Syrma Antigones: between myth and society. Contemporary transformations of the mythic figure of Antigone

The dissertation analyzes contemporary adaptations of the mythic figure of Antigone, focusing on twentieth- and twenty-first-century European literature. It examines how modern rewritings of the tragedy engage with the historical, social, and political contexts in which they emerge. The study advances two main arguments. First, it shows how contemporary culture mobilizes Antigone to represent and interrogate specific historical moments, often marked by conflict, collective trauma, and political oppression. Second, it demonstrates that both the construction of the mythic figure and the transformation of key mythemes from the ancient tragedy are deeply shaped by the socio-cultural contexts and by the ideological and political aims of the authors. Methodologically, the research is grounded in myth criticism, focusing on the reinterpretation of classical myths, and integrates sociopoetics, which examines the relationship between literature and social dynamics, particularly how these are represented in literary forms. The analysis highlights the remarkable flexibility of Antigone, whose enduring relevance lies in her capacity for continual reactivation and transformation. In the works examined, the ancient tragedy is consistently brought into dialogue with concrete historical events, including the Spanish Civil War, the two World Wars, totalitarian regimes, concentration camps, political exile, and more recent debates on migration, terrorism, and posthumous justice. In these reinterpretations, Antigone never appears as an abstract or timeless figure. Rather, she is always historically situated and embodied, reflecting the tensions and urgencies of the contexts in which she is reimagined.