In Thebes in ancient Greece, King Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother Jocasta, having two sons - Eteocles and Polyneices - and two daughters - Ismene and Antigone. King Oedipus dies a beggar in the exile after gouging out his own eye, and Eteocle agrees to reign in Thebes in alternating years with Polynices. However, he refuses to resign after the first year and Polynieces raises an army and attacks Thebes, and they kill each other. The ruler of Thebes Creon decrees that Eleocles should have an honorable burial while the body of the traitor Polyneices should be left on the battlefield to be eaten by the jackals and vultures. However, Antigone, who was betrothed to Creon's surviving son Haemon, defies Creon's orders and buries her brother. When Creon is reported of the attitude of Antigone, he sentences her to be placed in a tomb alive. Antigone hangs herself in the tomb and Haemon tries to kill his father first and then he kills himself with his sword...
Acting
Irene Papas burns the screen with quiet, stubborn defiance.
Direction
Tzavellas squeezes Sophocles into 93 taut, claustrophobic minutes.
Director
Yorgos Tzavellas
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Irene Papas played Antigone again in 1961 TV theatre—she was obsessed with this role.
Tzavellas made this during Greece's political instability; audiences read Creon as military junta metaphor.
GR
