Antigone Outline
SOPHOCLES (496-406 B.C.)
Antigone
I. Introduction
Antigone is a Greek dramatic play tragedy by Sophocles. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family (his father was an amour manufacturer) and was highly educated. Sophocles' first artistic triumph was in 468 BC, when he took first prize in the Dionysian theatre competition over the reigning master of Athenian drama, Aeschylus. Sophocles wrote the three Theban plays, a collection that has survived for centuries, and for good reason. One of these plays was Antigone. It follows the struggle of a young woman, Antigone who disobeyed the law of King Creon (who is also her uncle) that no one should bury Polyneices (Antigone’s brother) who Creon believes was a traitor.
II. Author
Sophocles, the son of Sophilus, was a wealthy member of the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica, which was to become a setting for one of his plays, and he was probably born there. He was born a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, although 497/6 is the most likely. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family (his father was an amour manufacturer) and was highly …show more content…
Early in his career, the politician Cimon might have been one of his patrons, although if he was, there was no ill will borne by Pericles, Cimon's rival, when Cimon was ostracized in 461 BC. In 443/2 he served as one of the Hellenotamiai, or treasurers of Athena, helping to manage the finances of the city during the political ascendancy of Pericles. According to the Vita Sophoclis, in 441 BC he was elected one of ten strategoi, high executive officials that commanded the armed forces, as a junior colleague of Pericles, and he served in the Athenian campaign against Samos; he was supposed to have been elected to this position as the result of his production of
Antigone
I. Introduction
Antigone is a Greek dramatic play tragedy by Sophocles. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family (his father was an amour manufacturer) and was highly educated. Sophocles' first artistic triumph was in 468 BC, when he took first prize in the Dionysian theatre competition over the reigning master of Athenian drama, Aeschylus. Sophocles wrote the three Theban plays, a collection that has survived for centuries, and for good reason. One of these plays was Antigone. It follows the struggle of a young woman, Antigone who disobeyed the law of King Creon (who is also her uncle) that no one should bury Polyneices (Antigone’s brother) who Creon believes was a traitor.
II. Author
Sophocles, the son of Sophilus, was a wealthy member of the rural deme (small community) of Colonus Hippius in Attica, which was to become a setting for one of his plays, and he was probably born there. He was born a few years before the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC: the exact year is unclear, although 497/6 is the most likely. Sophocles was born into a wealthy family (his father was an amour manufacturer) and was highly …show more content…
Early in his career, the politician Cimon might have been one of his patrons, although if he was, there was no ill will borne by Pericles, Cimon's rival, when Cimon was ostracized in 461 BC. In 443/2 he served as one of the Hellenotamiai, or treasurers of Athena, helping to manage the finances of the city during the political ascendancy of Pericles. According to the Vita Sophoclis, in 441 BC he was elected one of ten strategoi, high executive officials that commanded the armed forces, as a junior colleague of Pericles, and he served in the Athenian campaign against Samos; he was supposed to have been elected to this position as the result of his production of