ANTIGONE
The Antigone One of the most creative period in the history of the world was the Greek Golden Age, the period between the 480 and 430 B. ... The seven extant plays are Antigone, Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus the King), Electra, Ajax, Trachiniae (Maidens of Trachis), Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus (produced posthumously in 401 B. ... Next probably are Antigone and Trachiniae (after 441). ... All seven extant tragedies are considered outstanding for their powerful, intricate plots and dramatic style, and at least three—Antigone, Oedipus Rex, and Oedipus at Colonus—are generally regarded as masterpieces. ... Antigone is grouped together with Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus as a trilogy, it is sometimes called "The Theban Plays" or "The Oedipus Trilogy". ... This means it would not be right to say that the Antigone represents some kind of "final word" on the themes of the trilogy. In fact, although Antigone deals with the events that happen sequentially last in the myth, the play was produced in 441 B. ... Consistent with the norms of Greek drama, Antigone is not divided into acts or scenes. ... In Antigone the action is to preserve rightness and order in Thebes. Antigone is a strange case because the "movement-of-spirit" arguably comes from two directions. Antigone and Creon are both championing what is right, but they define rightness through different sets of values. ... Antigone experiences no reversal, but Creon does: at the Chorus urging, he finally backs down and listens to the advice he has been given, turning against the preservation of the kind of order he cherishes. In Antigone, Creon finally recognizes that he has been misguided and that his actions have led to the death of his wife and son. ... In the argument between Antigone and Ismene, Ismene seems twice as powerless. ... She reminds Antigone that they are only women and are relatively helpless. ... Ismene also seems to think that Antigone will not even be able to bury the body, which might be guarded. ... Ismenes powerlessness takes another form when she is completely unable to sway her headstrong sister Antigone. ... Antigone states in (ll 75-77) that she believes that the next world is more important than this one. ... " Ismene is not even able to convince Antigone to be discrete. Antigone will not attempt to perform the rites in secret, but will "Denounce me. ... Sophocles is aware of the impact of gender on Antigone and her choices. ... Antigone does not stress her own gender explicitly, but the state does. One interpretation of Antigone links the position of women to Antigones fascination with death. ... In this case, struggle against patriarchy, rule of the father, is made literal, as Antigone clashes with the man who has had a fathers authority over her since she was a child, the same man who is her future father-in-law. The result is that Antigone is restricted and ruled not only by a distant state but by the closest familial relationships: indeed, the state is embodied in the men with whom she has these relationships. It is significant that Antigone, out of a sense of duty and filial piety as well as compassion, tirelessly helped Oedipus during his exile. Sophocles depicts her as a long-suffering and faithful aid to Oedipus in Oedipus at Colonus, making Oedipus yet another man to whom Antigone was bound by serious obligation.