Sophocles and Antigone

Instead the chorus was merely used as a rhetorical display, thus making them seem artificial. Each actor will be required to perform a variety of characters throughout the play and thus wear multiple masks due to the Greek rule that allows only three actors to have speaking parts in any one play. In the opening of the play, Antigone is in opposition with Ismene over the conflict of the burial of her slain brother Polynices. King Kreon orders a proper burial for Eteocles but not for Polynices, and Antigone refuses to allow this to happen by continuously covering the body of her brother with dirt and even going as far as digging a grave for him with her bare hands in broad daylight. If the Choregus refuses to perform his duties, another person will be chosen by the Archon, and this person will be given the right to acquire the property and social wealth of the prior Choregus. With the progression of time, however, and the changing demands of the audiences, theatre was forced to adapt to each individual culture and serve various purposes in each developing society. After hours of preparation, Sophocles will finally conduct the production of his play for an audience of approximately fifteen thousand in a Greek theatre set into the side of a hill that is located at the foot of the Acropolis. Such a mixture of good and evil makes her seem more like us, thus more quickly arousing our sympathy and compassion.

In comparison, if Antigone had been written by Seneca, a Roman playwright, instead of by Sophocles, the content, form, and presentation of the play could have been dramatically altered. His plays were much like Greek plays in that he made no variation in the Greek names and plot, but he would make slight changes in the arrangement of scenes or shift the action in order to bring a different character into prominence. regus will be a Greek citizen randomly chosen by the Archon to be the financial backer who undertakes the expense of providing Sophocles with the necessary materials to produce his play.

As one can see, the process through which a playwright such as Sophocles produced a play in Ancient Greece and the traits characteristic of a successful play became extremely thorough and meticulous.

In context and in performance, the tragic heroine of Antigone is in fact Antigone, niece of King Kreon, sister of Ismene, and fiancé of Haimon. In addition, if a female role exists in the play, the male actors must assume the persona of a female and wear both an intricate mask and feminine clothing.