Sophocles' Antigone

Sophocles' Antigone poses questions that are as pressing for us here and now as they were 2,500 years ago when the play was first performed in Athens: what are the proper limits of political power? How should we weigh the laws of the land against unwritten laws of universal morality? And how must we respond when confronted with injustice backed by the power of the political community of which we find ourselves a part? Sophocles' masterpiece is a work at once anthropological and philosophical, political and theological - an exploration of what it means for us to be part of a family and a political community at the same time as we form part of a moral fabric that transcends our individual communities and the demands they place on us. In two sessions, we will explore these perennial questions through the careful reading of the Antigone.

This reading group will be led by Thomas Slabon. We'll use the Chicago edition (Wyckoff translation) of Antigone. Please either purchase a copy or arrange with Zephyr to have a copy set aside for you, and read the play in its entirety before the first session. Dinner will be provided at both sessions.

1. May 17th, 530-7PM

2. May 24th, 530-7PM

Instructor:

Thomas Slabon is a PhD student in Stanford's Philosophy department. His work focuses on ancient philosophy, in particular on the concept of becoming god(like) in Greco-Roman philosophy and its Christian appropriation, but he also has wide-ranging interests in classical philology, philosophical theology, Chinese philosophy, and the philosophy of literature.

Image from here.