Ancient Greek literature
Seven works of Sophocles have survived, the most acclaimed of which are the three Theban plays, which center around the story of Oedipus and his offspring. The Theban Trilogy consists of "Oedipus the King", "Oedipus at Colonus", and "Antigone". Although the plays are often called a "trilogy," they were actually written many years apart. "Antigone", the last of the three plays sequentially, was actually first to be written, having been composed in 441 BC, towards the beginning of Sophocles's career. "Oedipus the King", the most famous of the three, was written around 429 BC at the midpoint of Sophocles's career. "Oedipus at Colonus", the second of the three plays chronologically, was actually Sophocles's last play and was performed in 401 BC, after Sophocles's death.
Antigone (Honegger)
Honegger had a passionate interest in theatre. Prior to "Antigone", he had composed film scores and incidental music for plays as well as an oratorio, "Le roi David", which he called a "dramatic psalm" and premiered in 1921. From 1922 Honegger began thinking about adapting the Greek tragedy "Antigone" by Sophocles as his first opera. He wrote that the plot is "not the standard anecdote of love which is the base of nearly all lyric theatre". The decade between 1920 and 1930 saw several new operas based on works or themes from the past. Like "Antigone", Satie's "Socrates" and Stravinsky's "Oedipus rex" were based on ancient Greek subjects while both Hindemith's "Cardillac" and Berg's "Wozzeck" were based on early 19th century German literature.