Th e reception of Sophocles’ Antigone in 20th–21st-century Hungarian literature is represented by István Eörsi’s two dramas (Hooligan Antigone; A Tragedy in Hungarian) and György Dragomán’s short story (Hangar). My paper examines how these works rewrite and reinterpret the ancient Greek drama. In the analysis, particular attention will be paid to the political context of the theme ‘Antigone’ in Hungarian literature, and, on the one hand, to the way these texts use the poetics of dystopian space to reinterpret the history of Antigone.

Th e reception of Sophocles’ Antigone in 20th–21st-century Hungarian literature is represented by István Eörsi’s two dramas (Hooligan Antigone; A Tragedy in Hungarian) and György Dragomán’s short story (Hangar). My paper examines how these works rewrite and reinterpret the ancient Greek drama. In the analysis, particular attention will be paid to the political context of the theme ‘Antigone’ in Hungarian literature, and, on the one hand, to the way these texts use the poetics of dystopian space to reinterpret the history of Antigone.