of Sophocles
An English version by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald
Music composed and conducted by John Hotchkis
Radio adaptation and production by Raymond Raikes
, ,
, with a section of the BBC Men's Chorus
Scene:
Before the palace of Creon,
King of Thebes
Before the play begins: When Oedipua, King of Thebes, discovered he was guilty both of parricide and incest he put out hit own eyes and was dethroned, and his sorts Bteocles and Polyneices ruled in his stead. But they were doomed by their father's curse to quarrel, and Polyneices was driven out of the city. With an army from Argos he returned, intending to recover the throne by force. In the ensuing conflict the hosts of Thebes were victorious; but both the brothers died, each slain by the other's hand. Their two sisters, Ismene and Antigone, are now the last survivors of the ill-fated house of Oedipus. Creon, their uncle, has become King, and his first official duty is to see to the burial of the dead. The play begins on a night of rejoicing for Thebes.
The Antigone of Sophocles was originally produced in or about the year 442 B.C.