The Burial at Thebes

In The Burial at Thebes, Seamus Heaney uses his delicate touch to expose the darkness and the humanity in Sophocles’ masterpiece, Antigone. After the War of the Seven Against Thebes, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, learns that her brothers have killed each other, having been forced onto opposing sides of the battle. When Creon, King of Thebes, grants burial to one but not the other, Antigone defies his order, setting in action a chain of events that can only end in destruction. First written as a response to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it stands today as a timely reminder of the conflict between the defense of state security and the protection of basic human rights.