COLLECTIVE GUILT AND SELF-SACRIFICE IN SOPHOCLES’ ANTIGONE AND IN II & IV MACCABEES – PRELIMINARY CULTURAL-CRITICAL REMARKS

Abstract

Jewish-Hellenistic authors use language and ideas of ancient Greek tragedies in order to express their own religious and theological standpoints and make them accessible to the Greek-speaking world. This article highlights the significance of Sophocles’ Antigone for a cultural-critical understanding of the concepts of collective guilt and self-sacrifice in II Macc 6-7 and IV Macc