Myth & LegendGreek → English
Antigone
/ænˈtɪɡəni/noun
The daughter of Oedipus in Greek myth, and a woman's given name.
The Greek roots
ἀντί
antí
against, in place of
γονή
gonḗ
offspring, birth
Literally: “in place of a parent, or against her kin”
The story of the word
ἀντί can mean against or instead of, so the name reads either way, and both fit: she buries her brother against the king's order, and she walks in place of her father's eyes after Oedipus blinds himself. The name existed in Greek before Sophocles used it in 441 BC. His play is the reason it lasted, and the reason law students still meet her.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
antipathygonadepigone
In a sentence
Every generation stages Antigone when it wants to argue about the state.