ANTIGONE - Social, historical and cultural background of Antigone

• Antigone was the third entry in Sophocoles' "Theban" trilogy, based on the saga of the house of Laius.
• The other two plays in the trilogy are 'Oedipus the King' and 'Oedipus at Colonus'.
• Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and Jacosta and brother of Etocles and Polynices, was an unusual protagonist in this time because she is a woman. Sophocles was warned that his play may not be as popular because mainly men went to the theatre. The philosopher Aristotle said that it is wrong for a female character to be portrayed as manly and clever. This reflects the opinion and they way women were treated in this time.
• Sophocoles challenged this statement because Antigone is both manly and clever. She is manly because she takes up the role of the man in her family, and clever because she does enough to satisfy the gods but in such a way that she is not caught. 
• Antigone is way ahead of her time - in an era of a mostly male dominated society, Antigone stands out as an independent woman who completely defies the system. In ancient Greek times, women would do as their fathers say until they are married, and then once they are married they do what their husbands tell them - they very little power at all. However, we see the blind King Oedipus as very dependant on Antigone to look after him in his final years. Also, when Creon decrees that Polynices will not have a proper burial due to his alleged betrayal of Thebes and his family, Antigone rebels against her uncle and sets out to give her dead brother the proper burial he deserves, despite the penalty being death (Creon then sentences her to buried alive).
• In ancient Greece, getting a proper burial was a big deal - it was believed that if you didn't receive a proper burial you were not allowed in the underworld and you were forced to wonder the shores of River Styx as a restless ghost.
• There have been many adaptations of this play, a very notable one being a version by a French playwright, Jean Anouilh, which is thought to have been adapted as a mark of protest against the Nazi forces in France. Similarly, the story of Antigone has been used to protest against apartheid in South Africa. In The Island by John Kani, Winston Nitshona, and Athol Fugard, two black prisoners in the notorious Robben Island prison perform Antigone as an act of protest.
• Antigone was performed around the year 441 B.C, and Sophocoles was one of the nine selected generals in the campaign against the revolt of Samos fought by Athens. These historical events reflect a lot of what happens in Antigone, and the themes and issues throughout the play. For example, the appropriate use of power by the state (Creon declaring that Polynices will not receive a proper burial, Etocles refusing to step down from ruler of Athens after it was agreed with his brother that they would alternate each year, and then exiled him) the possibility of justifiable rebellion (Antigone rebelling against her uncle by disobeying his decree and giving her bother a proper burial), and the duties of citizens to obey the laws of their government.