Antigone Summary | Chapterly

Antigone by Sophocles: A Complete Summary "I was born to join in love, not hate — that is my nature." Overview Antigone is one of the most powerful political and moral dramas ever written. Composed by Sophocles around 441 BC, it tells the story of Antigone, daughter of the fallen Oedipus, who defies King Creon's decree that her brother Polynices must remain unburied as punishment for treason. Antigone buries him anyway, choosing divine law and family obligation over the authority of the state. The play stages one of humanity's oldest and most urgent conflicts: what do you do when the law of the land contradicts what you believe is morally right? Antigone chooses conscience. Creon chooses order. Both pay a devastating price. The play has resonated across centuries — invoked during the French Resistance, the American civil rights movement, and every context where individuals have stood against unjust authority. It asks whether there is a law higher than human law, and what it costs to obey it. The Story The Decree The play begins after a civil war between Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, who have killed each other fighting for the throne of Thebes. Creon, the new king,...