Antigone

by Sophocles

"Antigone" by Sophocles is an Athenian tragedy written in either 442 or 440 BC. After a civil war leaves two brothers dead, their uncle Creon decrees that one will receive honors while the other's body must remain unburied. Their sister Antigone defies this edict, choosing to honor her brother according to divine law despite facing execution. Her defiance sets off a conflict between family loyalty and state authority, between the laws of the gods and the laws of man.