Antigone (Paperback)

This tragedy by Sophocles was written around 441 BCE, and while it was written first, chronologically it is the third of the three Theban plays. Antigone and Ismene daughters of Oedipus, are sisters of two dead brothers who died fighting each other for the throne. Creon, the new King determines that one brother, Eteocles will be honored, but Polyneices will be publicly shamed and left to rot on the battlefield without the holy rites. Antigone defies Creon and buries her brother, which leads to her imprisonment. The actions that make up the rest of the story are there to play out the themes of state control, civil disobedience, fidelity, citizenship and family.