[an-tig-uh-nee] 
| 1. | Classical Mythology. a daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta who defied her uncle, King Creon, by performing funeral rites over her brother, Polynices, and was condemned to be immured alive in a cave. |
| 2. | (italics ) a tragedy (c440 b.c.) by Sophocles. |
| An·tig·o·ne (ān-tĭg'ə-nē) n. Greek Mythology The daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. She performed funeral rites over her brother's body in defiance of her uncle Creon. |
In classical mythology, a daughter of King Oedipus. Her two brothers killed each other in single combat over the kingship of their city. Although burial or cremation of the dead was a religious obligation among the Greeks, the king forbade the burial of one of the brothers, for he was considered a traitor. Antigone, torn between her religious and legal obligations, disobeyed the king's order and buried her brother. She was then condemned to death for her crime.
Note: The Greek playwright Sophocles tells her story in Antigone, a play that deals with the conflict between human laws and the laws of the gods.