ANTIGONE SOPHOCLES

Antigone Sophocles

Antigone

Sophocles

ANTIGONE by Sophocles ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronics, mechanical, photocopying, recording and or without permission of the publisher. Published by

MAPLE PRESS PRIVATE LIMITED office: A-63, Sector 58, Noida 201301, U.P., India phone: +91 120 455 3581, 455 3583 email: [email protected] website: www.maplepress.co.in Reprinted in 2019 ISBN: 978-93-50338-02-5

Contents Characters��������������������������������������������������������������������������������7 Characters List������������������������������������������������������������������������8 Prologue�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11 Scene - I�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 16 Scene - II������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23 Scene - III����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Scene - IV����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 37 Scene - V������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 42 Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 52 Analysis��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 64

CHARACTERS Antigone – Daughter of Oedipus Ismene – Daughter of Oedipus Oedipus – King of Thebes Eurydice – Wife of Creon Creon– Brother of Jocasta Haemon – Son of Creon Teiresias – A Blind Prophet A Sentry – Fulax A Messenger – Aggelos Chorus of Theban Elders and Colonus Elders SCENE: Before the Palace of Creon, King of Thebes. A central double door, and two lateral doors. A platform extends the length of the façade, and from this platform three steps lead down into the “orchestra”, or chorus-ground. TIME: Dawn of the day after the repulse of the Argive army from the assault on Thebes.

CHARACTERS LIST Oedipus: The protagonist of  Oedipus the King  and  Oedipus at Colonus.  Oedipus becomes king of Thebes before the action of Oedipus the King begins. He is renowned for his intelligence and his ability to solve riddles—he saved the city of Thebes and was made its king by solving the riddle of the Sphinx, the supernatural being that had held the city captive. Yet Oedipus is stubbornly blind to the truth about himself. His name’s literal meaning (“swollen foot”) is the clue to his identity—he was taken from the house of Laius as a baby and left in the mountains with his feet bound together. On his way to Thebes, he killed his biological father, not knowing who he was, and proceeded to marry Jocasta, his biological mother. Jocasta: Oedipus’s wife and mother, and Creon’s sister. Jocasta appears only in the final scenes of Oedipus the King. In her first words, she attempts to make peace between Oedipus and Creon, pleading with Oedipus not to banish Creon. She is comforting to her husband and calmly tries to urge him to reject Tiresias’s terrifying prophecies as false. Jocasta solves the riddle of Oedipus’s identity before Oedipus does, and she expresses her love for her son and husband in her desire to protect him from this knowledge. Antigone: Child of Oedipus and Jocasta, and therefore both Oedipus’s daughter and his sister. Antigone appears briefly at the end of  Oedipus the King,  when she says goodbye to her father as Creon prepares to banish Oedipus. She appears at greater length in Oedipus at Colonus, leading and caring for her old, blind father in his exile. But Antigone comes into her own in  Antigone.  As that play’s protagonist, she demonstrates a courage and clarity

Antigone

of sight unparalleled by any other character in the three Theban plays. Whereas other characters—Oedipus, Creon, Polynices—are reluctant to acknowledge the consequences of their actions, Antigone is unabashed in her conviction that she has done right. Creon: Oedipus’s brother-in-law, Creon appears more than any other character in the three plays combined. In him more than anyone else we see the gradual rise and fall of one man’s power. Early in  Oedipus the King,  Creon claims to have no desire for kingship. Yet, when he has the opportunity to grasp power at the end of that play, Creon seems quite eager. We learn in  Oedipus at Colonus that he is willing to fight with his nephews for this power, and in Antigone Creon rules Thebes with a stubborn blindness that is similar to Oedipus’s rule. But Creon never has our sympathy in the way Oedipus does, because he is bossy and bureaucratic, intent on asserting his own authority. Polynices: Son of Oedipus, and thus also his brother. Polynices appears only very briefly in Oedipus at Colonus. He arrives at Colonus seeking his father’s blessing in his battle with his brother, Eteocles, for power in Thebes. Polynices tries to point out the similarity between his own situation and that of Oedipus, but his words seem opportunistic rather than filial, a fact that Oedipus points out. Tiresias: Tiresias, the blind soothsayer of Thebes, appears in both Oedipus the King and Antigone. In Oedipus, the King, Tiresias tells Oedipus that he is the murderer he hunts, and Oedipus does not believe him. In Antigone, Tiresias tells Creon that Creon himself is bringing disaster upon Thebes, and Creon does not believe him. Yet, both Oedipus and Creon claim to trust Tiresias deeply. The literal blindness of the soothsayer points to the metaphorical blindness of those who refuse to believe the truth about themselves when they hear it spoken. Haemon: Creon’s son, who appears only in Antigone. Haemon is engaged to marry Antigone. Motivated by his love for her, he argues with Creon about the latter’s decision to punish her. 9

Sophocles

Ismene: Oedipus’s daughter Ismene appears at the end of Oedipus the King  and to a limited extent in  Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. Ismene’s minor part underscores her sister’s grandeur and courage. Ismene fears helping Antigone bury Polynices but offers to die beside Antigone when Creon sentences her to die. Antigone, however, refuses to allow her sister to be martyred for something she did not have the courage to stand up for. Theseus: The king of Athens in Oedipus at Colonus. A renowned and powerful warrior, Theseus takes pity on Oedipus and defends him against Creon. Theseus is the only one who knows the spot at which Oedipus descended to the underworld—a secret he promises Oedipus he will hold forever. Chorus: Sometimes comically obtuse or fickle, sometimes perceptive, sometimes melodramatic, the Chorus reacts to the events onstage. The Chorus’s reactions can be lessons in how the audience should interpret what it is seeing, or how it should not interpret what it is seeing. Eurydice: Creon’s wife.

10

PROLOGUE [Antigone and Ismene enter from the central door of the Palace.] Antigone: Ismene: Antigone: Ismene: Antigone:

Ismene, dear sister, would you think that we had already suffered enough for the curse on Oedipus*: I cannot imagine any grief that you and I have not gone through. And now–Have they told you of the new decree of our King Creon? I have heard nothing: I know that two sisters lost two brothers, a double death In a single hour; and I know that the Argive army fled in the night; but beyond this, nothing. I thought so. And that is why I wanted you to come out here with me. There is something we must do. Why do you speak so strangely? Listen, Ismenê: Creon buried our brother Eteoclês with military honours, gave him a soldier’s funeral, and it was right that he should; but Polyneicês, They fought as bravely and died as miserably. They say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury him, no one mourn for him. But this body must lie in the fields, a sweet treasure for carrion birds to find

*Oedipus: once King of Thebes, was the father of Antigone and Ismene, and of their brothers Polyneices and Eteocles. Oedipus unwittingly killed his father, Laios, and married his own mother, Iocaste. When he learned what he had done, he blinded himself and left Thebes. Eteocles and Polyneices quarrelled. Polyneices was driven out but returned to assault Thebes. In the battle each brother killed the other; Creon became king and ordered that Polyneices be left to rot unburied on the battlefield as a traitor.

Sophocles

as they search for food. That is what they say, and our good Creon is coming here to announce it publicly; and the penalty– stoning to death in the public square. There it is, and now you can prove what you are: a true sister, or a traitor to your family. Ismene: Antigone, you are mad! What could I possibly do? Antigone: You must decide whether you will help me or not. Ismene: I do not understand you. Help you in what? Antigone: Ismene, I am going to bury him. Will you come? Ismene: Bury him! You have just said the new law forbids it. Antigone: He is my brother. And he is your brother, too. Ismene: But think of the danger! Think what Creon will do! Antigone: Creon is not enough to stand in my way. Ismene: Ah sister! Oedipus died, everyone hating him, for what his own search brought to light, his eyes ripped out by his own hand; and Jocaste died, his mother and wife at once: she twisted the cords that strangled her life; and our two brothers died, each killed by the other’s sword. And we are left: But, oh, Antigone, think how much more terrible than these our own death would be if we should go against Creon and do what he has forbidden! We are only women. We cannot fight with men, Antigone! The law is strong, we must give in to the law in this thing, and in worse. I beg the Dead to forgive me, but I am helpless: I must yield to those in authority, and I think it is dangerous business to be always meddling. Antigone: If that is what you think, then I should not want you, even if you asked to come. You have made your choice, you can be what you want to be. But I

12

Antigone

will bury him; and if I must die, I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me. It is the dead not the living, who make the longest demands: We die for ever… You may do as you like since apparently the laws of the god mean nothing to you. Ismene: They mean a great deal to me, but I have no strength to break laws that were made for the public good. Antigone: That must be your excuse, I suppose. But as for me, I will bury the brother I love. Ismene: Antigone, I am so afraid for you! Antigone: You need not be: you have yourself to consider, after all. Ismene: But no one must hear of this, you must tell no one! I will keep it a secret, I promise! Antigone: Oh tell it! Tell everyone think how they’ll hate you when it all comes out. If they learn that you knew about it all the time! Ismene: So fiery! You should be cold with fear. Antigone: Perhaps. But I am doing only what I must. Ismene: But can you do it? I say that you cannot. Antigone: Very well: when my strength gives out, I shall do no more. Ismene: Impossible things should not be tried at all. Antigone: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, for your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, it will not be the worst of deaths ––death without honour. Ismene: Go then, if you feel that you must. You are unwise, but a loyal friend indeed to those who love you. 13

Sophocles

[Exit into the Palace. Antigone goes off, L. Enter the Chorus.] Parodos [Strophe 1] Chorus: Choragos:***

Now the long blade of the sun, lying Level east to west, touches with glory. Thebes of the Seven Gates. Open, unlidded Eye of golden day! O marching light Across the eddy and rush of Dirce’s stream,** Striking the white shields of the enemy Thrown headlong backward from the blaze of morning! Polyneices their commander Roused them with windy phrases. He the wild eagle screaming. Insults above our land, His wings their shields of snow, His crest their marshaled helms. [Antistrophe 1]

Chorus: Against our seven gates in a yawning ring The famished spears came onward in the night; But before his jaws were sated with our blood, Or pine fire took the garland of our towers, He was thrown back; and as he turned, great Thebes– No tender victim for his noisy power– Rose like a dragon behind him, shouting war. Choragos: For God hates utterly The bray of bragging tongues; And when he beheld their smiling, Their swagger of golden helms, The frown of his thunder blasted Dirce: A stream west of Thebes. Leader of the Chorus.

14

Antigone



Their first man from our walls. [Strophe 2]

Chorus: Choragos:

We heard his shout of triumph high in the air Turn to a scream; far out in a flaming are He fell with his windy torch, and the earth struck him. And others storming in fury no less than his Found shock of death in the dusty joy of battle. Seven captains at seven gates Yielded their clanging arms to the god That bends the battle-line and breaks it. These two only, brothers in blood, Face to face in matchless rage, Mirroring each the other’s death, Clashed in long combat. [Antistrophe 2]

Chorus:

But now in the beautiful morning of victory Let Thebes of the many chariots sing for joy! With hearts for dancing we’ll take leave of war: Our temples shall be sweet with hymns of praise, And the long night shall echo with our chorus.

15

Antigone is a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles in 441 BC. The protagonist, Antigone is a brave and proud young woman. At the beginning of the play, upon her arrival in Thebes, she learns that her brothers are dead. Antigone decides to defy Creon's laws and gives her brothers a proper funeral, while further raising a conflict between law and values. The play raises issues of law and mortality that are just as relevant today as they were more than two thousands year ago.

www.maplepress.co.in

ISBN: 978-93-50338-02-5 classic

e-book available

maple press

9 789350 338025

` 75