Read this when
Antigone
Told she couldn't grieve her brother because everyone else hated him. She did it anyway. Antigone, 441 BCE.
Who it's for
Antigone insists on burying her brother Polynices, branded a traitor, against her uncle King Creon's decree.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Sophocles' Athenian tragedy, first performed around 442–440 BCE, opens after the brothers Eteocles and Polynices have killed each other fighting for the throne of Thebes. The new ruler, Creon, orders that Eteocles be honoured and Polynices left unburied. Their sister Antigone defies the edict to give Polynices burial rites, holding that divine law outranks the king's decree.
Where to find it
Public domain in older translations (e.g., F. Storr, free on Standard Ebooks; R. C. Jebb online). Fagles's Penguin 'Three Theban Plays' is standard in print and libraries; audio productions exist.
Before you start
Heads up: Several suicides, reported offstage.
Age: Ages 14+
Silence will carry your voice like the nest that holds the sleeping birds.Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds, no. 155
