Antigone Article 15

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SOPHOCLES: ((Sophocles' Praise of Man A COLLECTION OF CRITICAL ESSAYS

and the Conflicts of the Anti$1l.!K \1 by Charles Paul Segal

Edited by

Thomas (Woodard -e ---~

Prentice-Hall, Inc.

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Englewood

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It i. no coincidence that the most influential interpretation of the Anligont!-anu one of the: most influential uuerpretarions of a Greek tragerly--eomes from a philOGOphcr of idealism and dialectics. The d,lI;gone is certainly a play of amuheses and conllicu, and lhi' alate of conflict is embodied In the: presence on sl:.Age of two prolagoniau. each diametrically 0PI>OSCU (0 the other, Yel aa a result o( Hegel', Iamcus anal)"is much discussion of the play h... Iocused on the quest lon of which of the two protagonists has more: of "the righl" on his .ide, Thi. approach runs the risk or conceptualizing the protagonists toe simply 11110 antuherical "principles" which somehow are, and uiaJeclically must be, ultimalel}' reconciled. This ia not to lay that there are not conceptual iaauea Involved in the characters oC Creon and Antigone.(Uut the i&luea are: too complex to be J.alidactoriJy reduced to a single: antithetical formulalion, )Wc: mus~,,*,oitl oeeing the proragonuu .. one-dimensional rep.reac:nlauvcs·o{ simple Opposilions: rillht and wrong. reason and nnoUon. state ,and jnt~~~I-'aI. or the like. Such oppoeirione have some validity; but a v~ny purchased at the price of oversimplificalion and ultimately a misunderstanding of Sophocles' sense of the tragic, 'The characters, like the play hoelC, have many levels which Iuse organically. sometimes indistinguishably, into a complex unity; and here the{c::onCrontations oC the two protagonists create an everramifying interplay between interlodting and expanding

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"Scphoclee' Pr.ahc of Man and the .f.3nlllt"11 of the Anligone- br Chufct Paul ScK;af. Frum Arion. UI, No. • (Sumn\h 196.0, pp. 0{6·00. C',ul'yrinht © .~tfi-t by Arion. Rrprhtlctl by perm!...Inn 0{ drion. RcyiKd lJy the author lor uu. volume.. and DOLeo omil ted, by pcuui..UJoo.

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Suphuclcs' Prauc u/ Man and 'he COli/lieu oJ lhe AntlJ:;oue

Charles Paul Sc:gal

II i> the essence and the marvel of work, of the Classical .l>cdoo Ulat concrete and geueric so pcrfectly meet and unue, In this qualilY Sophocles 13 pre-euunent, )0 the ,duligcme the churacters arc the issues, and the Issues the characters. Uut the charaClclS al~e not only "iSSUb:' Tlu:y are indivitluab moving as all men do Ii; til complex. entanl)leuleut of will and circumstance, passion and alrrubOl, guilt anti innocence, l'hdr lieurching. sullcl"iuf{, growth to understanding, and death give to the "philoeophicul" I:.:.ues subuance and the breath of life. Hence they Can move us with a starement lhat docs not {ahify the: iUlertwining of idea whh particular. concept wit h ..cuou, 10::.$ willa attaiumcm, Ulat Iorius the: structure of our reality. Recent criucs, abandoning the simple ·Ihesis·amilhesi. opposition and look-ing OIL the play in terms of the acrion iLSeJr. have made it clear Ihal il i> hard 10 find much pure "right" on Creon'••id7.l though this iJ not (0 lay lhat hi:! Iate c:nlirely lacks a tragic dimen,ion 01' Ihal the conltict i••euled merely by a kind of moral dcfuuh, Antigone. on the other hand. i:s vindicated by the end of the play, lJUl unly at the: COd of tremendous sulledng. her own and that those d0$.C11 to her. Indeed, since she t.lbappears a lillie aher the h ..lC·way point oC the elrama, one may wonder whether h h not the goo". 'Teiresia•• and the rlghta of We corptte, which are vindicated rather than Amigone herself, BUI Anugone and Creon are clearly the central focus of the play. Yel logelher Ihey give Ihe playa double fU<:II>. The "uoul>le ceuler of gravhy" in rhe work. as one criric has called il. creales a lemion and richness which makeJ it possible for Ihe aClion 10 reflecI baclt) upon i"df in complex way•. And. a. anolher crWc h., aplly poinled OUt. lhe decisive: qu...Hty of the manti judgm81t expressed at the end of Ihe Iragedy requires a movemem iu which Ihere can be sullicienl complexhy 10 make Ihe play an adequale ani'lie expr.,.. sion of Ihe eomplexily willch ex is" in life. ) The cOIIIl'lcxily lies in pan 'in Ihe faci l.hal the IWO proragonilll. lhoug'" wuilly oppotetJ in Iheir views. are nevenhde.. each bound 10 lhe Olher. "demonically bound," as Reinhardl has pUI il. Each is nece...!)' 10 define lhe olher. On Ihe one hand. as Whilman has well remarlted, "Anligone is Ihe balance in which Creon is weiHhed. and found ....aminK.., on the other. AllliJ!one'. h.ulun:.. would

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mal<.c DO sense ....uhout Creon's aurhoruarian willfUlness. 11 i. the essence ~f the tragedy that the one figure seems to generate the \ other, that the lWO COC:XJlit ;u comp'cnu:n1ary parlli of a whoie.)) This whole is not necessarily a Hegelian "IYluhc~is" of two 01'1>00jog: "'p.d1Ual substances," but lOlJu:lhing l.>oth infinlu~ly lim pier and infinilely more complex, lomethlng which III auteccdenr 10 and more balk than the couceptual Iorsuulauous abour aptrit and absolutes. It is. norlung less rhau the nature of man. his place in the world. and uie possibililies aud Iimirauons 01111. actions. Around the..e luUes and derivative from them revolve the antinomies which have been conceprualized in so lDauy dillereru ways: divine versus human law, indivrdual Vt:hLU state, religious versus secular. prav:He: "eAW public moraliry. TI1C conllict between Creon and Antigone has its starring point in the' problems of law and justice. At any rate, the dttlerencc is most explicilly formula led in these Ierne; in AllliHolle'. greal speech on she divine laws (lille. 15011.). a speech which is both confession and defence, both plea of guilt and sclt-vind icarton, almost encomium. ~gainat uie limited and relative "decrees" oC men she scu the eternal laws oC Zeus, rhe "uuwriuen laws of the goili.':)hc couples her asserrion of these ateolure "laws" with her own resolute a"eJllan~e of dearn (160). Thue .h.e beg ins . 10 extend the conllici outward iruo I~Ues of wuJ.er scope. SJ~e (h~:,;c5 1!_C: ~lvJne command lover the human compulsion, and rt:lt:fu life wuh lIS compronU:ii for the absolutes of death, Indeed. in her terms these ausolures are. paradoxically. juS! Ihe Ihing. which "live alway," (151'-57). Th...peech .. also Ihe [ocal rolllt [01' themes Ihal reverb<:rale throughoul Ihe play. Antigone opposa Ihe "decrees" (kerygmata. .cS,f) of Creon 1.0 the ·'law." (nomima;'of lhc f.;oUs, and thua-sharpens the ague of what COOlaltulCJ "law" (nomos). By implication :.hc iutrooucea the diulnctlon between the man-made :lnd the: "natur",I:' the anifidal and Ihe.elernaJly exislelll. The IWO word., "decree" and "law," have been wed conhuedly and indiS<:rlmlnalcly by Creon (I«' 161. kerygma; 177. nomui; 191, nomo.; i:03. cAkcltcryittaJ.. elc,.); and they now arc: ~cn to diverge. The aame djvcrHen~e OCCUR with "justice" (dike), Arlli~one here \ // appeals to Ihe, ':Juslice Ihal dwefb wllh lhe goo> l>dow': (151),} 'IV wheri:aa Creon 11. 1at.ef to define the JWucc of ... m..n wlcly In rela-

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~ion (0 the polis. the ,alate. and to identify jusuce in private life' with thal in puulic JHe: "For he who is a good ruan in hu domc:.tic-J..' afl~in will be shown just in the cily 100" (oli.,o~). The cenainty of diu identification is severely shaken in the Iolluwing scene, where the qua.lion of justice CUfHt:S up in the most intimate: of /l t~ Creon', domesuc retauons and drivea a wedge between "pubtic" L...... . .\ :.IOU "private" jusrice. Creon taunts hll son with "going: to Jaw" ~(...e 1 (in Greek,. "being a I a case of justice," dia dikeJ) with hi. father ' (7i.) and is told in reply thal he is mistaken in the mailer oC what ia just (fa dika.-a, 713). 'The chorus is to accuse And one oC having ':t.~lIen .g.in>J.._lhe-lol~y:.seal-uLj.u."ce...- ~~55}~IH'-Lwill e~im, at the end. to Creon. "A!~2-Y_l?~J!.~~_~c:n justice latc, ill it seerus' (117 ) . . ... _ - - _ . . . . . - -

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Anllgone'. unqualified declaration for absolute values thue predpitatcs a redefinition ol some basic moral ant! ethical categories. They do not fit her ..nd have consequenrlv 10 be remade, She iI _"a law to herself' oulanumos. 811; and. as she is well aware (160ft.). she must pay the price lo-r standing outside the conventional defini.. 11011. ol "law" and "justice." She challenges human law with an absolute which she backs up with the resolve of her own death, (or III... is the Iultest assertion she can make of the Intensity of her moral ccnvicrione. She can assert what she: is only by stak.inJ; her entire being, her life. It is by this extreme defense of her bel iefs that she rasa to heroic and deeply tr3J.;ic stature; and, simultaneously, by the same gesture she males herseU incomprehensible 10 the other acton, Creon. Isrncne, the chorus. Only l laeruon. who, at a lower _ level. maka and fulfils a similar resolve to die, comes close to understanding her; and in his filial act, aUirminK himself truly her betrothed, he is Indeed "married" to her in death. Deatlr is the only poesible union of such natures:

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A corpse upon a corpse he lies, lhe unfortunate. h.ilving got hiJ muriagc portion in° H;u.ks' hOUIC (lIiO;-iI).

In Antigone"' lpeech on the ··unwrltten Jaw$," emphasis natu.. r.. lly (.. lb upon law anti j u.u ice, for l~h~ selling is a oiurit.lkal one and Antigone is, as it were:, on 111011 hn in the: cJose·knil fifth- ~ «("Hury chy·state, "law'· iilnd ··IeAalily" laVe iii. far whirr ranRc of applic:.uion than they would in the more: compartmentalized dhia .

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of modem civifizarion, For Sophocla and his conremuorartes they ~ i~volvc. the entire public ~nd ~riv"le lile uf the citi~en, hil re! aUo... wllh Lbc godJ and wllh hll fellow-men, and all the respondbilitiea. moral, ~litic,al, social, implied in those relation•. A. sense of L111S Wider realm of coullict is given In Anligone', repeated use of the word kcrdos, "profit," "gain." in her greal speech (4 6.-64), She c".un.. it "profit" to die before her lime (40.,6°), "Fur whoever liva amid many woes, .s I do, how does not such a onc win fWo{i1 in dying" (463-64). "Profit:' however, I' one oC the word. ,,UIOd throughout the pl .. y to characterize Creon', narrowly raiional} iaLie and materialirtic view of human motivation, Dut in Antigone's mouth it carries exactly the opposite significance: emotion. non. rational (lbough equally firm) deterrnin..tion rhat willingly accepts or even ~k.a •ell-destrucricn, not self-advancement, In the: face of Antigone'. resistance all of Creon'. rationalism breaks down and iI helpless. "Who iLl~IO love 10 die" ~~~~r~_~o~icJ.. at the. annq~lOiea:ne~t.. ot_G!E~.!.I~~.,.~~c~e~·-(2'J·~)~ Yet Antigone exult.. in her "foolishness" and turns the back upon her judge: "But if 1 now seem 10 you 10 be engaged in Ioolish deeds, perha "" I a m accused of foolishness by one who is foolish himself" (469"70). In the very first scene of the play Antigone has ...ked to. be lell to suffer the consequences 01 her Colly (95'90) a nd her arrirude continua to the end, Hers is the woman's ~mOlional rouLancc to the ordered male reason of the state. And she reiulorces her ~ction by lh~ least ~ationally comprehensible- of human acts, the ....cnficc: of her life. It 15 not thal she acts on unreason. but rather that Creon'. kind of reason is inatle
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SlJphocles· Pruue uf Alun and lhe Cun/JicIJ uf lhe Antigone

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much of Greek. thought before and after him. it U primarily the realm of the goW which ddin<:1 the boundari'" of what man can k.now. Where the one realm emu. the other begin,. and 10 overnep the boundary-line h a ua'lgeroLCI violation of the things,thal are. h 15 ... maller of "kucw IhyxU" geuera llzed to the human condlucn a whole. In rhis play. as in the later Oedipus Rex, k.nowledge. \A I _au' or the presumption of knowledge, rettects the: li.uiu of human power ~ \f\Q)lV" nd Ulan's re5pol1~iuiJilia to uie .re;u of LIlt: UUk..1I0WII, the uncontrotlable, the sacred, .,. Thus 10 return 10 Antigone's crucial speech. it is ,ignilicanl that in UiM·u~ing rhe divine l""w~. she makes do poilu oC mali's nul knowlug thdr origin (";uId no one knows when Ihey appeared," "157). Later in her rapid exchange wiLh Creon she opp-oses :.4 aimilur stateruent of IgllOi uuce to his po~ilive ussernons about law. right. piety: "Who knows if these thing' arc held pure and hl'Jy below?" (5.')' Creon understands nothing of the Hmits o.......tiuman powcr and control. For him 10 know the way» of men is abo to know rhe (\ way. of the gods: he 'e,," the human realm as exactly coextensive V with the divine. He cxpn:~c.:s this presumption. with characteristic bf induess, In his -repealed iuvocurlons to Zcu~;" awl these iilowly build up in il crescendo or artQbance and disaster, Hia tint refercncea.to Zeus seem "pious" enough, lhough danger '.gn! arc lcnsely pr('~enl.\ije 'iul calls upon Zeus (1Ii-l) alrer describthe guill,"aincd death of the two brothers (1701[.) and a.ks that IC god bear witne... to hi. own principle Ihat the .Iatf comes before verydtin!UCl82 If.). Thi. oath is followed, .ignificamly, by the decree iudf, the announCemc/ll of a deed which all Grecks would recognize tU an unu:iually crucl and lievert: punbhment. if nOI an actu.1 violation of acccplcd rdigious usagc. lie nexi <:alls upon Leu. in '04 If.• also in an oalh and when di.eu..ing picty and impielY. Yel here he i. nUL eVen the: cal Ill. a~)urcu slatt.,"$lI1an of the c.....lier pas.a:.gt:; but hut with ...u(;c:r anu pc.:rhal':I retiring for hi. own· pooition, he Ihrulelu Ihe guard wilh dealh .and w~m;e if he faill "0 caplure the violalor of thc decree. Whal gIve. th .. passage .pe(lal poinl it Ihc /I•• h oC illlpalicnce and thc intolcranl jibe at Ihe ~ chor"'" '·fooli.hnc:JI"' and "old agc"' when they ,ug!;""I, .hortly. before (a7H If.) thai thc hori~1 miHht be the result of divhie illter· vention. Anger and irrcverence both mount in Creon whcn, ,hartly

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aIler Amigone', great speech, he swears her and Ismene's purushmeru, "even if she u a liLS1Cr'J child, even if snc jl closer In blood th4n any who worships Zeus at the altar of Our ho,:",c" (-jIlti.H7). .or{_ Toil 'l'a,..,d, J),ui.. Z'1""OJ cpuwv "l.1p.ci• • • • Literally, the second line goes. "closer ill blood Ihan the whole ah.a r of Zeus Hcrkcios," (Zeus who ilanw In the Iorccourr 3:1 lilt: hO',uehoJd god.j ThIS statement is outmalched only by his reply La '!eJrCljlu, lihorLJy before the tragic reversal: You will not cover hllD in buri.l. net even

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the: Cilgle. of ZCUI

1ft'ub to au... LCh him up OIUU CillTy llim oU ..... Ieod to ZCUl' throne

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Thu from the ~an who first entered with "rhe gods" on his lips (161). And. a line and a hall later he adds, in a characlcri::'lJC Iusion of rhe "Imellecruat" ..ud the urelig:lous" themes. "For 1 well .lnow thai no man can pollute the gods' (101~'H)' h ia. rnen, nOI by accideru that AlIligone ucgill5 her grcal speech with Zeus: Creon. .4nl'gone.

Dared you then (0 tr;ansgrcu these b.wli h w.... 1101 lcus who 104l0c: IhC'~ UCCU:C:ol oC youn, nor are .uc.h the: law. lh .. l JUllicc who cJwelb with the godl below CJlilbJi,ht:d awong o.U:1\ • • • (ioJ9 11.).

.. lew is releva nr, of course, because he is the supreme god and, as ,kY'god, u especially a/kclcd by Ihe poUutiollS involvcd in the corpac. But as a focal remlflller of Creon'. hybris and. more jlll~ POrlalll. . . Ihe fullesl .ingle emhodimenl of the realitie. of Ihe univcn.e he i, the measure of Andl;onc',s dis.scnt and of her heroJ:)IIJ. The gulf bel wee Creon and Antigone thus becomc' illllllense. (ll it among t e ironies the play Ihat he who talk.s coll>lalllly of "pollution" and "rever~nce'" (scoas) unuerstand, thena oniy in the narrOWell and ICall reverent way. He who h:u rlttketl total pollulJon of the cily In eXpoIlng Polyneica" corpae willacd: to avolu polhllion by Ihe limited expcdielll of huryillg Andgonc alive (77~ IL). (The decree ori1;iniilJly demanded ue.uh by Iloning. !i5'!i6.) II I' AlHigone. cootlcmnctl Cor "impiely" (sec dYJ.Jc:bc:s. 51-1. !) IIi), who is Car closer

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Sopho·dCJ· Prtuse 01 Man Qnd the Conflicts 01 the Antigone

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10 understanding wh.1 piely and the gods rnean: "In acring piouslj' I have gained [the charge 01) impiety' (dyJJcbdan cuscbousa, 9'~)' Her very lasl word. in the pl.y renera re her claim: "See wh.1 1 sutler, and from wbom, reverencing piety" (9~.·H). Her pietj, ... her paradox in 9'~ makes clear, i. not easy nor e;uHy grasped by others, leas t 01 .11 the chorus (see 87')' who assert th.. "sell-wllled paulon" destroyed her (875). ,Yel. it IS atmost an essential p:.lTl of Antigone's acrion th.n it be not understood, that she Sland alone against Creon's sod.llly convemeru claims of piety. the easy and )/}\ popular incoruistencies which all agree upon and tollow. lt i~ only the tragic ch .. racier who sees things through to tlidr logical conelusions. and 10 diet. AJltigone. like Ajax. rejects IHe as compromise, giva up existence when it CC;UCl to come up to the measure o( the heroic aell·imjlge. "For you," she Ielb Isrnene shortlv after he gre," speech 10 Creon, "chose 10 live, bUI I 10 die" (555). Her both Iemene's gentleness and Creon's sclt-wifled rationality out: left Iurthe.. behind. ~ h is again among the tragic aradoxe5 of Anli~one's poeirion th.u die who accepts the: absolutes ealh has a far fuller sense of the complexities of life, Creon, whu lacks a true "reverencev-for the gods. the powers beyond human Hfe, abo lacks a deep awareness of the complexities within the human realm. lienee he tends to lee the wor-ld in terms or harshly opposed ca tC:J;ori;;5~ rip,ht ..ntl wrong. reason and folly, youth and age, male and Iernule, He~orn(ulJy joins old aKc with foolishness in sIx:akinK to the chnrus (.1:11) and rdu:lo to lislen to his son', auvicc bec..use he b youlI~er (7'9 IT....p. 7.6'.9). Vel his opp",ilion 01 old .nd young i. l.,er 10 be lurned again.. him hy Tdrcsias (.ee JOHH IT.), allli he i•• III Ihe end. 10 be "I.ughl" by Ihe young son (.ec 7"5 .•6) who uies, Creoni -I.m
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Charles Paul Segal

for An,"igone', full acceptance of her womanly nature, her absolute volua"on of the bonds 01 blood and atlecuon, ia " 101ll.1 denial of Creon'. obscsIivdy mascul inc ralionalilY. Amigone', acceptance of lhia womanly obllgarion alanda out the more by contrast whh Ismene's rejection of it: "We must consider," bJD~ne-aays, "lhat we were born aa women with women's nature, .and are not such al 10 fighl with men" (61-02). Isrnene Ieeb her _ w~nhOOl1 a.I somelhing negative, as a weaknes.a. Antigone find.. in It a source of strength, Ismene capitulate! to Creon's view: .. Antigone raina and find. in her "nature" a potenl heroism which cuu acrou Creon's dichorcnnzing' of things anti has its echoes even alter her death in the equally wom a uly, though leu .ignilit.:~IIl, death 01 Eurydice. It ia Antigone's very "nature," even more than her action•. which Il~n~ in such challenging opposuton to Creon. Thus slte concludes her ·fir5l, and moll important, clash with Creun with the' pointed line: "!l is my nature nOI 10 share in hadng (syrlCcIJtIJcin). but 10.... share In loving (syrnphilcin)" <s"~). Her WOIW nOI only answer Creon', charge: that Polyneices is an enemy and hence deserving of hale. not Jove (5.11), but .. lso expose more ot the Iundamenral dillerences between the two protagonlslI, In the coutlict over basic terms like "law:' "piety," "profit," liea mud. of the movement of the pl.y. The words lor "love" and "hale" used l>y Creon and Amigone in 5..·.3 (and throughout the play) have. cerf ain amblgui."y, Echthros, "enemy," means -also p"rsoually "hated": philo», "Irtend," mc~n. also ~n intim..tc:ly "loved one:' Creon limply idellti~ fica Ihe lwo me.nings; th.t ia, he idelllifica "love" :is personal .nd emolion.1
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Supilocies' PrlJue

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Man and flae CUII/liels u/ llie Anlisouc

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idea .ha. rhe goJ.s could "honor" a rrancr (.ee ,U.I IL).lle again lJ..e sumcs that human anti divine-or pulilkal and rcligiuuliv..lues e:xactly colndcJt:.~nligolle, on the ether hand. looks at "honor" in tenus of what is due: to the: god=, (see 77); ami l lueruon c... n Iind AlltiHone. a 'Woman awl a violator ul the: ruler's edict, "wonhy '0 gain golden honor" (ti!J!J). Yet nOI llIerely human reladu... arc involved ill the ccntlict be- tween Creon and Antigune. IJUI ba~ic ..uuudes toward IIIC;~ whole: of exl:..tcIlt:C. It is the finn ila)iIUOn~ the Iuruous ode 011 m a u (1Sj¥ Ii'.) which mas k..i rhe lint Jignifit:ant expansion of the meaning or the acuou to this broader level. 'The ode is not without its iJmuij;ulLics and ironies, Ior au praise of man'a .intellectual achievement is severely qualified in uie course o( Ihe play. 11 i, preceded, moreover, by sever..l biaiis oC very non-Imellecrual anger by Crcun; and illlllledialely before••he guard, a simple and conventionally pion. man, dila.el on the element of "chance" in human life (see ,aH) and e"iLl wilh a lIa.emenl- ot grali.ude 10 "the goo." (3~ I). The otic iuelf i, abo perhapl no. 10 confident a. mlgh. a. 1irs 1 appear. 'The ...djc:clive which ueKriLn:a man. deinos, means nut only "wouderfuf," but a lso "terrible, "fearful," ali sever ul (UIIl· meuuuors have pouued out. Bru tilt: grcau::il aUlLJI~uity lie) III mall hin~lC. Man claims control ... nd dominarion, yet he cannot ":011I1'01 hinudf. has dilhcuhy in controlling other men, and perhaps cannot even (anuol Ihe nalurOll world. The irony or sdC·colurul 1:1 pointed up by .he word u.ed dc::;cribc man'. civic ami legal ".elllper" (orgas, '5ti) in .he otIe. (or .hia word mean" al.o "anger" and iJ I() uacd .honly before in .he aeene wilh .he guard (urge, aUo). Similariy .he word Cor ".hougill" in .he otIe (phronema, '5~) aillniii.1 alllO Of

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"pridc" and hill thal aClue in the ensuing acent: with Antigone (:tee well al a, Olher ~rucial poinLi in .he play.

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There il lillie '1uolion lhal lbe OI!e rellecLi much o( lhe Opl!' miJlic ra.ionalilm of Sophoclca' lime: .he Sophillic view o( Illan', abili.y work. crealively upon hia enVirOIll?el1l and .?e prollably Pro•• gorean concep' .hal lhe I.ale••he polIS. alan? wllh law and . lice ia a human crea.ion and perhapl .he mOil Impor.alll lIage )UI , "1 . "'If in manta Oli.liCrtion of himadf over 3galnlt a hosu c or (nul ~rc:nt world. The cnumerillion of man·. cultural itUIVilIICc:a JUj,lY UIeU derive from SophUlic "cuhure·hillories," or a. Ie... (rom .he ,new

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'.

CJHJrICJ Paul Segal

rauonalistic, "anthropological" view of man which treats of human civilization aJ the resuh of a gradual 510w advance. Similar klca.s are already preaelll in Acschylw' Prometheus Bound, wriuen per' haps some twenty ye... rs before the Antigone. 'Though Sophocles draws he.vily on these rauonahstie view, he doca no. necessar ily Iullv approve them. Throogh rhis ode he th{oWi them Into rhc dramatic action of the play and aliowl rhesu to be weighed in the: b:dancc o[ uie lfagic ourcome. It is not Ihat he denies Oleir validity, for he 100 is obviously much Impressed with the: range of human achtevernent, But he can 110 long-er rCHanJ "progress" and a Promethean conquest of nature as havilll{ the heroic pouibilitia which Aes<.hy'us--and perhaps Proragoras-s-saw in them. Sophocles does nOI see in reasuII and technical control sunply a source of human (reedom,- as Ae><:hylu. did. bUI sees in them too a poteurial source of human bondage anti limuauon. And his retlccuons on .hi, ,nbjec. are .0 mature in IIle'-OedipIlJ Re,,~ where, it will be recalled, knowledge and intc:llil1cnce are by no mCaJU unambiguous KO
ou. cily" (apolis) ,hould he be led

'0

.n .CI o( r.,hne", (",Ima). His nalure then. as thiJ "rashness" or "darlufo(' llll~gests eVen here, conlaiRa an irration.. l or violenl and dcstructlve putential. rerhaps in this Ihilt of cmphasis Sophocle~ means lU 511g~e!il thai IUCCC5.I in the areas o( law and ju~lice. the areOla whkh concern relation, with other human bdnb13. i~ more dillicu1t 01111.1 h::i.$ certain than COlllral over lhe lower ordeu o( nalure. Thoul{h Ihe Sophis. Pro.agoras iJ probably more oplimi,lic, i. i. imereslin~ Ihal SophodOl' luggealion o( Ihe grealer dillicuhy o( law .nd lumce would correspond roullhly wilh Pro•• gor.I' empha.i, on ~he dillkuhy and importance of Ujuukc'" an? .. ~cve~c:?ce... the ~u~1Ilu:5 wlllC~~ mak.:

It

po&&ible

(or

mcn to unite:

In Cilies

or

SOClt'IIt::i. I~

which Pla.o pu .. in hia mou.h (Pro/agoras

3.oc-~.~a),

the

myth

_

Thia complex. connection between cOlurol and human fclauona baa a.1w a further aig-nHicaficc lor Andgonc. Her wom..nly "mHurc." ~

S<1phocleJ' PrQiu 0/ Man and ,h, Con(licCl of {h, Antigone

75

centered on "aharing in love," opposes Creon', auuude ot domin.·lion which lI.nds 'p.rt hom the otherness oolh ot men and nature and looks upon them as • potemial "enemy" 10 be subjugated, Thus i l .is Antigone. u'le woman-s-or, perhaps, at... another Ievel, the ( "woman" in him-that Creon must subdue, or. in one of hu Iavorue metaphors, must "yoke." It is Imereerlng in the light of th ls oppoeu ion th.u when Andgonc leeks a heroic exemplar [or hersetl. she invokes the fiKure ol Niobe, a loving mol her, bUI also a ( human being who is Oil the same lime organically (used with the natural world: she whom "the growth o( rock, Iike imenscly wind. ing ivy, subdued" (11,6-'7). Arnigone's Niobe belongs both 10 humanily. with iu feelings and sorrows. and to inanimate nature; and she symbolically unites the two realms. 'Thus the snow and rain are not hostile missiles to be warded 01(. as in the lint staairnon (356 II.), bUI are •• her own rears which she feels running down the rock.y riuge. of wh.1 is now her Iace: Still. at she walles. the rain and Inow companions her. Pouring down hom her mourning e:yes comes the water that lOiI'" the: stone (th6-311. WyckoU·s HOlm,}.).

Yet Niobe too. like Antigone, aullered [rom excessive love and) pride: but in her, as in Anugoue. lonefiuess and sorrow are transmuted to a higher p1anc. ,...... It is signiiicant then that the Iimiiarions in Creon's attitude. arc borne in upon him not on~y in the area ol his persona] relations, but also in hanguat;e which mala another connection between human relations and the natural world and pointe toward a view resembling rhe Niobe-image (Ihough less prolound), • view in which man does not doruinate nature. but learus [rom it sym· pathetically. Hence in urging his rather to ··yielu." Hacmoll ch~ca as examples o[ "yielding" trees that bend in the winter ll00J r;uher th.n .training Slillly .g.in.. il (7 I i II.). and he prelaces hi ••dvice wllh a alatement about human "wisuom" (supJlUs, 710). which echoes Ihe pr.ise: o( "wisdom" in Ihe ode (3fi5). - To yield i> exaclly whal Creon finds m031 dilficull, .nd Ihere i. perha(;-a furthcr irony in his statement after the cncoul-~ter with Tdrcsi;u. "To yield u. terrible {demon}. but to resist and suik.e my

CharI.. Paul Segal

proud opin wilh di •••ter lIands allO in (Ihe realm 01) the terrible (deinon)" (lOgIl·97). Thus when lorced by coutrontarion wilb the uncontrollable 10 "yield," he echoes the lead-word in the earlier praise of man's power of control: "Many are the wonders [terrors, dei",,), and nothing more wonderlul (terrtble, dcinon) than man." Anligant:, who in her own way allO refuses to yiei d/ ' irnages more: fully the' grcatnos of Dian. BUl Lhia grcalO6J il measured abo againu Creon's Ihnitarions. 'The contrail between the two k.inda of not "yielding" i, well exemplified in the .ingle, concentrated line whh which Anttgone CUll through Creon'. long nut of 473'4!J6: "Do you w.nl .nYlhing more than my c'plure and death?" (497). The scene with l laemon which 1011ow. and firat eXl'lidlly introduces the "ylch.ling" R10liI brings out more hilly the limitation. " 01 Creon'. IIrenglh. 'Though Creon spoke for hi. IOn',~ (eelinE;' in the previous scene (sec 569 II.), he nevertheless lean 10 encounter in (HOleman the lame emotional temper and apirit of rcaistanre which he found in hi> betrothed, Be indicates hi. lean in opening the interview whh the quesrion, u • • • Arc you here: ragitll{ at your Iarher , .. ?", Ihus aPl'lyinf( 10 l luemou the same verb Ih.1 he wed of the two women earlier (I)'SJoln6n, G~:i: ICe lyuoJau, 4!lx; the word iudf is not common and. occurs only in these two placet in the play and, indeed, only twice: more, in the: extant plays). Ihs verb U expressive nOJ ouly oE the way in which Creon rc~anls those who 'oppose him. but abo ol the areas where he Ieets himscll most eXIJ<M.<:c.l and most uncertain. lie is obviously reassured at . Heemon'a "Father, 1 am youn;' the fint words which his son. wisely, chooses 10 uuer (635): and he eXl're5lcs hi> relief in the expansive .peech which follows (639-680), full ol bi, lavorile counuouplacee about rule and authority. .... In another w.y 100 the scene 'Ugl;CSll Lhal Creon'. posilion is perh.po not 10 unshake.bly firm a. millhl 'ppe.r. h· reveals Ihat .,creon in [act rdies heavily on the lupport of others, whether hll IOn or Lhe choru•. He ciolnnot brook. disagreemeut. He cannot. lik.e Antigone, Aland alone:. And those who disagree he will coerce Into agTttment~,2 At the lame time he. lacu the calm definitencss o( Antigone, and it actually (aT less re:uoll .. lJie than the "raging" womanly naturc-s he insulu. Inueed. nOlhin~ perhaps better iIIu,.. tr.les Lhe in.ll.bilily o( his ,ul'l'OIedly "nllion.I" and cOlUi..enl lO

Suphl.J&ICJ' PrlJuc u/ MlJn

lJIIJ

the CUII/licIJ oJ tile Anugcue

15

vicw. rhan hi. rreauneru of Haemon here. Reconciliaunn and praise in the fir>1 pari of the scene arc 101l0wcLi 1101 ollly IJy sharp iUiulu in the second, but even lly the crud threat (0 h..l':"c ~nllg .. OIlC put 10 L1calh ill her ..brldegrooru's" very prc,clltc (7lio.(j,,). I~ these sudden Jihihs of muod LIcon undermines lh~ "rauouul bo,uci ol his action on whit:h rests, in part, hi::. authority" llul ~_bo h the ruler the man or COJl:.ISU:1I1 policy. lndkalc:i an II1Lfca:nng c.' . ' I qUOllitication of the image of lUan in lh~ hr:il ~ta)III1UU ~$ 1 te Tca:aouing udug. the aruticer wlu.~e ulldhgcucc rs sbuwu 111 the cillO he creates ..nd rules, . Anuther qualilicatlon or this ode comes to center Ol! AI,HI~()IlC'. 'The ode included lhe ''''lching 0" binJa .u one or urau e 1r n~lIIph5. FrOID uie l.H:ginning of the pli,y. however, the bin.l" baueuing ~u the exposed corl)Jc are lhe ,ini~tcr rernindcra of C~t:'UIl'S aUII.&o,ruy (>cc, e.g., "9 If.), and hence also of hi. subordinauou ul religiOUS u:.age to political decree, Yet it i. these lJinh which cany, 10 l't=lral4U the- w... rnings ..bout Creon'. viohltion or Ihat to ,wlnd& human control docs not pertain. 'The birds too an: Ihc:, :iU~Jlt:l t. u{ an "art" (tt:chne, 9uU). prophecy. which. in ih Mywp:.IIhcIJ( 1.':'I,:"I11? 10 the: voices of mature: ~t.UllJ:; "'part (rom lilt: more :i}":)tc:mOluc :.11 Is of contrul and device (><:e /0 machunocn teciuuu, ~ti5·(j(j) Ihal ruun hal "taught hilll><:Ir."

., .

.,

It is .ignific~rll. then, Ihiu the Ruard, ,In (!cKnhmj!; ~,"ligun.t:' a cilpture. com para her to a bird ItiIllCUlIllj{ .ItS yom"M': .• : : SI,le

rai..,. the .harp cry of lamcnt of a mOlhcr·LnrLl

III

In."er gfll~f, a,~

when, in the CIIIIJIY nest. it licei the bed itriPI:,c:d of, us.•neSt ,wg:i

. ) A,," a little later the guard .pcalul of hUIIIIIII; AlIlIgolle (""3 "5 . u , , I' f Vet Ihoogh he thUll COllncc.. hi, aCIIOII wllh IIC IIl1al;cry 0 (433)• , I 1. If I1 durnlnalion in the preceding OOC:, he hali abo .. lawn UlU5C, capa .. c of a L1illcrcm attitude in Ihe bird'lilllile, Olle llIarked by. plly fo~ the hunleU crc,~uure. Al the: I_lilt lime. however. Alui.,;u.m: II the VU:lJIU .• . Il,e one idclldficLl' ",ith a pan of thc IlIlJJul;alClI lIalural a~U I'" . world (and, aa nOled earlicr, ahe il hefJelf 10 dcepcn '"' luCIIIIfication in hcr Niobe·.imilc, B"3 If.). Thc gu~rd, thoUl;h, a,warc and a lh c lic JliIl allowl himw:1f to be forced 11I10 Ihe I"lSlllOll of d,e If mp ' ......., IJ "hunlcr," the conuoller. Like hmene, he haJI gouu UUtl,I,IICU" ~t bcu the force to carry them through (ace CJp. 4~U'40' not U II my nature to count aU ower winK' aa ICIlI impoflalll Ulan my

Ch"'/~J Paul Sl:gul

Ufelf'). He fail> where Aruigone, hi. prisoner, succeeds: and her success, in death, has eltccts which CTCOIU: a drasuc change In the attilude of the master-hunter, Creon. The guard" iimile not only underhucs the sex of AIUil;0lle, IJUI aJ.w prepares lor Creon's tar cruller use 01 the: jlUa~cry 01 ",ulIual conqoClt aher AlIligonc', >pccch (1H II,), and uiere 100 Creon CUIInt'~u conquest of n.. rure with domiuauon or male Over female (lloCC: ..81.85,5"5). The puallet••harpen the ditlereucc lJc,wcell Ihc guard', phy and uie mOUlcr'. unfediu6 liCVC1"iIY. V l'hw il La exactly lhe womOinly element in AIIIIgouc which Creon cannot group. He must reduce her "tct (0 IClllts analogous 10 hi:i own in order 10 understand it, and Ihls he: docs must clcartj- in rhe language in which he voices his. suspicion, about Isruene (though he me"" hi> worda to apply '0 Anligollc as wcll): ~"I'

d OV,uOf rplwOtJl DP~O'OQ'&

,,;no ~'l4;" 6p8Ws U. O'4OTftJ

/CAOTf.VS

Tt.X~J.lt.'l".IJI.

The mind of IhoJC: anfuUy devuiug (lcr!momcnon) nouung honest in the dark ia WOtU co be 'Olught lJdurc,hoauu III iu dUCVhllJlcu [IncroUy, " ... a ,hid," klup
The word "thief" wed DC Auugone's deed immediately da~)ilie" it in Creon', mind with the calculating UC)ICC: for "gain" (}unJos). onc of hia {.vorale concepu. The yc:rb "anlulJy dcYi::iillg" conl~in:s the root tcchnc, "deyice," "craIt:' wtlidl, as 'alreauy l101eu. hJ;UfO prominently in the ode on man. Uut ;u lite lec/me: of the odc: 011 wan U AJuwcred (jn p'UI) oy Tc:jrc:.si~- god-directed Icc/we of prophecy. £0 Ihe reduction of Antigone'!' ll1011Ye~ 10 a narrowly conceived Hthid·Hie" c.. kui....iun I~ .uu,wercu, ... 1:)0 oy Iile goJs, III Creon', cry when he hc..n his iUU'1i yoke d~c to lhe cutI: "Am J deceived, thief·liLe, by the goLl," (liI.om k/cl'lomal, '" IH). Thua the themal of lhe Ilirdl, tcc/me, male dominauon over female, are all link.cd ;u p;utu ol a $Iugic: complex, llle muhiplc aapc:cllI 01. control and authorilY; and .IU (his complex, which in· volvca Antigone'" de;uh and lhe prophelJc birtb oC Tein:sJ:.Is, It is perhaps luggeslcd lhat lhe world of nature, lO 5£1y nOlhilll{ of lhe worJd of WilO, it neither JO hcJple$.3 lIor /liO eaoliHy conuuJJaolc: as We Ii...t ,t..imon might lead Olle 10 ,oppo,c. AntJgone, aa a WOJuan ;lnu "hurHeo" vlulm, ",uo 1~elre;i.u as

"-----;::=='-

·

Soi'hod~I' PTau~

"~

.."

,

of Man and Ih~ Cuu/IJCU of fh~ Antigone

77

interpreter of the .igm (rom the gods and as a helpless. blind old man. arc cloetely related 10 one another In their au itudc of aym· pathetic relation with this naturat world (and the comparison 01 Antigone to a Icre:.amiug bird heips reinforce this "S3od:.atlon). lloth h..ve a special reverence lor the divine which deeply allta~ol1ile1 Creon, U-oth uclung to an order 01 bt"inl{ or a stage ot life of which Creon is contt:lllptuuu~; and yet both ill the end arc vindicated at Creon '. ex pc rut'. In pUlling Antigone to death Creon has indeed gained his ob-..... jeer, solidified his authority. crusued the reh acrorv element th.ilt opposed-s-and this was the only c1CIIlCIIL. so iar, thai opposed. He expected men [see 2"B. "Who of men (u1IClron) dared to do this deed"] anti g;tin-,eek.il1g calculauun. and finds instead a girl who &cd.s her only "gain" in death (.Itil IL) and looks to the gOlls, not to men, Rebellion there i:s. as he feared, but rcbc lliou ;;sl{ail1st a prolounder and more: deep-seared asp·eet of hlmself and his rule than he yet IUSPCC15_ It is with the vindication of these "rebellious" areas, the womanly, the: divine. the non-rational, that the latter hall 01 the play is largely concerned; and it is perhaps Ihi. reason which in pout accounts lor the increaaing prominence oC Eros and Dionysoe, the mythical embodiments of the least rational or "controllable" elements in human experience, in the ode! of the second hall 01 the play. 'The answer to Creon. then. is two-fold. In the penon of Andg-one is revealed Creon's reduction not only of womanly nature. but of human nature: in general. In his reply to AntiJ;one:'s speec:h on the divine laws Creon use. not only the language of technical control (lire and metallurgy. 474"7(;) and animal subjugarlou (the uming or horses, 477'7ti). bur also implicitly compares Anugone 10 a alave (douiol, 479), The progresaion of the thought i. hiJ;hly significant. [or it reveals the link. between man's proud conquest of nature anu Creon's delJa..sement of man. Ant!&.<.JIlc·s ability to rcsisl the weight oi argument ;lod civic authority brou~ht against her is judI a r~.ply. a vindic;ltion o[ the uncontJuerahle dignity and .... wonh oC "the individual. She replies to the insult of slavery quite Ipccifically. ;lnu her an,wer i, .the: love ;;lOd devotion of one indi.. vidual lo anotht'r under the sanctity o[ tic! thal are irl(.l~rendt'nt 01 the "artifIcial" a.speeu o( the .ocial order. It i. the irreducible

~humanity 01 he~d. h:; refusal t~ let 78

Charles Paul SeGul

Polvneiccs become less V th ..n wh a t she has (cit him to 1J.e. tll.. t rorlll~ the Lcrllcl of her terse reply: "It wa.s 110 slave (duuluI) but a brother who died" (5'7). The other part of the reply to Creon comes from the subdued realm ol nat ur e, wherein rhe gods are most manilest. -"hiS answer too is necessarv for the wuoteucss o( the phty. lor Creon hat violated not only personal reluucue. UUI somcrhiug III the reluuon uf V man to the woriJ... sense u( the salu.:tity III thll1g:s, III uarurc as III DIan. 'These realms. the divine and the human, the natural anti the divine worlds. Iuse in the rapid rnovcrueut of events which precipitate Creon's disaster. Fint 'Tetreaics' birds. 'Tbeu the: terr-ible encounter between Creon and his 5011. "The ialll{u;l~e used 111 thi, latter scene creates an even more dec isive and more biller inverlion of the man-nature. luunau-unimul theme, 'There is here an ironic alternation of lameness anti wildness. but £Carrully preserued at the heighl of the pedpety in Creon's own :100. l lucruou's voice. Creon cries out. "lawns 011 me" (tlOlI'U. 1211): anti the verb recalls the terms for animal.like servility U-oth in the ode on man (see .540. 35Q-5:t) anti in the exchanges between Creon awl Antigone (177-78. 5u9), Iuuuecliatclv after. however, llacmon is like a wild, untamed animal, with "wild (agTl'oiJ) eves," spilling:. and finally turning on himself in his savagery (I x~ 1-~G). Like an animal (00 he hal lost man's proud achievement or speech (see ~5"). and IC..FIDS not 10 understand his father's words (see 121JO). V Creon's brutalization of hi. human relatlUlu,hips has thua rebounded upon him and with it the "tameness" and obedience he demands (rom his own environment. Creon pays throug-h his son (or a reduction of man which he has previously inff ictcd 011 turn. lie had totally rejected, or refused to ICe. any possible love bel.ween Haemol1 and Anti!{one and thus rejected too the h"m.m individuality or hi. ISOIl. In the wonu. "There are: olher fields for him to plow" (569). he urinh'" the most IntlrllOUe o[ human relatioru. with i15 traditional BanClitles. down to the level of a uruti:sh act and mala a conne(tion too with lhe altitude In the otIe on man (note: the emphasis 011 pluwing al the cno of the first strophe. !J37 IL). '-hls del{ratlation oi the marria~e tic cOlltinues in Clcon', cruel taunt to Haemon that An,igone will die "in the p'eseuce 01

Sophocles' PruIse oJ

Allin

und llle Coniticts u/ rhe

AHllgOliC

79

her 'bridegroom' (7uU-U 1) <sUU In Auugone's 10111:;. en:,ull1g- lament th.u she U "wc:l1L1iul:)" Acherou (tho) am..l thal her turnb Is her

60·

II

"bridal chamber" (tl!ll). The paueru i, Iulhllcd in l lueuum's

open air WaJ, promint:ntly enumeratedu amour0 c'·vl'I,·,C d adJicvcwcnu;

.

mAil I

"utarriage..• in death, to Aurigoue (U'lo Il.] wuh the cOII::.c(lueIlL

• .. O.OOl.4J• ..~.... 1.0000pua u:ol olJoop/Jpa ¢.iryu.. fJlAq, •••

desu ucriou o[ Creon's maHiabc and tile son it pruUun:d. ...... lli~n thus c.:omL~ to learn lIu: t.Ulbcll'lclln::a or his au irudcs and. Ievels, whi«..h IUI~hL be laheled iuwr'n .. 1 utul ex... tcrual, the;: 114:1")01lal realm .uu.l lhe: OUbldc wudJ.'1IHcll1ally. (Iuuugh hi::i l:tullcriligs in his own mu:.L t:»clltial rcluuuus, those wlll«-h tXIlh define alld cxplcn what .. mall b. he le.n us Ihal one

;u':liulI) 011

(St;,uccr:dt ia hill-.) And till the "i.11I ,h;at deuecu the: ~fTOWI oC SIlOW the Ipc::olll of wuuer ... UI (:l5o-!J!J. U;,alu. Flu.) .,J,uJ,· FiuI:;culd)

IWO

yCocs nut devalue tht: human realm without lIuing hunu to hi:. own humauuy. J\nLil:)one. wilh her "'U:'01ULC valuariun of human lies, would then cXlJre~ the 1ulle:'l development o[ Lhi:l humallily and iu her NiolH:~inlaHe rJ)C::s to ahumL god-like )LaLUl'e.1:.,c:uu. having demeaned the lanctity o( these tlL-S. i:l lett wiLhout any. and hence :M:arcc1y human, a nonc:ntiLy••1$ he sap, at the end, ooe)('lslill~ no more than ... nobody," 01'. as WyL'Koll lranslala. 001 who fun nothing more than nOlhing now" (1!S2!t). (Exlernally, ,lhr~ugh.lho iurervenuon 01 the divine powers in the \ person o[ TCUC'Slas, Creon learns by coercion thal there are areas ol existence th.. t ·cannot or should nut he ~ulJjeClC:lI to courrot and authority. nut thb compulsion (rom the rcalm o( the gmhl and. the n:.&tur;&l world is. at alice brought home to him in terms of his own {ate, -.nd he il touched uy the uroatJer revc:nah cunnc:t:lct.l with the lJinls throu~h the: animal-imaB'"cry of his sou's aucl11plt:J. parricide and dcath. ThuJ the two re_InUl. iUlcrnal and external,

human worlu anu nalural world aro in>Cl'arauly linkeu, anu 1{jII" phay, in iu greaUI~ aflu complc:xily, ia ..n t:xpn:~ion ot this unity. The cou(ouuc..Iing o( 'OIlI\clle" .-sud wihlnc:JS in Hac:mun', ueath it connected with an' even more (unuameutal rc:ven",l in the pby allu with another qualificalion 01 Croon'. viewl of civililalion. Thia appears in Iho Iheme of .hcllor. In Ihe .econd lCeno with lhe gu..rd which (ollowa [he ode

On

man and is an obvioul pen·

dam 10 lhe finl lCene in Ihis .ymmolrically .lruclUreu play, lhe guaru dwell. On hi. and hi. companion.' oXl'osuro 10 lho .temellta as lhey walch Ihe l>o<Jy: lho for,e 01 lhe winu•• lhe hoal, Ihe opell air, Ihe barron hill. (~,o 11.). Tho faci lhal lhe"" uelail. ,ume '0 won aher U,e ode ia .ignificaOl, (or U,ero .heller (;OUl alorm anu Ihe

A lhcral tr:.&n:.latiun makes the

COIlUCCIIUU

a lillie snore expticn:

He h;,u tOiuglu hllllM:1I to Ike lhe mi~ilc:i of Inuu 01 the upcn .. If (c,u,wllrclU,) l.holl w..&Lc h olHl lot.1glUg

and we ..rrows 01 storm,

Tho

.lOrID

described by the guaru fill. "tho open air" (alther,

_i 15• .f u ). and the IIllal;;c of arrows or 1I11~,:)ilc:i was u,:)c.t.1 111 Creun's ~rcvto~ ilngry il~tervlcw wuh the gllOiuJ (:.l.P. k.ccpil4; the rcarllllg 01 the .M),i. With JclJtJ) and hi to be used a~;'lIn by hun, a leu in a~~<:r. a~~lI1u 1't:lrc~ia~ (IU~3-~H). ell-on. him:.cll is Ic)puu:.ilJlc:: fur a .tonu of sorts, for the: guard l.>cglns his )C(:OllJ SU:Ilc: wuh Creon by docribing. hu. linat Interview III terms ot "I he srorru of your thrc04u. to which 1 was )uujctt" (3~)I). before gUlllg Oil to rhe rea! atorm In -i 17 IT. COOliJined with the animal auJ hUlllHlg: lIuagc::s lU

4 15. II. and ~55 (.oe a1.>ove) lhe eQmra'l W~lh lito 0<1c .. illl"re",ve. '1 h.at iliac themes of ihdtc::r ano exposure have also lhe iJroadcr implicaciolu of communal lite In gCllcral appear:> lrolU Hacmou 'a CfQII.6--Cx.aminillion o( Crcon: Creon. llUfROlt.

11 nOI the pOUI conaidcred ;u bdoflHing to lhe ruler? You would c1I.crcite .. gU04.J rule JiIOhe. uver .. ot:.cnct! (.,cmuI) lall~ (7'9'-Iu).

And aomolhing of lhi. ,uglle.dun i! aCleu QuI whon. ,ub,equootly, Creon maka AOliKonO "ue>Crled," "i,ulaled" (aemus, tltl7, yly), and hor cavo II in. a wild anu "doerleu" (eremus, 715) place. Thua Croon, for all hb prai.>o of "law," h3:1 (aileu 10 !>ra.p 'Ome of the eucntial qualitiel of dvili.t:adon t~k.en In iu Lr04u..ler, more humane lCnlC: and he appean as rc::versing. as It Wt:I'C. lhe procc:,u of civHizalion Iud! in exposing man to Ihe dC'sol~liun and vl
~==~-'~--

I Sophucle,' Proof: 0/ Man arid tile (;uufllCh uJ llu Auttgune

81

8.

"rhis "regressive" tendency Is present in the Iumlamental suua.. lion 01 the 1'101 '!>ell. the exposure 01 a mau'. booy 10 uug. and birds. In the corpse, as in the 5101111 uud in Antigune', cave. we CUe reminded of the reality ol the still untamed will1nos which lies outside human civif izaucn. Like rhe plague: in the Oedipus Rex, the 'lIouldcriug corpse. quic.:i..ly but elll·t:lively described (see, e.g. :lE9·~o. tU!) L. "'10) mal.CS us uucomlurtably aware of someuung dblurbing. ollenaive, nauseating. In the Greek. view. however. these physically ollensive elements have a prolouuder relil;ious 11I;;nilit:al1cc. 'riley constitute, as Teire,i'ilI brings home. a "Ualma, a "polturiou,' an inlectious t .. int which is the concrete manitcstauou of a violation ot some rellgtous sanction. The: exposed corpse is both an outrage ol moral ,anctions and a source 01 real "pollution:' a possible cause: ol plague, bli~ht. barrenness, 01 the outbreak a~ainsl man ol all the unconrrollable and myncriow lorces on which his survival depends, When the rj~ht relation with these lorces I' broken. man's very existence is threatened, on the level both 01 poliricalxoherence (see rudo 11.) and personal happiness (as Creon is to learn). .,......As leader ol the polu Creon mll~t be concerned with such pollutions; yel it i. only superficiallj' that he KraSll$ the siJ;niH, cance of a "pollution" coming from a Violation ol the divinely establtsbed order ot lhin~. In his limltcll coucern (or the way In which the city will "escape polhuion' (77ti). in the case or AntiJ;~ one's death and, more mal kedl)', in hi:s lIyln hi it: st ate ruerrt auout. man's not being able to "pollute the /!;(MI'" (IO.I:i L) he ehowe his lack 01 a sense 01 the larger sphere 01 which the poli s, and every human creauon. may be a pan. Nt:;u the very cno, in a (inal ullcrance about pollution. he conveys his newly·,:;ainc::d sense:: or the: limitalions 01 human 3ction: "0 harbor 01 II:lt.lC:5, hurd to purify. why. why do you UOlroy llIe" (12ij4 I.; sec aha 1'4')Tluu the corpse. in iu connections with the themes both of .hc:he::r :and pollution. ~rves as an active link bctwe::C'n the two alJXcu o[ Creon', "irreligious" attitude. his degratlation or OIan"'" :lnd his disrcKard of the divine "30(110115. ·1'he two themes are linked. o( [oun<.. in AntiKonC' lOO, ror hcr lHusal o( Pulynckt:s is bolh a vlfldicalion o( the divine sanctions and :l more ~\Hhentic aUU:IDC'nt o( the dignity 01 Ul:;111 than the: :.useniol1 o[ hurnan in~

Charl':J Paul Segal

dependence and control affirmed by Creon. A5 the presence or the exposed al~tl a'.limal'lUrll booy males dear. the purely man. centered magnlficallon ol human acluevemern ulay involve para. doxicaUy. a debasement 01 man. • 11. is not that tb e confidence of the lir't ataalmon is utterly negated. :-he in,lage, of man's greatness persists throu~houl the play. but It penilsu In the figure ol Antigone rather than Creon. The qua lificarlon ol the: view of man implied In the otic only woru toward a clearer definition or the wholeness of man. the feminine with the masculine, the weakness and uncertnnuv ~hkh arc: ~Iway. ~ere, even in his most splendid achievements, the nOlhmgncsa In the (ace or which his greatness is asserted. 'This gn:alneu. a.a Sophocles sees it, has not reached iu full measure unless it has conrrO~tc.d its Own negation in death. 'This Antigone alone does. Death LS merely brushed asule in the ode on man U(h..(j2) and' used as a threat of punishment. another instrument 01 control, by Creon.

V Vel

here the Iates 01 the two protngonlsts, AlIliJ;one unshakeably firm and accepting death heroically, Creon crushed to "riothjng~:u" (13 25), are at extreme polari·lics. 'Though the original positions ol Itrong and weak are reversed. the two arc still scparated each Irom the other a. by an infillile gnlL In the Oedipus R"x ?r perhaps a decade later Sophocles' at;J;lcmei,t about the complex Inl.erplay or human gre::atness anti human weakness will be more rully unified into a l(oHle prolagul1ist. And at the cud of his life he will again UJ.(: the figure of Oedipus as his prototype ot a Mill more profound restatement of lhis complex relurion, The forceful prelence: of dealh. whclhcr in the. exposel1 l1e:.ul body or in Antigone::'s acceptance' of a living dealh. sharpc.:n~ the problem of the nalure amI dignity o[ man.4Jcath can ue a tleKral1alion or an affirrnadon of human value in the face of inllexiulc nece::t.!.Itia.Sj(nligone'. clC'3lh aHirlUs I.hls value not olily Cor herself but abo for the dishonored corpse. For her it is still a h~man li~Ulc. Ilill iruerarable [rom a human p-ersonality.KCrC'on. in maltrcatiul{ the cor!",e::. deY4illueJ also the image:: oi living man. It is inlcrcsLill~ to conSider Creon's aci. in the Ii~ht of the Ilt~iJ.;IHcncd empha:sis on the human fonn in the mid fifth century. Sophodc, prcscnu a play llul cenlen about the desceradoll oC a human fJody at the:

i,

Suphvclcs' PrG'JI: 01 Alan and lite Cou/llell

oJ

lhe Allllguue

C/U.lrlCJ Paul Segal

very rime thaI his ccnremporaries wOlliul{ 011 the Palllu:Hun were: di~overing and cltprc»ing the bc.auty awl uulJiJily of mau':a lJoUy a.a it h"d never been expressed betore. Again, therefore, Creon's act has implicatiuns which he hima.cl£ does not rc:,,1ile~l rc:ganlinl:1 deurh a:t uuurhcr IIl::tlrunu:11l uf courrul, not as a necessary condiuou of CltblCIH.C: to be approached wiLh compassiou and unUChlOUu..Iing, Creon dbvalucrs his :..ulljedJi and uhimaltly hiwself. lie denies Ihal the stare ha. a pluce lor de.. th In Ihis lauer, generic sense. Yet at the end he who had impcriou:..ly ordered the maltreatment oI a botly euters hilll::tdC c"Hying a corpse. and one th:d Ii "not ..norhers" but hi~ own (1.1(57-60)- As • killg. he h;u dhmisaed or "used' death, ouly to discover and experience it as a man. mortul and lied 10 monal lx:ings/11c:nce Creon'••uue-cerucred view or man reveals us iulIJc(luadc."3 in wiuc:ning areas 0Ui the play proceeds and l:i shown to Involve the loss of the Iull hUluouaily nut only oC the BubJcct cirircn, but of the ruler as well. A political or histortcal iurerprctai ion of a work or the ma !{ni~ rude or the Autigon« is, of cOUJ:'C. iuudcquure; yel lhe Iustor irul 'Iue has some wider ranges or Iiignificauce. 'The play. at one level, is .. lmo:lll cerraiuty a srarerneru about the nature and ic..leau of Athenian democracy, It rejects the autocratic materiullsm ami narrow ralJonali:Hn irnplicti in Crcon', outluok., whkh rC:::ilriCIa motu'J nacure to a lunccional capadty. ret..hu:cs him to a mcmlu:r of a polillcal unit ollly. What Antigone dcmamb, Oil the OIlier hOlnd, i. lhat lhe :;lale take 11110 ic~cI( Ihe :.alU:tlty oC uloud Idd,~ lion:. the value oC aflcClJolJ anu t1ll01i0llal dc:::t, Ihe ulliquc l1 c :i S of the i:ll.Jivit.Jual. '·he cOIH:c(Jdou iccms not unlik.c: thal pUl Cunh in PCrlc1o' l:une:r..1 ~l)(:ec~a: JI it true 111:'1 we lire c:tlled .. dcmorraq, for lhe: admlfllsfralion is in thc: h.. nd, oC che many OIlId lIot of lhe Cew. Hut while the i.lw :u:CurCI equ.. 1 jut-liu:: to .. 11 ."Iik.e in their )ldvalc ,U,hpUI;". ,Ihe d.dm uf c.:lLc:d. Icncc II also recoKni;,;cd: ."lId when a cllucn II III OIuy w .. y dn,lIu· guilhetl. he i. prdcrrcd 10 Ihe pul.Jlic.• ervk~, lIul ... ~ m..uer l)f

privilege. bUI ;u the rewilrcJ of weill. (I hUCYUlCje~, 1·.57·',

If.

Joweu.)

In Juch a ,laic an Anlig-one could exist-pcrhap5 in a rtlll~r ,,:,a y than Pc:ricla inlc:uth-demaut..liul:; her rig,hLl awl lhereby z.haplllg

the: &late ancr the ben elements in herself, ruak.ing it an expression oI her own lull huuranuy, II has often been suggested, as noted earlier, that Sophocles iutended the play. at least in pan, as a quahticauon of the ruuonul optimum of the: flLth·cenlury "eulighunent" as cxprcSlicJ 111 the apq:uJ"lloru of Proragoras, Allaxag:ora..3. Democruus, Hippocrates, Hippodarnus of Miletus, It may be too. as h as been mainuuned, UI04t behind the picture of Creon 1ic~ some reference 10 the "proud and austere" Perrcles hunself, "who wuh all hi' Ldid in humanity wou so much 1Q.1 'human' rhan, for maumee, Suphoda:' BUl the: i.s.oUC'I go Iar beyond the reference 10 specific men or cliUI of men. 'They arc concerned wnh uetiluJ1l{ lhal in wh ich DUO·. hum..m ily COllSI:iU. Man would like to bcl ieve. the play J.CcULI to uy, Ihat he: has developed "wundcrfu!" resources lur understanding and cOllullalHling: hu world. Yet Ulan thc::'ardlic..cr or deviser is not enough. "rhu:s In t he course of rhe play aU rhc apparent conlluC1U enumerated in rhc linl srasunou prove to have: a double edge. The sea, controlled proudly in the ode (~~5 II.) and for Creon, Irorn hjs lirst appeoarauce. lJoa:;tCully assocuned wu h polinca! control (the slup of stare: see 16. if.. IH~o~o, erc.), return. in subsequent odes in connccnon with the helplessness uf irrational aulfering (>ee 581 n, 953 If., ~(jli ILl, until Creon him.tlf speak. of Ill. disa.uCf, ironically, as a "harbor" (utl.l). The animal:.; and lllnl, deKri~ in the antiscrophe (1i'I:i~lx:(orne Iilc we:.::tenv;cr.i of (he viohuw divine order ollhn,lgs.,,1 I, iU.lhe imagt:ry (O~HlCl'I.CU. wilh H.:ac::mon·1 death. Ollm():,j;t the lIIuuct.h IIlSlrUmelib uC Crcon:s doum. Speech and communication ('51) tJcg:cllerouc hun ranling ami inlull or the Uller, anhnOlI·like liilco(e of Ibemon al Ihe: eno . .shelter and lhe fruits of mOll1'5 dty·cn:aling Icmpcr (:lce ~55·!)(j) arc dClIlCU the corpac: and even the KUilnla who walch It. and arc: IJcg-au:'t1 abo in Antigone'. desolate place: oC burial. Evt:n Ihe conquest of di,cue (363.6,,) rebounds on man in Ihe "c.livilic lIi)ca~" of Ihe )Iorm ('P:5) and, more: scriot.nly. in lhe p.olJualon whh which the dty "is di£c;u.cd" a.a a rC"::iult oC Creon', "Ihought" ur "julcllig-ellc.e" ( 10 15). h il only ueath, Ihal alone which man ('aUllul conlrol or "Hee," AI the ooe 'uys <.~(j I). which proves che fuHc::tt tuuc!lslOflC of man'5 grc;uncu and Ihe lruest meau:s (0 hi:! asst:uioll of hi' human.n y• The JJnl'-gone is IliB bleak. anu uark. oy c.umparisuu to l.he iuLJllue

..

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...

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01 Man and the COllfllctJ oJ rill: Antigone:

8~

1In.lc of the Oedipus at CutOtlUJ where the hero discovers his powers in his sdf.guiut'u movements at his call to death. .,,-el in the Antigone 100 a sell-accepted deuth is the source 01 what is beautiful and heroic in the play. Hut if Anugonc. wilh her heroic acceptance of the unknown. of death, most fully vindiciltes the dignity of man. Creon comes to act out the equally trag,ic prCKC" of becoming fully human. Wilh Antigone's death there comes, Ihrough the blinu"e.., and helplcssness 01 the seer, the rebirth of Creon', humanity, uurit he too is plunged amid loss ami s.. Hering iuro his own experience of the "uuwriuen Jaws" whit-h all men must bee as mortal beinbP'J who sometime encounter the unknown and unknowable. And in his encounter he passes hom hi, ('OIO~ munal position ilS head of slate to a loneliness and isolation perhapo ~re terrible th..n Anti~uJ1c'J. Alitigollc'J view. rhen, (or all iu id~~ism, is more "reallst!c," in the- full tragic sense, than Creon's. (fo live humanly. in Suphocles' te-rms, is to "now ftlily the condirious of man's existence: and lhis means to accl:pt the ~ods who. in Ihdr limitless. 3J.;1·lrss power (sec 004 11.) are those condiuous, the unbeudiug rea lilies of the universe] Sophocles never laY' lhat to accept the condirions is easy. Yet he seems abo to assert that man not only mU~1 arn:pt the nnuH· tions, but that he has, or finds, the slren~th to do 50. Even Creon, though far Irom the broken bUI still illlpcrluus Oedipus at rhe end of the TyrannUJ, UO<:l not kill himself, crushed as he i s, lie sutlers and endure'S. It is in his appreciation of human greatness that Sophocles is the true contemporary of the IU:lIcsm:UI who apousorcd the new Acropolis and Parthenon .... nd of the rh inker who said that "Man iJ the measure or all things:' But he is a universal tragic poet in hiJ deeply felt knowledge th a l man's human (jualities. in all Ih~ir grealnesa. involve recognition of the unyielding factuality of "rlre things Iha, arc," the gods, The first etaaimun is juslly deecrfbed aJ a pralse of man; but exactly what in man Sophocles is praising can be seen only in terms of the enure play. In another chorus the elden .ing. "Norhing of magnitude comes into the liIe 01 mOriah wilhoUI .uHering and disaster" (613"~)' A"C'~It:l1