong women. The tragedy is not only about her, but how she shines in her part! There are many good reviews about this play, so I I'll keep this one short. I'll just say that this is a tragedy I would enjoy to see and read any day of the week. It is a timeless and beautiful work of art. ...more

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Catching up on Cl...: Antigone - Sep 2019 - No spoilers	18	69	Aug 28, 2019 06:08AM
Goodreads Librari...: Cover request for Sophocles I	2	16	Jan 28, 2018 07:26AM
Brain Pain: Discussion Four - Antigone by Sophocles	6	30	Feb 27, 2016 02:26PM
Goodreads Librari...: Combining Editions of Sophocles' Antigone	2	17	Aug 02, 2014 03:25AM
Antigone analysis, themes, trivia, audio, video	3	124	Feb 25, 2014 09:19PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Classics

4,575 users

Plays

3,190 users

Drama

986 users

Fiction

924 users

Academic > School

874 users

Fantasy > Mythology

460 users

Academic > Read For School

426 users

Plays > Theatre

393 users

Literature

265 users

Young Adult > High School

243 users

See top shelves…

About Sophocles

Sophocles

1,796 followers

Sophocles (born c. 496 bc, Colonus, near Athens [Greece]—died 406, Athens), (Greek: Σοφοκλής ; German editions: Sophokles , Russian: Софокл , French editions: Sophocle ) was an ancient Greek tragedy playwright. Not many things are known about his life other than that he was wealthy, well educated and wrote about one hundred and twenty three plays (of which few are extant). One of his b ...more