Antigone Article 07

8/14/2019 Antigone Article 07

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THE

INTRODUCTION

REE of the extant plays of Sophocles interpret aspects of the familial' ~ ~ e b a n saga. The Antigone, the earliest of the t h ~ e e , being written probblv about 442 B.C., treats the latest events of the legend. The second.diPlis the King, deals with the early part of the story, while the third.

O(AiMJS atC%nus, the crowning achievement of Sophocles' old age, pre-ntsthe last hours and death of Oedipus, which in the chronology of the~ ~ e n d fall between the e p i s o . d e ~ of Oedipus t h King and the A n t i g o ~ e .,)tbough Sophocles follows In Its general outlines the received version~ the legend, he has not scrupled to alter it or change its. emphases inorder toserve his own particular dramatic purpose. For example, Creonis a very sympathetic character in Oedipus the King, whereas he is per-traved quite differently in the Antigone.

. ~ c c o r d i n g to the legend. Eteocles, son of Oedipus and now king ofThebes, had exiled his brother, Polyneices, who also desired to hold the[\ 0 1"l'al power. Polyneices had enlisted the support of Argos, and had ledW ,;:if' a tremendous host against Thebes in order to seize the throne. In the(f!S battle which then ensued, the brothers, who met in individual combat,'0>' iell each by the other's hand, and fulfilled thereby the curse wbich theirlalher, Oedipus, had called down u on t hem 'us t before his death. The

Argive host as een repuls ed, and Creon has assumed the vacant throne.The action of the Antigone takes place on the day after the battle. Creonhas just issued a proclamation that the body of Eteocles shall be giventhe full funeral honours due a hero, while the corpse of Polyneices shall lieunburied. At this point the play opens.The central conflict of the play between Antigone and Creon is pre-

11\'(\ \.. sented in simpleterms, and derives, on the surface, fr'9n!Jli"ifconventional(1\l1- 'I Greek attitude towards burial ri tual. Creon has inflicted upon the dead~ ~ \ " " Polyneices a punishment which the Greeks looked upon with peculiar

l S; terror, namely that his body should not receive the requisIte funeralo to rites. In fact, the problem is precisely that which preoccupied Sophocles\ ) ! ; . ~ in the closing scenes of his Ajax. However, in the Antigone, the poet hasc f \ ~ ' universalizedthe conflict which arises from this articular situation. untili . ecomes basically a question whether man-made and tyrannically en4Z I

, ...AlIi'D

VOLUME ONEIN TWO VOLUMES

1:. J) I TE D ]j 'i:WHITNEY] . OATES

EUGENE O'NEILL, JR ,

ALL THE EXTANT TRAGEDIES OF AESCHYLUS,SOPHOCLES AND EURIP IDES, kND THE

COMEDIES OF ARIS TOPHANES ANDMEN ANDER, IN A VAR IETY OF

TRANSLATIONS

Complete Greek Drama

RANDOM HOUSE NEW YORK


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Introduction,2

?orced law should take recedence over what any individual conceives Ihis heart to be djvine Jaw Creon en eavours to Imposehis human lawoaAntigone, who disobeys out of respect for-a higher law.Creon IS distinctly a tragic figure, who holds firmly to wnat he believesto be r ight and who has no doubts as to the absolute val id ity of his be.Iiefs, Nothing shakes him, not even the criticism and open opposition ofhis son, Haemon, with whom Creon is sharply contrasted, until it is toola te and the catastrophe has already occurred, Creon gains in stature atthe conclusion because he realizes his guilt and assumes responsibilityor it. In many respects he is not unlike Pentheus, in Euripides! Baccltae.As for Anti one critics are divided in their interpretations. Some holdhat she IS guilty of pride, hybris, and that she is suffering from an absurdand s tubborn desire to become a martyr. Others insist that she is un-swervingly and magnificently devoted to her ideals for which she is will.ing to sacrifice her life, that she does not possess any " trag ic flaw" iaany sense of the word, and that her fate is completely undeserved)What-ever may be a satisfactory interpretation of her character, at least i t iscertain that Sophocles has created a living and a vital figure in Antigone,Her devotion to her ideals may perhaps lead her to a somewhat uncom-promising harshness towards her sister, but Sophocles makes it clear thatshe has within her a warmth and gentleness of spirit which she has sup-pressed but which are revealed, now in her love for Haemon, and nowwhenshe asks pathet ical ly, as she is led away to death, why it is that shesuffers,One is tempted to formula te c lear ly the major issues of the play andforget that they are fused with o ther varied e lements in such a way that~ the resul tant work of art possesses great richness. To cite examples of,SQ. \ tz,c, this richness, one n e e ~ ~ n l y mention the brilliant choral ode on the won9'" 0" ders of man, the rea list ic and somewhat comic treatment of the Guard,\ p\0-1' or the scene between Haemon and Creon which contains political irnpli-\ cations of great significance. As a result, though the Antigone may nolbe the equal of Oedipus the King, e ithe r in point of technique or of uni-versal meaning, yet it remains one of the most satisfying of all the Greektragedies.


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I\UIIEf\T fLACELIERE

A LITERARY HISTORY OF

GREECETrarutJud by

DQUGL,A:I GARMAN

ALDINE PUBLISHING COMPANYCHICAGQ,q ~

5ophoclt!s's Cf.araClert{a.cion- - ~ - - - - . . . . . . - - .after his death). Une of Ius satyr plays. r ~ Sle';;t;..s, has also SUrVI \ ' l 'J

rn J very muulatvd form.The subjects 01 these plays, like those of Aeschylus. are taken[rom the cycle of Troy (Ajax, Electra and Phi/acleft'S), and II rc

Tbcban cycle (Antigone, Oedipus the King, OeJipw at Colonos) ; [0which Sophocl es added ano th er , t he Jr/Otrlefl of Trochis, from tll-:Heracles cycle. None of lus tragedies W;JS inspired by contempor.o-vmilitary or political events, like Aeschylus' Persae, and he scarcelyalludes to contemporary events, as Euripides was fond of dOIng. Atthe very most It might be said that when Theseus, at the end of Ot-dipusaj Colones, welcomes Oedipus with the p it y due to hIS misfonunes,he IS in a sense staking a claim, on behalf of Atilens, to the g r n t l t u d ~of the Theban enemy: Oedipus promises thar his body, hurled II IAttica, will prote


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Robbed of mourning tears, without friends or husband, here am I III mymisery, dragged along a road that liesopen before me. Alas, no more tili:.dlr behold the splendour of the holy sun, None shall lament my [ate, nofriendly lips utter a groan (Ibid, 876-82).

SOI'!wc!u' Antigonemoraliry of centuries later: 'Gut [ say unto you, you shall love your

, I enemies.Yet Antigone is not so blinded bv her u ose that she fails to &realize W lilt she IS r e n o lln cllw hy Iler aCl't'planet.' n f dealh, 'I'o del\'

Creon, she C ~ 1 l insist, like Sccr.ucs before hIS j u d ~ e s ; 'Fur" me deathis a blessing'. but alone willi t 1 1 < . ~ old men ()( Thebes, Whll 1111111 rileC l l or w i , she leuj her se lf ! ~ nud sings n I ( ) l l j ~ threl\lldy' li\!' ) 1 1 . ' 1 ~ ( ' 1 r .As she is ubo.u to enter the subtcr-rnncun vault, he r 'brldul ch.uuber'as she calls it, he r last words are:

lmperialism andDecline of Alheru

For Creon, J JBut 10 die' before my time, I here proclaim, (or me is not amiss. Living as dissuade them from their terrible purposes and, though admiring themI do amidst unmeasurable misery. should I not be content to die? It IS no deep "Within their hearts, they tenderly reproach them. It is as thoughgrief to me to suflcr death. Bu' gnef il woulcl have been to allow (he body C 0' " ( t hey said: 'It is enough that we admireyo", do not ask us '0 imitateof my mother's son to lie unburied after death. For that I should have you: But neither Electra nor Antigone can conceal their scom..rfnsuffered: not (or this. To you, no doubt. rnme seems 3 madman's act. 1;(( \(Q-9.o;This comes ou t very clearly in Eltctra. The subjec t of the play

t'!ld ilctioll films into sclf-dcsuucrion'. J This development was to OCC;lfflt 'd to irs l o g l ~ i 1 conclusion by Euripides.

"'" All So,hocles' ,row' 's la a c1ear.sighted, finn and/

uns 13ke'-lble will po1;l./er, and it is this that const ituted the real act ion, or the pluys, l in act ion in which external ~ V C I l I S arc (cw. In Ajax die! only t l d r l ~ dl;l! actually h appens is tl-e h ero 's Silicide: hut what

' \ \ ,..- (I inleres",d Sophocles, wh:u he was so sl'l,'ndidly e"rid"e ','I' descriiling,-J>\ ~ Q \',-'ll,ll 1 ' , I V { ' ~ lilt I l ' , q ~ t : d y u s csscmia! p,l !hos, were tile alu-r.uiuus or~ rC,lr ilnd hope tilal arc experienced Ld'urell;.md by i\ lax's [ricncls,

\ l':,>pcclally' the moving character or Tccmessa." " ' ~ The must strikin r eXam Ieof t.his illjkxible will power is Anth,rone

hers('. iety arnl her love for her brother Polynciccs have convincedIter ,lte IIlIlSt hury lus l.ody, despite theorders of King Creon and the(ertallllYof deaul if site is discovered. Already at the beginning of tileplay Iter mind is firmly made up and notlting can make Iterchange it,At;lIlf}


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Irnpulaiwm onJ j)(clinr: o f A u ' I ~ " i SI) the s.nnc J..S that or Aeschylus C h o t ' p h o r o ~ , but how differentlydie t \ I ' l l poers JpproJL'h dlcir theme. The Creek trJglc poets felt noln-suauou J!JOUl d e i J . J i l l ~ wuh till' same s tor i es


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-

Imperialism and Dec/hie o fAthensAthcni.m, 'handsome nnd good' (AIl/,Is Aaliath6s). Out of a Sense ofobcdienrc, Ncopiolcmos nt firs: agrees 10 play the odious role forcedupon him by Odysseus with regard to the sick and wounded hero,Philocrcres: the latter, having made oil ' with the bow and arrow ofIJeracl(s, without which an Achaean victory is impossible, has to beJwrslI:ld,d 10 return In Troy. Evctuuullv, however, { 1 i ~ I ~ l l ~ l ( ' d Ill' alll i l t , iI / 'j l ' jJl l!11l (wldl 11 ( idywl l ' t l i i n ' l ~ a r d r J nu !I('COIHI I l i l l l l l / ' , wl l l ' i l l ( ' j ' 111Ilirnself (/ I III orlICJ'S) ills feeling of cOlJlpaSS1Ull [o r J l h i J u e k [ e ~ makeshim revolt and he revea ls the truth co him.S> 1here could scarcely be a more insigniliC


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l mperiulism cr.JDalifl/;; ofA,Ams~ In AnllJ:,'{!fU, The sudden '-U1d complete reversal of f or tune , the In->cc:V\ ~ t J n t ; : U h . " ' \ b " ' l i l l ; ' > l ) ~ e , s lgni iles the cnd of al l their effor ts and ~ I their

~ O - S hopes, T h v u ~ h the sense of terror he evokes is perhaps not 50 power-r(}... (ul as In i \ e ~ t : h y J u s , the feeling of pity 15 more intense.\ . . , I ... Sophude:;' style is less majestic than Aeschylus', bu t It is bener

S ~ t . aJJjlll:d III cll:>cusslon, to tlre passionate interchanges that take placebetween hIS char-acters; he docs no t disdain rheronc. bu t his use ofit IS Ji> lack the abounding vigour ofAeschylus',Liley are more ccncerurared, and also more restrained In tone, ApolIonian r uthe r t han Dionysian, Tw o characrcrisuc choruses may beiound In the Anllgufl bluw from the south, rnakl l lg his way through the hollows(If lilL' l l l lh l l l) ' W ~ V L ' ~ , bCnl:Jlh the open ubyss... Words. dlougllts swift'J:> till: wmd, UfL'i.lOIS from wlucf cnics a rc burn, al l these ! l has ti.\UghtJ u m ~ l ( , , . (("Ii'll/guru, )3 2 [L).

Tht' ~ " C ( ! l l \ l 1:> a hyum 10 thl! power or love. wlu. .h i l t:clln li l lg toE l l l P L ' d ~ , t : 1 L ' S (:>ce P!': 1()9-70) was one of the (WU t,fl ',lt cusnuc forces,from wllh.:h JII liVing dungs are constitutcd :Lo ....c, U urvmcible Love, you who swoop down upon ou r f locks, and youv.)10 h V ~ ' J ) WJld l , !.llt:n il l the fn:sll checks of I-!; II Is. . . , \Vhct!ll:r !.llllungsttile hull, ur shun-lived mcu, there Is none who call cscapl' yuu, and yourn.urf I l'llough 10 drive us mad, , , . Here, truly, It IS desire that triumphs,d t ' ~ I r r . , ' that IS bor-n CJf the maiden's glance, hastening 10 her husband's bed,dt':>lrC 111.n I J l n o n ~ lhe l11iglllil:st laws, :lfllOI1[.'; lite masrcrs of tile world,Apllf llll l l l. . ', 1111.. I I l V l r l ~ ' i l > l l : one, who makes sport o(l:VL'rytlllfll,; (/biJ., 7t l l Jr.),

I t igl l l .u t 1 1 < ~ r-ru] Ill ' [us long Ii/i. , il l Or!dil'/I.f ur Cu/r1fl/lj, SUJlhllL'lL's:>Illg$ tile pr ..uses or [lit: Iittlt: Att ic town where he was Lorn:ThIS IS white-walled Colones. where more than anywhere else the tunefulnlghtlng"le dcligilis to sing, in the depth of the green embowered valleys.lie live> in the t1ar leaved ivy, inviolable arbour of the god, whose dense

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Pf.iIOJophy: rl naxagorasscreen rrlHt:ds h im f rom sun and Wind a li ke . . Here, as each mormugbreaks, w.ncrcd by the heavenly clew, great bunches of narcissus l.J]\)UIIl,lilt: anuquc lTOWl1 of tWO great goddesses . and ~ i . l l r r o n s golden ~ l e J n l .And in thesep:.Hb. as nowhere else, the g r e y ~ g r e l ' n olive grows, our children's11111"$l, die tree that neither young nor old dare harm or rob (OeJipus1J{ Cotonos, G7UrT.),

Sopilocles,.tlle friend of Pericles the 'Olympian'. truly belonged tothe generation that, cleve loping the heritage handed down by the~ b r a t l l O l l o m a c i I O I , made of Athens ' the school of Greece'. Like thesculpture uf Pheidius, Ids tragedies hJVC the serenely noble stJnJr ofcJasskisrn, ofJn art t11:1t is to Sil that has

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Antigone Article 07