Antigone

How would you briefly summarize the prologue of Anitgone?

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The play begins with a conversation between Antigone and her sister Ismene, daughters of the former ruler of the Greek city of Thebes and nieces to its current ruler. Antigone considers the suffering she has endured as the result of the centuries-old curse on her family, and then tells Ismene of its latest manifestation. Their brother Polyneices, killed in battle while fighting for an army attacking the family’s home city of Thebes, is to remain unburied, according to law, with his body to be left for the animals as the result of what is regarded as the betrayal of the state. She also reveals her intention to go against the will of the law and bury him. Ismene urges her to follow the law and leave the body alone. Antigone refuses, saying her greater loyalty is to the bonds of love and family than to the state.

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Antigone