1. Historical Context

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the historical context the play, including the possible date for the play, as well as Sophocles’ own life, career, and preoccupations when it came to writing tragedy.

Course

In this course, Professor Edith Hall (King’s College, London) explores Sophocles’ great tragedy, Antigone. Having situated the play in its historical and geographical context, we spend some time introducing the key characters in the play—the two sisters, Antigone and Ismene, their uncle (and ruler of Thebes) Creon, and his son, Haemon. After that, we focus on some of the key themes in the play—politics, ethics and gender—before ending with a brief discussion on the staging of the play.

Lecturer

Edith Hall is Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University. Her research focuses on ancient Greek literature and cultural history. Some of her major publications include Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy (OUP, 1989), Greek Tragedy: Suffering Under the Sun (OUP, 2010), Introducing the Ancient Greeks: From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind (Norton, 2014), and Aristotle's Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life (Penguin, 2020).