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Antigone

[ an-tig-uh-nee ]

noun

  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.


Antigone

/ ænˈtɪɡənɪ /

noun

  1. Greek myth daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, who was condemned to death for cremating the body of her brother Polynices in defiance of an edict of her uncle, King Creon of Thebes


Antigone

1
  1. 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.


Antigone

2
  1. A tragedy by Sophocles . It concerns the punishment of Antigone for burying her brother, an act that was forbidden because he had rebelled against his own city. Antigone argues that the burial is required by divine law as opposed to human law.

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Notes

The Greek playwright Sophocles tells her story in , a play that deals with the conflict between human laws and the laws of the gods.

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Compare Meanings

How does Antigone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

We have spoken of the oath upon the sword—the oath of ancient Scythia, the oath of the Antigone of Euripedes.

His "Antigone" was written when he was forty-five, and when Euripides had already gained a prize.

So Antigone sadly returned to Athens, and the blind king groped his way among the thick underbrush and fallen trees.

The celebrated tragedy of Antigone, by Sophocles, owes its chief interest and pathos to the popular faith on this subject.

Of these, the Œdipus Tyrannus and the Antigone are the most admired.

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