14 Antigone and her Brother: What Sort of Special Relationship?

Abstract The Antigone who is familiar from Sophocles, and from later interpretations, is often held up as a positive model for courageous action against an oppressive régime. However, there is a disturbing quality to Antigone's relationship with her brother, Polyneices, which is apparent even in Sophocles and has often been underplayed. This chapter draws attention to several ancient representations of Antigone's relationship with Polyneices, from authors such as Euripides, Seneca, and Statius. These are used to contextualize later receptions of Antigone's legacy in France, in Jean de Rotrou's seventeenth‐century Antigone and André Gide's twentieth‐century Œdipe, in order to highlight an alternative presentation of Antigone as a deeply troubled young woman whose all but incestuous relationship with her brother causes her to reject the natural course of married life.