"Antigone" by Sophocles is an Athenian tragedy written in either 442 or 440 BC. When Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, forbids the burial of Polynices—a brother who died fighting for the opposing side in a civil war—his niece Antigone faces an impossible choice. She must decide between obeying her uncle's decree or honoring divine law and family duty by burying her brother. Her defiance sets off a clash between human authority and sacred obligation that threatens to destroy them all.