Meaning & use
Antigone
Last updated
Meanings
proper nounproper
A tragic play by the Greek dramatist Sophocles, first staged around 441 BCE, about a young woman who defies a king to bury her brother.
Grammar: Proper noun, written with a capital letter and often in italics when naming the play.
Patterns
- Antigone by Sophocles
- a production of Antigone
Antigone was written by Sophocles, an Athenian playwright of the fifth century BCE.
Our literature class read Antigone and discussed duty and law.
A touring company staged Antigone in the old amphitheater.
proper nounproper
The daughter of Oedipus in Greek myth, remembered for burying her brother against the king's order.
Grammar: Proper noun; also used as a name for a defiant, principled person.
Patterns
- Antigone and Creon
Antigone insists that divine law outweighs the order of the king.
In the story, Antigone and her sister Ismene take opposite views.
The character of Antigone has inspired playwrights and poets for centuries.
Common combinations
- Sophocles' Antigone
- Sophocles' Antigone is still performed worldwide.
- Antigone and Creon
- The conflict between Antigone and Creon drives the play.
- stage Antigone
- The school will stage Antigone this spring.
- modern Antigone
- The reporter was called a modern Antigone for defying authority.
- Theban plays
- Antigone is one of the Theban plays.
Word family
Commonly confused: Antigone or Electra? Antigone or Oedipus Rex?
Antigone vs Electra
Electra is another Sophocles tragedy, about a woman seeking revenge for her father's death, while Antigone is about burial of a brother and defiance of the king.
Antigone vs Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex is the play about Antigone's father, and it is a different play, though written by the same author.
Practice
Who wrote the Greek tragedy Antigone?
Choose one answer.
Sophocles wrote Antigone, one of his Theban plays. Euripides and Aeschylus were also tragedians, and Aristophanes wrote comedies.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Antigone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.