The Burial at Thebes A Version of Sophocles' Antigone |
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Author:
| Heaney, Seamus |
ISBN: | 978-0-571-22361-9 |
Publication Date: | Jul 2005 |
Publisher: | Faber & Faber, Limited
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Book Format: | Hardback |
List Price: | AUD $35.00 |
Book Description:
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A play for modern times that has found real resonance in Ireland over the past decades with its themes of familial retribution and the scarring of the past. During the War of the Seven Against Thebes, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, learns that her brothers have killed each other, having been forced onto opposing sides. When Creon, the King of Thebes, grants burial of one but not the 'treacherous' other, Antigone disobeys the order believing it her duty to bury all of her...
More Description
A play for modern times that has found real resonance in Ireland over the past decades with its themes of familial retribution and the scarring of the past. During the War of the Seven Against Thebes, Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, learns that her brothers have killed each other, having been forced onto opposing sides. When Creon, the King of Thebes, grants burial of one but not the 'treacherous' other, Antigone disobeys the order believing it her duty to bury all of her close kin. For this she was condemned to death by Creon and walled up in a tomb. And though he eventually concedes to her release, his yield comes too late: Antigone had taken her own life while entombed, triggering a dark and tragic repetition of events in family history.