„Antik? Oh, nee.“: Antigone und die Folgen: Sophokles, Hegel, Freud, Butler

Abstract

Based on a comprehensive cultural-history approach, this essay argues that the selection of Oedipus as the basic model for psychoanalytical theory represents a negation of Antigone, the relevant sibling relation, and the horizontally structured family model. This negation will also be identified in Sigmund Freud's punch line "Antik? Oh, nee.” Taking Sophocles's play as a point of reference, this article reviews different interpretations of Antigone around 1800, 1900, and 2000. They are given a new interpretation regarding the dynamics of horizontally structured relationships: as part of the construction of a sibling dispositive around 1800 (Hegel), as final phase of a period of 100 years of enthusiasm for Antigone (Hofmannsthal) and rejection of her dominating role (Freud) and, finally, as alternative vision for the millennium (Butler)