Antigone stuff.

Click the above image to enlarge. I couldn't get it any bigger without having it jut out of the reading area and into the sidebar.

This project started life as the accompaniment to a family tree of the characters of Antigone—one of my favourite plays. Our class eschewed Socrates' original for Jean Anouilh's bleaker, modernist 1940s version, which would be why none of these bright sparks are wearing a toga. I rediscovered the pencil sketches recently and thought they could do with a bit of sprucing up.

Antigone. Our protagonist. Sulky and defiant, she is every inch Oedipus' daughter (yes, that Oedipus). I would say she is principled but that's the thing I love about the Anouilh version: she isn't, not really, because nobody is. Antigone is adrift and damn aware of it. In theory, I admire her grudgingly. In practice, she usually gets on my nerves.

Creon. Our antagonist. In the classical sense of someone who opposes the protagonist, I mean. I like him better than Antigone a good deal of the time, because he's just a decent man trying to do his job.

(Reddish characters are from Oedipus' family, which is actually kind of important because they're the arrogant royals having tête-à-têtes with fate. Blue is Creon's family—common folk. Symbolism, yo.)

Ismene. Antigone's sister. The prettiest thing I have ever drawn, no joke. I like her translucent blouse and her vaguely Russian skirt.

Haemon. Antigone's fiancé. A mystery how he ever fell for her, really, because he is dashing and bold and far more given to prefer girls like Ismene. That sure is a nice suit. I envy how well it fits on him.

Polynices. The first dead brother. He and Eteocles kill each other in single combat over the fate of the city of Thebes. He is the traitor and so as punishment Creon declares that he is to be left unburied, but of course Antigone takes it into her head that she must. It's established pretty quickly that he's kind of a terrible person. Will Eteocles prove any different?

Megareus. Haemon's brother. Also dead, but of no consequence. He might not actually even be mentioned in the play. I included him for the hell of it and also because it would be a shame to waste such a nice profile (and such curly hair).

Eteocles. The second dead brother. He defended Thebes and was feted as a hero after his death, but Creon reveals that he was just as ready to sell the city out as Polynices was. Plot twist: both brothers were shitty people! O delicious ambiguity. Also, his coat looks like it's made of towels. How unfortunate.

(No Eurydice because I didn't like how I drew her. Sucks to suck, E.)