Antigone Article 06

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ANTIGONE TYl'e of WOTk: Drama Au,h",: Sophocles (49;)·4{)6 B c,) TYl'e of plot: Classical tragedy Time of plot: Remote antiquity Locale: The citv of Thebes ' Firs1 presented:" 441 B, C Principal characters: CR.EON, tyrant of Thebes ANTICON'E, daughter ISMENE, her sister HAEMOS, Tnu:.SIAS,

of Oedipus

son of Creon a prophet

Critique: Although the main problem of this play would be unimportant today, the discussions of the responsibilities of a ruler are as pertinent now as in ancient Greece, The characters of the play move to their tragic ends with highly dramatic speeches, while the motal and philosophi. cal problems of the plot are displayed through the chorus and sohloguies. \Vhen first presented, the play was so successful with Athenian audiences that Sophocles was made a general in the war against Samos. Recent presentations of the play have been well received by both audience and critic.

~ Polynices and

Eteocles, sons of the cursed family of King Oedipus, led two armies against each other before the <.l')gates of Thebes, and both brothers "ere tt killed in single combat with each other. ~ Creon, their uncle, and now the tyrant ~ ruler of the city, ordered that Eteocles ;, be given full funeral rites, but that Poly' nices, who had attacked the city, be left unburied and unmourned Anyone who "Iv broke this decree would be punished with ~ death. Q"" Antigone and Ismene, the sisters of J Polynices and Eteocles, discussed this order, and with grief for the unburied brother tearing at her heart, Antigone asked Ismene to aid her in giving him burial. When Ismene refused to help in so dangerous a task, Antigone went de-fiantly to bury Polynices,

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Shortly afterward. Creon learned from a sentry that the body had been buried, Angrily he ordered the sentry to find the perpettator of the deed, The sentry returned to the grave and uncovered the body. During a dust storm Antigone came to look at the g1'a\ e and, finding it open, filled the air with [amenration. Her cries attracted the attention of the guard. who captured her and took her to Creon, Questioned by Creon, she said that bury a man was to obey the laws of the gods, even if it were against the laws of a man. Her reply angered Creon. Antigone must die. Ismene tried to soften Creon's heart toward her sister by re-minding him that Antigone was engaged to his son, Haemon. But Creon remained firm. Haemon incurred his father's anger by arguments that Creon should soften his cruel decree because of popular sympathy for Antigone. Creon said that he cared nothing for the ideas of the town, and Haemon called his answer foolish, As a punishment, Creon ordered that Antigone be killed before Haernon's eyes, Haemon Red with threats of revenge. Creon ordered that Antigone be walled up in a cave outside Thebes and left there to die for her crime against his law. When Antigone was led out of the ciry, the people of Thebes followed her, lamenting her Fate. She was thrust into the cave. All this while, Polynices' body

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Greek ideas about death. An unburied body meant a soul condemned to torment. It was the profound obliganon of the family, therefore, to see that a body was properly inhumed. ThIS was more than a matter of family loyalty, r It was an act of piety demanded by the gods.(Antlgone undertakes that "obligation even though it means treason to the State, the rejection of her only (' sister Ismene, the renunciation of her fiance, and her own death)She IS ( absolutely uncornprornrsmg about It, knowing all the consequences beforehand. As It turns out, she IS justified. But we do not know this until Tiresias appears and then It IS too late to matter, for she has hanged herself. Creon also has a valid stand. The traitor Polynices should he punished m death. A conscientious ruler, he IS concerned about .toyalty to the State. But / n hIS position as king he confuses his own will with the good of Thebes.? \. In pursuing his edict, which says that anyone who buries Polynices will be put to death, he changes from a good king into a tyran9His vanity is Involved: he will not be put in the wrong by a young woman or his son in front of the chorus of Theban elders. His flaw lies m hIS stubborn, selfnghteous mflexibility when the tIde of evidence turns against him. He angrily maintains his stand m the face of Antigone's martyrdom, his son's pleading, the sympathy of the townspeople WIth Antigone, and Tiresias' warmngs'
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fate. When suffering is a part of every man's condition, there is a vast difference m how one takes It. A man can fumble into it through Ig,norance and flaws of character, as Creon does, which makes hun merely pathetic. ThIS IS the normal human lot. Or a person can freely choose suffenng WIth pren eyes by takmg on a divine obligatIon m spIte of all obstacles. ThIS way IS mtense and tragIc, but m the end It IS the only path that can enlarge our humamty" Ihe greatness of A tttigone lies in the clarity. the pOignance. and the mtegnty WIth whIch Sophocles presented these two possibilities.

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