The Theban Plays

My Thoughts

An astonishing work. I particularly enjoyed Oedipus the King and I thought Antigone was phenomenal. This exchange between Antigone and Creon was so good:

Creon: And did you dare to disobey that law?

Antigone: Yes, it was not Zeus that made the proclamation (Creon did); nor did Justice, which lives with those below, enact such laws as that, for mankind. I did not believe your proclamation had such power to enable one who will someday die to override God’s ordinances, unwritten and secure. They are not of today and yesterday; they live forever; none knows when first they were. These are the laws whose penalties I would not incur from the gods, through fear of any man’s temper.