Antigone

'It's a dreadful thing to yield...but resist now? Lay my pride bare to the blows of ruin? That's dreadful too.' The remarkable story of Greek tragedy's most intrepid heroine. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC). Sophocles's works available in Penguin Classics are The Theban Plays and Electra and Other Plays.

'It's a dreadful thing to yield...but resist now? Lay my pride bare to the blows of ruin? That's dreadful too.' The remarkable story of Greek tragedy's most intrepid heroine. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Sophocles (496 BC-406 BC). Sophocles's works available in Penguin Classics are The Theban Plays and Electra and Other Plays.

Antigone, defying her uncle Creon's decree that her brother should remain unburied, challenges the morality of man's law overruling the laws of the gods. The clash between her and Creon with its tragic consequences have inspired continual reinterpretation. This translation by Don Taylor, accurate yet poetic, was made for a BBC TV production of the Theban Plays in 1986, which he directed.

Antigone, defying her uncle Creon's decree that her brother should remain unburied, challenges the morality of man's law overruling the laws of the gods. The clash between her and Creon with its tragic consequences have inspired continual reinterpretation. This translation by Don Taylor, accurate yet poetic, was made for a BBC TV production of the Theban Plays in 1986, which he directed.

Sofokles' tragedie tager udgangspunkt i myten om Kong Ødipus og hans børn, men Sofokles benyttede myten til at sætte nogle dags-aktuelle problemer til debat: forholdet mellem politik og religion, stat og familie, statsmagten og den enkelte.

Antigone is universally celebrated as the ultimate figure of ethical resistance to the state power which oversteps its legitimate scope and as the defender of simple human dignity (more important than all political struggles). But is she really so innocent and pure? What if there is a dark side to her? What if Creon, the representative of state power, also has a valuable point to make? And what if both Antigone and Creon are part of a problem that only a popular intervention can confront? Žižek's rewriting of this classic play confronts these issues in a practical way: not by theorizing about them, but by imagining an Antigone in which, at a crucial moment, the action takes a different turn, an Antigone along the lines of Run, Lola, Run or of Brecht's learning plays. A brilliantly funny, moving and political piece for those who are interested in reading and watching Antigone in an entirely new way.

Antigone is universally celebrated as the ultimate figure of ethical resistance to the state power which oversteps its legitimate scope and as the defender of simple human dignity (more important than all political struggles). But is she really so innocent and pure? What if there is a dark side to her? What if Creon, the representative of state power, also has a valuable point to make? And what if both Antigone and Creon are part of a problem that only a popular intervention can confront? Žižek's rewriting of this classic play confronts these issues in a practical way: not by theorizing about them, but by imagining an Antigone in which, at a crucial moment, the action takes a different turn, an Antigone along the lines of Run, Lola, Run or of Brecht's learning plays. A brilliantly funny, moving and political piece for those who are interested in reading and watching Antigone in an entirely new way.

Sofokles´ Antigone, som opførtes første gang i Athen for knap 2500 år siden , har ikke siden ophørt med at inspirere både ved løsning og opførelser, er bearbejdet af talrige dramatikere og instruktører og er stadig i sin problemstilling så aktuel som ved sin førsteopførelse. Og ingen bearbejdelser er bedre end originalen. Otto Steen Dues oversættelse er udarbejdet til opførelse, altså i bevidstheden om at replikkerne skal kunne stå uden nogen form for noter. Dues gengivelse af Sofokles´ mesterværk er mundret dansk, og det støv som unægtelig hviler over forgængernes oversættelser, er grundigt pustet væk. Den vil utvivlsomt vække betydelig opmærksomhed i den litterære verden og i lighed med hans øvrige værker få mange læsere.

Sofokles' tragedie Antigone er skrevet mens oldtidens Athen var på højdepunktet af sin magt i 440'erne f.Kr. Stykket tager udgangspunkt i myten om Kong Ødipus og hans børn, men Sofokles benyttede myten til at sætte nogle dagsaktuelle problemer til debat: forholdet mellem politik og religion, stat og familie, statsmagten og den enkelte. Den dramatiske konflikt mellem Antigone og Kong Kreon har lige siden premieren fascineret både teaterpublikum, kunstnere og læsere. Bogen er oversat og introduceret af Marcel Lysgaard Lech.