Mythological Story: Antigone, A Faithful Daughter and Sister
Few figures in Greek mythology are remembered for loyalty as pure and steady as Antigone, daughter of the once-great King Oedipus of Thebes. When a great sorrow fell upon her family and her father was forced to leave the city he had once ruled, most of the royal household turned away from him in his hour of need. Antigone alone chose to stay by his side.
Blind and weary, Oedipus set out from Thebes as a wandering exile, and it was Antigone who took his hand and guided each of his steps along roads she herself had never walked before. She gave up the comfort of the palace, her position as a princess, and the safety of her home, choosing instead to share in her father's hardship rather than let him face it alone.
Together they travelled far from Thebes, sleeping under open skies and relying on the kindness of strangers, until they came at last to a peaceful grove near Athens, sacred to the goddesses known as the Furies. There, Oedipus sensed that his long journey was finally coming to its end, and Antigone remained close beside him through his final days, just as she had throughout his exile.
Antigone's devotion did not end with her father. She returned afterward to Thebes, where her two brothers had fallen into a bitter quarrel over the throne, a conflict so fierce that it ended with both of them dead. When the new ruler of the city decreed that one brother should be honoured with a proper burial while the other was to be left disgraced and unburied, Antigone could not accept an order that she believed to be deeply unjust.
Even knowing the risk to herself, Antigone insisted that both her brothers deserved to be honoured with the same love and respect, regardless of which side of the quarrel each had stood on. Her courage in holding to this belief, whatever the cost, became one of the most celebrated examples in all of Greek mythology of standing firm for family and for what one believes to be right.
Who's Who in This Story
- Antigone — the devoted daughter of Oedipus, remembered for her unwavering loyalty
- Oedipus — the former King of Thebes, Antigone's father, who lived out his final years in exile
- Ismene — Antigone's sister
Did You Know?
- Antigone's story was famously turned into a play by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, which is still performed and studied around the world today.
- The city of Thebes, where this story takes place, was one of the most important city-states of ancient Greece.
- Antigone's name is still used today to describe a person who stands by their principles no matter the personal cost.
Antigone's story has endured for over two thousand years because of a simple, powerful idea: true loyalty means standing by the people — and the principles — you love, especially when it is hardest to do so.